Page 26 of When Glitter Meets Gold

It’s only after the moose stalks off into the distance and Sara lies on top of his chest, her rushed breaths hot on his cheeks and her wet hair dripping onto his face, that he allows a stray thought to enter his mind.

The storm, the radio dead zones, the animals on the trail,the whole hiking expedition. Each one, time and again, gave him that desired rush, there was no doubt about it.

Somehow, it all felt heightened tonight, like a surge in a fuse box, a charged battery, an engine ready to rip up a track.

Tonight, the energy around him vibrated at a different frequency. Like he’s finally getting something he’d sought from the trails but never quite received. A different type of adrenaline rush altogether.

He puts it down to the storm, he hasn’t been in one this bad for years. Yes. Probably just the storm.

Yet when he feels Sara’s fingers bite into his biceps, thrill shocking through his entire body, he knows the adrenaline pumping through his system has very little to do with mother nature.

13

SARA

Amoose.

A fucking moose.

I can’t even begin to comprehend that I was almost trampled to death by a six-foot moose.

Yet here I am, weather beaten and trembling, but alive. And it’s all because of Jack, who pulled me to safety like I weighed no more than a labradoodle.

Now we’re tangled in each other’s bodies, my entire weight pressing into his heaving chest as the storm rages around us. My hips press into his, his warmth seeping into me. He’s a solid wall of protection and safety.

He’s also shirtless. Why is he shirtless? Why do Ilikethat he’s shirtless?

I shake the thought away while I force my body to move.

But I can’t. Nor can I let go of him because I think I’m still in shock. I can’t move, not even when I feel his hips readjust beneath mine, probably because I’m crushing his balls into pancakes. I should move, I should really move…

“It’s gone. You’re okay.” Jack’s voice fills the silence between my shallow breaths.

I nod. The first inch of movement I can manage, even though I feel so far from being okay.

His eyes are soft, and, for the first time, his features are etched with something different. Something new.

Patience.

Then I’m hit with the scent from the jacket. But now it’s coming from him, and while it smelled good before, the scent mixed in with notes of him is…intoxicating.

He glances down at his arm where my nails are clawing mini moons into his flesh.

“Sorry,” I whisper, prying my fingers from him. At the same time, I feel a pressure release from my waist and realize he’d been clutching onto me just as tight. “Sorry…I didn’t mean to scream so loud. I shouldn’t have… I’ll be quieter.”

“It’s okay,” he says, eyes searching my face. “Don’t worry about that.”

I pull away from him, peeling my body from his as I slide onto the wet earth.

I’m suddenly aware of the absence of his hands on my hips because the storm feels more dangerous than ever, and my body begins to shake like it lost its safety blanket.

Jack sits up, his abdominal muscles crunching as he comes to kneel in front of me. The rain, gushing from the sky in thick torrents, clings and drips from the slopes of his chest muscles. He pushes tendrils of soaked hair back from his face and casts a glance over his shoulder.

“We should get back inside.” He helps me climb to my feet.

“I got your jacket all gross,” I say absently as we step back into the safety of the tent.

He takes the soaked item from me, shaking it off acouple times outside, before zipping away the elements and sealing us inside.

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