After watching the light play over the arch, we left the park, bound for the campground in Moab. Lotte was silent most of the way, but a kind of peace had seemed to settle over her after leaving the park. We stopped along the way to grab an extra sleeping bag, but I refused to buy an air mattress even though Lotte told me she had one for herself. I would be fine sleeping on the ground for a night.

We grabbed a few more supplies and shortly before dinner time, we were pulling into the commercial campground. One thing that I noticed right away was the complete lack of fire pits. There were grills that people stood around, chatting, but there weren’t big rings filled with fire.

“They’re the fifteenth campsite, they said. Just after the bathrooms.”

We turned down a dirt road inside the camp until we came up to a bunch of cars parked along the road, barricading the actual campsite from the surroundings.

Lotte jumped out of the Jeep before I could help her down. I was surprised she wasn’t more tired, considering the miles we’d hiked together in the park and how she’d insisted on walking most of them herself.

She waited for me to join her before we snuck between a couple of the cars and walked across the dirt to where people were sat at a picnic table, playing cards. A grill was beside them, and I could smell sausage on the grates as the flames licked them. Now that the sun was fully set, it was nearly pitch black except for the lanterns that lit up the table and its occupants.

“Lotte!” A guy with blond hair jumped up from his seat at the table, and a few other heads turned to look at us.

“Hey, Teddy.” Lotte smiled a genuine smile before the guy enveloped her in a big hug.

“How’s the leg?”

“Eh.” She lifted the boot and set it back down. “Mostly dead weight.” She looped an arm through mine and leaned into me. “This is Samson. He’s from back home.”

It was the first time Lotte introduced me as anything, to anyone, and I found it interesting that she didn’t call me a friend from home, or the best mate to her brother. I was from home, which I would take over those two any day. Really, Lotte didn’t feel entirely like a friend to me. Not with what we’d done together.

I had an irrational need to suddenly stake my claim on her. Not that I owned her, but seeing three pairs of male eyes taking her—and by association, me—in, I wanted to make it clear that she was here … with me. I didn’t know the history she’d formed with these guys in the month she’d been away, and I wished then that I did. Had she had feelings for any of them? Did they have feelings for her?

“Hey, Samson. I’m Teddy.” The blond guy stuck out his hand and I shook it, glancing beyond him at the other two men and the woman at the table.

“Sam’s fine. I’m told you were the one taking care of our girl here?” I mentally cringed at the way I sounded. Like I was Lotte’s older brother.

“Until I wrecked my leg, yes, he did.” Lotte smiled up at Teddy, but there was nothing romantic about the way she looked at him, which gave me some reassurance.

As we approached the table, the woman climbed out of the picnic table. Graceful, much like Lotte, and approached us. Her hair was a wild, untamed red, and her green eyes sparkled when she reached out and hugged Lotte.

“I thought we’d seen the last of you,” she said, letting go of her.

“I thought so too. But Sam had other ideas.” They both turned to look at me and she stuck out her hand.

“I’m Joss. The guy with the beard is my boyfriend Garrett. And that’s our friend and resident tagalong, Ryan.”

The two other guys raised hands in greeting, but they were taking me in just as much as I was taking them in.

“Nice to meet you all,” I said. I gave Joss a friendly smile. “Thank you for the introductions, Joss.”

Joss smiled back at me, and Lotte leaned tighter against me. “We’re sweaty, dirty messes from the park.”

“You should take a swim in the pool house.” Joss pointed behind us. “You can rinse off in the shower there and then get in. It feels amazing in there, and it’s heated.”

I looked at Lotte. Normally I was the kind of person who was very comfortable in large groups—I could even be accused of being a social butterfly. But for some reason, knowing Lotte and I only had a few days before going back to London, I selfishly wanted as much time with her as possible. “A swim sounds good to me,” I told her.

She nodded. “We can do that, and then come back here for dinner?”

“No problem. Do you have a tent? We can set that up while you swim.”

“Yeah, since Lotte’s not gotten the hang of setting up tents quite yet,” Teddy said with a laugh.

“Ha-ha,” Lotte mocked. “But sure. I’m not going to pass up you setting it up for me.”

I grabbed the tent and air mattress and returned to the picnic table where Teddy took it from me. “We’ll have to set you guys up under the tree—we weren’t sure if Lotte was coming and if she was, if she was going to stay the night, so there isn’t room closer to the grill.”

