ChapterTwenty-Seven
Lips pressed against Sunny’s, their touch soft and tentative. Her pulse thudded in her ears, drowning all other sounds. Warmth covered her, and she blinked. Light shone brightly, making everything hard to see except the man before her.
Davis.
Gosh, he was beautiful. Laugh lines bracketed his eyes. A smile not tarnished with worry stretched across his face.
“Wake up, sleepyhead.”
He kissed her again, drawing the touch out until her fingers curled into his shirt and the pounding in her ears quickened like a competitive drum line. When he finally pulled away, her vision focused. She glanced around.
Where were they?
Open blue sky replaced the black spruce branches. Wildflowers swayed in the breeze. In the distance, Mount Denali graced the horizon, which made no sense.
“Come on, Firefly, it’s time to wake up.”
Davis gently shook her shoulder. She blinked. The dream faded to Davis leaning over her. Black spruce limbs crisscrossed behind him, eerie green moss hanging from the sickly branches. A shiver of dread raced along her neck, covering her skin in goosebumps. A line of worry slashed between his eyes.
Would she ever have that dream, or would it die in the Alaskan wilderness like so many others?
Her eyes stung, and she blinked. Davis’s mouth tightened even more in concern. She smiled broadly, hoping to play off her distress, grabbed the back of his neck, and kissed him with all the passion the dream had given her, though her heart was heavy with hopelessness. He didn’t hesitate, matching her desperation with his own. His weight pressed her into the moss and burned away the icy fear. She wrapped her arms around him and fisted the back of his shirt.
Much too soon, he pulled away. His ragged breathing skated across her skin. She unclenched her fists and smoothed the fabric of his shirt over his muscles that jumped with her touch.
“Yeah. That definitely hasn’t happened on a stakeout before.” He chuckled, kissing her one more time before rolling off her with a huff.
“That’s good.” She turned over, propped herself on her elbows, and scanned the darkened clearing. “I mean, I’ve met your friends, and I don’t think they’d have responded the same.”
“No. No, they wouldn’t.” He chuckled low again, and she relished the sound.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she nodded toward the empty opening. “What time is it?”
The sky was a dark, dusky blue with oranges and pinks threading in the west.
“It’s one. No movement for the last hour, so it’s time to go snooping.”
She snapped her gaze to where he still laid on his back. “I slept that long?”
He shrugged. “You were exhausted.”
“But… what about you?” How could she have been that out of it? “You’re just as tired.”
“I caught a few z’s. I’m good.” He levered himself up and kissed her again. “Ready?”
She nodded. “No.”
He smiled against her lips, kissed her one last time, and tapped her on the hip. “Let’s go, sleepyhead.”
They backed out of their hiding spot and worked their way through the forest toward the temporary building. A wolf howled in the distance, turning her fingers to ice. Another answered the call, the long mournful sound piercing the still, silent night.
She would not let the noise get to her.
Gritting her teeth, her eyes darted to the dark woods.
She wouldn’t.
Davis stopped at the edge of the trees and motioned her forward. “Stay close.”