I'd never felt more wanted.

More desired.

More at peace with someone than when I was with South Tenney.

I didn't just want the slow open kisses and the sticky slick heat of skin on skin. I wanted his heart. I wanted his pain and his sadness and those broken, dark pieces of his soul. I wanted it all. The fresh scars and the tattoos. I wanted South Tenney in ways that both terrified and thrilled me.

Even though the logical part of my brain was screaming, this is too fast. Too hot. Too passionate. Too risky. My stubborn heart wasn't listening. The wall that had formed around my heart two months ago was beginning to crack, and I wanted South to be the one who slipped inside the fissures.

My brain tried again, screaming at me to remember how dangerous this man was. Sandra had warned me that men as passionate as South could swallow me whole. My mother cautioned getting involved with a SEAL. Even Connor—sweet, blushing Connor—didn't like South.

But when his hands found mine and laced our fingers together, I didn't give a damn about any of their opinions.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and urged him deeper. His mouth trailed up my neck. I shuddered and moaned as we moved together, humid air collecting around us in the tent.

If this was what it felt like to be swallowed whole, then being with this man couldn't be wrong.

Pretty hazel eyes stared back into mine, and for a moment, it was like the entire world outside the tent disappeared. I didn't just want him inside me. I wanted him to find the realest part of me—the true me—the part that wasn't fake at all—and rip it free.

I didn't want to be afraid anymore.

I wanted to be with him. Even if it hurt. Even if it meant spending nights alone. And even if it meant facing my fear and giving my heart to a man who was just as deadly as he was passionate.

With one hand twisted around my ponytail, and the other holding mine, South found a rhythm that had me unable to control my breath. Jagged pants and gasps. He wasn't slow-walking me to the edge, he was demanding I jump. Clipping himself to me and telling me to open my eyes when he opened the chute.

Each breath bringing me one step closer to the delicious burning pleasure he was stoking inside me.

"I'm so fucking close," South rasped beside my ear. "It's so hard to hold back when all I wanna do is let go."

"Me—me too," I stuttered. South pushed inside me again, pausing when I gasped.

We were teetering on the edge of the plane, strapped together, ready to fall.

The flecks of green in his eyes caught fire in the low camp light, and his hand drifted to my cheek. "Cum with me."

His demand was a match. A can of gas. A bonfire. South buried himself into me again and again, and that explosive, unbridled passion for him erupted. I screamed out his name, his hand on my cheek, and my whole body shook with pleasure.

Seconds later, he was pulling out. I watched him with hungry eyes. Muscles flexing. Chest heaving. A line of sweat rolling between his abs. Breathing like he'd just sprinted a marathon. He moaned out my name just before cumming down my still-throbbing middle.

The entire time, his pretty hazel eyes never strayed from mine.

South leaned forward and kissed me, his hands in my hair and my legs around his waist. Our bodies and breath intertwined as he held me close.

Deep down, I knew this kiss—this moment—meant something more. South was bearing pieces of his soul that he didn't share with anyone else.

We smiled at each other between kisses, hands unable to stop roaming over skin.

"I'll never get enough of you," South told me.

"Same." I kissed him again. "I'll never get enough of this. Of you."

When I'd first met South, I thought our one-night stand would live perfectly inside my head forever. That he had been just another fear to conquer. But now, I knew that perfect night would forever be replaced by this one.

No matter what, I'd never forget the way he was looking at me right now.

South snatched up a towel from his gym bag and gently wiped me off. I tried to stop him, but he just shook his head. "I told you, Camilla. I'm gonna take care of you. So just let me do it."

Later that night, as we laid tangled together under the mesh canopy of the tent, staring up at more stars than I'd ever seen before, I knew my feelings for South ran deeper than I was ready to admit.

But, there was something about South that pulled me in. Maybe his passion wouldn't swallow me whole. Maybe it would help mend the crack in my heart.

And maybe I could trust him with my heart when he was gone.

***

The next morning, I woke to the sound of the tent unzipping, and South's stupidly handsome face smiled back at me.

His jet black hair was damp. His cheeks tinted pink.

And fuck, he wasn't wearing a shirt. Just short green shorts that rode high on muscled thighs. The sight of him half naked and sweating was almost as good as a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," he said brightly. "You missed the five-mile run."

I decided this man was not human.

I sat up on my elbows and pushed tangled hair out of my face. The sun had only just begun to rise, and I was groggy and sore after our night together.

"You went for a run? Aren't we climbing a literal mountain today?"

South shrugged. "Gotta keep my girlish figure."

I rolled my eyes. His figure was anything but girlish. With beams of sunlight illuminating the lines of his body, I thought he looked like Apollo. A Sun God. His body and smile crafted to make mortals like me swoon.

"Besides," he said with a chuckle, "I woke up beside the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen, and I couldn't get my dick to settle back down."

Now I was blushing. Tendrils of heat snaking up my neck and burning in my cheeks. There was no way I was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen, not when he looked like that.

"You wouldn't want to shower with me, would you?"

South gestured over his shoulder towards the bathhouse, a naughty grin stretching wide.

My gaze settled on the way his biceps and shoulders were flexing and I ran a tongue over my lips.

"You look like you're about to say yes."

Slowly, my brain caught up to my body's response. Did I want to shower with him in the public bathroom? I bit my lip and tried to look past his hulking figure towards the bathhouse. Daylight wasn't doing anything to improve my opinion of the place.

