East of Redemption (Love on the Edge #2) (18 page)

“Nothing but three walls and a roof of solid rock, but when you’re alone and stranded in dangerous terrain like this, it’s a real treat. This will serve as a perfect shelter for camp tonight, protecting us from the harsh winds that whip through this mountain range, and will help guard us from the insects and wild animals that roam these ranges.” He reached around to his back pocket. “And,” he said, unpeeling the banana he’d plucked off the tree growing naturally just outside of the bunker, “I’ve hit the lottery with this one.” He sank his teeth into the fruit, devouring the thing in a matter of bites. It was his third one, and somewhere in the back of my head I knew I should tell him to slow down, but I didn’t want to ruin the great run he was on. “Finding naturally growing bananas in Israel is probably the last thing you expected, but it isn’t as uncommon as you’d think. Fields of these are grown here, offering another sustaining commodity alongside the ever-popular dates. And when you’re in need of an energy boost, not to mention hydration, a banana is one of the absolute best finds you can come across. The location of the bunker in range of the tree could be completely coincidental, but I highly doubt it.”

I carefully stepped down to join him, trailing the camera along the small chamberlike structure, and finished the shot pointing at the view from the entrance—wide, open horizon, a gorgeous dark-blue sky, and the tips of faraway mountains in the distance.

Shutting the high-definition camera down, I turned toward Easton. “That was spectacular. You’re extremely passionate when talking about how dangerous this all is.”

He chuckled. “That’s what the viewers live for. Experiencing something so far outside the safety of their own homes.”

“Right. Nothing like watching someone suffer while sunk into a nice, comfy bed . . .
sofa
.” I tried to correct the slip of tongue, but the smirk only deepened on his face. I turned away from him, trying to hide my blush at getting caught in a lie.

He forced his face into my view. “Wait, how do you know I suffer? You said you never watched my show. And you watch it in bed? That’s fucking hot.”

I shook my head quickly. “I . . . don’t . . .” The words had to be forced out of my mouth.

“Don’t lie. I can see it all over your face.” He tipped my chin up with his fingers. “You missed me.”

I swallowed hard. “Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?”

He let go of my chin and took a step backward, having to hunch so his head wouldn’t hit the ceiling of the small bunker. “I assumed you’d hate me.”

I scanned his face as his eyes focused on the floor. “Don’t you mean you
planned
it that way?”

His eyes snapped to mine. “What do you mean?”

I broke the distance he’d put between us, taking his hands in mine. “You pushed me away on purpose. You still are. Why?” His breathing quickened as I moved one of my hands from his, trailing it up his muscled forearm, bicep, and finally placed it over the center of his chest. “Tell me.”

His lips were a forced, straight line as he shook his head. “I can’t.” He gently removed my hat in order to finger the strands of my hair.

“Why?” I asked again, not bothering to try to hide the desperate plea in my voice. “I have to know, Easton. If nothing else ever happens between us, please, at least give me a reason.”

“I
can’t
, Raindrop. I want to. I do. I never thought I’d say that to you . . . but I do. It just can’t be today.”

“When?” I asked, needing
something
to go on. The energy between us had grown so charged that I didn’t know how much longer my heart could take the battle between knowing what it needed to protect me from and knowing what it wanted more than anything else in the world.

He sighed and took his hat off, then clenched his eyes shut and pressed his forehead against mine. “Soon. Once we finish this excavation. Can you give me until then? I know I don’t deserve it—”

I cut him off with my lips, parting his with my tongue. I took his kiss, flicking the roof of his mouth until he groaned. I pulled away from him to catch my breath. “Whatever it is, I don’t care. I only want the truth.”

He didn’t respond in any way other than yanking my body so it was flush with his and kissing me so hard my lips burned. I jerked my pack off my back and tossed it gently to the side, it hitting the concrete wall with a loud scratch. Our hurried breaths filled the small space as he spun me, forcing my back against one of the walls, pinning me with his hard body. I gasped, the sensation of his hardness against my center so sweet I shamelessly ground against him. He slipped his hands underneath my shirt, their rough texture contrasting with the smoothness of my stomach and raising chills over every inch of skin he touched.

“Wait,” I said, breathing deep as I broke our kiss.

He groaned. “I’ve waited almost a decade to taste you again.”

“This can’t be smart. You’re still dehydrated and—”

“I’m perfectly replenished,” he interrupted. “I’ve drank water, eaten protein, and just inhaled three bananas. Trust me, I’d know if I wasn’t fit to task. And I’m more than fit.”

His words were enough for my body, which blazed at his declaration. The darkness in his eyes deepened as he pulled off my shirt, tossing it on top of my pack. Once he’d removed my bra, he exhaled at the sight of my breasts, and my nipples hardened as he took one in his mouth, rolling his tongue over the tip. He gently bit it, and I hissed and arched against him with need. He kissed his way back up to my lips.

“Don’t move,” he whispered, and left me standing there to go dig through my pack. He tugged out my sleeping bag in one fast motion and rolled it out.

“Isn’t that cheating?” I asked, breathless.

He cocked an eyebrow and reached for my hand. I gave it to him, and he pulled me gently down on the soft cushion of the bag. “Cameras are off, Rain. It’s just you and me.”

