Page 46 of Eye of the Hurricane
“I like doing things with you that you’ve never done before,” I admit.
“You don’t know, I might have done this before,” she teases.
“I know when you’re doing something you’ve never done before because your cheeks turn this same shade of pink,” I trace a finger over the bridge of her nose and across her cheek. “And you get this excited look in your eyes, I think I might be addicted to it.” I’m crowding her space now and she’s letting me, looking into my eyes with thick lashes batting.
“I like trying new things with you,” she whispers. We’re close enough now that I can feel her breath hit my lips. She leans in and I think she’s going to kiss me but instead she lands her mouth right by my ear. “I brought the toy like you asked,” she adds.
A low groan vibrates low in my throat. She pulls away from my ear, smiling ear to ear, knowing exactly what she does to me.
“What are we doing out here, then?” I ask. She laughs, swimming away from me.
“Swimming, I think,” she says, splashing water at me. The water hits me in the side of the head and I shake it from my hair. I lunge forward, chasing after her. She slips out of my grip and grabs my shoulders, pushing me under the water.
I stand back up, shaking the water from my hair once again. She’s right in front of me, watching me with big eyes. The rapid rise and fall of her chest tells me she’s waiting to see what I’m going to do next. I think she expects to be dunked in retaliation but instead, I reach out and grab her by the waist, yanking her body flush with mine.
I don’t get the chance to lean down before she rises up on her tiptoes and meets my lips with hers. Her hand snakes around the back of my neck and wraps in my hair.
I wrap a hand around her lower back, holding her close to me. She lets out a breathy moan against my mouth. I feel drunk on her, like I can’t form a coherent thought. The only thought I can conjure up is getting her alone in our tent and laid out for me.
“Let’s go back?” I breathe out. She nods excitedly. We waste no time heading for the bank of the pond. As soon as we’re there, we realize that Katherine’s dress and clothes have been completely soaked.
“I didn’t know the shoreline of ponds even moved,” she says with a pout.
“They don’t, honey. You must have just taken them off too close to the water,” I explain. “Why don’t you wear the dress up to the outdoor showers? And once we’re cleaned off, I’llgive you my hoodie and boxers to wear back to the campsite,” I offer.
“Okay. Won’t everyone think we…” she trails off.
“They’ll probably be asleep.”
We slip out of the water and into our clothes. She climbs back up on my back and I walk, looking for the outdoor showers.
“I didn’t know you had a tattoo on your back,” she comments.
“It’s my only tattoo.”
“Does it mean anything?” she asks. The tattoo is a bundle of flowers wrapped in barbed wire.
“The flowers are all either birth flowers or favorite flowers of my family.”
“There’s six?”
“Ravyn and Audra are my family too.”
“I love how close you all are. I envy it a little bit. I don’t get along with my family well and Luna has been my only friend for a long time.”
“You know they’d hang out with you anytime, right? The girls like you.”
“I’m sure they’re just being nice.”
“They’re not. Trust me, Ravyn doesn’t have it in her. You’d know.”
“Either way, those are your friends. I’m not trying to encroach on your space. I’m just happy to be here.”
It takes about doublethe amount of time to find the outdoor showers as it did to find the pond, despite being closer together. I might have gotten us a little lost in the dark. I may also have been taking my sweet ass time talking to Katherine.
Finally, we’re at the showers. I let her slide gently off my back and onto the cement of the shower floor. It’s dark and eerily silent. It’s clear no one in any of the nearby cabins or tents is awake. There’s a heavy smell of burning wood from all of the fires people have put out before heading to bed.
I don’t know what time it was when we left the site or even what time it is now, but I know it’s late by the lack of sound and light around here. The faintest crack of something in the woods echoes into the night and Kat jumps, letting out a little squeak in the process.
