Page 58 of Stone
Not only was Juliana Morganstern fucking gorgeous, she was also brave as hell. He didn’t underestimate the courage it took to strip in front of him in broad daylight. Not because she didn’t have what the media deemed the “perfect body,” but because what she’d done was immensely vulnerable. Exposing every part of herself to him, keeping nothing in the shadows or under the covers.
“Turn around.” Probably not the most romantic thing he could have said, but he ached to see all of her.
She hesitated, then slowly turned. When she faced him again, he managed to pull his gaze from the lushness of her body and look her in the eye. And the hesitancy there slayed him. She watched him warily, as if waiting for a critique.
Words wouldn’t fix this, so he did what felt right. Kicking his shoes off, he eased his jeans down over his throbbing erection and stripped out of the rest of his clothes. Then he stood before her—as vulnerable as she and with the unmistakable evidence of his appreciation of her, of his attraction to her, bobbing between them.
She licked her lips as her gaze devoured him. Without being asked, he, too, turned in a circle, letting her see all of him.
Her expressive face didn’t help the situation. Especially not when her attention lingered on his cock and she stared at it as if contemplating all the things she wanted to do to and with it. He was on board for anything she wanted, but if they didn’t movesoon, he suspected they’d never make it into the water. And he had something he wanted to share with her.
Holding out his hand, he asked silently if she’d join him. A beat later, she stepped forward and laid her palm in his.
Remembering they weren’t entirely alone, Stone scanned the riverbank for Sherman, then nodded in satisfaction when he saw him lying on his side in a spot of sun sound asleep.
“Will it be cold?” she asked as he led her to the water’s edge.
“At first, but not as cold as you think or would expect, given that it’s mostly melted snowpack,” he replied, stepping in. The cool water lapped at his feet, the riverbed rocky but stable under his soles.
She hesitated for a fraction of a second, then stepped in beside him. They stood together for a few moments, the gentle current washing over their feet and ankles.
“You’re right, it’s not bad,” she said, taking another step in.
He followed. “Word of warning, there’s a drop-off in another few feet. You won’t go completely under, but it’s a couple of feet down and startling if it catches you by surprise.”
She nodded and continued inching her way forward, the water now at her knees.
“One more step and you’ll be there,” he said.
She paused and used a foot to test the riverbed. She dipped slightly when she found the small ledge. Reaching for him with both hands, she held on, using him to keep her steady as she stepped down.
She sucked in a breath and flashed him a half smile, half grimace as the water closed around her thighs and belly. “A little cold,” she said with a laugh, still holding on to him.
He grinned back and once he felt sure she was stable—the rocks were bigger in this part of the river—he stepped down beside her. “But nice,” he said, bending his knees and dropping his whole body into the water.
When he broke the surface, she was laughing at him. “You’re braver than I,” she said.
“You know you’re two minutes away from doing the same thing,” he teased. “No way would you strip naked, walk all the way out here, and not take the final step.”
She eyed him, then with a shake of her head and a smile, she dropped below the surface so quickly that a shard of panic lanced through him. He reached out to grab her but before he could, she popped out of the water, smoothing her hair back as she rose.
“Not as bad as I thought,” she said with a grin. She’d about given him a heart attack, but hey, she was happy.
“Do you come here often?” she asked, sinking low in the water so that it came to her collarbone. He didn’t think she was hiding from him, just enjoying the gentle current.
He nodded and did the same, holding his arms to the side as he bobbed. “I like to come when the stars are out. By that time, the water and air temperatures are pretty close. It’s a nice time to take a dip.”
“And quiet. Although it’s not loud now,” she added.
“There is a muted peace at night,” he said. “And the stars can be brilliant. Not that I can see lots of sky, of course, but what I can see is usually amazing.”
They both looked up. The clearing they’d come through gave them a wider glimpse of the sky to the west than to the east, where towering pines came right to the edge of the river in some places.
“There’s another reason I come here at night,” he said. “Even in the winter.”
She looked at him skeptically but he held out a hand to her. Once again, she set hers in his and he started leading her downstream. They picked their way carefully over the rocks and toward a gentle bend in the waterway.
When they rounded the curve, he stopped, pulling her to his side. What he wanted to share with her lay to their right. A little something he’d discovered the year before.
