Cruel Temptation

by Callahan, Kelli

  “The holiest,” he snickered at his smart reply.

  It made me smile. I had forgotten he laughed at himself a lot, and it was reassuring that hadn’t changed.

  “It’s so unique and beautiful,” I said, watching as the cliff disappeared in the distance. I turned around in my seat, still stunned by how Jaxon lived. Here I was, a part-time nurse, even though I had millions given to me by my family, I could never make as much money as Jaxon makes being a nurse.

  Pat on the shoulder though— what I did was legal.

  “Thanks, that is what I wanted. Plus, if anyone shot at us, they would just chip the rock, and the windows are bulletproof.”

  “Cool,” I said, turning around one last time to see if I could steal another glimpse of the wonderous cliff-home. It was out of sight, blocked by the beautiful forest of tall redwoods. It truly was a beautiful area.

  “So, the town is small. Boutiques only. We don’t live near a mall unless you want to travel.”

  “That’s okay. I like supporting small businesses. They are essential,” I said and pressed the button to the heated seat. “Oh, yeah.” There was nothing better than toasty buns.

  “Still love heated seats?”

  “Till the day I die.”

  “I need a warmer,” he said.

  “Oh, here,” I reached forward to press the button, and he grabbed my hand, redirecting it to his hard cock.

  “I’m fucking freezing, baby,” he said, rubbing my palm along his shaft. He wasn’t semi-hard, but fully erect.

  “You don’t feel cold.” I played his game, knowing he liked it. “You feel really…hot,” I emphasized the T in the word, stroking his cock faster and faster.

  “I’m getting there. I’m definitely,” he hissed and thrust his hips, which caused his foot to hit the gas pedal, lurching us forward onto the main road sooner than he wanted. A car honked and swerved out of the way at the same time Jaxon corrected the wheel. He jerked the wheel to the side of the road, and I removed my hand from his cock since my heart raced like a thoroughbred racehorse. “Hot,” he finally finished his thought, with both hands on the wheel at 10 and 2.

  “Maybe fooling around while driving isn’t such a good idea,” I hesitantly admitted, gripping that ‘oh-shit’ handle above me for dear life.

  “As much as I hate to agree with you because there is nothing better than the feel of your hands on me, I don’t think I’m mentally capable of watching the road and enjoying your touch. It’s too easy to forget what the hell I’m doing when your hands are on me.”

  It was the best compliment a woman could receive.

  He took a few calming breaths to slow his heart, a beat I could see through the fabric of his tight, sexy shirt, and put the car in drive as we got on the road again. We sat in silence for a few moments, trying to get over the close encounter with death. He flipped on the radio, and classic rock sounded through the speakers.

  Why wasn’t I surprised? Seemed his taste in music hadn’t changed either. Jaxon was a free spirit, the kind of man that had the ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude and did whatever he wanted. I remembered one time, the year escaping me, but I remembered it was summer. It was hot as hell outside. Heatwaves floated through the air, and Jaxon’s air conditioning went out in his 1980 Jeep. It wasn’t a wrangler, so he sawed off the entire top of his Jeep, like a Wrangler, just shittier looking. It was fun to ride in, though. The air in my hair as he drove like a new teen who had just got his license, and kicked up dust on the dry, parched dirt road.

  He was crazy, wild, and dangerous. I never wanted him to change. He made me want to live life just like him. He brought out the wild side I kept buried, a part of me that a lot of people would frown upon.

  Jaxon was my liberation, a freedom unlocked within myself.

  As we pulled into town, I noticed how the building were nestled right in the mountains. Miles of forest surrounded us, and since we were high up in elevation, the clouds skimmed over the trees, eerie yet beautiful. No wonder Jaxon lived here. It was too beautiful to even want to live anywhere else.

  We parked, and across the street, I noticed a small restaurant with outdoor seating that said, ‘The Lighthouse Grill’. I could smell the food from here, and my mouth watered.

  “You’re hungry. Seriously? After that massive heart attack, you had for breakfast?”

