CHAPTER FIVE
Sadie
The waterfall was everything Blake had promised and more.
Water cascaded down smooth granite rocks into a crystal-clear pool below, creating a fine mist that caught the afternoon sunlight like scattered diamonds.
The sound was hypnotic—not the harsh rush I’d expected, but a gentle, constant melody that seemed to quiet every anxious thought in my head.
My body was on high alert because of him. I was feeling things I’d never felt before and I liked it. Every nerve hummed, every brush of air against my skin reminding me that he was near, that he could touch me whenever he decided.
“This is incredible.” I moved closer to the edge of the pool. “How did you find this place?”
“I stumbled across it my first week here.” Blake had stopped right behind me, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from his body. The faint brush of his breath at the back of my neck made my skin prickle. “I come here when I need to think.”
I turned to look at him, struck by the almost peaceful expression on his face. This was his sanctuary within a sanctuary, and he’d brought me here. The significance of that wasn’t lost on me.
“Thank you.” I turned slightly toward him. “For sharing this with me.”
Something flickered in his arctic blue eyes. “You’re welcome.”
For a few beats, neither of us spoke. I could feel him there, close enough that the faintest shift would have our bodies touching.
His hand flexed at his side like he was fighting the urge to reach for me.
My own fingers twitched with the same need, aching to trace the lines of his chest, to test the strength in his arms, to finally learn what his mouth felt like against mine.
We stood there for a moment, just taking in the beauty around us, but I was hyperaware of every inch of space between us.
Which wasn’t much. Somehow during the hike, we’d gravitated closer together, our shoulders brushing when the trail narrowed, his hand finding mine when I needed help over a fallen log.
Each touch had sent electricity racing through my system, and now, standing here in this magical place with him, the air felt charged with possibility. The tension between us was its own living thing, thick and unrelenting.
“Can you swim in it?” I asked, nodding toward the pool.
“Yeah. Water’s cold though, no matter what time of year.”
“Have you?”
“A few times.”
I could picture it—Blake’s powerful body cutting through the water, droplets clinging to his skin when he emerged.
The image made my stomach flip and heat curl low inside me.
I imagined those drops trailing over his chest, catching on the ridges of muscle before sliding lower, disappearing under the waistband of his jeans.
“I bet it’s perfect in the summer.” I stepped closer to get a better look at the pool. But the rocks were slicker than they looked and my foot slipped.
I would have gone down hard if Blake hadn’t moved like lightning, his strong arms wrapping around me and pulling me against his chest. For a moment we just stood there, my hands pressed against the solid wall of his chest, his arms locked around my waist. I could feel every ridge of muscle through his shirt.
“Careful,” he said, but he didn’t let go.
“Thanks.” I looked up but couldn’t read his expression.
Did he feel the same overwhelming want that was washing over me?
We were so close I could count his eyelashes, could see the way his eyes seemed to darken.
Close enough that I could feel the rise and fall of his chest, could smell his clean, masculine scent.
“Sadie.” My name was a warning, a question, a plea all rolled into one.
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to kiss you.”
A rush of air left me. Not can I or would you mind —just a statement of fact.
He moved then, pulling me closer. For a heartbeat, we just stared at each other, and I could see the war playing out in his expression—want battling with restraint, need fighting against caution.
Want won.
His mouth came down on mine, and any coherent thought I might have had scattered like leaves in the wind. His lips were hot, urgent, tasting of mint and coffee. The kiss stole my breath and gave me something else—need, sharp and aching.
This wasn’t the hesitant, careful kiss I’d been expecting. This was claiming, demanding, desperate. His lips were firm and warm, moving against mine with a hunger that matched my own.
I melted into him, my hands fisting in the flannel of his shirt as I tried to get closer. I wanted his shirt gone, wanted skin under my palms, wanted the weight of him pinning me beneath him.
When his tongue swept across my bottom lip, I opened for him eagerly, and the sound he made raced through me. His hand slid into my hair, tilting my head back so he could deepen the kiss, and I was lost.
Completely, utterly lost.
The world narrowed to the feel of his mouth, the slide of his tongue.
I’d been kissed before, but never like this.
Never like I was the only thing that mattered, like he’d die if he couldn’t touch me.
Never with this level of raw, desperate need that made every nerve ending in my body come alive.
When his thigh pressed between mine, I couldn’t stop the needy sound that tore from my throat.
