Page 56 of Hearts Storm

Brex snorts.

Desperate to change the subject, I pick up my pace. “How much farther to the next cabin?”

“Another mile, maybe,” he says, long muscular legs easily matching my stride. “You know this changes things, right? Between us?”

My stomach flutters. “There is no ‘us,’ Brex.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” The confidence in his tone makes me want to both kiss him and shove his ass back onto the muddy ground. “You kissed me back.”

“It’s called adrenaline,” I mutter, though we both know it’s a lie.

“Sure. Okay,” he chuckles as we step over a small fallen tree. “Care to explain the noises you made? Were those caused by adrenaline too?”

Heat floods my cheeks. “Shut up.”

Brex’s laugh is warm and rich. “Keep sassing me like that and my dick won’t want to behave.”

I shoot him a glare. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Unbelievably hard to resist?” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Lips twitching, I ignore his comment, and focus on the path ahead.

twenty-five

God, she’s gorgeous. Even covered in mud. I can’t help but grin like an idiot as we trudge through the muck.

All I can think about is how her body felt beneath mine. The taste of her lips. The way she moaned into my mouth. My cock throbs, and I have to adjust myself for what feels like the hundredth time today.

I’ve been biding my time since I ‘helped her sleep’, keeping things professional despite every instinct screaming at me to claim her.

But that kiss—fuck, that kiss—changes everything. She wanted me as much as I wanted her. No amount of excuses about “adrenaline” can explain away how she melted against me, fingers digging into my back as she kissed me like she was drowning and I was the oxygen she needed to breathe.

I’m not giving up. Not now. Not ever.

But I need to be smart about this. Logan’s warning about the crew echoes in my head. If Taylor or Alan caught wind of what’s happened between us, they’d never let it go. The teasing would be relentless.

I need to figure out some subtle ways to keep her attention. Casual touches. Making sure I’m always around when she needs something. Small gestures that won’t raise eyebrows but will keep me in her thoughts. Things that’ll keep her thinking about me when she’s all alone in her tiny room at night.

We check out the other cabins—one a total loss, the other untouched—before we start the forty-five minute trek back to the truck.

Thankfully, despite the fact that we’re wet and covered in mud, the exercise helps to keep us from freezing. By the time we make it back to the truck, my whole body aches.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for this day to be over,” I say as I climb into the driver’s seat and turn the key.

Reyna nods, shivering as she straps herself in. “Definitely. I need a long, hot shower and a stiff drink.”

I reach over and crank up the heat. “Sounds like a great plan.”

The drive back to the station is quiet. The hum of the engine and the rhythmic swish of the wipers are the only sounds filling the cab as Reyna gazes out the passenger window.

Mud cakes her hair, streaking down her neck, spattered across her face. Every time I sneak a glance, my chest tightens. Not just because she’s beautiful, but because of how close we came to getting leveled by a tree.

In less than a second, it would’ve crushed us both. A shiver racks my body when I remember the sound of cracking wood, how the ground shook, and the feel of her small body beneath me as we hit the ground. Hell, if my reflexes hadn’t been on point...

I shudder, shaking the thought away as I focus on the road.

By the time we pull into the station, the other teams are back. Their rigs are parked in the bay, some of the guys milling around, others still wiping down equipment. As we roll in, a few heads turn our way.