Page 18 of His Hawaiian Heart (Stateside Doms #26)

Chapter Twelve

Samuel

As I listened to Samantha telling her team about the caterpillar we’d found, it was more satisfying than listening to any presentation I’d ever sat through.

Her awe and the way she’d looked when peering up at me with those ridiculous glasses on her face made her the sexiest woman I’d ever had the privilege of viewing.

She hadn’t even said a word, simply smiled and beckoned me forward.

For the first time since I’d hit puberty, I hadn’t considered the gesture as an invitation to get her beneath me, but one inviting me to share another part of her world.

She’d given me her father’s magnifying glass, taken my hand, and slowly guided it to a point above a log that had fallen decades earlier to the forest floor.

It was partially covered with green moss, but the lesson of earlier had me ignoring it in favor of finding the darkened areas of brown.

It still took her hand on my wrist to home in on the location, but when I saw a stick standing up at the edge of a small hole in the log, I literally gasped.

I’d seen a million twigs moving in the wind, but never had I seen one swaying without benefit of a breeze.

This one was doing exactly that, not wildly, but slowly as it’s claws, feet, teeth—I had no clue what they were called, only that this stick was using them to hold what looked like some type of ant.

I’d watched for several minutes and then realized Sam was no longer holding my wrist. In fact, she was no longer even beside me.

I began to rise but caught her out of the corner of my eye and saw her motioning for me to remain still.

The soft scribbling of pencil across paper stilled the twig for a moment, but when it didn’t sense danger, it bobbed ever so slightly again.

I’d had no clue how long I studied it, but only turned to proclaim, “No way!”

Her laugh had me grin with the realization I’d practically shouted. I couldn’t care less. What I’d seen still seem impossible.

“Tell me, Sam, exactly how much did you know about our specimen before today?”

I didn’t even bother to attempt to come up with some clever response. “The name, and I’m not even sure I pronounced that correctly.”

She shook her head but she didn’t appear upset.

If anything, she seemed curious or perhaps that adjective just came to mind because I’d watched her in her own element for hours now.

I straightened from the crouch I’d maintained while watching the caterpillar and groaned.

Every joint from my waist down was protesting the fact I’d not moved in quite some time.

Once I was standing, I moved across to the rock Samantha had chosen as her chair while she’d written what I thought must be data about the discovery in her notebook.

“Stiff?”

I arched my eyebrow and watched a flush move up her neck to settle across her cheeks, highlighting the freckles peppered across them as well as the bridge of her nose.

I knew she was fighting to keep her gaze on my face and not let it drop a couple of feet south.

It wasn’t a look I was used to observing when with a woman, but if I’d not learned anything else today, I’d learned Samantha was unlike any woman I’d ever known.

Though I could think of so many ways to answer that question, I chose the one I thought she’d least expect to hear. “I don’t see how you can’t be.”

Surprise lit her eyes, followed by amusement. “I think the jury is still out on that. I’m used to bending, kneeling, and sitting for long periods without moving. But I’m pretty sure I’m going to feel a bit stiff tomorrow after spreading my legs so wide all day.”

Okay, I was definitely being tested here.

I’d tried to spare her any embarrassment, but a man could only be expected to do so much, however, I still wanted to get points for doing so.

“I can understand that if you’re not used to riding, especially going bareback.

That requires an entirely different kind of control in order not to slip out. ”

If I’d expected a gold star, I was sadly disappointed.

My reward wasn’t even a smile. Nope, I got a snort and then another even though Samantha slapped her hand over her mouth to keep them contained.

Shaking my head, I dropped down on the rock beside her, not bothering to attempt to wipe off the leaves, sticks, and dirt from its surface because she hadn’t seen it necessary to do so.

When she finally got herself under control, she turned to me. “Sorry, but you are just too easy.”

“Easy?” I repeated with a tone of surprise in my voice because I could honestly say never before had that attribute been directed at me. “I’m afraid I’m going to need more data, Doctor, as I’ve been informed I’m a man who is rather opposite of easy. I’m often seen as quite hard…”

If I’d thought I’d heard Samantha laugh before, those instances had merely been a prelude to what I was now hearing.

Her glee was sudden and loud enough to cause the bird above us to stop mid-chirp and to have McNut lift his head and turn it in our direction.

She was bent forward, her arms wrapped around her waist as she physically shook with amusement.

