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Stone had planned to kiss Loren but when Loren kissed him first, he felt everything shift. Not only had he always been the one pursuing, but this wasn’t a simple touching of lips. They had something between them, something powerful, maybe even dangerous. One touch, and Stone hungered for more of Loren. He felt the kind of hunger that didn’t let up easily, the kind that would drive him crazy until he found what would sate it. He might have stayed right there for the rest of the afternoon, kissing him until he figured out a name for what was pulling them together, but the distant roar of a rapid reminded him he had to stay in control of both the boat and himself.
Pulling back, Stone brushed his thumb over Loren’s bottom lip. “I don’t want to stop, but I’ve got to row the boat.”
“It’s okay.” Loren blushed just a little. “We can always start up again when the sun goes down.”
“Oh, fuck.” Getting pursued by this shy, gorgeous little guy had Stone feeling almost giddy.
“Was that the wrong thing to say?” Loren asked.
“Did you mean it?”
“Yeah.”
“Then that was the right thing to say.” Stone kissed him again, a quick peck, then returned to his seat. He moved them away from a sucking eddy just in time, then eased the boat back out into the current. “I’ve just never been so excited to see the sun set before.”
Loren laughed then asked, “What’s the name of this rapid?”
“House Rock Rapid.”
“Do they all have such strange names?”
“They do.” Stone chuckled. “Makes them memorable.”
“Let me know when I have to get in my seat.”
“I will.” Stone watched as Loren rolled onto his back and put his hat over his face. Just like him, Loren had a semi in his shorts. Unlike him, Loren didn’t seem to be bothered by his. Stone pulled the fabric away then resettled himself.
He swung the boat around to watch the others go through the rapid. He picked his path then kept his attention on Jon while he went through on the same line he intended to follow.
When they got close, Stone let Loren know. “Okay, time to get in your seat.”
Loren got into the front of the boat.
Stone found it much easier to concentrate without Loren right in front of him, only, when he lined up the boat for the rapid, he got pulled harder toward the hole than he’d anticipated. Turning the boat so he had his back facing downstream gave him more power but not enough to move the boat out of the current. Still, he didn’t panic. They hadn’t eaten anything yet, which meant the boat was so heavy it steamrolled over everything, including the hole.
When they emerged on the other side, Loren popped up and grinned at him.
“Did you have fun?” Stone asked.
“I did. Weird to go through backward, though.”
“I have more power when I’m rowing this way.”
Loren nodded while his gaze ate up Stone’s exposed arms.
“If you want, you can climb back up here.” Stone nodded to the spot on top of the strapped-down equipment. “We’ve got time before the next rapid.”
“How many more rapids are there before we stop for the day?”
“This next one will be the last.” Stone considered. “Are you tired?”
“A little.” Loren climbed back up on top of the equipment. “Are you?”
“I’m good.” Stone thought the big surge of adrenaline early on had probably wiped out a lot of Loren’s energy. “You hungry?”
“I’m okay. Do you want me to get you something out of one of these boxes?”
“Thanks, but no. I like to get good and hungry for the first river meal.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t know. I just like that feeling of anticipation.” Of course, right now, Stone had a hell of a lot more interest in picking up where he and Loren had left off than in eating.
“I like that feeling too.” Loren rolled over onto his back. “There’s this great Mexican place that makes chimichangas to die for. I’ll skip lunch and then go in there and eat the whole thing, savoring every bite.”
“It always tastes better, doesn’t it? If you wait.”
“It does.” Loren nodded then put his hat over his face.
Stone could probably say the same about kissing Loren. Having to wait until dark would just make him more keen. Of course, now he found himself drifting off into just how they’d make-out. Would he pull Loren into his lap and have him spread his legs around his hips? They could grind a little that way. They could also lie down, side by side. When things got intense, Stone could lift Loren on top of him, grab that tight little ass of his, and then they could grind one off on one another.
“Is the place we’re going to be camping a big place?” Loren asked, pulling Stone away from his lusty train of thought.
“It’s a big place.”
“That’s good.”
“Why’s that?”
Loren rolled over and peered up at Stone. “We’ll have privacy.”
Stone grinned.
“What?” Loren asked.
“I like the way you think.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so bold.” Loren closed his eyes and rested his head on his crossed arms.
“I like it.” But Stone couldn’t stop himself from analyzing the situation. Loren had just gotten out of an abusive relationship. He could be pursuing Stone to reassure himself or maybe as a way to forget the last guy. Maybe that feeling flowing between them had something to do with it.
Stone had always taken charge, but now he wanted to hold back and let Loren come to him, which might be for the best. His gut told him if he came on too strong, he’d send Loren right back into his shell. This way, by letting Loren come to him, he could at least make sure that Loren knew he could safely take control. That he felt safe enough with him to do what he wanted thrilled Stone more than he could say.
The only thing that nagged at him was Jon and Channing. With their pack leader having just scented his mate, Stone wondered if Loren could be his. If he was, would they have to wait until Jon and Channing finished mating, or did it matter?
