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“Why would I do that? I literally told you my poop story! What could be worse than that?”

“I used to be a stripper.”

I stopped walking. My heart ceased to beat. I had to look like a freaking statue, the way my jaw dropped and I couldn’t make my feet move. “You’re…Holy. Freaking. Shit. Are you fucking with me?”

“No. I?—”

“You think that competes with my poop story?”

“Um—”

“ Ooh, my name is Patrick and you should all feel bad for me that I used to be a stripper and women tossed money at me when I took off my clothes ,” I said mockingly. “Do you even know what embarrassment is?”

“Well, it was sort of embarrassing to me,” he muttered. “I got a lot of shit over that.”

I narrowed my eyes at his choice of words, but he didn’t backpedal.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to come back from serving overseas and you can’t get a job doing anything other than taking your clothes off?”

The anger in his voice made me flinch. I hadn’t considered it like that. “I’m really sorry. I—I wasn’t thinking, and?—”

His face pinched with laughter as he tried to hold it in. My nostrils flared as annoyance shot through me. I bent over and swiped at the ground, picking up a clump of mud, then tossed it at his face just as he opened his mouth to bellow out a laugh.

The mud slapped against his face, lodging in his throat right on an inhale. Bending over, he choked and gasped, fighting to breathe.

“Serves you right for being mean to me,” I huffed, spinning on my heel to take off. “Stupid me. Feel sorry for me. I was a male stripper and everyone liked to watch me take off my clothes ? — ”

I gasped as he grabbed my elbow and spun me around. I opened my mouth to yell at him, only to find a handful of mud headed my way. I screeched as I dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Just as I thought I had escaped, he was on me, pressing me into the ground with his large frame.

“Let me go! I’m a little woman!”

“You may be little, but you have one hell of a mouth on you,” he breathed in my ear.

I bucked up with all my might, which only served to press his body closer to mine. The man was just too damn big for his own good. “Get off me,” I growled.

“Why? Because you don’t like the feel of my body against yours?” He punctuated the statement by grinding his cock against me.

I narrowed my eyes at him to keep from moaning at the feel of a man between my legs. That was wrong, right? I shouldn’t feel that way after my fiancé just destroyed everything. I should be in another bottle right now. Not wishing this man would lift my skirt and do unspeakable things to me.

“You wish.”

“I do, baby, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna tear your skirt off and fuck you in the mud.”

That was a shame.

“Now, how about we stop throwing mud at each other and find a way to get the fuck out of here? Truce?”

I pursed my lips at him. “As long as you give me one embarrassing story. And it has to be good. None of this fictional embarrassment.”

For a moment, I didn’t think he was going to say a thing. But then he leaned in closer until our lips were almost touching. “I fell in love with my best friend’s wife while he was married to her.”

My breath caught in my chest at the seriousness in his eyes, but before I could ask anything else, he shoved off me and walked away.

I was hot. So freaking hot. We’d been walking for hours and hadn’t had a drop of water. Sweat coated my skin, glistening and attracting every mosquito in the Catskills. I’d scrubbed off as much mud as I could over the past few hours, but nothing seemed to help make me more comfortable.

If this was one of my books, Patrick would have already conjured water from thin air and held me as he tipped the cool water against my lips.

Then he would have brushed my hair back from my face and told me I looked beautiful anyway.

And when I nearly passed out, wings would sprout from his back and he would fly me to a cabin where we’d be alone for the next five days while he made passionate love to me until we had to go back to reality where he would fight some underground demon and I came in with the shining silver sword to fight by his side.

But we were not in a book and Patrick was not one of my favorite heroes. Not in my books, anyway.

“Ugh!” I screamed under my breath when I killed another mosquito on my arm. “Leave me alone!” I shouted, spinning around in a fit of insanity.

“It’s cute that you think they’ll listen.”

“I know they won’t listen,” I snapped. “But they’re eating me alive! I’m tired and I’m hungry and I’m thirsty and I’m covered in mud!”

He nodded at me like I was going crazy. Well, maybe I was. After all, just this morning, I had a place to stay and lots of alcohol to keep me company. Now I was trudging through the mountains, battling mosquitoes, and sweating like crazy. I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever been this miserable.

