“High Altitude Pulmonary Edema.”
She sent him one of those sexy female smiles. “I see you’ve been checking up on me.”
He’d read so much about her he’d started to feel like a stalker. With every new article he mentally insisted it was smart to be armed with information, but the truth was he got sucked in. Her life was this unending feat of endurance and the happiness beaming off her in those photos when she made it back down the climbs unharmed sent a surge of pride through him.
Strong, determined and beautiful. As a female combination, it proved deadly to his self-control.
“The article talked about an increased rate of recurrence and that, coupled with your previous problems, made climbing impossible,” he said, skipping over all the other information he’d filed away about her and all the technical medical stuff.
“Risky, but not impossible.” She ran her fingers through her long hair.
This close he could smell the shampoo and soap on her skin. “Isn’t all climbing risky?”
“Not like this. HAPE can be fatal. I almost died the first time and I couldn’t run that risk again.” She put her hand on his thigh. “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t have a death wish or some need for an adrenaline fix.”
Her touch burned through to his skin. It was as if the jeans weren’t even there. Sexual need punched at him with a hot and hungry need to devour, but so did something else—the strange rightness of sitting there talking with her. Sure, he wanted to crawl all over her, strip her naked and do some of those naughty things the townspeople had accused them of doing, but the buildup, this extended foreplay, wasn’t a bad way to start.
“Then why go up there?” he asked, surprised his voice held steady in light of the thoughts zipping through his mind.
“The need to conquer. The desire to go where so few people go, to do what almost no one can do and to do so with as much control as possible.”
“For that I like my feet on the ground.” That was a huge understatement. Heights scared the piss out of him. He rarely ventured into the loft because of the shaking ladder leading up to it. That was probably the only reason he hadn’t tried to crawl into bed with her already.
“For the record, my feet rarely leave the ground while climbing.” She knocked her shoulder into his as if they were friends sharing a secret. “It’s just that sometimes the ground is at a ninety degree angle to other ground.”
He blocked that image from his head. “But you can’t climb now.”
“I have to be careful of how I go, but I can climb. The condition isn’t much of a risk under eight thousand feet. As for above it, I can climb but choose not to. It’s not an acceptable risk to me because I can’t have a member of my team be responsible for getting me off a mountain.”
He stretched a hand along the back of the couch and let his fingers brush against her soft hair. “Gotta be honest. The whole sport doesn’t make much sense to me. I actually never viewed it as a sport, because to me sports require scoring, but from what I’ve read it’s more intense than anything else. Certainly one of the most dangerous things out there.”
“Football was risky. I’ve seen you drive that tractor and I’m telling you that’s risky. You’re scary behind the wheel.”
He decided not to clue her in about the tractor races he’d engaged in with Austin or how they hadn’t happened all that long ago. What was the good of having all that acreage at the nursery if you couldn’t open it up to a race now and then?
“I’m a simple guy. I like work, friends, women and football.”
Her hand shifted higher on his thigh. “In that order?”
The heat level in the room soared. The game faded into the background as a new energy pinged around them. “Women come first. Always.”
“So I’m cramping your style.”
“You are the only woman on my mind right now. Believe me.” Thinking about getting her into bed and keeping her there took up way more of his day than it should.
“I warned you it would be tough to live together.”
A warning he ignored and intended to continue to ignore. “I remain hopeful you’ll come to your senses and seduce me.”
Her finger danced along a faded crease on his jeans. “Only in my dreams.”
The touch felt so right, so…His fingers slipped behind her neck. “What did you say?”
“You think you’re the only one who thinks about it?”
Her smile made a promise that spun straight to his lower half. “I’m obsessed with it.”
She leaned in, her mouth just inches from his. “That’s a lot of pressure to put on a woman.”
“Are you saying we’re going to bring that dream of yours to life?”
“Yes.” She whispered the word against his lips.
* * *
One minute they were talking about unsexy things like altitude sickness and the next his mouth crossed over hers. The kiss scorched through her. She felt steam rise up and circle around them. His groan intensified with the touch of her fingers against the bulge in his jeans.
This was about need and want and nothing but that moment.
For so long her life had been about meeting goals. She pushed out intimacy, lost the simple joy of touching and being touched. Mitch sparked all of that to life again, gave her something she didn’t know she had missed.
If they didn’t move, he’d take her right there. That was fine for later, but the first time she wanted to be spread out on his sheets and unrestrained by furniture or clothing.
When his mouth moved to her neck, she regained the ability to speak. “Let’s go to the bedroom.”
“Mine.”
She wasn’t quite sure what claim he was making as the word vibrated over her collarbone, but she agreed. “Yes.”
The world started spinning. Without so much as a grunt, he lifted her, pushing to his feet with her snuggled in his arms. Her hands went to his face and pulled his mouth down for another barn-burning kiss. It ripped through her until her heart skipped and her nerve endings tingled. When his tongue swept inside, meeting hers, she forgot about anything except the feel of the muscles holding her and the erection pressing against her hip.
