She flapped a hand at him before he could enter her again. “Condom.”
He paused. “What?” His voice sounded strangled.
“Condom. We’re playing with fire.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, there was the familiar sound of her bedside drawer being yanked open. Frantic rummaging, a muttered curse, a rip of foil, and then he was back on top of her, pushing one of her knees up and sliding into her from behind.
It was the smallest of barriers, and it broke her heart to ask for it. To need it between them, for practical reasons and emotional ones.
He started fucking her again. From this angle, he went so deep, he wrung a breathy cry from her with each thrust. Her body no longerfelt like her own. It was his, and hers, just as his body was now his and hers. She was a mass of pure sensation, and she couldn’t have moved if she wanted to.
His thrusts took on a shorter, harder rhythm. The fingers of one hand dug into her hip while the other roughly caressed her ass.
“God, Gina,” he ground out. “I’m—fuck. You’re—damn it. I’m coming.”
In the back of her mind, she wanted to know what he was going to say. But her own body was lighting up, the intense drive of his cock pushing her over the edge again. Time enough for talk later.
“Me, too.” The words burst out of her in a gasp. “Don’t stop!”
He growled. “Never.”
His hips slammed, and her orgasm ripped through her. Her limbs shook. Her inner walls spasmed. She pressed her face into the mattress and cried out as it all became too much.
So much. He was just so much. He would be the end of her.
He groaned, his body tensing. A second later, he planted a hand on the bed. The tips of his hair brushed her shoulder blades and then he crashed down beside her. When he pulled her against him, she cuddled closer.
Snuggling his face into her neck, he whispered, “Don’t shut me out, Gina. We can figure it all out together.”
She exhaled. As hard as she’d tried to close herself off to him, this night had wrung her out, demolished her defenses, and left her heart open. Still, she wanted to believe him, to think they could have some kind of future.
Twining her fingers with his, she nodded. “Together.”
But at what cost?
Twenty-Five
When the little plane touched down in the small coastal town on Alaska’s panhandle that served as home base for theLiving Wildcrew, Stone felt lighter than he had in months. Exiting right onto the tarmac, he stopped and took a big, deep breath, filling his lungs with clean, crisp Alaskan air. It was cooler than Los Angeles, but June in Alaska was gorgeous.
He turned to help Gina down the steps. The rest of the production crew filed out behind her.
“You all right there?” he asked.
“I like planes.” She sent Jordy a side-eye glare. “Notseaplanes.”
Jordy threw up his hands. “We’re taking the helicopter this time. Relax.”
A bunch of theLiving Wildcrew waited to escort them to the Glacier Valley Inn, and then to Nielson HQ, where Gina would finally meet Stone’s family to film clips for the semifinals episode.
As much as Stone loved his family, he didn’t want Gina to meet them. Not there, not on camera, not as these personas they’d crafted for television. Sometimes, he didn’t even know who they really were anymore.
Miguel, theLiving Wildproducer, pulled Stone aside. “Do any of them know?”
Stone shook his head.
“Good.” Miguel clapped him on the back. “Keep it that way.”
A sense of unease descended like a cloud. It was a mistake to bring Gina here. It had been a mistake the first time, but he hadn’t had any say in it then. This time, Stone should have insisted. Maybe a couple of his siblings could have flown to LA for the semifinals footage instead. ThenLiving Wildcould have done a special episode with it, too.Living Wild in Los Angeles,or something.