  “I’m a growing girl! Don’t judge me.”

  He grabbed my hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing my knuckles gently. “Better feed you before you get all hangry and shit. I know that hasn’t changed. Come on,” he pulled me to the delicious, mouther-watering scent of pulled pork.

  “Really?”

  “Anything for you, Quinn. We will get food to go too. After the hike, we will be starving.”

  A few hours later, belly stuffed with a two-pound cheeseburger and fries and dozens of shopping bags in hand, we made our way to Strawberry Rock, whatever that was. There was food in the backseat, hoagies, and they smelled so good. They were zipped up in a backpack we just bought. He got me everything.

  Jewelry, dresses, pajamas, underwear, lingerie, skincare, makeup, shoes, and whatever else I saw and wanted— he bought.

  It made me feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing since she was a hooker. I knew I wasn’t Pretty Woman, but still, a rich guy buying me stuff after having sex with him? I couldn’t shake the similarities.

  My eyes fell closed as we drove, the curvy roads lulling me to sleep as soft rock played in the background.

  I was in the weird stage of sleeping and awake, groggy, and comfortable with my ass warm, and the seat leaned back when the tires crunched over gravel, and we came to a stop. I closed my eyes briefly and reached down to press the lever to bring the seat up. I fumbled as I blindly searched for it.

  “I bet you could eat and sleep for the rest of your life, and you’d be happy as a clam.”

  I sat up and grinned. “Are you offering me that way of life? I’ll gladly take you up on it.”

  He leaned over the middle console and placed a large hand on my cheek. “Baby, you want me to hand feed you. I’ll fucking pluck grapes off the vine and plop them in your sexy mouth.”

  “Don’t tempt me, or I’ll become a baby maker that only pops out your kids and eats and sleeps.” I realized what I said and leaned back, glanced out the window, and grabbed the door handle to get the hell out of the car. I didn’t want him to think I was pushing him into having kids or anything. I opened the door, and his hand snaked out and stopped me from enjoying the great outdoors.

  I slapped my leg when a bug landed on it.

  Okay, maybe not so great, after all.

  “Is that what you want? Do you want kids?”

  “Do we have to talk about it now? Let’s start walking. Didn’t you say it was a mile and half to the rock? We should get going before it gets dark.” In eight hours. I panicked. I ripped my arm from him and bolted out the door, slamming it with too much force. I started to walk toward the forest, the worn tiny trail nestled between two fence posts. I had no idea if I was going the right way, but it was better than talking about kids with Jaxon.

  We had just gotten back together after ten years, a prison sentence, betrayal, and whatever else festering between us. The last thing the man wanted to talk about was kids. We were young. We had time.

  “You better fucking stop right there, Quinn. I’ll bend you over my knee right in the middle of fucking nowhere and spank you.”

  When he first said he’d spank me, I was livid, then when I thought about it, I got excited, and my clit pulsed and my pussy got wet. I was ready for him. He could take me behind that tree and fuck me.

  No man should have that kind of power over me, but Jaxon always held the reins, waiting to reel me in when I was pulled against him.

  I spun on my heels, pebbles scratching the soles of my new hiking boots. I wanted tennis shoes, but Jaxon refused to have me walking up a mountain in shoes that couldn’t gr
ip the earth. He feared for my safety.

  It was cute.

  “Jaxon, I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m sorry,” I said. “Maybe one day. I’m not trying to push. I wasn’t dropping a hint or anything.” I stopped speaking when a couple came out of the narrowed trail between the fence posts. They were smiling, laughing at something the guy whispered into the cute brunette’s ear. They looked like professional hikers in tight pants, baseball caps, and the woman wore a cute crop top showing her lean belly.

  “Hi!” she waved, greeting me with enthusiasm.

  Ugh, she was nice and pretty. I liked her immediately. I gave her a small wave just as the guy opened a SUV door for her.

