Trapped with the Woodsman

by M. S. Parker

  But we were safe.

  And now with the day behind us and some of the tension melting from my shoulders, other thoughts were making themselves known.

  “I’ll give you both a good brushing tomorrow,” Roman said behind me, his voice closer than it had been.

  He rested a hand over the back of my neck as I reached up to swipe my fingers under my eyes.

  He saw and cupped my chin, guiding my face up to his. He brushed one tear away, then pressed his mouth to mine. “Let’s go inside,” he said.

  I’d been prepared for him to ask why I was crying, and I was relieved when he didn’t.

  Inside the house, he sat down and pulled me closer, his hands around my hips. He guided me until I stood between his legs, then he pressed his face against my belly and wrapped his arms around me.

  A shudder went through me, hard and fast, and I curled my arms around his neck, dipping my head so I could press my lips to his crown.

  One of us was trembling. I couldn’t tell if it was him or me, and I didn’t care.

  The impact of everything that had happened, the understanding of how badly things could have gone wrong slammed into me. I sucked in a breath, attempting to calm the storm trying to rise in front of me.

  Roman slid his fingers under my shirt and brushed them lightly against my skin. Straightening, I pushed my fingers through his overlong hair and tugged until he lifted his face to mine.

  His gaze was hooded, lids drooping low over his eyes. A hungry look crossed his features.

  I traced one finger over the curve of his lower lip. He opened his mouth, and I shivered as he sucked my finger into the warm, wet cave, curling his tongue around the tip and stroking me.

  I pulled it away and bent down, pressing my mouth to his.

  He dragged me into his lap and rubbed his cock against me. I sat straddling him, clinging to the wide shelf of his shoulders. His mouth left mine, but before I could even process the disappointment, he ran his teeth along the arch of my neck.

  A rush of goosebumps broke out over my skin, and I shoved my hands into his hair, pulling him in tighter.

  “Roman,” I whispered.

  He pushed my shirt higher, and I caught the hem, dragging it off. Cool air kissed my skin. Inside the cotton of my bra, my nipples pebbled. Roman ran his mouth along the edge of the bra. I groaned and pressed him closer, needing to feel his mouth on me.

  His hands slid behind my back, and I felt him tugging at the closure of my bra. It was gone in the next moment, and Roman pressed a hot, open-mouthed kiss to the midline of my body, tracking a path that took him closer and closer to my nipple.

  My breathing was already coming hard, and it felt like I could scarcely force enough air through a throat gone tight.

  He closed his lips around my nipple, then slowly tugged at it with his teeth. My bones threatened to dissolve on me, the pleasure of his touch blurring my mind.

  I rocked against him, wiggling and straining until the length of his cock burned into me. The layers of fabric separating us was far too much. I needed him naked. I needed me naked and his cock inside me, stretching and filling me.

  I realized only as the last word left my lips that I had spoken out loud.

  Roman broke away from my body and caught my hair in his hand, forcing me to meet his gaze.

  The hunger burning there all but scalded me, all but melted me. There were suddenly far too many things separating us – my damp panties and wrinkled cargos, his clothing as well. And distance. There were scant inches between us, but he wasn’t touching me the way I needed him to touch me, and it felt like miles.

  “I’m already on a hair-trigger, Lexi,” he said, voice raw and guttural. It stroked over my skin like whiskey-soaked velvet. “You keep that up, and you’re going to get fucked like you’ve never been fucked before.”

  “Do you promise?” I asked, my blood going molten.

  Something flashed in his eyes.

  Abruptly, he surged upright. Instinctively, my legs went around his hips, and I groaned, rubbing against him as the position forced his cock and my cunt into an up-close and personal sort of pressure.

  He grabbed my hips and kept me from moving like that again. “I’m already about to come in my jeans, so stop it.”

  The idea that he was that close to losing control delighted me, and I would have kept on moving and wiggling if it wasn’t for his grip holding me in place.

  Something hard pressed against my hips – a table, I realized.

  My feet hit the ground, and no sooner had that happened than he was yanking my pants down, leaving them tangled around my ankles. I still wore my boots, but he clearly didn’t give a damn as he shoved my panties halfway down my thighs, then crowded up against me.

  I felt the naked brush of his cock and I whimpered.

  I went to spread my thighs apart, but the pants around my lower legs prevented it.

  “Roman–” His name ended on a sob as he spun me around, then thrust inside me, big and hard and thick. He felt deeper somehow, even bigger than normal. I grabbed onto the edge of the table, clinging for purchase as he drove his cock back in, pulling out until only the fat head stretched me, then filling me again.

  And again.

  And again.

  I spasmed around him, and he swore, hands gripping me tight enough that I wouldn’t be surprised to see bruises.

  And still, he drove into me. Sweat dripped into my eyes, beaded across my skin, and heat suffused my every pore.

  He yanked my hips up, pulling them completely off the table. My booted feet left the ground, and now all of my weight was balanced between my upper torso as it rested on the table – and on the cock impaling me.

  He swelled, so huge it felt like I couldn’t possibly take any more.

