It squawked at her, the sound angry and strident.
Miranda yelped.
She stumbled backward. She lost her footing and skidded into the water up to her neck. Gasping, she struggled to regain her balance and then continued to slide away as the bird squawked again and ruffled its massive black wings. The thing paced on the bank, storklike legs twitching nervously.
Shit! Could birds swim? Did emus attack people?
“Miranda,” Dane said in a low voice behind her. “Careful.”
Screw careful. She turned and vaulted for the opposite bank, toward Dane. Forgetting about her state of undress or the fact that she was in danger of losing her wet bra, she plowed toward him. When he extended a hand to help her out of the water, she grasped it and hauled herself onto the bank.
The thing across from them trumpeted in alarm, and Miranda yelped again. She didn’t stop at climbing out of the water, and began to climb up Dane himself.
She leapt onto him, her legs locking around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. Her only thought was to get away from that damn bird, and Dane was safe. Dane wouldn’t let it eat her.
Once she’d climbed on top of him, she squeezed her eyes shut, breathing hard and waiting for the stupid thing to attack. A long moment passed in which she could only hear her own rapid panting, and then she heard a disgruntled cluck from the bird, a ruffle of feathers, and then nothing else.
Daring greatly, she peeked across the bank, and sure enough, the bird was leaving. She exhaled loudly in relief.
“Miranda?” Dane said in a weird voice. “Are you all right?”
She looked down at him.
Dane’s face was pressed between her br**sts. Her bra straps had fallen low on her shoulders, the entire garment slipping down several inches. Her ni**les were barely covered by the damp cups and were clearly outlined. Worse than that, she was clutching his head to her br**sts in an effort to anchor her body on the high point that she’d climbed in her distress…aka, him.
As she took stock of her body parts, she realized that her legs were still wrapped around him. She was pretty sure those were his hands all over her ass, too. “Hi there,” she said brightly, trying not to blush. “Guess what? I found an emu.”
“Looks like it,” he said in a husky voice, his hot gaze on her face.
Her bra strap slipped farther down her shoulder, and she shrugged a little, trying to get it to move back up.
His gaze focused on the strap. As she watched, Dane moved forward and his mouth brushed against her arm. She shivered as he caught the bra strap in his teeth and began to slide it slowly up one pale shoulder.
The breath escaped her lungs. She watched him gently use his teeth to slide her bra strap into place, scarcely daring to breathe. His hands still clutched at her ass, his fingers digging into her flesh in a way that turned her on.
“Dane,” she said softly, the word a breathy plea. While she’d hoped to tease him a little—okay, a lot—with her bathing, the reality was almost overwhelming to her senses.
And it made her hungry for more. After her bra strap was back in place, his mouth remained on her shoulder, and he very softly pressed a kiss to her collarbone. Miranda shivered, her hands clasping his neck harder. She wanted to be the one in charge—to tell him where and how to kiss her. But at the feathery kisses he was pressing to her skin, she shuddered and let him lead. It felt so good. With a small sigh of pleasure, she tilted her head to the opposite side, moving her wet hair and exposing her neck to him.
He took the suggestion. His mouth moved to the base of her neck, and he pressed a light kiss against the hollow next to her collarbone, then teased the spot with his tongue.
That gentle lick caused her pu**y to flare with need, and she gasped, pulling him closer. “Dane,” she murmured again, her voice softer than before.
He unhooked her legs from around his waist and slid her to the ground, and the lovely skin contact was broken.
Miranda gave a disappointed sigh as her first foot touched down. Her sigh was swallowed up when he continued to hold her other leg behind the knee. It forced her to hang on to his neck, pressing her sex against his body in a blatant fashion. Pressing her right up against his cock, which, even through his pants, was clearly hard and ready.
She gasped at the sensation, her gaze flicking up to his. Dane’s eyes were hooded and sleepy with desire, mere slits of green in his tanned face. There was a hint of a smile tugging at the line of his mouth, and she watched that mouth as he turned and leaned forward. Her ass rested on a low-hanging tree branch, and she was trapped between the tree and Dane’s massive form. Not that she wanted to escape. She wanted him to lean closer, to put those lips on her skin again.
She got her wish. Dane’s mouth swooped onto her own, capturing her gasp before she could release it. His tongue dove into her mouth, giving her a hard, possessive flick. It danced along her own tongue, twining briefly before darting to graze against her parted lips. He pulled away just long enough for her to catch her breath, and then he was sucking on her lower lip, as if he could devour her whole.
His fingers gripped behind her knee and pulled her closer, and she felt his hips rotate ever so slightly. The subtle gesture pressed his erection against the core of her sex, sending liquid heat flooding through her body. She felt her pu**y grow slick with desire, the thin scrap of her panties not leaving her much protection against the abrasive fabric of his jeans—something that turned her on as well.
Gasping her pleasure, Miranda dug her fingernails into his shoulders, leaning in to take his mouth in her own again. As their tongues locked, his hips pressed against her own, and she felt the hard length of him pushing, pushing against her core. Her mouth devouring his, her hand slid between them and rubbed along the hard ridge of his c**k in the jeans, and she heard him groan with need.
The sound, raw and full of hunger, made her toes curl with utter pleasure.
His mouth pulled away from hers again, as if it were a fight between the two of them to take control and a kiss was a surrender. Instead, his mouth slid to her chin, tasting her skin there and then sinking lower, to her throat, her collarbone, and her breastbone, teasing the sensitive flesh there where the curve of her breast began.
Miranda suddenly wished her bra had fallen off entirely. She wanted his mouth on her ni**les; tugging at them with his teeth was driving her crazy.
His mouth slid over her bra and his teeth nibbled at her sensitive skin, then he stopped with an odd expression on his face. “Tastes like stream water,” he said. That was all the warning she got before he tugged at the cup and exposed her breast, and then his mouth was on her nipple. His tongue rasped against the aching tip, eliciting a gasp and a writhing arch from her. “Much better,” he said huskily, the words blowing across her nipple before he dove at it again.