Rock Hard (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Free

way.”
    “We can make it to the beach. It’s not that far,” she said.
    “Not the way the runoff is going,” he countered. “Trust me.”
    She stared at him for several beats. She needed him to trust her if she was going to find out if he was involved in the drug running. “Okay.”
    They hit the south side of the trail where the cliffs weren’t as high. There was a cut in the cliff that stair-stepped downward. Kade led the way and instinctively reached back to help her down the wet rock. Wynn lost her footing and slid into Kade. Her hands held tight to his shirt as her body molded to his. He steadied her and moved down the next set of rocks. He turned at the bottom to grab her waist to aide her down over the craggy floor. Wynn’s hands went to his shoulders as she slipped through the rocks.
    There was a wide overhang for them to take shelter under. They ran for it. Wynn ducked under the small alcove and sat onto the sandy floor. There was a campfire ring with a pile of half-burnt wood.
    “Kade Gentry.” He offered his hand, and she accepted his.
    “Wynn.”
    “You’re freezing.”
    Both of his hands smoothed over her hand to warm hers. Their eyes locked, and Wynn pulled away when her heart started to beat a little faster for the wrong reasons. Kade immediately went to work on the fire pit. He pulled off the bark from a twig and made a pile of dried leaves and kindling. He lit it and got the fire going.
    It was then that she saw that he was buttoned down with a radio, too. He pressed the clip on his shoulder. “43-50, 10-12. I’ve taken shelter with a climber to ride out the storm near Arrowhead.”
    “10-4, be advised I have an update from the weather service. Expect wind gusts up to seventy miles per hour. They’re also indicating wind shearing south of Mountain Parkway. It’s headed your way.”
    “10-4. We’ll stay put.”
    The storm was getting wild. She shivered and moved closer to the fire. Kade came around to sit beside her, blocking out the wind blowing the rain under the archway. The trees whipped. They were really well protected under the half cave. The drum of rain had them moving closer to talk.
    “Do you normally climb alone?” he asked.
    “Lately I do.”
    Wynn looked at his calloused hands and knew he was a climber, too. He stoked the fire, getting the flames to go higher.
    “You shouldn’t.”
    “No one to climb with,” she said.
    “You’re local?” he asked.
    “Yeah, I’m off Mountain Parkway, in the Barrens,” she lied.
    He nodded. “I haven’t seen you around before. I tend to know everyone who climbs around here.”
    “I’m new to the area.”
    “That must be it.”
    Wynn stared at the way his muscles flexed with the veins in his forearm. Slowly, she moved her eyes upward over his uniform to his face. He was watching her closely. Wynn didn’t know what to make of the sexual tension spiraling between them or the fact that she couldn’t look at Kade for very long without getting nervous, so she looked away. What was wrong with her? She was on the job.
    She stood up to walk to the edge of the alcove. “My car isn’t far. I can probably make it with the rain easing up.”
    “Not a chance. Sit down.”
    A zip of annoyance flexed over Wynn’s mind. “Do you get off on telling people what to do?”
    “Actually, no. It’s the keeping people safe that kicks it into high gear for me.” The corner of his mouth lifted as he looked at the fire.
    The slow taper of rain wouldn’t last long. Off in the northwest, purple clouds were headed their way. Wynn took a step out into the rain, then another. She glanced back to see if the ranger was taking note of her defiance. He wasn’t. She took one more step. His dark hair spilled over his forehead as he looked up.
    “It is a free country,” she said.
    “Wynn…”
    “It was nice meeting you, Kade!”
    She took off running down the trail. She heard the ranger curse as he gave chase. She ran harder but didn’t get far. She