  A hot, tight knot formed low in my belly, spreading and spreading until all of me was clenched and ready.

  Roman muttered my name, and just like that, I exploded, breaking around him and coming hard and fast.

  He caught my shoulder in one hand, letting my weight settle once again on the table, then he used his hold on me to yank me back onto his cock, holding me locked in place, completely vulnerable to him.

  In the next second, his cock swelled, then jerked, and I whimpered as he started to come.

  He sagged forward, shoving out his hands to brace his weight just before he would have dropped completely down onto me.

  I moaned and shuddered, my pussy still milking him in desperate demand.

  He shoved my sweaty hair away from my neck and kissed me.

  “Lexi…”

  The dazed satisfaction in his voice was almost as sweet as the mini quakes still wracking my body.

  My heart clenched as he settled a hand on my hip and rubbed, the gesture tender and soft.

  I had no idea how it had happened so fast, but I’d gotten myself lost in this man.

  And I didn’t ever want to find my way free.

  Water rained down around us.

  I leaned against the tiled wall and smiled at Roman as he dipped his head to kiss me. I was completely drained, and when he pulled away, I wrapped my arms around him, snuggling in close, wishing the cast was gone so I could hold him as tightly as I wanted.

  “I don’t think I can stand on my own,” I told him.

  “Lean on me all you want,” he said.

  I tipped my head back to stare at him, unconcerned by the showerhead as it spilled water down on the back of my head. “I think I like the sound of that.”

  “Is that a fact?” He cupped his hands over my shoulders and dipped his head and rubbed his lips over mine. I clung to his hands and sighed at the sweetness of the moment.

  “Yeah.” I smiled against his lips. “I’ve never been much for leaning on anybody but leaning on you doesn’t sound so bad.”

  He slid an arm around my waist and pulled me in closer. “Maybe it will make it easier if I said I wouldn’t mind leaning on you too.”

  We stood there like that, arms
wrapped around each other as the water came down on us. Roman murmured something. It was so quiet I thought maybe I’d misunderstood him.

  Pulling back, I looked up at him. “What did you say?”

  A dull red flush settled on his cheeks.

  I reached up and touched his lips. “What did you say, Roman?”

  He pushed a hand into the wet weight of my hair and twisted the strands around his fingers, holding my head in place.

  “I think I’m falling in love with you,” he said, the words gruff and low, hesitant even.

  There was a look of uncertainty in his eyes and my heart just melted.

  Reaching up, I cupped his face in my hands, drawing him down to my level.

  “Yeah?”

  He pressed his brow to mine and murmured, “Yeah.”

  A sweet satisfaction unlike anything I’d ever felt settled inside me. I curled my arms around his neck and said, “I think I’m falling in love with you too.”

  His lids flickered, then a slow smile curled his lips, transforming everything about him. He looked younger. He looked…open. “Yeah?” he whispered, echoing my response from only seconds ago.

  “Yeah.”

  Thirty-Five

  Lexi

  “Who in the hell gets married in December?”

  Roman laughed as he cut around me, juggling the bags that held his suit and my dress, along with the tote that carried all my makeup. I rarely bothered with makeup, but it wasn’t every day that my cousin and one of my best friends got married.

  The day of Breanna and Ryder’s wedding had arrived. The ceremony was taking place in a few hours, and we had a snowstorm to drive through to get to the wedding location. I eyed Roman’s truck through the heavy fall of snow. “You sure you can drive in this?”

  “I grew up in Lyons, baby,” he replied, his voice easy. “I’ve been driving in messes like this for more than half my life.”

  I had too, but at the same time, the near white-out conditions were making me nervous.

  Or maybe it was just because of the wedding. Breanna asked me if I’d stand up with her as her maid of honor. I’d never been part of a wedding party in my life. Fortunately, I wasn’t going to be up there alone. Breanna, never one to do things the traditional way, was having her friend Stella stand up with her as her matron of honor.

  Hopefully, I wouldn’t be the one to trip over my skirt as I walked down the aisle.

  The thought made me laugh, and I shook my head.

  “What’s so funny?” Roman asked as he cut around me.

  As he put the clothes into the back, I answered, “I was just thinking it’s a good thing I’m not going to be up there with Stella alone and how I hoped it wouldn’t be me that tripped and fell over my feet. Then I got to thinking about how bad it would be if it was Breanna who fell.” I heaved out a mock sigh of despair. “I guess if somebody has to fall on their face, it’s better if it’s me. Stella’s pregnant and Breanna shouldn’t fall on her face on the day of her wedding.”

  “You’re not going to fall on your face,” Roman said, turning to me. He held out a hand for the shoe box. I passed it over and opened the passenger door. Before I could pull myself up into the truck, Roman boosted me onto the seat. I bent over and kissed him in thanks.

  His mouth lingered on mine, his fingers curving around the back of my neck to hold me in place.

  He nipped my lower lip, but before he could take my mouth in one more kiss, I pushed him back. “You keep that up, we’ll end up being late.”

  “It would be worth it.” He grinned at me, snowflakes collecting on his lashes.

  “Maybe for you,” I said grumpily. “You wouldn’t have Breanna furious with you.”

