by Penny Wylder
The discharge is easy, and since she was pronounced healthy, there’s nothing that I have to do. Her admittance and discharge records will be enough to prove that we did our due diligence. I hate that I have to think that way, but it’s true.
Diana puts up a fight when they force her into a wheelchair to exit the hospital, but it’s policy for everyone. I hide my laugh as I watch the nurse wheel her ahead of me. This woman is a force of nature. She almost died and she still wants to do everything herself.
When the valet pulls up with my truck, I let her get in herself, even though my hands are itching to touch her again. But I shouldn’t. I really shouldn’t.
Every time I repeat to myself that it’s a bad idea, it seems less and less true. And now it’s basically the only thing that I can think about.
The ride back to the lodge seems faster. Probably because I’m not overwhelmed with worry about whether she’s okay. Diana is still stealing glances at me, but she doesn’t say much on the drive back.
I take her all the way to the guest cabin, and this time when I get out of the truck, I make it to her door before she opens it. There’s a smile on her face, but suspicion and worry too. “You’re not going to carry me inside, are you?”
“No,” I say, as I help her down from the truck. Standing in front of her even closer than I did this morning, it’s clear just how much taller than her I am. She has to tilt her face up to meet my eyes, and I purposely don’t step out of her way.
This is a bad idea. It’s such a bad idea.
“Thank you for saving my life,” she whispers.
I can’t help myself. Closing the remaining inches between us, I kiss her. Even though I shouldn’t. Even though it’s still broad daylight and anyone can see us. I don’t fucking care.
Diana’s mouth opens under mine, and it feels like she blooms under my touch. Her arms wind up around my neck, and our tongues dance together like they were always meant to do that. It’s the best kiss I’ve ever had.
I let my hands slide down her body, exploring the curves that I was barely able to feel while carrying her. The soft curve of her back and ass, the feeling of her chest pressing against mine. I’m harder than a rock, and practically dizzy with the sensation.
No one has ever done this to me. The chemistry feels like it could explode, and I need to back away or we’re going to do some things that are very inappropriate for someone who’s recovering from a near-death experience.
But at the same time, her lips are addictive. They’re soft, and she’s kissing me back just as hard. If this kiss were a battle, I wouldn’t be able to tell who’s winning. My thoughts are running wild, imagining what would happen if I pushed her back onto the seat of the truck and explored her more.
Would she be wet for me? Would she moan? Fucking hell, I’m going to need a cold shower and the longest jerk-off session in history to get through the sheer level of arousal in my system.
I should get a fucking medal for pulling back from her, but I manage. My voice is raspy with lust and desire when I speak. “It was my pleasure to rescue you.”
Diana’s entire face is flushed, lips a bit swollen from the unexpected intensity of our kiss. She doesn’t say anything as she slips around me, and I don’t take my eyes off her as she walks into the guest house.
She looks back only once, and I make no secret that I’m staring at her ass. It’s a great ass, and I’d love to get more familiar with it. But right now she needs to sleep, even though I want to haul her back and drag her to my house.
The door closes behind her and the connection snaps. I need to think about something else. Something that will get my dick under control before I get to the office. And I can’t keep thinking about Diana and her body and the way she kissed me back.
Yeah. I’m in trouble.
5
Diana
Holy hell.
I lean against the door in the small entryway of the guest house and try to catch my breath. That, I wasn’t expecting, and now I’m so turned on that I can barely breathe. That man can kiss.
It’s been so long since I’ve been properly kissed that it was overwhelming. But even though it’s been a while, I don’t know that I’ve ever been kissed like that. It was barely contained power and lust. He’s so gorgeous that I already couldn’t stop looking at him, and the second he touched me…
Now I understand what people mean when they talk about seeing fireworks. Because that’s exactly what I fucking saw. The way he kissed was demanding and unyielding, and I loved that. There was no hesitance.
The second he touched me, my body lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. I didn’t bring my vibrator on this trip, but now I wish that I had. And that voice after we kissed? I swear to God that voice might be enough to make me come when I’m this turned on. Him whispering in my ear…I shiver.
How the hell am I supposed to sleep when I know that kisses like that exist? That the significant hardness I felt in his pants exists?
God, it feels like I can never go back now.
I hear laughter in the living room and smile in response. I’m glad that my friends are having a good time. The last thing I want is for the weekend to be ruined over an accident. Even if I did stop breathing.
Taking a deep breath, I brace myself and walk into the living room.
There are already two wine bottles on the coffee table, and my friends are draped over couches, laughing and flushed. I know them well enough to know that they’re not drunk yet, but they’re well on the way.
As soon as they see me, it’s a festival of shrieking that makes my head hurt, and I’m swarmed by them and pulled into hugs before Emily yells for them to back the fuck up and give me some space.
“Are you okay?” Emily asks. “Tell me everything is fine. Please. I’ve been worried sick and have said about half a million times that I should have gone with you.”
