by Jennie Marts
She bucked against the wall, arching her back as he untied the back knot and let the swim top fall to the floor of the shower. His hands now free, he used one to massage and knead her breast while the other cupped her perfect ass, pulling her tighter against him.
Exploring her body, he licked and sucked, tasting her skin while his hands traveled over her. He wanted to touch her, to feel her, to see every inch of her. Even the skimpy bikini bottoms covered too much. He wanted her naked.
He shimmied out of his own underwear then slid his hands inside her bikini bottom, pushing the fabric down over her hips, praying she wouldn’t stop him. The skimpy bit of red fabric fell down her legs, and she kicked them away.
The air left his lungs as he looked down at her perfect body. “God, you are beautiful.” His words came out in a rush, spoken against her skin as he dipped his head back to her breasts. He couldn’t get enough of her, and his hands moved over her slick skin, caressing, kneading, exploring.
He wanted to touch all of her, wanted to feel her. His hand slid between her legs, his fingers seeking her warm center.
Her head tilted back, and she released a soft moan as she ground her hips against his hand.
Loving the sexy sounds she made, he rocked his hand, increasing the rhythm as he sucked and nipped at her pebbled nipple.
She clutched his back, crying out, this time louder, her fingernails digging into his back as her body let go in release. Bucking against him, she shuddered, then sagged against his body.
He ran his lips in a line along her shoulder and up her neck, then covered her mouth in a tender collection of kisses.
Still light-headed from watching the intensity of her climax, shivers of heat ran up his back, but he wasn’t done with her yet.
Their bodies were flushed with heat, so he hadn’t noticed the water cooling until the last of the hot water ran out and a cold spray hit his skin and went trickling down his back.
He pulled away, jerking the nozzle to turn it off, leaving the shower silent except for the sound of his labored breathing.
Oh. Shit.
The reality of what he’d done hit him like one of the cold waves in the river crushing over his back.
It was like he was a different person. The way he’d touched her, surveying her body as if it were his to explore, he’d never been like that before. And the images and thoughts of things he wanted to do had so much heat running up his neck he was surprised the water wasn’t steaming off of his skin.
He wasn’t done with her yet? Where had that come from? It was like she’d turned him into a mad man, his mind devoid of all thoughts of anything beyond satisfying her and drawing out another sated moan of pleasure.
She blinked up at him, holding onto his arm as she tried to catch her own breath.
What the hell had he been thinking?
And what the hell was she thinking?
Maybe this was a common occurrence in the city and no big deal to her.
But it was a big damn deal to him. He hadn’t been with anyone else since his wife had left him. He just didn’t do casual sex. Leanne had made it perfectly clear that she’d be available, dropping subtle hints, but he’d been pissed off at women in general for the past year and hadn’t really even considered it.
So why had he been thinking about it from pretty much the first moment he saw Avery? And he hadn’t been able to get the image of that lacy black thong out of his mind.
Until now. Now he had some whole new images to fill his thoughts. He’d had Avery slick and wet and naked against him, and she was more than any other fantasy he could have imagined.
But he didn’t have any idea how she felt about this. Maybe she’d had sex like this in the shower before. Maybe the crazed hunger and passion he’d just felt was ordinary for her.
It sure as hell wasn’t for him.
This had been beyond ordinary, beyond extraordinary.
“You okay?” His question was soft, his voice low, as he tried to keep his own insecurities out of his voice. She didn’t have to know how much it affected him or that this was the first time he’d ever done anything like that in the shower.
She smiled, a naughty glint in her eyes. “Hell yes, I’m okay. I’m more than okay. I’m freaking fantastic.”
A grin split his face. Dammit, he did like this girl. It wasn’t just that he liked her lush body—even though he liked that part of her, liked it a whole lot—it was more. It was her positive spirit, her easygoing outlook on things, her wit and her easy laughter—and her damn dirty mind. Yeah, he liked that a lot.
“Yeah?” he asked, trying to be cool, but knowing that his goofy smile was giving him away.
“Yeah. But my legs feel like rubber now. I don’t know if I can walk. I think you’re going to have to carry me to your bed to finish this thing.”
“Finish?” he croaked, swallowing at the way his mouth had suddenly gone dry.
She laughed, a bawdy laugh, and kissed him hard on the lips. “Yes, finish. You don’t think we’re done yet, do you?” She kissed his neck, the spot behind his ear, and a shiver ran through him that had nothing to do with the cold.
Her breath tickled his ear as she said, “I love that you don’t even realize how hot you are. When you were standing on that tree earlier, and you ripped your shirt off and started that chainsaw, I almost came undone. With your hard, tanned chest and the muscles in your arms and that black-as-sin beard, you looked like lumberjack porn.”
Her words sent a flurry of butterflies through his gut and a secret thrill racing up his back. She thought he was hot. And she’d just called his beard sexy. The corner of his lip tugged up in another grin. “Lumberjack porn?”
She nodded, biting her lower lip and letting out a small sigh of ecstasy that changed the butterflies swirling in his belly to licks of flame. “Oh yeah. Or maybe rugged mountain man porn. I’m serious—the way you looked standing on top of that tree, with the rain pouring down and you shirtless and brandishing a chainsaw—it was sexy as hell. You took my breath away.”
