Page 54 of Eyes Like a Hurricane

She begins to climb down without any further encouragement and grabs onto my hand.

Glancing over her shoulder, she smirks and replies, “Or, in the water? Does my favorite mythical creature the Lach-ness monster what to come out and play?” She teases, referencing my high school nickname, but staring at my pants.

Releasing my hand, she reaches down and pulls her tank top up over her head, and I see she’s wearing a teal bikini top. If I thought I couldn’t get any harder, I was wrong. I reach down and try to adjust myself without any luck, so I undo my belt buckle, unbutton my jeans, and unzip my zipper. The extra space is welcome, and I breathe in a sigh of relief.

I saunter after her, watching as her hips sway from side to side. I continue unbuttoning my shirt and let it slide down my shoulders. She kicks off her boots and wiggles out of her jean shorts, flashing me her teal bikini bottoms, which I fully intend to untie.

Stepping out of my boots, I begin to work on my jeans. They hit the pebbled ground of the water's edge with a thud, and my belt buckle clangs against a stone. Just as I go to step out ofmy jeans, the hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and I pause.

Frantically, I look around, but my eyes land on Aislinn, who has gone stone still. She is paused in mid-stride, and her hands are shaking. I can see her back rising and falling rapidly as a whimper falls from her mouth.

My gaze follows the direction of hers, and standing on a large rock on the other side of the water is an eight-foot-long male mountain lion. He is standing tall, with ears pricking left and right. His tale swishes back and forth as he stares down Aislinn.

I quickly pull my jeans back up, and as I stand to fasten them, an ear-piercing roar shatters the quiet around us.

Aislinn sucks in a breath, holding back a scream.

I whisper in a low and calm voice, “Aislinn, I want you to put your hands out to make yourself look bigger and slowly step back toward me. No sudden movement, and don’t crouch down.”

I take two steps back to find my boots. Without removing my eyes from the mountain lion, I slip each foot back into its boot. I keep my hands extended as she gets closer to me. My hand makes contact with her shoulder, and she sucks in a shuddering breath.

“Don’t look away. I want you to walk backward until you are behind me, then climb onto my back. We are going to back away together. With you on my back, we will appear larger.”

I place both hands to the side and rotate my palms, so they are facing her. Curling my fingers, I create a foothold. Her small hands slide up my back and grab onto my shoulders. I feel her small foot in my right hand.

She whispers, “One, two, three.”

On the third count, she pushes her foot into my hand and climbs onto my back. Her arms wrap around my shoulders and chest as her mouth lands near my ear.

“What do we do now?” she hisses.

Trying to make her feel safe and calm, I quietly say, “Now we are going to leave everything here and slowly back away. Once we are out of sight, I’m going to turn and walk or jog us back to the ranch. I want you to hang on tight and keep watching over your shoulder to make sure he isn’t stalking us. My guess is he wanted to drink from his favorite watering hole, but with mountain lions, you can never be sure.”

I take my first step backward and realize we are still on the pebbles. My foot rocks, but I don’t lose my balance. I grip her thighs tightly as we make our way toward the tree line. My breaths are shallow and stuttered, but we are close to the cover of the trees. The mountain lion hasn’t taken his eyes off us. Two more steps, and we won’t be visible to him anymore. At that moment, he jumps off his rock and stalks to the edge of the water.

Sweat is beading against my brow, and I’m sure my adrenaline is registering off the charts, but my only goal is to get us back on the path to the ranch. I’m so glad Finn and Chloe aren’t here, too. They would have attempted to protect us, and the mountain lion would have won.

The large cat dips down onto his haunches and begins to lap the water. He is still watching us out of the corner of his eye but doesn’t seem interested in us overall. As I take the last step behind the trees, I pivot and begin to quickly walk back toward the ranch.

Aislinn releases a deep breath against my ear. “Jeezus, that was scary. I felt him before I saw him as I approached the water.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, me too. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I immediately felt like something was terribly wrong. At least it wasn’t a female. I worry more about a female with her cubs than a male looking for a drink.”

She groans, “I had big plans for that waterfall.”

I let out a full laugh.

“Me too, sweetheart, but keeping you safe is my top priority. I don’t think the mountain lion wanted a show or was willing to wait in line to use the pool,” I say.

She rotates against my back, just enough to look over her shoulder, before murmuring, “I don’t see him following us.”

I decide it's time to pick up my pace. Getting us back to the ranch is my main goal right now.

We come flying out of the trail with the barn in sight. Ingrid and Callum are standing at the back door, arguing about something. They turn in unison and stare at Aislinn riding my shirtless back. From their angle, she probably looks naked. Ingrid’s eyes go as wide as saucers, and her mouth drops open. Callum searches the area, opening and closing his mouth like a guppy.

He clears his throat. “Do you guys need some privacy?”

Ingrid makes a strangled sound and averts her eyes to the ground.

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