The jungle is alreadyalive with morning light when I wake. The waterfall continues its steady roar before us, a constant white noise that never quite fades, even in sleep.
Sienna is curled against my side on the throw blanket, one leg draped over mine, her head tucked under my chin. Her breathing is low and even, her skin warm against mine despite the early-morning coolness in the air.
I don’t move.
I just lie there, my arm wrapped around her shoulders, staring up at the cracked rock ceiling above us.
Yesterday replays behind my eyelids in vivid detail: the way she tasted, the sounds she made when she came, how she rode me with her head thrown back, moaning my name. The way she looked afterward—soft, dazed, and completely open, as if she’d let me see every chaotic, beautiful part of her.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in our own little world. Eating from the picnic basket, swimming under the falls and letting the cool spray wash over us, laughing like idiots when the current pushed and tumbled us around like we weighed nothing.
Then we talked.
We talked about everything and nothing all at once.
Dreams we’d never told anyone else. Goals that felt too big or too fragile to say out loud in the real world. Accomplishments we were proud of. Fears we rarely admitted even to ourselves.
She told me about her restlessness and the way she always felt the need to move before things got comfortable. I told her about the pressure of building Reyes Tech from nothing and the fear that if I ever stopped pushing, everything I’d worked for would crumble.
It was perfect. Peaceful in a way I hadn’t felt in years. The kind of easy, unguarded conversation that made hours disappear without us noticing.
As the sky turned deep indigo and stars appeared overhead, we accepted that help probably wasn’t coming anytime soon. Neither of us bothered to check our phones for signal. We curled up together on the throw, her body fitting perfectly against mine, and fell asleep to the sound of the waterfall.
Now the sun is up, and reality is starting to creep back in.
I shift carefully, not wanting to wake her, and check my phone. Still no signal. We’ve been gone for nearly twenty-four hours. Someone should have noticed we’re missing—the guy from the shack, Ethan and Aria…anyone. A search party is probably already out looking for us. Or at least, that’s what I hope.
Part of me is relieved.
Most of me is… sad.
I don’t want to leave this alcove. I don’t want to go back to pretending yesterday was just a heat-of-the-moment thing. I don’t want to smile politely and act like everything hasn’t changed when, in fact, Sienna Harlow has completely upended my life in less than a week.
I look down at her. Her face is soft in sleep, lips slightly parted, lashes dark against her cheeks. Like she can feel my gazeon her, she stirs, eyelashes fluttering. When her eyes open and find mine, a sleepy smile curves her lips.
“Morning,” she whispers, her voice husky.
“Morning,” I murmur, brushing a curl from her forehead.
She stretches against me, body arching, breasts pressing into my chest. My cock twitches instantly. She feels it, and her eyes darken with that same hunger from yesterday.
“Round two?” she asks, her voice teasing but breathy.
I groan, rolling her beneath me before I can think better of it. “You’re going to kill me.”
I kiss her, savoring how she melts into me. Her hands glide up my back and curl into the hair at my nape. When I finally pull away, we’re both breathing harder.
“Come on,” I say reluctantly, resting my forehead against hers. “We should probably figure out how to get back.”
She pouts dramatically. “But what if I want to stay another night out here with you?”
“As tempting as that sounds,” I murmur against her lips. “There’s probably already a search party out there looking for us.”
She groans, and after pulling me down for another kiss, she finally agrees to start getting ready. We dress quietly, the intimacy of the night still thick between us. Once we are packed, we hike back to the stranded ATV in comfortable silence. Sienna stays close, her hand occasionally brushing mine.
Every touch feels electrified and deliberate.
When we reach the ATV, it’s exactly as we left it—sadly tilted, with two shredded tires.