I couldn’t do anything except wait and listen and, well, and smile.

“Sorry,” she managed a few minutes later.

“Are you sure you’re done? I don’t want you to choke on this.” I held up the bottle of water I’d pulled from the backpack during her laughing fit.

She let out a small laugh and I saw she had actual tears on her cheeks. Without thought, I brushed my thumb over her flesh to wipe first one and then another away.

“Thank you,” she said when I was satisfied there’d be no more and those had come from humor and not sadness.

“You’re welcome, baby.” I twisted the cap off the bottle but hesitated to hand it over. “Seriously though, can you drink without being set off again?”

She smiled and shrugged. “That depends.”

“On?” I prompted when she didn’t appear ready to offer more.

“On if you can stop saying words like ‘stiff,’ ‘hard,’ ‘control,’ and ‘slipping out’.”

I grinned until I actually heard that last word. “I didn’t say, ‘out,’ I said ‘off’. Meaning off the horse?”

She shook her head. “You might have wanted to say that, but you definitely said, ‘out’.”

Had I? Well, hell, no wonder she’d declared me easy. I took a swig from the bottle.

“Hey! That’s mine!”

This woman was driving me batty and I liked it. “Baby, if we can swap spit, we can share a drink.” I handed her the bottle, loving the fact her cheeks flushed again. As I watched her drink, I thought about her list of words, and considered another. “How about ‘baby’? Should I stop saying that?”

Her throat contracted as she swallowed the water, and she was slow to lower the bottle from her lips which curled into the prettiest smile I’d ever been graced with. “No, that’s one word that I don’t believe I’ll ever want you to stop using with me.”

Pleasure that had nothing to do with any sexual release shot through me. I leaned forward, slipped my hand behind her to cup her head and bent down to press my forehead to hers. “I’m very glad to hear that, baby.”

“That’s him!”

The exclamation brought me back to the camp. Though I was too far away to see the pages being viewed, I’d been stunned to discover Sam was not only intelligent on a level far surpassing mine, she was an extremely skilled artist.

“These are truly amazing.”

I had to agree with Katrina as she looked at the notebook being passed around by the scientists. Of course, she meant the drawings Sam had made while I meant Sam herself.

“Am I sensing a bit of thawing?”

I turned to see Cookie had joined me where I leaned against a tree outside the circle. He wore a grin I’d seen on men who’d watched their kid win some sort of prize. While childless myself, I was pretty sure I was wearing the same smile.

“To be honest, I pretty much forgot all about that ice several hours ago. Though I’ve got to warn you. I believe the gig is up. You were right about stepping into her world. Not only did doing so allow me to get to see her in her element, but she made it incredibly pleasurable.”

When his head turned and his smile shifted, I was quick to qualify, “You gave me the species to try to find for her, but my lack of actual knowledge was pretty evident. Learning all about it from Samantha, was not only educational, it was fun.”

He continued to stare hard for a moment and then nodded. “Good to hear but understand this. Letting a woman know you’re interested in what makes her her is only the first step, son.”

“I’ve always known life is a journey, Cookie.”

“No doubt, but tell me, when was the last time you remember feeling as you do right this moment?”

I didn’t blow him off, didn’t roll my eyes even though I was past the age where most men were willing to answer questions about anything other than ones related to business or their favorite sports team. I gave the question some consideration and then answered respectfully. “Never.”

This time his smile returned though it wasn’t the same as the one he had for Samantha. This one reminded me of my grandfather’s when I’d come up with the right answer. Somehow, seeing it on Cookie’s lips made me happy I’d pleased him.

“Then take the next step. If you want her to trust you enough to show you what she keeps hidden from all others, don’t hide what makes you, you.

” When I opened my mouth, he held up a hand.

“I’m not talking about what makes you want to sleep with her when everything is all sunshine and roses.

I’m talking about what makes you want to simply hold her hand and walk beside her through the darkest storm. ”

All I could do was close my mouth. He walked away and left me to my thoughts.

He was asking me to do something I hadn’t done in years, something I wasn’t even positive I could do.

I looked back to the circle and saw Samantha look up and find me.

Her smile wrapped around me in a way nothing ever had and I knew I was in trouble.

“Goddammit it, Cookie,” I muttered, but when Sam lifted her hand to wave me over, I didn’t hesitate. I went to her.