Kiss and Tell by Cherry Adair

icy spray on his back. Her fingers flexed under his, and she looked straight at him. Their faces were three inches apart. Between streaks of mud, Marnie's skin looked luminous. Her impossibly blue eyes were filled with wicked mirth.
    Jake shook his head. The woman was nuts!
    Crystalline drops misted the air in a thundering, tumultuous spray, the sound deafening. Droplets as fine as diamond dust sparkled on her spiky lashes. Marnie grinned. Most of the mud had washed away, and her cheeks were flushed; her eyes shone with wonder. Jake's throat locked as heat exploded through him. He could almost hear the cold water sizzle to steam around him.
    Between the rigid metal bars of the ladder he imagined feeling the answering heat of Marnie's body through the layers of their soaked clothing. His fingers tightened over hers.
    Six stories below, muddy water frothed and boiled, violently churning in on itself. The driving force of the torrent drowned out every other sound.
    Cocooned behind an opaque curtain of coffee-colored water, amazingly safe on their precarious perch, Jake leaned forward.
    He bent his head and touched his mouth to hers. Her tongue greeted his descending lips. He could taste the smile still curving her soft mouth.
    *
    His lips were cold and wet, the kiss brief and hard.
    Marnie felt his warm breath enter her mouth, mingling with her own, and a furnace of heat shot through her, making her forget they were hazardously balanced over a six-story drop. Her lips burned as Jake slanted his mouth to taste more, sliding his tongue deep into her mouth.
    Her fingers flexed against the metal bars on either side of her face. She wanted to touch him, feel his wet skin. Jake's hands tightened over hers to lock her in place, reminding her where they were. Wet cloth abraded icily against wet cloth as their bodies strained against the barrier of the ladder between them.
    Boldly her tongue dueled with his. She forgot to breathe; she couldn't think as her heartbeat accelerated and made her dizzy.
    *
    Jake felt the roar of water deep in his gut. Marnie's hot mouth welcomed him, and everything in him tightened one more notch. He wanted her soft and pliant against him. He groaned deep into her mouth. Her breath sighed against his tongue. He felt like Superman. He could fly, he could leap tall buildings, he could—
    What in the hell was he doing?
    Jake disengaged their mouths.
    Concentrate, you idiot. There's a time and place for everything, and this is neither.
    Marnie slowly opened her eyes. She looked dazed, amazed, and unbelievably gorgeous.
    Water poured more slowly over the spillway, and somewhere in the distance a bird resumed singing. Snow drifted lazily from the ever-darkening sky.
    "Still having fun?" Jake asked dryly.
    Marnie glanced down at the rushing water below, then looked straight into his eyes. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am. Now what?"
    "Now we walk, very carefully, along this nice little ledge back to terra firma."
    The going was tricky. The ledge was barely wide enough to traverse single file. In several places the cement had crumbled, and in others it was wet and dangerously slimy. Marnie used the narrow electrical pipe running overhead as a handhold. Knowing Jake was right behind her made her feel marginally safer.
    Clothing and hair soaked, Marnie shivered in earnest. She had a real good reason to bitch and complain now. Behind her Jake had a brief, irritating flash of Soledad, snuggling inside the blue fox fur she'd begged for so prettily because she was cold in the New York spring. He snorted. Hell, he must be a magnet for the type.
    "Careful!" He made a grab for Marnie's wrist on the overhead pipe as her foot slipped in the green gunk on the walkway.
    Her breath plumed white as she muttered, "Thanks," and kept going. Jake kept his hand right behind hers as they inched across to the other side.
    It seemed to take hours before they reached the rocky outcrop at the end of the dam.
    Senses alert, he checked the