Page 29 of Pure Temptation

He had wanted to show Kendall a new way to see her experiences. That first day at the Kalani, she had asked him questions he hadn’t fully answered. Why climb a mountain without ropes? Why jump out of an airplane with no parachute? Behind those questions and every other one like it was one basic question: Why risk his life for these experiences? After being asked variations of this for years, Daxon had realized that this wasn’thisquestion. He was asking something completely different: What made him feel alive?

He respected that jumping out of airplanes wasn’t everyone’s thing. Some people pushed themselves to stand up in front of an audience and tell jokes, hoping that everyone would laugh. Before she got sick, his mother’s job as an emergency room nurse had made her come alive. Kendall was looking for the same thing, too: an experience that transcended time, moments when the mind and the body and the world around were all one. Moments like this were worth years and years of a life without them.

He’d heard hints about her aversion to risks back in Costa Rica, and after their conversation in the car today, he understood it much better. He hadn’t said much when she talked about her father’s absences, just listened, but Daxon supposed this day was the closest he had to an answer as to why a person might choose work that involved danger.

Not that this trip was conceived that way. When he first suggested a day together, he was thinking about sex. On the beach, maybe in the convertible with the top down—lots of fantasies ran through his head, some more than once. But, as usual, he had to take the challenge to the next level. It was then that the little snippet of conversation had come back to him, where she was standing on top of the diving platform, so curious, so ready to jump, so afraid. He knew that feeling. He had lived with it inside, explored it, leaned into it. He had learned more about it—and himself—doing stunts like skydiving, where the real risks weren’t high but the fear factor was. Then, once he had understood fear, learned how to work with it, he had moved on to adventures where the consequences were higher. He had learned to trust himself, to harness that fear and turn it into learning what he needed to stay in the moment.

But he hadn’t forgotten that messy mixture of fear, temptation and exhilaration, that feeling of standing on top of that ten-meter platform, ready to jump for the first time.

This day’s success had nothing to do with whether or not Kendall jumped. Together, they were watching others in that moment, the thoughts written on their faces. While they talked to each other, touched each other, skin on skin. These new explorations were so fresh and alive as they studied each person looking over the edge. This, right now, was what he searched for: the moments when what he said and thought and did were all perfectly aligned. And for once, he was experiencing this fully dressed and sitting down.

Daxon was hoping like hell that she was feeling it, too. That when she leaned over to kiss him after he made her laugh, it was because that was exactly what she wanted to do right then.

“Check out that kid over there,” said Kendall. She nodded to the far platform where a group was gathered. “He can’t be more than thirteen or fourteen. You think he’s going to jump?”

The small wooden platform stuck out a few feet beyond the rocky cliff with a rickety-looking railing. Next to it, a long metal ladder extended the entire ten meters down to the water. The kid was wiry and determined-looking, dressed in board shorts and bare feet, and he was gripping the railing of the platform hard as he peered over the edge. Behind him were two kids, a little older, maybe brothers, who were egging him on.

“He’s definitely going to jump,” said Daxon, chuckling. “Those guys behind him are making sure of it.”

The teens behind the boy said something Daxon didn’t catch, and the kid straightened up. He turned to the others, smiled, and then, with a whoop of glee, he jumped. Kendall leaned forward, watching him descend, flailing, until he hit the water. The other kids came to the edge, watching, cheering as the boy emerged from the surface. He swam over to the ladder and called his own taunts back up to the others.

“Now I really can’t claim that this is too risky,” said Kendall with a smirk. “If a thirteen-year-old kid can do it, it can’t be that bad, right?”

Daxon laughed. “You sure you want to use a teenage boy as a risk-assessment gauge? Speaking as a former member of that group, we do a lot of stupid things.”

She smiled. “And have a lot of fun along the way.”

Daxon ran his hand along her cheek and then tugged softly on her ponytail. “It is a relatively low-consequence thrill, especially on a calm day like today. I think the only way to know whether or not to jump is to ask yourself, will this be fun? Will the thrill of it be worthwhile enough to fight the fear?”

Kendall looked at him. “You’re really not going to talk me into this, are you?”

“Nope.” He leaned over and kissed her. “But if you decide to jump, I’ll go first. I’ll be there at the bottom for you.”

She was quiet a while, and they watched as the second guy stood at the ledge, the third throwing out comments, half encouragement, half insult. The guy walked forward, calling down to the kid at the bottom, wringing his hands, all nerves and pride, and then he jumped, too. Finally, the last kid looked around as the other two called to him.

“He wants witnesses,” said Daxon as the kid looked their way. “Someone to be in this moment with him.”

Daxon pumped his fist in the air, cheering the guy on. He stepped forward, standing on the edge, backed up, and with a resigned shrug he jumped off the cliff. When he came up for air, the three boys gathered at the bottom, laughing, giving each other high fives.

“I want to check it out,” said Kendall.

“You sure?”

“Just a peek. I still might change my mind.”

“No pressure. But just in case, let’s strip.” Daxon waggled his eyebrows salaciously. She pinched his side, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Making Kendall smile was becoming his new favorite pastime. The rush he got when her lips curved up and her eyes crinkled at the corners as she looked at him—that rush was addictive, different from anything he had felt in a long, long time. If ever.

He reached inside one of the bags, searching around. “The biggest risk in this jump is probably smacking your feet or cutting them on the barnacles on the way up the ladder, so I brought some water shoes for us, just in case.” He pulled out a pair and handed them to Kendall. “That was the reason I contacted Alana in the first place, by the way—to get your shoe size.”

But Kendall didn’t take the shoes. Instead, she got that look in her eyes like she did the night she came over, like she was about to have her way with him. She shifted onto her knees and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. She was warm from the sun, and her lips still tasted of pineapple and mango as she brushed her mouth against his. Relief rushed through him, relief at kissing her again. Her tongue stroked his in slow, deep moves, like she was showing him what she wanted from him right now. And fuck, he wanted it, too. He slipped his hands onto her hips and helped her ride, pulling her against his cock. Hell, this woman drove him crazy.

The sound of teenage voices broke into their kiss, and Kendall pulled away.

“Damn.” Daxon gave her one last squeeze. “I should buy you water shoes more often.”

“What can I say? I’m easy to please.”

Yeah, right. “Or maybe you’re trying to distract me from the jump? Because I’m not against this kind of distraction.”