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He sounded tired.
No… it was worse than that. He soundedhopeless.
Ellie’s mind fought for the logic that would convince him that they could do this. Sheneededto, she realized with a real tremor of fear. This was Adam—the man who had laughed when his boat went over a waterfall. He couldn’t have given up hope. If he had… then it might mean that things really were well and truly cooked.
Her logic kept crumbling against the high, slick walls that surrounded them—but Ellieknewthat there was a way in which she could snap him out of it. She could feel it there inside of her.
She would simply start talking, and surely it would come out.
Ellie took a step closer to Adam to do just that—but as she did, the rubble under her boot shifted, throwing her off balance.
She landed against Adam’s chest instead.
Her arms flew up to grasp his shoulders. Warmth flooded through her from every place where she touched him—under her hands, through the fabric of her shirt… herthigh, for goodness’ sake. She stared up at the grizzled, unshaven line of his jaw and his startlingly blue eyes, which were currently widened with surprise.
All of it felt so desperately right that words deserted her. Something irresistible rose in their place—something that drove Ellie to rise on the toes of her boots and press her lips to Adam’s mouth.
Sensation flooded her, sparking her nerves to life—the soft rasp of his stubble, the surprised give of his lips. The solid, male warmth under her hands. Her eyes closed as she let herself fall into the pure, wild feeling of it…
Ellie realized what she was doing.
Her eyes flew open. She pulled back, forcing her hands to release their somewhat desperate grip on his shoulders.
“I…” she began as she flailed about for something—anything—to say. “I… I’m terribly sorry. I shouldn’t have… I mean, at the very least, I should haveaskedbefore I… Oh, drat.”
“Did you want to do it?” Adam demanded.
His voice was lower and rougher than it usually was. The way he was looking at her had grown quite intense.
The question was a terribly awkward one. How on earth was she to answer that? Ellie’s cheeks flushed with heat despite the coolness of the water around her.
They were facing a slow and terrible death in a pit in the ground. Ellie determined that she might as well be honest.
“Er… well, yes,” she admitted weakly. “I suppose I did.”
Under the darkness of the water, strong hands slipped around her waist and gave her a firm, powerful tug closer.
Adam’s face was inches from her own. The strong lines of it were painted with rich shadows.
His hands felt good. So did the rest of him. Ellie’s cheeks flushed further, and something began to move through her—something tingling and warm, like holding a potentially volatile pair of chemical compounds in her hands that she knew would explode the minute she combined them.
“May I kiss you back?” Adam asked as his hands tightened on her.
Ellie’s heart pounded in her chest, striking like a quick, compulsive drum at the tight, coiled strength she could feel in his arms.
The words were not a demand. They were most decidedly a question—and Ellie was abruptly certain that when she answered it, everything was going to change.
On one side lay the safe, practical plateau of the rational and sensible choice.
On the other lay a wild, unpredictable abyss that she could not even begin to fathom.
She mustered her logic to face it—but before her logic had a chance to begin, the answer popped to her lips, rising from somewhere else… somewhere much deeper than logic.
“Please,” Ellie blurted.
Adam lifted her boots from the ground and devoured her.
It was wild. Relentless. His hands moved over her body—clenching, claiming. His mouth was demanding against her own, the feeling perfectly accented by the exquisite texture of his beard.
