Page 86 of Nothing But Air

“First of all, I absolutely wanted to kiss you down below.” His voice dropped, roughened. “The only reason I didn’t was because I was afraid if I did, I’d give up my quest to get you up here. That, and I wanted you in a good headspace.” His eyes held hers. “I wanted to give you the chance to walk away if that’s what you wanted. I’ll still be here either way.”

He reached out and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Like I said—you can trust me. No matter what. I won’t leave you.”

Eden’s heart squeezed. “I don’t want to walk away.”

“Good.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Because I really didn’t want to have to chase you down this cliff.”

She unclipped her helmet and set it aside. The evening breeze caught her hair.

Teague stared at her for a moment. Then he removed his helmet and leaned in.

Slowly. Giving her plenty of time to pull away.

She didn’t.

His lips met hers—soft and careful. His hand came up to cup her face, his thumb brushing along her cheekbone.

Eden closed her eyes.

She leaned into the kiss. Into him. The tight fear in her chest finally released its grip.

His other hand slid to the small of her back, drawing her closer, and she melted against him. The kiss deepened. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt—anchoring herself to this moment, to him.

A promise that she didn’t have to carry everything alone anymore.

When they finally pulled apart, Teague rested his forehead against hers.

“We should head back,” he said quietly. “Before Xander and Marcus send out a search party.”

“Probably.”

Neither of them moved.

They just sat there on that small plateau, the canyon glowing around them.

Finally, Teague stood and pulled the radio from his pack. “We should try and connect with Noah from up here. Might have better luck with less interference.” He tried multiple frequencies but got only static. “Still nothing.”

“Try Liam’s team,” Eden suggested. “They’re closer.”

Teague switched frequencies. “Liam, this is Teague. Do you copy?”

Static crackled. Then Liam’s voice came through—distorted and breaking up. “—eague. Copy. Barely—you—Over.”

“We made the first climb. Found the cave but no chest. How about you? Over.”

“—thing at first marker. Cave was—ty. Moving to—cond location tomorrow. —ver”

“Copy that. We had some—” Teague glanced at Eden.

She knew he was about to mention his fall. The route choice that had nearly killed him.

“We had a great first climb. Over,” Teague said instead.

Eden stared at him.

“—eat. Check in tom—row. Something—fecting signal. Over.”

“Understood. Stay safe. Over.”