“Ayla! Get back!”
She glances at me, frowning. “I’m fine.”
“You can’t tell in the snow where the ledge ends. Get back.”
She doesn’t move so I start toward her in long strides, adrenaline spiking in my blood, visions of the snow giving out and Ayla crashing down the cliff playing in front of my eyes.Fuck.
She moves even closer to the edge just as I reach her and grab her arm. I yank her back and the snow crumbles beneath her snowshoes. The adrenaline has me leaping back, pulling her with me, both of us landing in the snow.
“Oh my God! I started an avalanche!” Ayla lies beneath me, eyes wide.
“I don’t think it’s an avalanche.” My heart is booming. “But it could have been you going down that cliff. Jesus Christ, Ayla.”
I look down into her face and see genuine fear in her blue eyes. We stare at each other for a moment. My heart is pounding but with thick jackets between us, I can’t feel hers. The pulse in her throat flutters wildly, though, and I inexplicably have a desire to put my mouth there. To suck her soft flesh. Lick that pulse. My body hardens.
“What were you thinking?” I growl.
“I just wanted one last look at the view!” She struggles to push me away and I roll off her, releasing her. I lie on my back and stare at the sky, trying to get my breathing back under control.
Fuck. She just scared the shit out of me.
13
AYLA
I’m shaking, my insides quivering, my legs weak. And my heart pitches in my chest, which I think is from fear but also could be because Carson was so close to me, holding me protectively, his hazel eyes wide with panic.
I struggle with my snowshoes to stand, falling once again. Okay, drinking all that rum might have been a mistake. But no way am I admitting Carson was right.
“Christ,” he mutters, closing his eyes.
My gaze roams over him in his black outdoor gear. He looks huge in the white snow, his face ruddy from the cold.
“Let’s go,” I say, trying not to sound rattled.
“Yeah.” He blows out a breath and gets to his feet a lot more gracefully than I did. “I should take you back to the cottage and spank you.”
Daaaamn.That gives me a flutter in my lower belly.
“Boundaries, remember?” I snap, setting off through the snow.
“This way, Ayla.”
Shit.Lips pressed together, I turn and follow him.
Going down is both easier and harder, but we finally make it back to the resort. Neither of us say much until we’re back inside the cottage. It’s dusk and Carson turns on the fireplace and I flick on a couple of lamps. Then we strip off our outer gear.
I keep looking at him beneath my lashes. Tension shimmers in the room. He’s still pissed.
Well, so am I.
Sitting on the couch, he sets his hands on his knees and looks at me. “That was stupid.”
Ouch.It hurts because I know it’s true. But there’s enough rum still in my bloodstream to make me argue. “Maybe,” I snap back. “But it’s not your problem anymore.”
His eyes flicker, then narrow. “It’s my problem when I have to rescue you on the side of a fucking mountain.”
I stand.
