Authors: Kristen James
How could she validate his claims? She wanted to believe him so badly, needed to believe him, but she had been trained over and over not to trust people. She thought of something, and even knowing it was a low blow, she asked, “Where did find out your mother died?”
Instantly, Nick’s eyes filled with pain.
“School let out for the summer that day.” His eyes unfocused as he went back in time. “I saw Uncle John parked by the curb, and Adam and I ran to the truck. He didn’t say anything during the ride home. Dad sat waiting on the porch. We both knew right away, we just knew, but we sat down and let them tell us anyway.”
Listening to him, her heart beat faster. She knew that day stayed in his memory like a snap shot, waiting to pop up at unexpected moments. She also knew at least that part of his story was the complete truth.
He asked, “What happened to your mom?”
She should have seen it coming. In her unguarded moment, however, both her snapshot and the feelings flooded into her.
“I’m sorry.” He reached over and touched her leg again. He seemed to be saying sorry for her loss, not for asking.
Maybe she wasn’t so good at hiding her pain. “No, it’s fair game after I asked about your mom. She died of cancer, too, when I was eight. That’s why my family was so poor.”
Several moments went by with just the song of the breeze in the tree branches above them.
“Cora…You didn’t have much to stand on, but you did very well for yourself. You’re successful, and you don’t seem mad at the world that life hasn’t been easy for you.”
She looked into his eyes, feeling a connection, even while she didn’t want to.
Quietly, he asked her, “Can I ask you one more thing?”
“Blood type? Credit history?”
“No.” He bit back his laugh. “Is there a man in your life, waiting for you back in civilization, worried sick about you?”
Cora tried to cover a small smile while shaking her head. Softly, she said, “Just my dad right now. I’ve been getting my career off the ground, and it actually helps to be single. You know, the whole young, single reporter thing.” She gave him a questioning look. “You’d be in trouble if you had to explain this to a girlfriend.”
He laughed. “Yeah…I can only imagine. But no, there’s no one right now. I’ve been so busy with work. A bit driven. Maybe we have that in common.”
The silence that followed was a peaceful one, and they shared a look of understanding. Something clicked, something more than sexual desire or affection.
Wow, he had gorgeous eyes. In the sun, they looked a rich, reddish brown, and they could also look a warm, fawn brown in the shade. She’d seen on his face several times that he wanted to kiss her more. And she wanted to touch him again, feel his strong arms hold her.
Cora didn’t want to become overly emotional with him, not when she needed a clear head. The way he looked at her could break through her defenses unless she did something quick.
Eight
“That river doesn’t sound like it’s too far from here. Come on.” Nick stood and pulled Cora up off the log.
As they trampled down a hillside, she said, “Too bad I don’t have a swim suit.”
He smiled just a bit too sweetly. “Aren’t you funny?”
It didn’t sound like a question, to tell the truth. She forgot her comeback as they reached their destination, emerging from the trees into the hot summer sun. The grass gave way to small pebbles under their feet at the river’s edge. Nick still held onto her hand as she took in the oasis. The water rushed and splashed through large boulders to their right and pooled before them, creating a perfect swimming spot. The water ran so clear they could see the rounded rocks lying at the bottom. Lush, giant leaves grew on the Maple trees hugging the pebbly beach, their roots showing through the rocks.
Cora kicked off her shoes and stepped ankle deep into the cold water while Nick pulled off his hiking boots.
From behind her he said, “You don’t need a swim suit around here.”
She screamed when he picked her up and threw her in. When she came up, gasping from the cold shock, she found him in the water beside her, laughing.
And not wearing a shirt. Just glorious tan skin over taut muscles. In fact, was he wearing his shorts?
“I don’t think that helped my affection for you.” She tried to glare at him but knew it she didn’t pull it off.
“Alright.” He sighed and dunked, coming up with water dripping from his dark hair down his face. He pushed it back and looked at her, his skin glistening in the sun.
She leaned back, dipping her hair and pulling it away from her face.
He slowly swam to her to say, his smile growing wider as he grew closer. He didn’t stop his advancement and she swam back, away from him, but he came after her.
“Don’t dunk me,” she warned.
“I just want to catch you.” His eyes looked very mischievous as one eyebrow slowly raised, daring her to make a swim for it. She dove under and swam the other way.
She came up, wiped the water from her face and found herself almost nose to nose with him. She took off in a different direction, but she didn’t have endless room to evade him. Soon her laughing slowed her down, and he made a lurch and caught her in his arms. Now all that skin was touching hers.
She fell silent when as he stared into her eyes, his own expression soft, solemn almost.
She wanted to kiss him more than anything, to feel those full lips on hers, and see if she could drive him past the breaking point.
But this could be dangerous
. She broke away from Nick’s intense look and scanned the trees around them. “We’re not safe here.”
