Cassie and Cody stood a too-far distance apart, about five feet, as if any closer was dangerous. Nevertheless, Cassie felt a magnetic, shimmering pull in the space between their bodies.

“How’d it go today?” she asked, a question she’d asked a dozen times that day, but this time it felt stilted and awkward.

“No sign of them,” Cody said. “Spent the night out there last night, and spent today breaking brush.”

“Are you going back out tomorrow?”

He nodded. “First thing.”

Cassie shivered. The setting sun left a chill in its wake. She could imagine how cold it would get up in the mountains and hated the thought of those kids out there for another night.

“Those poor kids,” she said.

“This could get ugly.” Cody stood with his hands at his sides, looking at the ground. “It might not end well.”

“Is there anything you guys need that you’re not getting?” Cassie knew publicity had more power than anything to marshal resources, or at least draw attention to deficiencies and motivate people to take action.

“We need more eyes from the sky,” Cody said. “We only have one drone, and the Sheriff only has two helicopters. State Troopers have one in this sector. But the more time goes on, the worse it could be.”

“What about bush pilots?”

“They’re helping for sure, but it’s not as easy for them to hover and get low to see things.”

“Anything else?”

He gave her a look. “Are you asking as a reporter, or as Cassie?”

“As Cassie.”

“I could use a hot shower.”

She looked at him more closely. He had brambles in his hair, mud stuck to his boots, and small cuts across his knuckles. She remembered he didn’t have a hot shower at home, just the outdoor camp shower.

That wouldn’t do.

“Stay at my place,” she said. “I’ve got a hot shower and a soft bed, and I’m less than five minutes away from where you’ve got to report in the morning.”

His brow furrowed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

Because you’d be there, was what he was too polite to say.

“I promise I’ll give you space,” she said.

“You just have the one bed, don’t you?”

“I’ve got a pullout sofa downstairs. It’s just a comfortable place to rest your head, Cody. Nothing else.”

Unless you want something else. Like to rest your head on my pillow … next to me … I wouldn’t object.

Cody eyed her warily. “I don’t want to be in your way.”

Cassie had the feeling of an addict falling off the wagon, reaching for the object of her addiction, unable to help herself. She wanted him in her house, resting comfortably, even if not with her. She wanted to know he’d be okay.

“You wouldn’t be in my way,” she said. “I promise.”

He took a deep breath and searched her eyes. “Okay.”

“Good,” she said. “I need to go back to the studio real quick, then I’ll be home. Twenty minutes, tops.”

“That’s fine, I need to check in here.”

“The North Star Café brought sandwiches and soup for you guys,” Cassie told him. “That’s inside, too.”

Cody nodded. “See you in a few.”

But by the time Cassie dropped her equipment back at KFLS and drove home, she wondered if Cody truly would show up. Knowing him, he might well have talked himself out of it. She was surprised by how much she wanted him there, not for any selfish reason but just to give him support. As a friend. As someone who cared about him.

Oh, who are you kidding? she thought. As someone who loves him.

When she turned the corner onto her street and saw Cody’s Ram pulling up at the same time, her stomach flipped happily.

Cassie went inside through her garage and opened the front door for Cody. He stepped inside, carrying a duffel in one hand and his muddy boots in the other.

“I’ll take those,” Cassie said, holding her hand out for the boots. “Go ahead with the shower if you want.”

Invite me to join you. I might not say no.

As she stood there looking up at him, his blue eyes clouded and weary, she got that same odd, tender squeeze again. She didn’t just want to stand under a steaming shower with him and run her hands across his body and feel his hot mouth kissing her. She wanted to make him feel taken care of. It was an impulse she’d never had toward a man.

You’re leaving in a week, she reminded herself, the thought a dull throb of pain.

Cody said nothing as he climbed the stairs toward the master bedroom and shower, and a few minutes later, she heard the water hiss on. Cassie thought she’d better stay downstairs. Just knowing he was here in her house, naked, was hard to resist. Instead she stepped outside and tapped the mud off his boots, set up the guest bed on the pullout sofa, and put a small pot of milk on the stove to heat up for hot chocolate.

When Cody came back downstairs, he looked better. In fact, he looked damn fine. He wore a pair of dark blue workout shorts with the fire department logo in white on one thigh, and no shirt. A few spots of water gleamed on his bare shoulders.

Cassie gulped. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I made hot chocolate.”

“Thank you.”

The formality between them was agonizing. Cassie poured the hot chocolate into large mugs and they sat down at the dining table across from each other. Every inch of her wanted to touch him. Hold his hand. Sit on his lap. Kiss his forehead, his lips, his strong muscled shoulders. Hug him close and press her body against him.

Was she making a mistake, leaving?

“This Boy Scout story is top of the national news right now,” she told him.

“Wow.” He watched her carefully. “Were you on air? On the national news?”

She nodded. “NBC and CNN.”

“Nice work, Cassie. I mean that.”

“It feels weird to benefit from other people’s tragedy,” she said.

“You’re benefitting from being good at your job.” His eyes were soft. Loving, even. “Don’t feel guilty about it—you deserve all the success in the world.”

Why was she letting a man like this go? What kind of idiot was she?

A broken-hearted one, that’s what kind.

“Thanks, Cody.” She could barely get the words out. “You do, too.”

He cleared his throat. “I guess I’d better get to bed.”

“I guess you should.”

She was tempted to ask if he wanted company. This mere proximity to him made her wet with arousal, strung tight with desire. You ended this, she reminded herself. Not Cody—you. So respect his wishes and give the man his space.

