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She stilled.
“Remember?”
Her tongue darted over her bottom lip. Some of the color rushed back into her cheeks. She roughed out, “The spanking.”
He nodded. “Don’t walk away from me, Ivy. We’ll wait for Colton and then I’ll walk you back to the house to make sure you’re safe.”
After a moment, she stopped wrestling against his command and nodded. “I’ll stay, but can we at least move away from the body?”
Taking her by the hand, he led her away from the reeds where the victim floated. Hunter was on high alert, but he heard nothing but the whisper of the wind…and the soft moan Ivy made when he kissed her.
Chapter Nine
Ivy wrapped her arms around herself and watched as Colton and Hunter stood together, talking in low whispers.
She stared at their tense faces, questioning what exactly she’d walked into here. Nobody seemed to be giving her any answers, either. Some she wasn’t ready to ask for, like the state of her father’s finances. And some nobody was willing to tell her—like what the hell a dead body was doing in their pond.
Her gaze shifted from the men to the dull red shirt of the dead guy in the water. At that moment, Hunter turned his head and saw the line of her stare. He moved to block her view.
Colton said something to him, and he nodded. Then he drew away from Colton and set off toward Ivy.
Their gazes connected. What she saw on his face was totally at war with the sensations she was feeling as he grew closer and closer to her. That kiss. The feel of his lips lingered on hers even now.
Why had he done it? She never expected it. Never thought in a million years that Forest’s friend would grab her and curl her toes that way. He’d been so tender with her.
Yet his lips were so firm.
His entire body was hard as iron yet he’d bent around her as if to protect her, shield her.
As he got within three feet of her, she gulped down the nervous energy that coiled inside her.
“Let’s walk.”
Ordinarily, she’d be annoyed by his command. After all, she wasn’t one of his SEALs taking orders. But she wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.
They set off walking. The land curved around a hill and up an incline. She matched him step for step.
“How are you keeping up with me?” His question brought her out of her head.
Startled from the dark turn her thoughts had taken about the things nobody was telling her, she looked up at his face. His rugged features were carved into a mask, but she saw the fine lines of strain around his steel-gray eyes.
Why had she never fully noticed the color before? Maybe she’d never examined him so close. Every exchange between them seemed to take a downward turn, leaving her agitated and Hunter throwing out insults about her being a princess.
Spanking her.
Or kissing her.
The confusion rising inside her made her want to look away, but he held her stare captive.
What had he asked her?
Oh yes. Now she remembered.
“I’ve hiked all over Europe. I wasn’t on one of those backpacking trips, but I wasn’t only hanging out in cafes drinking foreign coffee.”
“You hiked alone?” The sharp edge of his tone brought her gaze back to his.
“No, with groups. Excursions people book with a guide.”
