Lead Me Home (Fight for Me #3)(58)

All three of them squeezed hands and inched up to the edge of the cliff.

The roar of the waterfalls pouring into the lake a few yards away filled their ears, loud and stirring. Nikki drew in a deep breath, and Sydney peeked around her, his sister’s gaze bouncing between the two of them in her soft kind of encouragement.

Then she whispered it, the words no longer a shout but just as loud. “Fly, fly, dragonfly.”

They jumped.

Hand in hand.

Nikki screamed, and Sydney shrieked through her laughter.

Joy.

Always joy.

Ollie shouted as they plunged downward.

Loving it.

The feel of just . . . falling.

Falling.

He was falling.

He knew it then.

They hit the water. It split, swallowing them whole, sucking them down deep.

The three of them floated beneath the surface, surrounded by gushing bubbles and the streaks of light that penetrated the cool blue waters. Sound was distorted against his ears, and his heart beat harder in his chest as he used up all his air.

Or maybe it was Nikki who was doing it.

Stealing his breath.

She started to kick her legs through the water, and her foot scraped his upper leg as she propelled herself upward.

Just that graze rushed through him as if she’d raked her nails down his back.

The three of them broke the surface, laughing and gasping for air.

Nikki giggled the way she always did when she overcame a fear. After she’d tried something new that she wouldn’t have done without the two of them.

The roar of the waterfall was almost deafening as he looked across at Nikki with her head kicked back toward the sun.

Everything was so loud and silent at the same time as he stared.

Freckles and olive skin and honey hair.

He wanted to put his mouth on her so badly it hurt.

Sydney was already swimming for the shore, splashing with Rex as they drifted off in the distance, the two of them throwing barbs the way they did.

Ollie ducked under the water. He came up right in front of Nikki.

She gasped in surprise, then her mouth dropped open with more when he wrapped an arm around her waist and started to paddle them toward a cove in the cliffs.

“What are you doing, Ollie, you brute?” she asked, but it was a whisper.

All breathy from exertion.

Or maybe she felt the same way touching him as he did when touching her.

Like it meant something.

Like it meant everything.

Because she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. Her scent was all around him, his thoughts going haywire with having her like this.

“If you dunk me under that waterfall, you’re gonna pay for it,” she warned, trying to put lightness in her tone.

But there was no missing the way it came raspy from her throat.

Ollie tugged her into one of the secluded recesses carved out in the cliffs. A small vein of the waterfall dumped water into the lake from the rock protruding above their heads, making the cove completely secluded from the shore.

His feet barely touched, and she floated where he still held her around the waist.

“Ollie, what’s going on?” she whispered again, so low it was swallowed by the thunder of the waterfall.

He only wavered for a second before he threaded his fingers through her hair and murmured, “This.”

He dipped in and brushed his lips against hers.

Softly.

Barely there.

It didn’t matter. It was the most powerful thing he’d ever felt.

Intense and overwhelming.

Nikki gasped, but her hands went to the back of his head to pull him closer.

His tongue swept across her lips, prodding, praying she’d want to kiss him back.

Thank God. She did.

Her lips parted, and she plastered her body against his, her tiny boobs pressed against his bare chest.

Ollie grunted, overcome.

Was this really happening?

Their tongues danced.

Carefully.

Cautiously.

Her breaths soft, and his pants hard.

She pulled back, something like awe and confusion in her features. Exactly what he felt.

Confused.

Awed.

He ran the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip. “I’ve been wanting to do that for the longest time.”

A shy smile pulled across her mouth. “I’ve been wanting you to do that for the longest time, too.”

“Yeah?”

She bit at her lip. “Yeah.”

Her gaze traveled over his shoulder. Worry climbed to her face. He knew where her mind had gone.

“This is just between us, Nikki. You and me. It’s not anyone else’s business.”

“What about Sydney?” Guilt and more of that worry filled her words.

“Don’t think we should tell her.” He brushed back her hair, needing to touch her. He didn’t ever want to stop. “Not yet. One day . . . just . . . not yet. I don’t want her to get upset.”

We are three. Forever and ever, you and me.

Their pact swam through his mind. He shoved it down. For right then, he didn’t want to contemplate they might be doing something wrong. Leaving his sister when she’d been the one who’d brought them together in the first place.

Warily, Nikki looked back at him like she’d just thought all the same thoughts. “Okay. You and me.”