Sadly, she smiled at him and stood up, conscious of how his eyes traveled across her body before averting.

“Good night, Cody,” she said.

“Good night.”

* * *

The sky showed the barest hint of light when Cody woke up. He’d set an alarm for six but didn’t end up needing it. He felt tense, on edge, feeling Cassie’s presence upstairs but knowing she was as off-limits as a princess in a tower.

And that soon she‘d be gone for good.

Staying here had been a mistake. It made him feel worse, a starving man presented with a delectable buffet of food but unable to partake in any of it. He needed to quit Cassie cold turkey. With that in mind, he rose and dressed and put away the sofa bed, aiming to leave no trace of himself.

And then Cassie came downstairs.

She wore a white tank top and dark purple lace underwear. He couldn’t help his gaze falling to the round globes of her breasts that strained at the thin material, and the exposed curve at the top of her thighs.

What the hell was she doing, tempting him like that?

“I didn’t want you to leave without coffee,” she said simply, but from the too-innocent expression on her face, he knew she had more than just coffee on her mind.

Alarmingly, she began to walk toward him.

He held up a hand to stop her. “Cassie, don’t—”

“Just one more time,” she said, her breath hitched.

“This isn’t a good idea.”

She pulled off her tank top and let it fall to the floor. “It’s a great idea.”

Dammit, Cody thought. His arousal was instant and demanding. How was he supposed to say no to those breasts, to that woman? He’d confessed his love to her, goddamn it, and he wanted to make love to her now that she knew it.

One last time, he decided.

He crossed the space between them and grabbed her by the hips, pulling her small body against his own. Do you feel that, Cassie? he thought as he kissed her with aggression, with unapologetic wanting. Do you feel how hard my cock is? How much I want to fuck you?

Cassie moaned against his mouth. Her tongue swept against his in equal measure.

He picked her up so her legs hooked around him. Never breaking the kiss, he carried her upstairs and dropped her onto her unmade bed almost roughly. His feelings were raw, and the sex would be, too.

She scrambled to a kneeling position on the bed. Behind her, the square of sky in the window was clear, pale, on pause.

“Stand right there,” she said.

She tugged his shorts off, and Cody’s throat was bone-dry with desire as he saw the wanton eagerness in her emerald eyes.

He let out an involuntary groan when she took him in her sweet mouth, sending exquisite sensations down his shaft as her tongue swirled around him. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight of her reddened lips moving up and down, taking him deep in her mouth with every stroke. With one hand she cupped him, her dainty fingers teasing.

“My God, woman,” he said in a low growl. “Don’t make me come yet.”

He felt the vibration of her small laugh, and it almost sent him over the edge.

“I’m serious,” he said. “This is our last time together, and I want it to last.”

She pulled back, kissing the tip of his cock once like a polite goodbye. She looked up at him and her eyes were the greenest he’d ever seen them.

“I can’t wait to feel you to inside me,” she said, her breasts heaving with longing. “Please. Cody. Do it now.”

* * *

Cassie slid off her underwear and laid back. Cody’s presence above her was huge, hulking, taking up her entire world. He climbed onto the bed with her, then grabbed her swiftly and rolled her on top of him.

She felt the length of his beautiful, silky-hard cock pressed against her thigh. She lifted her hips slightly and, with a soft sigh, sank down onto him, watching his handsome face in the early morning light. Memorizing it.

“Go slow, baby,” he said. “Make this last.”

She put her hands on his broad chest to steady herself. She rode him hard and slow, rocking her hips, relishing every incredible wave of building pleasure. Their moving together felt as natural as the wind, as the sun, as the rhythm of the seasons. It drove her on, creating intense shocks of pleasure to her core with every tilt of her hips.

Cody’s hands held her breasts. He tweaked her nipples so hard it hurt, and yet it added to the nearly unbearable pressure inside her. She wanted to draw out this feeling forever, this pleasure and this pain, but she was starting to lose control.

“Cody,” she moaned into the shell of his ear. “Cody, my love.”

He dropped his hands to her hips, forcing her down on him harder, and thrust up to meet her. The first waves of her orgasm crested and then she was quivering, shaking, arching up and down as the throes of ecstasy took her over its roaring edge.

* * *

Cody felt Cassie come, felt every tightening tremor in her muscles as she rocked and gasped above him. He could feel the white-hot tension of his own orgasm building fast at the base of his shaft, and every shudder of Cassie’s body brought him closer.

He opened his eyes and saw her breasts bouncing, her head thrown back as she lost herself to her pleasure. The sight sent Cody reeling forward. He exploded, hips thrusting upward in a final shuddering act of total ecstasy.

She stayed with him all the way, taking him in, whispering, “Yes, yes, yes.”

Cody drew Cassie down to him so they were pressed together. He kissed her while he was still inside her, still feeling the trembling afterglow.

Outside, the sun’s first rays blazed through the bedroom window, playing across the ceiling. Cody held Cassie tight against him and stared at the white light. He wasn’t going to get forever with her. The best he could do was hold on to this moment for as long as possible.

Cody realized there was wetness on his chest. Cassie pulled her face up and he saw that although her face was flushed with pleasure, she was crying.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” she said.

The warmth of her body on top of his didn’t cut through the cold sadness that came crashing back.

He knew it was over; this had been their goodbye. And as hard as it was, he couldn’t—wouldn’t—ask her to stay in Alaska for him. He’d seen where that road led. He loved Cassie and he wanted her to be happy … even if it meant losing her.