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A smile hooks the corner of his mouth upward in a grin that’s far too charming for our current location. “Watching is relative, baby. I’m spending time with my two best girls.”
It takes me a moment to get his implication, but when I do, I roll my eyes so hard I swear I hear them rattle in the back of my skull. I scoff and playfully swat at his chest. “You don’t know that. We won’t know for months.”
He flashes me a wide grin before he steps impossibly closer to me, trapping my hands against his chest. He lowers his face until his nose just grazes mine. “Ah, but having a mini you running around here sounds like heaven to me.”
Warmth settles over my head and falls down onto my shoulders and down my hands. I push onto my toes and press my lips against his smiling mouth. “I know what you’re doing, you know.”
He grins without stepping back, his lips brushing against mine with each syllable. “I don’t know what you mean. I’m just going on a Goonie-worthy adventure with my girl.”
“Uh huh, sure.” I smile around the words and then seal my mouth to his. He doesn’t hesitate to take control of the kiss, quickly turning a tease into something far more heated.
His grip on the back of my neck angles my head to the side, a perfect position for him to deepen the kiss. Our tongues languidly twist and turn, our mouths expressing our feelings for one another more accurately than words right now.
We break apart, breathless and holding each other’s gaze. Something passes between us, something warm and tender. If I was a betting woman, it feels like our stars aligned and welded together.
No, not welded.
Tethered.
We feel tethered, in a completely wonderful and permanent way.
The tips of his fingers massage the back of my skull, releasing some of the tension I didn’t realize I was carrying. A low groan slips out as my eyelids lower halfway.
“Are you ready to continue exploring or do you want to go hang out back in the rec room?”
His tone is playful, but he doesn’t stop his ministrations on my tension, so I don’t bother answering him other than a noncommittal noise from the back of my throat.
His fingers stretch outward, gently applying pressure and the feeling sends a shiver down my spine.
The light flickers next to us, a big enough dip in electricity for a dome of shadows to swallow us for a split second. My eyes snap open and I grab onto Leo.
Adrenaline floods my veins as my heartbeat kicks into double-time. The light dips again, but it doesn’t go out.
“What the hell was that?” My words come out a garbled hiss, my gaze lasered-in on the offending sconce.
“It’s nothing. It’s a big house, and sometimes the lights dim when the furnace or air conditioner kick on.” He runs a hand down my spine in a sweeping, soothing motion.
My fingers curl, bunching the fabric of his shirt into my fist. “What if the power goes out though?”
“We’ve got an absurd amount of generators tied to this place. The power isn’t going out—not in here, at least. This is Dad’s escape route, remember? There’s no way he’d risk botching his chance at survival for something as trivial as electricity. The lights in here are on the priority backup generator.”
His words do little to assuage my unease. “Still, let’s get moving. I don’t want to be in here if the power goes out.”
He cocks his head to the side. “I thought Mary was the one afraid of the dark.”
I tug on my bottom lip with my teeth. “She is. But now my mind is spinning with all the terrible possibilities of being stuck in a tunnel in the dark.”
Leo kisses the tip of my nose as I side-eye the sconces like they’ve personally insulted me. “We really need to talk about your obsession with true crime docs, baby.”
I huff and tilt my head up for a proper kiss. I don’t care that we just got done making out. It’s been at least three minutes since I felt his lips on mine, and it feels like too long.
Our lips slide against each other in a brief kiss. He pulls away a moment later, and links our hands together. With a smirk, he tugs my hand and jerks his head toward the opposite way from where we came. “Let’s go, Copperpot. Treasure awaits.”
I roll my lips inward and shuffle forward, content to let him lead. “Wait. Do you really have treasure hidden in here?”
Leo looks over his shoulder at me, his smile the definition of mischievous. “Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dad has some shit buried or hidden in these tunnels.”
The desire to discover some buried treasure hums in my veins. It’s like I’m living in my very own action movie—only this one is less danger and mayhem like Las Vegas and more treasure hunting and sneaking kisses.