When she opened her eyes again they were in his bedroom. Like the rest of the house the room was small and cozy. Dark colors and lighter furniture but most importantly, a huge bed with four pillows piled at the top.
Her back hit the mattress and his body slid over hers. With his chest balanced on his elbows, he leaned in and kissed her again. This one was slow and sensual, with his tongue licking across her lips before his mouth touched hers. The slow dance had her pulse hitting triple time. And when his hand traveled up her bare stomach to settle on her breast she thought she’d break into a billion pieces.
He lifted his head and stared at her with eyes as deep blue as the ocean. “You’re not wearing a bra.”
She traced her finger along his jaw, loving the firm line and soft scratch of his stubble. “In a second you’ll figure out I’m not wearing panties either.”
“Again?”
“I wondered if you saw that on the ladder.”
“Saw it. Fantasized about it. Nearly passed out for the kick of lust that hit me because of it.”.
“You say the sexiest things.”
Heat flared in those eyes and across his cheeks. “Condom.”
His weight moved off her as he practically dove for the nightstand. He tossed the small package next to her shoulder. Off came his shirt, revealing a lean upper body that made her wince at her comment about him being fat.
“You’re perfect,” she said as her hands slid down his chest to land on his zipper.
“On fire.”
“That too.” The clicks ripped through the room as she eased the zipper down.
He took over the task and nearly shredded the heavy fabric getting the jeans off. Then he was naked and straddling her. Her hand went to him, up and down, closing on him in a tight clasp as he swelled under her finge
rs.
“I’m not going to be able to take much of that.” His husky voice dipped low enough to tickle her senses.
The coolness of the room hit her as he stripped her tee over her head. His caressing tongue on her breast warmed her again. His hands and mouth moved over her, taking off the rest of her clothes and waking every cell in her body to a spark of feeling she’d long ignored. With each pass of his lips over her breasts, each dip of his finger deep inside her, her body snapped tighter.
The inner coiling her had her ankles pressing into the mattress and her head shifting from side to side. Her body cried for release as his expert fingers took her spiraling into a sensual haze.
Her hands roamed over the sharp contours of his shoulders as her mouth tasted his neck then pressed into his hair. “Please, Mitch.”
She would beg if she had to. She just wanted him inside her. Wanted to feel him pulsing and alive as he lost control. Needed the pressure to explode and wash over her.
She felt him shift and press against her. She shifted her hips and her lower body rose to meet his. When he finally entered her, slipped just inside, filling her and expanding despite the clamp of her inner muscles, her lungs convulsed on a hard, shuddering breath.
“You okay?” His voice sounded far away and breathless as he pushed deeper, his body slipping into her tight one.
“Don’t stop.” She cried out the plea as her hips started to buck.
With rhythmic smoothness, he pressed in. Every move, every pump, sent a ripple of pleasure spinning through her. His hands slipped to that sensitive area behind her knees. She gasped as he lifted her legs, winding them around his lean waist. The position pushed him deeper until the friction of their bodies as they rubbed together stole her breath.
The sex was hot and anything but gentle. He took what he wanted and adjusted her until her body was open to him. He pumped in and out as his raspy breath blew across her cheek. She wanted this, wanted him. There was no holding back. No waiting. She squeezed around him until the muscles across his shoulders bunched and stiffened.
The last thing she remembered was the fullness of having him inside her and the way she screamed his name as the night exploded around them.
Chapter Ten
The next morning Mitch stood at the kitchen sink drinking a cup of coffee and debating whether he should put on some clothes or strip his briefs off and go find Cassidy. He’d been eyeing the kitchen table and wondering if it could hold their combined weight. When footsteps echoed off the hardwood floor, he thought she had made the decision for him.
“I have an hour before I have to be at work. Any ideas how we can burn through half of that time?” He dumped the mug in the sink and turned to find Travis standing in the doorway wearing his jacket and a stupid grin.
“Well, I don’t know, sugar. What do you want to do with me?” He didn’t even try to hide the amusement in his voice. A booming laugh hovered right there at the edge, just waiting to let loose.
“Kick your ass.” Mitch’s insides jumped but he kept his body still, except for a quick look to make sure the boxer briefs were in place. He’d thrown them on pretty fast and more to make sure he didn’t scare Cassidy on their first morning-after than because he wanted them on.
“Understandable in light of your obvious recent activities.” Travis kept his gaze at eye level as he walked into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. “Sorry for interrupting. At least now I know why you had that stupid grin on your face in the office yesterday and why you left so damn early. I thought you had a head injury or something. You once had the flu and worked a longer day.”
Mitch suddenly hated the town’s openness and his unspoken welcome policy for Travis and the Thomas brothers. “What are you doing here?”
Travis shrugged as he lifted the blinds and looked out the window over the sink. “Drove by and saw a woman on your roof and—”
Mitch’s muscles cramped to the point of cracking. “What?”
“Cassidy is on the roof.” Travis talked slowly, emphasizing each word. “Which brings up a burning question.”
