He follows a heartbeat later with a shudder and a helpless sound that makes my toes curl. His body jerks against mine, heat pulsing deep inside the protection. He collapses over me, bracing himself so he doesn’t crush me, but keeping enough of his weight that I feel cocooned beneath him.
We stay like that for a long, long moment. His breath warm against my neck. My pulse gradually slowing. Our skin cooling in the night air but our bodies still tangled, still reluctant to let go.
When he finally lifts his head, his eyes are soft in a way that terrifies me and steadies me at the same time.
“You alright?” he whispers.
“Yes,” I say, and realise it’s the truest word I’ve spoken in years.
He kisses me once more, slow and lingering, before rolling gently to the side, disposing of the condom and pulling me against his chest.
And under the vast, silent, star-filled sky, I let myself believe—just for tonight—that this might be the beginning of something real.
Chapter 13
Alex
Emma is warm andquiet against my chest, her breath soft against my skin. I’m still trying to steady my own breathing, my head tucked into the curve of her neck. I should roll off her, give her space, be sensible. Instead I kiss her shoulder, then the corner of her jaw, because I cannot seem to stop touching her. When I finally settle beside her and pull the duvet over us, she curls in immediately, as if her body knows the way before her mind does. Her eyes are closed and a smile smile is playing around her lips.
“Emms,” I murmur, brushing a hand through her hair. “You still haven’t opened your eyes.”
She makes a tiny, embarrassed sound. “I’m scared that if I do, I’ll find out it was all just a dream.”
“No dream,” I say softly.
She lifts her eyelids at last. The way she looks at me… I feel it everywhere. Her hand rises and strokes my hair, tentative but sure, as if she wants to memorise the shape of me. I press a kiss to the top of her head and hold her closer. Above us the stars still burn white against the dark sky. The whole field is quiet save for the occasional rustle of grass. I’m aware of nothing but her, and the fact that life feels absurdly perfect in this moment.
The first thing I register is warmth. Emma’s warmth. Her cheek is on my chest, her breath soft against my skin, one arm draped over me as if she’s always slept this way. The stars have faded to a dusky wash, the sky that quiet blue-grey you get this time of the year. I should be focusing on the fact that I’m naked in the back of a pickup on a farm field, but I can’t seem to care. Not when she’s here, tangled up in the duvet and in me.
My phone rings.
The sound slices through the calm. My eyes snap open and I realise I must have drifted off. Carefully I slide out from beneathher, easing her onto the mattress. The dawn light paints a faint gold across her hair. She murmurs, curls instinctively closer to where I was lying, then settles again.
I reach for my jeans, rummage for my phone and keep my voice low as I answer. “Hello?”
“Alex, it’s Tommy. We’ve got a call-out. Two tourists missing up on Horse Pike. They never came back from their hike yesterday. Their group didn’t realise till half an hour ago.”
The adrenaline arrives instantly. “Where are we meeting?”
“Hill Road, by Kendall Farm. The helicopter is already up.”
“I’ll be there in forty.”
When I hang up, the weight of reality settles in. I want to climb back beside Emma, pull the duvet over us, shut the world out until morning becomes afternoon. Instead I look at her, still lost in sleep, the sky brightening behind her.
I lean down and kiss her jaw gently. “Emms.”
She stirs, a sleepy sound escaping her, but her eyes stay closed. I brush my thumb against her cheek.
“Emma.”
This time her eyelids flutter open. She smiles, slow and soft, and something inside me reacts far too strongly for a man who should be focusing on a rescue.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I murmur. “It makes me want to take you again, and I don’t have the time.”
Her smile dips into a frown.
“Oh sorry. You probably want to get home.” she says quietly, looking embarrassed. I’m fucking going to kill whoever hurt her that bad in the past.
