Dangerous Grounds Page 11

  “I did.” Her voice sounded different, as if she too were aware of the subtle change that had just occurred.

  When she’d left to go change, he wondered why a conversation about makeup had altered things. But that was stupid. It had been about more than that. Nothing about their relationship had been casual since that first sexual encounter in the coffee shop. Add to that the fact that he’d saved her twice from being killed, and things got even more complex.

  Gabe shook his head to clear his thoughts. Turning from the sink, he dried his hands on the kitchen towel and went to grab some things for the hike.

  Madison shrugged into a wool zip-up hoodie and glanced at herself in the mirror. No makeup.

  She tilted her head and looked at her profile. It wasn’t so bad. Maybe she could do this natural thing more often. Or maybe that pretty flush in my cheeks is due to Gabe.

  Madison smeared on sun block and applied lip balm. Technically they weren’t makeup, but still a necessity.

  Gabe was waiting for her in the living room, looking mighty fine in his snug jeans, with a backpack slung over his shoulder. Mr. Hottie-Hiker himself.

  “Ready?”

  “Hmm, maybe you should define ready.” She smiled, raising an eyebrow as she walked past him to the door.

  He gave a soft laugh and followed.

  Madison stopped on the porch, realizing she had no idea where they were going. She turned, waiting for him to take the lead.

  “All right, Maddie, I hope you’re ready to get dirty.” He stepped off the porch, striding toward the edge of the cliff.

  She smiled and hurried after him.

  “So where are we going to hike anyway?” It almost seemed as if he was going to go right over the edge, but then he veered away from the drop and began walking parallel to the edge.

  “Down to the beach.”

  After a few minutes she saw it—a trail that weaved down the side of the cliff.

  “The trail is steep, so watch your step.” He turned back around to look at her. “I’ll go slow, just let me know if you need to stop.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she assured him and watched as he jumped over the edge and down a foot onto the trail.

  He turned and offered his hand to help her over the slight drop. She glanced down at it and then placed her hand in his. The now familiar tingle shot up her arm when they touched, but she forced herself to ignore it and instead concentrated on getting her footing.

  She released his hand the moment she had her balance and gave him a wide smile. “Ready when you are.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  Madison hurried to catch up with his brisk stride. The first half of the trail wasn’t very steep, but wound down the cliff in a gradual horizontal decline.

  They moved at a steady pace for a good half-hour and she barely broke a sweat. It was the last five minutes of the trail that were the real challenge.

  Gabe stopped, looking back to check on her. “Okay, you probably guessed, but that was the easy part. We’re almost down, but this last bit gets tricky.”

  Madison glanced at the hillside that seemed mostly sand and rock. A pretty serious incline. She worried her lip. How primitive. Why hadn’t someone built some stairs down to the beach?

  “So how do you go about getting down?”

  “Small steps,” he answered as he began the descent.

  She watched him for a moment, seeing how he did it. His steps were small, but still quite fast. That whole run so you don’t fall on your face method.

  If I try that I’ll end up on my face. She took a deep breath and set out. Gabe reached the bottom before she’d even taken five tiny steps.

  Her tennis shoes slid in the sand and she cursed, reaching out to grab a shrub on the side of the trail.

  The sound of Gabe laughing rose up to meet her and she glared down at him.

  “Glad that you’re getting some amusement out of me just about falling on my ass,” she yelled and took another couple steps.

  “You’re doing fine, Maddie,” he called, looking apologetic. “Baby steps, just take baby steps.”

  Just when she thought she had the hang of it, her shoe skidded in the sand again and this time she did land on her butt.

  She sighed. Well at least she’d taken his advice and worn some old jeans. She started to try to stand back up, but then stopped.

  “Screw it,” she muttered. “My jeans are already dirty. I’m doing this the easy way.”

  She sat back down on her butt and slid the rest of the way down. Gabe helped her up once she’d reached the bottom, a huge smile on his face.

  “You did great.”

  “I came down on my ass.” She shrugged. “But it worked.”

  Even though she had made it to the safety of the beach he didn’t release her hand. “Hey, as long as you made it down, who cares, right?”

  “Right, that’s what I figure. Although I’m afraid of what my butt looks like right now.”

  Gabe stepped around behind her, taking in the view for himself and gave a wolf whistle.

  “You look pretty damn sexy, mi vida. But you have a little dirt here…”

  Madison focused on the hand that smoothed over her denim-clad bottom, instead of the fact that he’d called her mi vida again. The hand was a pleasant distraction.

  His fingers gave her ass a light squeeze as he leaned forward and kissed the back of her neck.

  She moaned and leaned back into him. “Mmm, so the hike was just an excuse to have sex on the beach?”

  “Yeah, get naked.”

  Madison giggled, closing her eyes as his teeth closed over her earlobe. She squirmed as heat flooded through her. “Isn’t this a public beach?”

  “Of course.”

  “Would we be breaking the law?”

  “I’m off duty, don’t ask.” He stepped back. “But let’s go for a walk first. The low tide doesn’t last for more than a couple of hours.”