“That’s fine,” Lotte said. She grabbed my hand. “We’ll be back.”

They waved us off and we grabbed our bags from the back of the Jeep before making our walk to the pool house.

“Get on my back, and take a load off.”

Lotte didn’t even argue this time, she climbed right up on my back and I hooked my hands under her knees before taking off in a slight jog all the way to the pool house across the campground. She laughed, the vibration going right from her chest to my back, and I ran faster, wanting her to laugh again. Which she did. I had this sudden burst of energy. I didn’t know if it was from being out in the fresh air all day or from just being with Lotte, but I jogged all the way to the pool house with her on my back, relishing each laugh she gave me.

Once inside the pool house, we went our separate ways to the bathrooms in the corners and I changed into my swim trunks that I’d bought on a whim in London. It’d been years since I’d swam, but I was looking forward to being in the warm water with Lotte, letting it lap over us gently. I imagined it’d feel good on her leg, too.

As I was putting my pants back into the bag, my pill bottle spilled out and landed on the ground. I’d gone most of the day without them, and since I’d effectively weaned myself to a third of what I usually took over the last two weeks, I was surprised I hadn’t needed one since we’d entered the park. But seeing them now, I wondered if I should take just one, to ward off any potential headaches or grumpiness I might exhibit as the night went on. Just thinking of the other guys at the campsite caused me to pick up the bottle and shake one out into my palm.

I didn’t hesitate and popped it right into my mouth and then scooped out water from the faucet into my hand to swallow it back with. I stared at my reflection in the mirror for a moment, ashamed that it’d taken little convincing for me to take a pill, but knew in minutes I’d feel so much better.

But the truth was, I hadn’t felt awful before taking the pill. It’d been a weak moment, preparing for a night that I didn’t know what would happen.

I stepped outside of the bathroom and saw the door to the other was still closed. I set my bag on the benches that lined the sides of the pool house. In the middle was of course the pool, and with the lights inside of the pool, it looked like clear ocean water in color. The rest of the pool house was relatively dim, and there were only a few people in the hot tub in the corner, so it was quite peaceful.

I walked down the steps into the water, wanting to groan at how good it felt to have that warm water surround me whole. Once I’d walked all the way out to the deep end, I sunk fully under the water, and when I emerged, I had to blink to bring the pale skinned apparition into focus.

Lotte was walking toward the steps into the pool, but she was still wearing her boot. I knew she’d had to have taken it off in order to take off her trousers, but curiously she’d put it back on. As my eyes glided up, I took in the small black straps of her bikini. It tied at her hips, and the triangles on the top barely covered her. It took everything in me not to stare at all that skin she was showing, not to remember the night I’d see her whole body and held it in my hands.

I swam to the edge of the pool and leaned up on the ledge. “Hey there. You’re wearing your boot.”

“I’m afraid to take it off.” She crossed her arms over her chest and got down to the edge of the pool, dipping her good leg into the water.

“Did the doctor say it was okay?”

“Yes. It’s not a weight bearing bone, so it’d be difficult for me to hurt it more than I already have. But this thing has been like a safety blanket for me the past few days. I’m afraid to go without it.”

“How about you take it off, and I’ll hold you in the water. You won’t have to bear any weight on that leg at all if you don’t want to.”

She looked reluctant. She was chewing on her lip and pushing her hands back into her hair. It was obvious that playing with her hair was a nervous tell for her, so I placed my hands over hers. “It’ll be okay,” I told her, and slid my hands down her arms. “Let’s take it off.”

She started undoing the straps, and I helped her with the lower ones. When her leg was finally free of it, she sighed in relief. “It’s been such a pain in the arse,” she said on a laugh.

“You’re emancipated from it now,” I told her. “Let’s celebrate.” Without waiting, I grabbed her waist and pulled her in, gently, but quickly. She grabbed my shoulders and emitted a small squeal as I pulled her into deeper and deeper water.

Her skin was soft, but in the water, it was like silk. I wanted to roam my hands over all that skin like I’d done before, but I felt conflicted over what Ames had warned me with and over the way Lotte kept looking at me. There was no doubt that a connection existed between us. I just didn’t know what to do about it.

I found myself staring at her lips, wondering when I would be able to kiss her again.

As I walked backwards into deeper and deeper water, Lotte’s body came closer and closer to mine, until my hands found her thighs and encouraged her to wrap her body around my waist.

