Page 23 of Fight

“If you’re lucky, your crew is tight knit. You spend years on road trips with your friends while trauma bonding, solving unique challenges, and overcoming hardships. I love the landscape I work in, and it’s worth knowing I can protect its health.

“I’ve taken a helicopter into parts of this country that are inaccessible to most people, managed millions of dollars of air resources, rescued people on the worst days of their lives, and am paid to live in a wilderness people shell out big money just to see.”

Wow.

Having only been in their presence for a handful of days, there’s a nomad-like energy they all share. One I respect—and envy. It’s what carried me to Washington. I work up the nerve to look him in the eye and admit something I’ve never said out loud. “I wasted so much of my life staying in one spot. I admire your sense of adventure.”

The two seconds he holds my attention feel like two hours. The air is thick with friction, and his hungry eyes reflect the same need in mine. The sensation of being desired is something I could drown in. I never want to let go of it. There’s nothingartificial or fake about his touch when he grabs me and pulls me into his lap. He’s not just going through the motions with me.

“Do you kiss on the first date?” His voice is rough and gravelly. I’ve never loved my life as much as I do at this moment.

I nod. Cal doesn’t rush, the depth of his gaze is intoxicating. It’s calculated and intentional. His hands travel up my arms, and one palm threads into my hair, the touch potent. His fingers massage over my scalp as he gently grips the strands. My eyes flutter closed. It feels so good. It’s firm and demanding. Passionate in ways I’ve never experienced. His free hand wanders to my lower back and presses me tighter to him.

My eyes open, and he pulls my locks once more. My exhale is a small moan as he brings my mouth to his lips.

It’s an explosion of sexual tension and need, and my brain is filled with sizzling fireworks and exalted hallelujahs. It’s every description of a kiss I’d convinced myself were lies. Itdoesfeel like this.

I’m paralyzed by him. He releases my hair, and with his thumb on my chin, he parts my lips and brands me with his kiss, tasting like caramelized sugar. He groans, and a heat spreads to my center. My hands drift from his shoulders to his chest, where I clutch his shirt. I never want to let go, so I draw him nearer, needing him more than my next breath.

If kissing Callahan feels this incredible, anything more might kill me. His breathy chuckle tells me he’s as surprised by this kiss as I am. His tongue slides across mine, and his hands move to my waist, squeezing my sides and rolling my hips against him. I gasp and pause. Oh my god—he’s hard.For me.The seam on my jeans pushes against my clit, and I close my eyes.

He kisses under my ear, and his teeth scrape the side of my neck. “Still with me?”

“Yeah,” I whisper, out of breath.

He unbuttons and unzips my jeans, then finds the hem of myshirt and pulls it over my head. I unhook my bra, and he slips it off my shoulders and onto the floor.

“Fuck,” he mutters.

My nipples harden as his thumbs brush over them, and he plucks each one as his tongue finds mine.

“With me?” he asks again.

I hum, then he pushes me off him and works my jeans down my legs before sitting back and gazing over my body. I stare back at him and become self-conscious when he says nothing. Lowering my head, I scan over my hips and torso.What’s he looking at?

“You’re a smokeshow.” He smiles bigger and stands, gripping his shirt at the nape of his neck and tugging it off. A tattoo of an eagle clutching a snake in its talons spans his chest. My eyes are lured away when he unbuckles his belt, so I toe off my shoes and kick out of my jeans. He stands and does the same, shucking his pants and boots, and the outline in his boxer briefs is more than I know what to do with. Then he peels my underwear from my legs, and I stumble backward onto the blanket-covered bench. This definitely can’t go back to the camp store. He falls to his knees, and my jaw drops when he shoves my legs apart. Holy shit, he’s bold.

His mouth caresses my inner thigh, then he nips. I jerk, and he grasps behind my knees, dragging me to the edge again. “Still with me?”

I’ve never done this before.

“Yes.”

He kisses up my left thigh as his right hand slides up my other one, and the anticipation multiplies when his thumb traces my entrance. “Always,” I say.Always yes.

He presses two fingers in, and my head falls back, then he pulls out before repeating the motion. I moan as he sucks on my inner thigh and pumps his fingers inside me, he curls them, andmassages a spot I’ve only ever reached with a toy. Crying out, he chuckles.

“What’s funny?” I can barely take a breath.

He pauses from sucking, removing his mouth, and there’s a ring of bruised flesh in its place. “I like the sounds you make.”

I bite my lip.

He sits back and watches while he torments me. It’s so seductive. He adds another finger, and my face floods with pink as the wetness echoes through the ambulance.

“Unreal,” he smiles. “All I’ve thought about is eating your pussy. I’ve been craving it all fucking night.” He yanks me closer and seals his mouth over me, trailing his tongue over my clit and staring up at me from between my legs.

“Holy,” I mumble, trembling. I want to scream. I take in the image of him licking between my thighs and the fire in his eyes as he does it. I get the impression he knows exactly what this is doing to me and can’t get enough.

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