“What?” I push up onto one arm and stare down at him, certain he’s pulling my leg.
He nods. “Guess I’m the cradle robber in this relationship, after all.”
I smile. “We have a relationship?”
He reaches up to cup my cheek. “Any interaction between two people is technically a relationship, isn’t it?”
“Now you sound like Zuben.”
He stiffens. “Take that back!”
We both laugh, and I rest on his chest again, loving how the heat of his body warms mine, how his arm wraps around me, how his fingers trail lightly up and down my arm over the blanket. I should get rid of the blanket.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
He draws a long breath.
I’m about to tell him that he doesn’t need to share his story with me if it’s too painful, but I’m distracted by a splash.
Sitting up, I see Axe in the water, facing toward us.
“I’m going back behind the waterfall,” he says.
I jump up and the blanket falls off me. “Are you okay?”
He nods. “Just need some time alone.”
Chapter Ten
Ryker
Ember jumps up,her blanket falls off her body, and in an instant, my cock fully hardens. I pull the blanket over me, hoping to hide it. But the wool scrapes over the sensitive organ, and I hiss.
She looks down, worry in her eyes, but then a slight smile brushes her lips when she spots the tented blanket.
“We’ll let you know when Zuben comes back,” Ember calls out to the bear. “But don’t be gone for too long.”
She’s clearly worried about him, which makes me wonder what happened between the two of them when they were behind that waterfall together. Axe didn’t tell me much about—anything—but it’s clear the dude is carrying some heavy baggage.
Sitting again, Ember leans into me, and I drape my arm around her now naked body.
“You cold?”
She shakes her head, but I drape the blanket around her anyway.
“The bear’s okay,” I tell her, although I really have no idea, I’m tuned only to her.
“I know.” One of her legs drapes over mine and my balls constrict. Fuck, how I want her.
“So…” Her fingers tease through my chest hair. “1670?”
“Yup.”
“And you were a pirate? Like arealpirate?”
“Arrr, Billy.”
She laughs softly. “That’s kind of hot.”