Summer Beach Reads. Natalie Anderson
light as this or as plush inside. They zoomed, over the plains, heading further south, the mountains to their right. Then he pointed out the lodge so she got her bearings. He flew super low to follow the river in the valley, then up high, so close to the mountains, a breath away from the splash of a towering waterfall...
But she sat completely still in her seat. Her pulse slammed, her thoughts disordered—anticipation screwing with her head. They flew over one mountain, deeper into the range and there, hidden from possible view from anywhere other than the air, was an alpine lake. One of those that belonged in ancient myth and legend. Steely blue and still. He brought the helicopter down, landing on a small smooth edge.
‘Come on,’ he invited her.
He’d been here many times before, she could tell, and she totally got why. It was the most amazing colour, reflecting the cold clarity of the sky. It really was the scene from some ancient mystical, alternate world story—just like the movies. Only real. Fantastically real.
‘It’s beautiful.’ It was so awe-inspiring she couldn’t think of any words to fully describe the reaction within her. The reality of pure, unadulterated fantasy.
‘It’s also icy cold so don’t dive in, because I don’t want to have to jump in and rescue you.’
She laughed, glad he’d lightened the intensity. And yes, she did have the urge to dive in. It looked so inviting and, hey, maybe it would cool her burning senses.
She found a small flat stone and tried skimming it across the lake. He foraged in the short tussock for more and they had a contest for a while. And all that while—longer really—her ability to resist him curled into a smaller and smaller ball.
‘We haven’t talked about it,’ he said, aiming another flat pebble across the lake.
‘About what?’
‘That phone call.’
She felt the flush ripple like a wave from her toes to the tip of her scalp. ‘Oh.’
Oh was right—the guy had turned her on to nuclear with nothing but a few suggestions. Phone sex—a total first.
‘It’s not going to happen.’
‘What?’ she asked, confused.
‘You being with anyone else.’
Oh, he meant that conversation?
‘No one else, Ellie.’ He turned to face her—all arrogance. ‘You know you can’t. Not until you’ve had enough of me.’
Oh, that wasn’t fair—what if she’d never had enough of him? Because he’d have enough of her all too soon, she just knew it.
‘So you have a choice to make.’
‘I do?’
‘Uh-huh.’ He turned and skimmed another stone across the water. It bounced seven times. ‘We could stay up here the night.’
‘Where?’
‘Just beyond that ridge there’s a hut.’
This was why he’d brought her to an utterly isolated spot. Because he wanted...what she wanted.
‘We could spend the night up here or we could go back to the station in the helicopter. I should warn you there’s only one bed in the hut and it’s not very big.’
Ellie’s brain whirled—and then she stared up at the completely blue sky. ‘It looks to me like there’s a storm coming. It might be safer to stay up here.’
He walked towards her, holding her gaze imprisoned in his despite shaking his head. ‘No storm, Ellie. No games. Just be honest. Do you want another night with me or not?’
Oh, his whole approach was outrageous. Excitement scudded in her belly, her innermost muscles stretching and flexing already. ‘What kind of a question is that?’
‘Just answer it.’
What did he want, her acquiescence written in blood? Or perhaps sweat? ‘Okay, take me there.’
The chocolate-brown eyes were scorched. ‘You’re sure.’
‘Yes.’ She knew what she was doing. They were hardly lost in a snowstorm and forced to cling close to preserve life. This was a decision. Her decision. And she was tired of fighting the need.
He turned abruptly, climbed back into the helicopter. Ellie walked back towards the lake. It wasn’t too late to change her mind but her mind and body were in sync already—she knew what she wanted.
Ruben got what he needed from the chopper and walked back to where she waited. It felt good to have her in place, ready to meet him. He drank in the signs—yeah, her blue eyes were deepening, just like the sky above them. She kept that intense eye contact, as if she was trying to see through him. His heart pounded—he briefly wondered if she could hear it, because he didn’t like to be looked at that closely.
‘Promise me something,’ she said with that husky voice that gripped his attention completely. ‘This one night. That’s all. Nothing more afterwards. When we get back to civilisation, we’re back to where we were. Just friends again. That’s the only way this can happen. The fantasy, right?’
‘Why do you keep trying to control this?’
‘I’m not—’
‘This isn’t going to go away unless we deal with it. Your way isn’t working.’
‘One night.’
‘The whole night.’ He pressed his end of the bargain home. ‘Not just once and then sleep. I want literally the whole, damn night.’ Though he feared even that wasn’t going to be enough.
‘All night?’ She paused, her tongue slipping over her lips.
She honestly thought they’d have just the once? Oh, she hadn’t a clue. But she was on the edge. He stepped closer to her, acutely aware of the shifting signals—her shortened breathing, her flush, her almost invisible shiver. Oh, yes, it was going to be more than once. He’d get her over that line again and again. But he needed all night to do it. So they could leave tomorrow as ex-lovers, over this intensity, leaving no burning anxiety left. No more of this desire that had twisted him inside out the last few weeks.
Ellie was embarrassingly close to orgasm just from the suggestion of sex. And only a few steps into the walk to the hut she stumbled.
‘Something’s hurting?’
She shook her head. Nope, it was the unchecked wanton, wicked, desperate thoughts that had caused her loss of co-ordination. ‘I’m fine.’ She just wanted to be at the damn shack already.
He’d stopped and now stared stonily at her. Once more that uptilt of his mouth had flattened out to a thin line. Suddenly he lunged.
‘What are you doing?’ she shrieked.
In a blur and a thud he’d gone in low and hard and she was upside down. His grip was firm but apparently effortless given the pace he was striding up the mountain.
‘What. Are. You. Doing?’ She added some outrage to the question.
‘Stopping you from doing yourself an injury.’
‘Oh, please, this is just you unable to keep your hands off me.’ Oh, yeah, and her excitement had just quadrupled.
‘That too,’ he confirmed, unapologetically running his hand up the back of her thigh and grabbing a handful of her butt.
‘Well, put me down. You’ll do yourself an injury.’ She was no lightweight.
‘We’re nearly there anyway.’
‘Ruben, seriously. I’m getting giddy.’
He squeezed her butt, then shifted, wrapping both arms around her as he slid her down his body to set her on her feet. For a moment she leaned