Body and Soul

by Lucy Lennox

  His eyes were shot through with a raging hunger just like mine must have been.

  “God, you’re so sexy like that,” I murmured. “Don’t move.”

  I climbed onto the bed behind him and leaned down to take a soft nibble of his ass cheek, which led to open-mouthed kisses across his entire lower back, and finally a gentle licking stroke to his crease.

  “Jake,” he begged. “More. Feels so good.”

  I laid my tongue in a broad stripe across his hole before reaching up with my thumb to tease him a little with light circles around the tender skin. His ass clenched with every move I made, and his hips rocked back toward my face.

  “You sure you can take a hard fuck tonight, baby?” I teased, grabbing the lube.

  “Ungh.”

  “Mmm,” I continued. “Maybe I’ll have to see how good you are when I start pounding into you. You want my cock in here, sweetheart?” My slicked-up thumb breached his entrance and plunged into his tight body, feeling him squeeze instinctively around me.

  “Oh fuuuck,” I gasped, dropping my head onto his back. I kissed his warm skin and began moving my thumb in and out. The noises Oz made set every nerve jangling inside of me, and my cock jumped for attention.

  “’S good,” he slurred. “’S good like that. Mm-hmm.”

  I removed my thumb and leaned over his back completely to grab his earlobe in my teeth. “So good. Your body is making me lose it, Oz. Everything about you sets my skin on fire and makes my heart feel like it’s going to pound out of my chest. How do you make me feel this way?”

  The words were coming without warning, and I murmured more affection into his ear until I was at the point that my bare cock was trying to plunge into his body of its own accord.

  I straightened up and donned the condom, lubing it up with a few quick passes before finally lining up to take him. No matter what he’d said about fucking him hard, I didn’t have enough experience in bed with him yet to know whether I could just slam home the way I wanted to. I took a couple of gentle thrusts to make my way in more carefully when he finally reached back and grabbed my hip with angry fingers.

  “Stop teasing me,” he cried. “Jake, please!”

  And that’s when I started the pounding.

  I railed his ass like a man possessed. Every shout of pleasure out of his mouth was like permission to keep thrusting into him with everything I had. I’d never felt comfortable enough with anyone else to let loose like that, and it almost felt like I was making up for lost time.

  “Fuck, fuck!” he cried, scrambling for purchase on the headboard since I’d fucked him all the way up the bed. “Yes. Just like that!”

  I had one arm tight around his waist in an iron grip and the other on his shoulder to help keep from nailing him into the wall.

  “Never want to stop,” I admitted in a hoarse voice. “Want to stay inside you like this. You feel so fucking good, so damned perfect.”

  I remembered to reach for his cock as I felt his body begin to tremble uncontrollably. He was close, which was a damned good thing because I was about to come so hard I was almost afraid of it.

  As soon as my hand began stroking him, I felt his dick swell even further and begin to shoot. Oz’s cries were unintelligible except for the sound of my name in there somewhere, but honestly, I was almost too far gone to notice any of it. The minute his body began contracting in pleasure, mine followed suit. My pulse firing dangerously fast, my groin tightening to the point of pain, and the most exquisite release moving through me and into the man I held tightly to my body.

  We were both dripping with sweat and heaving with ragged breaths. Oz trembled almost uncontrollably while I stayed frozen inside of him, unwilling to move one molecule and spoil the perfect moment. The silence of the winter night descended around us until all I could hear was the distant crackling of the fire from the other room.

  I finally had to pull out to deal with the condom. When I did, Oz collapsed onto his front directly in the wet spot without caring. I brushed damp hair back from his forehead and dropped a long kiss there.

  “That was fucking amazing, baby. Anytime you want me to wear a dress in the future, just say the word.”

  Chapter 17

  Oz

  The next two days were like a fantasy sequence. While we waited for the snowplows to reach us, we spent the days alternating between comfortable companions and hot-as-fuck lovers. Jake bantered back and forth with Boo while I cut and pinned and sewed. We stopped long enough for two things–meals and sex. I couldn’t say what we ate, but every single time our bodies came together in pleasure was imprinted on my brain for all time.

