“These are good,” he said and she could hear the smile in his voice.
“You doubted?”
“Not doubted exactly. It’s more that I needed to have my horizons stretched. With more than instant potatoes,” he said after a minute. “I’ve never experienced anything like this. I mean, I did Cub Scouts but that was thirty years ago and nothing like what I experienced hiking with you today. Thank you for sharing this with me.”
She could hear the honesty in his voice and tell without looking at him that he was being genuine. Knowing that he was not only open to new experiences but also willing to make himself vulnerable talking about them tightened something deep inside her. If she hadn’t wanted him before, his honest revelation would have cinched it for her. But she had wanted him—all day long, with a craving bordering on desperation—and she didn’t want to wait anymore.
“I’m glad we got to do this together,” she said, resting her arms on his bent thighs and leaning back against his lap. Breaking the last of the physical barriers between them.
He seemed to curl around her, welcoming her to him and drawing her in closer. Wrapped in the shelter of his arms, she watched the flames dance over the logs, mirroring the heat burning low in her body. Being with Michael was the craziest mix of comfort and hunger, and she didn’t think she’d ever get enough of the conflicting emotions. She didn’t think she’d ever get enough of him.
“Is it too soon for you?”
She heard the uncertainty in his voice and her hands tightened reflexively on his thighs. She could pretend she didn’t understand what he meant, but the one thing she knew for certain was that she didn’t want there to be any lies or misunderstandings between the two of them. She felt it even more acutely sitting under the canopy of stars with him. Everything took on a greater importance.
“I mean, I’ve wanted you,” he said, not waiting for her response. “Well, since you practically fell into my arms.”
“Hey, I stayed on my feet,” she said, but she ran her palms over the tops of his thighs, needing him to know she was in this—whatever it was—with him.
“You did.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against the top of her head, easy and undemanding. “You were graceful even when you were falling and I was so out of my league. Am so out of my league.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he rested his hands on her shoulders, sliding his fingertips under her hair to the sensitive skin of her throat and stopping her words. “Hear me out before you make me lose track of my point. The thing is, I’ve wanted you for weeks. I didn’t do anything about it because you weren’t available, but I wanted you. I’ve had a lot more time to think about this than you have.”
That wasn’t true. It made her uncomfortable to admit even to herself how much time she’d spent thinking about Michael or trying to avoid thinking about Michael while she was still with Ethan, but it didn’t make it any less true. Facing the fire instead of each other made it easier for her to say what she really felt.
“It’s complicated.”That was a colossal understatement. “But I wanted you too. I want you.”
His fingertips stroked up her throat to her jaw, and she let her head fall back against his lap, offering herself to him.
“I want more than a couple of nights of escape. I’ll hate it because being this close to you and not touching you is threatening my sanity, but I won’t push you. Not if you’re not sure. I’d rather wait than risk losing you because we rushed.”
She blinked against the dark star-flecked sky, hearing the honesty in his words. She didn’t want to wait. She wanted him. Climbing to her knees, she turned to face him. He searched her face and she saw a dozen unanswered questions in his gaze.
“I don’t want to wait,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and setting out to answer them.
She was ready to make some demands of her own.
KISSING AMANDA WAS THE EASIEST thing in the world. It was as natural as breathing and Michael felt the same kind of desperation for her as he did for air.
She slanted her lips over his, and he tightened his fingers in her hair, catching her gasp with his mouth. He wanted to be so tender with her, so careful. He wanted to show her with slow kisses and soft caresses how much she meant to him, but she fisted her hand in his shirt, nipping at his bottom lip, and his plans flew out the window. Wrapping his arms around her, he stood, taking her with him. He felt her suck in her breath as he lifted her into his arms and then her legs went around his waist and nothing else mattered but getting Amanda naked and under him and giving her as much pleasure as he could.
He wanted to find out what she liked and how she liked to be touched so he could be the one to give her what she needed. He intended to spend as much time as possible figuring it out.
“Don’t move.” His words came out as a growl, his voice rough with need, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead to take the edge off as he set her feet on the ground again.
Her eyes went dark and wide in the glow from the fire, but he saw her swallow and nod before he reached for the packs and their sleeping bags. When they’d stopped for the night, he’d focused on starting the fire, which took too damn long because he didn’t remember his time in Cub Scouts, instead of unpacking.
He’d give just about anything to turn back the clock as he wrestled in the dark with the straps holding the sleeping bag to his pack. Honestly, if he didn’t need the straps to hold the sleeping bag to his pack while he hiked to kingdom come and back the next day, he’d chew through them with his teeth. Amanda was waiting for him—warm and willing—and he was stuck screwing around with logistics.
“Everything okay?” she asked, her voice breathless with what he hoped was the same kind of aching want he felt. Of course, by now it had probably morphed into frustration at a man who couldn’t handle a simple pair of straps. He wouldn’t be surprised if she changed her mind.
Please don’t let her change her mind.
“Almost have it,” he said, giving the straps a yank that only seemed to make them tighter.
“Can I help?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. She reached for the buckles on the straps, giving them a quick tug before handing him the freed sleeping bag.
“How...?” He had to force his mouth closed. It was one more thing she seemed to do effortlessly.
“Practice.” She grabbed her bag and spread it out on top of the insulite pad in front of the fire. When she went to unzip it, he saw her hand shake and something in his chest tightened at the thought that the two of them together might mean as much to her as it did to him.
