Page 19 of Smokin’ Situation (Masked Men of Sage Springs #3)

Tristan

Rhey was quiet as she followed me down the trail that bordered the far side of the lake.

There was still enough light for us to find our way to the hot springs, but I knew it’d be dark by the time we finished, so I’d been pleased to find another flashlight on my clothing hunt.

The haze floating over the lake looked eerie, and it hadn’t gotten much worse than when we arrived, but the air outside definitely smelled like a campfire.

“Should I be worried that you’re leading me into the woods at night?” she asked from behind me, and I turned, watching her nervously scan our surroundings.

“It’s not very far, and we’ll be fine.” I wasn’t about to tell her that sometimes wild animals fled fires and sought refuge near bodies of water.

I hadn’t noticed anything unusual as we rode in, so I was hoping anything dangerous had fled north of the mountains on the other side of the fire, not south.

“There weren’t any black bears when Marty brought me up here, so we’ll be fine. ”

As the trees became denser, the trail we’d started on became more of a vague suggestion, since it hadn’t been maintained in a few years.

Rhey moved in closer, gripping the back of my shirt as I picked my way toward the little pools of water we were looking for, not letting go once we emerged into a small clearing near the hot springs.

“Are there normally bears on the ranch property?” Rhey’s voice had taken on a tinny quality, and I shook my head, reaching out to grasp her hand after I deposited my stack of clothing and towels on a rock nearby .

“No, I’ve only seen a few moose, but they’re probably long gone by now. Animals are usually smarter than humans and move away from the dangerous fire, not toward it.”

“I’m never going to live this down, am I?

” she asked, sitting down on the edge of a rock and pulling off her boots.

I stared as she flexed her toes, noticing the light pink polish once she got her socks off.

She let out a little noise of relief while she massaged the sole of her foot, and it stirred something in me.

Then I questioned how much smoke I’d inhaled earlier in the day, because I’d never considered someone’s feet adorable before.

“Do you think you deserve to move past it? You realize how dangerous that was, right?” I’d told her earlier that I was angry at her for putting herself in that situation, but I knew what I’d felt was mostly fear.

There was still a healthy dose of anger mixed in, mostly because she not only put her sister’s rescue efforts at risk, but she also put herself in a situation that would’ve ended a whole lot differently than it did tonight.

One where I wouldn’t have been giving her shit—because she wouldn’t be around for anyone to give her shit.

“Reese would’ve done the same thing for me,” she said in a small voice, and while I didn’t doubt what she was saying was true—as I would probably do the same for my siblings—it was still really fucking reckless. And put more than just herself in potential danger.

“And if I’d rescued Reese from that truck, I’d be giving her shit about making stupid, impulsive decisions too. Then I’d probably remind her that getting herself killed only guaranteed that she’d never see her sister again.”

She nodded, staring down at her lap. “Thank you for finding out she was safe.”

I sat down beside her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her into my side. “I’m glad Baker could get her to safety.”

“Honestly,” she chuckled, reaching over to pick up my hand.

She played with my fingers, laying her head back against my shoulder.

“ Baker is the one whose safety you should probably worry about. He’s like my sister’s arch nemesis.

She avoids him like the plague, and when she sees him, the arctic is probably warmer than the cold shoulders she gives him. ”

“Sounds like there’s a story there,” I said, using the words on her she’d used on me yesterday.

“Trust me, I’ve tried to get what happened out of her. All I know is that something happened after their graduation that turned them from lifelong childhood best friends to strangers. Even when he treated our grandmother with kindness when she was dying, Reese wouldn’t even look at him.”

We both sat quietly for a few moments, staring at the water of the hot springs while she played with my fingers.

I thought about how someone I’d only known for twenty-four hours had turned my life upside down.

A few days ago, I was struggling to find self-worth because I’d lost my way after my accident, and now I’d found someone who was easy to talk to in a way that I hadn’t experienced before.

My dedication to my line of work hadn’t lent well to deep relationships, or really any relationship at all.

Sure, there were other guys who’d met people, settled down and gotten married, but most of the women I’d dated weren’t looking for something serious or they couldn’t handle that my job took up so much of my time.

