by J. H. Croix
Eventually, the small gathering broke apart. Aidan walked slowly upstairs at Becca’s side, his hand lightly cupped around her elbow. When they reached the suite, he closed the door quietly behind them and leaned against it. Becca walked to the kitchen table and leaned her hips against it, resting her hands on the edge. Her eyes met his, and he knew she’d been chewing on whatever she was about to say.
“We haven’t talked…about…about us.” She paused and took a gulp of air.
He realized Ginger’s question had gotten to her. He knew they probably needed to talk, but he was hesitant to rattle the place they’d been floating along in since the other night. He nodded slowly, waiting to see what she said next.
Her eyes held a glimmer of uncertainty. He wanted to wipe it away. If there was one thing she didn’t need to question, it was how he felt about her. But he knew it wasn’t that simple. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t quite articulated his feelings. While he didn’t doubt them, saying them aloud elicited a sense of fear—a fear he’d never experienced. He’d raced into dangerous situations for most of his adult life and never flinched. He took the approach that if you had a plan, if you controlled for the possibilities, you could handle the risks. All those years of assessing risks hadn’t prepared him for emotional risks. If he stopped and let himself think, the truth was he loved Becca. He’d convinced himself he was letting her have the space she needed, but it was also convenient for him because he didn’t have to make himself vulnerable.
She started to wrap her arms around her waist and swore, glancing down at her arm brace. “Dammit! This stupid brace. I can’t even cross my arms when I want to.” She looked at him across the room, a wry grin spreading across her face.
He chuckled softly and pushed away from the door. Inside, something shifted and his heart clenched. He walked to her and stopped a few feet away. He watched her for a long moment and decided to stop holding back.
“I love you. In case you were wondering. I have for years.”
He felt as if he’d just stepped off a cliff, the feeling terrifying and exhilarating at once.
Her eyes widened. He waited, suspended in the moment, and realized he didn’t care if she’d reached the same place just yet. He knew with certainty what lay between them ran deep—for both of them.
In the quiet, he heard her breath draw in slowly. “Oh, oh,” she said with a tinge of wonder. Her eyes flicked away and back to his, the guarded quality he knew so well was gone completely. “I, uh…” She paused and her hand flew to her mouth. Suddenly, she burst into tears and flung herself at him. He caught her and held her close. She mumbled into his shoulder.
“I love you too. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t know what to do about it and I don’t know what you want or what you expect and…” She ran out of words and looked up at him.
His throat was tight, but he managed to speak. “I only want you. It’s safe to say I didn’t have any expectations to begin with. When you said ‘just once,’ I was ready to take that, but I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t want more. Expectations? Don’t worry about that. This is much more than I ever expected,” he said, gesturing between them.
Her mouth curled up at one corner. “Just this once? I can’t believe I thought I could stick to that.”
The tightness in his chest and throat eased. “I’m damn glad you couldn’t.”
She slipped a hand up his chest to curl around his neck, tugging him down to meet her lips. Instantly, he was lost. Lust jolted through him. He stroked a hand down her back. He moved swiftly, hooking his thumbs over the waist of the swinging cotton pants she wore. In seconds, he tossed them across the room. He’d been keeping his desire in check for days, trying to be careful and not accidentally jostle her knee or arm. He’d find a way to be gentle, but he couldn’t hold back anymore.
She didn’t make it easy though. She tore at his shirt, shoving it up. He reached behind his head and yanked it off in one swoop. He curled his hands under her hips and lifted her onto the kitchen table. Just when he planned to set the pace, she threw him off. She unbuttoned his jeans with a few quick flicks and curled her palm around his cock. With her one good hand, she freed him and stroked up and down. Lust pounded through him. He gritted his teeth and fumbled in his jeans pocket. Stepping into the cradle of her hips, he pushed her hand out of the way, tore the packet open with his teeth and rolled a condom on.
All the while, her lips traveled over his body, kissing, licking and nipping on the planes of his abdomen and chest. Need pounded through him so hard and fast, he could barely see. He stroked his hands up her thighs, gently pushing them apart, careful of her knee. When he reached the juncture at her thighs, he cupped his palm over her, feeling the heat and moisture through the cotton. Her breath caught. He dragged his fingers back and forth, savoring every gasp from her. Unable to hold back any more, he shoved her panties out of the way and dragged her hips to the edge of the table.
His cock throbbed with need, desperate to be inside of her. He held still for a moment as he stepped close to her, resting against her. He took a deep breath and arched his hips, slowly sinking into her as he exhaled. She felt so good, so damn good, around him. Her slick channel pulsed, clenching his length. Keeping one hand on her hip to hold her steady, he brought the other up to thread into her hair and looked down at her.
“Becca.”
Her eyes opened, slamming into his.
“Mmm?”
“Just…this.”
He seated himself all the way inside of her as he spoke and began a slow, steady rhythm, rolling in and out of her, almost drunk on the feel of her throbbing around him. Her breath came in pants and gasps. He stroked his hand between them, bringing his thumb over the center of her desire. She cried out, her channel convulsing around him. He finally let go, his orgasm crashing through him, the release so deep, his own cry echoed hers.
