"I know you did."
He laughed when she danced a little jig, turned and started to jog down the trail. "Come on! Camera, backpack, and a trip to the library!"
Drake shook his head and started jogging after her. Hell, he'd follow her to the ends of the earth.
Chapter 15
Drake sat on a large boulder and watched as Jillian scrambled over a pile of stones heading for what she deemed was the best vantage point for a picture. The camera he’d bought her had cost two arms and a leg, but it was worth it. They'd revisited their favorite sites and found new ones throughout the national park. Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs were marked off the to-do list in one day, but Midway Geyser Basin’s Grand Prismatic Spring held her interest for two days, specifically the pigmented thermophilic bacteria that produced the colors. Together they delved into the science behind the phenomena and once again drove over ten hours to get to a decent sized library for reference books. The journey was for naught because they ended up logging on and anonymously accessing the internet to search for their answers. Drake smiled. That was okay because they spent hours looking at the old books, especially the ones that held hand-drawn diagrams and personal notes made by people who’d lived in a different time. Yes, they geeked out. It was awesome to be able to share a part of himself that, up until now, only Dixon had appreciated—or understood.
Today they were taking a day trip, backpacking through the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. He carried her invention and hard drives in his pack, plus a few snacks and bottled water outside the waterproof, zippered compartment where Delbert rested. She carried a jumble of random items in her pack. Drake glanced at the vivid pink nylon. Pink. Jillian saw it at the sporting goods store and had to have it…and, of course, he bought it for her. It wasn’t practical, but it made her happy. He reached over and lifted it to keep it out of the direct sun. The last time she’d left it, her chocolate bars melted and coated the jumbled mess at the bottom of the pack. A raccoon tried to make away with it when she was cleaning it out. Jillian was having none of it and chased the animal off even after it turned and hissed at her. He’d have given odds that Jillian would have tucked tail at the sight of an angry coon, but nope, she chased after it, banging a flashlight against an aluminum plate. The coon was the smarter of the two involved in the tussle. He scampered up a tree and disappeared. Drake had laughed until he cried.
He palmed his cell phone to check his messages while Jillian impersonated a mountain goat. They got decent reception at the campground, but none this deep in the canyon. He didn’t have a Sat phone, nor did he need one. As long as he could check his messages once a day, he was content.
“Hey, look up!” Drake shaded his eyes and smiled at her. She was hanging off the edge of the plateau she’d been aiming for when she started the climb. “You should come up here. It’s beautiful.”
“Be careful,” he warned. The woman had an inner daredevil lurking, and he loved it.
“I am being careful. Come up here. The view is fantastic.”
“Nah, I’ll see your pictures when you come down. Besides, I like the view from where I’m standing.” Her breasts swelled over her bra and gravity helped to display her assets in a fascinating way. Jillian looked down at her chest and threw back her head, laughing as she rolled back onto the plateau.
Dixon checked his phone out of habit. Jade hadn’t contacted him since she’d sent the message via Jewell three weeks ago. That meant Dixon was either unable to contact Guardian without breaking his cover or had nothing to report. At a minimum, Drake assumed Dixon somehow managed to ingratiate himself with that fucker the world called their father. It was better than the alternative that lurked in the back of his mind. One he refused to let see the light of day. The lack of information or updates bothered him more than he’d let on to anyone, even Jillian, and he’d bared his soul to the woman over the course of the last three weeks. He glanced up at her. She was kneeling down taking a close up picture of some wildflower. Tonight she’d use the books he’d bought her to identify the species of each. Those she couldn’t find in her books, she tagged, and they’d look them up the next time they surfaced in a town with a library.
Since they’d purchased sleeping bags, a tent and a small camp kit, they rarely went to town except when they needed food or supplies. Or trips to the library. He chuckled to himself as he watched her. Jillian was not a diva in any sense of the word. She’d jog with him in the morning. He’d let her drop off and then run the circuit again—full out. She was getting stronger and faster as she tried to do his sit-ups, pushups, and pull-ups routine with him every morning.
