“But I thought you loved the water?” he teases.
I squeal, my calves now wet. “Oh my god, Noah, I can’t!”
“Why not?”
I push into him, trying to find some ground to use as leverage. “I don’t do water where I can’t see the bottom!”
He buries his face in my neck, and my muscles settle the slightest bit. “What if your feet don’t touch the ground?”
“What—”
Noah spins me, bends and lifts me up. In the next second, we’re waist-deep in the chilled water, clothes and all.
I scream with a laugh, hiding my eyes in his chest, my arms and legs clenching around him. Something brushes my thigh and I scream again, holding on impossibly tight.
“You are so dead. Wait until I get you in the ocean. I’m sticking crabs down your trunks!”
* * *
His soft chuckle wafts over my skin, his arms gliding along my back and keeping me close. “I’ve got you.”
“You better.”
His lips curve against my neck, and then they press there. Lightly at first but growing firmer by the second.
My legs tighten around him, my toes curling behind his back as he sucks the sensitive skin there, and just like that, the dark waters are forgotten.
My head lifts, and it’s only a moment before his follows.
His eyes, a deep midnight blue tonight, are teeming with desire, and behind that, a hopeful tenderness that reaches deep within me.
I feel it too, the invisible pull from my body to his.
My mind to his.
My heart to his?
I lean forward, taking his lips with my own.
He kisses me back with the same vigor. Our tongues tying, our deep, full breaths turning to quick, short pants, and my body begins to roll.
Noah groans, lifting us a few inches out of the water as he fights to bring us closer, his eagerness in line with my own.
“Careful, Juliet,” he warns, steeling my hips with his large, firm hands. “I’m about to lose my gentleman’s card here.”
“Could you hurry up with that?”
He chuckles into my mouth, and I push my tongue inside his, swallowing the rumble that follows. He whips us around, splashing through the water until we’re at the edge of a rock. He presses my ass against it, his hands leaving my body so he can grab hold of my cheeks, making me dizzy with his kiss.
I lean back, taking him with me, and then something glides along the bottom of my foot, and I squeal, jumping backward.
Noah tears back, eyes wide and flying across my face
“Oh my god, a fish is trying to eat me!” I yelp, scurrying farther up the rock, and as I plant my hand down once more, something tickles the tips of my knuckles. I yelp again, jumping down, only to sink up to my neck.
Noah starts busting up laughing, turns, and hauls me up on his back as he takes us to the edge.
It’s only seconds before I’m laughing uncontrollably, and as we hit the cold, dry ground, I drop back onto a tree log, my face falling into my hands.
“Ugh!” I can’t simmer myself down and Noah’s as entertained as I am. “I swear a fish sucked my toe!”
He rubs his mouth to quiet his laughter. “And your hand?”
“Okay, that might have been a leaf or something.” His head falls back with laughter. “In the moment, I was positive it was the loch ness monster!” I grin, shaking my head.
“She swims in shark waters with ease, but a tiny tadpole? Forget about it.”
I scowl at him playfully, and a small chill runs over me, the mountain breeze having rolled up over the rocks.
“We should head back, get changed.” Noah slips his shoes on, stuffing his socks into his pockets, and picks up mine.
He spins again, reaching over his shoulder for my hand, so I stand, giving it to him. Once again, he hauls me onto his back and carries me all the way back to camp.
As we step into the clearing, a few people glance our way.
“What in the actual hell?” Brady shouts, his beer frozen at his lips.
“We fell in a pond,” I joke.
“Uh-huh, vagina first or what?” He pops a brow.
Mason slaps the back of his head. “What the fuck, bro?” He glares from him to us, but Brady simply laughs and goes back to his conversation.
Mason’s glare deepens, but I too look away, and Noah keeps moving toward the row of tents.
“Cameron is going to kill me if I get our beds wet.” I grin, tightening my hold around his neck.
“Wanna change in my truck? It’s blocked by Brady’s.” He stops walking, glancing over his shoulder. “We can walk back, ask her to get you some clothes really fast?”