Once the Sneldermans were checked in she walked to Wyatt’s room, but he didn’t answer. She checked the kitchen, but it was empty.

“He went across the street.” Aly stopped in the hallway and spun on her heels to face Jenny.

“Who?” she asked.

“You’re looking for the hot guest in 401 aren’t you?”

Aly felt the blush on her cheeks. “Well, I-I…”

“You don’t have to explain to me. He’s hot. I saw him leave. Looked like he was going to Glen’s.”

“Thanks, Jenny.” Aly left her in the hall and crossed the street to the mechanic.

She found him with his head under the hood of a car. Glen had been St. Claire’s mechanic for as long as she could remember.

“Hey, Glen. Have you seen Wyatt?”

Glen wiped a grease splatter from his nose. “He took off.”

“Took off?” She felt the panic stab her lungs.

“I told him he could ride my brother’s bike for a few days. His is going to take awhile. Might be another week or so. You don’t mind having him up at the inn do you?”

She noticed the motorcycle sitting in the corner. She felt a sudden sense of relief. “Of course not. Do you know where he went?”

Glen shook his head. “No, but he headed toward the dam.”

“Thanks.” She smiled. She had an idea of where he might be.

* * *

She pulled up next to the bike, and put her car in park. There were things she had done in her life she had considered to be risky. That time she dyed the ends of her hair pink. There was the time she lied to her father and got a tattoo on her hip. It was a small butterfly. He had grounded her for two weeks when he found out.

There was the time after prom she drank a pack of strawberry wine coolers and woke up with a nasty hangover the next day. Then there was an online account she had set up before she met Mitchell, but she was too chicken to actually meet any of the guys.

The farther she walked into the woods, she realized this didn’t fit anywhere on that scale. What she was doing now was completely out the realm of safe. She was walking into a pit of danger. She was walking toward a man who had just admitted he was killed people for a living.

He was sitting next to the creek. His broad shoulders wide and strong. She sighed, maybe a little too loudly, Wyatt turned around.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” If she stepped off the trail and closer to him, was she saying she accepted him? Was she making a gesture she didn’t she was ready to make yet?

“Want to sit?” He motioned to the rock next to him.

She ventured off the path. “Ok.”

She knew his eyes were on her. No matter what she did he was always watching.

“You found your way back here.”

He nodded. “Hard to forget this place. You told me there was magic here.”

She felt a sudden flutter of warmth in her belly. She didn’t know how he did it. He was tough and strong, but underneath the powerful exterior she had seen his tender heart.

“I think things make more sense now,” she murmured.

“Because you know I’m a Green Beret?”

She nodded. “You’ve been blaming yourself for what happened in Bhazni. You don’t think of yourself as a Green Beret. When you first told me, I was in awe of you being in the Army, but you didn’t tell me everything, Wyatt.”

“I couldn’t.”

“I want you to tell me what it means now,” she urged.

“Which part?”

“All of it. I want to understand. I need to understand you.”

“You do?”

“Yes. After last night I felt like I’d never known a man the way I know you, but there’s more. No more secrets.”

He reached for her hand. She pulled back, but tried to relax as he dipped it in the water. She felt the warmth rush over her fingers.

She looked into his eyes.

“This is how I feel when I’m near you.” He smiled, his eyes softening. “You warm me. You give me light. I feel the magic between us. You’re my home, Aly.”

As his skin drifted over hers, she could feel it. The hot springs were only immersing their hands. The connection between them was tangible wherever they were.

“How do you know? How did you know it was me?”

“I’ve been with other women. But when I saw you my heart almost jumped out of my chest. It was instant. My need for you. My desire to protect you. To give you everything. It’s my natural instinct to love you unconditionally.”

“What about all of those things Mitchell said? He said I should be afraid of you. Afraid of what you’ll do to me.”

Wyatt inhaled. “He was trying to scare you.”

“I’ve known him two years. I’ve barely known you two days.”

“True. But did he ever tell you who he really was? Did he ever show you his violent side? He hid that from you.”

She shook her head. They both knew the answer. “What did he mean when he said you would leave me?”

Wyatt tightened his hold on her hand as the water ebbed around their wrists. “A Green Beret is always a Green Beret, even if you take leave.…there could be a day I get called again but I will do my best to prevent that from happening” He paused. “I told you I would take care of you forever and I will.”

She nodded. She could barely breathe. His eyes were so intense.

“It’s my pledge to you, and yours to me.” He ran his thumb against her lip. She sighed, feeling his skin pry her lip forward. She touched the tip of his thumb with her tongue.

“How?” she asked.

His eyes flared. “I think you know how.”

Her chest rose. The tingles were shooting through her body. His voice was deep and husky. “I want you to tell me, Wyatt. Tell me how you are going to take care of me. Tell me how you’re going to make me all yours.” Maybe it was a challenge. Maybe it was a way to give her five more seconds to think about what she was doing. Whatever it was, it was turning her on with every word coming out of his mouth.

“Can’t I just show you?”

She shook her head. “Tell me.”

He pulled their hands from the bubbling spring. “First, I’m going to take every layer of clothes from your body.” He pulled the scarf from her neck and dropped it on the ground. “Then I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to lick you. I’m going to taste between your legs.”

She felt her knees go weak as Wyatt told her how he was going to use his tongue on her body.

“I’m going to suck your tits deep in my mouth. And when you ask me to make you mine, I’m going to sink my cock in you.” His eyes gleamed with seduction. “I’m going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked, Aly.” His hand tangled in the back of her hair. “Every time I slid inside you, I’ll be bringing us closer together.”

She whimpered, knowing her panties were slowly getting soaked.

“And when you feel your orgasm tearing at you like lightning strikes, I will come so deep inside you you’ll feel the heat of my magic in every part of your body. It will bind us together forever.”

His eyes met hers. “That’s what I’ll do to you.”

Aly quivered. This was definitely more dangerous than pink tips in her hair. She licked her lips.

“Does that scare you to know what what I want to do to you?” he asked.

She blinked. She should take her time and think about what she was saying. “No.”