“She really has,” Marie says. “Just so you know that she’s not lying.”
Sarah pulls me over to the couch. “Now you have to tell us what happened! One minute you were in the boat and the next you weren’t. It was a fucking whirlwind. And then Leo was in the river too—” she cuts herself off. “Sorry. Story time with you.”
“Honestly, there’s not much to tell,” I say, the exhaustion hitting me again as the glow of Leo’s lips fades away. “I couldn’t find the surface of the water and I could barely tell which way was up. I didn’t have a chance to take a breath when I went in, and then I got slammed against a rock. I woke up when Leo revived me.”
Julie puts her wine glass down on the table. “I know that he was doing that to you know…save your life…but holy shit. You could use more where that came from, if you know what I mean.”
I laugh softly, trying not to give anything away. I could indeed use more where that came from. A lot more. Over and over again. Because without a doubt it would be the best sex that I ever had. The chemistry alone would blow me away, but the way that Leo kissed told me that he knows what he’s doing.
And God, do I want that fantasy I had this morning of his beard scratching my thighs to come true.
“Yeah,” I say. “That was a confusing way to wake up.”
Emily waves a hand. “For real though, are you okay? What did the doctor say?”
“I’m banged up but fine. Probably a concussion, but I don’t have any troubling symptoms.”
“Good.” She flops backward onto the couch. “I would murder you if you weren’t okay.”
“You realize that defeats the purpose, right?”
My best friend stares at me with a blank face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The rest of us burst into laughter, and it’s like that’s the last of the energy I have. “You guys keep drinking. Keep having fun. I’m going to sleep for a while.”
“Of course, Di. We’ll be here if you need anything, okay?”
Everyone agrees, and Julie jumps up. “I’ll make you a cup of tea.”
I’m a
bout to protest, but a cup of tea actually sounds amazing. “Thanks.”
The clothes that Emily grabbed from my suitcase are good, but I change into something a little lighter while Emily hovers. “You okay, Em?”
“You’re seriously asking me that? You almost died!”
“I didn’t though.”
“Still.”
As soon as I’m in the bed, she’s working on the blankets. “Are you tucking me in right now?”
“Yes.” She makes a face. “Don’t argue.”
I catch her hand. “Em, I’m fine. The doctor just said I need to rest and recover. It’s your bachelorette weekend. Please go have fun.”
She sighs. “Okay. But it’s not as fun without you.”
“I’ll be back in no time,” I say, but I’m already falling asleep, my body not giving me a choice.
In the distance, I hear her close the door, and then and their voices as they probably start talking about me. But the last thing that I think of before fading away is Leo’s lips on mine.
6
Leo
In the time it takes for me to drive back to my house and then walk back to the office, I manage to get my body under control. Given that thoughts of Diana are pressing into my mind on all sides, I’ll still need that cold shower after our meeting. But at the very least, I won’t have a hard-on in front of my best friends. Something to be grateful for.
Hudson and Asher are already in the tiny office that we share in the main building, though it’s rare for all of us to be in here at the same time. It’s a chaotic space, papers covering the desk and nearly pushing out of the filing cabinet in the corner.
Not only are they both here, they look grim. The way they both turn and look at me when I walk in sends a chill down my spine. What the fuck?
“Why do I feel like I just walked into a firing squad?”
“Is she okay? The guest?” Asher asks, and it’s not lost on me that he didn’t answer the question.
I nod. “Yeah. Pretty much an all clear from the doctor. Rest and monitoring. We’ll be fine.”
“That’s good,” Hudson says.
“I agree. Now can you please tell me what the fuck is going on, so I don’t feel like you’re both about to murder me and dump my body in the river?”
Asher chuckles and rubs a hand over his face. “We’re not going to kill you, Leo.”
“But we do need to talk to you,” Hudson says. “About the money.”
The second payment on the land for Blue Mountain Wilderness Lodge is due in a week. Nerve wracking as always, given the size of the payments, but nothing out of the ordinary. “What about it?”
“Your portion isn’t in the account yet,” Asher says. “And that’s never happened before.”
Hudson holds out a hand like he’s holding me back from something. “We just want to check that everything is okay before it’s too late to fix it.”
Shock rolls through me. I blink. And another time. “What?”
My friends look at each other. “You didn’t know?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I had no idea.”
I generally don’t like to talk about money, and they know that. Because I come from a wealthy family, and I’ve never been particularly comfortable with that. My whole life I’ve made a point of trying to make my own way. Working through school and forging my own path.
My family has never understood it, and constantly tries to give me money that they view as mine, but I never take it. That is, until we started Blue Mountain.
Opening a property like this is both a huge investment and a huge risk, and I didn’t have the money to contribute. So I made the decision to take a loan from my family for the portions of money that I needed for the land. They insisted that the money was a gift and that I didn’t have to pay it back.
I’m still planning to, though.
