Page 85 of The Ampersand Effect
She took two steps forward, perched on her tiptoes, and pressed an intemerate kiss to the corner of Tobin’s mouth before whispering, “Join me,” heavy and low in Tobin’s ear.
Then she ran.
She was falling before she had time to think, screams of authentic joy and raucous laughter tearing from her throat as she plunged into the natural pool below. She surfaced, heart pounding, exhilaration lighting her from the inside out—just in time to see the nearly naked form of Tobin diving from above, splashing down with a giggle that echoed off the rocks.
Tobin swam to her underwater. Below the surface, Grier felt warm fingers brush along her thigh—an electric touch that burned against the chill of the pool. She gasped, the soundswallowed by the water as Tobin’s grip tightened, using Grier’s legs to pull herself up.
Playfulness gave way to breathless need. Grier’s excitement, bubbling beneath her playful exterior, spilled out in squeaks and giggles—until Tobin’s lips silenced her. She felt as much as she heard Tobin whisper, disbelieving, into her hot, eager mouth, “Unreal.”
Wrapping her arms around Tobin’s neck, Grier let the buoyancy of the water lift her, shrinking their height difference to nearly nothing. Tobin’s hands traced slow, reverent paths along her arms as they kissed. The temperature difference between water and sky was far from the only reason she broke out in goosebumps—and shimmied closer into Tobin’s warmth.
She felt Tobin smile into her kiss and thought, blissfully, that she had never experienced a more perfect kiss—or connection. When a shiver ran through her, Tobin maneuvered them lower into the water, instinctively shielding her from the chill of the air.
But Mother Nature appeared to have other plans. Heavier drops of rain began to pelt their faces, collecting at the tips of their noses. Breathing grew harder as they continued to kiss—lost in each other’s tongues, wrapped in each other’s arms, blanketed in shared heat while the world around them blurred into sound and storm.
A flash of lightning split the sky, followed swiftly by a palpable burst of thunder that rippled through the water. They clung to each other, breaking apart in startled unison, looking skyward through rain-coated lashes.
The sky had darkened during their tryst, now churning with streaks of lightning racing across it like wildfire. They moved together, wordlessly, crawling from the pool and making their way back to their clothes.
Pulling damp fabric over rain-slicked skin proved as difficult as expected, but their giggles mingled with the downpour as they took turns slipping, catching each other, and stealing kisses in between.
Grier was hopping on one foot, trying to find her last hiking boot when Tobin’s flirty laugh cut through the rain from behind her.
“Looking for this?” she asked, holding Grier’s missing boot by the laces, teasing her with its pendulous swing.
Grier launch herself toward Tobin, lunging for the boot—but Tobin ducked into her path, planting another sweet, too-brief kiss on her lips before pressing the boot in her hands. “Come on, Cinderella,” she murmured. “You and those boots have some ground to cover to get home—or we really might be spending the night in a cave.”
For a split second, Grier considered it. The idea of spending the night in a cave with Tobin was enough incentive to hesitate. But she shook her head with a shiver, laughing silently at herself. Wherever this afternoon’s romance was heading, it would get there regardless of the location. And right now, a warm, dry house sounded a hell of a lot better than a cave.
Their return hike was far less leisurely, slowed only by their unspoken refusal to release each other’s hands. Grier didn’t know who’d reached out first—only that she wouldn’t be the one to let go.
They burst through the tree line at the trailhead and broke into a jog, hearts thudding for reasons that had nothing to do with exertion. When they finally reached Tobin’s house, they were soaked and breathless, stumbling through the kitchen door in a tangle of dripping packs, boots, and joy.
“Let me put the mushrooms in the fridge,” Tobin said, stealing a quick kiss. “Then I’ll grab us towels and dry clothes.”
Grier watched her go, pulse still racing, droplets trailing down her neck like electric fingertips.
She was cold—bone deep, shivering—but it wasn’t just the storm’s fault. She was wet in all the wrong places… and one very right, very ambitious one. She knew she should calm herself. She knew she should wait for Tobin to come back. Wait for her to take the lead, wait for the calm, slow pace they’d promised each other—to build a foundation of communication and respect.
But her body was set on a very different form of communication right now.
She’d never experienced this kind of desire before. A slow burn that had smoldered over weeks, building with each fantasy, each interaction. And now—with each soft, patient kiss. Her restraint was slipping. She could feel her resolve evaporating with the rain on her skin. She could feel the tides of arousal swell and roll, settling across her shoulders and literally buzzing at the apex of her thighs.
Because she knew where this was going. She’d known it the moment she locked eyes on Tobin at the hospital. She could feel it in the lightning that electrified her fingertips when she worked on Tobin’s forearm. She could feel it in the outlandish flirtations— sultry, obvious, and intentional. She could taste it on Tobin’s pulse, when she lied on her treatment table— caught between pain and desire.
She could even feel it in the silence that followed—pregnant and nervous with obvious answers to unspoken questions. She could feel it on their non-date last weekend, the heat and want growing between them after they’d bared their souls and accepted that maybe—just, maybe—there really wasn’t room for fear or uncertainty between them.
She could feel it now.
In the way Tobin looked at her, standing on the landing at the top of the staircase—startled, but far from confused. In theway her gaze tracked Grier’s slow, deliberate ascent—each step a promise.
She could feel the heady arousal of their chemistry. It had been growing for weeks, but especially today. She could feel the electric charge between them, like a live wire downed in a storm—excited and dangerous. And so completely wild.
Nineteen
Tobin could read the hunger in Grier’s eyes as if she were staring into a mirror. That amber gaze was unclouded, certain, and intent—fixed entirely on her.
Outside, the storm gathered strength. Rain battered the roof and windows while the wind howled over the open lake. Lightning danced across the sky, streaking the house in bursts of bright light, each followed by a clash of thunder that shook the walls.