How was she to know when she rounded that corner there’d be a sheer drop-off into the lake not four steps beyond the turn?
Linc popped up about an arm’s length away from her. She laughed as his golden hair fell across his eyes. He pushed the strands away from his eyes and his lips spread into a wide smile. She stroked forward, but stopped right in front of him. Before she could think about it, she laced her arms around his neck.
His eyes widened, but one of his hands brushed along her arm. Her fingers threaded through his hair. Being this close to him felt so right. His lashes lowered and his head descended. Almost too softly, his lips brushed over hers. Her eyes drifted closed. Contentment and happiness swirled through her. She relaxed against him, her mouth opening beneath his.
His lips were slightly cool from the water, but warmed as they rubbed against hers. She wanted more than that teasing pressure. Her arms tightened, bringing him closer. His tongue stroked into her mouth and his hands loosely settled on her hips. She didn’t even think about resisting. She’d wanted to kiss him for a long time.
Her fingers clenched in his hair and she thrust her tongue against his. The water flowed sensuously over her hypersensitive skin. His hands left a tingling path as they moved up and rested just under her breasts. She was almost ready to beg for him to move his hands higher. Her nipples had hardened and tightened to nearly painful peaks and her clothes felt heavy and abrasive. She could feel the brush of his thighs against hers as his feet kicked, keeping them both afloat.
A low groan rumbled from his lips as he tore his mouth away from hers. Raw hunger burned in his eyes as he looked down at her. She knew he wanted to tear away the barriers between them as much as she did. Her heart raced even faster than when she’d been running and she panted, trying to catch her breath.
“Definitely the right idea, but this is the wrong place for this.” He slowly pulled back from her. “Let’s swim to the shore.”
He slowly released her and the haze of desire began to fade as they swam to the shore. By the time she waded out of the water, sanity had returned and she couldn’t believe what she’d done. Her impulsiveness hadn’t gotten her into this much trouble in years. Then again, since her brothers had left and Laed and Kynar had come to power, she’d been too tense and too cautious. Drawing any kind of attention when those two were around was a bad idea. She saw his eyes narrow as she reached the shore.
“The wariness is back in your eyes, I see.” Linc tilted his head and watched as she wrung a little of the water out of her shirt.
“That shouldn’t have happened.” She looked at the trees, down at her feet or fussed with her clothes, anything not to have to focus on him. She hadn’t meant to start that. That wasn’t anywhere near her goal of keeping her distance from him.
He leaned in close and sniffed. “I suppose it was a little wishful to think that you’d given up fighting the attraction so suddenly. You still don’t smell right.”
“The attraction might be there, but I know what I want and don’t want. I don’t want to get involved. And as to me not smelling right, if it came off as easily as taking a quick dunk in the water, the stuff would have come off with sweat as we traveled.” She shrugged. Her clothes clung to her and the clinging material was beginning to irritate her.
“You’re right. Are you ready to go back to the Thent or would you like to see some more of the area?” He held out his hand to her.
Her palm slid over his as she accepted the gesture, but with her free hand, she tugged at her shirt. “I want to go back and get out of these clothes. I don’t think these were really meant to swim in. They’re bunching and uncomfortable.”
“Then we’ll go. I take it we’re not running back?” He glanced over at her with a smile as he led the way to a path.
“You can be funny when you want to be.” She couldn’t help responding to that smile. “How long will it take to get back?”
“Not too long. We’ll take a path that’s a relatively straight