He and Jaz would be in closer quarters tonight than he’d realized. Close enough that Kyan would probably have his head for it.
Not a problem, Liam told himself firmly. Except for actual sleeping, all other camp chores could be done outside. And hell, there was nothing wrong with sleeping beneath the stars either. With that in mind, Liam went to pull his bedroll out into the clearing.
And felt the first drops of light rain land on his cheeks.
15
Jaz
The pow pow pow of rain beating down on the tent sounded like gunfire. It shook the fly and ran in rivers along Vector Ascent’s high-tech fabric.
“No, no, no.” Jaz rushed over the sleeping bags and Liam and stuck her head outside the tent.
The light hint of rain from earlier in the evening was gone. Now, water slapped her skin with huge drops, soaking her hair and running down the front of her shirt at once.
“What the hell are you doing?” Liam hauled her back and rezipped the tent. “I prefer not to spend the next twenty-four hours trying to keep my gear from drowning. Been there, done that.”
Jaz shoved back her water-slicked hair. “I needed to see how bad it was.”
“Really?” Liam waved his hand toward the tent roof, which trembled beneath the downpour. “You couldn’t use your imagination?”
The sky lit up with lightning to punctuate Liam’s words, thunder following suit a few seconds later. Jaz groaned and lay back on the sleeping bag. There was no going out in this weather.
“Strategically speaking, the rain works to your advantage.” Liam readjusted his sleeping bag and lay back down. “No one will be able to go out in this, and given last night’s adventures, you need the rest more than the others do.”
Jaz closed her eyes. Liam had a point. But it also meant that she’d have to move a great deal faster than she was planning during the remaining days—and she preferred technique to sheer speed. “None of the others will be stuck with you for the day, though.”
“It’s karma,” Liam muttered. “The universe is inflicting penance.”
“For what?”
“I’ll make a list.”
Jaz snorted, but nestled back into her own down bedding, the heat from Liam’s body just inches away from hers filling the otherwise chilly tent. If someone had told her two weeks ago that she’d be happily dozing next to this man, she’d have called them mad. Yet here they were. A warm tent, a rainy day, the rhythmic pattering of the drops. With a fatigue-laden sigh, Jaz let herself fall back asleep.
The weather showed no sign of easing come morning. After sleeping in late, making coffee and breakfast oatmeal on a carefully contained stove, and spending several hours poring over maps and routes, eventually reality settled through the tent. They were stuck together for a while yet, and all solitary entertainment options had run out.
“Truth or dare,” Jaz said into the silence.
Liam rolled onto his side and propped his body onto his forearm. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I’m bored.”
Liam dropped back and stared at the ceiling, as he’d been doing all morning. “Watch the spider between the tent and the fly, see how far out you can calculate pi, write a poem.”
“I never took you for a coward.”
As if touched with a hot poker, Liam was up again in a moment. His eyes flashed with challenge and a slice of something Jaz hadn’t seen him show before. Mischief. Unabashed mischief. “Don’t say I didn’t try to give you a way out. Truth or dare, Jazmine.”
“Oh no, you don’t.” She pointed her finger at his chest. Unlike Liam, with his six-foot-two frame, she found the tent spacious, and now lengthened her back to full height as she sat cross-legged. “I asked first. Truth or dare.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Dare.”
“Go outside and sing the national anthem at the top of your lungs.”
Liam started toward the tent flap, then stopped, swearing softly under his breath. No one wanted wet clothes in the backcountry, and with the heavy downpour, going out meant full rain gear or… Sitting back down, Liam pulled off his socks and shirt, revealing defined pectorals and washboard abs. His pants came next until he knelt on the tent floor in nothing but black trunks stretched tightly over a well-muscled ass.
Jaz’s thighs twitched a little. She was used to men in good shape, but Liam’s body was something else altogether. She took a careful breath to keep her thoughts from showing. At least the trunks weren’t that white material that turned see-through when wet.
“Turn around,” Liam ordered. “I’m not getting my shorts wet.”
Now that was an idea. Jaz grinned, her voice dripping with sympathy. “Yes, walking around with wet undershorts all day tomorrow will be a little annoying, won’t it?”
Liam glared. “You think I’m going to be made miserable just so you can be entertained?”
“That sounds about right, yes.”
He snorted. “That only goes to show that you were never in the military. Modesty takes a far, far second place to comfort.” With no further hesitation, Liam stripped off his underwear, giving Jaz a good view of his smooth butt cheeks as he let himself out into the rain. A moment later, the most off-key version of the “Star-Spangled Banner” filled the sky.
Jaz covered her face with her hands, laughter bubbling out between her fingers. She’d never expected the stinker to actually go through with it—not really. But he had. Unabashedly. Liam Rowen—Liam—was out there buck naked and making up in volume what he lacked in musical talent.
Thunder answered Liam’s rendition of Francis Scott Key’s masterpiece, nature making its opinion of his voice known.
As Jaz’s laughter ran its course, heat started to fill her still-shaking cheeks. She could see the outline of his naked body through the tent’s blue fabric, the silhouette showing a large endowment that was impossible to ignore.
Jaz’s thighs clenched, heat trapped between her folds starting to trickle into the channel of her legs and back. She hadn’t meant to go here with her silly dare. Wasn’t prepared for her physical response, for the unrelenting volley of need and lust that now assaulted her. Damn. She wouldn’t mind a little walk through the cold rain herself just now. Just to settle down. To be able to think.
Liam finished torturing the national anthem and made his way back to the tent.
In the spirit of good sportsmanship, Jaz held out a towel for him and very precisely kept her gaze on his hair as he roughly rubbed himself dry. Wrapping the towel around his hips, Liam settled triumphantly on his sleeping bag. “My turn.” He rolled his shoulder as if to work out the kinks. “Truth or dare.”
Jaz’s stomach clenched. “Truth.”
“Coward.”
“Fine. Dare. Happy now?”
Liam raised his chin and studied her from above. “Show…me… Your most embarrassing tattoo.”
“How do you know I even have a tattoo?”
His brow twitched, his face intense and penetrating. “A hunch.”
Right. Closing her eyes, Jaz twisted around, slightly raised the back of her shirt, and tugged down on the elastic band of her shorts. She was only revealing a couple of inches of skin, but it made her feel naked. Vulnerable. Liam made her feel vulnerable. Her pulse fluttered.