An uncomfortable thread of anxiety swims in my gut. The money has never been late before. My family’s accountant is the best, and he’s on top of his shit. What happened? Is something wrong that I didn’t know about? I have to fix it. And fast. A week isn’t a lot of time to fix things with money of this magnitude, but I’ll do it. I won’t be the reason that Blue Mountain fails. Or loses its property.
“Fuck,” I say. “I’m really sorry. I have no idea why, but some wires must have gotten crossed. I’ll get it sorted first thing in the morning.”
They both look relieved. “We hoped it was something like that,” Asher says.
“Yeah, I’m really sorry.”
Hudson shakes his head. “Don’t apologize for something that’s not your fault. Just keep us posted.”
I snort. “No kidding. That’s the last thing we fucking need.” They both laugh. “Oh, and rafting is off the table until further notice. I’ve never seen the river like that. It’s my fault that I didn’t double check after my last route, but it’s never been that high.”
Hudson looks at Asher. “Will that cause cancellations?”
“It might. But hopefully not too many. Especially since it’s not like we can control the amount of snow that melts into a river.”
I’m the one that laughs this time. “Yeah.”
“I can’t believe how bad that would have been if you hadn’t gotten to her.”
The familiar hollow feeling that I had when I was driving Diana to the hospital comes back. “I don’t even want to think about that.”
“Best not,” Asher agrees.
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll let you know what happens with the money.”
I’m sure that it’s a misunderstanding. It has to be. I can’t think of a reason why my parents would drop what they agreed to. It’s probably just a delay of some kind. But if it isn’t, I would still make it work. The one good thing about coming from money is that banks love you. There would be no issue securing a loan, but I’d rather not do that. Plus, even without a problem getting approved, I doubt that I could get the money in six days.
But it’s a problem for the morning. Right now, I’m heading back to my house to strip and take care of my cock, which is more than eager to spring up at the slightest thought of Diana and her fantastic ass.
I don’t even bother putting away my clothes as I strip on the way to the shower. Fuck a cold shower, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.
The water is barely hot before my hand is running up and down my shaft, the shower echoing with the sound of my groans. She’s not even here, and this is what she does to me. That kiss explodes into my memory, and I let it go further in my mind. The way I wish it had gone if we’d been somewhere more private and we hadn’t been coming back from a hospital.
In my imagination, I push her back onto the seat of the truck, listening to her panting breaths and running my hand down the center of her chest. What color would her nipples be? Would they match her lips? Or would they be a deeper, richer pink? Either way, I want to see them—make them hard. See if she’s the kind of woman that loves a mouth there or if I can make her come from touching them alone.
I imagine pulling down those soft yoga pants she’d worn back from the hospital and finding her wet. Soaking, just for me. And that’s as far as I get before pleasure blazes down my spine like fire, and I come the hardest I’ve ever come while alone.
Shit.
And that wasn’t even the best part of that fantasy. That best part is yet to come. Maybe I do need a cold shower, otherwise I’m just going to keep imagining and keep going until I come again. And again. Until I can’t anymore.
That’s how much I want her.
As if my cock hears me, it grows hard again like I’m a fucking teenager ready to fuck like a rabbit. The body wash is in my hand before I really even think about it, the new slippery sensation sending my mind into overdrive as I imagine that it’s her and her heat surrounding me.
It’s going to be a long night.
The entire night is restless, even though I come more times in a night than I have in recent memory. Because
it’s official. Diana is under my skin. And now I’m exhausted and somehow still wanting more. But if there is more, it has to be with her. There’s only so much my hand can do.
Right now I have to put that aside because I have phone calls to make. I turn on the coffee maker and send a prayer out into the universe that it’s just a misunderstanding or a mistake. That’s all I can really afford it to be.
Once I have a cup of caffeine that makes me feel more like a human, I dial my family’s accountant. His name is Jerry, because of course it is. He’s a nice man, but if you thought about the word accountant, he’d certainly fit the bill.
It’s early, but he answers. “Hello?”
“Hi Jerry, this is Leo Harris.”
He makes a sound of recognition. “Hello Leo. What can I do for you?”
“I just wanted to check on the land payment that’s expected next week,” I say clearing my throat. Even talking about money like this makes me feel like a pretentious ass. “My business partners have told me it hasn’t arrived.”
“Oh,” he says. “I apologize. I thought you knew. Your parents put a hold on the money, but they didn’t specify a reason. I assumed they would have talked to you about it.”
Fuck. “Okay, thanks, Jerry. I’ll give them a call and see what’s up.”
“Sorry about that.”
“No worries,” I say while my hand grips the counter hard enough to feel it creak. “It’s not your fault.”
It isn’t. Whatever my parents are doing has nothing to do with Jerry, that’s for sure. But it doesn’t make it any less annoying.
This time I call my father. Of my two parents, he is the more likely to level with me. And he answers quickly, too. “Hello, son.”
