16
THE ASCENT TO the castle was slow with Hunt carrying me, but I didn’t mind the extra time snuggled up against him. His arms were like bands of steel around me, but his breath against my forehead was warm and soft.
“You still okay?” he asked, and I nodded.
I gave a small whimper just to enjoy the way he pulled me even closer in response. I had both arms wrapped around his neck, and ever so slowly I let one of my hands begin to wander. I used my fingernails to lightly scratch down the column of his neck, and had to hold in a laugh when his step faltered.
He cleared his throat and kept walking.
He walked, and I documented his reactions, like the way his eyes closed for just a second when my fingertips brushed the hinge of his jaw below his ear, and the hitch of his breath when I dug my fingernails into his shoulder after a particularly “painful” jostle of my ankle.
I could feel his fatigue by the time we hit step 250, and decided to take pity on him. I lifted my head and said, “Jackson.”
I wasn’t prepared for how close our lips would come when his head turned toward mine. A knot of desire tightened low in my belly, and my thoughts fled.
“Um … I …”
The word want didn’t do justice to how badly I hoped he would kiss me again.
His steps slowed to a stop, and my heart went epileptic.
I could have kissed him myself, latched my mouth to his and held him tight. But I wanted him to come to me. I was tired of feeling him pull away. And if I had my way, within five and a half days, I’d have him completely. So I flicked my eyes to his, enjoying the strain I saw in his gaze, and practiced patience. My plan would fall apart faster than Lindsay Lohan post-rehab if I gave in now.
I said, “I can walk now.” Then added, “If you’ll help me.”
He didn’t argue, probably because he was glad for the distance. He set me down gingerly, and then wrapped an arm around my waist. I threw my arm over his shoulder, and then slowly we tackled the stairs again. I had to keep reminding myself not to forget that I was supposed to be injured.
When we hit stair number three hundred, we were only about ten to fifteen steps from the top. I sucked in a breath and winced. Hunt stopped and faced me. “What’s the matter? Did you twist it again?”
“I don’t know. I …” He knelt beside me to take a look, and soon as he was down, I took off running up the last of the stairs.
I heard him laugh when I hit step number 310, and I screamed in victory when I hit the last step, number 315.
I turned to find him slowly walking up the steps, shaking his head. His lips were pressed into a thin line, but I could tell he was holding back a smile.
“I won,” I sang tauntingly. “I wonder what I should dare you to do.”
Hunt approached me slowly, like a predator stalking his prey and my stomach fluttered in response.
I paused to pretend to think about possible dares, and I was too busy gloating to notice him run up the last few steps. I shrieked when he lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder.
“Hunt!” I yelled.
“You’re unbelievable,” he said.
I laughed. “I’m going to pretend that was a compliment.”
“Oh, it was, princess.”
“Then, put me down.”
“No can do.”
I struggled a bit, pretending to be unhappy, but the truth was … Hunt had a fabulous ass. And I had a fabulous view.
“What are you going to do to me?” I asked.
“I haven’t decided yet. Maybe this place has a dungeon.”
I whistled. “Kinky.”
He pinched the back of my thigh, and I yelped.
I couldn’t see much (other than the aforementioned glorious backside), but the sun must have fully set because the sky in the distance was a vivid purple. I glimpsed a few other tourists wandering the castle grounds out of the corner of my eye. I took a wild guess and said, “Put me down, Jackson. People are starting to stare.”
“Let them,” he said. “It’s a nice view.”
Well, at least we were on the same page.
I swatted his back and said, “You’re just a sore loser.”
“No, I’m just a guy, probably not the first, to fall for one of your schemes.”
And now I had five and a half days to get him to fall for another.
I said, “I’ll be good. I promise. Unless you want me to be bad, of course.”
He laughed, but the sound was strained. Then without warning he flipped me back over and deposited me on my feet. I gave him a sly smile and he said, “You’re trouble.”
“Me?” I faked innocence.
He shook his head. “Come on, princess. Let’s see the castle before I decide to toss you in a fountain.”
“Wet T-shirt contest? Only if you jump in the fountain with me.”
I’d been mostly joking, but he actually looked tempted.
Typical.
He said, “I might have to find you a new nickname. I don’t think you’re proper enough to be a princess.”
“You know the nice ones always have a naughty side. Mine just happens to outweigh the nice by a lot.”
He looked at me, and I was beginning to think I wouldn’t need those five and a half days to break him down.
“Let’s go explore before I …” he trailed off and shook his head. “Let’s just go.”
I resisted the urge to do a celebratory dance for his crumbling resolve, and focused on sightseeing. The castle was gorgeous with grand architecture and even grander ruins. Vines and moss grew over steps and up the stone walls, and it was like a fairy tale.
It was now almost completely dark, but the castle was lit up beautifully. Between that and the view of the city down below, there was something stunning everywhere I looked.
But it was Hunt my eyes kept going back to.
We arrived too late to tour the inside of the castle, which apparently housed a gigantic wine barrel that held over fifty thousand gallons of wine.
“We might have to come back to see that,” I joked.
“No time. We’re on a strict schedule.”
And yet we were currently leaning against a wall, quietly surveying the moonlit city down below us.
“So, we can’t have maps, but we have a schedule?”
“You only gave me a week. So, yes. We’re on a schedule.”
“So what if I decide to stay longer than a week?”
“I’d like that.”
He didn’t look at me as he said it, but stayed focused on the city below us. I tried to read his expression based on his profile, but it wasn’t happening.
“And you don’t have anywhere to be? No one you have to go home to?”
“I’m yours for the foreseeable future.”
As a friend. Greeeaat.