Page 166 of Burn the Wild

When I reach her, I don’t say anything.

I just kiss her.

A whimper tumbles from her mouth as I ease back from her lips. My pulse racing, I drink her in. My beautiful, lovely girl.

There are no words for what she’s done for me.

I lift her in my arms, stroking my fingers over the curve of her spine. Her legs wrap around my waist. It’s cold in the water, but it feels like she’s burning against my body.

“Do you know why I love the water?” she asks.

A ragged breath draws from my lungs. “Reese—”

“Because it feels like starting over. Everything bad gets washed away. But I stay and get to try again. I can always keep trying.”

I kiss her again, a greedy need hammering at my control. An ache building in my chest. “Tell me this is real,” I rasp against her hair. It’s as close as I can get to saying those three little words. “Tell me.”

“It’s as real as the stars,” she whispers. Tentative green eyes flick to mine. “But stars go out.”

“Nah, baby. Not us.” She laughs as I haul her higher on my body. Her breasts draw my eye. Full and gorgeous and rosy. “We burn.” My rough voice is heated and firm.

Her eyes fill with tears. “We do?”

“Fuck yes.” A burn lights in my chest. “I care more about you than I do anyone else on this planet, Reese.”

“Ford,” she whispers.

I trail my nose along her jaw, kiss her cheek, her throat. Tangled blonde strands drip down her shoulders like honey. I try to rein in my hunger.

Our kisses turn frantic, heated. Her moans mingle with mine. I hold her tight, urgent, like I’m physically unable to let her go. Need more Reese. Need her closer. Pressed to my heart, my bones. That bond I felt from the second we met. Incomparable. Insatiable.

We both laugh as Reese slips into the water. I grab her before she can go under and adjust her in my arms.

“Better hold on to me, County Boy,” she teases. “If I die, Gavin gets everything.”

I shake my head, half-laughing, half-horrified. “Jesus, Birdie, that’s morbid as fuck.”

She wiggles her brows. “It’s the truth, but not for long. I am going to fly.”

Fly away.

Fuck that.

I have to tell her I love her. That I don’t remember what my world felt like without her.

I wet my lips. “Reese, I—”

“Ford,” she whispers, tensing. She points over my shoulder. “Someone’s in the forest.”

I whip around, protectively placing myself in front of Reese.What the fuck?

That’s when I see a shadowy figure moving in the woods, hear the snap of twigs beneath their feet.

“Stay here,” I warn.

I snatch up my pants, dressing quickly before I race to the edge of the tree line. With only the moonlight, it’s too dark to see properly. I wait a beat or two, scoping out the area, not breathing. Unnerved.

When I return to the lake, Reese is dressed and shivering, arms wrapped around her waist. I slip my dry flannel over her shoulders.

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