Page 18 of Blood and Magic (RBMC: Helena, MT #2)

I climbed off the back, removed my helmet, and walked closer to the edge. The sun was nearly set in the distance, casting the town in vibrant blushes and tangerines. This was my favorite time of day, when everything was liminal. Not quite awake, but not quite asleep.

“This is beautiful,” I said as Mill walked to stand next to me.

“Yeah, it is,” he murmured, but when I glanced at him, he wasn’t looking at the town.

His gaze was set intently on me, his focus going to my mouth like he planned on leaning in to close the distance between us.

I wanted him to. I wanted to push up on my toes, taste his mouth, and relieve some of the tension.

But I hesitated. I didn’t want to scare him off, and other than a few compliments and some chaste flirting, he hadn’t given me any reason to think he’d welcome such a thing.

Cheeks burning, I looked back at the view and smiled.

“Thank you for this,” I said. “It’s easy to forget why we’re alive, and then you see something like this and…it all makes sense.” I closed my eyes and let the heat of the dying sun radiate across my skin, relishing the reinvigorating warmth. “Doesn’t it?”

He didn’t answer, and when I opened my eyes, he was still staring at me, his eyebrows furrowed, his lips pulled into a thin line.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. He looked so forlorn and depressed, and after that amazing ride and this incredible view, I didn’t understand what could possibly have made him so upset.

“Nothing,” he said, finally turning his attention to the valley. “You’re right. It’s quite the view.”

We stood there in comfortable silence until the urge to do something else…something reckless…finally took over.

“C’mon,” I told him, nodding back toward his bike. “I’ve got an idea.”

* * *

Holding on to him as best as I could, I directed him to a spot not too far away.

This had been my refuge growing up, the secret I didn’t share with anyone, not even Ava.

Why I was sharing it with him, I didn’t know.

Maybe I had relaxed into an easier comfort in his presence than I ever could with my family.

Maybe I felt like I owed him something for the bike ride.

He parked at the edge of the tree line, and we climbed off, removing our helmets.

“Where are we?” he asked. “I’ve never been this far up before.”

I didn’t answer, just grinned and nodded ahead. “Let’s go.”

He followed me for a bit, glancing around for any signs of danger, but when he decided things must have been okay, he walked by my side.

“Maeve, I don’t like being in strange places without scoping them out first.” He moved with a stiff, predatory gait, like he expected a Bloody Scorpion to jump out at us any second. True, that could happen, but no one ever came up here. Just me and my adrenaline-junkie self.

“Do you see any signs of them?” I asked, pausing to check in for reassurance.

He cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow. “No. I just…” Mill looked around again. “The sun is setting. We need to head back.”

“We’re okay, Mill. Besides, you’re a big, strong motorcycle man. You’ll protect me.”

His cheeks turned a brilliant shade of rose, and I knew I had him.

“Hey,” I said, giving him a quick nudge. “Race ya.”

Then, I took off into the woods, the pads of my feet bouncing off the undergrowth like I was made for sprinting.

“Maeve, wait!” he called from behind me, but I’d done enough waiting.

I’d been trapped in that mansion-sized prison for weeks.

This was my first time off Vanderbilt property in almost a month, and I couldn’t stand it.

My skin felt too tight, my muscles yearning for more, almost like this ferocious energy was trying to burst from my skin.

I knew these woods like my own mind, and I wouldn’t be contained any longer.

The sounds of his boots behind me thundered off the trees, but I kept going, pumping my arms, giggling with delight. Joy burst in my chest as my heart pounded, and when we cleared the other side of the forest, I stopped only long enough for him to catch up.

“Goddamn it, Vanderbilt,” he said. “Don’t fucking do that.”

“Such language.” I pretended to be shocked. “But what about this view?”

We were at the edge of a cliff that stood atop Blackfoot River. The woods sprawled in either direction, the rocky basin beautiful this time of day, as if painted by the Gods. He caught his breath and moved forward, his hands on his hips as he took it all in.

“I used to come up here right after it happened.” I didn’t need to tell him what it was.

Nearly dying could be the only it in my life.

While his back was turned, I kicked off my shoes and peeled my shirt over my head.

I shimmied my shorts down to my ankles and stepped out of them. “It’s the best spot for cliff jumping.”

“Wait, what?” He turned to me, but I’d already made up my mind.

