Chapter 8
Torin
Iwatch as Hannah disappears into the trees carrying Alexandria’s swimsuit.
Orson was weird as hell with her back at the lodge. No prizes for guessing why. The idiot ran her off the road last night, and now he’s seen the bruises he gave her.
I’ll deal with him later. Right now, my mate is taking her clothes off nearby. I force myself to turn my back. The lake is beautiful. The mountains are beautiful, too. So is the weather.
I blow out a breath. This is ridiculous. She’s changing into a swimsuit.
Mate is naked.
Shush.
My beast has been like this since the moment I found her. Relentless.
Everything comes back to her: is she warm enough? Has she eaten? Is she happy?
It’s obsessed.
Go to Mate.
I grit my teeth.
The bright sunburst of her smile flashes through my mind.
The way she’d practically bounced out of the truck when she saw the lake.
The way her whole face lights up when something catches her interest.
Hannah feels everything at full volume: curiosity, frustration, excitement. She doesn’t hide any of it. And I can’t stop watching.
Hell.
I yank my shirt over my head and toss it onto a rock.
Probably best if I get in the water now.
Behind me, a branch cracks.
I turn.
Hannah steps out from between the trees, towel tucked under one arm.
I stop breathing.
Sweet mercy.
The bikini hugs the generous sweep of her hips, the soft curve of her stomach, her full breasts. Her hair hangs loose around her shoulders, bright where the sunlight catches it.
My mouth goes dry.
Mate.
She’s gorgeous. Lush and soft, built to fit against my body in ways I really shouldn’t be thinking about right now.
And she has no idea what she’s doing to me.
She’s looking out across the water, that same bright, delighted expression on her face. Taking everything in like she’s forgotten herself completely.
Hell.
I don’t know which is getting to me more—the sight of her in that swimsuit or the way she looks when something makes her happy.
My gaze finds her again.
Mine.
The word rolls through me like thunder.
Hannah finally looks at me, and I realize I’ve been staring.
Her cheeks turn pink, but instead of covering herself or looking away, she lifts an eyebrow.
“Everything okay?”
There’s enough amusement in her eyes that I know exactly what she caught me doing.
“Everything’s perfect.”
Her gaze drops over my bare chest before coming back up again.
“You not joining me?” she demands.
“Course I am.” I open the top button of my jeans.
Then I remember—no underwear. The human world is generally not cool with that, especially considering the—uh—state I’m in right now.
But then she already saw me naked after she crashed.
Right. I’ll just be fast.
I turn away from her, strip off my jeans before she has a chance to see me at half-mast, take a running jump, and dive straight into the water.
It’s icy cold but crystal clear. I stay under for a while, swimming out into deeper water and letting the cold take care of what seeing Hannah in that bikini did to me.
I push the wet hair out of my eyes and look back.
She’s still standing on the shore, shading her eyes and staring out at the lake.
Was she scared I’d drowned or something?
A little warmth glows in my chest at the thought.
I wave at her, and, as though she’d been waiting for the encouragement, she steps into the water.
And screams.
“Oh my God, it’s freezing!”
“It’s not that bad once you’re in.”
She gives me a look that says I’m full of shit, but keeps coming anyway, picking her way carefully over the rocks. The water reaches her knees, then her thighs, and she sucks in another breath.
“You said it was warm!”
“I said it’d be warm this time of year.”
“That is not the same thing.”
I swim toward her. “Come on.”
She hesitates when I hold out my hand, but only for a moment.
Her fingers close around mine. The jolt runs straight up my arm. Hannah feels it too. I see it in the quick widening of her eyes.
I tighten my grip just enough to steady her as she comes deeper. The bottom drops away gradually here, and when the water reaches her waist, she gives a shiver that has nothing to do with me.
“Still want to swim?”
“Yes.” She looks determined now. “I just need to stop being a coward about it.”
Before I can answer, she plunges under.
She comes up several feet away with a shriek, wiping water from her face.
“Jesus Christ!”
I’m laughing too hard to be sympathetic.
“You’re a terrible person.”
“You’ll thank me in a minute.”
“I absolutely won’t.”
But she’s laughing.
Then she pushes away from the bottom and starts swimming.
I watch her take a few strokes. Then a few more.
Huh.
There’s nothing rusty about the way she moves. Her stroke is clean and easy, and within seconds she’s cutting across the water like she’s been doing it all summer instead of telling me it’s been years.
I swim after her. “Thought you said you hadn’t done this in a long time.”
“I haven’t.”
“You’re pretty good.”
She turns onto her back. “I used to swim competitively.”
I grin. “Now you tell me.”
“Through high school.” She rolls over and keeps swimming.
Another little piece of Hannah I didn’t know yesterday. I like finding them.