I rocked against him shamelessly, chasing friction, chasing him.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard. His forehead rested against mine, and I could feel the tension thrumming through his body.
“Fuck.”
I sighed against his chest. “I think I forgot how to breathe.”
He didn’t let go of me, and I didn’t step away. His breath was hot on my cheek, his hands restless on my back, skimming down to the swell of my hips and then up again like he couldn’t decide where he wanted me most. “I want more, Sadie. But I shouldn’t.”
“Why shouldn’t you?”
“Because you’re leaving. Because this is temporary. Because I’m not—” He stopped, jaw clenching.
“You’re not what?”
“Good for you.”
The words hit me right where I was most vulnerable. My self-doubts. “That’s not your decision to make.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.” I reached up to touch his face, my thumb tracing the sharp line of his jaw. “You don’t get to decide what’s good for me, Blake. I’m a grown woman. I can make my own choices.”
“And what do you choose?”
The question hung between us, loaded with meaning. I knew what he was really asking. He wasn’t talking about the kiss. “You,” I said simply. “I choose you.”
Something wild and possessive flashed in his eyes. “Sadie—”
“I want this,” I continued, my voice growing stronger. “I want you. I know it’s crazy and fast and probably a terrible idea, but I don’t care. For once in my life, I want to do something just because it feels right.”
“And this feels right?”
“Yes.” The thickness of him pressed against my body made me ache, made me wonder how it would feel to take him inside me. “Doesn’t it feel right to you?”
His response was to kiss me again, harder this time, more desperate. It was teeth and tongue and hunger, the kind of kiss that made my knees weak. His hands roamed over my back, my sides, hot and hungry.
I could feel his restraint slipping with every passing second, could feel the careful control he’d been maintaining begin to crumble. When his mouth moved to my neck, pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses to the sensitive skin there, I couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped me.
The sound seemed to break something in him. His grip on me tightened, and he backed me against a smooth boulder beside the pool. The stone was cool against my back, but Blake’s body was furnace-hot against my front.
“Tell me to stop.” His mouth worked at my neck.
“No.”
“Sadie—”
“No,” I repeated, threading my fingers through his dark hair. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
He pulled back to look at me, and the raw need in his expression made my knees weak. “If we do this—”
“When we do this,” I corrected.
“When,” he agreed, his voice dark with promise. “There’s no going back. You understand that?”
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
“Give me the words.”
“I understand.”
“And you want this anyway?”
“I want this anyway.”
He stared at me for a long moment, and I could see the last of his resistance crumbling.
Then he was kissing me again, and this time there was nothing held back, nothing restrained.
His hands were everywhere—sliding down my back, gripping my hips, pulling me harder against him until I could feel every inch of his arousal pressed against my belly.
When his thigh pressed between my legs, I couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped me. The pressure was perfect, exactly what I needed, and I found myself rocking against him shamelessly.
“Fuck, Sadie,” he groaned against my mouth. “You feel so good.”
One big hand slid under my shirt, rough palm against bare skin, until he cupped my breast. His thumb rolled over my nipple, sending a sharp bolt of pleasure straight to my core. I arched into his touch, desperate for more.
The sound that escaped me was needy, filthy, and I didn’t care. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t holding back.
His hands moved to cup my breasts through my shirt, thumbs brushing over my nipples until they peaked and ached. The sensation shot straight to my core, making me press harder against his thigh.
“Blake,” I gasped, my hands fisting in his hair. “Please.”
“Please what?” His voice was rough, demanding. “Tell me what you want.”
“You,” I gasped. “All of you. I want your hands on me, your mouth on me. I want—”
He silenced me with another bruising kiss, his hands sliding under my shirt, pushing my bra up and out of the way.
The feeling of his calloused palms against my sensitive flesh made me cry out.
He kneaded my breasts, pinching the nipples hard before sliding one hand down my stomach until he was cupping me beneath my jeans.
I knew he could feel the dampness of my panties. Discovered how much I wanted him.
“Not here. Not like this. You deserve better.” He quickly straightened my clothing and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
Home. That sounded right, even though it shouldn’t.
He took my hand, lacing our fingers together, and led me back toward the trail. But I could feel the change in him, could sense the shift from careful control to barely leashed hunger.
Whatever happened when we got back to the cabin, there would be no more holding back.
And I couldn’t wait.