cheeks turning the most delicious shade of pink.
“Turned on.”
“Yes,” she said.
“For you.”
“Definitely not.”
He waded into the water, and wasn’t concerned at all that the cold would have a dimming effect on him. There wasn’t a possibility of that. Not when Iris was right there.
Want and need blurred together as he moved closer to her lithe form. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her wet, naked body, pulling her up against him. She gasped, turning fully into him, her breasts sliding against his chest, their legs tangling. Her eyes widened, he assumed when she felt his erection pressing against her stomach.
It was completely silent around them except for the sound of rushing water, and the breeze in the trees. The sun was shining down on the river’s surface, tossing light onto the ridges of movement there, a glow surrounding them. A halo surrounding her.
There were very few perfect moments in life. And Griffin had been absolutely certain he would never live another one.
He’d been sure that he’d used them all up. And that when life had come to collect payment for all those moments, the cost had been dear enough that he would never be able to feel it again. He’d had his perfection. And there would be no more.
Except this moment was perfect. This woman was perfect, and if he could have stopped time then and there he would have done it.
But time rolled on and his hands roamed over her body, hers over his, tentative at first as they explored his chest, and then down farther. His breath caught in his throat, and she leaned forward, kissing him just beneath his jaw. He groaned, tightening his hold on her, flexing his hips forward.
“I didn’t think I was like this,” she whispered.
“Like what?”
“Sexual. I mean, I knew that I... That I would like to. With... With a man. It’s just... I didn’t think I would...” She brushed her hand over his cheek. “Outside. In the water. I didn’t think that I would feel like I might die if I didn’t have someone. Not after I went so long not having someone.”
“Because you didn’t know.”
“It’s safer,” she whispered. “To not depend on anyone.”
“I know.” He felt bereft, hollow then, not because of his loss, but because of the inevitability of these kinds of conversations. The inevitability of this truth. That any time you made a connection with someone you were at risk. No matter what you told yourself.
“I know it, but it doesn’t... I’m so glad that I’m here.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said, his voice rough.
And as he moved his hands over her curves, he realized that this was a lot like fire.
He had just cooked fish at a fire. Sat in front of it for warmth.
He had to make his peace with it. Because of the way he chose to live. Because he had gone off-grid. He had to surrender to the fact that it both gave life and took it.
And he supposed this kind of connection was a lot like that.
He knew that it could destroy.
But he also realized that he needed it a hell of a lot more than he’d allowed himself to believe.
It was all about control, really. Fire out of control killed. Fire in control gave life.
Control, that was the thing.
But not now. Not here. Here, control didn’t matter. Here, he didn’t have to think about those things.
Here, he could just be with her.
And let there be nothing else.
He tilted her back, kissing her neck, down to the edge of her collarbone before moving back to her lips, sliding his gently over hers, the water making them slick. Then he tasted her, deep and long, lapping at the inside of her mouth until she shivered, and this time not from the cold.
He kissed her chin, her throat, the valley between her breasts. Then he moved across to one tightened bud, sucked it deep in his mouth, desire bursting in him like a bomb. He moved to the other breast, another moment he could live in for the rest of his life. This deeply captivating moment where only her breasts, only her body mattered. There for him to worship, there for him to indulge himself in.
That was a miracle that he had forgotten about. This miracle of sex. Where you could give and take endlessly and in equal measures. In the same moment. He had never seen anything like the joy on Iris’s face, tinged with wonder as he touched her.