This was all true. Valerie was right; Adrienne wouldn’t survive there, at least not year-round. But that wasn’t the point of this. “I’m trying to tell you that I have feelings for you,” Adrienne huffed. “I’ll go wherever you go, even if it means getting on a plane to Alaska. I love you.”
“You do?” Valerie asked, looking utterly shell-shocked. But was it really that shocking? Adrienne had literally lain naked on hard ground, hair in dirt, with Valerie sitting on her face. If that wasn’t love, then what was?
“Yes, I do, you fool,” Adrienne said, exasperated but so fricken relieved she was getting this elephant off her chest. “I was going to tell you last night, after the party, when we could finally be alone, but you left. I looked everywhere for you.”
“I love you too,” Valerie cut in. She lifted a hand toward Adrienne’s face like she was going to caress her cheek, and although Adrienne craved her touch like a double cheeseburger, she wasn’t going to let Valerie off the hook that easily.
She stepped back right before Valerie’s hand could land. “Then why did you run away?”
Valerie dropped her arm to her side. “I...” She shook her head, sank down onto the edge of the plastic airport chair, and exhaled. “When Vivian called out Isla and Safiya’s names yesterday, it felt like my world was crumbling down. LosingOutlast Herwas different for me than it was for you. You don’t care about the money. I care about it a lot. I needed that money not just for me, but for my parents. I need to look after them, and although they would never ask me to, I want to help them. I want to live close to them.” She let out a ragged sigh. “We live such different lives, Adrienne. I’m happy with a quiet life on the water, with a good boat and enough to pay the bills. Your family owns yachts and private planes, and you holiday with celebrities. We aren’t compatible. I guess it was easier to leave without saying goodbye properly because if I waited, I’d convince myself that I didn’t have to say goodbye, that we could actually make this work.”
Adrienne had expected as much, which was why she wasn’t surprised. But that didn’t mean she accepted it. Every time she looked at Valerie and stared into those sea-glass green eyes,experienced her fiery touch, and listened to her singsong laugh, she felt a stubborn ache flare in her chest. Valerie saw her in a way no one else did. She could never let that go.
“The only reason I don’t care about winningOutlast Heris because I’d already won. I won you,” Adrienne said. She realized it as the words left her mouth. The title ofUltimate Outlast Herwas nothing in comparison to what she felt for Valerie. Nothing. “I care about you. I love you.”
“Adrienne...”
But before Valerie could finish, Adrienne grabbed the lapels of Valerie’s denim jacket and pulled her up into a kiss so fierce that Valerie let out a soft gasp against Adrienne’s lips. Then her arms wound tightly around Adrienne’s waist, and she pulled her flush, and Adrienne could almost feel every ounce of doubt Valerie carried seep off her body and onto the floor.
“You know this is a cliché, right?” Valerie muttered a minute or so later against Adrienne’s mouth. Her breath was warm and tasted like coffee and cinnamon buns. “The whole confessing-your-love-at-an-airport thing.”
“Tamera approved it,” Adrienne whispered back, her fingers tangled in the dark strands at the nape of Valerie’s neck.
“Tamera?” Valerie asked, frowning.
“Never mind,” Adrienne said, laughing. Then she pulled Valerie back in and kissed her like no one was watching.
Epilogue
Sixteen months later
The painting arrived three hours before Valerie’s parents were due for lunch.
It was bigger than she remembered, still propped against the living room wall in a wooden crate. The large painted pine trees twisted toward a pale Greek sky, their branches bent by wind Valerie could almost feel on her skin. Valerie stood barefoot in the middle of the room, staring at the painting while her body remembered the forest before the pulse between her legs had the chance to behave. She could nearly feel the rough bark against her back, smell the salt in Adrienne’s hair, and hear the moaning sounds they’d both tried and failed to swallow. One glance at those pines, and Valerie wanted Adrienne’s mouth on her all over again.
Behind her, Adrienne made a soft humming sound. Then came the slow slide of her palm around Valerie’s waist, her body warm against Valerie’s back. There were no cameras trying to catch them being exactly as reckless as they wanted to be, and no games to be played.
Adrienne’s mouth brushed the side of Valerie’s neck. “Tell me what you’re thinking about.”
Valerie’s breath caught, but she didn’t look away from the painting. “The rough bark against my back,” she said. “Your hands on my thighs. And how much better it would feel against this wall with you on your knees.”
Adrienne’s fingers tightened at her waist, and for one delicious second, neither of them moved.
Then Valerie turned, and whatever restraint Adrienne had left vanished. She caught Valerie’s wrists, pinned them to the wall, and kissed her with the same hunger that had ruined them both in that forest. Her mouth dragged from Valerie’s lips to her jaw, then down her neck, slow enough to make Valerie’s hands curl at the wrists.
Valerie tipped her head back against the wall. “Don’t tease.”
Adrienne smiled against her throat. “I wasn’t planning to. My plan was actually to fuck you until you can no longer stand.”
Her hands slid beneath Valerie’s shirt and pushed it up, breaking the kiss only long enough to pull it over Valerie’s head. The bra went next, tossed somewhere near the open crate before Adrienne stripped off her own shirt with far less patience. Then her mouth was back on Valerie’s skin, lower this time, while Valerie’s fingers tangled hard in her hair.
She kissed each nipple on her way down, hands firm on Valerie’s hips, taking her time in a way that made Valerie’s knees already feel dangerously useless.
The painting sat only a few feet away, those twisted pines watching from inside the crate, while Adrienne sank to her knees. Adrienne’s fingers were already at the button of Valerie’s pants, opening them slowly, like she had all the time in the world and every intention of using it.
Adrienne drew Valerie’s zipper down, then slid the pants over her hips slowly enough to make Valerie’s breath catch. Valerie stepped out of them one foot at a time, barely trusting her balance with Adrienne looking up at her like she was about to devour her. The pants landed beside the crate, forgotten the second Adrienne’s hands returned to Valerie’s thighs. Adrienne parted them with firm hands, then leaned in and ran her tongue over Valerie’s center.
“Yes,” Valerie breathed, her head falling back against the wall. “That’s exactly what I was thinking about.”
