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“I am home,” Stone says, peeking at me.
A rush of love fills me so fast it’s as if I’m practically brimming over with it. He ushers me into the small bedroom and shuts the door behind us. When we’re away from everyone else, he lets his mask slip. “What are you doing?” he pleads, desperation dripping from his words. “Your treasure…”
I grip his forearms, running my palms up and down his cracked skin, relishing that I can even actually do this. When he first bobbed to the surface in those rapids, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able touch him again. “Unimportant when it comes to you.”
He brings me forward and kisses me. It’s sloppy and careless, infused with passion. It’s unlike any Stone kiss I’ve experienced before, but like the others, I’m taken with it immediately. It’s raw and heady between two people who are desperate to remind each other that they’re still here.
Eventually, Stone pulls away. He presses a kiss to my forehead, breathing out over my skin until I’m trembling in his arms.
He smirks, his lips moving just over my brow. “Cole will be disappointed I didn’t get tortured.”
I blink. “Wait. What?”
“He told me if I came here, I deserved whatever I got. I think he wanted me to get roughed up.”
“It’s not an option,” I growl, the flash of Mr. Blade Happy flicking through my mind. I shudder to think he’d do the same thing to Stone that he did to me.
Stone bends to seal our lips together again. He takes his time, caressing me softly. “I was worried I’d never taste you again…never feel you again.”
I clamp my jaw down, unable to mirror his words back to him. I can relate, but I don’t want to think about that.
“Are you okay?” he whispers, fingers coming up to trace over my cheekbones. “Let’s get you lying down again. You’re probably exhausted.”
He leads me toward the flimsy mattress, but it’s better than having to lie on the floor. My muscles relax as soon as I’m sprawled out. He shifts beside me, propping his head up on his elbow. When I keep peeking over at him, he traces his fingers down my arm. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“If I had it my way, I’d never leave your side again.”
His words make me breathe a little easier. “Let’s not do this again, Stone Jacobs.”
He chuckles. “It’s not on the top of my list to re-hash.” He brings my knuckles to his lips, brushing a soft kiss there. “I wouldn’t mind re-living the first time I saw you.” His lips move into a sad smile. “I wouldn’t mind experiencing our first kiss…or the first time we made love.” He brings my hand to his chest, and I feel the hard thump of his heart underneath his ribcage. “Maybe that time when we first showed up at your dorm because even though you were absolutely furious, I couldn’t get over how beautiful you were.”
I hum happily at his memories. “I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy a replay of every time I saw you shirtless.”
“Speaking of,” he says, reaching behind him to fumble with the First Aid kit. “Let’s get you some more pain reliever.”
I take the two capsules from him eagerly, but then hesitate. “Maybe I should keep them for tomorrow.”
He shakes his head. “I told his secretary to send some with the new camping gear. It’s okay.”
He nudges me, but I still hold back. “Are you okay? Do you need it?”
“If you think for one second I’d take those from you on my deathbed, you got hit too hard in the head when we were in the river.”
Business Stone is back, so I take the pills, choking them down over my raw throat.
He tangles his feet with mine again, staying close even though he doesn’t dare touch me. His warmth is all I need. “For real, though,” I manage to get out without my voice cracking, “I think I’d relive the moment when you guys busted down my door, too. I’d let everything I know now change what we did. I wouldn’t spend one moment arguing with you, I’d just—”
“Throw yourself at me?”
I turn toward him and nod. “Yeah. Basically.”
He blinks, reaching out to cup my cheek. “I wouldn’t change a single thing. I love you, Dakota.”
Emotion clogs my throat. Fighting back the terrible memories of the last day, I whisper, “I love you, too.”
I shuffle closer, and when he realizes I’m not going to let up until we’re lying together, we find a position that doesn’t hurt too much. I fall asleep with my head in the crook of his arm, his thumb trailing over a spot on my hip.