  When his hand disappeared from her backside, she felt a pang of disappointment. But it went away as soon as she turned to at last observe their surroundings. She stared in amazement, taking a deep breath of air that smelled salty and like seaweed.

  “It’s so beautiful down here.” She looked down the beach in both directions and out over the Sound. “And seeing the mountains in the daytime is like a hundred times more amazing.”

  “I thought you’d like it.” He gave her a sideways glance as he unzipped his backpack.

  “I love it.”

  Puget Sound lay still since there was no wind to create whitecaps. Clear and shimmering near the beach, a few feet from shore, the water became a dark blue and all visibility below the surface vanished.

  Her gaze followed the vast body of water across the way until it was broken by Port Townsend and the Olympic Peninsula. The mountains that jutted up from the peninsula took her breath away.

  “Have you ever been camping?”

  “Nope.” Madison shook her head, not wanting to look away from the view.

  “The Olympic Forest over there is a great place to go camping.”

  She stared in amazement at the mountains, a smile playing on her face. Her parents hadn’t been the camping type, more like the Hilton in Switzerland type.

  Although Eric had gone camping with Gabe many times. They’d made it an annual summer tradition during high school. Madison had often wondered what it would have been like to go along, had even envied them a couple of times.

  The sound of a click and a whir brought her out of the memory. She turned to look at Gabe, surprised to find him holding a camera.

  “What did you take a picture of?”

  “You.” He wound the camera. “Do you mind?”

  “Nah, I’m not one of those people who freak out about getting their picture taken.” Then she remembered she wasn’t wearing makeup. Oddly enough, it didn’t bother her.

  She looked at the camera in his hand. It wasn’t a little disposable thing, or a digital, but one of those ultra expensive
-looking ones that you had to do all the work on and develop the pictures the hard way.

  “Do you take a lot of pictures?”

  He shrugged and turned the camera to the mountain range. “It’s just a hobby.”

  Madison noticed his intensity as he continued to take pictures. A memory floated through her head—the photo of his aunt that hung in the house. She gave a small nod of understanding.

  “You took that picture. The one of your aunt. And all the other ones hanging in your house.”

  “Yup.” He didn’t look at her, but continued to take various shots of water and mountains.

  “Would you consider letting me sell some of your pictures in my shop?”

  That got his attention. He lowered the camera and turned to face her.

  “I don’t take pictures to make a profit.”

  “I know you don’t, Gabe.” She gentled her tone. “I’m not implying that you do. Your photos are wonderful and I think you should share them with the rest of the world. What’s the harm in letting me sell a few in my shop? I like to promote local art.”

  “I don’t know, Maddie.” He went back to taking pictures.

  “Well, if you don’t want me to sell them, would you at least consider letting me have some to decorate with?”

  He took a moment before giving a slow nod. “I’ll think about it.”

  “That’s all I’m asking, sweet cheeks.” She gave his butt a nice squeeze in retaliation from earlier. “Are we going to keep walking, or should I make myself comfortable for a while?”

  “Damn, you’re impatient,” he muttered, although he still smiled.

  She bit her bottom lip and nodded, a smile lingering on her face. “For more than you know.”

  He returned his camera to his backpack and took a step toward her. “The longer we wait, the better it’ll be. I promise.”

  “I know.” Her lower lip jutted out. “I’m just not a patient person when it comes to having you inside me.”

  Her words had an immediate effect on him, and Gabe felt himself stir inside his jeans. She was flirting, making it no secret she wanted him, but still he stuck to his guns in telling her to hold off. He told it to himself as much as her.

  She was casually dressed, sweaty from the first part of their hike, and he’d never found her sexier. Maybe it was the two braids she’d done her hair in. It brought up all kinds of kinky thoughts.

  He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip that pouted in such an enticing way.

  “Trust me, I’ll make it good.”

  “Mmm, I bet you will.” Her tongue reached out to draw his thumb inside her mouth. “Are you ready?”

  “Ready?” All thought scattered from his head, and his entire focus turned to her moist mouth moving over his thumb.

  She released his thumb and drew back. “To hike down the beach?”

  “Right. The hike.” He nodded like an idiot. God it was amazing how quickly he could lose control of the situation. “Let’s head on out.”

  She winked at him as he turned and once again led the way.

  Chapter Twelve

  They walked about a mile down the beach before he steered them off the beach and onto a barely noticeable trail in the forest.

  “What’s back here?” Madison asked, wiping away the sweat from her forehead. She was hot and sticky, and hoping that Gabe had told her to wear her swimsuit under her clothes for a reason.

  “About fifteen minutes into the forest there’s a great lake to go swimming in.” He glanced back at her. “If you don’t want to swim we can just do the picnic lunch.”

  “Oh, I’m swimming.” She grinned. “I think I’m wearing half the sand from the beach.”

  They kept walking and soon she saw the shimmer of a greenish-blue lake. She gave a yelp of excitement and pushed past him to run ahead.

  When she reached the opening of the trees, she looked over at the picnic area. It must have been a place people came to, because there were picnic tables and fire pits around.

  “I love it!” She looked over at Gabe, who now stood beside her. “Is this only accessible by hiking in?”

