Dreaming in Color Cameron Dane (ebook reader library TXT) 📖

with a man he'd known as an adult only in his dreams, and he was about to trust him enough to jump off a cliff. That was so unlike the person he was back in Austin.

Marek took Colin's hand and guided him right to the ledge. “Ready?”

Colin looked at Marek and all his jittery nerves settled and transformed into anticipation. He won't let me get hurt. Colin squeezed Marek's fingers. “Ready.”

Nodding sharply, Marek called, “One, two, three…” He swung their linked hands backward then forward, helping momentum. “Jump!”

Colin leaped with all of his might, shooting through the rush of the icy waterfall and out the other side. Adrenaline hit at full speed, and he screamed as he flew through the air. He swore he heard Marek shout with laughter next to him; his grip on Colin's hand remained tight enough to grind bone on bone. A blaze of sunlight blinded Colin, and he plunged downward at incredible speed, hitting the water with a jolt of force and cold. He closed his eyes a split second before he sank through the chilly liquid like a stone, but he already had his breath held the entire way down, and he knew how to swim. It didn't matter. Marek still gripped his hand in a bruising clasp and gave him the tug needed to surge to the surface.

His face breaking through the water, Colin wheezed and inhaled half a dozen giant gulps of much-needed air. Every molecule in his body popped and tingled with a sense of being completely alert. Water sluiced over his nudity with an intimacy he had never experienced while taking a shower or bath, and the sunlight twinkled over his face in a warm caress. This was elemental, and it pushed at pieces of himself—the freer spirit—he hadn't let see the light of day in many years.

Marek tugged Colin's hand, and Colin finally opened his eyes. Blinking rapidly, droplets of water fell from his lashes and splashed on his cheeks. It took a second for his vision to clear, even though Marek treaded water right next to him.

“Not done yet,” Marek said. “Now you have to swim to the side.” He released his fingers from the death grip he had on Colin. “You'll need both hands to do it.” Pushing his wet hair off his forehead, Marek shifted to his back and took a few small strokes away but kept his focus on Colin. “I'll race you to where we dropped the backpacks.” He floated while Colin did a sidestroke and pulled even. “Ready…set…go!”

Marek stroked on his back, but Colin quickly shifted to freestyle, slicing through the water with full, broad glides of his arms and aggressive kicks from his legs. He didn't care if he won, but once again his juices were flowing at full pace, and he moved through the water with all the speed he could muster. Marek's big body surfed right past him, and competition surged another burst of energy in Colin's limbs. Very quickly, his hand touched the moss and rock natural wall of the pool…and Marek's leg that dangled over the edge.

Reaching down, Marek grabbed Colin's arm and hoisted him out of the spring. He brushed the water off Colin's body, smiling sheepishly. “That wasn't really a fair race. I'm going to guess I swim a whole lot more than you do.”

“Don't worry.” Colin slid his hand down Marek's chest to his stomach, reveling in the hard, tight flesh. He eased around Marek's trim waist to the small of his back and then went lower, jerking him closer with a hold on his ass. “I wasn't going to hold the advantage against you.” He teased his middle finger between the snug globes of Marek's buttocks and flicked his entrance.

Marek swayed into Colin, reached back, and held Colin's fingers over his crease. “Mmm, that's nice. So, other than the fixed race, what did you think?”

Colin's gaze drifted to the fall, and his chest pounded with an extra kick, beyond what touching Marek did to him. “You know, I was trying so hard to keep up with you in that race, I didn't take time to notice the change in the water temperature.” He let go of Marek and cocked his head to the side. “I think we need to do it again.” He waggled a brow. “Maybe more than once.”

Marek barked with laughter. He snaked his hand around Colin's neck and dragged his mouth in for a hot kiss. Pushing his tongue through, Marek licked fast and deep but just as quickly ended the tangle. “Damn, I knew you'd love it here. Your turn to lead.” He spun Colin toward the makeshift steps and smacked him on the ass, stinging his flesh. “You'll do fine in your bare feet. You go first.”

That sense of rightness Colin felt in his dreams settled on him again in reality, and as he hiked to jump with Marek again, he shivered.

I don't ever want to leave.

* * * * *

Colin floated near the edge of the pool, luxuriating in the warm beat of the sun raining down on him while still enjoying the water under his back. He and Marek had jumped off the waterfall shelf at least six times. Needing a break, this time Colin lingered in the pool rather than immediately letting Marek pull him up to solid ground.

Peeking with one eye, Colin spotted Marek on the bank, leaning back with his weight resting on his elbows, his head tilted up to the sun.

“So, is this how you spend your days now?” Colin asked, broaching carefully. God, though, he craved knowing more about this man. “Split between hiking in mountains and swimming in the ocean?”

“Nooo.” Marek drew out the word, answering without moving or opening his eyes. “The greenhouse takes a lot of time to tend properly, and I actually sell some of what I grow to a restaurant on the main island that specializes in vegetarian food.”

Colin pushed upright to treading water, his gaze fully