by Jill Shalvis
daddies’ trust funds.”
“So do you,” Tandy said.
“No.” Lani shook her head. “It was all stock options, which are gone.”
The others looked at each other, horrified. “You’re…broke?”
“Just about,” Lani said quietly.
There was silence for a few minutes as they absorbed this while floating down the river.
“I’ll help you, Lani,” Shelly said softly. “I have plenty of extra—”
“Me too,” Kitty said.
But Lani shook her head. “No. I mean thank you, but I couldn’t take your money.”
“It’s not mine,” Shelly said. “It’s my parents’, and they don’t give a rat’s ass how I spend it. It’s up to me what I do with it. And I give it to you.”
At that exact moment Harley warmed up to the Mountain Barbies.
A few minutes later, they rounded a corner and the water picked up speed. Simultaneously all four girls got into trouble. Lani and Tandy collided and knocked each other into the water, screaming as they went, naturally. TJ went after Tandy, and Harley went after Lani. Just as they got both of them straightened out, the other two girls steered directly into an outcrop of trees sticking out of the water.
And capsized.
There was more screaming, and lots of hair trauma. Then two otters swam right by Shelly, who got her earlier wish about being closer to TJ when she literally crawled up his body to get out of the water and away from the otters. Only she was too terrified to enjoy the experience. Harley explained that the otters were harmless to them, that they were just out looking for beaver dams to adopt, but it still took awhile for everyone to calm down.
When they stopped for the day, the girls sprawled out on the shore in the last of the sun’s warmth while TJ and Harley set up camp. Harley pulled the gear out of the kayaks, noting that the coeds had once again stripped out of their protective gear, down to their skimpy bikinis. She had ten years and ten pounds on them, and it was hard not to feel at least a little inferior.
That’s when she felt a lean hard body press up against her.
TJ’s hand settled on the nape of her neck, causing her entire body to shiver. He’d warned her that his kind of love was temporary. She’d agreed to temporary. So what was she supposed to do with the fact that it seemed like so much more? She was kayaking down Heart Break River without a paddle, but even knowing it, she had no idea how to protect herself. Even worse, she didn’t want to. She kept her gaze on the coeds, as gorgeous as the man behind her, and sighed.
“You’re beautiful, Harley.”
She let out a genuine laugh at that. She was wearing men’s board shorts, a loose T-shirt, a life vest, and completing the picture of loveliness, water booties to protect her feet, which had given her a ridiculous tan line. Her hair was undoubtedly a frizz-ball and she’d forgone her usual mascara and lip gloss in favor of full-protection sunscreen and ChapStick.
He turned her to face him. “Beautiful,” he repeated in a low tone, in his authoritative voice, the one that could make coeds jump to attention, and women the world over want to please him.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said, and smiled to lighten the moment.
He didn’t return the smile.
Suddenly she wanted to see his eyes. She reached up, tugged off his reflective sunglasses, and caught her breath. He was being serious. Dead serious. Lifting her hand, she ran a finger over his unsmiling mouth until he took her hand and kissed her palm.
Her belly quivered, and again, she ran a finger over his lips.
He bit the pad of it, and even as she gasped, he soothed the ache by slowly sucking it into his mouth.
Her knees liquefied.
He sucked again, a strong sip, the muscles of his jaw working, and she felt every single bone melt right out of her body. “TJ.”
He let her finger slowly pull from his mouth with a soft suction sound. “Yeah?” he said, gravel in his voice.
She stared up into his eyes and ended up shaking her head. “I can’t remember.”
With a soft chuckle, he moved away to strip out of everything but his board shorts so it could all dry while he worked to get camp set up. Harley moved to help him with the girls’ tent, but he was so efficient, she ended up just watching him.
She couldn’t help it.
No red-blooded woman could have.
“Problem?” he asked, shoving his damp hair back and glancing over at her.
“No.” Her eyes roamed over his body. The wet board shorts were molded to him, leaving little to the imagination, and her mouth actually watered.
He looked at her curiously, then down at himself. “What?”
Oh good Lord. To be half that utterly clueless and easy in her own skin…“Nothing!” She gathered wood for a fire, thinking she could probably start one off her own body heat alone, but that didn’t happen. It took three Frito chips, but she was feeling quite proud of herself, a feeling that turned into something else entirely when she found TJ watching her.