“Well, we’re not going to find water by hanging out here.” He turned and walked away.

“That—That’s it?” I screamed.

“Well, what did you want me to say?” he asked over his shoulder. “Yes, it sucks, but it’s only going to suck more by hanging out around here.”

Yes, he was right, but I was in the middle of a temper tantrum, and the way he was ignoring it sort of defeated the purpose of me having one in the first place.

I ran to catch up, wincing at the pain in my feet.

Running barefoot through the mountains was not for the faint of heart.

I needed a distraction if I was going to keep moving without complaining every five seconds, so I brought the conversation back to him and the gigantic admission he’d made hours ago.

“Whatever happened with the woman you fell in love with?”

“She committed suicide,” he said, not even breaking his stride.

However, that admission knocked me for a loop. “Oh. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. She’s still alive.”

Confused, I rushed to catch up again. “Do your legs have to be so freaking long? Seriously, I’m in a skirt and have short legs. This isn’t exactly an ideal situation for me.”

Sighing, he stopped and motioned me over. “Come on. Get on.”

“Really?” When he nodded, I nearly cried. I scurried over and hopped on his back, groaning in relief when the pressure was off my feet. “I could kiss you for this.”

“Please don’t,” he muttered. “And keep your hands on my shoulders.”

Right. Because I nearly choked him last time. “Will do.” I laid my head down as best I could and sighed. “So, how is it that the love of your life committed suicide but is still alive?”

“Never said she was the love of my life,” he answered. “We all thought she died. Watched it happen right in front of our fucking faces. But…there were other players involved.”

“Sounds like your line of work isn’t for the average Joe.”

“No, it’s not.”

“So…if she’s alive, does that mean you went after her?”

He was quiet for a moment, but his hands tightened on my thighs where they held me tight. “No. She’s been through enough shit. It was better for her if she started over.”

“And you get to decide what’s best for her?”

“I do when my line of work would only make things worse for her. Besides, there’s the matter of her previous husband.”

“Yeah, what happened to him? He must be thrilled to find out she’s alive.”

He snorted at that. “Not exactly,” he huffed, hiking faster through the hills. “He finally moved on, and then she showed up and nearly blew up his new relationship. It was a sticky situation.”

“Well, if he doesn’t want to be with her?—”

“I already told you it wouldn’t work. Besides, that was over five years ago. Nothing is the same as it was then.”

“Five years ago is a long time to hold a candle for someone,” I answered, wondering if I would still be missing James in five years. “If your fiancé cheated on you, would you take her back?”

He stopped, nearly dropping me. “Are you telling me you want him back?”

“No, I’m just asking in general.” I already knew I could never take him back after the way he made me feel. How he embarrassed me in front of everyone I worked with. “You hear all the time about people who take back a cheating spouse, but I’m wondering how that’s even possible.”

“I don’t know. I want to say no, but I think it would depend on the woman.”

That surprised me. “Like if she was hot enough?”

“No. I guess how much I loved her.”

“But she cheated on you!”

I studied the side of his face, the five o’clock shadow that was forming along his strong jaw. His eyes squinted slightly as he stared off into the distance.

“Hypothetically speaking. The woman doesn’t even exist. But let’s say I loved her enough to marry her…I don’t know. I don’t really think of myself as a man who would fall in love easily or enough to want to marry. So, I guess that woman would have to be really special.”

“But in your mind, this woman is so amazing that she would never cheat on you. How could you forgive a woman who would change everything you think you know about her?”

“Shouldn’t you be asking yourself that? Fuck, look at that.”

I pulled my gaze from his gorgeous blue eyes and followed the direction he was pointing. “Water,” I whispered. Tears filled my eyes as I stared at the beautiful sight. I scrambled down from his back and started running toward the spring that flowed into a stream.

The moment my feet splashed in the cool water, relief hit me like a sledgehammer.

I didn’t think as I tore the clothes from my body and tossed them on the ground, not caring at all who was watching.

I was down to just my underwear and bra when I remembered I wasn’t alone, and that man was damn sexy.

Still, the cool water stole my attention, and the moment I stepped under the water pouring from the rocks above, nothing else mattered.

