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Clara stared up, through the trees to the cliff that peaked a couple hundred feet above her head. The faithful cliff. It had never given away her secrets and now, she was going to do that very thing.
Before the day was over, Eagan would have them all. Somehow, she knew it.
She glanced at him. His hands were slung around his hips as he examined the brush cover, looking for her so-called camp.
“Where?” he asked, baffled.
Clara had to laugh. “Come on.”
She led him to the “door”. It wasn’t really a door, but she liked to think of it as one. It was a spot in the brush wall where several thick vines had grown together. But if you knew just where to separate them, they opened as easily as a door, instead of a snarled tangle of twigs.
Ducking, she crawled through until she was on the other side of the wall. Once past, there was barely enough room to stand between the trees and where the rocky mountain face began.
She glanced back to make sure Eagan had followed her. But he was so close, she startled and her foot caught on a root. Flinging her hand out to find purchase, she grabbed his shirt and his strong hands steadied her. She looked up, expecting to find him scowling, but instead, his eyes were soft, crinkling around the edges. Not laughing at her. Something else.
It gave her a repeat dose of that belly tumbling feeling. It was something she could easily become addicted to.
His gaze fell to her lips and he didn’t look away.
Shoved between the rock and the vines, with the tree canopy above them, it was like they were the only two people in the world. It was their own little place in the universe. Until today, it had only been hers. Now it wastheirs.
It was a scary but exciting feeling, sharing something so important with this man. But he’d made the first move. He’d shared his cooking, his home. Hisbed.
Slowly, Eagan bent his head to hers. Inching forward, as if giving her time to stop him. Except she didn’t want to stop him. For once in her life, she craved a connection. She wanted to match a piece of her with a piece of him, and make it mean something.
His lips pressed softly to hers, and the delicate touch might as well have been thunder for the effect it had. It was so sweet, so delicious that it took her breath away. There was no tongue. No urgency. Just the most tender meeting of his body with hers.
And it undid her.
All the solitude. The simplicity. The distance from society. It seemed like her past, and this, Eagan, was her future.
It scared her. But only in the way of embarking on a new adventure.
It also thrilled her. But in the way a haunted house was thrilling. What surprise was around the next corner? And could she survive it without wetting her damn pants.
His hand tenderly cradled her cheek as he broke their kiss, just enough to speak.
“That was what I wanted our first kiss to be. Gentle, so I could feel how soft your lips are. I knew they’d be the softest.” His mouth brushed hers as he spoke sweetly. It might as well have been more kissing since it had the same breath-stealing effect on her.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, letting her lips caress his too. “I liked them both. And… and I hope there’s more.”
His eyes closed as he sighed, seeming relieved. She could almost feel it rolling off him.
He kissed the corner of her mouth and pulled back. “Let’s see this camp of yours so we can go talk to Magic. I need to get things settled with you or my jag’ll go crazy.”
Clara breathed deep to get her bearings.
“Yes. Camp. Let’s go.”
Squeezing along the wall, she led Eagan to a hidden opening in the rock. It was three feet across and almost five feet tall, and covered by a canvas tarp. Pulling it back, she peered inside.
“You got the flashlight?”
Eagan passed it over and she used it to light the inside of the cave.
“There might be critters. They stay away for the most part when I’m here. But being gone overnight… you never know.”
She stepped inside and Eagan followed.