  Jake was both aggressive and gentle as hell in bed. He alternated between bossing me around and treating me with exquisite tenderness. I craved his touch. It got to the point that I could just look over at him from my spot behind my sewing machine a certain way and he’d drop whatever he was doing to swoop me over his shoulder and slam me down on my bed. Half the time, I’d wind up naked before I even realized it was happening.

  I’d almost forgotten about the real world outside by the time it came barging in. We’d just finished lunch when I’d asked Jake to put on the suiting gown I was finishing. I wanted to audition buttons for the placket up the front of the bodice, and the best way to do that was to see the dress upright on a model. As usual, I had to tie the dress closed with a sash, since he was no woman’s size two, but it covered most of him except the wide gap in the back.

  Sometimes I made a point of walking around him when he had it on, just so I could admire his sinewy back muscles through that gap.

  I held three different buttons up to the front of the gown and noticed Jake’s hands running over the folds in the skirt again. The cashmere I’d used for some of the overskirt seemed to fascinate him.

  “Did you notice I added hidden pockets?” I asked while I tilted my head to think about the buttons some more.

  “You did?” His hands fumbled around the folds, trying to find the openings of the pockets.

  “Mm-hm. Women are going to go apeshit for that. They hate not having pockets. This gown is full enough to hide whatever they’ll carry. Many aren’t. You can’t put a pocket in a body-conscious design because anything you carry in it would show.”

  Before he could respond, Boo let out a yip with a throaty growl, causing Jake and I to turn toward her in surprise. She usually only barked like that if someone was visiting or if Jake was outside his place. Jazz was playing over my Bluetooth speaker, and I realized it would have hidden the sound of an approaching vehicle.

  Suddenly, there was rapping on the window next to the door. I automatically headed for it.

  “Oh fuck, no. Oz, wait,” Jake called just as I reached out to open the door for Xander, Bennett, and Lucky.

  “Well, helloooo there,” Xander cooed, staring right at Jake wearing a couture evening gown. Bennett and Lucky stood wide-eyed next to him for about three seconds before Bennett began laughing and Lucky started searching his pockets. “We came to tell you the road to town was clear and invite you to dinner, but maybe you have other plans…” Xander said, completely failing to stifle a smile.

  “Shit,” Jake grumbled, trying to twist out of the dress. “Lucky, touch that phone and I’ll post pictures of your fathers making out onto your Facebook page every day for a year.” Lucky paled and held up his empty hands. I quickly grabbed Jake’s wrist and shot him a warning glance.

  “You break it, you buy it, hotshot,” I cautioned as Jake fumbled to get the dress off. “And it ain’t cheap.”

  He let out a breath of surrender and held out his hands in supplication. He faced our visitors and proudly said, “What, you’ve never seen an evening gown before? It’s an OzzieB original. You saw it here first.”

  I was torn between swelling with pride at his words and laughing my ass off at his made-up label name. He’d finally met Zoey on FaceTime the night before and they’d begun riffing on what name I should show my collection under. Th
e suggestions had gone from out of hand to downright vulgar.

  “I thought you said it was OB,” I said with a snort.

  “Nah. Zoey shot that idea down because if we named it after the tampon, you’d have to use all cotton or risk upsetting the eco-feminists.” When he winked at me with a teasing smirk on his face, I realized with relief he couldn’t be that mad at me after all. I was surprised to realize how much it mattered to me. Had he been truly upset at being caught helping me this way, I would have surely gotten a case of insecurity.

  I turned back to Xander’s crew. “Let me help him change and we’ll be right back.”

  Ignoring Xander’s and Bennett’s raised eyebrows, I picked up some of the gown length and quickly accompanied Jake back to my room, making sure to stand directly behind him so no one got a free show of his gorgeous, muscular back and hot ass in nothing but cotton boxer-briefs.

  By now, my room was almost as full of Jake’s dirty clothes as my own, since he just kept running across to his cabin to grab clean clothes, rather than us wasting any time doing laundry. Why wash clothes when you can fuck instead?