“Oh, God! Yes! This is so amazing!”

Water trickled over my head, rolling down my skin and washing the worst of the mud away.

My hands slid over my skin, scrubbing away the grime that clung to my sweaty skin.

But it wasn’t enough. I was still so filthy, and the last of my clothes were in the way.

I took off my bra and flung it toward the rest of my clothes, then removed my underwear and did the same.

My fingers slid through my folds, clearing away the mud I’d somehow managed to smear all over my most private areas.

Sighing, my eyes fluttered open and zeroed in on the sexy man watching my every move just twenty feet away. With clenched fists, his eyes slowly trailed over my body, lingering on my breasts as they heaved under the water.

“Sorry,” I whispered. “I was dirty.”

“Fucking filthy,” he ground out, taking a step closer.

I held up my hand, worried that if he came too close, I’d lose all sense of reason and allow this man to put his hands on me. His big, strong, masculine hands. I whimpered and he took another step.

“I didn’t undress for you,” I protested.

“You sure as fuck didn’t care who was watching. And look at you now, not even covering those pretty nipples.” Another step, another splash as he moved into the water and closer to me. “Just a taste,” he murmured, still staring at my breasts.

He was looking at me like one of the sexy men from my books who devoured the woman he was seeking. Could this really be happening? Was I finally getting my wish? No. I shouldn’t want this. I was engaged just a few days ago. I should not be fantasizing over another man!

Then again, I was in the middle of the woods with no immediate means of escape.

In actuality, I was living out every dream I’d ever had—every book where a woman falls into the arms of her rescuer!

If I didn’t take advantage of this, it would be like…

like denying that books were real! Every other woman alive who loved books as much as I did would kill me right now if I didn’t allow this man to ravage me.

Decision made.

My breath heaved in my chest as he moved in closer. That smoldering look in his eyes was more than I could take, and when he slid his hand around the nape of my neck and drew me closer, I gave in to temptation.

His lips crashed down on mine in a breathless kiss I felt heating my skin, burning through me like a fire.

A gasp was torn from my throat as he backed me up, pushing me against the rock wall just beyond the small waterfall.

Heated flesh brushed over my skin, cupping my breast and tweaking my nipple.

Zings of pleasure shot through me, eliciting a groan so unlike me.

“Patrick,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck as my fingers twisted in his wet locks.

“Fuck, Piper. You’re so fucking sexy.” He rolled my nipple between his fingers while his other hand slid down my body, brushing along my sex. “Tell me I can have this.” He tugged on the small patch of hair as he leaned forward and pressed his mouth to my neck, sucking hard. “Fuck, that is so sexy.”

This was so much better than I imagined when I read my dirty books.

Patrick kissed exactly how I imagined Rhysand or Xaden kissed.

Hell, even Kingfisher. His warm lips against my skin made thinking difficult, but when his fingers slid through my pussy and pressed inside, no logic could have stopped me from taking what I wanted.

My fingers scrambled to tear open his pants, and then I gripped him, relishing in the groan that left his lips as I stroked him.

Thick and long, he was more than I had taken in a long time, but that only excited me further.

Pumping his thick cock in my hand, all I wanted was to control him, to make him fall to his knees and beg me for more.

“Enough of this,” he snapped, grabbing me by the leg and hoisting my knee across his elbow.

“Patrick—”

His cock was buried inside me in the next instant, pumping hard in and out of me.

My back scraped against the rock and my leg ached from the way he was holding me, but the pleasure…

God, I’d never felt anything like this. Gripping his shoulders hard, I held on for dear life as he took me hard, hitting me so deep that I knew walking would be impossible.

But it was worth it.

“Fuck, I can’t last,” he panted, fucking me harder and harder until he pulled out at the last second, painting my skin with his cum as he slid his fingers back inside me and fucked me hard, pressing his heel against my clit as he forced an orgasm through me.

My nails dug into his shoulders, holding on as my legs weakened as waves of pleasure rolled through me.

Panting, I looked up at him through fluttering lashes, praying he thought that was just as good as I did. His sexy grin said it all, and as he pressed his lips to mine, the attraction and need could not be denied.

That had been by far the best sex of my life.