Page 8 of His Stormy Seduction

I can feel her getting close, her body tensing and coiling like a spring. I slide a second finger inside of her, curling them up to hit that sweet spot deep inside of her. Bonnie's moans turn to screams, her body convulsing as she comes, her muscles clenching and spasming around my fingers as I continue to pleasure her, swallowing each rapturous pulse and spasm.

I slowly slide my fingers out of her, my tongue gentling as I savor the last few shudders of her orgasm. Bonnie's legs give out, and I catch her, lowering her gently to the floor in front of the fire. I lay down next to her, my body still humming with desire as I pull her into my arms, trailing hot, open kisses along her glistening skin.

Bonnie's eyes are heavy-lidded with satiety, lips parted and swollen from our frenzied kisses as she gazes up at me through those thick fan of lashes. The sight has a rumble resonating from deep within my chest—a purely masculine satisfaction at having thoroughly ravaged her.

"You're incredible," she murmurs, fingers tracing the sharp line of my jaw with feather-light reverence.

I turn my head to press a lingering kiss to her palm. "You are,” I tell her. “And I plan on showing you over and over again.”

Her pupils blow wide at the blatant promise in my words, that lush lower lip getting captured beneath her teeth. Christ, the things this woman does to my restraint...

Gathering her pliant form against me once more, I nuzzle into the sensitive curve where her neck meets her shoulder. "Rest now. Let me take care of you."

Bonnie's fingers trail through the damp strands at my nape as she nestles closer with a contented hum. "Just for a little while..."

The husky murmur is already thick with the pull of impending slumber. I can't resist the urge to place one last kiss just above the throb of her pulse point before resting my cheek against her disheveled crown. Outside, the rain has gentled to a steady patter, the rumbles of thunder fading into the distance.

Just this once, I'll let my ever-watchful guard down and simply... be. Here. Now. With Bonnie warm and sated in my arms.

But the respite doesn't last long.

"We should go," she mumbles against my chest some indeterminable time later, already stirring with that restless energy. "I'll need to get my shots while the light is still good after the storm."

My eyes snap open, instantly on alert as my protective instincts kick into high gear. "Absolutely not," I growl without hesitation. "The trails will be treacherous and unstable. We're not going anywhere until it's been properly assessed and secured."

Bonnie pulls back with a frown, all traces of her post-orgasm languor vanishing like smoke. "Don't be so overcautious. I've shot in way worse conditions than this."

"This isn't a joke or a game," I snap, unable to rein in my frustration. "People die out there all the time by underestimating the risks. I have a responsibility to keep you safe out here whether you like it or not."

"Keep me safe?" Bonnie lets out a derisive scoff, extracting herself from my embrace as she surges to her feet. "How do you figure that to be your responsibility?"

The bitterness in her tone lances straight through me. Doesn't she realize that the mere thought of her in harm's way is enough to bring me to my knees?

But Bonnie is already stalking away, grabbing her clothes with sharp, agitated movements. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for your permission."

Panic surges through my veins, replacing my anger with a cold, clenching dread. Visions of a thousand worst-case scenarios flash through my mind in rapid secession—Bonnie lying broken and bleeding in some desolate ravine, at the bottom of some lake, trapped beneath a rockslide.

The terror must show on my face because her glare softens slightly around the edges. But that stubborn jut still tilts her chin in defiance.

"I'm going to the Falcon's View Trail," Bonnie states in a tone that allows no argument. "You can come if you want, but you can't stop me."

Then she grabs her pack and strides for the door, leaving me staring after her in a haze of stunned disbelief and bone-deep worry.

No.

My legs are moving without conscious thought, propelling me after her before she can disappear. She is the wildfire, and I am the desperate ranger stubbornly giving chase no matter how badly I'm destined to get burned.

With a grim sense of inevitability, I follow her.

The trail is just as hazardous as I'd feared—narrow as a goat's path with steep drop-offs plunging into oblivion on either side. Loose scree and gravel shift treacherously underfoot, the aftermath of the pounding storm rendering even familiar terrain unpredictable.

"Be careful," I caution in a low rumble, watching Bonnie navigate the treacherous path ahead of me. "That last deluge will have destabilized everything. One wrong step..."

"Relax, Rambo," she tosses over her shoulder.

I grit my teeth against the urge to snap back a retort. Reminding myself that getting into it with Bonnie right now would only divide my attention from keeping her safe.

Still, with every jarring crunch of shifting rock and debris, my heart lurches into my throat. The looming ridge of the Falcons' View formation dominates the horizon now, its jagged peaks seeming to mock me.

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