“Nice job,” he said as the fire flickered and crackled warmly, bathing his face in the soft glow, revealing the intensity of his eyes, his expression one that she’d never seen before.
“Only required three chips,” she told him a little breathlessly, and held up the bag. “More to eat.”
He smiled at her, the kind that tended to melt her bones.
Bad bones.
As the sun set, everyone pulled on dry clothes and cleaned themselves up. TJ stood at the fire, barbequing in a white long-sleeved Henley, faded Levi’s, and bare feet, looking more appetizing than the salmon Nick had dropped for them.
Everyone ate as if they’d never eaten before, then the girls spent a few minutes complaining about sore muscles and how exhausted they were before disappearing into their tent, leaving Harley and TJ alone by the fire.
“You saved my ass today,” he told her. “Thanks for coming.”
“You’d have been fine.”
“I’d have lost my mind.” He slipped an arm around her and pulled her in closer so that their thighs and hips touched. “Although I’ve been losing my mind anyway.”
“Why?”
He just looked at her, eyes hot.
Right. Harley: three orgasms. TJ: zero.
CHAPTER 24
Nighttime in the Sierras was impressive. High mountain peaks cast black shadows over trees, as tall as skyscrapers, that whistled softly in the dark. The moon rose, painting everything in a soft blue glow.
The coeds had long ago quieted down in their tent. All that could be heard was soft snoring. Harley still sat next to TJ, incredibly aware of his heat, his strength. The log beneath them was long and yet they sat so close she couldn’t have fit a piece of paper between them.
TJ leaned forward to poke a long stick into the fire and with minimal effort coaxed the flames back to life. Sitting back, brushing against her as he did, he met her gaze.
And her body hummed. She knew his did, too. It shimmered in the night between them.
No matter what she told herself, there was something between them. Something uncontrolled, which should have scared her.
Instead, it turned her on.
He’d given her his support in Desolation, and when she’d wanted it, also his help. He’d given her a job this weekend. She knew he’d give her anything she wanted. But in that moment, all she wanted was to give him something.
Something of herself.
“Think they’re out for the night?” she whispered.
“Christ, I hope so. Why?”
She just looked at him.
His eyes widened, and she realized she’d managed to do what few ever did—surprise him.
When he spoke, his voice was low and husky, and basically sex on a stick. “Teasing me right now is not a good idea.”
“I’m not teasing.”
He closed his eyes. “Harley.”
She knew watching her come tended to shatter his control. She wondered if
watching him come would do the same to her.
She was betting it would, since just thinking about it made her nipples hard. Without a word, she got up and walked to the tent. “You girls need anything?” she whispered through the zippered door.
No answer.
She walked back to the campfire. TJ hadn’t moved. He was still sitting there, watching her, cast in the flickering light of the fire’s glow. He had a few strands of sun-kissed hair falling over his forehead, curling past his collar. He’d gotten some sun, making his green eyes all the more striking.
He was so gorgeous he took her breath away.
She held out her hand.
He took it without hesitation, then raised a brow when she pulled him to a stand. She looked into his eyes for a long moment, then turned and led him away from the fire, down along the river, over bush and under trees, across a carpet of soft, giving, forest moss. Several hundred yards later they came to a small, isolated clearing, secluded and dark except for the faint glow of the stars reflecting on the water.
Without a word, she pressed on his shoulders until he obliged her by leaning back against a tree.
Looking into his eyes, she went up on tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the mouth. Then his jaw, his throat. After that she tugged on the neckline of his shirt to press a kiss to his collarbone.
His hands came up to her hips, squeezed gently, then started to slide beneath her shirt. “No,” she said, squeezing her hands on his wrists, indicating he could hold her hips but nothing else.
He let out a breath and went still, silently letting her have her way. Reaching down, she skimmed his shirt up over his head and tossed it aside. She kneeled between his splayed legs to kiss him on his amazing abs, feeling the ridge of muscles leap beneath her lips. She nibbled at his belly button, then kissed the spot beneath it.
He let out a long, shaky breath, but he didn’t speak and he didn’t move.
She rewarded him with another kiss, right above the button on his Levi’s.
And then she popped it open.
And the next.
And the next.
Beneath the Levi’s was nothing but TJ in all his silky, hot, hard glory.