"You'll feel better after a shower," South said in a teasing voice.

"Fine." I let out a sigh. "But only because I don't want to put my bare feet on that tile." South's brows shot straight up. "I'll shower with you if you promise to keep me off the floor."

South grabbed my outstretched hands and pulled me from the tent, laughing as he tossed me over his shoulders like a damn rag doll. "There you go again," South said through another laugh. "Thinking this is some kind of punishment for me."

Inside, the bathhouse's high ceiling boasted decaying wood beams and crumbling plaster, and the whole place smelled musty. South carried me inside the furthest stall before pulling the paper thin plastic curtain shut and turning on the hot water.

Warm, strong hands adjusted my seat so I was sitting upright on his shoulders. Bolts of electric heat shot up my middle when his fingers ran down my calves.

I stripped out of my oversized t-shirt before working my panties down each leg—which wasn't easy while balancing. His shorts came down easy enough, providing me a top-down view of...wow.

He was so not human.

South took our clothes and draped them over the shower bar. "You have no idea how fucking hot this is. Having you sit naked on me."

A kiss landed on the inside of my thigh, and my breath caught.

No, I told myself. I wasn't going to have sex with him in this shower. There were spiders in here.

I watched him grab the small bottle of body wash and rub soap onto his skin. How he could balance me and wash his feet was a mystery, but he managed to hold me up and wash dirt and sweat off his body.

Definitely not human.

Then his hands moved to my feet, rubbing soap in with firm pressure. His thumb tracing a line along my arch.

The hot water rinsed away the bubbles, and some of my inhibitions too.

"You finished?" I asked, running my hands down the side of his face.

"Almost. I still need to wash my hair."

"Let me do it," I told South when he grabbed a tiny bottle of shampoo. "I'm already sitting on your shoulders."

He hesitated. "You don't need to—"

"South, just give me the bottle."

I could tell he wasn't comfortable letting other people do things of him, but, he handed me the shampoo anyway and I squirted some into my palms before passing it back to him. I'd never done anything like this before, but I wanted to run my fingers through his soapy hair.

"Close your eyes," I said quietly.

"Okay."

The scent reminded me of how close we'd been last night, and I carefully began massaging his scalp with my fingers.

His jet black hair was soft and thick, and when I moved towards the base of his neck, rubbing gentle circles, he moaned, and his hands rose higher up my thighs.

My soapy hands raked lines through his hair and massaged his temples. I had no idea what I was doing, but it was such a turn on watching him lean into my touch and groan every time he liked what I was doing.

"There," I said when I was done. My voice had gotten breathy and light.

South stepped into the stream, and the hot water cascaded down my chest and over my thighs. I let out a moan as my hair soaked through, completely at ease and relaxed.

Once we were clean and dressed, South and I headed north towards Mount Washington. The bright green trees and towering outcrops of rock beautiful against a bright blue sky.

What fear am I conquering today, Lydie? Spiders? Dirty tile? Climbing a mountain?

I shot South a sidelong glance as I shouldered a camelback pouch, and he shrugged into a rucksack filled with food and more water.

Or am I facing my fear of the unknown? Of falling into South Tenney without a parachute.

South slid mirrored aviator sunglasses on before smoothing back his inky hair and putting on his old Bruins hat.

"Let's go climb a fucking mountain."

The trek up was nothing short of crazy. I'd never climbed at a damn near ninety-degree angle before. Over boulders and through brush. Several times I wanted to sit down on a rock and just wait for a helicopter to rescue me. Anxiety had its claws in me after I'd made the mistake of looking back down.

This wasn't like falling out of an airplane. I couldn't just close my eyes and trust that South would keep us safe. I had to do it myself.

And every time my confidence wavered, South was there. Giving me a smile that made my heart skitter in my chest and holding my hand. True to his word, he offered to carry me on several occasions, but I wouldn't let him.

"You got this shit, babe. One foot in front to the other. And don't forget to hydrate."

I could do this. I could climb straight up to the top. Because he believed I could, just like Lydie had. And maybe, I was starting to believe it too.

I wasn't a pussy ass bitch.

We stopped once to eat lunch in the small overlook beside a thundering waterfall. Hungrily shoving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in our mouths and gulping water.

I watched crystal clear water race down the mountain and drew in a deep breath. The anxiety was still there, but my confidence was helping to reduce my fear. I turned back to find South staring at me. A smile pulling up one corner of his mouth.

"You are so fucking beautiful. Inside and out."

"You're just—"

"No, I'm not just being nice. Camilla..." he started, then scooted closer to me. My heart started jogging in my chest. The way he was looking at me, it was...different.

"Yes?"

"I—I think you're the strongest person I've ever met."

I smiled back at him, not knowing what to say.

"You make me want things I don't think I deserve. Things that I don't think I've earned."

The wall around my heart cracked again. And, it hurt knowing that his family had raised him to believe he wasn't deserving of love—that he somehow had to earn it by being...a SEAL or a real Tenney.

"You deserve all the happiness in the world," I told him. "You are already good enough. You don't have to earn the right to be happy."

South's hands were in my sweaty hair, and he was kissing me while the waterfall thundered behind us.

In between kisses, I managed to say, "Let's finish climbing this mountain. I want to stand at the top with you."

A/N

Awwww this chapter ❤️❤️❤️ I loved writing it. I hope you enjoyed it too!

xx
AJ

The view from atop Mount Washington