“What’s the gun for?” she asked.
Her voice was closer now, and I heard the gentle splash of water as she approached the edge, dipping a toe in.
“I like to be prepared.” I kept my gaze fixed on the treeline across from the hot spring. “Bear spray’s a good thing, but a gun’s even better. After the tangle I had with a bitch of a mountain lion, I never come into the wilderness without it.”
I couldn’t help it then. I glanced over.
She was standing at the edge of the spring in nothing but a pair of pink panties and a matching bra. The sight of her hit me like a fist to the chest.
Amelia was plusheverywhere. I didn’t know what to drink in first.
My gaze stumbled from her full breasts straining against her bra down to her soft belly before settling on her crazy thick thighs.
They were the kind of thighs I wanted to land in between.
She was built like a womanshouldbe built, all warmth and softness and curves that a man could lose himself in.
And,hot damn, I wanted to be the man for that job.
I pulled my gaze away, letting her get into the water without me cave-manning all over her sweet ass.
The water rippled as she slipped in up to her hips.
I’d always been attracted to bigger women. I preferred a woman I could grab onto. And Amelia was exactly my type ineveryway that mattered.
She lowered herself into the water the rest of the way, and I watched the heat flush across her neck as the warmth enveloped her.
A soft sound escaped her lips, something between a sigh and a moan, and my cock went from half-hard to fully hard in about two seconds flat.
“The mountain lion,” she said quietly, settling onto one of the submerged rocks across from me. “Is that what caused the scar on your face?”
My hand went to my cheek without thinking, fingers brushing the raised edge of the scar that cut across my cheekbone and over the bridge of my nose.
“Yeah.”
“Was it scary?”
Her blue eyes were wide and curious, not morbid. She wasn’t asking to gawk at my trauma. She genuinely wanted to know.
“Scariest moment of my life,” I admitted. The words came easier than they should have. “I was tracking a lost hiker up near the ridge. Came around a boulder and there she was. Female, maybe a hundred and twenty pounds. She was a big one, and she had cubs nearby, which I didn’t know at the time.”
Amelia’s hand drifted to her throat.
“She was on me before I could reach for my knife. Knocked me flat on my back and went straight for my face.” I touched the scar again. “Got me good with her claws before I managed to get my arm up. I punched her in the nose hard enough to stun her, then grabbed a rock and hit her until she decided I wasn’t worth the trouble.”
“Oh my god.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Took thirty-seven stitches to close me up. Doc said I was lucky she missed my eye by about half an inch. If it had been a male panther, my odds might not have been so good.”
The steam rose between us, drifting into the cool mountain air. Her cleavage was just visible above the waterline, those soft curves glistening with moisture, and I had to force my gaze back up to her face.
“The alligators mostly leave you alone if you leave them alone and keep your distance. I can’t imagine having to fight off a wild animal like that.”
“Different kind of danger out here.” My voice came out rougher than I intended. “The mountains don’t care if you’re prepared or not. They’ll kill you just the same.”
She shivered despite the warm water, and something protective flared in my chest.
This was a bad idea. She was too young for me. Just passing through on her way to somewhere else.
