“Thank you for today.”
She sighed. “My pleasure.” Her eyes drifted closed.
“Mine, too.” He could tell she was tired and ready to sleep. He managed to ease out of her arms without disturbing her. Once he’d dealt with the condom, he switched off the light. “Good night, Naomi.”
She was already asleep.
He lay in the dark listening to her breathe. In the distance an owl hooted. A small night creature scurried through the bushes somewhere near the tent. He felt at one with the night and the natural world. His heart filled with gratitude that she’d allowed him to share it with her.
He woke up to hear birds chirping and pale sunlight glowing on the sides of the tent. Naomi was gone. In a sudden panic, he sat up and grabbed his briefs and jeans.
Wherever she’d gone, she’d zipped the tent after leaving it. He took a deep breath. She’d probably left to go to the bathroom or put on coffee. Still, he had a strong urge to know where she was.
He crawled out of the tent wearing only his jeans and his briefs. He thought about pulling on his boots, but that would only slow him down. He needed to see her, needed to know she was okay.
She wasn’t within sight. The campfire was still cold. He called her name softly in case she was nearby. No answer. Maybe this was why he’d never gone camping with a woman. You could lose track of them.
Maybe she’d gone to check on the eagles. The soles of his feet weren’t used to pine needles and sharp rocks, and he winced as he made his way down the path to the platform. Climbing quickly, he stuck his head over the edge. Nope, not there.
Only one more place to look. He really should have put on his boots, but it was a little late to think about that now. He took the other trail, the one leading to the stream. The rocks seemed even sharper there.
Swearing under his breath, he gingerly picked his way along until he was in sight of the bubbling water. Then he sighed in relief. His wood nymph sat in the middle of the stream, up to her nipples in cold water.
He couldn’t imagine how she could tolerate it, but she looked blissful with her hair slicked back and the water swirling around her. He started forward and stepped on a particularly sharp rock. He yelped and she turned to face him.
“Luke! What are you doing walking without your boots?”
“You did it.” He saw no evidence of her clothes or her hiking boots on the shore.
“I’m used to being barefoot. Most cowboys aren’t.”
“That’s a fact.” But he was nearly there now. “How’s the water?”
“Icy when you get in, but you get used to it.”
“Really?” He had his doubts.
“After all that sex, I wanted a dip in the stream.”
There was a gauntlet thrown down if he’d ever seen one. He’d had as much sex as Naomi, which meant he could use a dip in the stream, too. Or he could eat breakfast with her in his current unwashed state, which didn’t seem particularly polite, now that he thought about it.
Hobbling to the edge of the stream, he unbuttoned his jeans and pulled down his fly. “I’m coming in.”
“It’ll feel really good once you adjust to the temperature.”
He wished like hell he believed that. Vaguely he remembered that women had a different tolerance for heat and cold than men. It had to do with some primitive conditioning because they were the ones who had babies, so they needed protective fat layers. Something like that.
But he’d committed himself to this, and backing down would look bad. The very second he put his foot in the water, he regretted his decision. He deeply regretted it. Some people thought the Polar Bear Club was a great idea. He was not one of those people.
“Come on, Luke. Seriously, it feels great once you get past the first few steps.”
Damn it. If he turned and went back, she’d think he was a wimp. But if he continued into that water, he might never be able to get it up again in this lifetime. His cock would freeze solid, which would do irreparable damage.
“You’re not going to chicken out, are you?” Her laughter was the final straw.
“Absolutely not!” Gritting his teeth, he splashed toward her, and when he reached the spot where she sat chest-deep, he plopped right down. He thought he was going to have a heart attack. “Holy hell! This water’s freezing.” He would have stood up again, but he wasn’t sure his legs would support him now that they were shaking like a willow branch in the wind.
“Wait it out. It gets better.”
“No, it doesn’t. You’re numb by now. You’re probably in shock. Can you feel your toes? I can’t feel mine.”
“You’re such a baby. I do this every day.”
His teeth started to chatter. “F-first thing in the m-morning?”
“Well, no. I usually wait until the middle of the day.”
“Let’s do that.” He tried to get up, but the rocks were slippery and he was still pretty shaky. “Let’s get out and try it again at noon.”
She put a hand on his shoulder, so cold it felt like the clutch of death. “You won’t be here at noon. Look, you’re in the water now, so you might as well relax and enjoy it.”
“You realize this could be the end of our sex life.”
“How’s that?”
“My cock is never going to be the same after this.”
“Sure it will.” She reached over and cupped his cheek. Her fingers were frigid. “Kiss me.”
“The way my teeth are chattering, I might bite you instead.”
“Try it.”
He figured all was lost anyway, so he might as well go along with this kissing routine. Turning toward her, he tried not to quiver as their lips met. At first it was a chilly proposition, indeed, but then her warmth began to penetrate the frost.
The effect reminded him of a movie where the prince kissed the sleeping princess and she gradually turned from deathly white to pink and glowing. Only he was the deathly white prince and Naomi was the princess reviving him. The longer they kissed, the better he felt.
Soon he had so much feeling in his fingers that he remembered she was naked in this water and he could reach over and play with her breasts. So he did.
She drew away from his kiss. “See? You’re starting to enjoy yourself.”
“Some. Kiss me again.”
“Sure.” Sliding around to face him, she held his head and really began to kiss him with enthusiasm.
That helped enormously because now he could fondle both of her plump breasts
