two days and she now felt safe enough to think of living. The intimate space they would share for the night only added to that awareness. She still tingled all over with the knowledge he had watched her bathe. For how long?
The waterfall had looked so inviting. She hadn’t felt nastier in her entire life. Dirt mixed with sweat, her clothes sticking to her, pants less black than tan. Her hair had been a mass of tangles with bits of leaf and twigs. No one at home would have recognized her. The rush of the water had called to her. She had planned it to be a quick bath but she’d become caught up in the heavenly feeling of the water flowing over her and had stayed longer than she’d intended.
Ellen looked at the falls. She couldn’t see Chance through the rush of water but she could picture him beneath it as water washed over his shoulders and ran down his chest. What if they didn’t make it home the next day? Were caught? Never had a chance to be together?
What would it be like to really spend a night in his arms? Life was too short not to have that pleasure.
She spread the blanket out near the fire and stored their packs. Her leg let her know it was there as she moved. Sitting down, she pulled her pants leg up and twisted so she could see the back of her calf. There was a red welt just above where the top of her boot came. She had been bitten. It was tender and warm. There wasn’t much she could do about it now. She’d check it again in the morning.
Pulling Chance’s pack to her, she found the ointment and gave her feet some much-needed attention. Her blisters now had blisters. She dreaded putting her boots on in the morning. At least her socks had been rinsed, which would help cut down on infection. She would lose one of her big toenails, if not both.
Chance joined her. His hair was wet. He’d pushed it away from his forehead. A lock of it hadn’t stayed in place. Bare-chested and with his pants low on his hips, he strolled toward her. The fire reflected off his still-damp skin. Every nerve in her body was alert to him.
He laid his clothing beside hers. There was something oddly intimate about their undergarments drying next to each other.
“You need to get some sleep. We have another day of walking ahead of us.” He put another piece of brush on the fire.
He continued to stand as if he wasn’t going to join her on the blanket. “You aren’t going to sleep?”
“I think I’ll sit up for a while.”
“Then I’ll keep you company unless you’ve had enough of it.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.” A stricken look covered his features as if he’d said something he hadn’t meant to.
“We haven’t had that talk yet,” she said just loud enough that she could be heard over the falls.
“Ellen, I don’t think—”
“You’re right. I don’t want to talk.” She stood. “I’ve spent the last two days worrying about dying.”
“Ellen…”
She stepped around the fire. “There might not be another day, another time and I want to celebrate being alive. With you.” Placing her hands on his shoulders, she went up on her toes and kissed him.
Chance grabbed her around the waist. Pulling her against his chest, he brought her feet off the ground. His mouth devoured hers as if he was hungry and a banquet was being served.
HOW LIKE ELLEN to take the initiative. Chance wasn’t going to turn her away again. The gentleman in him he’d left in that hovel days before. He was going to accept what was offered. All of Ellen.
He would inhale her, touch her, have her. Totally take what he’d desired for weeks.
His body was tense with anticipation. With one hot kiss his manhood stood ready. He craved everything about her.
With her still in his arms he walked around the fire to the blanket. She wrapped her arms around his neck as they went. Cupping the back of his head, she held his mouth to hers. Her tongue caressed, twirled and mated with his, mimicking the very things he wanted to do to her.
Chance hadn’t planned this. But he wanted it. Needed her.
She was right. They had spent the last few days fighting for their lives. He didn’t want to battle himself or her about the attraction between them. Now it was time to feel her against him for the pleasure of her, not for the need to survive. Chance eased her down his body and brought his hands up under her shirt tracing the lines of her body. Stepping away, he pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it to the stone floor.
She was stunning, standing before him. The flickering firelight touched her in places he had every intention of savoring. He cupped one of her breasts. Slowly, he pulled his hand away, caressing the breast from beneath. Ellen shivered, adding to his delight. He reveled in her soft sound of pleasure.
The pads of her fingers drifted over his chest then downward to the edge of his pants and around to his side. She slipped a finger beneath his waistband and moved it across his skin.
His manhood tightened. Strained against the front of his pants.
She grabbed a handful of material and pulled him to her.
Chance took her mouth again. This time she brought a leg up his, circling it with hers. He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes. “I desperately want you but I can’t make any promises.”
“Tonight isn’t about promises. It’s about being alive. Enjoying life.”
She hadn’t said it but he knew her too well not to know she cared deeply for people and that meant she didn’t take relationships lightly. Should he let this continue? For his sake? Hers?
A hint of a smile came to Ellen’s lips. “Remember what I said that day when I was polishing the girl’s nails? A moment of pleasure is better than none. If something happens to you, I’d always regret not having you like this.”
That brick wall Chance had built around his heart had just taken a battering. He couldn’t let her get hurt. “This isn’t some storybook adventure that’s going to end in a happily-ever-after.”
“Have I ever said that’s what I want?”
She hadn’t, and for some reason it stung that she didn’t expect it.
Her hands ran up his ribs and down his arms. “What I’m saying is that I want you. I know you want me. I feel it.” She flexed forward. “There might not be another time. We may not get out of this. I don’t want any regrets. Not being with you would be a great regret.”
Chance knew about regrets and disappointment. He’d experienced both a number of times in his life. With his mother. His sister. His ex-wife. Ellen wouldn’t be one of those. He would see to that right now.
Cupping her face with his hands, he gave her a gentle kiss. “You deserve a big comfortable bed and someplace clean.”
“I don’t care as long as you are there.”
Bam.
