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“Yes.” She squirmed beside me, grazing her alluring backside against my trousers.

Fuck.

I bit back on the moan that tried to escape my mouth. Had she done that on purpose, or was it just the action of a woman attempting to get comfortable?

Curled around her in the shadows, there was no way of knowing, but it didn’t change reality. She did need to rest—we both did. I was pretty damn certain there’d be no sleep on the horizon for me, especially if she was going to writhe that way all night.

We lay there together in silence, both pretending to sleep, when I suspected we were both wide awake. I could hear her rapid breaths and feel the tension in her body as she, presumably, consciously considered each move at my side. Suddenly, her senses seemed heightened, as if she was well aware of how each precarious wriggle might affect me. Inching my head closer to hers on the pillow, I breathed in her delightful aroma again, thankful for the good fortune that had found me there in bed with her.

It had been a long time since I’d been in bed with any woman.

Too long.

I’d started to wonder if I would ever know that delight again, but then James’s job had landed in my inbox—a thousand bucks for taking four city-dwellers around the park for the day—and it had been too good to refuse. I’d snapped up the offer, wanting the cash, and generally, enjoying the work.

The forest was an old friend of mine and one I respected. I’d been living in and around it for so long that taking tourists under my wing had become a necessary, if laborious, part of my life.

“Thank you again for this.” She broke the edgy quiet, turning her head a little my way. “I know it’s...” She paused, apparently unsure how to proceed.

“What?” I prompted, eager to hear her thoughts.

Had her provocative little ass wiggle been inadvertent, or a symptom of a much deeper yearning she was attempting to suppress?

The latter.My pulse accelerated at my silent prayer.Say it’s the latter.

“Different.” She heaved in a breath. “Being here, with me, like this.”

“It’s my job to keep you safe, remember?”

“I remember.” She snuggled her head into the crook of my collar, sending a fresh wave of her honeyed scent washing over me as I welcomed the latest intimacy. Choosing to be so close to me had to mean something, didn’t it? Save for consenting for me to join her there, it was the closest thing to an invitation she’d offered. “But I can’t imagine holding your clients like this is usually part of the deal.”

“No,” I agreed. “It’s not, but I’m happy to take the perks of the job.”

A heavy wall of hush descended at my quip, and staring into the gloom, I didn’t know what that meant. Had my witticism upset her? Had I gone too far already and driven a wedge between the wonderful new status quo and any chance of getting to know her better? The black of night shrouding us offered no clues.

“Is that what this is?” Her voice was breathy. “Is that whatIam? Aperk?”

“You’re a beautiful woman,” I clarified, relieved at least that she didn’t sound snubbed. “But I’m sorry if I offended you. I meant no insult.”

“You didn’t...” She paused as though she couldn’t believe she’d said so aloud. “And thank you... for the compliment.”

“I mean it.” Taking a risk, I skimmed my left hand down to her bared thigh and rested it on her soft skin. She was so fucking enticing, so close to me and yet still so far. “It reallyisa pleasure to look after you.”

“I don’t normally do things like this...” She suddenly sounded so unsure.

“Like what?” My thumb traced invisible circles over her skin, and I waited to see if she’d respond. Maybe, irritated by the gesture, she’d bat the hand away, or perhaps she’d relax, inviting more. “Go hiking?”

We both knew I was being facetious, and I smiled at the sound of her anxious laughter.

“I definitely don’t normally do that.” Her tone was emphatic. “And after this, I doubt I’ll ever come to the woods again.”

“That’s a shame,” I breathed onto the side of her neck, grazing my hand a little higher along the curve of her ass. My dick throbbed urgently at my hand’s progress, demanding that it, too, be permitted to make the journey, but I ignored its urgent call. “Nature is beautiful.”

“And lethal.” Her tone was clipped, yet still she didn’t try to fend me off.

“Sometimes, yes.” I hesitated, aware it was James and Miles on her mind and not me. “But not always. When it comes to destruction, nature doesn’t hold a candle to man.”

“That’s true.” Her hand reached for mine, but rather than push me away, she only splayed her fingers, enmeshing them with my digits. Triumph roared in my mind, forcing my lips to curl. It was the first time she’d touched me, and it boded well. “Man can be a problem.”

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