He didn’t know what to say—couldn’t speak. He wished she would quit saying “porn.” The tips of his ears were burning, again, dammit.
No one had ever said anything like that to him before—called him hot or sexy or said anything about his muscles. Even thinking the things she’d said in his head made him embarrassed. But not just embarrassed; a hundred emotions churned inside of him. Doubt, passion, need. And something else, like a sudden boost of confidence that bloomed inside of him, that had him standing up straighter and pulling his shoulders back.
His ex had only ever told him that he was boring, and too quiet, and not exciting enough. She’d never said anything about his muscles. He didn’t really work out, he just worked. He was always lifting or carrying or hauling stuff. And he was strong. Strong enough to bend down, wrap an arm around the backs of her legs, and lift her up against his chest.
“Did you say something about me carrying you to my bed? And something about finishing this?”
She grinned and licked her lips, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Yeah, I did. Because we haven’t even started yet.” Tipping her head up, she gently bit his earlobe. “Take me to your bed. I want you, Sullivan Reed, and I want you now.”
…
A thrill of desire shot through Avery as Sully carried her into the bedroom of the cabin. She couldn’t believe she was doing this and acting like a brazen tart. She was naked for goodness’ sake.
But he didn’t know that this wasn’t the way she always acted—slinging out sexual commands and talking just a little bit dirty. It turned her on to watch his confidence soar as she told him he was sexy as hell.
And she’d meant it. He’d been sweet with her, and she’d thought he was cute when she first met him, and she loved the way she could make his ears go red with the slightest compliment, but the way he’d kissed her the night before had changed everything.
He’d gone from sweet to sinful in a matter of seconds, and she ha
dn’t been able to fall asleep the night before from thinking about that kiss.
He seemed different to her today, too. She still didn’t know exactly what had set him off at the dance, but today he wasn’t just the sullen fly-fisherman that she was doing an article on. He was the handsome rafting guide whose arms rippled with muscles as he rowed and who’d saved her from drowning. He was the sexy-as-sin, half-naked mountain man who’d ripped his freaking shirt off as he fired up a chainsaw and saved the cabin from being flooded. And just now, he’d been the hot-as-hell lover who’d stripped her naked and had her clinging to him as he brought her to climax against a cold shower wall.
And she couldn’t wait to see what he had in store for her next.
He pulled back the quilt on the bed and laid her on the soft sheets.
Gooseflesh rippled across her skin, both from anticipation and the cool air on her naked body.
Her nipples puckered as she imagined him leaning down and teasing them between his lips again.
But he didn’t lean down. In fact, he stood up, a concerned look on his face, as if he’d just remembered that he’d left the stove on.
She took in his body, her gaze hungrily roaming over his muscled thighs and his slender waist. Those black boxer briefs had been sexy enough by themselves, but now that he was naked, he was glorious.
Her inner muscles clenched, tight and eager to feel him inside her. Pushing up on her elbows, she licked her lips and offered him her best seductive look.
Except he wasn’t taking the bait. In fact, he wasn’t fishing at all.
“Shit, I can’t do this,” he said before turning around and giving her a fantastic view of his ass as he walked out of the room.
What the hell?
Chapter Nine
Well damn. She hadn’t been expecting that.
Her brazen spirit withered as she heard him in the living room slamming cupboard doors and tearing things apart.
What the hell is going on?
A sudden thought struck her that maybe Sully wasn’t the sweet guy she thought he was. Maybe he was digging through the cupboards looking for some rope so he could tie her up—okay, maybe that might be fun—but not if he was also going to get his chainsaw so that he could cut her into tiny pieces to toss into the river.
Grabbing the sheet, she pulled it up, dread stealing through her, and cursing her overactive imagination.
She jumped as he appeared in the doorway.
But instead of a menacing glare, he wore a smile of victory on his face as he cried out, “Yes, I knew I’d find these.” And instead of a chainsaw, he held up a purple box of condoms.
Giddy relief filled her. What an idiot. The guy wasn’t leaving her because he didn’t want her, he was finding some protection so he could have her. And from the size of that box, he planned to have her several times.
There went her nipples again, standing erect and eager, and she let the sheet fall, the fabric giving her a tiny thrill as it brushed past their tender tips.
Sully saw the sheet fall, his gaze going from her face to her breasts and back to her face again, his expression changing from a smile of success to an open-mouthed look of reverence.
And her body seemed to be the one he wanted to worship. He took a step forward and climbed onto the bed above her, dropping the box onto the tangle of blankets at her side.
She shivered, both from cold and excitement.
He wasn’t walking out the door now. He was spreading her legs apart with his knees and settling between her thighs as he pulled the covers over them, cocooning them in the warmth of blankets and skin against skin.
Frozen in place, she waited for his next move, her body taut with eager willingness and impatience to have his hands on her again.
He touched her cheek, resting the pads of his fingers against her face as he grazed her bottom lip with his thumb.
The brazen sex pot was back, flaring up inside her, and she drew his thumb into her mouth, circling it with her tongue, then pulled it out, only to suck it back in between her lips.