I shivered, the heat from his voice coating my skin with warm chills. He laid me on my back and stripped off the rest of my clothes. After slipping off his pants and briefs, he positioned himself between my thighs, right where he’d always fit so perfectly, and butterflies fluttered in my stomach. It’d been years since I’d slept with a man I cared about
this
much, and not one I’d ever loved like I had loved Easton. This would mean something—quite possibly the definition of getting my heart broken again.

As I looked into his eyes, his glorious, muscled body hovering above mine, I knew I didn’t have the power to stop what we were. Everything with him was intense, consuming, and delicious as fuck. It always had been. And when it came to him, I’d never get enough, even if it shredded me in the process.

“Look at me,” he said, his breath against my cheek.

I unclenched my eyes, only now realizing I’d shut them so tight.

“We can stop.” He kissed me tenderly, pushing the hair away from my face. “If you’re not sure . . . and I don’t have protection. I didn’t plan this.”

I shook my head. “I’m covered.” Just because I didn’t sleep around didn’t mean I wasn’t prepared for it. I licked my lips, my eyes trailing over every inch of his face, seeing the boy who’d claimed my heart so long ago, and the man he’d become. “I’m nervous,” I finally admitted.

The notion was near comical, a grown woman being nervous to sleep with a man she’d slept with countless times before, but this was so much different than before.
Then
I’d been sure we’d spend the rest of our lives together.
Now
, I didn’t even know if there would be an after once we completed this job.

He pressed his hard cock between my thighs, allowing the tip to hit my entrance only slightly. I gasped from the contact, which sent pulses of heat throughout my core.

“Don’t be.” He moved again, slowly parting me and entering, satisfying the ache that had been present since I’d first heard his voice in Africa. “You feel that?” He filled me while slipping his hand beneath my lower back, yanking me upward, giving him an angle to get deeper.

“Yes.” I sighed.

“You’re wet and ready for me, Rain. Because you’re mine.” He slowly pulled out and entered me again, the friction so damn delicious and maddening at the same time. “You’ll always be mine.” He brought his lips to mine and teased my tongue with his own.

I wrapped a leg around his waist, bucking against him to increase his speed, unable to take the slow torture he inflicted upon me. He was right, damn him. I’d never stopped being his. Just as he’d never stopped being mine, and I refused to think about why in the hell we’d ever stayed apart so long when we were so
good
together.

He thrust a little harder, drawing my gaze with his. “Don’t go back there. Stay with me.”

I dug my fingers into his skin and met each of his thrusts, maintaining leverage with the strength of my legs. He growled as I lightly nipped at his neck, the tension coiling inside me to an all-time high.

“Easton,” I moaned, unable to contain his name within my lips as he shifted his weight and rolled one of my breasts in his hand.

“God, Rain. When you say my name like that . . . it’s like a threat. I fucking love it.” He lightly pinched my nipple, pairing it with a deep, long thrust, and I came completely undone beneath him.

He held me to him, keeping our bodies in sync even when I couldn’t see straight from the sparks exploding inside me, brushing my insides with the sweetest pressure, only to release it in the most incredible, full-bodied sigh.

Easton cracked a grin as my trembles subsided. “We’re just getting started.”

I raised my eyebrows, wondering when he’d developed such stamina, even under these circumstances.

He flipped me over, positioning me on top of him, his face level with mine as I straddled him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and bit his lower lip. He hissed, and I arched against him, allowing my center to cover his still-hard cock.

“You bet your ass we are,” I said, before moving until he slipped inside me again.

His eyes widened, and he growled as I opted for his approach, riding him at an agonizingly slow pace.

“Rain.” The edge in his voice only fueled the hot, pulsing need within me. Once wasn’t enough. I needed to devour him.

Easton

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE
first and second time of reclaiming Rain for my own, the sun set and the darkness of the bunker was only slightly illuminated from the silver moon. We could see a sliver of the midnight sky peppered with diamond-like stars that glowed so much brighter than back home. It was the definition of perfect.

Sure, the concrete floor beneath us tried to rob all the warmth we’d built in Rain’s sleeping bag, which only offered a little cushion against its unforgiving hardness, but the walls kept the wind at bay, and there in the quiet, we made ourselves a moment. Or two.

Rain tucked her head onto my chest, tracing the lines on my abdomen with the tips of her fingers. If I hadn’t been so exhausted from the events of the last few days, it would’ve been enough to restart what we’d just finished. Being with her now was twenty times better than it had ever been, and yet there was so much that was the same. The piece of my soul that she had always held still thrived within me, something I didn’t think possible until she’d let me back in.

The woman owned me with a look, a sigh from her lips, and an openness in her eyes that regarded me without judgment. After the painful past I’d given her . . . she remembered me as
me.
Not what I’d done to her, at least not entirely, which was beyond the definition of incredible.

I squeezed her to me—this was more than I’d ever hoped for and everything I didn’t know I’d needed. The deep, black hole in my chest didn’t feel as dark. The guilt was there, heavy as ever, but the bitterness had lessened, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’d buried some of it between her legs—working off the guilt, the anger, and the need for her forgiveness while meeting every plea her body begged from me.

I’d made her come many times over, and I’d do it again, every day for the rest of my life if she’d let me. I wanted to wake up in the mornings and know she was truly mine . . . but even though she’d forgiven me for leaving her all those years ago, I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough for her to be so understanding once she knew the reasoning behind it.