Page 55 of Fated to be Enemies

My lips crashed into hers, and she gasped. I pulled back, and she stared at me for a brief moment before she fisted my shirt, pulling me back to her. I angled my head, deepening the kiss as I explored her mouth with my tongue. Grabbing her by the back of the thighs, I hoisted her up. Strong legs wrapped around my waist while her arms curled around my neck. Moving swiftly, I strode forward. Her back hit a tree with a thud, but we never lost momentum.

Her hot center pressed against my cock, and I pushed back into her in return. She let out a growl that was distinctly animalistic and drove me wild. I broke away, grazing my mouth down her neck, feeling the beat of her heart beneath my tongue. She tilted her head, breathing heavily as I kissed and nibbled up the column of her throat.

Dannika moaned, and I found her mouth again, covering it with my own. I skimmed up her thigh and found the hem of her shirt before reaching my hand underneath. She inhaled sharply, and the heat of her skin spread beneath my palms as I traveled up the curve of her waist, over her ribs. Slowly, I ran my thumb over the soft skin beneath her bra line.

Euphoria melted away as she hummed against me, then pulled my head away from hers. “We can’t do this,” she whispered, her chest heaving with ragged breaths. “This complicates things.”

“I wanted to give you something that was real. No audience. No motive,” I said. Her pulse skipped a beat at my answer. I tilted my head forward, touching it to hers, then closed my eyes as I tried to suppress what my body wanted. Trying to shut down what my mind was saying. “And I’m not sorry.”

CHAPTER 15

Dannika

Chalk dusted my fingertips.

White smudged my skin in different spots as I brushed my open palms over my face, pushing my hair back from my eyes.

Birds sang in the trees while Nova lay on the bank, sunbathing while watching me with a contented half smile on her face. The open cliff face loomed before me. Instead of fear, adrenaline pumped through my veins at the sight.

This was what I needed.

A nice, quiet day where I dangled over the edge of a massive waterfall that had the potential to break every bone in my body if I fell.

Let it be known that I wasn’t a masochist. Nor did I have a death wish. I was just . . . complicated.

When life got hard and I struggled to cope, I’d climb until my muscles nearly gave out. Something about fear and the thrill made it easier to deal with the day to day. Hanging off the end of a mountain, holding on for dear life. It was a good way of reminding me that no matter how big we think our problems to be, we were all so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. These issues, no matter how big they may have felt, would pass.

Which was why I was standing at the bottom of the waterfall, fingers dusted in white. Ysabeau had gotten me a climbing harness when I asked for one. I didn’t use it to knot rope through, only because of the deep waters at the bottom of the falls. Instead, I secured a chalk bag to the side after tying the new climbing shoes. The toes pinched a bit from their newness, but a dozen or so climbs would break them in nicely.

I reached for the uneven rock face, mentally charting my path up by studying nooks and crannies. Water sprayed, making my clothes slightly damp and chilled in the late morning breeze.

My chest squeezed as I let out a breath I’d been holding since my feet had left the ground, the hard material tips of my toes finding purchase in a nice crack that angled toward the falls.

I climbed.

Time fell away, broken down into heaved breaths and skittering pebbles as I ascended the side of the waterfall. My skin was slicked with sweat. It poured down my temple and into my eyes. I wiped it away with the back of my hand and then reached for my chalk bag, reapplying it to my hands.

I didn’t think about our moment against the tree last night.

I wasn’t replaying every word and touch and kiss, pressing rewind over and over.

I couldn’t think about Elias.

About . . . feelings. Emotions. My traitorous heart that was listening to my body instead of logic and reasoning.

Thank the gods I always had my mind.

I was a solid halfway up when Nova’s low growl made me stiffen. I twisted, my hands grasping at the narrow crevice I was balancing on. The rock I was perched on cracked.

Oh, shit.

I went airborne. Leaning into the fall, I scrunched my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. My back hit the water. Icy cold swallowed me whole, drenching me from head to toe. When my body stalled in its descent, I uncoiled and started for the surface. A figure appeared mid-kick, swimming crazy fast toward me.

Panic acted like a hand crushing my chest. A physical pain rattled me, and I quickened my feet—aiming for the surface.

When I reached it, I gasped, inhaling a lungful of air before swimming to the side and breaking into a swim-sprint for the shore. The figure swerved, trying to intercept me. As they reached my side, Nova bounded into the water. I reached for the knife strapped to a holster at the small of my back.

Pulling it out in one smooth motion, I brandished the blade while treading water.

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