She started her trek down the wall of the canyon, hopping from one ledge to another and laughing when she tripped over her own feet. She smiled at him and jumped again. That’s when the quiet whisper that had been haunting him strengthened to a voice, and the voice spoke words into his heart. You love her.
She scrambled over the rock pile and practically ran down the other side. From where he sat he reached out and caught her, stopping her forward momentum. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned down for a kiss. He pulled her down on top of him and lay back on the flat boulder where he sat.
Pushing off his chest, she broke the kiss, moved her camera from around her neck and set it to the side. “What brought that on? I thought I used you all up this morning.”
And she had. Twice. Jillian was damn near insatiable, but he was definitely up for that challenge. They’d explored what they both enjoyed, and while she enjoyed the occasional spanking and flirting on the edge of pain when they had sex, she wasn’t into the hard-core things he associated with masochism. Which was fine by him. He’d make several purchases when they got back to the ranch, oh, and hopefully soundproof their room before Dixon got back because Jillian was loud. Drake loved it though. He did that to her. He made her lose her fucking mind, and it fueled the side of him that needed to be everything to her.
Today, his life had changed. Irrevocably. Yes, there were indisputable portions of him that only his brother’s presence in his life could fill, but there had also been fragmented pieces of him that had weighed him down and had left him to drown in an abyss of ancient memories and horrific childhood fears. Those burdens had lifted. Jillian had done that. She’d cut the tethers that fettered him to a past he’d longed to bury. He’d mourned that history for far too long. He was done with it. Forever. This was his time to live, to live in the love of this woman. This was a moment he’d remember for the rest of his life. He pulled her down again and kissed her, kissed her with the knowledge he’d fallen in love with her.
“Wow.” She breathed the word as she lifted away to breathe. “What got into you?”
Drake smiled and pushed the hair that escaped her ponytail out of her face. “I’ve made a shocking discovery.”
She smiled and planted her elbows on his chest, so she could look down at him. “Do tell.”
“I love you.” He gazed up at her face, framed by the beautiful azure blue of the sky. Her big brown eyes misted with tears and a brilliant smile spread across her face.
“You know I love you. I have loved you in one fashion or another since I was sixteen.” She lowered down so he could kiss her. His fingers grasped the hair from her ponytail and tangled in the silky tresses, tilting her head so he had better access. When they finally parted she narrowed her eyes at him. “You know you could have picked a more convenient place to tell me.”
Drake laughed and swung his head to the left and the right, making an exaggerated gesture looking at the canyon walls. “It’s beautiful here!”
“True, but also inconvenient. There is literally no place to make love to you at this moment.” She glared off into the distance. “And it is at least five miles back to the campsite and the vehicle.”
Drake pulled her down for another kiss. “I’ve heard stories about people having wild sex in remote areas of the world. Outside, under the stars.”
Jillian shivered, “Eww! No, th
ank you. The wilds of our sleeping bag inside of our tent are as wild as this woman gets.”
“Well then I better get you back there, hadn’t I?”
“I think you’d better.”
He sat up, dropping her into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tucked her head under his chin. “Say it again?”
He belted his arms around her and held her tight against his chest. It felt so right, so natural. “I love you.”
She sighed into their embrace and whispered an echoing response, “I love you, until infinity.”
He smiled and whispered, “Forever.”
There was a small huff of laughter before she replied, “Forever, plus one.”
He kissed her hair and breathed her in, wanting this feeling to invade the DNA of every cell in his body. She was right. They needed to take this revelation back to their campsite. He stood and dropped her to her feet, snatching a long, intoxicating kiss from her before he grabbed his backpack and shouldered it. The trip back to camp was going to seem far longer than the trek to the canyon.
The sun dropped behind the canyon walls, draping the campsite in premature dusk. They collected dried sticks and small logs on the way back. He dropped his load off beside the fire pit and brushed off his shirt. Jillian dropped a smaller stack beside his. She turned into him and linked her arms around his neck.
