I meet his eyes. We maintain the contact for an extended moment until he eventually pulls his hand from mine and rubs at his neck, gazing across the river.
“Do I makeyounervous?” I ask, feeling bold.
He casts me a sideways look.
I lift my hand and he flinches, but doesn’t retreat further than an inch as I press two fingers to his pulse point. He stares at me, all playfulness gone from his eyes.
“I have no idea how fast your heart rate usually is,” I murmur. And then I can’t hold in the question any longer. “Do you remember what you said to me the other night? When you were drunk?”
“As I told you”—he waits two seconds and in that time his pupils dilate—“I wasn’t that drunk.”
I feel a hustling beneath my ribs. Iwanthim. And I know he’s made it clear that this would be a casual thing, but I think I’ve just got to get him out of my system so everything feels clearer.
He reaches out and time slows as he presses the pad of his thumb to my lower lip, just as he did in the bar. My breathing is ragged as he drags it down my chin, under my jaw and over my soft skin, and then I do a full body shudder as he cups the back of my neck and draws me to him.
A bolt of electricity blasts down my spine as our lips meet. Our kiss is slow and sensual, but it soon transforms into something more urgent, more desperate, more dangerous,more…
I rake my nails through his hair as I pull him on top of me, hooking my leg around his waist. My mind splinters as I feel how turned on he is—I’m a little unhinged as I tug his hips against mine. He retreats a couple of inches and then sinks back onto me again, establishing a rhythm that continues to press him against me with every deep stroke of his tongue.
I’m wound up so tight, desperate for release.
Suddenly he lifts himself off me, but before I can panic, he’s kissing my neck, my collarbone, the underside of my breast, my stomach.
“What are you doing?” I ask breathlessly.
“Giving in to my curiosity,” he replies roughly as he pushes up my skirt, his eyes like thunderclouds.
I see stars long before they pepper the night sky.
26
I am officially freaking out.I almost had sex with Étienne. Iwouldhave had sex with Étienne if either of us had had protection. It took a monumental effort to stop short, but somehow we’ve managed to cool things down.
We’re getting ready to sleep. Sleep! As if I can sleep when there are wild boars and scorpions around, and that’s not even taking into account a certain Frenchman.
He passes me my hoodie and leggings from the barrel, along with mosquito repellent. I don’t meet his eyes as I spritz myself down and slip on warm clothes, but I’m glad that he put his mouth on mebeforeI applied insect poison to my skin. I’m burning up at the memory.
Seemingly unfazed himself, he lies down and lifts our doubled-up beach-towel blanket, opening his arm to me. I tentatively slide into the space and he brings the towels down, tucking the edges around my body. A second ago I was racked with tension, but now I feel myself softening against the firm warmth of his skin.
I wasn’t expecting this. I know we’ve just been intimate with each other, but this is another level. My head is nestled into thecrook of his strong arm, my cheek resting on his chest. I tilt my hips and slide my leg over his to try to get more comfortable and his other hand comes down to wrap around my thigh, holding me in place. His fingers are rough and I can hear his heart beating. I feel a surge of something inside my chest, and then jitters ramp up again and I go back to feeling edgy.
A splash in the water has me stiffening.
“What’s that?” I whisper with alarm. “Was that a fish?” It sounded too big to be a fish.
“Might have been a beaver. Or an otter.”
“Where?” I sit up, searching for sleek black bodies.
A rustle sounds out from behind and I whip my head around.
“It’s okay,” Étienne whispers as an owl hoots from some distance away.
The forest isnoisy.
I nervously settle back down beside him.
A crackle in the woods. I lift my head to peer into the darkness and almost lose my shit when I see a boar-shaped body in the undergrowth.
