Free Just This Once by Rosalind James Page B

kissed her again, harder and more hungrily,
his hands moving up and down her lower back, then moving lower, pulling her
closer.
    Voices from above brought him back to himself. Good choice
of a spot, mate, he told himself disgustedly. Here they were, hours from the
trailhead, and all he could think about was making love to her.
    He lifted his mouth from hers with regret. “Someone’s
coming,” he told her gently as he set her away from him.
    She blinked up at him, a little dazed. “Oh!” She came back
to herself with a visible effort. “All right.” She pulled her shirt down around
her where it had pulled up over her belly, and gave herself a little shake. “Phew.
So.” She grinned at him. “Not too big after all, huh?”
    He laughed back at her as they stood aside to let another
couple pass on their way down the stairs.
    “Whoever decided that women should have a flat bum?” he
wondered aloud once the coast was clear. “No man, I’ll tell you that. We like
something to hold onto back there,” he teased. “I’ll have to study it more to
be sure, but based on a quick check, yours is just right. Round. Fit. But if
you’ll walk in front of me a bit longer, I’ll let you know if it’s as good as I
think it is.”
    “What an offer,” she complained. “I’m all self-conscious
now.” And in fact, as she set off up the steps again, she was self-conscious,
feeling his eyes on her. Knowing he liked what he saw sent a tingle through
her.
    She felt as though he were still touching her as they continued
to climb. They didn’t talk now, just walked steadily up. Steps, then more
steps, until a long ladder bolted directly into the vertical wall loomed in
front of her. She swallowed as she looked up, to a series of ladders amidst the
rock above.
    “I’ve got you,” he said behind her, reaching to pull her
against him. “But if you want to turn around and go back down, we can do that
instead. In fact, that may not be a bad idea. I’m beginning to think this whole
tramp was a mistake anyway. Take us too long to get back from here.”
    She turned in his arms and looked at him. “I want to go to
the top, though. I want to stand right out on the edge with you.”
    His eyes kindled as he looked back at her. “Reckon we’d
better get on, then. Because I want to be on the edge with you too.”
    She turned back to the ladder, a surge of power coursing
through her. She wanted this, and she was going to take it. But first, she was
getting to the top of this thing. She was going to look out over the world from
the top, and know she had climbed there.
    On and on, up and up. The ladders gave way to single metal
rungs bolted into the rock, and scrambles up the steep slope. Drew was there behind
her, a steadying hand and an encouraging word, as he negotiated the difficult
path with ease. Her breath came harder as the track grew more vertical, but she
focused on pushing up. On not looking down, as she pulled up from rung to rung
over a sheer face.
    She pulled herself at last up a final ledge, around a final
corner, and suddenly found the concrete viewing platform in front of her, as
far as they could climb. A wall of rock on one side, a simple metal guardrail
on the other, with just enough room for a few people. And all around her,
sweeping views of rugged hills, jagged rocks, and far away, the sea.
    She had done it. She had never loved heights, but she had
climbed all the way up here, and now she was at the top. She stood, proud and
happy, embracing the fierce wind that blew harder up here, on the exposed
heights. She wanted to feel more of that. She wanted to be wild, fierce as the
wind. She pulled off her hat, yanked out the band holding her braid, and shook
out her hair. And laughed, exultant, as the mass of fine strands rose around
her, whipping in the wind.
    She turned to Drew. “Isn’t it great?” she exulted. “I did
it!”
    His gray eyes burned into hers as he began to smile. “Yes,
you did. You did. And you’re