  I helped him out of the gown and carefully laid it on my bed while he pulled on the sweats he’d had on earlier. As soon as he was decent, I turned to the door to return to our guests. Jake’s hand grabbed my elbow and spun me back around.

  “Hey. You okay?” he asked, sliding his arms around my waist and nuzzling my neck.

  I let out a huge whoosh of relief as he held me tightly. “Yeah.”

  “Why were you so tense just now?” He pulled back and peered at me, brows furrowed in concern. It warmed my heart to know he’d picked up on something so subtle.

  “I guess… I guess I was worried their arrival was going to break the spell. Send you running in the opposite direction again,” I confessed.

  Jake’s brow furrowed even more. “I told you I was staying until February. And we could have as much or as little of this as you want until then. Remember?”

  “I know. I just… I thought maybe you’d change your mind. I was a little worried you might feel crowded since I’ve barely given you a moment’s peace in three or four days.”

  His face broke out in a smile. “You may not remember where I live, baby, but it’s not far from here. And, no offense, but you weigh about as much as Princess Cujo does. I could have gotten rid of you easily and escaped to my place if I wanted a moment’s peace. Surely you know that?”

  I stepped back into his arms and laid my head down on his chest, squeezing him tightly with my arms. His neck still smelled like the spray starch I’d used on the collar of the gown.

  “Thank you. I’ve had an incredible time here with you, Jake. Even if the road is clear… I kind of don’t want it to end.”

  Jake’s hand came up to lift my chin so we could make eye contact. “Me neither.” He dropped his lips to mine and caressed them for a moment before kissing my cheek, my temple, and my forehead. “Let’s go see what that crazy crew is up to. If the road is clear, I’m sure you’re going to be itching for a trip into civilization.”

  “I have to admit I wouldn’t turn down a latte from The Beanie if I could get to Haven right now.”

  He smacked my ass lightly as he reached past me for the door to the bedroom. I wondered if we could play it cool in front of the three of them to avoid any ribbing they’d definitely give us if they knew we’d been hooking up.

  Maybe it was because of how long we’d taken in there, just the two of us, or maybe it was just the mere presence of Jake in my cabin, but all three of our visitors stared at us with their jaws hanging open.

  “What?” Jake asked, as cool as could be.

  “Uh, that,” Bennett said, raising a finger to point to Jake’s sweatshirt.

  Jake and I both looked at where he was pointing.

  Hot Model.

  It actually said Hot Toaster Strudel but the way they’d done the typography and graphics, it looked like it said Hot Model. Either way, the oversized sweatshirt that was comfortably big on me was just a bit too snug on Jake’s broad chest, so even if the words hadn’t given it away, our guests would have figured it out anyway.

  Busted.

  We packed up Boo and went into town for the night. Jake was worried that the road might be icy after dark and didn’t want to risk driving back after dinner. Since Bennett and Xander owned a lodge with plenty of guest rooms, it wasn’t a problem for them to put us up for the night.

  Dinner was a casual affair. Jake and Lucky walked a few blocks to pick up a couple of pizzas from Lucky’s favorite place, and we ate around the big stone fireplace in the lobby of the lodge. There were several leather-and-oak sofas and chairs with matching coffee and side tables. The space was homey and welcoming in that rustic lodge way ski towns like Haven seemed to love. Several fat lamps lit the space and the crackle of the large fire was quickly becoming a familiar soundtrack to my stay in Colorado.

  As I sat laughing and drinking beer with my new friends long into the night, I realized I was quickly coming to love the place and the people. Lucky lay on a thick rug in front of the fire with his head resting on Bear’s big back. Boo, meanwhile, was curled in a small ball under Bear’s chin between his front paws. Watching the little snuggle trio made me feel happy and safe, protected and loved. It was one of those rare moments in my life where I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

  I felt Jake’s arm tighten around my shoulder where I’d been leaning against him for the past hour. The beer and carbs had relaxed me to the point of near-coma levels, and I turned my face to look up at him with half-lidded eyes.