“These mountains are huge. It’d take a miracle to find us.” He ran his finger down her jaw line and then backtracked to trace just under her lip. “I’m certain they headed back by now, thinking they’re behind us or missed us.”
While speaking, he looked into her eyes like she was the only thing in the universe. His brown eyes reflected the greens and blues around them while showing a wild display of primal desire and promise. She saw it coming this time, but didn’t swim away. Their lips met in urgency and picked up where they had left off before.
She felt lost, and there wasn’t anything but Nick, his arms around her, his hands melding to the curves of her body, his kiss awakening her feminine side. His hands ran down to hold her hips and shock waves washed through her. For several blissful minutes, she didn’t have a care in the world. She only wanted more and more of him.
And then she remembered her dad. The money. Alexander.
She pulled away from their kiss, but didn’t pull her hands from his bare chest as she shivered. The water chilled her but she felt the heat radiating from him. It would be so easy to let nature take its course out here, in the woods, miles and miles away from anyone. The idea was actually…very nice.
She sighed, almost whimpered, in her want. She just couldn’t let her guard down, not when Nick could be using her. At the very least, he was keeping her away from Eugene and finding her dad. They also had Alexander to worry about.
“I’m not out here to make a move on you, Cora. I didn’t plan to fall this hard.”
Fall?
His eyes looked concerned, like he didn’t want to worry her or hurt her in any way.
I didn’t plan to fall this hard.
He just about had her wrapped around his pinky, and it was painfully clear that she couldn’t tell if he was playing a game or... Or what?
She stretched up and kissed him on the mouth, a lingering and remorseful kiss, and trudged out of the water onto the sand.
***
That one soft kiss was the most intimate, sensual kiss of his life. It made him want so much more, but it also felt like a last kiss. That scared him.
It also scared him that he wanted her not only physically, but emotionally and mentally.
He watched her from the water, not feeling the coldness through his burning desire, before he slowly made his own way out and joined her. She was drying on the grass with the sun shining down on her. She lay on her stomach and hid her face in the crook of her arm, hiding her face.
“I’m sorry I got your clothes all wet.”
She mumbled something in response about the clothes in her bag. Nick leaned against a large boulder and watched her ignore him, although she might have been tired or just enjoying the warm sun. Her long hair curled a little as it dried, as if it didn’t want to conform. She was like that, too: stubborn, but in a graceful way. For some reason, the smallness of her arms and legs struck him, just how fragile and petite her frame looked stretched out beside him.
Had he been a fool to want to spend time with her? Even if he never got to kiss her again, he knew he’d dream about it till the day he died. How could he forget the way her mouth fit perfectly to his, how soft her lips had been, how electrifying her touch felt? Nick grabbed up two fistfuls of the small rocks under him and clenched them as hard as he could, but he didn’t relieve the awful energy eating away at him.
It wasn’t just about how gorgeous she was. Cora had a tough spirit. She didn’t back down.
That’s how he normally felt. He stood up for what was right and helped his clients.
***
Nick shook her awake and she let him lead the way back up the hillside. The debate still waged in her mind and Cora still didn’t know whether to trust or distrust him. Her heart wanted to listen to him, but her mind held out for further proof that he truly was on her side. He could be honestly trying to help her . . . or laughing at her behind those gorgeous eyes.
One thing was for sure: she needed to get some distance and cool things between them. She wanted him too much.
She grabbed her bag and hid in the bushes to change. Nick went the other way. When she came back, he was laying down on the sleeping bag on a grassy spot. Really? She wasn’t sure if he felt exhausted like she did, or if he had other things in mind.
“Aren’t we headed back to Eugene now?” She knelt down next to him.
“Hmm, mmm.” He slid a hand up onto her leg. His peaceful face rested on his arm as he slept. He had a few days’ growth darkening his jaw. She wanted to touch him, to feel his face and the stubble, to trace his lips, but why hurt herself more?
While still watching him, she rose to her feet and took little, careful steps backward. She wanted to trust him, but he had drugged her. He’d kidnapped her twice now!
He didn’t move. She watched him, her heart tearing in two. Sometime, while lying next to the river, it occurred to her that it would lead her back out of here, if Nick didn’t want to head back right away.
The river had to meet a road or town sometime. That’s what she needed. Thinking about it would slow her down, so she turned and hurried back down to the river. It wasn’t the same spot they had just swam in, but that didn’t matter. She stood at the edge of a giant boulder, watching a trout suspended in his world of water before darting out of view.
She was losing her determination by standing here too long. Her palms broke out in sweat. Just then a wide piece of lumber bumped its way through the rapids and floated out into the pool before her.
That would work. She dove in.
Coldness washed over her and relieved the heart stopping tension. She reached the lumber and grabbed on. The water’s surface lay smooth, almost tranquil here where the deepness hid the current, but she realized the river grew shallow as she floated downstream.