Page 88 of Save Me
I nod toward the house and the trailers.
Skye’s head bobs in understanding. “Oh, you know what? I forgot my water. I’m just going to grab it back at my place?—”
“Same! And more string!” Rebel adds.
I take over holding the ladder, and with a mouthed “good luck” from Rebel, the two girls trot off through the trees, stumbling in the dark.
“You abandoning me too, Frank?” Sloane asks.
“Yup. You got it from here?” Frank’s big, bushy brows climb halfway up his forehead. They seem to say so much.
You won’t let her fall?
You’ll talk her off the ledge?
You’ll take good care of her?
“I’ve got her.”
With one last furtive look at Sloane, he ambles back the way he came.
“Aim this on the branch for me?” Sloane tosses her flashlight down. I have to move fast to catch it, the beam of light inadvertently shining upward, showing off white panties beneath her skirt.
“Not exactly dressed for climbing trees.”
“It’s not what I expected to be doing tonight.”
“That makes two of us.” I’d so much rather be peeling those off her in bed. My dick jumps at the thought.
“You don’t have to stay.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Even if I’m catering to this insanity.
“I think that one’s good.” With her last knot tightened, she climbs down. “You can let go now.”
“Not a chance. The ground here is uneven.”
“Suit yourself.” She keeps moving, her ass bumping my face on her way down.
The urge to pin her body and bury my tongue between her legs is overwhelming, but I can read the room—or dark, gnarly treed area—and her mood does not say Enter, so I resist, instead getting some enjoymentfrom the way her body rubs against mine as she continues until her feet touch the ground.
“You can move the ladder over?—”
“Hey.” Gruffness laces that single word as I dip down to kiss her neck.
Her body shudders with a soft sigh, and after a beat, she tips her head to give me better access.
I greedily take it, inhaling her scent as I nip at her skin. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“It’s not your fault.”
Taking a step back, I seize her hip, guiding her body around to face me. “It was a shit thing for Belinda to do.”
Sloane’s gaze drifts in the darkness toward the beach. “Gigi built that fire pit when she first moved here. Sea Witch staff has sat around it every night during the season for decades. There are so many good memories, and it’s never been an issue until now. Why couldn’t she just let us be?” She sounds so defeated.
“She’s jealous.”
“Of what?”