Too many damn questions and no way of finding answers.
“You look very deep in thought,” Loren said.
“One of the best things about being in the great outdoors is having time to have deep thoughts.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
“Like what?”
“Like...” Stone struggled to find something that wouldn’t scare Loren away. “Oatmeal.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I was just thinking of all the ways I can make oatmeal.” Stone let his gaze wander over Loren. “All the interesting things I can do with oatmeal.”
“You’re flirting with me again.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“In its own strange way.” Loren sat up. “Tell me about one of your tattoos.”
“Talk about deep thoughts.”
“Too deep to share?”
“Not with you.”
Loren blushed again but this time he managed to hold Stone’s gaze.
“You should recognize this one right here.” Stone pointed to a jagged series of lines that encircled his upper arm.
“I should?”
“Uh-huh. Maybe you should come and take a closer look.”
Loren bit his bottom lip, making Stone struggle to keep his focus. “Okay.” Loren scooted across the gear until he settled right in front of Stone. “Can you still row with me right here?”
“Yeah.” But his ability to keep his mind off of Loren would be next to impossible.
“This should be familiar to me?” Loren traced over the lines with one finger.
“Think about it. You’ve seen it before. Dozens of times.”
“How would you know?”
“You told me.”
“I did?”
“Uh-huh.” Stone rowed a few times then stopped so Loren could examine his tattoo again.
“Okay. It has to be from something I told you today.” Loren allowed Stone to row a few more times then went right back to stroking over his ink. Hundreds of humans had done the same thing, but not one of them had gotten a reaction like Loren’s. Stone wanted to drop the oars, pull Loren into his lap, and then kiss and grind until they both got off. “I don’t think it has anything to do with accounting or filling out forms.”
“Nope.”
“Doubt it has anything to do with my ex.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then it must be...” Loren’s forehead furrowed then smoothed out as his eyes widened. “It’s Denver. It’s the mountain range around Denver.”
“Damn, you’re good.”
“I guessed right?”
“You did.”
“What do I win?”
“What do you want?”
“Another kiss.”
“I think I can handle that.” Stone leaned closer then kiss him. He felt that current flow between them, but then Loren parted his lips and he lost his damn mind. No kiss had ever reached right down into his soul like that.
“Wow.” Blinking slowly, Loren moved back. “I feel dizzy.”
“Me too.”
“That’s... I don’t think...”
“Let’s not even try to think right now.” Stone leaned in for another kiss, which Loren gave him, but it had that same yank-the-rug-right-out-from-under-him feel. Too much more of that and he wouldn’t be able to do much of anything.
“Okay,” Loren said, licking his lips while moving back. “You’d better get back to rowing.”
“Why?”
“We’re going to hit the side of the river.” Loren slid away then settled on top of the gear.
“Damn.” Stone pulled hard on the oars and got them back in the current then kept on pulling until they caught up to the others. “Don’t want them to panic.”
“That wouldn’t be good.” Loren kept his distance, but each time they looked at one another, their gazes went right to each other’s lips. “What is this between us?”
“I don’t know.” But he had a feeling Jon getting a mate had started some kind of chain reaction. Only, he couldn’t tell Loren that. At least he couldn’t until he knew one way or the other. Given the nature of their secret lives as shifters, they’d all sworn a blood oath not to reveal themselves to anyone.
“It feels like—” Loren abruptly cut himself off.
“What?”
“You have to promise me you won’t laugh.”
“You know I won’t.”
“It feels like destiny.”
“Destiny?” Stone rolled the word around, liking the way it rubbed up against his longing for a mate.
“That’s crazy, right? Never mind. Tell me how you met Jon.”
“That is a very long story.” One that would reveal too much right now. “How about I tell you about another tattoo?”
“Wait. You never told me why you got a tattoo of the Denver mountain range.”
“I didn’t, did I?”
“Do I have to give you another kiss to get that part?” Loren asked, his expression hopeful.
“I’d like that, but I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to part a second time.”
“Not unless someone turned the hose on us, as if we were a couple of randy dogs.”
Oh, how close he came to the truth with that remark, but Stone couldn’t tell him that either. Instead, he told Loren about his big Denver adventure, heavily modified, of course. He just left out the fact that the only way he’d been able to survive the sudden snowstorm was by taking his true form.
“You got trapped in the mountains?” Loren’s eyes widened and his scent turned to fear.
“Me and three other guys went for a hike, stayed to enjoy our lunches for dinner, but then we found this old cabin and decided to stay the night.”
“You broke in?”
“Found a key hiding nearby.” Actually, it had been Alistair who’d found the key. The owner had tried to hide it in plain sight by putting it in a pill bottle glued to a pine comb, but the pine comb was three sizes bigger than anything else in the yard. Alistair had noticed right away. “We got some wood, made a fire, found some blankets then woke up to four feet of snow.”
