Whitewater Rendezvous

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Even Chaz, who had a much better understanding than most of the volatile unpredictability of Alaska’s weather, was surprised at the ferocity of the storm that barreled down on them. As the thunder edged closer and the rain picked up, the wind began to increase, pushing and pulling against the thin fabric that surrounded them until it seemed as though the entire tent was breathing in and out.

The sky turned so dark that it appeared as though the sun was going to defy its normal summer path and really sink beneath the horizon this time. The air around them was charged with electricity. But Chaz wasn’t sure whether it was the storm, entirely, or the chemistry that was now crackling between them as they lay side by side and only inches apart.

The long rip that Sally had repaired was directly over her head.

She raised one arm and traced her fi nger along the length of it, pleased that the seam seal was keeping out every drop of moisture, at least for now.

“That was a pretty terrifying moment for me,” Megan said.

Chaz turned on her side and leaned on one elbow to look down at Megan. “I’m sure it was. I won’t forget it any time soon, either.”

“You know, I really admire you, Chaz. The courage you showed against the bear. Your calm control over the most harrowing circumstances. The patience you have with everything.” She smiled up at her. “Including me.”

Chaz grinned back. “Thanks, Megan. That means a lot to me.”

“You kind of seem to…have it all together, more than most women.

You know exactly what you want.”

Chaz looked away, her expression hard to read. “I would probably have said that was very true just a couple of weeks ago,” she said slowly.

“I am absolutely content with where I live. I couldn’t imagine being

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anywhere else.” She glanced at Megan with regret in her eyes, then looked away again. “And I love what I do. I feel a sense of passion and purpose about my job, and who could ask for more than that? But …”

She let out a long sigh. “I have been thinking a lot the last few days about…how content I really am with living alone.”

“The last few days?” Megan repeated.

“I have a much better idea of what I might be missing out on.”

“Look at me, will you?” Megan asked gently.

Chaz turned her head slowly until their eyes met, their faces two feet apart.

“I wish to God you’d kiss me right now. If you don’t, my heart is just going to burst right out of my chest.”

Chaz’s own heart seemed to skip a beat or two as it accelerated rapidly to match Megan’s. As Megan’s words repeated themselves in her head, her eyes involuntarily trailed down Megan’s body to watch the rapid rise and fall of her breasts. Sweet Jesus.

“Now, Chaz. Please. ”

She looked again at Megan’s face and saw a depth of wanton desire that she had never seen before in a woman’s eyes. Her body was electrifi ed by it. Her every nerve ending sang. No one could have resisted that look. No one.

And then, Megan’s lips became all she saw. Full, and red, and as she watched, Megan moistened them with her tongue in a teasing invitation, and that was all she wrote. Her fi nal conscious thought was to be careful of Megan’s injuries, and so she cautiously edged her body closer and leaned over Megan so that Megan would not have to move at all.

“About damn time,” Megan whispered with a breathiness that shook Chaz to the core.

She closed the fi nal distance and brought their faces together.

That fi rst touch was only a brief caress; Chaz brushed her lips along the length of Megan’s and then retreated for only a moment before descending again, to nip gently at Megan’s luscious lower lip.

Once, then twice.

Megan moaned, a soft sigh of surrender.

Chaz wanted to take it slow; to make it last, and to imprint it on her mind, every single detail, because she knew she would want to recall it often in the months ahead. But when Megan made that sound,

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