  “No,” he admitted. “There’s a back road most people don’t know about. But the hike makes it that much better.”

  “No kidding.” Madison walked to the picnic table and sat, sighing as her feet started to tingle. “That was a great hike, but my feet are about ready to fall off.”

  “And just think.” Gabe set the backpack on the table. “We get to do it again on the way back.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “I can handle it. But I plan on staying here for at least an hour, with or without you.”

  “With me. This is my time to play too.” He pulled off his T-shirt, exposing his hard chest.

  Madison had to lift her gaze from the taut muscles there, to his shoulder and the jagged red line on it. Her insides twisted as she remembered how he’d acquired it.

  “How’s the bullet woun—graze?”

  “It’s fine. Forgot I even had it,” he assured her and unzipped his pants.

  She laughed. “Whoa there, boy. Give a girl a chance to catch her breath.”

  “Catch your breath, mi vida.” He jerked the jeans off his legs and stood in front of her in his boxers. “I’m going swimming. Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

  “No, I do. Actually, nothing sounds better than cooling off right now. I’m sweating like a pig.” She grinned and unzipped her sweater.

  “Good choice.” Gabe walked over to his backpack and pulled something black and shiny out of it.

  “What’s that?” Madison asked as she shrugged out of her shirt and jeans.

  “Plastic inner tube.”

  She watched as he went to work blowing it up. Although he seemed focused on getting it inflated, his gaze followed her while she undressed. His eyes darkened when she had finished and stood before him in her bikini.

  Madison held back her smile. Hmm, so he liked the red string bikini, did he? Good thing she’d thought to pack it on the trip to Whidbey.

  But what was the inner tube for? “I’m a pretty good swimmer. I don’t think I’ll need that.”

  He raised an eyebrow and kept blowing. When the tube had been fully inflated, he plugged up the air hole.

  “You might find yourself surprised. All right, let’s go.”

  He grabbed her hand and she giggled, running after him as they made for the water. Gabe tossed the tube out a few feet and dived right in.

  He emerged a few feet out, gasping as drops of water dripped from his face and hair.

  Hmm, it looked a little cold.

  “Are you coming or what?” he called out, treading water.

  “I’m coming.” Madison didn’t hurry, but toed her way in and winced at the coldness of the lake. They had to be nuts to be going swimming, it was only May and barely seventy degrees outside.

  Gabe swam back to the shore and stood, wading toward the lake’s edge.

  “It’s colder than I thought, Gabe.” She hesitated. “Maybe I’ll just wade.”

  “What?” Before she could reconsider, Gabe had grabbed her around the waist, carried her a few feet out and tossed her under.

  She came up sputtering, goose bumps covering her skin and her teeth chattering.

  “Maybe I’ll just wade,” he mimicked. “Come on, Maddie. You’re not getting off that easy.”

  Madison swept her palm across the water and doused him with a spray of water.

  “That was so not nice! It’s freezing in here!” she grumbled, but ruined her mock anger with a laugh.

  “Ah, you want me to be nice?” He took a step toward her.

  She shrieked, and dove under the water, emerging a few feet out, before swimming further away.

  He laughed and swam after her.

  The water temperature didn’t seem as bad after awhile. Either that or she’d gone numb.

  Madison reached the inner tube and clung to the edge. She’d gone out at least twenty feet or so from where she could
touch the bottom of the lake.

  A hand wrapped around her ankle, and she screamed as she was dragged backwards and underwater.

  When she came up for air, Gabe had taken her place.

  “You said you didn’t need it.” His eyes twinkled with mischief. “But if you’re nice, I may share.”

  “I can be nice,” she murmured and sighed as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close.

  “Can you?” He lifted the tube over their heads and dropped it back down so that they were in the hole in the center of the tube.

  Madison spread her arms out on either side of the tube, holding herself up as she tread water. Gabe tossed one casual arm around the float and gave her a slow smile. They were so close together that her legs would scissor in-between his every few moments.

  “I have this fantasy,” he began, and toyed with the string on her bikini top. “That I read in a book. It involved water, a man and a woman, and a flotation device.”

  “Sounds interesting.” Her gaze skimmed to the beach to confirm they were alone. “Wanna tell me about?”

  “I’d rather show you.” Gabe’s nimble fingers untied the knot behind her neck, and the strings fell down onto the fabric that still covered her chest. “Damn, that’s what I love about your breasts. You don’t even need the top to hold them up.”

  Madison laughed even as heat spread through her body. “I think it’s only fair that I remind you we’re in water. The buoyancy factor helps.”

  “They’re great on land, too.” He pulled the red top down off her breasts, but didn’t remove it all the way.

  She caught her breath when he used the palm of his free hand to rub over the sensitive tip of her breast.

  “Is this a popular lake?” she asked, more than ready to go at it, but also worried about the chance of being discovered.

  “Very popular.”

  He let go of the tube and his body sank in the water a bit, bringing his mouth level to her nipple. When his teeth closed over it, her eyes shut and she groaned. Sparks of pleasure made their way from her breast to the sensitive spot between her thighs.

  Madison moved her legs faster in the water, as if the movement could release the throbbing of her sex.