“Fire, food, sex. In that order, Mr. Simmons.” Jillian lifted to her toes, and he dropped his head as she pulled him down. “Don’t keep me waiting.” She kissed him soundly with a close-lipped kiss. She dropped her arms, twisted away and grabbed the backpacks. The sassy sway of her hips as she walked to the tent didn’t help the perpetual hard-on he was rocking.
He built the fire quickly and copped out on the meal. He didn’t want to waste any time, so he opted for canned stew with plenty of crackers and shaved cheddar cheese. Over the last three weeks, he discovered Jillian had exactly two talents in the kitchen. Microwaving frozen dinners and warming canned soup. She was a willing, if hapless, student, and while she’d attempted to master a few of the techniques he used to cook over a campfire, if he wanted sustenance that wasn’t raw, burnt into a charcoal briquette, or torched on the outside and raw on the inside, he’d have to cook. Hell, the woman had just mastered roasting a marshmallow without nuking it into oblivion. He chuckled as he stirred the stew and added a few of the spices he’d purchased the last time they were in town. Thank God for Miss Amanda and Aunt Betty. They’d never starve.
Drake knew they ate, but honestly, he couldn’t tell what the food tasted like or what, if anything, they talked about as they inhaled the calories. She washed the camp dishes, and he put away all the food so no scavengers would be drawn to their campsite. By the time the first stars started to twinkle in the heavens, Drake was zipping them into the tent.
He turned on the battery-operated lantern.
"Why the light?" Jillian reached for him.
"I want to remember every detail." Dixon moved against her, lowering them to the sleeping bag that covered the tent floor. Clothes disappeared, minor distractions in the face of overwhelming need. Drake rolled them until she was on top of him. He could see the outline of her face and her beautiful brown eyes. He pushed back her hair and stared up at her. “How did I get so damn lucky?” He had no idea what he’d done right to have Jillian back in his life. But he’d take the gift and treasure it.
“We both got lucky.” She straddled him and ran her hands up and down his chest. “I love you, Drake. The man inside this sexy body is different from the boy I used to adore. He’s older, more experienced, and yet still the same, loving, caring person who set aside his desires so others were happy. I don’t deserve you.”
“I didn’t really see you when we were younger. I wish I’d paid more attention.” He ran his hands down her back and rested them on her hips. She rotated her hips, and he groaned when she pushed down onto his rock-hard cock.
“Make up for it, stud. Pay attention to me now.” Jillian’s pet name sent a charge through him, and she didn’t need to ask twice. Drake rolled them over and consumed her with a kiss as he centered over her. Her desire eased his way as he entered. She was always so fucking tight. He pulled out and thrust forward, working his way inside her. Breaking away from the kiss, he worked his way down to her breasts as he slowly opened her to take him fully. He sucked her nipple into his mouth and used his teeth to tease her with small nips, sending her glimpses of sensuous pain. She arched into his mouth and grabbed the back of his head, holding him to her breast. “Yes. Like that.”
Drake feasted on her while driving them both higher. Needing more, he lifted away from her body. God, she was remarkable. Her honey-hued skin displayed small rose blossoms where he’d nipped her flesh. Her nipples were peaked and hard, her face flushed, and her eyes had darkened with desire. She was simply the most exquisite woman in the world, and she loved him. “I’ll never let you regret loving me.” He lowered for a kiss.
She pushed on his chest stopping him. “I could never regret you. I’ve been in love with you forever, and I’ve never regretted a single moment of that time.”
Drake froze over her. The sincerity in her eyes nearly killed him. “I was so blind.”
“I was invisible, and we weren’t ready for each other.” She lifted a hand and traced his lips. “Stop thinking so hard. Make love to me. Make me scream your name.”
Gladly. He grabbed her behind the knee and lifted her leg, giving him more room and better leverage to thrust. Her body writhed under him and each desire-filled sound she released spurred him on. He lifted her other leg, just enough to…
“God! Yes! Please!” Jillian’s fingernails dug into his arms where she braced herself. Drake slid one hand to her hips, and with the other, he found her sex. Jillian chanted words like more, harder, don’t stop. Hell, Drake couldn’t stop now. He prayed he’d be able to last until she finished. His own release was poised and ready to strike him with a billion joules of electricity. He was too close. His fingers found her clit, and with confidence, he worked her body like an instrument. She stiffened as her body clenched around him. Her release rippled through her, stroking him and shattered them both. Jillian screamed his name, and he thrust one, two, three more times before he emptied inside her.