  Once they got into the SUV and pulled away, Jaxon closed the space between us, shrugging the strap of the backpack up his shoulder when it slipped. He didn’t say anything. He took my hand, and we made our way through the same space the couple came out of. Once we passed the fence post, the tall congregation of trees created shade that made the temperature drop a few degrees.

  Jaxson was right to have me wear boots. The ground was slick and wet, the thick mud, causing my boots to sink into the dirt, and with every step, the soles pulled away with a suction sound. A creek sounded in the distance. The wind smelled like rain, and the leaves rustled. Twigs snapped under our feet, and butterflies fluttered in front of us, their blue wings flapping furiously to get away from us.

  Birds chirped, and as we climbed the steep hill, I noticed a small creek cutting through the ground, descending from rock to rock as it made its way down to the bottom of the hill. We walked in silence, and I knew right then Jaxon was mad at me. He wasn’t speaking, he didn’t turn around to look at me, and whatever was built between us, started to crumble.

  We were forged out of stone, but the foundation was cracked, the roof started to cave in, and the home I thought we rebuilt was falling into a pile of what used to be and what had been.

  How many times did we have to dig our way out of the rubble to find each other again?

  “I want that,” he said out of nowhere, leaping over a falling tree.

  I stepped on the log, and he lifted me up and off until my boots were on the ground again. “What?” I asked, confused about what he was talking about.

  “Kids. The whole nine yards. With you.”

  My foot slipped on a rock, and Jaxon’s arms tightened around me, saving me from a few broken teeth. Right now, nothing was under us, but jagged stones, eroded over time into sharp points.

  “Maybe not the best place to drop information like that on you,” he said, lifting me into his arms as he carried me over the rugged terrain.

  “Can I tell you a secret?” I asked, my arms looped around his neck as he carried me.

  “You can tell me anything,” he said, placing me on my feet.

  I was out of shape. I hadn’t even done much of the walking, and I was huffing and puffing. My stomach cramped, and I was thirsty.

  And hungry.

  “I thought we would already be married and have babies by now. When we were nineteen, I had it all planned out. Marriage at twenty-two, kids at twenty-five, a house with a white picket fence. And then….”

  “Yeah,” he said. “And then.” He knew what I was talking about without it needing to be said. “It’s a good dream, Quinn. And I want it with you.”

  “Yeah?” I asked, blinking up at him as he pulled me into his arms. A light mist of rain hissed against the leaves as he leaned in and kissed me.

  It was a toe-curling kiss, the kind that made my head spin and my heart drum.

  “Yeah, baby. I want it all. I wanted it all years ago. And now that I have you again, the last thing that I want to do is wait to build a future when too much time has already been taken from us.”

  The tears gathered in my eyes— happy tears— and I nestled my cheek against his strong pecs and grinned. We weren’t ruble after all.

  We were the rainbow after a damn hurricane, defeating the wind and rain, and casting our new beginning through the infinity sky.

  “I’d like that,” I said, doing my best not to feel giddy. I was ready to look at wedding dresses, flowers, baby clothes, anything and everything that made us press the play button on this relationship and get it moving forward.

  His groan fizzled out on a growl when he kissed my forehead. “Come on, before I take you right here against the tree.”

  “I wouldn’t protest,” I let him know. Keeping things spicy was important in a relationship. Right?

  “Killing me. I’m still aching from the tease in the car,” the words got softer and lower than a whisper when another hiker came walking down the hillside. He was sweating and guzzling water from a blue bottle. He wore a black bandana around his head and had earbuds in his ears, jamming out and banging his head.

  “I’ll take care of you later.” I winked and brushed my hand over his cock as I walked by him.

  He slapped my ass. “Tease,” he said as he nipped my ear.

  “I’ve got to keep you on your toes. Now, where is this damn rock that’s so special?”

  “Still got about a mile. A rock quarry should be coming up through these trees. You’re going to love it.” He laced his fingers through mine, and we walked hand in hand, just like we used to, but with less urgency.