The ones who’d been okay with me being a firefighter hadn’t been thrilled when they found out I jumped out of planes into fires regularly and sometimes had to leave at a moment’s notice, only to return days or weeks later after having been out of contact for the entire trip.

“It’s getting dark, maybe we should do what we came here to do,” Rhey whispered, releasing my hand.

“And what is it we came here to do?” I asked, tucking stray hair behind the shell of her ear.

“Get clean,” she whispered, turning to face me. She ran her fingertips along a scar tucked along my hairline, teasingly scraping her short fingernails down the stubble that had covered my jaw in the last few days.

“What if I enjoy being dirty?” I asked, capturing her hand and kissing the center of her palm.

“Why do I have the feeling you aren’t talking about our personal hygiene?”

“Must everything be suggestive with you, Rheyanne? I thought you were supposed to be the wise small-town bartender.”

She chuckled, scraping her nails down the side of my neck once I’d released her hand, eliciting a hiss from me when they caught on a raised patch of skin.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, tracing her fingertips across the scar. “Do you mind if I ask what happened?”

“Let’s get in first, then I can tell you why I came back home.”

My anxiety crept in as I pulled off my shirt, careful to stay turned toward Rhey so she wouldn’t see the patchwork of raised scars along my sides and the puckered angry skin that had finally healed down the center of my back.

Once upon a time, the scars that’d littered my back from various on the job injuries had been almost a badge of honor, but now they were a stark reminder of everything I’d lost.

“Would you mind turning around?” she asked, fiddling with the zipper on her shorts.

I tried to keep my gaze on her face, but my eyes were drawn to the now unbuttoned shirt that revealed the smooth skin of her stomach and a sliver of her bra right across the center.

It was taking a considerable amount of self-restraint not to drop to my knees at her feet and lick a line straight from her navel to her long, slender neck.

“If that’s what you want. But you realize the water is crystal clear. I’ll be seeing everything in a moment, anyway.”

“Just…” she made a shooing motion, and I took a few steps away, angling my body away from her without showing off my entire back.

“Let me know when you’re ready. ”

The woods were quiet besides the rustling of clothing being removed while I waited for her to disrobe the rest of the way and climb into the warm water.

From my experience, I knew it was almost too quiet, meaning the previous occupants of this area had already fled the danger they knew could be headed in this direction.

Marty had told me on my tour of the ranch that the springs here were like climbing into a warm bathtub, and my achy muscles were anticipating the respite. It also didn’t hurt that my companion was a beautiful, nearly naked siren of a woman.

“Okay, you can climb in,” she whispered, and I turned to look over my shoulder, the dim light from the flashlights illuminating her face. Even after the tumult of the last day and a half, she was stunning.

“Would you mind…?” I teased, gesturing from my eyes to hers and miming covering them. She shook her head, holding a hand over her face. “No peeking. I need to preserve my modesty.”

She laughed and deliberately spread her fingers apart so she could watch me get undressed. Yanking off my boots and socks, I set them on top of a nearby rock and then pulled my jeans off to fold neatly on top of them.

“Do you want me to leave my boxers on?” I asked, deciding to give her the option. It’d be uncomfortable to walk in wet underwear back to the cabin later, but if she wanted me to keep them on, I’d keep them on.

“You don’t need to worry about shrinkage,” she giggled, lifting her wet fingers from the water and flicking it in my direction. “It’s nice and warm in here.”

“Trying to respect your boundaries, sweetheart.”

She was quiet for a few moments, and I turned fully, surprised when I found her leaning against the edge of the pool, resting her head on her hands along the edge. “And if I want you to disrespect them? ”

Licking my lips, I hooked my fingers in the elastic waistband, slowly lowering the tight material, watching with satisfaction when her eyes widened as my now erect cock pointed straight at her.

I placed them on my pile of clothing, walking in her direction. She pushed off the edge of the pool, spreading her arms and propelling herself back toward the far edge.

“You’re going to poke an eye out with that thing.”

Smirking, I stepped into the warm water, following her once my feet touched the bottom. “You planning to get your face that close to it?”