I kissed him with every ounce of longing and passion I had because he let me and didn’t run away. I’d never had the thing I was scared of chase after me. I’d never had the challenge I was working my way through refuse to let me quit, even when it might be the best option.

I kissed him because I wanted to know what kissing him was like and because I was fairly certain no one else would ever kiss me the way he did.

His scruff was abrasive against my face, his hand was hard where it was around my jaw, but his thumb was a gentle caress against my cheek as he tilted his mouth over mine in every direction. His lips were light but insistent as they brushed across mine and his tongue was tender and soft as it slicked across mine teasingly. His softness was contrasted by all parts of him that were hard and I liked all of it; if the truth be told, I wanted more of it.

I was trailing my other hand over the contours of his defined pecs, fully intending to work my way to the inadequate knot holding the towel at his waist when he pulled back, curled his hand lightly around my throat so that he could feel my pulse racing, and lightly set me away from him with a frown. I liked how my mouth made his shiny and red. I liked the heat in his cheeks and the fire in his eyes. I liked the way his pulse kicked at his neck and the way his dick jerked in obvious annoyance at the now chilly space between our bodies.

He pushed his hands through his hair and gave his head a shake. “Lane’s going to come looking for me or your girl is going to come looking for you. This is bad timing and without a doubt a really bad idea for both of us. I’m gonna go and let you get cleaned up while I still have enough blood above the belt to make good decisions.”

He made his way over to a rickety looking ledge that held his clothes after stopping to pick up the stuff I dropped and placing it there as well. I turned my back to him as he dropped the towel and started to get dressed. I pulled my own clothes off and reached for the water, shrieking in surprise when I felt how cold it was. If I had known I was going to be bathing in ice water, I would have jumped in the lake earlier when I was thinking about it and rinsed the stink off then.

I took the frigid spray right in the face and shivered as it ran over my scalp and through my hair. I jumped when Cy’s rumbling voice reached me over the sound of the water.

“I could definitely more than like you, Leo, and there is no question, I more than like what you look like without your clothes on.”

I let my gaze roll over him and noticed he was looking down at his cock, the thick flesh lifting and elongating more and more as we both took note of his reaction to me. He was standing in the same spot I had been in earlier with his boots in his hand and the expression he had on his face was similar to the one I had worn while I watched him only harsher and more intense. When his gaze shifted to me I swore I could feel the impact of it like a physical touch. I was aware that I would never be asked to walk in a Victoria Secret’s fashion show but I’d never had a problem with the way I looked. The expression on Cy’s face as his eyes drifted over every curve, every dip, every dimple and mark that mapped out a life lived in this skin, made me feel like something extraordinary. His look, the way his entire face tightened in hungry, appreciative lines made me feel like something more, made me feel like I deserved to be worshiped and maybe even loved. If that was how he looked at his girl, then I never wanted to be anything else.

I lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “I guess if we’re going tit for tat that means I also get to think about you thinking about me while I take my turn . . . relaxing.” I grinned at him because the way he made me feel and the things he made me want to do to myself were anything but calm and restful. “You can stick around and watch—or come back over here and help—because that would only be fair.”

His eyes sparked with threads of molten silver as he swore low and long under his breath.

I wasn’t the type of woman who would typically take control of her own pleasure in front a man. I was too rigid, too worried about what the other person might be thinking. But today was the day I climbed a mountain and kissed a man who was all wrong for me so I had bold and brazen running through my blood in a way it never had before. I wasn’t typically open enough to share what I liked, and I wasn’t ever transparent about what I was feeling but in this moment with him, when it felt like we were the only two people in the entire world, I wanted to give him everything. With Cy, there was no fear and I didn’t have to guess what he was thinking. Every emotion and every ounce of desire and encouragement was stamped clearly across his darkly handsome face. He was going to call my bluff and we would both just have to suffer the consequences.

Eyes locked on his I trailed a single hand down between the valley of my breasts. The icy water had made my skin pebble up and my nipples tighter than they were when I had kissed him. I caught one of the velvety peaks between my fingers and gave it a little tug before rolling my thumb around the softness to soothe the delicious ache. I let out a little groan of pleasure, eyes going to half-mast as I heard him swear again.

Tossing my head back I shifted my legs so they were open just enough to tease him with all the wet and wanting he had awoken inside of me. I curled my other hand under the curve of my breast and let it skate over the ridges of my ribs and across the soft plane of my stomach. It wasn’t the cold water that made me shiver. It was the way Cy growled my name. It sounded like both a promise and a warning.

I circled the indent of my belly button with my index finger and sighed when I let my fingers skip lower. It was a shock to my overheated senses when my chilly touch met liquid heat. My folds were slippery and almost too sensitive to touch. My clit was throbbing and begging for any kind of attention. When my touch brushed across the aching little point of pleasure, my entire body jolted and I couldn’t stop the low moan that ripped out of my chest. I was caught up in a hurricane of sensation, the contrast of hot and cold making my head spin and my body already primed and ready to let go from watching Cy work himself over. All it was going to take was a few flicks of the wrist, a twist of my fingers, and maybe another sharp tug on my nipple to get me off. I was certain there had never been a time in my life when I’d been this aroused and it had everything to do with the man watching me like he would die if he had to look away.