She glances back and catches me watching her. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’ve got a look.”
“I was thinking you’re full of secrets.”
Her smile flashes. “Maybe.”
Then she kicks hard and takes off across the lake.
I stare after her.
Oh, she wants to play.
All right.
She’s fast. By the time I realize we’re apparently racing, she’s already put a decent stretch of water between us, heading for a broad slab of granite near the opposite shore.
Little cheat.
I put some power into my stroke.
The gap starts closing almost immediately. Hannah looks back, sees me gaining and laughs before putting her head down and swimming harder.
I could catch her.
Probably.
But watching her try this hard is more fun.
She reaches the rock a couple of seconds ahead of me and slaps one hand against the granite. By the time I catch up with her, she’s treading water, breathless and grinning.
“I win.”
“You started before me.”
“Should’ve been paying attention.”
“Pretty sure races normally have a start.”
“Sounds like something a loser would say.”
I laugh and reach for the rock beside her.
Our hands land almost on top of each other.
The contact sends that familiar charge through me, and Hannah’s smile fades.
Neither of us pulls away.
She’s close enough that I can see the water caught in her lashes. Her cheeks are flushed from the swim, wet hair slicked away from her face, lips parted as she catches her breath.
Her eyes drop to my mouth.
Fuck.
Every instinct I have tells me to close the distance.
She wants me. Maybe not the way I want her yet, but enough that I can smell the change in her, see it in the way she’s looking at me.
It would be so easy to kiss her.
I want to. Fuck, I want to.
But yesterday, somebody was planning to hand her over to a male she didn’t choose. I’m not going to take advantage of the fact that her body happens to recognize mine.
Hannah holds my gaze, a smile creeping across her face.
“I still won.”
A laugh breaks out of me. “Yeah. You did.”
Her whole face lights up.
I could get used to seeing her like this.
I want to know what else makes her happy, what makes her laugh when she isn’t running for her life, what other ridiculous rules she’ll invent so she can win.
Hell, I want to give her reasons to smile until she forgets there was ever a time she had to fight this hard for anything.
Hannah pushes away from the rock.
“What’s that?”
I follow her gaze toward the far shore. “What?”
“There.”
She points toward a fallen tree half submerged near the bank.
I squint at it. “What am I looking at?”
By the time I turn back, she’s gone.
“Hannah?”
Something grabs my ankle.
I jerk so hard I nearly go under.
Hannah bursts through the surface beside me, laughing her ass off.
“You—”
Then she sees my face.
Her laughter dies.
“Oh.”
My heart is still pounding.
“Hannah.”
Her expression changes. “You thought something happened to me.”
I drag a hand over my wet hair and try to get my pulse under control.
She looks at me for a moment, and the mischief drains out of her face.
“Sorry.”
I know she means it.
I also know she’s going to start feeling bad if I let her.
So, I reach out and shove a wave of water straight into her face.
She splutters.
I grin. “Now we’re even.”
Her eyes narrow.
Okay. Maybe not.
She sends a wave back at me with both hands. I duck most of it, but she’s already swimming away by the time I straighten.
“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that. Get back here.”
“Come and get me.”
She dives before I reach her, and I follow.
The lake is clearer out here, sunlight reaching down through the blue. Hannah swims deeper, hair streaming behind her, then looks back and points down.
I grin and follow.
We keep going until the pressure builds in my ears. Hannah glances at me and points toward the surface.
I shake my head.
Her eyes narrow. Then she gives me the finger.
I laugh, losing a stream of bubbles, and she uses the distraction to shoot toward the surface.
Cheat.
I follow her up.
She’s laughing when I break the surface beside her.
“I’m beginning to understand why you and Orson live in the wilderness.”
“Gunnar lives here too.”
“Is he normal?”
“Not even a little.”
She laughs again, then rolls onto her back.
One moment she’s trying to beat me at everything; the next she’s floating quietly, arms loose at her sides, her face turned toward the sun.
I tread water a few feet away and watch her.
She floats with her eyes closed, a small smile on her face.
I could watch her like this all afternoon.
“Try it.”
I realize she’s opened her eyes.
“Try what?”
“Floating.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Bears don’t float.”
“You’re not a bear right now.”
“I’m always a bear.”
She studies me for a second. “You can’t float, can you?”
“I can float.”
“Prove it.”
I look at her.
She grins.
There is absolutely no chance I’m rolling onto my back naked in front of Hannah with the effect she’s having on me.
“I don’t perform on command.”
“Uh-huh.”
She closes her eyes again, looking unbearably pleased with herself.
I let her have that one.
A few minutes later, she shivers.
“You cold?”
“A little.”
“Come on, then. Let’s get you warmed up.”
This time she doesn’t argue.