He dipped his head into the curve of her shoulder as he came down, breathing in the scent of her. She tucked her head against his shoulder and stroked a hand in lazy circles on his back. After several moments, he lifted his head and looked down at her. She angled her head up and grinned.
“Finally!”
“Huh?”
“If you kept treating me like I was made of glass, I was about to take matters into my own hands.”
He couldn’t hold back his smile. “Good thing you didn’t have to.”
He pulled away slowly and tossed his condom in the trash nearby before turning back to her. “How’s your knee?”
She glanced down and swung her foot gently where it hung off the edge of the table. “A little sore, but don’t go thinking this made it worse.” She lifted the forearm wearing the brace. “This is just annoying.”
“The doctor said you can stop wearing that in another few weeks. I’m pretty sure you can handle it.”
With a roll of her eyes, Becca started to shimmy off the table. He stepped to her side and helped ease her down. She curled her hand in his and led him to the shower.
Epilogue
Becca leaned against the ferry railing and watched a pod of orcas swimming in the distance. A gust of ocean air blew her hair wild. She felt a warm hand slide down her back. She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes colliding with Aidan’s. He brushed her hair out of her face and dropped a quick kiss on her lips. When he drew away, fluttery joy rose inside. It had been a year since they’d taken the ferry home to Seattle from Alaska and now they were returning for another visit. She glanced back out to sea.
“Look,” she said, pointing to the orcas. They swam in an undulating rhythm through the water, their distinctive black and white markings evident even from a distance.
Aidan followed her gesture, a slow smile spreading across his face. Orcas were fairly common in the Pacific Northwest, so it wasn’t that they hadn’t seen them before. Yet, there was something about watching them as they rode through this remote part of the world with the mountains rising tall along the shore,
glaciers sparkling an otherworldly blue under the sun and nothing indicating civilization was anywhere in sight, save the large ferry cutting slowly through the icy ocean waters.
The trip up this year was so very different from hers last year. Last year, she was on a forced vacation and mentally spinning in circles in her mind over Aidan. Since then, she and Aidan had returned to Seattle together with Oscar. After a few months of back and forth between their respective apartments, she’d moved in with him when her lease was up. Oscar had been ecstatic. He was just as attached to Aidan as he was to her, and he simply adored being able to be with both of them all the time. As Ellie had tried to persuade Aidan once upon a time, Oscar became his sidekick during his workdays since it wasn’t practical for Becca to have him with her.
As she stared out over the water, seagulls called and circled above the ferry. The ferry entered a narrow passage with mountains rising tall on both sides. A cluster of puffins with their distinctive orange beaks and almost comical faces rested on the rocks in the water. Her mind rolled back through the past year. Even after she’d managed to come to terms with the fact she loved Aidan, she’d hemmed and hawed those first few months back in Seattle. She’d been uncertain about moving in with him and committing herself to someone again. Not because she didn’t want to, or because she doubted her feelings, but because of the lingering traces of distrust after the spectacular implosion of her first attempt at commitment. She trusted Aidan completely. It was more that she wasn’t sure she could trust in her own happiness.
Oddly enough, it was Oscar who tipped the scale. One night after she’d worked late and was too tired to turn around and leave again, she looked over to see him waiting expectantly by the door. When he concluded they weren’t going anywhere, he’d curled up next to her on the couch and sighed rather dramatically. At that point, she realized she wanted nothing more than to go home to Aidan every night.
Every night with Aidan was pure heaven. A few months after she’d moved in with him, he’d somehow managed to finesse a ring onto her finger, something she’d never thought she’d let happen again. Rather than making a grandiose gesture, he’d stopped in the middle of a walk with Oscar and flat out asked her to marry him. She’d agreed with one condition. No big wedding. The very idea turned her stomach. Aidan had been more than happy to agree. They’d had a simple ceremony at the courthouse with Garrett, Delia, and her parents as witnesses. The rest of her siblings had complained, but she knew she might chicken out if too much planning was involved.
She looked down at her hand curled on the railing. A blue sapphire winked under the sun. Aidan’s arm was warm around her shoulders. When she glanced up at him again, a spray of seawater hit her in the face. “What the hell?”
She looked down to see a whale’s tail disappearing under the water. She glanced back up at Aidan. His black curls were dripping with water, and his blue eyes were sparkling.
***
Aidan walked across the deck at the back of the lodge. The sun was high in the sky and the deck was filled with family and friends. Ellie had arrived today for a week and was currently helping Delia get a buffet table set up. Gage and Garrett were dueling at side-by-side grills, trying to see who could grill the most salmon in the shortest amount of time. Aidan held two beers as he made his way to Becca. She was sitting alone at a table in the far corner. She’d insisted she had some work to do. Her head was bowed over her laptop. She was so focused she didn’t notice his approach. He sat down across from her and waited. Oblivious to his presence, she pushed her glasses up her nose and kept typing.
His mind spun back in time. Almost ten years ago, he’d sat down across from Becca. He’d never stopped wanting her, but until last year, he’d thought his longing would go unfulfilled. Yet, here they were. He grinned as he looked over at her. Oscar came bounding up the stairs onto the deck from where he’d been playing and raced straight to their table. Becca finally looked up, straight into his eyes.
