I headed to her door with a big grin on my face just because I was about to see her again. She’d been texting me all morning asking me where we were going so she knew what to wear. After numerous messages I’d finally managed to convince her that we weren’t going to a strip club.

When she opened the door, my lungs constricted. Does she just get hotter every time I see her? She was just wearing jeans and a tank top with a blue cardigan over the top, but my mouth watered at the sight of her.

“Hi,” she greeted, smiling happily as she opened the door wider for me so I could enter.

“Hey, precious. Excuse me a minute, I just dropped something when I saw you.” I looked around the floor obviously.

She looked down too. “What was it?” she asked curiously, frowning because there was nothing there.

“My jaw.” I shrugged.

She burst out laughing and grabbed the front of my T-shirt, pulling me into her apartment. “Oh and we’re back to cheesy lines, huh?” she teased, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

“That wasn’t a line, sweetness.” I looped my arms around her so she couldn’t squirm away from me. “So, are you going to kiss me or do I have to lie to my diary?” I inched my face towards hers slowly, giving her the time to shoot me down if she wanted to.

She smiled and rolled her eyes, going up on tiptoes and pressing her lips to mine softly for a couple of seconds before pulling away.

“So where are we really going? Do I get to know yet or not?” she asked, pouting.

I fought desperately hard not to think she looked cute, I hated that she made me think things like that. I was a man’s man, I shouldn’t be thinking a girl was cute!

“How are you with heights?” I asked, hoping she’d say fine.

Her eyes tightened. “Umm… okay, I guess.”

“Awesome. We’re going rock-climbing.” I grinned as her mouth dropped open in shock, her eyes widened and the smile faded from her face as she took in what I said.

“Rock-climbing? Please tell me that’s a joke.”

“No joke, that’s my choice. But if you’re not tough enough for it…” I trailed off teasingly.

“Seriously? This is your choice? Making me climb a freaking mountain?”

“Are you scared?” I teased, brushing the hair off her face lightly, letting my fingers linger on her cheekbone. I smiled and bent my head forward pressing my lips against her flushed cheek. She gulped and her breathing faltered, I wasn’t sure if it was the climbing or me being this close to her that did it. “I’ll protect you, sunshine, you don’t need to worry,” I whispered.

She whimpered and let her head droop, pressing against my chest. I grinned happily, tightening my arms on her. It felt natural to hold her like this, so easy and comfortable. “If I say I don’t want to go then you’re going to be holding that over me and teasing me about it aren’t you?” she mumbled against my chest.

“Probably, but if you really don’t want to then we can do something else,” I offered, secretly hoping she’d agree to it. That was one of my favourite things to do, and I already knew that her sexy little behind would look edible in a harness.

She sighed and pushed herself away from me; she still didn’t look totally convinced about it. “Okay fine,” she agreed. “But if I break my neck then I’m coming back to haunt you in the shower.”

“If you want to see me in the shower you could just ask, pumpkin, you don’t have to haunt me for it.”

She narrowed her eyes at me and dramatically fake coughed. “Oh no! Looks like I’m coming down with that flu that’s going around my school,” she stated, forcing a cough again.

“We’ll get you some Night Nurse on the way.” I winked at her and grabbed her purse that was on the side, passing it to her, nodding towards the door. “Ready, sweetpea?”

Rosie sucked in a big breath through her teeth and then blew it out dramatically. “Yeah come on then, let’s get this done so we can eat,” she grumbled. I couldn’t help but laugh at her as she stalked out of her place letting me close the door behind us.

She flicked through my music as we drove to the indoor climbing wall; I’d done a lot of this and was actually quite an experienced climber. The indoor wall was pretty easy, even for beginners, so she’d be fine.

“So how did you sleep then, kitty? Did you have any hot little dreams about me that you want to share?” I asked, as we made the short drive.

“Aren’t you running out of those pet names yet?” she asked, obviously choosing to ignore my comment.

“No, I got a ton. We could date for at least a year before I run out,” I joked.

“Just don’t call me stupid and then we’ll get along fine.”

“Or bunny, you don’t like that one,” I reminded her.

She cringed. “No, I don’t like that one.”

I smiled and tried my hardest to keep my eyes on the road on the way there so that I didn’t kill us both through lack of concentration. When we finally pulled into the parking lot, she looked at me nervously.

“So we really are doing this?” she asked.

I laughed and got out of the car. Even if they just strapped her in the harness and she refused to climb, that would still make my day. I headed around to her side and opened her door for her. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest not even looking at me; I could see she was fighting a smile though.

“Are you coming inside then, honey?” I asked, holding my hand down to help her out of the car.

“I’m thinking we should skip the climbing and go straight to lunch,” she replied, shrugging casually.

“Oh really? You chicken?” I teased, squatting down so I could see her better.

She groaned and shook her head. “No, I just don’t like the idea of climbing up something high with a piece of rope being the only thing between me and certain death.”

“I won’t let you get hurt, come on, you can trust me. How about we go look and if you don’t want to try then you don’t have to. But remember, I did sit through two hours of pain for you last night, and I let you finish my milkshake!”

She closed her eyes for a couple of seconds. “Fine, I’ll look, but if I don’t want to climb then I’ll just watch you, deal?”

I nodded and took her hand, pulling her out of the car before she changed her mind. “Deal.”

Half an hour later I had finally convinced her to have a go. We’d stood on the side-lines for ages, just watching people do it. Not that I had minded, of course. Standing on the side-lines with my arms around her and my chin rested on her shoulder while I pointed out easy routes and techniques was actually fun in itself. It was nice just to have a hold of her, so even if she had refused to try I still would have had a fantastic time.

