fabric warns me that a seam is about to rupture. My boots are the next victim to be carelessly tossed away. Halder’s rushing motions crack through the silence, the heavy thump of his shoes hitting the wall next to mine. When I turn to him, he’s busy drawing in a long breath. He doesn’t stop until the plains of his upper body double in size.
“It smells like our forest and campfire.”
I’m certain my eyes are twinkling with the same intensity as his. “That’s on purpose. I bought some candles.”
“Trying to keep the memory alive?”
“Precisely.”
He pounces at me, and I’m hoisted into his arms a second later. “Where’s your bedroom?”
I point behind me. “It’s gonna be fun to see what you can do with springs beneath you.”
Halder covers the length of my apartment’s layout in five strides. When the echoing pound of his steps on hardwood mute to a shuffle against carpet, I slap at the wall and flip on my light. The room swallows us in a swath of warm hues. That familiar comfort swaddles me tighter with the clutch of his flexing muscles. He eases his grip until I’m sliding downward in a mouthwatering descent. The bumps and ridges I knock against have me eager to begin again from the top. What’s the harm in another ride? But the emerald flames in his eyes have me changing course.
I grip his quilted thermal in my fist. He can pull off this burly lumberjack vibe without even trying. The finished product is a potent aphrodisiac I can’t deny. I prove just how powerful the pull is by smashing our mouths together. The duel of our tongues is a dance we’re fluent in, but I add a come-hither curl for extra spice. He grants me that growling rumble I’m so addicted to. His coarse beard prickles the sensitive skin of my cheeks. I nuzzle against him and get rewarded with more of that abrasive scratch against my tender skin. The fire inside of me billows to inferno proportions when his palm begins roaming under the hem of my sweater. He teases my bare skin with a gentle brush of his fingers. This blaze can easily burn out of control and be over in minutes. We need to savor the explosion and build the sparks until detonation is our only option. For the first round, at least. I wrench my mouth from his with a gasp.
“Take off your clothes, boss.”
He lifts a brow. “Not sure that name is fitting if you’re giving orders.”
That boldness he feeds from my very depths elevates to the surface. “I’ll let you take charge in a bit. Now show me all of your sexy.”
Halder attacks his jeans with a ferocity I feel thrumming through my veins. I bite the swollen flesh of my bottom lip when he shucks the denim to pool at his ankles. His talented fingers grip the bottom of his flannel. Those pearl snaps don’t stand a chance against his brute strength. The front is ripped open with a harsh flick of his wrist. He kicks the discard pile out of his path and struts forward with the suave confidence of a peacock during mating season. I find my man’s feathers far more appetizing.
His white tee and boxers are all that remain. Those cotton threads are stretching to capacity across his muscular frame. After shooting me a pantry-dropping smirk, Halder grips the collar and tugs his shirt off in that sexy way only guys are capable of. The hitch in my breath stills his movements. With the white cotton concealing his face, I’m not able to see how my reaction phases him. It would be helpful to hear what he’s thinking. After a second, Halder removes the makeshift shield from his head and follows my gaze downward. The sight snares both of our attention, derailing the sensual striptease he was gifting me.
I’ve caught fast glimpses of the scars crisscrossing his chest, but those snapshots cloaked the severity of damage done. Sex in the wilderness isn’t about exploring one another in great detail. We were trying to share our bodies without getting frostbite in the process. The frigid climate we were stranded in never provided an ample opportunity for us to lounge nude. We were usually forced to keep our clothes on, only exposing the essential parts. The one time we made love while fully naked was after my dunk in the river. During that fiery encounter, I wasn’t focusing on inspecting Halder under careful scrutiny.