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She stayed huddled under the blanket and breathed in the aroma of mothballs as Xavier directed the layout of their meal on the dining table inside the suite. Through the open doorway, she watched as a small kerosene candle was lit and placed in the center of the table.
After the hotel employee left, Xavier flipped on the gas fireplace and turned off the overhead lights. The soft yellow glow of fire and lantern provided the only light in the room, while outside, electric lamps on the ground below were hooded, so the moon over the lake provided the majority of the glow that lit the night.
This would be nothing more than a one-night stand, yet the romantic touch of natural and firelight stirred something inside her. She knew Xavier wasn’t interested in anything more than the next few hours, but damn, he sure was bringing his A game.
She felt wild to be doing this, but also…vivid. Alive. Almost like this was destiny of some sort. And she didn’t even believe in destiny.
Yet here she was in a hotel room with a man she’d just met, feeling like this encounter—no matter how brief—would change her life.
It was nonsensical, but she was rolling with it. She slipped off her jeans and shirt under the blanket. She wished she were wearing sexy underwear. Anything would be more exciting than her purple sports bra.
In just two weeks, she’d celebrate her one-year anniversary as park archaeologist. And while achieving that lifelong goal had been satisfying, it had also been soured when her boyfriend of four years had ended their relationship the same day, the moment he knew for certain she would never move away from the Olympic Peninsula. He lived in the Bay Area and had hoped she’d fail to get her dream job, so she would move south to be with him.
Never once in their years together had he told her he had no intention of moving north, even though he knew her goals. He’d always blamed his job for keeping him in California, and talked about someday, when they’d be able to share a zip code.
In the end, he’d admitted to being jealous of the park and angry that she loved a place more than she’d loved him.
And she couldn’t deny it. When the ultimatum came:give up the job you’ve sought for more than twenty-five years or me, she’d chosen the job.
It was the right choice, given that he’d never been honest with her and that he had, in fact, been counting on her to fail and move south. But still, it had left her adrift. Hollow. Questioning what she knew and why she’d held such an unwavering goal since she was eleven to begin with.
Am I even normal to have such a deep obsession with a place?
He’d said she was still that immature girl whose only friend was an old, cantankerous archaeologist and a bunch of rocks and trees.
Was he right? Had she never gotten past those awkward years? Did she hold herself back from people because she could only relate to history and nature?
But he also didn’t know the life she’d built here, because his visits had been sporadic and brief. She had friends in Port Angeles, and they didn’t all work for ONP. Undine worked for a marine sanctuary, and her husband worked for NOAA.
But still, Audrey hadn’t considered dating in the last year. The idea of making herself vulnerable again had left her cold.
Now here she was, nearly a year later and she was allowing herself to be vulnerable with a man, welcoming intimacy with a stranger. Sure, there were safeties in place: he was an old friend of Jae’s, so she knew he wasn’t married or dangerous. And it was only for one night.
But then, if what happened between them so far was any indication, it would be oneveryhot night.
It wasn’t like she was risking her heart. No. This would be wild and wonderful and the gift she deserved to celebrate her first year in the job that was her life.
Looking back, she’d had too few lovers in her thirty-eight years, and hadn’t been with anyone but her ex in far too long. Thank goodness that was about to change.
Xavier stepped into the sliding glass doorway and leaned against the jamb, eyes raking her with the same smoldering look he’d been giving her all evening.
The wool of the blanket irritated her bare skin, but that too was about to change.
“You ready for dinner?” he asked.
Her belly fluttered as she rose from the swing, holding the blanket around her, then she dropped it at her feet and said, “No. I’m not hungry for dinner just yet.”
His eyes flared with heat as a slow smile spread across his handsome face. He was a beautiful man, with chiseled features and golden-brown skin. Thick, dark brows over brown eyes with wrinkles at the corners, and a firm, cleft chin combined with cheekbones that gave his face a rugged, masculine edge.
From a purely physical perspective, Xavier Rivera was mind-blowingly hot. And he’d promised to fulfill all her dirty fantasies. This was the anniversary gift she hadn’t known she needed.
“I want to fuck you out here in the moonlight,” he said in a low, husky voice, as he stepped forward and ran a hand down her shoulder, over her breast, and across her hip, pulling her forward and wrapping her in the warmth of his body.
A gust of wind hit her bare back, and she couldn’t help but shiver even as her body absorbed the heat of his.
“The wind would be a problem,” he whispered as he kissed her neck. “But before we go inside, I want to see you fully naked in the moonlight.”
She pulled the tight jog bra over her head as he tugged down her underwear. She shivered again as she stood naked before him, the wind whipping around her.