When it was finally our turn, I held out a harness towards her and got onto my knees, holding it open so she could step into it. As I pulled it up her legs, I made sure to do it slowly, and to accidentally brush my hands up her thighs. Her hold on my shoulders tightened as I straightened one of the straps around her inner thigh. I swallowed, trying to push down the lust that was building in me.

“Do it tighter,” she begged, looking down at it as I stood up and made sure it was buckled at the front.

I gripped the front strap, pulling a little. It was perfectly tight enough for her pert little ass and waist. “That’s fine,” I assured her, showing her that I couldn’t even slide my hand between the harness and her hip.

“Please? Just do it tighter.” She looked at me pleadingly.

“Rose, I promise that’s tight enough. You can trust me, I wouldn’t let you get hurt.” I bent down and placed a soft, chaste kiss on her lips.

When I went to pull back, she shook her head and wrapped her arms around my neck. “If I’m going to die then I want something incredible to be my last memory. So make it count,” she muttered, pulling my mouth back to hers roughly.

I smiled against her lips and kissed her passionately, tracing my tongue along her bottom lip. She stepped impossibly closer, crushing her chest against mine as she moaned into my mouth. I grunted, sliding one hand to the nape of her neck. All I wanted was to kiss and feel every inch of her.

I broke the kiss just as I was getting a little breathless. Dipping my head, I nibbled on her earlobe, listening to her pant for breath. “That was so hot,” I whispered, as I ran my tongue along the edge of her ear.

She shivered against me and nodded. “That’s just what I was thinking.”

“So, are we ready now, or was that not incredible enough?” I teased, pulling back fractionally. It was certainly incredible enough for me, if I died right now I would be a happy man – of course, I would be even happier if that had happened while we were na**d and I was buried balls deep inside her, but I could wait for that.

“Yeah okay, come on then.” She looked a little pained as she let go of me.

After quickly slipping on my own harness, I led her to the bottom of the wall, watching as the instructor checked her harness again. Rosie was slightly pale as she looked up at the wall with wide eyes.

As we climbed, I matched my pace to hers, pointing out where to put her hands and feet. Surprisingly, she was actually enjoying herself. We were laughing and sending teasing insults back and forth the whole time. When we got to the top, I scooted over next to her.

“Told you you could do it.”

She beamed proudly. “I actually really enjoyed this. Thanks for making me try.”

“Glad you liked it, now you can come with me another time,” I said, shrugging. I’d actually never had this much fun climbing before, which was pretty weird considering it was one of my favourite things to do.

“Again with the overconfidence in your skills?” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, and I couldn’t help but laugh at her as I realised what I’d said. Obviously my little innuendos were rubbing off on her.

I dipped my head, capturing her soft lips in a kiss. I loved being here with her; it was like hanging out with one of the guys, but better, because I could lust after her and flirt with her at the same time.

“And now we go down,” I stated, wondering if she’d pick up on my innuendo too. She did. She chuckled and rolled her eyes in response. “Right then, getting down is the easy part. Just lean back on your rope and let it take your weight. After that, you just walk down the wall.” I leant back on my rope, sitting in my harness.

Rosie frowned and me and shook her head. “I’m not doing that! I’ll just climb back down.” She readjusted her footing, frowning uncertainly.

I raised one eyebrow. Climbing down was a lot harder than going up.

“Muffin, seriously, it’s fine. Just lean back on your rope like this.” I waved my hand at the rope that was holding me up. “Then just walk down the wall.” I shifted, going down a few feet in a couple of movements. As I looked back up I could see her perfect, peachy little ass in the harness and damn did it look hot.

Best. Date. Ever.

She groaned and shook her head. “I can’t do that, my rope might break.”

I tried not to laugh, laughter wouldn’t help this situation or help put her at ease. “Your rope won’t break, I promise.”

I walked down a few more steps and tried – unsuccessfully – to keep my eyes off her butt. I was now about half way down, but she still hadn’t moved. She was just clinging to the top.

“Rose, seriously, come on just let the rope take you down,” I called.

She was fidgeting on the wall trying to get her foot on the next little plastic handle down from her. I smiled wickedly, watching her for a few minutes. She’d barely moved two feet from the top.

“Would you like me to come back up and we’ll climb down together?” I called, as she just stopped and looked like she was hugging the wall for dear life.

“Do you mind?”

I smiled and headed back up to her again. As I stopped next to her, I set my hand on the small of her back, feeling her tremble. “Everything’s fine. I swear.”

“I don’t like this getting down part. Maybe we should just get right to the top and sit up there, and then they could get a ladder?”

“They don’t have ladders, pumpkin.” I laughed and kissed her cheek lightly. “Come on, we’ll abseil down together. I’ll stay right here.” I gently took her hand, easing her fingers off the plastic handhold.

She squealed. “Nate, what the hell are you doing?” she cried with wide eyes, trying to pull her hand back so she could clutch the wall.

I smiled reassuringly, holding on to her hand tightly, guiding her arm around my neck so it rested across my shoulders. “Trust me, please?” I begged, looking into her frightened eyes. Her lip quivered, I could clearly see the indecision on her face, but she nodded at the same time and her arm tightened on my neck. I grinned, shifting closer to her, pressing my side against hers. She whimpered and adjusted her footing, using her other hand to grip the wall so tightly that her knuckles went white. “Alright, just sit back. You’ll feel the rope tighten around your h*ps and pert little ass,” I instructed, as I secured my arm around her waist tightly, clamping her to me.

“The flirting’s not helping right now,” she snapped breathlessly as her fingers bit into my shoulder. When the rope took her weight, she seemed to relax. “I think I’m okay.”

I smiled, keeping my arm securely around her waist as we started walking slowly down the wall. The whole time we were doing it, her eyes were firmly fixed on my face, and her hand was gripping my shoulder so tightly that I was sure to have a bruise in the morning, but I didn’t complain.