Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

“That’s right,” I stood and pulled her to her feet. I bent down and gave her a kiss. “For luck,” I said, right before taking a running start to the cliff and jumping on it. I didn’t use the rope. I dug my hands into the rock, and when my foot found leverage, I launched off one side of the cliff and flew, landing on the other the same way.

“Oh my god, Jaxon Steel! I’m going to kill you for swinging around like Spiderman. You’re giving me a heart attack!”

“The food will do that to you before I do,” I shouted, pouncing toward the last edge I needed. My fingers gripped the rock, and I pulled myself up, using my upper body strength. “Alright,” I said, flipping to my stomach and held out my hands. “Ready for you.”

“Show off,” she cupped her hands around her lips and yelled.

With timid moves, she grabbed the rope and got used to its weight. She tested its strength by tugging on it, and the tree branch didn’t move. The rope was secure.

“You can do it,” I continued to give her words of encouragement because I knew she needed them.

She shook her head in denial but walked up to the rock. Planting her feet, she started hoisting herself up slowly.

Sloth slow.

But I couldn’t complain. She was trying.

Every time she pulled herself up, she still shook her head, doubting herself, but she still moved her feet. She was about halfway up when she made the mistake of looking down. “No, no, don’t—” I tried to warn her.

Too late.

“Oh no! No, freaking way. Get me down this instant, Jaxon. I’m going to die. Oh, god. I’m going to fall and die,” she started crying hysterically, a death grip on the rope which she probably imagined being my throat. “I can’t do it. I can’t,” she said, eyes red and swollen from her crying. She leaned herself against the rock and held onto the rope, not moving.

“You can do it. You can. You’re halfway to me, baby. You’re halfway. Don’t give up now. You’re so close.” I stretched my hands out to her, and she looked at them like they were lifelines, and she was drowning.

She took a deep breath and moved.

I let out a breath of relief. For a minute, I thought I’d have to go down and get her.

“I can’t do this. I’m so afraid of falling. It isn’t even being high up. It’s the fall that bothers me,” she kept saying, bringing herself down with all these negatives. As she cried, her focus locked onto her hands as she climbed.

Inch by inch, she gained ground and was getting closer to me.

All while being scared, crying, shaking, and doubting herself.

I was so fucking proud of her. “You’re so close,” I said. “Come on, baby. Get to me. I miss the hell out of you.”

Her entire body quaked, reminding me of ripples in the water from a vibration she shook so hard. Her foot settled in another place, but her foot slipped. She screamed and braced her feet on either side of a valley carved into the rock and held onto the rope. I needed her to move another hand. That was it. I would be able to reach her if she moved one more time.

“Open your eyes and look at me,” I said, doing my best to remain calm, but on the inside, I was a little afraid. She looked scared to death, and I had done that to her. If she let go of that rope, she’d fall and most likely die.

She tilted her head up and stared at me with those big beautiful eyes.

“Focus on me. Look how close you are, Quinn. Look.”

She stared at my hand, then hers, and then back at me again.

I nodded. “Look how far you’ve come. Don’t give up now.”

Her throat bobbed as she gulped, and she tugged herself up again. I didn’t waste another damn millisecond. I reached down and tightened my hand around her wrist, then heaved her up until she was lying flat against me as we lied down. I wrapped my arms around her as she cried. She clawed her nails into my chest, pinching the skin, and sobbed so loud; it echoed over the cliff into the empty air.

“Look,” I lifted her up, and she wiped her cheeks against my shirt to dry them off. “You did it.”

Her eyes rounded, and she peeked around me, staring over the cliff and then a certifiably insane chuckle left her throat. “Oh my god! I did it. I really did it.” She pulled me into a bear hug, and I couldn’t breathe. Little beast was stronger than she looked, I’d give her that. Quinn pulled away from me and looked at me like she had never seen me before. “Thank you for believing in me. I couldn’t have done that without your help. Thank you. I love you. I love you so much.” She pressed her lips against mine, and I wasn’t about to stop kissing the woman of my dreams when we were in the most romantic spot in California.

I broke the kiss before I got too heated and decided to fuck her right on this cliff. “Baby, there won’t be a day that goes by that I don’t believe in you. I’ll push you, but only because I know you can do it. Come on.” Standing, I reached down and helped her up. “Let’s see the view you worked so hard to see.”

Taking her hand in mine, we walked toward the front of the rock, shaped like a Strawberry, and she gasped when she saw what I had been talking about. “Oh my god.” She scanned from right to left in disbelief. “This can’t be real.”