“Oh my God.”
“That was pretty much my reaction.” Normally, Stone and the others would have smelled snow coming, but the storm had jigged rather than jagged and hit the mountains like a freight train.
“What did you do?”
“We stayed for another day, just to make sure the storm was over, and then we hiked out.”
“But how? I mean four feet of snow.”
“We were lucky.” They were extremely lucky that all of them were wolf-shifters. Had they not been able to shift and walk on top of the snow after a day of sunshine to ice it up, they would have most certainly died.
“I’m glad you got out okay.”
“Me too.”
“I bought a cabin last year.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I wanted a vacation place.” Something crossed Loren’s expression that made Stone think he’d purchased the place to get away from his ex. “I went up one weekend, thinking things would be fine, but an early snowstorm hit. Only six inches, but it made it difficult to get my car out. I mean I got out, but I had several moments of sheer panic.”
“No cell phone?”
“I’ve got one, but it doesn’t work up there. The cabin is down in this valley. To get a signal, I would have had to climb up.”
“What’s your cabin like?”
“It’s just a little one-room thing. Has an outhouse.”
“How very primitive.”
“Yeah, but, it’s...peaceful. I go up there to read and think.” Loren looked away and then back. “Mostly, I went up there to get away from my ex.”
Stone had guessed right. “Why didn’t you just break up with him?”
“I don’t know.” Loren sighed and shook his head. “It’s like he wore me down so much I didn’t think I could live without him when the real truth was he couldn’t live with me. It was my place he moved into. I paid for almost everything.”
“He couldn’t control you without ripping up your self-esteem first.”
“Yeah.” Loren nodded then his brow furrowed. “Wait. How would you know?”
“Do you think I was always this size?”
Loren blinked hard when he realized what Stone meant.
“Yeah,” Stone said softly. “Sometimes the first abusive male you meet is your own father.” Stone fought the urge to spit and succeeded. “But I really, really don’t want to talk about him.” And not just because that story tied into the one about how he’d met Jon. “Let’s talk about something uplifting.”
“Like hot air balloons?”
“Absolutely.” Stone laughed. “Have you ever been in one?”
“Believe it or not, I have.” Loren grinned. “My aunt did that thing they do in New Mexico every year, where people from all over the world launch hot air balloons? I can’t think of the name, but anyway, she invited me a few years ago.”
“What was it like?”
“It’s scary at first. When they release the ropes holding you down, you lurch up into the air. I swear I almost hurled. But then you’re up there, floating, and it’s very...serene. Every once in a while, you give the balloon a burst of hot air with this fire thing, which is loud, but then it goes back to being very quiet.” Loren sighed. “It’s peaceful. And colorful. Everyone’s balloons are all different.”
“What kind of balloon did your aunt have?”
Loren laughed suddenly. “Bright green with big black eyes.”
“What was it supposed to be?”
“An alien’s head.”
“She sounds like quite a character.”
“She was.” Loren drifted off into the past for a moment. “I miss her.”
“I’m sorry she passed.”
“Me too. But, in a way, she became my hero. She wasn’t even here when I broke up with Duane, but it was like she was.” Loren shook his head, clearly frustrated he couldn’t put what he meant into words. “My aunt lived life her way. That’s what made her so great to be around. She was always herself, and encouraged other people to be themselves regardless of what other people said.”
“What was she told to do?” Stone asked.
“Get married and have kids.”
“What did she end up doing?”
“Stayed single and became a trucker.”
“Good for her.” Stone had always thoroughly enjoyed people who picked their own path.
“If someone told her she couldn’t do something, she did it anyway.” Loren frowned. “I wish I would have turned out to be more like her.”
“No reason you can’t start now.”
“Hey, you’re right.” Loren nodded, his expression thoughtful. “But I think you just want me to flirt with you some more.”
“Of course.” Stone winked. “I’d be a fool to not want that.”
“Am I hearing another distant rumble?” Loren turned his attention downriver.
“That would be Redneck Rapid.”
“I would ask if you’re kidding, but I know you’re not.”
“Not sure how this one got its name. One of the guys would know.” Stone swung the boat around to get a bead on the others. Even from a distance, he could see Jon and Channing sitting close with a lot of head nodding and smiling. Good. Jon needed a mate. Hell, all of them could stand to have a forever after partner. But more than any of the others, Stone really wanted one. He’d been wanting one for most of his life.
“After this, then we camp?” Loren’s voice sounded husky.
“Yeah.”
“It’s a big camp, right?” Loren asked for the second time.
“Like I said earlier, there’ll be plenty of room to spread out.”
“For privacy.”
“For privacy,” Stone echoed.
That powerful undercurrent between them seemed hell-bent on pulling them back together, but Stone resisted. They didn’t have that much farther to go on today’s run. Once they got to camp, though, fuck restraint. He’d make sure he bedded down next to Loren and if that was the direction he wanted to go, then, by the gods, Stone would happily take him there.