Page 141 of When In Doubt

I can’t help the laugh that erupts out of me as she dances around, trying to keep her feet out of the water. It warms up in the summer, but it’s still fed by snow melt.

I try to grab her but she moves away. I don’t know what she’s trying to achieve, but all she’s doing is soaking the both of us. Eventually, I have to intervene. I bend and wrap an arm around her thighs so that I can hoist her out of the water and over my shoulder. Her squeal breaks off into a screech as she finds herself upside down.

“Oscar! What are you doing?”

“Did you want me to leave you in there?” I laugh.

“Is this an occupational hazard of dating a firefighter?” she grumbles, giving up on her squirming.

“You know, some people would probably call this a perk.”

I almost drop her as I feel a sharp pinch on one of my ass cheeks.

She giggles. “I guess I can get behind it.”

Chapter Forty-Five

OSCAR

Ikeep my hand on Freya’s thigh as we drive back to my house. Tension crackles between us in the silence of the truck, so thick that I almost can’t breathe around it.

I’m hyperaware of every tiny movement Freya makes, of the soft violet scent that comes my way when she brushes her hair over her shoulders. By the time we pull into my driveway, I’m almost coming out of my skin with how much I want her. I fumble with the keys as I turn off the engine and it’s all I can do not to sprint round the hood and haul her over my shoulder the same way I did at the lake.

As I open the door, I see her looking up at me with those big, blue eyes, desire roiling in them, and I’m a goner.

“Come on,” I whisper, holding out a hand to help her down. I keep our fingers laced as we move toward the front door. I go to release her when we get inside, but she just grips me tighter, keeping that point of connection.

“I have to take off my jacket,” I murmur as I slip off my shoes. I shouldn’t have even bothered wearing it, it’s been one of the warmest days of the year, even up in the mountains. Freya huffs, but releases me long enough for me to hang it up, along with her cardigan. I look at them side by side on the hooks. Something about the sight of them together makes my chest ache in the best way.

Harvey starts shuffling around, hearing us come in. She pads over to his hutch and crouches down. “Hi, buddy,” she whispers, poking her finger through the wire to scratch his nose. Harvey turns and backs his rear up to the front to get some butt scratches. Freya giggles, obliging. “So demanding.”

“Do you want something to drink? Food?”

Freya shakes her head and I catch the flash of teeth as she bites into her bottom lip.

“Okay,” I whisper. We don’t need to say anything else, I just reach out my hand and she comes to me, linking our fingers together again.

The door of my bedroom rasps against the carpet as I pull it open, revealing the bed, lit only by the faint moonlight streaming through the open blinds. There’s not much here, just an oak dresser I found when I drove my mom to an antique fair, a nightstand on either side of the bed. I move over to the side I usually sleep on, still towing Freya behind me, and flick on the lamp, bathing her in amber light.

“You want this?” I ask.

She nods, her mouth splitting into a grin. I match it with my own before I kiss her, pulling her flush against me. She grips the collar of my shirt like she’s trying to get even closer.

It takes a few tugs before I realize that she’s not trying to pull me to her, she’s trying to get it off. I chuckle against her lips, releasing my hold on her to help her with the buttons. Together, we make our way through them, hands clashing in our hurry. Freya giggles as she gives up on trying to kiss me, focusing only on her task. Once she gets it off, she starts on my belt. I stop trying to help, happy just to watch.

She gets it off without much trouble, but her hands falter when she gets to the button of my jeans. I catch her fingers in mine and place her palms on my chest.

I slide my hands to the back of her dress, fingertips grazing the top of the zipper. “Can I take this off?” My voice comes out husky in the silence. She nods and I turn her.

I run my hands through the long fall of her hair. This never gets old. I let myself have just another second of feeling it, before I gather it up and drag it over her shoulder. She turns her head, just slightly, but I take the invitation and press my lips to the curve of her neck, reveling in her soft little gasp.

I drag the zipper down slowly, savoring every inch of creamy skin as it’s revealed. I can’t stop myself from dipping down to run my lips down the column of her spine. She arches into me, a needy whimper escaping her.

I slide her dress off her shoulders, letting it pool around her ankles. She steps out of it and kicks it aside in a move that’s so unlike her that I almost laugh. She’s greedy as she turns against me, pulling my face back down to hers. I give her everything she wants, our tongues clashing together as the sounds of our breathing gets louder in my ears.

I step forward and her knees buckle as they hit the edge of the mattress. I barely manage to get a hand out in time to stop myself from crushing her. Freya bursts out laughing but doesn’t stop kissing me, her hands snaking into my hair, tangling into the strands the way I like to do to hers.

I break away with a huff, both of us panting.