“And you saw the rock.”
The full version of the smile I’d been chasing since yesterday—cocky and warm and completely undone underneath it.
“Stay,” he said.
“I’m staying.”
4
WELLS
Ireturned Lincoln’s kiss like I’d been waiting years for permission. Maybe I had.
Her mouth was warm and sure, tasting like river water and heat. When we finally broke apart, both of us breathing hard, she looked at me with those storm-gray eyes, and something shifted. The air got thicker. Heavier.
She pushed me toward the old couch against the back wall, her hands firm on my chest. I let her. Hell, I’d let her do damn near anything right then. My legs hit the cushions, and I dropped down, watching her the whole time.
“This is my next adventure,” she said, voice low and a little unsteady. “I want to take the lead.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Then lead, Lincoln.”
She stepped back just enough to give herself room. First came the shoes, still damp and muddy from the take-out. She crouched, fingers working the knots with quick efficiency, then kicked them aside. Her tank top was next. She peeled it up and over her head, the wet fabric clinging for a second before it came free. Underneath was a simple black swimsuit top—the kind that had seen real water, not some tourist string bikini.
Her skin was sun-flushed, a few faint tan lines showing where the life jacket had sat. Small, strong shoulders. The swell of her breasts rising and falling with each breath. My cock was already straining against my wet shorts, aching.
She hooked her thumbs in the river shorts and shoved them down her legs, stepping out. The swimsuit bottoms matched the top—practical, snug, outlining every curve.
When she reached back and untied the top, letting it fall away, I forgot how to breathe for a second. Perfect, soft breasts, nipples already tight from the cool air coming through the open back door. The river murmured outside like it was keeping watch, but quieter now, slower. Like it knew this part mattered.
She didn’t rush. She slid the bottoms down her hips, revealing the rest of her. Strong thighs from all that hiking and paddling, the faint lines where the suit had pressed into her skin. She was toned but soft in all the right places, and the sight of her completely bare in my office hit me like a Class V wave.
My hands flexed on my thighs, calluses rough against the damp fabric of my shorts. I wanted to touch every inch of her.
“Jesus, Lincoln,” I muttered, voice rough. “You’re killin’ me here.”
She gave me a small, brave smile and knelt between my spread knees. Her fingers went to the waistband of my shorts. I lifted my hips so she could tug them down, and my cock sprang free, hard and heavy against my stomach.
Her eyes went wide. She stared, lips parted, like she’d never been this close to a man before. The look on her face—pure wonder mixed with hunger—shot straight through me. I throbbed visibly under that gaze.
She reached out, tentative, and wrapped her fingers around me. Her hand was cool from the river, soft. I groaned low in my chest.
“You don’t have to?—”
“I want to,” she whispered.
She leaned in and touched the tip of her tongue to the head, right where I was already leaking for her. My hips jerked before I could stop them.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
She tried again, licking a slow stripe up the underside, then took me into her mouth. Awkward at first—teeth grazing once, a little too much suction—but she learned fast.
Within a minute, she had a rhythm that had my head falling back against the couch, one hand gently in her still-damp hair. The contrast between the wild adrenaline of the gorge this morning and this slow, deliberate heat was making my chest tight.
She was taking her time. Exploring. And it was the hottest damn thing I’d ever felt.
After a few minutes, I had to stop her. “Stand up, darlin’.”
She did, lips shiny, eyes dark. I shoved my shorts the rest of the way off, kicked my river sandals aside, and pulled her close, hands on her hips, guiding her forward until she was standing right between my knees. I slid forward on the couch just enough to put my mouth where I wanted it and looked up at her.
