A sly little smile curved her mouth. Then she winked.
Fuck me. She was complimenting my dick. And she hadn’t even seen it in action.
I just stared at her, speechless for once, pulse hammering in my ears.
“I thought I was going to die of embarrassment at first. I’ve never been caught like that. But it was kind of exciting, wasn’t it?”
I stepped into her space, caught her around the waist, and drew her flush against me. Nothing between us but heat and too many layers of clothing.
“You liked that, beautiful girl?” My mouth brushed her ear. “Did getting caught turn you on?”
Her breath hitched. “Yes.”
The blush spreading over her neck had nothing to do with the hike. Knowing I’d put it there sparked something prideful and possessive inside me.
My hand slid over her ass, pressing her closer so she couldn’t miss what she’d been joking about.
She let out a gasp, and that was all the invitation I needed.
My mouth met hers in a slow, controlled kiss. But I forced myself to pull back before I lost my composure. Because if I let myself take what I really wanted right now, I wouldn’t stop.
Jamie’s eyes were still closed, lips parted, like she was under a spell.
For a moment, I understood exactly why Dylan kept circling her.
How do you walk away from a woman like this? Even a bruised ego would be worth it.
“I have a lot of memories of this place,” she murmured, still dazed. “But I think this one’s going to be the second-best.”
“Second-best?”
Her eyes snapped open. “Oh shit.”
“Too late, beautiful. You brought it up. You owe me the story.”
“Our deal?”
“You’re catching on.”
She looked at me like I was pushing her too far.
Hell, maybe I was. But I was eager for more of her. For the parts she kept hidden. And I wasn’t backing off.
She exhaled. “When I was little, I came up here with my family. I wasn’t much older than Kara, the language patrol kid.” She huffed a laugh. “Honestly, how did her parents manage two more with her around?”
I smiled at her joke but folded my arms and waited.
The scowl she shot me could’ve scorched bark off a tree.
“Fine,” she muttered. “We were on a hike, but I was playing in my own little world. I kept drifting farther behind. My mom was annoyed with me, but she was busy arguing with my sister about hiking shoes that weren’t pink enough.”
Her voice softened as she talked about them. The bickering. The rhythm of it. The normalcy.
I didn’t interrupt.
“My mom lost track of me, and my dad was way ahead, doing his leader-of-the-pack thing.”
I reached for her hand without thinking.
