I gave him a nod as way of good-bye, and he shut the door behind him. Could I trust that he wouldn’t put the footage in the documentary? Not entirely. Bobby would do whatever he thought was in the best interest of the film, but I’d be damned if I’d let him ruin my only chance with Rachel.
After the shit run of luck we’d had, it had been a huge relief to have everything go off without a hitch. It was a great stunt, something fun to balance the seriousness, but it didn’t make up for Nepal. Luckily I’d already talked to Nick today—the time difference was a bitch—and he was on it.
A quick glance at the clock told me that I had another half hour before I was supposed to meet up with the crew for dinner. That meant I had an entire thirty minutes alone to—
Knock. Knock.
I sighed in frustration and walked over to the door, yanking it harder than I needed to. “What?” I snapped, then immediately regretted it as Rachel quirked an eyebrow at me. “Hey. Sorry.”
“Would you like me to come back at another time?” she asked.
“No. My room is open to you at any hour of the day. Use it any time you feel like it.” Or use me. I opened the door fully, and she walked in.
She’d showered since the stunt, smelling like that unique combination of peppermint and lavender, her hair hanging in silky locks just past her chin. I swear, my body remembered that scent and was immediately revved from zero to redline. She’d changed clothes, too, and was now choosing to torture me in a pair of blue shorts that landed a few inches beneath her sweet ass and a white halter top.
Her eyes darted around my cabin, no doubt taking in every detail. The thing about Rachel was that she noticed way more than most people realized. She picked up the two-year-old picture of the X Games on my desk and smiled faintly. “How is Nick?” she asked as her thumb stroked over his face.
“He’s good. Keeps mostly behind the scenes now, but we’re trying to change that. He’s actually working on mapping out a time I can get back to Nepal to finish up that ridgeline.”
She shook her head with a sad smile. “I should have known you’d never walk away from that ridge.”
“You’re not going to yell?” I came up behind her, gently taking the picture from her hands and putting it back on the desk. I wanted her hands empty because I needed them on me, even if just for a few moments.
“No point in yelling. You’re always going to push whatever line you can, and I learned a long time ago that trying to change you was futile.”
Ouch.
Her eyes shot up to mine. “That wasn’t a dig or anything, just something I’ve always known about you. I called you Supernova for a reason. Sometimes all I could do was sit back and watch you go.”
A smile played at the corners of my mouth. “You kept up with me move for move.”
She shrugged and turned, walking out onto my private balcony. “I’m a little out of practice, but sometimes it feels like I never left.”
I followed her out, glad that the partitions gave us complete privacy. The humid breeze licked at me as the sun set behind her, illuminating her skin in a warm glow. “I get that,” I said, standing next to her. “There are moments when it feels like nothing’s changed, like we’re on some altered timeline.”
She turned toward me, bracing her back and hands on the railing before hoisting herself to sit on the thick metal barrier. My heart caught even as she wrapped her ankles in the framework to steady herself. It was a long way straight down. “And the others?” she asked.
I stepped between her spaced thighs and put my hands on her hips. Just the simple pleasure of having her under my fingertips sent my heart into irregular beats. God, I’d missed the feel of this woman. “The other moments it feels like I’ve been drowning for years, and I can just now breathe again.”
“Landon,” she whispered, her hands tightening on the rails even though I was right here to hold on to.
“I’m not going anywhere. If I have to tell you that a million times before you’ll believe me, then I’ll do just that. You and me—we’re our own little infinity. Our forever is wrapped up in everything that’s between us.”
She let go of the railing and ran her hands up over her hair in frustration. My fingers dug into her hips to keep her safe.
Her head tilted, and her eyes danced in playfulness. “Why, Landon…does it scare you that I’m up on this big railing?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at the water ten stories below.
Of course it bothered me. One move and she’d break her damn neck. But that was never going to happen while I had her.
“Not when I’ve got you. You can let go any time you like; I’ll never let you fall.”
A quick flash in her eyes told me more than her lips ever could have—you did once—but she quickly forced it back. She was struggling, and I couldn’t blame her, couldn’t get angry, couldn’t expect her to open her arms wide and trust me. I had to repair every crack I’d put into her and pray her faith in me would return.
“You’ve got me?” she whispered, leaning slightly backward.
I swallowed the urge to yell at her not to do that, and instead moved my hands slightly to slip my thumbs through her belt loops and gain a more secure grip on her ass. “You always have to push that line, don’t you?” I asked, throwing her earlier words back at her.
“I learned from the best,” she said with a smirk.
Damn it, I wanted her. There was a sharp edge to Rachel that I’d searched the world over for, just to realize it only existed in her. That edge turned me on, pushed me further, held me tighter, drove me insane with the need to tame the one woman I’d never been able to fully claim.
If she needed to dangle over the edge of danger, I was more than happy to hold her there. She stretched her arms above her head and smiled, but kept her ankles locked around the railing. I’d take semitrust any day.
She slowly lowered her arms until her hands ran through my hair, her nails gently scraping my scalp in the way she knew I loved. Then her gaze dropped to my lips and hers parted.
Make the move, Rachel. It’s your turn.
She stared at me so long, so hot, that I was ready to combust, but I wasn’t going to cross the line—not when she thought sex was all I wanted.
Then she pounced.
Thank God.
Her mouth slanted over mine, and I was done for. The rest of the world could have been on fire and I wouldn’t have noticed, not when I had Rachel in my arms.
I let her control it, gave her the power I knew she wanted as she gently sucked my lower lip between hers. Her hair fell around us, hiding us from the world and enveloping us in the scent I knew would always trigger me for sex.
She slipped her tongue into my mouth, rubbing against mine, and that was the end of her control. A sound like a growl erupted from me, and I pulled her down off the railing just so I could press her against it. One of my hands tunneled in her hair while the other flexed on her hip. She was so damn tiny, but my body curled around hers as if it remembered exactly what to do—exactly how she needed to be kissed.