I sprinted forward, digging my toes into the cliff’s edge before throwing my body off the safety of land, free-falling into the abyss below.

My stomach whirled, and wind rushed through my hair, every ounce of my soul weightless and boundless.

Electricity shot through my veins, culminating in my fingertips and toes.

When I hit the water, the cool, refreshing splash made me scream.

It had been such a hot day, and riding in the sun on the back of Mill’s bike offered a decadent contrast to the plunging caress of the river.

“Wooo!” I let out a tremendous shout when I surfaced, glancing up at Mill, who still stood on the top of the cliff.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He threw his hands up in the air.

“C’mon! It’s fun!” I laughed and paddled around, treading water while I waited for him.

“There’s no way I’m doing that,” he said. “You’re out of your mind.”

“What good is life if you’re stuck in one spot all the time?” I floated on my back, reveling in the comfort of the way the water cradled me. “Don’t get shown up by little ole me!”

He seemed to consider that before turning around and walking away from the edge.

I thought I’d lost him, that he’d left me alone to climb back up by myself, but a few moments later, his half-naked body hurled off the cliff, arms flailing, legs kicking.

He landed in an enormous splash a few feet away, coming back up for air with a gasp.

“Yay!” I swam over to him. “You did it!”

“Fucking hell.” His wide eyes hinted at how shocked he was.

“Not so bad, right?” I laughed and flicked water at him. “I told you.”

He shifted his attention to me, his features twisting into a mischievous scowl. “ You are a terrible influence, Maeve Vanderbilt.”

Mill swam closer, reminding me of a shark that had smelled fresh blood.

Squealing with delight, I tried to get away from him, but it was too late. He grabbed me by the shoulders and dunked me under, but I tickled his ribs, and he dropped his elbows to try to cut me off. When I resurfaced, he shoved water at me, which caused me to push a giant wave back at him.

He laughed, truly laughed, and my entire body trembled at the sound. I loved that sound, almost as much as I loved his eyes and his lips and his generous soul. Ah hell, I’d crushed on him for so damned long, almost nothing about him disappointed me.

This time, when I splashed him, he grabbed my wrist and yanked me closer.

I didn’t know why I did what I did next.

Maybe it was the welcoming look in his features.

Perhaps it was the undeniable buzzing between us.

Perhaps it was because I wanted to know if he felt the same way I did, or if he really thought of me as only Guin’s little sister.

He had called me beautiful. Regardless of the why, I couldn’t help myself.

I grabbed the back of his neck and pressed my mouth to his, colliding our lips in a glorious display of adoration.

They were soft and delicate, much more than I thought, given how gruff and insolent he pretended to be.

I moaned into the contact, using my tongue to coax his lips apart.

When he growled and pulled me closer, I smiled into the contact.

God, I loved when a man took control. He twisted his fingers into my hair, holding me tight while I consumed him.

I licked and lapped, wrapping my legs around his waist so the softest part of me rubbed up his hardening cock, growing more prominent the longer we made out.

I scraped my nails over his scalp, and he responded by dragging his fingers down my back to my hips, where I rolled against his pelvis, urging him on, frenzied for more contact.

It had been so long since I’d been with someone, weeks and weeks, and being pent up in my mansion made things worse. He needed only to give me one iota of consent, and I would pull my undies to the side, yank down his boxers, and impale myself on him right here in the Blackfoot.

Muscles trembling, I reached down in between us, stroking his impressive cock, and he hissed, moving his mouth down my jaw to my throat, nipping at my skin while I stroked him.

“Mill,” I whimpered. “Fuck me.”

Every reason not to still lingered between us, but coming off the adrenaline of the jump and the playful teasing, we both got caught up in the moment.

He made a noise low and deep in his chest, half purr, half growl, and he moved one hand to my cunt, cupping me under the water, digging his strong masculine fingers under my panties.

“Fuck, you’re soaked,” he said. “Is this all for me?”

“Yes,” I said, biting my way down the column of his windpipe. “Please. I want you. Please. Please.”

With his free hand, he grabbed my throat and squeezed, causing me to startle and meet his gaze. I could have sworn flecks of red sparkled in his mahogany irises, but that was my imagination playing tricks on me.

“You promise not to run off the side of any more cliffs?” He dragged his decadent tongue across my mouth, sending shivers straight down my spine to my clit. “You promise to be a good girl?”