“Be careful,” he called up to me.
“That’s not something I ever expected to hear out of you, Alec.”
“I know, I know, it’s unlike me, but there you have it. Think of it as cautionary. If you fall, I don’t want to have to try to catch you. You’ll smash me to smithereens.”
That’s when I began to grow concerned. His self-effacing humor was an attempt to lighten the mood, but as thunder again rolled through the forest, I understood why. It had begun to rain.
Luckily, the tree was easy to climb. Its age and majesty had allowed it to create far more branches than the trees surrounding it. They were almost perfect stairs as I circled the trunk, not letting go until my hand had hold of the next branch. Eventually, I was high enough that I could see some distance. Alec was right. “You are right. The sky is all black to the west. The clouds are rolling, not just a solid bank.”
I looked down and saw him shake his head. “That’s not good. Take a quick look around for that shack. If you don’t see it, come down and we’ll rig up whatever we can from what we can find.”
I did as he said and was just about to give up when I saw an opening in the tree canopy about fifty yards further up the path we had been walking. I pointed. “There! I can see a break in the trees.”
“Come down then,” he shouted up at me. “It may not be the shack, but it’s worth investigating. Watch your footing, it’s beginning to rain and the branches will become slippery.”
He knew what he was talking about. My very next step almost cost me a fall, but I hadn’t let go of the tree limb above me, so I caught myself in time. I scampered down as quickly as I dared and literally dropped the last ten feet into his outstretched arms. He gave me a quick hug and set me down on the ground. “Let’s go that direction and pick up any small kindling or short limbs you see on the way. We’ll need to build a fire to stay warm.”
Our luck held, although I wanted to feel as though I had played a part in our solution. We found the opening and it was obviously a roughhewn meadow where trees had been felled years before. At the edge of it stood the shack, although I was happy to see it was more of a cabin. It appeared to be sound with a porch, a closed door, and a chimney that indicated there was a fireplace inside, or at the very least, a wood stove. Alec grabbed my hand and pulled me toward it, causing me to drop some of my limbs. “Go on ahead and get the door open. I’ll get these and be right behind you.” He nodded.
Alec tried the door, it was unlocked. I realized there was no need to lock out bears. He reappeared on the porch and called over to me, "It's not too bad, actually. A few spider webs, and signs that little critters have been near, but there's a fireplace where we can burn the wood. Go on in while I go to gather as much as I can before the rain really sets in." He started off through the tree line on the back side of the cabin while I climbed the steps to the porch and pushed the door open with my knee. Alec's idea of ‘not too bad' and mine were a little different. A spider climbing his web that spanned the only window gave me second thoughts whether I'd be safer with hypothermia or spider venom.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to let my woman’s instinct blossom and make the shack as habitable as possible with what we had. Luckily, Mrs. Griggs had packed us plenty of food and drink, so that would present no problem. Heat seemed to be the goal.
Although it was raining outside, the trees were still holding off the bulk of the downpour. I searched under fallen logs and beneath humps in the sandy soil to find brush, carrying all of it inside and putting it in a pile. By the time Alec returned, I’d found matches on the mantel and had a cheery fire going.
“Well, you’ve wasted no time,” he observed, and I thought I heard a tinge of pride in his tone. “What have we got here?”
“I’ve found a bed in the corner, and I shook out the blankets outside. I’m letting them air a little over those two Adirondack chairs on the porch before I bring them in. The cupboard had a few dishes, but I think what Mrs. Griggs gave us can be eaten from her containers and using our own hands. I found some towels in there, so I took out the one on the bottom and spread it on that little table. If you’ll carry in the chairs and put them in front of the fire, I’ll serve dinner.”
“Very well done, madam,” he teased me, and I blushed with satisfaction. I learned that praise given feels better when justifiably earned.
Alec brought in the chairs, handing me the blankets, so I threw together the best bed I could, not stopping to think why we might need it. It just seemed a part of the appropriate preparations.
Alec unearthed a bottle of wine from his backpack, along with sandwiches, cheese, and some fruit. Mine held boiled eggs, sweetbreads, two pieces of cake, and some bottles of spring water.
“Quite cozy if you ask me,” I said, shivering.
“Here, get closer to the fire. You’re chilled.”
“My clothes got a little wet when I was gathering brush,” I admitted.
“Take them off.”
I swung sideways to look at him. “What?”
“Your clothes, take them off.”
I froze with misunderstanding and once he realized it, he sighed and stood up, pulling me to my feet. “Callie, if your clothes are wet and you don’t dry them, you’ll become hypothermic. You can’t get close enough to the fire to let them dry while you’re wearing them, so take them off.”
“But… but…”
“Here, I’ll give you my jacket to cover yourself if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I gulped and looked toward the fire. Any closer and I could get burned. “Okay. Turn around.”
“For what?”
“Alec, don’t argue with me. Turn around so I can take off my clothes.”
He muttered something unintelligible and swung around, holding out his jacket on the tip of his fingers. I pulled my clothes off as quickly as I could and dove into the warm recesses of his jacket. “Whooo,” I voiced.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your coat is as wet as mine was. This isn’t really much of a help.”
