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Eve

A Wild Goose Chase

Morning birdsong woke me.

My eyes fluttered open, then I squinted at the bright sunshine pouring in through the car windows. It took a good five seconds for my brain to comprehend where, exactly, I was.

And who, exactly, I was with.

Harper took this moment to snuggle in closer, her nose and mouth pressed to the side of my neck. My hands had stayed tangled in her hair all night. Even now, I lightly scratched along her scalp without thinking twice about it. Felt the soft weight of her relaxing on top of me.

She was beautifully, gloriously naked, and I peered down at her in utter amazement.

I’d spent much of last night mapping every inch of her with my mouth, my hands, my tongue.

The round curves of her ass, the flare of her hips, the soft dips in her belly.

I smelled like Harper. Tasted like Harper.

Was coated in a fine dusting of dried sweat and dirt.

I’d cracked the windows last night so we wouldn’t overheat as we slept.

Reclined the backseat so we had a bit more room and grabbed my bag to use as a pillow.

But we were kissing again as soon as we lay down on our sides, facing each other.

A kiss that began as a tease but turned relentless within seconds.

Once we started, we couldn’t stop, didn’t want to stop.

Sweat had glistened on Harper’s chest as we moved together in one long, endless grind.

Every delicious drag of skin against skin had her gasping into my mouth, had me shuddering and desperate.

It was only when Harper resorted to begging— pleading— that I slipped my hand between her gorgeous legs and watched her come gloriously undone.

The sight of her pleasure left me so dazed, so fucking enthralled , I almost didn’t realize that she’d shoved me onto my back. And the wicked grin she’d flashed right before her tongue slid along my clit was all the warning I got before she devoured me.

Just like she’d promised.

We’d slept tangled together for most of the night.

Something I didn’t often do, especially with someone I was trying not to get attached to.

But even if there’d been another option—even if we hadn’t fallen into a deep sleep after incredible, mind-blowing sex—I wouldn’t have taken it.

Would have gladly chosen to spend the night with her in my arms, just like this.

And that was a scary enough realization to have me stirring awake now, searching for my phone and any scrap of clothing.

Harper groaned against my throat. “No moving. More sleeping.”

“We gotta get up, Hendrix,” I said, laughing. “People will be here to hike at some point, and then they’ll discover our sordid sex den. Also…we’re both naked.”

She didn’t move. “But I love our sordid sex den.”

My lips brushed the top of her head. “What if I promised coffee?”

Harper raised her head up, pushing all the hair off her face. There were crease marks on her cheek, a bleariness to her eyes. I could see the shadow of bruises from yesterday’s injuries, along with some scratches and scrapes.

“That’s the first real night of sleep I’ve had since I arrived in New Mexico,” she said through a yawn. “Though I also feel like I’ve been run over by at least ten trucks. And how do you still look so hot after everything that happened to us yesterday?”

I nudged a knuckle under her chin. “And how are you still the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen?”

Gripping the back of her neck, I pulled her down for a kiss that deepened again within seconds.

Harper moaned, opening for me, letting me take what I wanted even after the intensity of last night.

I cupped her face. She clung to my wrists.

I considered flipping her over again, wondering if I could make her come before the first hikers arrived.

My phone went off in a shower of jingling notifications.

I froze, mid-kiss.

“What is it?” Harper murmured.

Shit, shit, shit .

“I, uh…” She sat up so I could roll over, root around in my bag. “I set Google alerts for the Blackburn Diamonds. That’s what the notifications sound like. Which means I must be getting a sliver of cell service again.”

Grabbing my phone, I swiped to see what the messages were. Harper pulled her T-shirt up from off the floor and draped it over her head, curling up next to me on the seat.

My heart slammed inside my rib cage and a growing dread had my throat tightening with emotion.

“What does it say?” Harper whispered.

I followed the notification links to the X Marks the Spot community messaging board. A few locals had spotted Jensen’s crew in Haven’s Bluff.

Had spotted me and Harper, too.

Then I finally found the message in question. From Jensen, posted late last night, well after we’d escaped from the cougar into the backseat. For those asking, Diablo Canyon’s still a bust. We’re going dark for a bit, pursuing a new lead on the diamonds.

