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rrent.
She picked up her pace, wheeling her left arm wildly as she scooped water. She could hear frantic splashing as Luke paddled furiously behind her.
The next few seconds felt like hours. Luke’s grunts matched her pants as they both expended every last ounce of their strength to hit the bank before the river drew them past to who knew where.
The sound of scraping gravel on the kayak’s hull answered all her prayers as they hit the pebbled beach. She heard the deep splash as Luke leaped into the water and grabbed the line at the bow. He dragged the boat the rest of the way onto solid ground.
She sank face down, gripping the edges of the kayak with cold numbed fingers, attached like a limpet to the solid, un-moving hull. The gear hatch dug into her chest, exhaustion flowing over her. But the warm solidity of the fibreglass under her cheek felt too wonderful to relinquish.
A hand gripped her upper arm and lifted her. She pitched off the hull to find herself straddling Luke’s lap. He cradled her head, one arm wrapped around her back. She buried her face in the fresh damp skin of his neck.
He sat cross-legged on the small beach of pebbles and silt, his boots still in the water. The smell of wet man and the salty taste of sweat backed up in her throat.
‘Bugger me, that was a close call.’ The gruff murmur rumbled against her ear.
‘I thought we were going to die.’ Fatigue and relief made her a tad melodramatic.
He chuckled, the husky rumble turning into a laugh. ‘Great way to go, though. Killed by a dead tree.’
His laughter loosened hers and a chuckle popped out, fuelled by the renewed spurt of adrenaline and relief. They were alive, and undrowned by dead trees. Life was a truly wonderful thing.
‘Who knew dead trees could be so dangerous?’ she sputtered past rising hysteria.
‘We do, now.’
‘Well, next time don’t bloody steer into one, then.’ The stern rebuke wasn’t all that convincing accompanied by the spluttering laughs.
His hands cupped her shoulder blades as he dragged her off his chest. The wide smile caused that tempting dimple to wink in his cheek. ‘Aye aye, Captain.’
She shoved him over and rolled off his prostrate form to flop down by his side. The laughter slowly subsided, accompanied by the drift of the river and the muffled buzz of an insect. She batted it away and stared up at the empty blue sky. Knobbly pebbles dug into her spine.
She caught Luke watching her, the fierce gaze almost as disturbing as the tight feeling warming her clammy skin. And even though she knew she was being insane, she grinned, happy to be alive, in this moment, with him.
‘I’ve got some bad news, Hal,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘We lost a paddle.’
‘That’s OK, Captain. You’re only going to need one paddle to get us to the marina tomorrow. I am now officially a passenger.’
Lurching up, he levered himself on top of her, his knees planted on either side of her hips, his arms above her head, caging her in. The raw-boned face, so handsome, so familiar, his wet hair, shaggy across his brow, only inches from hers. Close enough to make out the twists of silver in the pale blue of his eyes, and trigger the traitorous pulse of arousal.
‘Who said it was your paddle we lost?’ he muttered, his breath tasting of peppermint against her lips.
‘I do.’
His body lowered until his weight pressed into her belly. The delicious pressure made her want to stretch and rub against the hard contours. He lowered to his elbows and framed her face between chilled hands. His gaze glided up to the top of her head, the approval in his eyes not daunted by the bird’s nest she probably had doubling for hair.
‘Near-death experiences agree with you.’
She gasped, acknowledging the growing ridge in his pants.
Then his lips settled on hers, firm and seeking, his tongue taking advantage of her shocked gasp to claim her mouth. She sucked on his invading tongue, drawing it in. Sensation exploded, pinching her frigid nipples into swollen buds of need.
She flattened her hands on his chest, his T-shirt cool and damp despite the heat, and let the sensual haze envelop her.
Then she pressed her palms to the solid wall of his chest to shove him back. ‘Stop, Luke. This isn’t happening. We’re not doing this.’
