Page 62 of 5 Golden Flings

How was that possible? Autumn would have hollered in pain the minute her pinky toe hit the water.

She had no idea how long he stayed in there. Minutes that felt like an eternity. He stood, water streaming down his hard body,following the mountains and plains of his ripped physique. Was it bad that she wanted to lean forward and lick her tongue along the same path?

Completely unaware of her wayward thoughts, Noah shook shining droplets of moisture from his dark hair. “God, I needed that.”

Autumn’s mouth was dry as the desert, or else she would have said…something.

Using his shirt to dry the moisture from his body, Noah slipped back into his clothes. She tried very hard not to be disappointed, or pay attention to the way everything clung to his wet skin now.

Swallowing, she said, “I can find you some dry things at the resort.”

“Nah, I’m fine, but thanks.”

Sure. Yeah. Whatever. God, what was wrong with her? This man had broken her heart and all it had taken for her brain to melt and turn into mush was him stripping almost naked.

She was too damn old to let her libido rule her brain.

Or maybe she hadn’t let her libido overrule her brain enough lately and Noah just happened to be the first healthy male body she’d seen in a while.

Yep, that was it.

“Why don’t we walk back before you die of pneumonia. Harry would kill me.”

His lips twisted. “She’d kill us both.” Sweeping his hand out, Noah indicated she should lead the way back down the path.

Autumn blamed her still scrambled brain for what happened next. If she’d been on top of her game, it never would have. She’d walked this path a million times, knew it like the back of her hand, so that was the only explanation as to why she found herself tripping over a tree root jutting into the path.

One minute she was walking and the next…somehow she was tight in Noah’s arms.

Her entire world tipped sideways. Literally.

His arms were tight bands of steel, the only thing keeping her from smacking hard into the ground. Dampness from his wet shirt seeped into her skin, followed right behind by a heat she hadn’t felt in years. Fifteen to be exact.

Noah’s jaw tightened. Something dark and needy roiled through the depths of his blue eyes, turning them into a storming ocean.

Air labored through Autumn’s tight lungs, not from her near fall, but from the feel of him touching her.

His hold on her gentled. Morphed from savior to caress. His mouth was just centimeters away from her own. The soft brush of his breath teased across her open lips.

God, she wanted him to touch her. More. She wanted to taste him. To remember. To feel and just be alive with him in a way no other man had ever given her.

“Tell me to stop,” he murmured, giving her several heartbeats to make up her mind. She should say no, but the word simply wouldn’t form.

His mouth brushed hers, soft and seeking at first. It didn’t take long for the hunger they both remembered to rear up and take over.

Autumn opened for him, giving him permission, asking him to take. And he didn’t disappoint. His mouth and tongue were an assault on her senses. He teased and devoured, nibbled and demanded.

Somehow, she went from prone in his arms to her back pressed tight against a nearby tree. And still, she wanted more.

His hands roamed her body, testing and touching. The warmth of his fingers somehow found the soft curve of her hip and belly.

It wasn’t until she felt the sweep of his caress moving up the line of her inner thigh that reality hit with the same cold spray of the waterfall she could still hear gurgling in the background.

Palms flat to his chest, Autumn pushed him away.

Noah didn’t fight or cajole, he simply let her go, his hands staying on her hips only long enough to ensure she was steady before dropping away.

Neither of them said anything, they both simply watched. Autumn’s skin tingled and her mouth throbbed with the need for more. But she wasn’t about to give in – to him or herself.

---