He continued on and disappeared into the dark.
My skin prickled. That jolting feeling, zapping me awake—myinklingflaring to life.
Pogue stared at me, not just looking, butstudying. As if I were some unsolved riddle. Or maybe he was also contemplating tossing me into the falls.
“Come on,” he ordered.
I rubbed my pebbled forearm, repressing the ominous feeling in my gut.
“You really are a prick, you know that?” I snapped. “You didn’t have to be so mean to him!”
“He’s a beggar,” Pogue grumbled, already making his way up the falls. “I can’t afford to give him my time.”
My footsteps crunched behind him, quick and angry.
“Kindness literally costs nothing,” I hissed. “You should try it sometime.”
The jerk didn’t even bother to turn and look me in the eyes.
“Sorry,” he said, tone flat and bored. “But all my charity is wastedon you.”
Dick.
Mist billowed across my face in a chilling sweep as we neared the edge of the falls where a small, naturally-carved stone path curved beneath the rushing water.
I could already feel it. That now-familiar glow rising under my skin again, spiraling like wildfire. My irritation surged with every step.
“Who hurt you?” I barked. I meticulously stepped along the slick path, trying not to bust my ass on mossy stone. Pogue, of course, seemed to glide like the water itself, graceful and effortless. He disappeared into the hollow beneath the cascade.
“But seriously—who hurt you?” I yelled, the sound echoing off wet rock. “Who demented your brain so badly that you think it’s okay to treat people like that?” Each word hit like a stone—a stone I wished I could actually pelt at him. “Let me guess. Some spoiled, entitled ex? Or maybe your mother didn’t hug you enough when?—”
My rant screeched to a halt the moment my foot hit a patch of slippery algae at the mouth of the dooming cave. My leg shot out from under me, launching my torso backward toward the raging falls a foot away. I was one breath away from being swallowed and dragged down by the surge. One heartbeat away from being smashed into the pool below like hell’s version of a waterpark ride.
But right before my head met the water, an arm caught me. Strong, unflinching muscles wrapped around my back, yanking me forward. I crashed chest-first into what I assumed was rock wall. Until it took in a deep breath.
Not a wall.Pogue.
My palms splayed against his pecks, his arm still locked around me like a safety harness.
In the darkness, the only thing visible was the faint glint of light reflecting in his eyes, cold glass flecked with blue fire.And the only thing I could feel . . . was his breath. Warm, soft, tempting.
One breathkissedthe top of my face before fading.
I thanked the fucking fates that it was night, because I could feel my cheeks go aflame. The thin material of his white shirt did absolutely nothing to help contain the inferno building beneath my skin.
I didn’t think it was possible for him to get any closer—but he did. His head dipped, closing the space between us until there was nothing left. His lips parted, a breath away from mine.
My lungs went into overdrive. Each inhale forced my chest more firmly against his . . . and I didn’t miss the sharp catch of his breath.
“Don’t.” he whispered. “Ever.” Each word landed like a hex, a curse spawned from rage. “Talk about my mother.” His glare cut through me like razors, so serrated and cold I half expected him to bare fangs as well.
There was a long beat of silence. But I refused to look away, to back down.
Note to self—yo mamajokes were apparently where he drew the line. But treating the less fortunate like trash—totally fair game.
Screw him. At this point, I just needed to bedonewith him. Maybe he was my karma for all the boundaries I’d bulldozed through in my teenage years. A man placed here to specifically torture me. Equal parts irresistibly attractive, andunbearably infuriating.
“Let’s just get this over with,” I seethed, finally shoving out of his grasp like he was poison ivy. Contact I didn’t want, but my skin tingled as if already missing the itch.
