“What am I doing wrong?” he repeated, his breath warm against her face.
She squirmed on his lap and felt the long, hard length of his cock pressed against her bare bottom. There was nothing but a thin layer of fabric between them and it was still much too much. Keeping her gaze locked on his, she settled herself more firmly on him and had the pleasure of watching his eyes go wide in the near dark of their shelter.
“You’re not supposed to blow it.” She caught his bottom lip between her teeth and he groaned. “Don’t blow it. Get it?”
“I fully intend to,” he said, claiming her mouth and kissing her in a way that made her forget her aching ankle, made her forget everything but him.
“Want help figuring out the rest?” she asked when she managed to catch her breath.
Still holding her in his arms, he pushed to his knees and gently deposited her on his sleeping bag.
“After,” he said, being careful of her ankle as he positioned himself between her spread legs.
He pushed up the hem of her shirt, exposing the soft mound of her belly, and pressed a kiss to the dip above her damp curls. She sucked in a breath and lost track of the question she’d asked, her world narrowing to the point where his lips met her flesh.
“After?” she asked, tangling her fingers in his soft, dark hair.
“After I make you call me God again.” He grinned up at her for a fraction of a second and then he licked into her, making his words her reality.
IT WAS MIDAFTERNOON HEADED TOWARD evening by the time they reached the finish line. Michael made her a makeshift crutch and carried both their packs but it still took much longer than expected for them to hike the last stretch of the trail. When she saw the flags marking the end, she was exhausted and ready to be done. She was also surprised to see Gabe and two of the guys who worked with him, looking like they were getting ready to mount an expedition.
“I told you they’d be okay.” Her brother and one of the other guys hurried to her side, making a seat with their arms and carrying her the rest of the way.
She might have protested if she wasn’t so tired and if her ankle didn’t hurt so much. And if Michael hadn’t shown her that accepting help when she needed it didn’t make her weak; it made her smart. She glanced back to see him following them, still smiling at her. She saw the moment his expression shifted to something harder and she turned back around to see what he’d seen.
Ethan stood at the finish line, leaning against the black Southerland Security SUV, looking a lot like an accountant playing army. She had no idea who he thought he was going to save with his cast still on, but he didn’t seem fazed. If anything, he looked smug and too self-assured for her comfort. She didn’t want to have to deal with Ethan. She wanted a shower and a big, clean bed and three or four hours to see if she could get Michael to call her God for a change. And then dinner, preferably still in bed.
Ethan hobbled out to meet them and she wondered if there was a polite way to tell him to get lost.
“Thank goodness you’re okay,” he said before she could find the politego awaywords.
“Why wouldn’t we be?” she asked, punching theweand hoping against her better sense, he took the hint.
“They pulled six teams off the mountain last night because of the storm,” said Gabe.
“Which you’d have known if you kept your cell phone on,” said Ethan.
The jerk who’d slept in his own bed while she and Michael braved the lightning had the nerve to chastise her.
“I only turn it on when I need to to conserve the battery,” she said, addressing her comments to Gabe instead of the butthead standing in front of her.
“Which is exactly what I told everyone,” said Gabe.
She tapped his arm and started to squirm enough that he finally let her down. She wanted to lean on Michael. She felt better when he was around, but for some reason he was holding back, fiddling with their packs.
“None of that matters now,” said Ethan. “The important thing is that you’re safe.”
Intending to add athank-youto hergo away now,she faced him just in time to see him pull a small box from his pocket.
No no no no. The man couldn’t possibly be that dense. Except apparently he was.
“I can’t get down on one knee, so you’ll just have to imagine it.”
She held her hands up in front of her to stop him, but either he didn’t understand what she meant or he didn’t care. He was so caught up in his plan; she doubted a car running over him would deter him. He flipped open the small velvet box, revealing a huge round solitaire. Her first thought was how did he think she could climb wearing something like that? Her second thought was for Michael.
“Will you marry me, Amanda?”
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