He shifted. “Harley.”
“Shh.” She set her hands on his thighs.
He let out a long, jagged breath. “I—”
Cutting him off with a shake of her head, she trailed a finger from his belly button to the opening of his jeans.
He got bigger.
And harder.
She cupped him.
“Christ, Harley,” he said on a rough groan, his hands going to the thick tree trunk on either side of his hips as if he needed the leverage to hold himself up. “You have no idea what you to do me.”
“No. But I know what I’m about to do to you.” She looked up into his face and smiled. “Just relax. This will only take a few minutes.”
He choked out a laugh at his own words being tossed back in his face, but then she tugged on his jeans so that he sprang free, and kissed him on the very tip.
“Oh, fuck.” He sounded strangled. “Maybe less than a few minutes.” When she ran her tongue down his length, he gasped. “Definitely less.”
Smiling at the hoarse tightness in his voice, she sat back and stared at him in all his full, magnificent glory. Lord, he was beautiful. Leaning forward again, her hands still on his thighs, she slowly drew him into her mouth.
He released a guttural noise from low in his throat and said something entirely unintelligible. She took that for “more, please,” so she gave it. His fingers went to her hair, tangling in the strands as if he couldn’t help himself.
She glanced up at him. Eyes closed, head back, he wore a look of such agonized pleasure it gave her a rush that was only a millimeter beneath an orgasm. When she felt him draw tight under her hands and mouth, she knew he was close, a fact that was verified when he groaned and tried to pull her away, shifting his hips backwards.
Not taking the hint, she tightened her grip and kept at him.
“Harley. God, Harley—you’ve got to stop, I’m going to—”
She murmured her understanding without releasing him, and just the vibration from her throat wrenched a rough groan from him. His muscles spasmed as he came, one hand still fisted in her hair, the other slapping to the trunk at his side to keep him upright.
She didn’t move away until she felt him relax. He staggered, then dropped heavily to his knees. Without opening his eyes, he reached for her, pulling her into his lap as he sank all the way to the ground, sagging back against the tree, panting, boneless.
He slouched there, head back, eyes closed, wearing nothing but the opened jeans that were barely still on him.
Barefoot.
Shirtless.
Looking hot enough to spread butter on and eat up in one bite.
She smiled and curled into him, nearly purring as his hands slowly roamed her body. “Hope that helped with the tension a little,” she whispered against his throat, smiling when he shivered.
“More than a little.” His voice was rough, giving her a feeling of satisfaction. “In fact, I seem to be missing all of my bones.”
She laughed, was still laughing when he slid his hands into her hair, tugged back her head, and kissed her long and deep. She realized he’d fully recovered, because he had his hands beneath her top, his thumbs gliding over her nipples. She moaned, and felt him smile against her neck. “I found my bones,” he murmured, rocking his hips into hers.
No kidding! She snuggled in, not wanting to move, enjoying the way his heart was still pounding beneath her cheek. “We’ve got to go back.”
“Mmmm.” He took a deep breath and reached down to kiss her again. “Not yet.”
“If they wake up and need anything—”
He went still, clearly thinking—fun or duty? Watching the battle was fascinating, as it took a very long few minutes.
Duty won, which only made her like him all the more.
With a groan, he climbed to his feet, reaching down to pull her to hers, holding her against him for a minute when she would have turned away. “Thank you,” he murmured.
“I had a good time,” she said, and made him grin.
He’d had a good time, too. It was in every line of his body, and holy smokes, that body. Milk did a body good, and sex did it better.
He hugged her hard, pressing his face in her hair. “Remember how we both said that being out here on the mountain, away from all the bullshit, made us feel alive?”
She tilted her head back and looked into his warm eyes. “Yes.”
His gaze searched hers, his smile slowly fading. “I’m starting to think it’s not the mountain at all, that maybe it’s you. You make me feel alive, Harley.”
On that shocking statement, he took her hand and led her back to camp.
The next day on the river was a rinse and repeat of the one before. Except instead of otters, they saw three huge, gorgeous bucks on one of the ridges watching them from afar. Later, they heard a pack of coyotes howling. Harley assured the girls they were not about to be coyote bait, and to distract them, told them a little about what she was doing for her internship, and from that moment on, they looked at her with what might have been respect instead of competition for TJ.