“Oh! I didn’t even hear you sit down.”
“I noticed.” He slid one of the beers across the table to her. “Think you’ll be done working anytime soon?”
Her smile was sheepish. She slowly closed her laptop and slipped it into its small bag. “Done! I had to review a few legal briefs. I promise I won’t work anymore while we’re here.”
She pushed her glasses up again, and his heart clenched. He reached across the table and gripped her hand. Her eyes met his, and she smiled slowly.
Oscar interrupted the moment by putting his paws on the edge of Becca’s chair and climbing up to lean his head against her shoulder. She curled an arm around Oscar and rubbed his neck.
A while later, the gathering had moved inside the lodge restaurant. Aidan leaned into the corner of a booth with his arm across Becca’s shoulders. He looked around at the cluster of friends and family scattered around the restaurant. Garrett and Sawyer were deep in the middle of a game of cards at a nearby table. Ginger was holding Marley and Gage’s little baby girl, Holly, who was sound asleep amidst the low hum of conversation surrounding her. Aidan’s eyes landed on Gage, his old friend. Their days in the Navy SEAL’s had created an unbreakable bond forged through gritty trust and toughness. Gage was leaning against the bar, his arm curled around Marley’s waist, his hand hooked in her pocket. Aidan considered that when he’d first heard about Gage and Marley, he couldn’t quite believe it. He’d pretty much given up on the idea he could forge the bonds necessary for love after years of dangerous missions. He’d figured it was the same for Gage, but then he’d seen Gage with Marley.
Even though Aidan had all but handed his heart to Becca the first time he saw her, he simply hadn’t considered he’d have a chance. Even then, he wasn’t sure he’d know how to navigate the tricky waters of a relationship. He was knocked out of his reverie when Ellie slid into the seat across from him.
“Are you two going on out the fishing charter tomorrow?” Ellie asked.
“Of course!” Becca replied. “I’m determined to catch a king salmon.” She nudged her elbow into Aidan’s side. “I’ll catch it, and you bring it in, ‘kay?”
He chuckled. “Works for me.”
Ellie looked around. “Where’s Oscar?”
“He’s not allowed in the restaurant,” Becca explained. “Gage is pretty flexible, but he can’t bend that rule.”
Ellie sighed. “Oh right.” She looked between them, her eyes tearing up. “I’m so glad you two have him and each other,” she declared. She swung her gaze to Becca. “You have no idea how happy I am. I didn’t think Aidan would ever let anyone into his heart, but with you, it was never a question.”
Becca’s eyes widened. “Huh?”
Ellie, who Aidan knew to be far more perceptive than she let on, shrugged. “He had a thing for you forever. I was just waiting to see how long it took you two to figure out you were meant for each other.”
Becca’s eyes angled up to his and back to Ellie who merely shrugged again.
Later that night, Aidan came out of the bathroom in their hotel suite and looked across the room. Becca was wrapped in a robe and leaning against the windowsill. He walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. The moon sat low above the mountains, its silvery light casting a shimmer over the water in the distance. The stars were scattered like bright diamonds across the sky. He felt the rise and fall of her breath. She tilted her head back, her eyes snagging on his. His heart tightened, a wash of emotion racing through him. He dipped his head and caught her lips in a kiss. When he pulled back, her words were so soft, he might have questioned them if he didn’t know them to be so true. “Love you…”
~The End~
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Please enjoy the following excerpt from Falling Fast, the next book in the Last Frontier Lodge Series!
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sp; (Excerpt from FALLING FAST by J.H. Croix; all rights reserved)
Chapter 1
The snow swirled around Ginger Sanders as she raced toward the bottom of the ski slope. A motion in the trees caught her eye and next thing she knew, her ski caught on its edge and she was tumbling down sideways. Several rapid bumps, and she came to a stop. She brushed the snow out of her hair and looked around, her eyes landing on a pair of skis immediately to her side. She slowly looked up, her gaze traveling up, up and up until she found herself staring at what had to be the sexiest man she’d ever seen. His body was well-defined under his fitted, high-performance gear. All muscle and nothing else.
The human god looked down at her. He pushed his ski goggles up his forehead. Amber eyes with thick lashes met hers. His hair almost matched his eyes, brown gilded with gold. His features were elegant and strong at once, angled cheekbones, a blade of a nose, and a full, sensual mouth. As the man knelt down to check on her, Ginger was struck speechless. She’d like to have blamed her tumble in the snow, but truly it was just this man. Where the hell did he come from? She’d never laid eyes on him, and she knew most everyone in Diamond Creek, Alaska. He must be a tourist visiting Last Frontier Lodge.
She took a breath and pointlessly ran a hand through her hair as if she could somehow straighten the wild locks damp with snow. The human god’s face came close to hers when he was at her level. Her breath hitched and her pulse took off at a gallop.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Um…yeah. I think so.”
The man glanced at her skis, which were resting at an odd angle on the ground. She really was okay, although her legs weren’t too comfortable with the skis stuck to them.
“Let’s get you out of these skis, so you can get your feet under you.”
