Page 141 of Beneath the Mountain Sky

It will either draw her from inside her head and back to the moment…or it will send her spinning further away.

Willow slowly turns to face me.

The trust shining in her gaze answers before she does. “Okay.”

Her hands move to the zipper of her lightweight jacket. She lowers it, then tugs the fabric free, doing the same with her T-shirt, leaving her standing in the moonlight in her bra. Shivering, she scans the darkness before kicking off her boots, pulling off her socks, and shimmying out of her pants.

I do the same, refusing to even speak in fear that I might make her change her mind.

This will work.

This will help.

I keep telling myself that as she strips off her underwear and bra.

My bare feet sink into the grass along the riverbank, and I reach out a hand for her. She doesn’t hesitate in allowing me to lead her toward the quiet, small pool, away from the rapids and current that swept her downriver and almost took her from me permanently.

I dip my foot in.

Shit.

She shivers watching me. “How bad is it?”

Honestly, colder than I remember.

But I’m not about to tell her that and give her a reason to back out.

Wrapping my arms around her, I tug her body against mine with a grin. Heat radiates between us—both from the meeting of our naked flesh and the sexual tension that always seems to exist whenever we’re together. “Not so bad.”

Before she can respond, I step sideways and drag her down into the chilly water with me.

A gasp falls from her lips as it engulfs us up to our chests. “Shit!” She shivers and clings to my neck. “Speak for yourself; it’s freezing.”

Her teeth chatter, and I trail my lips over her neck and tip backward, dunking us both fully under.

Willow comes up sputtering and playfully smacks my shoulder. “Why’d you do that?”

Because sometimes a shock to your system isn’t a bad thing.

“I just like to see you wet, Honeybee.”

She gives me a half-grin, half-smirk, scoring her nails down my neck, pressing her naked skin against mine even tighter. “I see what you’re doing, Killian McBride.”

I raise a brow, doing my best to appear innocent. “Oh, yeah. What’s that?”

“You’re trying to distract me.”

And apparently I’m not doing a good job of hiding it.

“Am I?”

Her head bobs, dipping closer to mine. “You are.”

There doesn’t appear to be any anger in her words, rather a playfulness I hadn’t expected after finding her out here.

I shrug, settling my hands on her ass and tugging her up against me tightly, pinning my growing cock between us. “Maybe I am. Is it working?”

She smiles and brushes a kiss across my mouth. “It might be.”