Page 59 of Tormented Hearts

Chapter Thirteen

Just when Hawk thought he couldn’t get hard…after several rounds of the hottest sex of his life…he was.

What they’d done in that tent last night made his teen years look like the pre-season warmup. Waking with her in his arms had stirred his already half-hard cock to full mast. But before he could act on his desire, she slipped out of his arms to start their day.

While dressing, she threw him a coy look and told him that they did have a goal in sight.

Her words only reminded him of all the terms of his contract he’d violated so far. And how many times.

He knew the clause flagged in red. No personal relationships with the client. No exceptions. The kind of language that existed for good reason, the kind he’d nodded along to without a second thought back before he ever heard the name Sinead Winthrop.

Now he’d broken the terms, and several times. Another dark thought struck, and he rubbed his eyes.

He’d have to report his violation to Carson and take whatever punishment the agency handed him. Even if they dismissed him, he’d earned it.

After they ate breakfast, he cocked his head, listening.

“Do you hear that?” he asked.

She listened, and her eyes brightened. “Water?”

He nodded and the sound pulled them both away from the camp. They followed the noise downhill until the trees opened onto a small pool, fed by a narrow waterfall tumbling clean over a shelf of rock. Sunlight scattered silver across the surface.

Sinead immediately bent and started working at her boots. “Oh, we’re doing this.”

“Doing what, exactly?”

“Swimming. Obviously.” She peeled her shirt over her head without waiting for his answer, and any argument he might have made died somewhere in his throat.

They waded in together, the water shockingly cold against their overheated skin, but by the time they reached the deeper section near the falls, he stopped caring. He pulled her against him, her bare skin slick and cool beneath his hands, and kissed her slow and unhurried, water lapping gently around them both.

“This might be the best decision we’ve made all week,” she murmured against his mouth.

“Debatable, but I’m not arguing right now.”

She laughed, and he kissed her again, deeper, her arms looping around his neck—

The boulder hit the water beside them with a violence that shattered the moment and sent a spray of icy water drenching them both, the wave from the impact nearly knocking Sinead off her feet.

He swept her behind him in one quick move, body braced in front of her as he scanned the area for a threat that might have come from above. That rock could have been pushed.

He stilled, listening hard to their surroundings. There wasn’t so much as a scuff of a boot on stone, and the birds were still chirping, a sign that nothing strange had joined them in the forest.

After several minutes, Hawk let out a breath and heard Sinead’s sigh rush out behind him. Gently, he gathered her close and they stared at the spot where a rock easily the size of a car door had just crashed into the pool inches from where they’d been standing. Then they looked at each other, both of them breathing hard.

“Officially getting out now.” Sinead’s voice shook, somewhere between fear and disbelief.

They scrambled for the bank, laughing and giddy from the adrenaline rush that came right after a near miss, hauling themselves out dripping and half-dressed.

“The mountain’s really trying to kill us.” Hawk worked on his clothes over his wet skin.

She threw him a wide-eyed look. “It can stop now.”

They made it back to the cabin without anything else coming at them, but he wasn’t taking any chances and cleared the cabin as safe before they entered.

He and Sinead moved around the interior, seeming to orbit each other as they scoured every inch for anything they could have missed. When he crouched to sweep some dust and cobwebs from the corner to get a better look at the floorboards, Sinead stretched on tiptoe to scan the doorframe.

Several minutes passed in the same rhythm as they searched for a carving or a folded scrap of paper tucked between the cracks in the wall.