Page 35 of Beautifully Wild

Leaning against Samuel’s chest, I take his hand and study it. The bathwater has softened his skin. I run my thumb over the whitish outline of calluses on his palm.

“Did I hurt you?” he whispers, dotting my neck with kisses.

I roll over, so my body aligns with his, and my chest is pressed to his. The scented bath water cocoons us. “No. In fact, I’d like these hands to keep exploring.” I guide his palm to my rear and crane my neck so our lips meet. “First, tell me what you did to get hands like you’ve been wielding an ax all your life?”

“Maybe I have,” he whispers.

I kiss, then bite his lip. “I’m serious. Can I ask you a question?”

He slides up. Bathwater spills over the edge with the sudden movement. “What do you want to know?” A tell-tale dent forms between his brows.

“Where do you work? I know you have to eventually return, and I want to visit you.” I push away to put space between us, hoping I can accurately read his expression.

“Visiting is… difficult. I work in a remote area in Venezuela.”

“As a volunteer?”

“Not really, although I do volunteer some of my services.”

“What’s your favorite thing about it?”

“I’m questioning your employer’s credentials. It’s clear you can’t count.”

“This is conversation.”

He smiles at me. “More like an interrogation. Hmm, one thing? The waterfalls. Have you heard of Angel Falls?”

I shake my head.

“Maybe you should visit there if you and your friends have time. It’s the highest waterfall in the world. The locals know it as Kerepakupai-merú.”

“Really?” He pronounces the unusual phonics easily. “And you get to go there often?”

“I try to.”

A few seconds pass before I speak again. “Your turn to ask me something.”

“One thing? Hardly fair,” he says and chuckles. “Although there is one thing not sitting right with me. Why do you allow a past relationship with a douchebag to control the way you see yourself?”

“Sorry?”

He takes both my hands. “The moment you mentioned your ex, something changed in your expression. I saw a glimpse of unhappiness, not for loss of love but more the loss of self-appreciation. What did he do to you?”

“You mean what did I allow him to do to me? I’m a wiser woman now.”

“A wise and beautiful woman who deserves much more.” He pulls me close and kisses me until I forget what we were talking about.

20

Samuel

Samuelholdsthelockuntil he barely hears the click of the door. His gaze shoots to his bed, to Eden lying beneath the white sheet. Her hair splayed over the pillow blends with the crisp cotton. He closes his eyes, remembering last night. Even a day and night with her isn’t enough to cure the insatiable desire pumping through his veins.

More than anything, he wants to crawl back under the covers, allow her to ruin him over and over, and remind him what he has sacrificed. Show him paradise. Her paradise.

“You have coffee?”

He nods, coming out of a daze. He goes to her, sits on the bed, and hands her the other cup. “I thought you might need this.”

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