Free Rub It In by Kira Sinclair Page B

against the rocks below, the entire place had a sense of…quiet. It was old, powerful. Marcy let her eyes wander for a few moments, taking everything in. The water looked inviting, but she wasn’t ready for a swim.
    Her eyes were drawn to the top of the falls. That’s where she wanted to go. From up there she’d be able to see everything.
    It took her almost twenty minutes to walk around the collecting pool to the far side of the falls and the only way up she could find. The rocks were a little slippery from the wayward spray of the water, but she managed to climb up safely.
    There was a small patch of grass, more lush than anything below, spongy and soft. She slipped off her shoes and socks and wiggled her toes. The thick blades tickled the bottom of her feet. Sunlight, unfettered by the trees surrounding the area, fell directly over the patch.
    Dropping her pack, Marcy took out the blanket and spread it in the sunshine. Her original plan was to read her book, but she barely got a few pages in before exhaustion stole through her body, weighting her limbs and eyelids.
    She closed her eyes and tipped her head back. The underside of the leaves above her looked down. The loud roar of the water faded to background noise. A smile touched the corners of her lips and just as she drifted off to sleep an image of Simon popped into her head.
    Towering over her—when didn’t he?—he watched her with that same intense, smoldering gaze he’d used on her last night. And this time when he kissed her, he didn’t pull away. And she didn’t tell him to stop.
    Instead, he slowly, deliberately drove her mad.
    So much for escaping him in the jungle.
    * * *
    S IMON CROUCHED next to Marcy, running a single finger down the scrunched bridge of her nose. Even in sleep she looked frustrated. Wasn’t a nap in the sunshine supposed to ease that kind of stress?
    Her skin was soft. It smoothed out beneath his fingers, her entire face easing. The corners of her lips twitched and she rolled her head closer against his hand. His palm cupped her cheek, the warmth of her sun-warmed skin seeping into him. She mumbled something that he couldn’t catch and then sighed his name.
    Need, hard and sharp, twisted deep inside. He wanted to startle her awake, to strip her bare and take her here on the soft patch of grass. Resisting, he dropped to his knees beside her and went slowly, letting his fingers tickle across the exposed curve of her shoulder. The neck of her T-shirt was stretched out, pulled tight on one side and hanging halfway down her shoulder on the other.
    Tiny freckles dotted her skin. They were cute and unexpected. He wanted to reach down and kiss every single one, but refrained. He trailed his fingers up her throat. Even in sleep, she moved toward him, revealing more skin for him to play with.
    Her eyes fluttered beneath closed lids and her soft pink lips parted. Reaching with the other hand, he let it trail softly down the outside curve of her thigh. Circling her knee, he moved back up. Her legs were toned and tanned, although he had no idea when she took the time to sit in the sun. At least, not before the past two days.
    She rolled beneath his caress, parting her legs and opening herself to him as he moved higher. A brief spurt of guilt shot through him, but he pushed it away. He had no intention of taking advantage of her. Although her unconscious response to him was gratifying. And probably more real than anything she’d shown him before now.
    At least now he knew for sure that he hadn’t been mistaken last night, or so overrun by his own lust that he’d imagined something that wasn’t really there.
    His fingers bumped along a small, jagged scar that ran diagonally up the inside of her thigh. Feeling by touch, he realized it was almost two inches long. He wondered what had happened.
    Without thought, he leaned over and placed his lips to the spot. It was a bad idea. She gasped, her body quivering beneath his mouth. Her skin was warm