Page 30 of Mountain Men Heroes

But just because her father came off as a hopeless romantic with her mother didn’t mean he understood Remy’s need to explore. Or why she needed to run off to Alaska, as he put it. But he supported her even if he did shake his head at her the whole time he kissed and hugged her goodbye at the airport.

Sun draped across the open field and across the pristine blue expanse of water as though precious gems scattered across the surface. She loved the heat and the way the light warmed her from the inside out. After an unusually long winter, she made it a personal goal to soak up all the sunshine she could get.

Remy let her eyelids slip closed as she raised her face. Used to sand and brine, the fresh mountain air was a welcomed change.

Ethan brushed a hand over her shoulder and pointed to an elk splashing and playing in the water several yards from them.

“Maybe a dip in the water is just what the doctor ordered?” Ethan spoke up beside her, placing her satchel on the ground and moving in with a mischievous smile.

Anything else he had to say got lost as she devoured his easy glide and the way his pants clung to his hips. He’d pulled off his shirt several yards back on their hike and she’d had a hard time looking away since.

Now, the sunlight caught every dip and contour of the man’s well-formed body. He proved hard to resist. The truth of the matter was, the closer he came, the hotter the air sizzled. So hot her skin flushed with a heat she couldn’t blame on the warm weather. Another foot closer and she wouldn’t be responsible for showing him her bad girl charms could match his play for play.

But, they were here for a job and they only had so many hours in the day for the wicked ideas she saw in his expression.

She backed a couple of steps away from the water’s edge and shot him a wide-eyed look. “Don’t you dare! We’re here to work. You know that thing we do to make a living and the whole point of my being here?”

“Ah, yes. You mean you’re not here because I placed an order with the Universe for a raven-haired beauty in cutoffs, a messy ponytail, and the sexiest blue scarf?” Ethan fingered the soft material of her scarf before he reached around to playfully tug the long strands of her ponytail hanging down her back. He chuckled, the deep rumble smoothed over her like a tall glass of iced tea. But that wasn’t what had her heart sputtering to a stop mid-beat.

The dimples on that man. She barely managed to hold back a silly high school sigh. With a gasp, Remy pressed up on her toes as Ethan swept down briefly and curled an arm around her waist.

“Be careful, the scarf comes off like everything else,” she teased in a husky tone she didn’t recognize as her own as he scooped her into his arms. Before she knew it, her feet had left the ground and he had his lips on hers. One leg at a time, she curled herself around his waist and every nerve ending in her body remembered the last time he was between her thighs only an hour before.

She rocked her hips in small circles and felt the length of his shaft grow hard against the vee of her thighs.

“You’re a dangerous girl, Remy Dalton. Pure sin and temptation. It’s what makes you taste so sweet.”

With the free hand not clutching her protective water gear, she ran her fingers through the mass of thick chestnut hair and groaned at the soft feel as it feathered through her fingers. “You’re not so bad yourself.” She shrugged. “For a mountain man, ya know.” A sly smile inched the corners of her lips up when he pulled back in surprise. She nipped his lower lip with a playful tug before unhooking her legs.

“Liar,” he teased, coming in for another quick kiss.

“Nope. I just might have to stay a little longer until I get my fill.”

Her words caused every muscle under her palms to flex and it took a lot of self-control not to let him have his way with her right here, right now. All he had to do was dial her number with those simmering golden eyes of his and she’d be hung up forever.

“No going back after you’ve had a Savage man, Doc,” he crooned close to her ear as he lightly deposited her back on Tierra Firma with a final kiss to the tip of her nose and a rueful grin. “It’s the way lust goes.”

He moved away from her and just as fast as he stirred the fires, they died down. Something was off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Ever since they crawled out of bed he’d been a little distant. Not wanting to make too much eye contact and even now with her light teases, he didn’t take the bait.

She scrunched her nose. “Doc, huh?” She paused with her thumbs hooked in her back pockets and away from the trouble he conjured in her. “Did you practice that line since junior high?” She flicked over her shoulder as she turned to gather her gear.

Over the past few weeks of their friends with benefits scenario when she sensed things get too serious, he’d stack an invisible wall and hide behind jokes and her profession rather than her name. It took a while for her to read the clues, but she got the hint after one night of hanging out at his brother’s bar. One slow dance and what would have been a night of salacious orgasms and breaking headboards back at her house turned into him needing to prepare for a climb the next day and a, “See you later, Doc.” Before hitting the door.

He didn’t want personal, only fun times. She got that really, but the little pang that pierced her heart told another story.

She blew out a deep breath through her nose. Frustration wanted to break the happy bubble encasing their early morning and now the beautiful hike, but she dashed it away. She’d never understand him. Not now and maybe not a year from now when she looked back on her time in Alaska.

For her sanity, maybe it was better to stay in the here and now.

“Here, hold these, will you?” Remy handed over her environmental testing kit and bent down to pull on her knee-high waders.

Too much contact with him would end up with them both taking in massive amounts of sunlight with their naked bodies, which she wasn’t opposed to, but the way he slipped those damn aviator glasses over his eyes gave her pause. He stood over her, his attention sliding to the surrounding wooded areas.

After kicking off her hiking shoes, Remy plopped down in the soft grass and craned her head back. Shielding her eyes from the sunlight, she watched one large brow arch over the rim of his sunglasses.

With a soft touch to her cheek where a dimple was located on his own, she kept her tone light. “I bet you use those angel kisses on everyone, don’t you? I’m simply the latest victim. Admit it. You’ve lured me to the backwoods where no one can hear my screams.”

He stared down at her for a moment before his face took on the same shocked look he got when accused of pulling a prank on his unsuspecting siblings. He gasped with the full hand-to-the chest effect and let his mouth fall open. What a faker. But he made her smile, and the way his grin spread across his lips worked magic on dissolving the hurt feelings from a moment ago.

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