Page 6 of Emma's Element

She couldn’t help the grin that tipped her lips up. “Step on up. I’ll be on belay.”

Marcussteppedupandclipped into the rope, the action ingrained in him. Emma stood beside him as he studied the wall, pointing out the routes and their grades or difficulty level. He decided to start nice and easy to warm up muscles that hadn’t been used for a long time. Emma leaned closer to him, her shoulder bumping his arm as she indicated the holds he could use. He struggled to follow what she was saying as her scent wafted over him. An enticing mixture of strawberries and vanilla. Hetriedto pay attention, but the fact that she was so close distracted him. What was it about this woman that had him so fascinated?

She’d caught his attention the first time he’d met the team at the bar where they usually gathered. Of course, he’d noticed her; she was stunning. He studied her but couldn’t pinpoint just one quality that attracted him. She was taller than most women, which suited him, but she would still tuck nicely under his chin. Her short, brown hair landed just at the tops of her ears. Wispy bangs feathered across her forehead, reminding him of Audrey Hepburn. It looked soft, and his fingers itched to dive into those locks. He wished he could see her eyes from this angle, remembering how easily he’d lost himself in their dark depths on New Year’s Eve.

Emma bumped his shoulder again, this time on purpose. “Hey. You paying attention?”

“What? Oh yeah.” He swallowed hard, embarrassed she’d caught him daydreaming.

She laughed, a musical sound that made his chest ache. “Come on, Titan,” she teased, using the name of the superhero he played on screen. “Climb.”

Marcus groaned. “That name is going to follow me around forever, isn’t it?”

Emma laughed again. “Yup. You’re surprised?”

“I was at first. Never thought that first movie would hit it so big. Let alone allowing for two more movies to be made,” he admitted.

“Lucky you.”

He gave a snort of derision. “Yeah, lucky me. Okay, let’s do this. On belay?” He changed the subject quickly, using the vernacular to ask his partner to have his back on the rope in case he fell.

“Belay on,” she confirmed.

Marcus grabbed the first handholds. “Climbing.”

“Climb on.” And he did, stretching to reach the first hold, then reaching higher for the next jug, the next sloper, the next crimp. He’d missed this. The challenge. Pushing muscles past their limit, feeling them burn. But he was woefully out of shape. After his fourth time reaching the top using exceedingly more difficult routes, his muscles had had enough. His shoulder protested each and every move of the last climb.

After Emma lowered him to the ground, he gritted his teeth as he rotated his shoulder, hoping to lessen the ache. Unable to hide his wince from her, she noted, “Is that the shoulder you injured?”

“Yeah. Still gives me trouble sometimes,” he admitted.

Emma pulled a chair over. “Sit,” she ordered.

He unclipped himself from the rope and straddled the chair, sitting backward. “Do you mind if I try something to ease the ache for you?” Emma asked.

“Have at it.” Emma placed her hands on his left shoulder and began the most magical massage he’d ever experienced. Even his physical therapist had never been able to create this level of ease. The heat in her hands eased the ache as surely as the movements. She kneaded and rubbed until the worst of the pain had subsided. Magical. With her strong hands on his skin and her strawberry vanilla scent surrounding him, he was glad to be sitting. The fact that this woman’s simple touch, her fragrance filling his senses, turned him on so much was startling. He needed to get a grip on his raging hormones. He hadn’t come here looking for a fling. Enlightenment, maybe. But not the messy entanglement of sex.

“You climb well. You’ve got some skill there even with the lingering effects of your injuries.” Her voice was smooth and, for some reason, comforting. He could listen to her talk for days and never get tired of it. He couldn’t say that about many of the women he knew. LA women were either too brassy or had high-pitched voices that sounded squeaky to him and set his teeth on edge. But Emma’s voice calmed him, wrapping itself around him like a warm hug.

A grin tugged at his lips. “It’s just one of my many skills.” Her hands paused on his shoulder before the double entendre hit, and a laugh burst from her.

“You think you’re so smooth, don’t you?”

He shrugged. “Like I said, I’ve got some skills.”

“I bet you do,” she intoned, continuing her message. “So, besides climbing, what else can you do?”

“Whatever is needed for a role.” She stood in front of him and met his gaze, one brow arched. “I like to do as many of my own stunts as possible. I train hard and learn what’s required for the scenes.”

Her hands stilled again, her jaw going slack as she stared at him. Losing himself momentarily in her earthy brown eyes, they reminded him of wandering through a forest of trees, the dark shade of the bark a comforting presence in an otherwise chaotic world.

She blinked slowly, releasing him from the spell before running her hands over his shoulder and across to his neck. The sensual feel of her fingertips sliding up his neck into his hair had him stifling a groan. He made the mistake of dropping his gaze to her chest, which hovered within inches from his face. If he leaned forward a tad, he could place his lips on those delectable swells and find out if they tasted like strawberries. Squeezing his eyes shut, he fought against the wave of desire that blasted through him just as ahumphsound slipped past her lips.

“What?”

“I didn’t know that you did your own stunts.”

“Why would you?”

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