He turned, and I saw a look of appreciation on his face as he looked at me in the firelight. The storm had set in and the shack was dark otherwise.
“Get under those blankets on the bed and I’ll bring dinner over there.”
“It’s cold over there.”
“I’ll fix that,” he said. He crossed the room and before I knew it, he had dragged the mattress across the small space and positioned it directly before the fire. He lifted the blankets and handed them to me, motioning to me to give him his coat back. He turned before I asked again, and I threw the jacket at him.
I sat huddled on the mattress beneath the two woolen blankets that scratched my skin. Alec busied himself spreading the wet clothes over the chairs in front of the fire. He dragged both backpacks to the mattress and, with a bounce, sat down next to me.
“How about a good stiff drink of this wine to warm you up?” he offered.
I took the bottle and delicately sipped it.
“No, no, a good slug. Here, like this!” He took the bottle from my hands and drank three deep gulps before handing it back.
I tried to copy him but choked a little. He patted me on the back as I coughed, and one of his pats caused the blankets to slide down my back, exposing me to the waist.
Alec’s movement to help me stopped as he looked at me. “God, but you’re beautiful,” he whispered.
I was a little stunned, but I straightened up, unashamed. He bent his head and kissed the top of my bare shoulder. “Aren’t you cold?” he said, his voice husky.
I shook my head.
Alec's head dropped lower as his lips coasted down my back, kissing my flesh as he went. His hand moved to the small of my back, rubbing in concentric circles, although it didn't feel like a massage, but like the preparation to what was to come. I heard an exasperated breath escape him as he fell upon his arm at my backside and began to kiss the plump rounds of my bottom, his finger trailing inches ahe
ad of his lips. This sent chills through me and in response, Alec tore off his shirt and held me against the heat of his chest. His arms wrapped around me and he reached for the blanket to envelop us into one.
His breath was in my ear, sending little thrills down into my core. His hands left their hugging position and now cupped my breasts from behind, his fingertips circling my alerted nipples. I felt dizzy with the sensations and the intensity of his maleness so nearby. “Alec,” I began, but couldn’t continue. His mouth had found mine and he was delivering the ferocity of the kisses I’d imagined he was capable of giving. Each moment the kisses became more searching, harder, deeper, and he sucked my tongue in emulation of what he wanted to do to another part of my anatomy.
His hands left me for a moment and I heard a short zip as he removed his pants and kicked off his shoes and socks. His body pulled me hard against him and I could feel his hardened manhood pressing against my tummy.
Alec moved over me like a hungry animal—tasting, licking, sucking my flesh, and I reacted with a heightening ardor that made me want to crawl into his skin and stay there. He never let an inch of me get cold, so completely did he wrap himself around me.
A log shifted in the fireplace and sparks flew upward. I opened one eye and saw Alec’s silhouette, arched and poised over me, and then a second later his manhood was pressing into me. I cried out with relief as he sank himself deeply. He felt like the missing puzzle piece, the key that opened the deep lock inside me, letting out the sparks of fiery need that flooded my awareness.
Alec began moving into me, his speed and depth increasing with each thrust. I felt tears on my cheeks. I often cried with deep emotion, and what he was making me feel at that moment transcended anything I could have ever imagined. My hips rose to meet him, seeking, needing, demanding…
I heard him cry out my name and then he stiffened, his sudden interruption of movement unlocking the door of my own intense orgasm, flooding me completely. I vibrated with every nerve ending and when it finally subsided, I went limp. Alec held me until the last moment, allowing me to bask in its duration until he heard my even breathing. Kissing me, he bundled me against that black-haired chest and wrapped the blankets around us.
At some point he whispered that the rain wasn’t letting up and we were spending the night. I nodded, and he fed me little bites of sandwiches, with intervals of wine and cheese. Like an infant being coddled, I clung to him, his warmth and his assurance that everything would be okay in the morning. Alec kept the horrors of the world at bay, as long as I was wrapped in his protective grasp. There could be no safer place. I nodded off and each time I awakened in the strange sounds and smells of burning wood and damp timbers, I grew sadder because I knew eventually the night would leave. I wanted it to stay, to keep me shrouded in darkness and to let me live in that world that consisted only of Alec’s touches, his skin, his scent, his brilliance keeping us safe. I wanted to sleep, and yet I wanted to draw out the feeling of contentment that ran through me. Finally, I could hold out no longer and I fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
Alec
Mrs. Griggs looked up as I came, bedraggled, through the slider door, and then into the kitchen nearby. “Well, I thought I was about to send out the hunting party until I remembered you have a phone, the very best, just there in your pocket. If you wanted my interference, you’d have called for it.”
The woman could be irritatingly blunt at times, I thought to myself. I offered neither explanation nor apology. I did, however, run interference for Callie by deliberately stomping my muddy shoes into the kitchen where Mrs. Griggs promptly had an apoplectic fit while Callie stole quickly upstairs and locked her door. How I wanted to join her!