And when she did, with her bikini bottoms right against my stomach, I squeezed the backs of her thighs a little tighter to ground myself.

She just felt so damn good against me. I hadn’t forgotten that, not really, but I definitely wished it didn’t feel so incredible. Her arms tightened around my neck and I wrapped one of mine around her back, holding her firmly against me. The water was nearly to my chest, which left the majority of our bodies under water.

“How is your leg?”

“The water feels amazing.” She sighed and tipped her head back, getting just the ends of her hair wet. As she was tipped back like that, I could only stare at the line of her throat, and where it met her shoulders. She was so graceful, so beautiful, that I ached to lean forward and taste the skin of her collarbone. I knew, like I’d been distracted by her hands, that I had another body part of hers I wanted to draw.

When her head came back, her eyes were closed a moment longer, and I had an urge to lean forward and kiss her. But the last time I’d kissed her, back in the hotel room, she’d abruptly pulled away after a while. Something had bothered her, and I didn’t want to make another move on her unless she made it first.

“How’s your back?”

I gave her a funny look.

“You carried me most of the day. Doesn’t it ache?”

I shook my head. “No. And I’d do it again.” As if to illustrate my point, I lifted her up in the water before bringing her back down. I had to bite back on a groan at the feel of her slick skin sliding against mine.

“Mind if I get my head wet?” she asked, wiggling in my arms.

“I don’t want to let you go just yet.”

Her wide eyes widened even more and I felt the slightest bite of her nails into my shoulders. “Okay.”

“Tell you what. I’ll hold onto your waist and you can lean back, your legs around me, until your hair is fully dipped in the water.”

“That works for me.” She let go of my shoulders and leaned back, arms out to the sides like she was an offering, until her back was flat on the water. I held her waist, as promised, supporting her so she didn’t go under water.

With each deep breath she took, her chest rose and fell and with her eyes closed and her lips in a lazy smile, she almost looked like she was dreaming. She was ethereal, her white blond hair splayed out around her like a crown. And she was, for this brief moment in time, mine.

My thumbs brushed over her rib cage, and my fingers curled into her back. I just wanted to hold her as long as possible.

When she came back up, my hands slid up her spine and lifted her until she was once again facing me.

The tension in that moment was a tangible thing. She lifted her hand to my face and pressed her fingers against my facial hair. I didn’t want her to stop touching me, so I backed up until my back was against the pool wall and her mouth was inches from mine.

I wanted her to be the one to lean in this time. My hands traveled further up her back until they met at the back of her neck. She was weightless in my arms, delicate and still strong. She had all the power over me, and I wanted her to take it.

Her fingers moved down my beard until they were at my chin, which she tugged on until my mouth opened. And, like an answer to my prayer, she leaned over me and placed her mouth on mine so softly that it didn’t feel real at first.

My hand tightened in her hair, because this time I wouldn’t let her get away easily. Her entire front was pressed against mine, in a sweet kind of torture that I wouldn’t trade anything else for.

She deepened the kiss, using tongue and teeth to quickly seduce me. I wanted nothing other than to kiss her, but then I wanted more, I wanted all of it, because of her. There was something insanely attractive about the kind of woman she was, something that I’d never felt with anyone else. Lotte was a different kind of magic, something that I held tentatively, knowing there was something special about her, something I couldn’t allow myself to ruin.

She angled her head and her mouth widened and I devoured her, taking over. I couldn’t help it—there was something so insatiable about kissing her. I couldn’t get enough; I was a starving man with Lotte.

Her hands climbed my back and dug in at the base of my neck. I turned us around, so her back was against the pool wall, and pressed my hips hard against her.

She turned away to let out a pant and I brushed a thumb over her hard nipple, then dipped it under the top of her triangle. Not enough to expose her, but enough so that I could feel her skin against mine. My mouth went to her neck, pressing open-mouthed kisses to the skin there and she tilted her head away to give me more access.

Her fingers twisted in my hair and pulled hard enough to make me see spots. It was a delicious kind of pain, and I squeezed her rib cage with just enough pressure to return the feeling.

She was covered in goose bumps that I ran my fingers over, exploring every inch of skin. “I can’t stop touching you.”

“Don’t,” she said. She pulled away enough so that our eyes met in the dimly lit pool. “Let’s go to the showers.”