  “Oh, she’d be mad at me too. It’s not like you’d be late over being engaged in…solo pursuits.”

  I snorted, then playfully pushed at his shoulder. “Come on. I have to be there and hold her hand. She’s probably a stressed-out wreck.”

  Breanna was indeed a nervous wreck, but not because I’d been late. We’d made very good time getting to Denver, and I was at the hotel hosting the wedding and reception with plenty of time to spare.

  No, the reason for her state of mind was currently on her knees in the suite’s bathroom, emptying her stomach.

  Breanna hovered by Stella’s side, making soothing noises, but I could see the stress in her eyes.

  I went into the bathroom and nudged Breanna out of the bathroom. “You, go. Sit. I’ll help Stella.”

  Breanna tried to argue, but I insisted. “The stylist is coming to do your hair in less than twenty minutes. You don’t need to be in here while Stella is dealing with morning sickness.”

  “It’s not morning,” Stella grumbled behind me. I turned and went to her, rubbing her shoulder. She wore a robe over her bra and panties, and her hair was scooped back into a simple ponytail. As another retch hit her, I caught the long tail of her hair and held it back.

  A few minutes later, she straightened and gave me a grateful look. “I think it’s over.”

  I nodded and gestured to the main room of the suite. “I’ll go get her calmed down.”

  “I heard that!” Breanna shouted.

  Stella met my eyes and grinned at me, color already returning to her face.

  “Good!” I shouted back. “I wanted you to hear it.”

  She was laughing when I entered the room. As the sound faded, I moved to stand up behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She was still staring outside at the gently falling snow. “Talk about a white wedding,” she murmured.

  I laughed. “Only you could get the weather to go along with you like this.”

  A knock on the door interrupted us, and I hugged Breanna. “That’s probably the stylist.”

  I made it down the aisle without falling.

  Both Stella and Breanna made walking in heels look graceful and easy. I was more used to my hiking boots, but I was happy enough to just get to my spot without tripping.

  The second the photographer said she was done with the pictures, I kicked my shoes off. Roman came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to do that.”

  “Hey, I’m proud of myself. I didn’t complain about them once.” I turned my head and twisted until I could meet his eyes.

  He dropped a kiss on my lips.

  I turned around and hooked my arms around his neck, no cast getting in the way.

  He ran the back of his fingers down my cheek and pressed his thumb to my lower lip. He didn’t kiss me again, though. I’d fussed at him earlier for smudging my lipstick, and we’d made a deal. Once the wedding was over, he could smudge it all he wanted.

  I was looking forward to it.

  The lead singer of the wedding band announced that it was time to welcome the new bride and groom, and we moved over to watch as husband and bride came in. Breanna looked beautiful, her face practically glowing.

  Ryder was a quieter presence, but it was obvious he adored the woman he’d married.

  I leaned against Roman as the first strains to their wedding song came on. He slid his arm around my waist. Through the satin of my dress, I could feel the heat. Although I was watching my cousin and her husband as they shared their first dance as husband and wife, my attention was on Roman.

  As soon as another song started to play, he pulled me into his arms, and we swayed together.

  “Are you having a good time?” I asked him.

  “I’m dancing with you. How could I not be having a good time?” He pressed the flat of his hand to my back and urged me closer. “You look beautiful. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that.”

  I rolled my eyes, although his words definitely pleased me. “You’ve mentioned…oh, five or six times?”

  “That’s all?” He arched his brows and shook his head. “I’m slacking.”

  I laughed and curled my arms around him. My breasts went flat against his chest, and Roman groaned, dropping his head to rest his chin o
n my shoulder. “You’re trying to drive me crazy.”

  “Maybe.” I skimmed my lips across his cheek. As I looked up, Breanna and Ryder passed by us. Breanna was practically floating. If I looked down and saw that her feet weren’t even touching the ground, I don’t think it would have surprised me.

  The dance ended, and Roman took my hand, guiding me over to the bar. He got a beer, and I got a glass of wine. I nearly emptied it in three swallows, my throat was so dry.

  But as fast as I’d guzzled my wine, Roman managed to finish his beer before I emptied my glass.

  I eyed the bottle he held, then looked back at him. “And I thought I was thirsty.”

  “Yeah.” He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to say something, only to stop.

  A server passed by, and we turned over our empties. I went to catch his hand, wanting to dance with him again, but when I tried to pull him to the dance floor, he pulled me in the opposite direction, toward him.

  “I want to ask you something,” he said in response to my questioning look.

  “Oh?”

  But instead of doing just that, he tugged me along behind him. We left the reception behind. I had to blink at the brightness of the lights outside the darkened ballroom, and once my eyes cleared, I looked up at Roman.

  His face was…strained.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked him.

  “Yeah.” Some of the tension faded from his features, and he reached up to cup my chin, holding me steady as he pressed his lips to mine lightly. He pulled back and held up his free hand. “No smudges, I promise.”

  I laughed. “The pictures are over, so if my lipstick is less than perfect, it’s not a big deal.”

  He didn’t kiss me again, though.