I apologized profusely and left Mrs. Griggs to her muttering while I took the stairs two at a time and turned the temperature setting in my shower for five degrees hotter than usual. We’d become chilled walking back, but at least we weren’t wet. The hike back to the house had a very different tone than the one leaving. We were both lost in our own thoughts, but reached to touch one another more often than was necessary. At some points I even pulled her close and kissed her. Conversation was sparse.
“May I ask you something?” she’d finally burst out.
“Of course.”
“Does this mean the end of our business relationship?”
I stopped and spun around to face her, dismay churning my gut. “God, I hope not. Does it for you?”
“No, not exactly, but I have to be honest. Last night, well… you brought out feelings in me I’ve never felt before, and it’s hard to separate that excitement from what I feel when I’m learning things from you.”
“Would it help if I said that I’m feeling the same way about last night but I know it for what it was, and that since I’m the tutor, I can promise you I’m not getting them confused. Callie, that’s not entirely true. I am learning, but it’s a wonderment of who you are. You’re letting me see the world as a place that still has innocence and trust. You have no idea how long that’s been gone from my life, maybe it never was something I felt at all. I haven’t shared much with you about who I am, and no, the media doesn’t have all that, either. You see, I grew up the only son of a single mother, and as you can imagine, that didn’t put me in the position of wealth and connections that I enjoy today. So, I understand treachery and suspicion all too well. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I go to lengths to make sure everything I do is above board, and everyone involved understands the objective before they agree to take part.”
“How did you make your money?”
“Oh, at first it was tough going, just hard physical labor. I worked as a boy, I had to in order to eat sometimes. I worked for left-over pizza and picked out the overlooked meat in crab legs at a restaurant where I washed dishes. I had three part-time jobs at the same time. I’ll bet you didn’t know that I dropped out of school when I was sixteen?”
We’d begun walking again and it was easier for me to talk when she was behind me and couldn’t see my face. I heard her mutter, “Huh,” but kept going.
“Well, I did, and while it won’t work for everyone, for me it was the only thing I could have done. I’m not cut out for the paths that everyone else takes. I look for side doors, back doors, any door that will get me to my goal and may have been overlooked by the competition.”
“But, you’re so... so put together,” she said.
“It might look like that, but it’s only because I’m very good at watching others and copying what they do. You see, a long time ago I realized that everyone around me had something I could learn. They weren’t even always aware I was watching, but I was. The man with half a leg learned to walk so his limp was barely perceptible and his prosthetic was masked by a wide pant leg. The liar is always the first to protest that others aren’t telling the truth. The giver is always first to reach out, and the last to help themselves. No one has a perfect life and we’re all about disguising and compensating for what we believe are our weaknesses. So, I became the student. I watched these people, learned how they compensated, and that taught me things that I couldn’t learn on my own. You remember my talking about shine?”
“Yes.”
“Well, there you have it. Sometimes shine is just about blending in, or sheer survival. If you watch for it, you’ll see what I mean.”
“Are you married?”
Her words stopped me in my steps. “God, no, Callie,” I said as I swung about to face her. “Do you think last night would have happened if I were?”
“You never know,” she explained. “Some people don’t follow the rules.”
“Does that sound like me?” I was hurt by her lack of trust.
“No, not really, but it made me feel better to ask.”
“Okay, I get that. And, in general, you’re right. Sometimes assumption guides you down the wrong path. To answer your question, no, I am not and never have been married. And to answer your next question, there have been women in my life but
none I could see in my life long-term.”
I knew she wanted to ask the follow-up to that, but it was far too early, and I was grateful she didn’t voice it.
“Callie, do you have a minute? Could you come into my study? I have something I’d like to go over with you.”
“Sure.” She followed me in and sat down by the window where she could look out over the lake as she listened.
“I’ve agreed to sponsor an event for one of my favorite charities. It will be held here on the estate next Sunday.”
“Okay. What may I do to help?”
“Oh, the details are all taken care of by the charity—I only agree to provide the venue and my list of wealthier contacts. It’s a costume affair, I’m told. Pirates, if you can believe that. I suppose they were inspired by the water, but I can promise you no pirates ever set sail in that inland lake.”
Callie giggled. “Sounds like fun, though.”
“I suppose. I admit I was dreading it, before you came, that is.” I changed directions immediately. We hadn’t yet talked much more about our night in the shack, and I preferred it that way. It was easy to talk something to death. “Walter will accompany you to town, Roman will drive you. You’ll need a costume of course and they’ll be picking up mine, so it would be a good time to go along. Now, the guests will almost all be business associates and they’ll want to talk about that, I’m sure. It’s inevitable. I will introduce you as my assistant and you’re invited to take part in any conversation you wish. Learn what you can, Callie. These people are duplicates of myself; they’ve all come up the hard way and love to tell their stories. Take advantage of that.”
She nodded slowly. “Anything in particular I should read up on in advance?”
My Dream Job: A Billionaire Boss Romance Page 5
