God, I was off-track.
“So, Amy,” I added. “If you want to work with your girl, you find a way and you make it happen. Be the tenacious one. Don’t let the boys-club attitude dictate anything.”
She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sounds like a dream.”
“You know,” I said. “Lawson saved two devil joeys from certain death. He almost died doing it, by the way. And then I almost died hauling his arse out of there. But . . .” I was getting off-track again. “We have a listed colony of devils in my park, up north. If your partner wanted to apply through my office to come and observe them, I’m sure I could make that happen. And it is protocol to have someone from the national park assist them, which you could also apply for, through my office. Because if someone from my office can’t attend, then I’m sure someone from a different national park, such as yourself, could step in.”
Her smile became a grin. “Are you serious?”
I chuckled. “Absolutely.” I packed away my gear. “You’ve proved yourself here. I know you’re capable, and I know Lawson’s impressed with your work.”
“He is?”
“Sure he is.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he hasn’t asked you not to touch anything. If he didn’t think you were capable, he’d have told you to sit with the others and not touch anything. In fact, he’s trusted you with his work, and he doesn’t trust anyone who isn’t great at their job. And I’ll let you in on a little secret,” I whispered. “He’s not impressed by many people.”
I could see the blush on her cheeks, even in the darkened cave. She smiled at me. “I’m very honoured.”
I looked up at the bats. “How about we get out of here. I don’t want to get peed on.”
“Good idea.”
We took all our samples and gear back into the first chamber and packed it all away; then I was about to go check on Lawson, but he walked out holding his laptop. He propped it up on one of the bags and opened the screen. “The night vision camera is all set up,” he explained. “I’d rather not disturb them any more than we have. Hopefully they’ll settle down now and return to normal behaviour, and hopefully the night camera will return some good footage.”
“That’ll record all night?” Connor asked.
Lawson gave a nod. “I’d like to get one set up on a more permanent basis, but that’s something we can discuss later. If this proves to be what I think it might.”
“And you think it’s a new species?” Vince repeated. “Not just a new species of butterfly.”
Lawson smiled. “It’s a strong possibility. And I’m afraid of what that might mean for your national park, your team, and how busy this might get for you. This is going to create quite the buzz.”
“So we can expect to make this trip quite a bit,” Connor deduced.
Lawson shrugged. “Well, Vince perhaps.”
Connor blinked back his surprise. “Oh.”
Lawson made a face. “Given his rappelling expertise.” Then he looked to me and made another face. “Not for any other reason.”
All I could do was laugh because the idea of Lawson wanting to spend time with Vince by choice was just funny. “I think we’ll be back a fair bit.” I looked to everyone in turn, still smiling. “How about we think about dinner?”
Lawson kept an eye on his laptop screen, and he took one last temperature recording, but soon enough it was late enough and cold enough to crawl into bed.
We still set up our tents inside the first chamber of the cave. They gave an added layer of insulation for warmth, and they gave me and Lawson some privacy.
Once the door was zipped, we brushed our teeth the best we could, pulled off our boots, and climbed into our double sleeping bag. It had been a pretty incredible day, and I had to wonder how much sleep Lawson would be getting tonight. I was one hundred per cent certain he’d be up every hour looking at that night vision screen, watching, tracking, and reporting on the butterflies.
“I’m cold,” he mumbled, snuggling into me.
I pulled him closer and rubbed his back. “Is that better?”
He snuggled in some more. “No. Still cold.”
For a brief moment, I wondered if he was beginning to feel unwell, but then he ran his hand down to my hip and gripped the waistband of my pants. “Still cold,” he said again, pulling me closer. “Would be a lot warmer with your body weight on mine.”
I chuckled but obliged. I would always oblige him. It took a bit of manoeuvring, all while trying to be quiet, and Lawson opened his legs as wide as the sleeping bag would allow.
Right, then.
“Lawson,” I murmured. “There are others close by. They might hear.”
“Hear what?” he whispered. It was dark, but with our noses touching, I could see his eyes. “I wouldn’t be so bold as to suggest anything that might make noise, Jack. But you could kiss me. You could kiss me for hours.”
I ghosted a kiss over his lips. “Promise you’ll be quiet?”
He smiled, victorious and daring. “Can you?”
I kissed him then, like I owned him, like he was mine to do with whatever I wanted. I slid my arms underneath him and held him, devouring his mouth and sucking on his tongue. I could feel it in his body when he surrendered to it. He relaxed and welcomed it, and he groaned low in his throat.
I pulled back abruptly. “Quiet, or I’ll stop.”
It took his eyes a second to focus, and then he shook his head. “More.”
Mmm, this Lawson was my favourite. The uninhibited, lost-to-the-pleasure Lawson who had no idea how sexy he was.
If we were home, I’d have him undressed and be buried inside him right now. And god, how I wanted to be.
But we weren’t at home.
So I took a second to cool it, despite how hard we both were, and I just enjoyed it for what it was. We weren’t going to get off, there would be no mind-blowing orgasm. We could just enjoy a make-out session instead.
We hadn’t just made-out in so long. Since Brennan came into our lives, basically. Our daddy time was spent getting from point a to z in the most efficient ways possible. Which was fine. It’s what most new parents did. But now we had some time to enjoy all those letters in after the a without getting to the z.
There was such intimacy in just kissing, in holding each other, in nuzzling necks, and more kissing. Soft kissing, deep kissing, tender and hard, tasting and biting, with no intention of taking it further.
It was fun and sensual, and my god, it felt so good just to reconnect with him like this.
“I love you,” I murmured into his ear.
He put his hands to my face and pushed me back so I could see him. He was smiling, kiss-swollen lips and a spark in his eyes. “I love you,” he mouthed before bringing our mouths back together.
Chapter Six
Lawson
I could kiss Jack forever. Or more to the point, I could have him kiss me forever. There was something to be said about the way he took charge, how he used his strength and his body to remind me that he was mine.