Page 6 of The Hotshot’s Prize (Praise Me Like Fire #2)

Zack

I’m in heaven. I’ve never seen a more gorgeous sight than the way Ella looks above me as she sinks down onto my length. I guide her, holding her hips, as my cock slowly disappears inside her.

When she’s fully seated, she gasps, “Oh, you’re so deep,” and grinds her hips in a way that makes me groan.

“Just like that, baby, you’re gonna kill me—you feel so good.”

Carefully, cautiously, she starts to move up and down, slowly speeding up until she finds a rhythm she likes. Her hands are splayed on my chest to support her weight, her perfect breasts swaying gently as she rides me.

“Baby, you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, taking me so well,” I tell her, already in love with the way her skin flushes when I compliment her.

She leans down to kiss me and I lift my head to meet her, clashing our lips together in a fierce kiss that feels like it means something real. I wrap my arms around her back to hold her tight against me as we kiss, her breasts pressed against my chest.

Our bodies strain to be impossibly closer, even though we’re joined as closely as we can be, my tongue in her mouth, my cock in her tight heat, claiming her as mine.

Mine .

Her walls are tightening around me, but I can tell she needs more, and she confirms it when she pulls back just enough to gasp, “Zack! I need…”

“I’ve got you, baby,” I tell her, gripping her hips and holding her right where she needs to be so I can thrust up into her, hard.

I start up a relentless pace that makes her scream, and when I lean up to pull her nipple into my mouth, nipping gently with my teeth and then laving away the pain with my tongue, she reaches her peak with a moan that echoes through the cave.

Her walls clench tight around me and I thrust up into her one final time to release inside her with a groan of my own.

Both of us shaking, we settle back onto the blankets as our breathing calms. My arms wrapped tightly around her back, her head resting on my chest, I stay inside her as long as I can, the moment suddenly feeling fragile.

I don’t want to let this moment go.

I don’t want to let her go.

Outside, the rain has finally stopped, but I’m not ready to go back to the world yet. Not when I’ve got her in my arms. Not when she feels like the beginning of something I never knew I needed.

I don’t want to lose the warmth of her body tangled with mine, the steady rhythm of her breathing against my chest, or the way her fingers keep lightly tracing over my skin like she’s memorizing me by touch.

But reality’s creeping in.

The storm has passed. And eventually, we’re going to have to step back into the world.

I tighten my hold on her, press a kiss to her forehead with a sigh. “We should probably head back.”

I feel her body tense. Just a little. But enough.

“My truck is parked a few miles from the spot where I found you yesterday. It’s quite a long walk. How’s your ankle?”

“All good,” she says without looking at me. “It was just a light scrape.”

“Your friend must be worried,” I say, trying to ease the awkward silence stretching between us.

She lifts her head and meets my eyes, trying to smile. “Yeah. My friend’s probably called the damn National Guard by now.”

Her laugh is light, but her gaze lingers on mine. Wistful. Sad, even. Like maybe she’s hoping we could stay in this cocoon just a little longer.

It punches me straight in the chest.

Because she feels it too. This wild, unexpected connection. The way we clicked like two missing pieces. It’s not just me losing my mind.

I push up and start pulling my gear together while she dresses and checks through her own bag. Luckily, nothing got soaked. I stuff the blanket back in my pack and glance one last time at the cave before we head out.

It’s weird…how a place I’ve passed a hundred times suddenly feels like something more because of her.

The hike back isn’t bad. Everything’s damp and a little slick, but manageable. I walk beside her the whole time, making sure she’s okay. At one point, her foot slips, and I grab her arm instinctively.

She glances at me with a rueful smile, her cheeks turning crimson. “Not used to people catching me when I fall.”

“I’ll always catch you,” I say before I can stop myself.

Her eyes widen a fraction, but she doesn’t pull away.

God help me.

We keep moving, and the silence is easy now. Comfortable. Until she starts talking again.

“I used to think I’d end up in a New York high-rise, editing someone else’s photos in some shiny office building,” she says, her voice soft.

“But then I realized that’s not what I want.

I want to find things. Rare animals, birds…

stuff people don’t normally see. I want to be the one who captures it and tells the story. ”

I glance over at her. “That’s pretty badass.”

She shrugs, but a smile tugs at her lips. “Sometimes it scares me. Being alone out here. Wondering if I’m good enough. If I’m doing the right thing. Or if I’m just chasing some fantasy and risking my life for nothing.”

“You’re not,” I say immediately. “Your work matters.”

She looks up at me, surprised.

“I mean it,” I add. “And hey, being out here? That doesn’t scare me. Sounds like a blast, to be honest.”

Her eyes shine, like I just handed her something she didn’t even realize she needed.

“Maybe next time you can come with me,” she says quietly, almost like a dare.

And shit. I want that. More than I should.

We fall quiet again, the path narrowing as we wind between the canyon walls. My thoughts drift to my dad like they always do when I’m out here.

“Sometimes, I used to wonder if I’d die out here like my pops,” I say suddenly. “The thought is daunting but it doesn’t stop me.”

She’s silent for a beat. Then she grins. “Have you considered being a therapist?”

I stop to blink at her, and a laugh breaks from my chest. “Well, that’s something to think about.”

She giggles and bumps her shoulder into mine. “You’d make a terrific shrink. Look at me, I feel so much better already.”

“That’ll be a hundred grand for this session,” I say, still grinning.

“Hmm, but however can I pay you?” she quips suggestively, raising her brows at me.

My stomach tightens, a gust of lust punching me right in the gut. I stare at her, taking in her sparkly eyes and perfect, dainty nose. The way her smile seems to light her up from within. The way her light touches my heart…

I want to kiss her. Badly. I want to push her up against a tree and ravage those soft lips, run my hands up her smooth skin, and tease those sexy breasts until she’s panting my name, begging for mercy…

I want so much. Maybe too much.

“Did I say something wrong?” Ella asks, her smile dimming slowly.

“No.” I shake my head, instantly feeling like a jerk for leaving her hanging after she tried to flirt. “I’m just trying to resist the primal urge to pin you to the ground and have you right here.”

Her cheeks redden. “Oh.”

I chuckle at how adorable she looks in this moment, all flustered and embarrassed.

“We’re almost there,” I say as my truck comes into view, parked just off the access road.

I should feel relieved. Instead, I feel…untethered.

We reach it, and she turns to me, hair tousled, cheeks flushed from the hike, and those goddamn eyes looking up at me like I hung the moon.

And suddenly, the question pops into my head.

What now?

Because I’m not ready to let her walk away.

But I don’t know if she’s ready to stay.