Page 86 of Ten Mountain Men

And inevitably I’m going to…

Yep, here I go.

Plummeting.

What goes up, must come down, and down I go, gracelessly, into the water, which feels much like I would imagine high-fiving a brick wall with my entire body.

I’m disoriented for a minute, and then another, different set of big, burly arms is hauling me to the surface. I blink, sputtering into a Björnsson brother’s face. After pushing hanks of sopping hair out of my face and wiping at my waterlogged eyes, I see that it’s Ranger holding me. He really does have the bluest eyes in the history of blue eyes. And those lips.

“Quite the entrance there, darlin’,” he says with a smile. “You alright?”

“Sorry, sunshine. Was just trying to get you out of your head!” Hunter calls before cannonballing into the water himself. “You good?”

“Let’s just say that I like the kind of surprise you gave me earlier much better,” I tease.

Brooks lets out a howl and dives into the water too.

“We’re all a bit feral,” Ranger says. “You sure you’re up for this?”

I reach up and stroke his neatly trimmed beard, so different from the gnarled condition it was in when I first saw him, when he was hiding all of that handsome face behind it. “Oh, Range. I think the question is, are you up for it?” I playfully say with a wiggle of my brows.

He smirks. “I sure as hell am. In every possible way.”

What am I doing?

It’s like they bring out some kind of inner nymphomaniac I’ve been hiding behind my virginity. A wild vixen, ready to go. I never flirt. Not seriously. And yet, as much as I’m teasing, it feels like a prelude to my deepest desires. God, I’m so wet, outside and in.

I glance over my shoulder in the direction Luke stomped off. There’s no sign of him, even though his stomp was so powerful I’m surprised there isn’t a trail of pine trees knocked down in his wake.

As if reading my thoughts, Ranger says, “He’ll come around.”

And if he doesn’t?

Well. It’s not like I’m staying forever. But still. This is his home and his family. And there’s that annoying part of me that wants him to like me. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable.

I bite my lip for a second, then release it. Ranger runs his thumb over the teeth marks I’ve left behind. “Are your lips as kissable as they look, Goldie Locke?”

Are they? I hope so. I haven’t exfoliated or added any kind of lip softening oil since my journey into the woods, so I can’t imagine they’re remotely close to perfect. But as his mouth meets mine, and a groan escapes him, my lips seem to be just right.

It’s astounding how he can taste so darn good, and when his tongue gently slips past my lips and tangles with mine, I finally understand the definition oforgasmic. It’s Ranger, and his kiss of pure sexual delight.

The moan his kiss pulls from deep in my throat is obscene, and he finally pulls away, leaving us both to stare at each other, our chests heaving, breathless.

He glances down and I follow his gaze. Oh. I could definitely win a wet T-shirt contest.

“May I?” he asks.

We were talking about something before we kissed, but I can’t remember what, so I nod and he puts those big hands on my breasts, thumbing my rock-hard nipples through the see-through, flimsy fabric.

For a long moment, I completely forget that we aren’t the only ones in the woods, at the river, on this entire mountain…but then.

“Luke!” I cry out, at the most inopportune time because under the water, Ranger’s cock brushes against my stomach.

Unless it was an eel. It was huge enough that it could’ve been one of those monster Amazonian eels that…

“Um, I’m Ranger,” he says with one of his thick brows raised.

“No, I mean—” A giggle escapes me. “I knowyou’reRanger. I just meant, before that kiss…we were talking about Luke. Do you think there’s a chance that maybe he’s not going back to the cabin, after all, but that he’s really going to the big cave?”

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