  When love was young, it was quick, needing to go full-speed ahead with everything in life, and while I wanted to get on with the future we always deserved, holding hands and taking a hike felt different than it did when we were just kids.

  It felt like we grew as people. There wasn’t a need to take the world at a fast pace, but what we did personally, whether we wanted to have babies and get married and press the fast-forward button on that, we would. But this? Exploring this forest, it was like we had all the time in the world.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jaxon

  “You said it was a rock. You didn’t say it would have to climb it.” She pointed to the rope that was tied to the tree up top, the strong root veining through the rocks to keep the tree locked into place.

  “It will be fine,” I reassured her. To be honest, I forgot about the little aspect of her having to climb. It was going to be worth it though. The view on top of this rock was beautiful. Miles of the ocean were able to be seen, and a person could breathe in the clouds.

  Quinn was sweating, and she already ate her hoagie on the walk from the quarry to where we are now. She was so tiny. I had no idea where all the food went. Women must hate her for not gaining a single pound.

  “I’m not climbing up that rock with a rope that is tied to another rope that looks like it’s hanging on by threads. And tied to a damn tree branch for that matter.”

  The cliff was steep for a beginner. About thirty-feet high, which could be climbed easily with the rope and correct footing on the rock. But the world would be ours when we climbed those last thirty feet, and I knew she could do it. I believed in her.

  It felt good to be outside, spending time with Quinn. I knew after this, I had to go back to the real world. I had been living in the real world and its harshness for so long, I felt like I deserved this small break with Quinn. Soon, I’d be bargaining a man’s sister for a confession. Soon, I’d be the man there would be no way she could love if she saw me act in that manner.

  “You lied to me,” she said, her voice small with the sound of betrayal, turning her face to the side to look away from me. There was nothing there but a dirt path and forest. She was really upset. Tears fell down her cheeks, and she wiped them away quickly. Her hands shook, her chest rose and fell with panic.

  Jesus, she was terrified. I felt horrible. We could turn around and give up, but I wasn’t going to allow her to give up on herself. I was going to push her, which I might regret later, but she could do this. She was strong, independent, and had a backbone harder than any man I had ever come across.

  Quinn could do this because if she could be with me again, after the shit that went down between us, this rock should be a
breeze.

  I kneeled on the ground in front of her, and she twisted to the other side, giving me her back. Yep. She was pissed.

  Cute, too.

  Guys knew never to say that to a woman when she was angry, not unless he wanted to get slapped in the face.

  “Quinn, I’m so sorry. I forgot about the rope, but I know you can do it. Do you trust me?” That might the wrong question to ask. She could love me, but gaining trust was something else.

  “Of course, I do,” she whispered, wiping her sniffles away.

  “I wouldn’t ever let anything happen to you. Not ever. I’ll catch you if you think you’re about to fall, but I know you won’t. Want to know how?”

  She glanced up at me through her wet lashes, the tears causing them to stick together. “How?”

  “Because I believe you can do anything you set your mind to. You’re a warrior.” I wiped the pad of my thumb over her jaw to catch the droplet about to fall.

  “I don’t know. That’s really high, Jaxon.” She stared up at the rock like it was the most intimidating, daunting task in the world.

  “It is, but you know what’s waiting? A view only a few people see a year. Not many know about this place; not many want to walk the mile and a half to pull themselves up to see what is waiting for them. It’s a once in a lifetime view, the kind you’ll never forget.”

  “Better than the view at your house?”

  “Much better,” I said. “I’m going to go first, and when I get to the top, I’m going to hold my hands out for you, okay? You just climb until you can grab my hands, and I’ll pull you up.”

  “You swear? You can’t let me go.”

  I scooted along the ground until I was in front of her, this time, she didn’t move away, and I laid my palms on top of her thighs. “When have you ever known me to let you go? If I was that kind of man, would we be here?” I asked, reminding her how she ended up with me in the first place.

  She giggled, smiling, she landed those light brown eyes on mine. “No, I guess not,” she said.