head hit the stick wall of his shelter, knocking it on its side and exposing us to the harsh, night winds of the mountains.
The cold air was enough to shock us, and it cleared my mind of the hot, lusty haze that had fallen over it. It gave my heart enough time to scream louder, pleading its case with a heavy dose of the pain it had lived with for nearly a decade. The sharp contrast in emotions had me reeling, so I backed off, standing slowly.
Easton sighed and raked his hands through his hair as I reached for the wall. I hefted the thing up, heavier than it looked, and tried to get it at the same angle he had originally placed it. He shifted and stood, helping me re-secure the thing in silence.
A wicked awkward silence.
“Did I ruin it?” I finally asked as he repositioned the brush he’d used as insulation.
“No.” His voice was soft and ragged.
A flush raked across my skin, the heat still pulsing hot and needy in my blood.
“Did I?” He cut his eyes to me, his shoulders dropping.
I tilted my head and pressed my lips together as I reached for his hand. “What did you dream?”
He clenched his eyes shut, the strained lines reshaping his forehead just as they had during the nightmare. I waited patiently, hoping he’d let me in. After several long moments, he opened them again.
I sighed. They were cold, a wall covering the eyes that had filled with passion only seconds ago. I dropped his hand. He didn’t have to tell me, of course. Yet I wished he’d give me something . . . a piece of whatever plagued him. I turned and walked back to my tent, stopping just outside of it.
“I won’t break, Easton. Whatever it is. You can tell me.”
He hesitated, the battle clear in his eyes.
“When you’re ready,” I said. “ I’m not going anywhere.” I slipped inside the tent and zipped it up.
I laid back down, trying desperately to reclaim the sleep that had held me so deeply before Easton’s nightmare. My lips were swollen from the strength of his kiss, and my skin hummed from his touch, but my heart ached with a haunting pain and the knowledge of his continued efforts to shut me out.
I grabbed my chest, as if I could hold myself together with the physical effort. I shouldn’t have kissed him. Shouldn’t have reopened the wound that still had the tendency to bleed. Maybe it would’ve been better for both of us if I’d let him remain tortured in that nightmare. Closing my eyes, I knew I could never let him stay in that much pain, not if I had the power to do anything about it.
Some things would never change.
Easton
NORMALLY A SUNRISE from the mountaintop would be something to marvel at, soak in, and savor. I could only scowl at it as the light of day fully illuminated my mistakes for the world to see.
In the darkness, fresh off the nightmare I thought I’d managed to shake years ago, I’d held Rain again and reclaimed her as mine. She’d tasted better than I remembered, and her mouth, the feel of her soft body flush with mine, was the perfect filling for the void I’d had since the day I’d left her.
I’d always suspected the hole in my heart had Rain’s name on it, but I’d deluded myself into believing it was the guilt revolving around Harrison’s death that had dug the pit. Maybe it was a combination of both. Either way, for those brief moments where she was in my arms again, my heart was full. She had the power to do that, when all these years I’d tried to fix it by pushing myself on life-and-death excavations and donating all but a small portion of the money I earned to charities Harrison would’ve loved. No amount of breaking myself for the show, or money given away, had been able to fill me like she had with her lips. Not even close.
Who knew the thing I needed most in the world was the one person I’d purposely hurt and pushed away.
You knew that, idiot.
I didn’t deserve her, or the kindness she’d shown me since she accepted the job. She genuinely wanted to help me. She
The cold air was enough to shock us, and it cleared my mind of the hot, lusty haze that had fallen over it. It gave my heart enough time to scream louder, pleading its case with a heavy dose of the pain it had lived with for nearly a decade. The sharp contrast in emotions had me reeling, so I backed off, standing slowly.
Easton sighed and raked his hands through his hair as I reached for the wall. I hefted the thing up, heavier than it looked, and tried to get it at the same angle he had originally placed it. He shifted and stood, helping me re-secure the thing in silence.
A wicked awkward silence.
“Did I ruin it?” I finally asked as he repositioned the brush he’d used as insulation.
“No.” His voice was soft and ragged.
A flush raked across my skin, the heat still pulsing hot and needy in my blood.
“Did I?” He cut his eyes to me, his shoulders dropping.
I tilted my head and pressed my lips together as I reached for his hand. “What did you dream?”
He clenched his eyes shut, the strained lines reshaping his forehead just as they had during the nightmare. I waited patiently, hoping he’d let me in. After several long moments, he opened them again.
I sighed. They were cold, a wall covering the eyes that had filled with passion only seconds ago. I dropped his hand. He didn’t have to tell me, of course. Yet I wished he’d give me something . . . a piece of whatever plagued him. I turned and walked back to my tent, stopping just outside of it.
“I won’t break, Easton. Whatever it is. You can tell me.”
He hesitated, the battle clear in his eyes.
“When you’re ready,” I said. “ I’m not going anywhere.” I slipped inside the tent and zipped it up.
I laid back down, trying desperately to reclaim the sleep that had held me so deeply before Easton’s nightmare. My lips were swollen from the strength of his kiss, and my skin hummed from his touch, but my heart ached with a haunting pain and the knowledge of his continued efforts to shut me out.
I grabbed my chest, as if I could hold myself together with the physical effort. I shouldn’t have kissed him. Shouldn’t have reopened the wound that still had the tendency to bleed. Maybe it would’ve been better for both of us if I’d let him remain tortured in that nightmare. Closing my eyes, I knew I could never let him stay in that much pain, not if I had the power to do anything about it.
Some things would never change.
Easton
NORMALLY A SUNRISE from the mountaintop would be something to marvel at, soak in, and savor. I could only scowl at it as the light of day fully illuminated my mistakes for the world to see.
In the darkness, fresh off the nightmare I thought I’d managed to shake years ago, I’d held Rain again and reclaimed her as mine. She’d tasted better than I remembered, and her mouth, the feel of her soft body flush with mine, was the perfect filling for the void I’d had since the day I’d left her.
I’d always suspected the hole in my heart had Rain’s name on it, but I’d deluded myself into believing it was the guilt revolving around Harrison’s death that had dug the pit. Maybe it was a combination of both. Either way, for those brief moments where she was in my arms again, my heart was full. She had the power to do that, when all these years I’d tried to fix it by pushing myself on life-and-death excavations and donating all but a small portion of the money I earned to charities Harrison would’ve loved. No amount of breaking myself for the show, or money given away, had been able to fill me like she had with her lips. Not even close.
Who knew the thing I needed most in the world was the one person I’d purposely hurt and pushed away.
You knew that, idiot.
I didn’t deserve her, or the kindness she’d shown me since she accepted the job. She genuinely wanted to help me. She
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