I toy with the chain around his neck. “Cam?”
“Yeah?”
“If I were to…if I were ready,” I look up into his eyes, “would you be strong enough to catch me if I fall?”
His eyes turn glassy. “I’ll be so fucking strong for you, Katie.”
I nod and lay my head against his chest. He loves me. I think I’ve felt it for a while now, but to hear those words from him—so soft and sweet and vulnerable—kicks down what’s left of my walls.
For the first time in my life, I feel secure with a man. I feel whole and appreciated. This is what love should feel like.
I quickly swipe a tear from my cheek as he pulls me closer. I place a gentle kiss on his lips, my hands on his cheeks.
“You sure you want me to keep you warm?” he asks, kissing along my collarbone. “Because I’m trying really hard not to back you against that rock and take my time with you.”
My hands grip his shoulders tighter. His restraint only makes it worse—no, better, so much better.
“Cam…” My breath shivers out. “Don’t tease.”
“I’m not teasing,” he says, voice low and rough. “I’m trying to go slow.”
“Why?”
His forehead touches mine again, water drifting around us.
“Because you deserve slow,” he says. “And because if I let myself have you out here, I’m not stopping. And while I don’t mind a social media post about our dating status, I don’t want pictures of me fucking you senseless under the falls circulating through town.”
Heat pulses through me in one hard wave.
He brushes a drop of water from my cheek with his thumb. “I want you so bad it hurts, Katie.”
Something inside me melts. “You’re going to kill me,” I whisper.
He slowly presses his lips to mine, a gentle slide, a soft pull that tightens deep in my belly. His hands stay on my thighs, holding me there, keeping me suspended against him. The water moves around us, cool and quiet, but everywhere he touches me feels hot.
His tongue meets mine in a slow, teasing sweep, coaxing more than demanding. My fingers curl into his hair and he groans softly, like he’s been waiting for that exact touch.
He kisses me like he’s learning me all over again, like he’s memorizing the way I breathe, the way my mouth moves, the way I sigh into him.
As we finally break apart, it’s only far enough for his lips to skim my cheek, then my jaw, then the spot just below my ear that makes my toes curl.
He carries me under the curtain of the falls, the water rippling around his hips, and sets my feet gently back on the stone beneath us once we’re closer to the edge of the water. His hands brush down my sides before he lets go, like he’s reluctant to stop touching me.
I’m breathless. Flushed. Completely undone.
He tucks a strand of wet hair behind my ear. “Come on,” he murmurs. “Let’s warm up.”
As we climb out of the water, my skin is chilled and buzzing at the same time—a confusing mix of cold lake and Cam Wells. He grabs two towels from the basket like he planned this whole thing down to the minute, and he holds one open for me.
I step into it, into him, letting the terrycloth swallow the drops on my skin. His hands catch the edges and wraps the towel around me.
“You’re freezing,” he says softly.
“And you’re not,” I counter.
He shrugs, water still trailing down his chest. “I run warm.”
My eyes flick somewhere they shouldn’t and he sees it. Of course he sees it. Cam catches my chin lightly and lifts my gaze back to his with a small, devastating grin. My face heats even as the breeze chills the rest of me. He lets go and towels his own hair, raking his hand through it.
