Page 63 of Fire Peak

Somewhere in the midst of her arousal, she found time to get his underwear off, and the rest of her own clothes. Being naked together in the daylight like this felt very…raw. Very vulnerable. And yet somehow perfect for two people who were so used to hiding their true selves.

Were she and Nick perfect for each other? What a shocking thought.

It disappeared in the mist of arousal and the flurry of caresses, until she blinked back to awareness to find her hand on his erection and her breasts flattened against his chest, her heart racing and her blood pumping.

“I’ve been thinking about the best way to do this,” Nick told her, his voice thick with lust. “I came up with a few options.”

“Really? You’ve been researching ways to have sex with someone with an arrow wound?”

“A back-of-the-thigh wound,” he corrected. “Here, let me run you through the options.” With firm, capable, gentle hands, he brought her onto her hands and knees. “How does this feel? I could kind of, lie under you. Or this might work.” He settled himself behind her, but that made her wince when his thigh brushed hers. “I saw that. Scratch that. Come here.”

He drew her up onto her knees so they were face to face. No contact with her thigh. Lots of skin touching skin, hot hard flesh against her mound…oh yes. This would work. “I like this,” she murmured against his lips.

“Get ready to love it,” he growled back at her.

And boy, did she ever. Once he slipped that condom on, there was nothing stopping them from doing what she now realized they’d been heading toward since that first moment in the park. His muscles tensed and flexed under her hands, the sweat rose on his bare back, and when he touched her deep within, she let out a whimper of need. They rocked together like that, his hands on her ass, moving her against him, careful to keep from straying down to her bandage.

Always so thoughtful, even when he was coming close to his peak. She felt him surge within her, finding a spot that made stars spangle across her vision. She flexed her hips, meeting his movements with equal force. The climax was close, so close, they were climbing that peak, rising higher and higher, reaching for the stars, the flames, the brilliance. The fiery peak.

When she came, so hard she bonked her head against his chin, something flashed through her mind. An idea. An inkling. A moment later, it was gone in the fountains of sparks still exploding through her system.

Trembling from that soul-searing release, she sagged against his body. He slid his arms up her back to support her. They panted into each other’s necks, sweat gluing their bodies together.

Now she was grateful for the breeze from the open window—even if an arrow came through. Maybe one had, in fact, straight from Cupid’s bow.

She snorted at that ridiculous thought. She wasn’t the Cupid’s arrow type. Robin Hood, maybe. Cupid, no. Nick pulled away to meet her gaze. His dark eyes were still heavy with lust, his hair gone wavy from their shared heat. He looked adorable. “What did that sound mean?”

“Nothing. Just a random thought. You know how sometimes weird thoughts float through your mind during sex? Or after it?”

He cocked his head. “Not really. I just focus on the woman.”

A surprising spike of jealousy hit her. Who were these women he liked to focus on? Don’t be silly. He’s a grown man. He even has a child.

“That works,” she said lightly. She extracted herself from their entangled position, which was starting to make the front of her thighs ache. Glancing out the window, she saw the ruddy glint of sun striking one of the rock faces on the upper slopes of Fire Peak. Such interesting colors there. Was it the vegetation? Or the rock itself?

“I just want you to know, this isn’t my normal MO with a client,” Nick said gruffly.

She startled, all her worries about her father flooding back. The job they wanted her to do. The twenty-four hours.

“Did you talk to your contact at Hobbs?”

“I did. They’re going to drop it.”

She sat bolt upright, blanket held to her chest. Solved, just like that? “What did they want?”

“They wanted you to steal some proprietary data from a competitor. Completely illegal, as we feared. We worked it out, and they promised to stay away from your father and leave you alone and find someone else to do their dirty work.”

None of this made sense. After tracking her down, chasing her to Alaska, scaring her father, now they were just going to drop it? “Why? How? What did you do?”

“I can’t talk about it. But it’s real. I swear on my life.”

She stared at him, his strong body, his dark eyes, his full lips. His body was stretched long under the covers, his hands were interlaced behind his head, and his expression gave away nothing.

“I want to know. I’m the client. Don’t I have the right to know?”

“You said you trusted me to take care of it. I took care of it. One of the conditions was that I not share any details. I’m sorry, I know that’s probably going to drive you crazy. But can you find a way to let it go? Accept the good news and move on?”

She should feel grateful. And she did, in a distant kind of way. But there was something else, too. A kind of…shame? She always took care of her own messes. Letting other people in felt wildly uncomfortable. Nick knew everything about her now, even more than her best friends.

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