He fell over her, landing on his elbows to keep the majority of his weight off her small frame. He dropped his forehead to hers, sharing their breath as easily as they shared each other’s bodies. Drake finally rolled to his side and pulled his lover into him. He needed to take her home. Take her to meet his family, the people who mattered. He was in love, and he wanted the world to know it.
Chapter 16
“Thank you for that. I’ve seen E.T. twenty times and…wow, it just didn’t register how big Devil’s Tower actually is.”
“Twenty times?” He stuck his finger out. “E.T. phone home.”
Jillian laughed and pushed his hand away. “Stop, you dork. A foster parent had it on VHS and watching it gave me an escape.”
Drake pulled her into him, draping his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “You’re welcome.”
Jillian threaded her fingers through his where they dropped over her shoulder. He squeezed her hand, and they ambled slowly back to the SUV. They’d piled their camping gear into the back yesterday and driven to Gillette, Wyoming where he’d rented a hotel room for them. Almost a month of solitude had come to an end. She was amazed at how much she’d enjoyed camping. Exploring the country with Drake as a guide became an adventure. She loved photographing nature.
They’d always planned on seeing Devil’s Tower before he drove her to the ranch. It signaled the conclusion of their seclusion. Jillian mentally laughed at her rhyme. She was such a putz. Two more days and they would arrive at the ranch. She was meeting “the family” as it were, and she was intimidated. What if they didn’t like her? She gave herself a mental shake. It didn’t matter if they didn’t like her. Drake loved her, and she was a nice person. T
his would work. It would be fine. She hoped. “You think they’ll like me?” She twisted and looked up at him as she asked.
“I know they will.” He stopped and turned her into him. “They are my family. Those people are the salt of the earth, and they will adore you as much as I do. Stop worrying.”
“I can’t help it. I’ve never met anyone’s family. I mean as a…girlfriend?” She didn’t know how else to label herself.
“Hmmm…well first off, girlfriend isn’t going to cut it. You’re more to me than that.”
Jillian leaned into his chest. “You’re more to me, too.” His arms tightened around her, and she closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around him and sliding her fingers into his back pockets. “Where are we going now?”
“Well, we have two options. We can drive down to Rapid City and get a room. We’ll drive through the Needles and see some of the Black Hills tonight, and I’ll take you up to the Faces in the morning. You’ll need several hours to make it through the walking tour and see everything.”
“The faces?” Jillian pulled back and blinked, putting him in focus. God, is that what he called his family? “Is that some kind of movie reference?”
Drake laughed so hard he shook. “Ah…no, the Faces are what the locals call Mount Rushmore.”
She gave him a little shove, “Stop laughing! How was I supposed to know that?”
The country was beautiful but in a different way than Yellowstone. As they drove south from Hulett, they traveled through small towns like Pine Haven, Upton, and Osage. They ate lunch in New Castle, Wyoming. She sat in a diner on Main Street and watched the local people come and go. Not one vehicle was locked. Windows were rolled down, and rifles hung in racks along the back windows of the trucks. Men wore the same thing Drake wore, boots, jeans, shirts and cowboy hats or ball caps. The women’s fashion interested her more. Jeans, boots and tank tops were the norm. Occasionally she saw dresses, but the women wore cowboy boots instead of heels. She’d seen that fashion on television but didn’t actually believe people dressed that way. The open-faced roast beef sandwich that Drake ordered arrived on a platter that should have been reserved for Thanksgiving. Rich, dark gravy soaked the beef, bread and covered the mound of mashed potatoes that had somehow been wedged onto the side. The waitress plopped her cheeseburger down and then added another platter of onion rings and French fries.
Drake (The Kings of Guardian Book 11) Page 13