He kept his gaze on her and let out a low moan of pleasure, fueling her boldness with his reaction.
Releasing his thumb, she bit her bottom lip and tried offering the seductive look again. This time he took the bait—hook, line, and sinker.
Leaning down, he crushed her mouth with his, kissing her with the same hunger and passion of the night before. Except this time, they weren’t on a crowded dance floor on display in front of half the town.
This time they were all alone. And naked. And he wasn’t pulling away.
Wrapping her legs around his waist, she ground her hips against his, arching her back as his lips left her mouth and traveled along her throat and chest.
She caught her breath as he circled her nipple with his tongue the way she’d just done to his thumb, then let out a soft cry as he drew it into his mouth, his teeth gently scraping the tender sides as he sucked it between his lips.
Even though she’d been waiting, hoping, dying for him to touch her again, she hadn’t expected the pleasure to course through her with such a fierce intensity.
She’d told Sully that she wanted him, and Lord help her, she meant it. Wanted, needed, had to have him.
Something about this man touched her in a way that she hadn’t expected. He’d connected to some part of her that she didn’t even know existed. And she loved it—couldn’t get enough of it—of him.
Another roll of thunder filled the sky and rain lashed against the bedroom windows, but the storm only added to the intensity of the passion filling the room.
He inched down, his breath hot on her stomach, as he licked his way down her belly. Reaching out to her side, she clenched a handful of sheets as he went lower still.
She sucked in a soft gasp and curled the fingers of her other hand into his hair as he ran his tongue along the sensitive skin of her inner thigh.
Looking up at the ceiling, she imagined all the things he might do to her and all the things she wanted to do to him, and she grinned—a naughty grin—as she thought about how grateful she was that he had found that purple box.
They were going to need it.
…
Hours later, they lay sprawled across the bed. Her body was spent and exhausted, but Avery couldn’t stop smiling.
They were tangled together, her lying on her back in the crook of his arm, and Sully spooned to her side, his arm draped across her, his hand cupping her breast. His soft snores told her he’d fallen asleep.
Admiring his strong jawline, she traced her finger along the side of his cheek, and he shifted, snuggling his face against her hand.
He looked different when he was asleep. Peaceful. She liked it. She liked him. Liked to make him smile. He had seemed so surly and brooding when she first met him, now she saw a different side of him, a lighter fun side.
She liked that side, too. If she wasn’t careful, she was really going to fall for this guy.
He shifted, pulling her closer, and turned his face to place a soft kiss against her palm.
Too late. Her heart melted with that one kiss.
Wait. Back up, sister.
She had no business falling for a guy like Sully. Nothing about it made any sense. Logistically, they lived in two separate parts of the country. But they might as well live on Pluto and Mars, with everything about their worlds being so different.
Not to mention the fact he liked the isolated life of a cabin in the woods and she was determined to see the world, work for a big magazine and have huge adventures. She’d had her heart set on this for years. Her younger brother had graduated college the year before, and for the first time, she truly felt free. Like she could finally live her life for her, not weighed down by the responsibility of other people.
She knew all the places she wanted to see, the things she wanted to do. And she wanted to do it all, had dreamed of doing it all.
But Sully had told her that he didn’t need adventure. That he was happy with his qu
iet life on the river, with only his dog for company.
They were complete opposites. He was quiet, and she was loud. He’d told her that he hated to fly and couldn’t stand crowds, and she loved jumping on a plane and jetting off somewhere, being surrounded by people.
Nothing about them would work. Except this.
This worked. Lying in bed with him, her body nestled against his… This worked.
But it wasn’t enough. Couldn’t be enough.
But could it be enough for now? For the next week that she was in town? They were already committed to a fake relationship.
But this afternoon hadn’t felt fake. The way he’d touched her, kissed her. That had to be real. Just because their relationship was pretend didn’t mean they couldn’t still have some real feelings.
And just because they had an afternoon of great sex—mind-blowingly great sex—didn’t mean he had any real feelings for her or he wanted their relationship to progress any further than it had.
Why did she have to overthink everything? Why couldn’t she just enjoy the time they had? By declaring themselves a couple already, they’d bypassed all the awkward early stages and gone right to the fun part. And this afternoon had certainly been fun. Fun with a capital O. Several capital Os, in fact.
Another smile crept up on her. She didn’t want to ruin this by getting all deep and analyzing it to death. Keeping it light seemed the best option. Act like it was no big deal. Let him be the one to bring up the subject of feelings.
And if he didn’t, that was okay. She’d go back to Chicago and forget about him, chalk their time up to a great memory of her first trip to Colorado. Yeah, right. She wouldn’t be putting this trip out of her mind anytime soon.
The bedroom door creaked, and Sadie padded into the room and jumped up onto the bed. Stepping over them, the dog settled down by Avery’s side, letting out a contented sigh as she curled against her stomach.
Aw, crud. She just fell in love with his dog, too.
She was in real trouble now.
“Just push her off if she’s bothering you,” Sully’s deep voice said in her ear. He moved his hand from her breast to stroke the dog’s side.
