Page 75 of Wildfire
“Back up.” My fingers find my temples to try and process the past ten seconds. “He tried to kiss her?”
“Yeah, I told you!” Xander argues. “You went to her cabin to check that she was okay and ended up volunteering me to work.”
“You told me he was annoying her and invited her on a vacation, but you didn’t say he tried to kiss her!”
“Oh, my bad,” Xander says casually, like my brain isn’t now full of the image of Clay kissing Aurora.
“Who’s trying to kiss who?” says Jenna, appearing behind me, catching the end of what I said. The last couple of days have been exceptionally hot, so Jenna kept the dogs with her to make sure they were staying cool. Fish circles me excitedly, while Trout immediately tries to eat my shoelaces and Salmon paws at me to be picked up. “Gentlemen, no more treating the pups like babies. The carrying stops.”
“Feels unreasonable, but okay,” Xander grumbles, pouting.
“It’s for our talent show performance, Jen,” Emilia immediately says, lying, as I crouch to the dogs’ level to fuss with them all. “We’re workshopping a plot.”
Jenna looks between the three of us. “Where’s trouble?”
“She’s finding some deck chairs for us to sit on and keep an eye on everyone,” I say, concentrating on the dogs. Being around Jenna, knowing I’m doing something I shouldn’t be, makes me really fucking nervous. I don’t understand the rush everyone mentions when they talk about sneaking around. I don’t feel that at all; all I feel is guilt. It’s just not quite enough guilt to make me stop.
“I doubt she’ll be able to reach them, they’re on the top rack in the equipment cupboard. I’ll go hel—”
“I’ll go,” I say quickly.
Jenna’s looking at me like she wants to call me out on something, but before she can, Emilia steps in. “Jen, will you help settle an argument, please? We can’t decide on a performance piece.”
She immediately launches into the options, which gives me the chance to run for it. I instantly almost fall down because Trout doesn’t let go of my laces, but I finally get free and jog toward the main building. This place is covered in random storage rooms and buildings, so I check two before finding Rory in the third, balancing on her tiptoes on a stool, reaching for the deck chairs.
“Jeez, Rory!” I rush toward her, gripping her hips so she doesn’t fall and break something. “Why didn’t you come and get me to help?”
“I didn’t want to be annoying. I can get it, if I reaaaach—” I grip her hips tightly and lift her higher until she can comfortably grab two chairs, then lower her back down safely onto the stool. I keep a hand on her while she passes me the chairs to set on the ground. Turning carefully, she gives me a sweet but mischievous smile as she sets her hands on my shoulders and I look up at her. “Told you I could reach.”
“Please don’t do things that might get you hurt.”
She jumps down, landing next to me. “You don’t need to be worried. I’ve been surviving my questionable choices for twenty years.”
“I do worry,” I argue, sitting on the stool and pulling her closer. “Don’t do it.”
She moves her legs over mine until she’s straddling me, and I suddenly can’t remember why I’m worrying. Her arms wrap around my neck and she leans in until her mouth is close to mine. She lowers her voice when she says, “You know, telling me not to do something makes me want to do it.”
I brush my nose against hers. “What can I do to convince you to behave?”
“Hmm. I can think of a few things.”
“Here?”
“I don’t see any possums,” she says, leaning forward to tug at my lip with her teeth. “And I really do need to be convinced to behave.”
Kissing Aurora is intoxicating. Every inch of her molds to meperfectly, and we fit together like we’ve done this hundreds of times. It’s hard to worry about getting caught when she’s grinding herself against me, but it isn’t impossible. “Is there a lock on the door?”
“Nope,” she says, running her mouth along my jaw. “We’ll have to make it quick.”
Groaning, I hold her hips steady. “I don’t have condoms.”
She leans back, smiling sweetly. “That’s okay, it was probably a silly risk anyway.”
She goes to stand but I hold her in place. I unbutton her shorts and she watches me, teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she tries to steady her breathing. “You can’t be loud,” I whisper, sliding my hand into her panties. Fuck, she’s always so ready for me.
“I refuse to be held accountable for my actions when you look like that.”
There’s something about how much she compliments me that makes me feel untouchable. She isn’t shy with it, telling me how hot I am even when I’m doing the most mundane tasks. It gives me the confidence that she’s as attracted to me as I am to her, and makes me want to risk everything to watch her say my name as her eyes roll back.