  “Hm?”

  “You’re falling asleep, sweetheart. You ready to turn in?” The words were said in his low, sexy rumble, and they did the opposite of lulling me into being ready for sleep.

  “Mm-hm. Let’s go.” Before I could sit up, he pulled me closer and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. I looked at him after he pulled back and caught him staring at me. “What?”

  “You. You’re so fucking beautiful, Oz. Inside and out. Sometimes it just… I forget, you know?” His fingers trailed over my forehead and skimmed my cheek.

  I hadn’t thought he was speaking loudly enough for anyone to hear, but then I heard Bennett sigh dreamily from his spot on an adjacent sofa where he was sprawled out with his head in Xander’s lap. Xander’s fingers were toying with Bennett’s dark hair while Bennett’s eyes sparkled at Jake and me.

  “Jakey’s got a boyfriend,” Bennett sing-songed.

  Xander laughed and Lucky sat up to see what was going on. As soon as the teen saw the two of us snuggled together, he looked at his dads. “What? You guys do that snuggle shit all the time.”

  “Yeah,” Xander said. “And we’re in love and getting married in three weeks. I think that’s Bennett’s point, son.”

  He winked at me, but I was too worried about what Jake would think to pay much attention. I turned to find out and saw Jake grinning.

  “I called Oz beautiful. Is there anyone in this room who disagrees with me?”

  “Certainly not me,” said a strange voice from the doorway. I turned to see a tall, muscular man with red hair sticking out from beneath a blue and white striped hat. He shrugged off his big winter coat and flashed a wide grin at the group of us by the fire.

  I felt Jake stiffen next to me.

  “Hey, Russ. We weren’t expecting you back so soon,” Xander said, standing up to greet his friend with a big smile.

  “Mom’s surgery went so well, she kicked me out. Apparently, I’m not the best nurse she’s ever had.”

  After shaking Xander’s hand, he walked over and clapped Jake on the shoulder while his mischievous blue eyes remained focused on me.

  “Jake, good to see you,” Russ said.

  I saw Jake’s jaw tighten as he reached for my hand and squeezed it harder than he probably intended.

  “And who might you be, gorgeous?” Russ asked.

  I opened my mouth
to respond, but Jake beat me to it. “Taken.”

  Silence. Everyone in the room stared at the normally reserved doctor next to me. No one was more surprised than I was.

  I reached out a hand to shake the newcomer’s. “Oz Ballard. It’s nice to meet you. You’re probably here for the Jeep, but unfortunately, it’s not here. Xander and Bennett were nice enough to loan it to me, and it’s up at my cabin. I mean, Xander’s cabin.”

  Xander stepped in. “It’s your cabin right now, Oz. And I’m sure Russ can get along without it fine for a little while longer.”

  Russ kept his eyes on me and flashed a friendly smile. “Of course I can. Actually, Gus is selling his old Tahoe, so I was going to take a look at it. Xander and Bennett have been nice enough to let me borrow the Jeep, but it’s time to get my own wheels. I’m glad to know it’s helping you stay safe. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to you on that steep road.”

  Jake seemed to be getting stiffer and stiffer the longer this guy was in the room. I should have been disgusted with his possessive behavior, but fuck if it didn’t turn me on instead. I decided to throw the poor jealous man a bone. I looped an arm through Jake’s and held on, playing up the damsel in distress routine.

  “That’s alright. Jake here has been my knight in shining armor. If you decide not to buy that car and need the Jeep back, I can count on him to give me a ride.”

  “You bet your ass,” Jake said with a bark of laughter. “Come on, princess, time for bed.”

  Boo raised her head and looked at him. She must have recognized the word princess, even though he’d been talking to me. We all laughed, and Lucky asked if he could keep Boo with him tonight in his room.

  “Bear will keep her warm and safe. You two will just ignore her all night,” Lucky said. “You know I’m right.”

  Jake stood up and reached for my hand. “Oz? That okay with you?”