Free The Enemy's Son by Kristen James Page B

to worry her or hurt her in any way. I didn’t plan to fall this hard. He just about had her wrapped around his pinky, and it was painfully clear that she couldn’t tell if he was playing a game or... Or what?
    She stretched up and kissed him on the mouth, a lingering and remorseful kiss, and trudged out of the water onto the sand.
     
    ***
     
    That one soft kiss was the most intimate, sensual kiss of his life. It made him want so much more, but it also felt like a last kiss. That scared him.
    It also scared him that he wanted her not only physically, but emotionally and mentally.
    He watched her from the water, not feeling the coldness through his burning desire, before he slowly made his own way out and joined her. She was drying on the grass with the sun shining down on her. She lay on her stomach and hid her face in the crook of her arm, hiding her face.  
    “I’m sorry I got your clothes all wet.”
    She mumbled something in response about the clothes in her bag. Nick leaned against a large boulder and watched her ignore him, although she might have been tired or just enjoying the warm sun. Her long hair curled a little as it dried, as if it didn’t want to conform. She was like that, too: stubborn, but in a graceful way. For some reason, the smallness of her arms and legs struck him, just how fragile and petite her frame looked stretched out beside him.
    Had he been a fool to want to spend time with her? Even if he never got to kiss her again, he knew he’d dream about it till the day he died. How could he forget the way her mouth fit perfectly to his, how soft her lips had been, how electrifying her touch felt? Nick grabbed up two fistfuls of the small rocks under him and clenched them as hard as he could, but he didn’t relieve the awful energy eating away at him.
    It wasn’t just about how gorgeous she was. Cora had a tough spirit. She didn’t back down.
    That’s how he normally felt. He stood up for what was right and helped his clients.
     
     
    ***
     
    Nick shook her awake and she let him lead the way back up the hillside. The debate still waged in her mind and Cora still didn’t know whether to trust or distrust him. Her heart wanted to listen to him, but her mind held out for further proof that he truly was on her side. He could be honestly trying to help her . . . or laughing at her behind those gorgeous eyes.
    One thing was for sure: she needed to get some distance and cool things between them. She wanted him too much.
    She grabbed her bag and hid in the bushes to change. Nick went the other way. When she came back, he was laying down on the sleeping bag on a grassy spot. Really? She wasn’t sure if he felt exhausted like she did, or if he had other things in mind.
    “Aren’t we headed back to Eugene now?” She knelt down next to him.
    “Hmm, mmm.” He slid a hand up onto her leg. His peaceful face rested on his arm as he slept. He had a few days’ growth darkening his jaw. She wanted to touch him, to feel his face and the stubble, to trace his lips, but why hurt herself more?
    While still watching him, she rose to her feet and took little, careful steps backward. She wanted to trust him, but he had drugged her. He’d kidnapped her twice now!
    He didn’t move. She watched him, her heart tearing in two. Sometime, while lying next to the river, it occurred to her that it would lead her back out of here, if Nick didn’t want to head back right away.
    The river had to meet a road or town sometime. That’s what she needed. Thinking about it would slow her down, so she turned and hurried back down to the river. It wasn’t the same spot they had just swam in, but that didn’t matter. She stood at the edge of a giant boulder, watching a trout suspended in his world of water before darting out of view.
    She was losing her determination by standing here too long. Her palms broke out in sweat. Just then a wide piece of lumber bumped its way through the rapids and floated out into the pool before