Mitch wasn’t ready to answer any. “You want to know why she’s at my house.”
“I really wanted to know why you were making a woman who looks that hot clean out your gutters, but yours is a good question. Answer that one instead.”
The same hollow sensation that hit his stomach when she talked about climbing for hours on end hit Mitch now. “You mean you’re not kidding about the roof?”
“Nope.”
The smugness wrapping around Travis barely registered before Mitch took off through the family room. His bare feet slapped against the floor as a fire burned in his brain. The fool woman couldn’t sit still for five minutes. He’d left her curled up in bed. The idea of her sneaking past him to get outside made his head thump with the force of a pile driver.
He threw open the door and gasped when the frigid morning air sliced through his bare skin. In his haste, he’d skipped getting dressed or finding shoes. Admittedly, not his best plan. The thin layer of cotton wasn’t protecting anything down below.
But he was committed now. Let the neighbors talk.
Ignoring the sting of cold against his feet and the shaking in his limbs, he walked across the porch to the side of the house. A passing car honked a horn. He thought it was for him until he saw her. She wore a pair of his longer exercise shorts, a huge sweatshirt and her boots. The outfit was so damn sexy he almost forgot about Travis and the crowd that could gather any second.
Then he saw the ladder and realized she was standing on the top step as she stuck a shovel in his gutter. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She glanced down. As her gaze roamed over him, her smile faded. “You’re naked.”
“I’m wearing shorts.”
“Uh, barely.” Her gaze bounced to Travis then back to Mitch. “Have you lost your mind? You’re turning pink.”
“Answer the question.”
“I thought it was obvious, but I’m cleaning.” She waved the shovel at him as if to emphasize her point.
There was no need to even argue about this. They’d have a conversation when her feet hit the ground and the numbness left his extremities. “Get down.”
“I’m not done.”
“You’ll kill yourself.” If he didn’t shake some sense into her first. The woman had no fear. She had no idea how close he was to grabbing her off the ladder.
“You do know she’s climbed Everest, right?” Travis stepped closer and put his hand in the air. “By the way, I don’t think we’ve formally met. I’m Travis. I work for Mitch, who looks like he might explode any minute.”
She leaned down and shook Travis’s hand but her attention never wavered from Mitch. “What the…why is your face that color? It’s purple now.”
His clothes and coloring were irrelevant, as was the headache booming in his brain and spreading out to his other body parts. One day he’d feel his toes again, but for now he wanted her down. “You should not be crawling around up there. You could fall or slide.”
She didn’t show any signs of moving. Didn’t even come down a step. “I’m standing on a ladder, not hanging off a cliff by a rope.”
That visual image made his stomach flip. “On the fifth step.”
Those dark eyes widened. “Mitch, are you afraid of heights?”
“Did I use the word fear?”
“I did, but it was an educated guess based on the color of your face and wild terror in your eyes.”
As far as he was concerned, this was a matter of common sense not fear. “I’m not scared of anything. But if I were, plunging to my death would be at the top of the list.”
“The stepladder at work gives him a nose bleed.” Travis leaned against the house and glanced up at Cassidy as he sipped his coffee.
If Mitch’s calculations were right, that gave his friend a perfect view up her shorts. “Move away from there.”
She finally came down a step. “
A lot of people are afraid. It’s not unusual, but there are things you can do to combat the feeling. The fear is controllable.”
“Stop using that word.” Mitch tried to beat back his temper. He didn’t know if his grumbly feeling came from the conversation or from seeing her long, lean legs and remembering what she could do with them.
“You’re still upset about the fear thing?”
His teeth almost snapped from force he was applying on his jaw. “Find another word.”
She threw up her hands. “What should I say?”
Refusing to watch her nosedive into the grass, he grabbed onto the ladder and held it so it wouldn’t wobble. “I have a healthy respect for gravity. Feet should be on the ground at all times unless you’re in a bed, which we’re not. Though we could be if you’d come down from there.”
“Subtle.” Travis said the word over a fake cough.
Cassidy snorted. “I’ve fallen from much greater heights than this.”
“I read about the crevasse,” Travis said. “Impressive.”
Mitch had some memory of the word and hated to ask, but he knew Travis would torture him with small details anyway. “What is that?”
“Basically, a crack in the ice.” She used her hands to demonstrate.
Mitch wanted her hands back on the ladder and scowled at her until she did it.
“They can be fifty feet deep or more. The one she fell into was more like thirty, right?” Travis actually chuckled as he asked the question.
Mitch made a mental note to fire him.
“Sometimes you see them on the surface and can bridge them. Other times, you step and go down. New snow can cover them. It’s a huge danger.” She lifted one foot off the ladder. “I had it happen in Antarctica. Unfortunately, I was one of the guides on that expedition, so the free fall didn’t exactly inspire confidence among the paying customers.”
He reached for her ankle and set her foot back down on the step. “Get down.”
“You really do hate heights.” She bent down and ran a hand over his hair.
Travis stepped up next to Mitch. “Man, you look like hell.”
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