I heaved a massive sigh of relief. “Okay, so the good news—they didn’t find the diamonds here. Bad news—they’ve gone dark, pursuing something new, so we can’t even tail them to see what they learned.”

I stretched my neck from side to side, wincing at the pain there. Wincing as the feelings of inadequacy came crashing back into my body, kept successfully at bay by our near-death experience and the night of incredibly hot sex.

“But none of this really changes the position we were in before the cougar attack,” I continued. “I have no clue where to go from here. No clue if there’s even somewhere for us to go.”

Harper leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Well, I’m still in this if you are.”

“Are you sure?” I asked softly.

“Extremely sure. I believe in Priscilla and Adeline, and I don’t think they’d want us to give up.” She bumped her forehead to my cheek. “I believe in this story, Eve. And I believe… I believe in our ability to figure it out.”

I turned, our lips meeting for a kiss. “Looks like I really did underestimate how persistent you can be.”

Harper grinned. “That, and it’s easy to feel defeated when you haven’t had coffee or eaten a real meal in eighteen hours. Which we haven’t. Oh, also, some pain meds and a hot shower might help.”

I matched her smile with my own. “Seventy-two hours ago, I would have hated saying this…but you might be right.”

“I know I am,” she said, giving me another kiss.

I tipped my head back toward the window, trying to assess the best place to find a free shower and coffee out here near Haven’s Bluff.

Then I remembered. Dialing my phone, I said to Harper, “Don’t worry. An old friend of Monty’s has an airstream RV park, just outside town. She’ll hook us up.”

And half an hour later, she did. Faith’s Paradise RV Park glimmered like an oasis in the desert. Thirty-plus vintage airstream trailers were arranged in a spiral, with a turquoise pool in the middle, surrounded by kitschy string lights, lawn flamingos, and inflatable palm trees.

Before she owned the park, Faith used to salvage with us out in Santa Fe, using her incredible eye for detail and an almost unnerving ability to unearth valuable objects from piles of trash.

Her silvery-gray hair was so long she could sit on it, and when we found her, she was sitting in a lawn chair, smoking a joint and tapping away on an old typewriter.

“It gets a bit boring out here some days,” she said, by way of a greeting, “so I’m trying my hand at writing a science fiction novel. Erotic, of course.”

Harper brightened. “Spicy aliens? I love it.”

Faith took a long drag on her joint. “Yeah, and that’s just chapter three, sweetheart. Anyway, you two look about ten different kinds of fucked up. What was it you said you needed, Evie?”

I pushed my sunglasses onto the top of my head. “Access to the camp showers, if you’ll have us. Some food and coffee if there’s anything fresh at the camp store.”

Faith nodded, rummaged around in the pockets of her robe, then handed me a few tokens. “Coins, for the shower. I’ll grill up some egg-and-cheese bagels and get the coffee going. Maybe some ice packs and ibuprofen, too. What the hell happened?”

I arched an eyebrow. “Fell down a mine shaft, then we were chased by a cougar.”

Faith cocked a finger gun in my direction. “That’ll do it.” She set her typewriter down and stood, tightening the belt of her robe. “An old lady hears rumors about these things, you know. About those missing diamonds everyone’s been a fool over for as long as I can remember.”

I arranged my face into the picture of innocence. Harper was staring up at a bird in the sky so intently it was like she’d never seen one before. Faith looked between us and snorted.

“I knew it,” she said. “Those diamonds ain’t real, Evie. You know that, right?”

“ Faith ,” I chided, “I’m not having this argument with you again.”

“Told your aunt she was a damned fool when she did it,” she called over her shoulder, walking toward the camp store. “Telling you the same thing now!”

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” I called back. “Where’s your enterprising spirit?”

Her response was a raised middle finger.

Turning to Harper, I said, “You don’t know her, but that actually means she likes us.”

Harper stole a shower token with a sly smile. “Arguing as a charm tactic? Sounds like someone else I know.”

Then she danced away before I could tug her back and kiss that adorable smirk right off her face.

And distract myself from the way Faith’s words spun up every secret fear I had about what was feeling more and more like a wild goose chase.

And the nagging worry I couldn’t shake that I’d already failed, yet again.