Page 51 of Through The Woods

“You damn sure did, honey.” I opened my eyes to see that Charm had not gotten out to go get our clothes, as he’d promised, but was instead swimming closer to me, a big smile plastered across his face.

Five.

I’d made him smile five times now.

My teeth chattered from the water and I kicked my feet to try and warm myself up. “I’m dying of hypothermia over here. Weren’t you going to get our clothes?”

Please don’t come any closer.

I wasn’t capable of fighting my feelings anymore. Not when he looked at me like that.

Charm grinned as he moved ever closer. “You’re shivering. That’s a good indicator that you’re not hypothermic.”

My mouth dropped open. “How did you know that?”

He reached out and pulled me closer to him, rubbing my arms to get the blood flowing. “I’ve been doing some reading lately—you know, science stuff.”

I bobbed my head and murmured, “Science stuff.”

Something softened in Charm’s expression as he watched me piece it together and I suddenly felt hot in spite of the frigid water.

His hand came up and cupped my cheek and then his mouth was on mine. It didn’t matter how many times I’d imagined it; nothing lived up to the reality of him kissing me. It was like jumping off of that cliff all over again. He kissed like he wrote—with a fiery passion that I’d never experienced before or ever would again in my lifetime.

My lips parted as his tongue pushed its way past my lips, taking anything and everything I had to offer while his hand held my head immobile. The stubble on his face was abrasive, but I was lost in the moment, too far gone to care. He reluctantly pulled back and my numb fingertips trailed across his pecs, as he lightly kissed a trail down the curve of my neck.

I forgot about the cold and guided his mouth back up to mine, wrapping my arms around his neck as I pulled him closer. My legs locked around his waist and my hips rolled forward, seeking. His hands explored my body before connecting with my ass. With a low growl against my lips, he dug in, crushing me up against what I’d sought only moments before.

I could’ve stayed like that for an eternity, but then I thought of the girl from the notebook and the heat that had flooded my body was replaced with guilt.

Rae.

I forced myself to use her name. She wasn’t just some girl; she possessed something that I never could—his heart.

And this was wrong.

I abruptly pulled away. “I can’t.”

He leaned back, panting, as beads of water ran down his face. I expected him to argue, but he didn’t. He just stared down at me, as if waiting for an explanation.

I continued rambling. “It’s just that these stitches—Doc said not to submerge them and well, I’m pretty sure that this counts as submersion.”

I’d been cleared for weeks and the stitches had dissolved even before then, but I couldn’t give him the real reason without revealing my duplicitous behavior.

Charm nodded and began paddling toward the edge. “I’ll just grab your clothes.”

He climbed out and shook himself off, still refusing to make eye contact with me.

I was trying to lighten the somber mood that had settled over us, so I said the first stupid thing that popped into my head. “That water is ridiculously cold, isn’t it?”

He glanced down at the front of his boxer briefs and then scowled. “It wasn’t that cold.”

I hadn’t meant it like that, but I snorted with laughter regardless, before slipping underwater. When I resurfaced, Charm was trudging angrily up the trail toward our clothes.

“Come back. It’s cool.” I called up to him with a giggle as I pulled myself up onto the warm rocks near the edge. Thanks to a steady diet of sweets and the effects of the artic water, my breasts were fighting to break free from the confines of my bra.

I laid back and let the stone warm my back, my teeth still chattering, from both the water and my close encounter of the Charm kind. I’d messed everything up. Why couldn’t he have just been an asshole? Why’d he have to go and show an interest in my life? And where was Rae? She’d gotten sick, but that didn’t mean anything. I hadn’t built up the courage to skip ahead in the journal again.

Maybe deep down I didn’t want the truth.

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