by Kit Reynard
Evernight Publishing ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2016 Kit Reynard
ISBN: 978-1-77233-757-0
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: JS Cook
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
For you, as always
A LITTLE BIT RECKLESS
Romance on the Go TM
Kit Reynard
Copyright © 2016
Chapter One
Hannah stretched and huffed out a sigh of relief at the feel of her joints popping. She’d spent too long hunched over her text books studying for her exams and her body had suffered for it. She’d even managed to fall asleep across the keyboard to her laptop only to wake up with a light imprint of the keys across her cheek to show for it. Waking up on the verge of freezing, the cabin frigid and the dark around her, hadn’t helped any either.
Honestly, she wasn’t even sure why she’d allowed Jamie to convince her to come up to the Drapers’ little mountain resort as a part of a small group so close to exams anyways. She had too much studying to do and beyond that, none of them had seemed all that interested in spending any time with her whenever she wasn’t buried in a textbook or glued to her laptop.
Hell, they hadn’t even bothered to wake her up to tell her they were leaving in the first place. Or turn up the heat and have the decency to put more wood on the now barely smoldering fire to at least keep the cabin warm while they were gone.
With a low groan, Hannah practically staggered to the door to shove her feet into her boots and grab her thick winter coat and her copy of the cabin key. Some fresh air and the walk to the guys’ cabin would hopefully make her feel better. She’d been concentrating on studying for long enough for one night, in her opinion¸ and some company would be welcome as well. Jamie and Evan could be brash and more than a bit rude, especially when around Claire and Sarah, but Hannah had known all of them for years now and she was used to them.
Luke on the other hand …
Hannah shook her head sharply in an effort to chase any thoughts of Jamie’s undeniably sexy older brother away. Luke wasn’t even sharing a cabin with the two other guys. He’d decided to room on his own in one of the other vacant cabins, so the chances of her running into him were extremely slim. Not that he’d give her the time of day even if they did. She’d long since come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t the type of woman men like the Draper brothers, especially Luke, went after.
Her breath misted the air in front of her as she moved through the slightly wooded area between the cabins. It was cold and the sky was dark, covered with a layer of the thick clouds she remembered seeing on the drive up. It smelled like either rain or snow, Hannah couldn’t really tell which, but the feel of an encroaching storm was heavy in the air.
Eager to get back inside just in case the weather made a sudden turn¸ Hannah shoved her hands deeper into her pockets and sped up. She’d just stepped onto the small deck and had reached for the door handle when the sound of hushed voices made her pause.
“Remind me again why you had to drag her along, Jamie?” Evan sounded exasperated. “It’s bad enough Luke’s here even if he’s holed up by himself like a fucking hermit.”
“Don’t be a dick, Evan.” Sarah’s voice, sweet and soft as always, seemed to float to her then. “Hannah isn’t all that bad. Sometimes she has her moments where she’s actually almost fun. She’s just … shy, I think.”
Jamie spoke up then. “Personally I’m just glad she fell asleep. At least now she won’t drag her ass over here.” Hannah had to bit her lip at the sharp stab of pain that went through her then. She’d been friends with Jamie longer than anyone else in their small group. Or at least she had thought they were friends.
Apparently she’d been wrong about that.
“Just drop it, Jamie.” Claire sounded irritated and Hannah could hear the light tinkling of glass and what sounded like a match being struck. “She’s a prude and boring as all hell but she’s good cover. No one ever gives us any issues when she’s around, not even your parents. You know the only reason they gave in and let us come up here was because they knew Luke and her were coming along, too.”
“Maybe she’d loosen up some if she finally let someone get between those thighs of hers.” Jamie scoffed. “Good luck with that though, ’cause it’s not like she’s got a lot of options.”
There was a light round of laughter and more words but Hannah couldn’t take it anymore. She’d heard all she wanted to, all she needed to. She spun around on her heel and took off back towards the other cabin.
“Stupid.” She muttered to herself as she jogged through the small wooded area and up onto the deck. She jerked the key out of her pocket and unlocked the cabin with an angry twist of her wrist. She slammed the door behind her and then hurled the key across the living room in a fit of rage. “I’m so fucking stupid.”
Hannah marched through the cabin to the room she was supposed to be sharing with Claire, threw open the closet doors, yanked her suitcase out, and tossed it onto the bed. Angry tears welled up in her eyes as she repacked but she refused to let them fall. She felt betrayed, hurt and offended on so many different levels by the people she’d thought were her friends.
Especially Jamie. They’d been friends since they were kids. She’d stuck by his side through thick and thin, had done everything from helping him with his homework to taking the blame for some of the stupid shit he’d done over the years. He’d always been a bit too crude for her tastes, but to hear him talk about her like that hurt far more than she’d thought possible.
With a huff she slung her backpack over one shoulder, grabbed her purse in one hand, her suitcase in the other, and stomped out of the bedroom and towards the front door. She gave a brief thought to leaving a note but dismissed the idea out of hand. She was leaving and she doubted they’d even care.
Plus, as far as she was concerned, they didn’t deserve that kind of consideration from her anymore.
She pulled the door shut behind her and took off towards the small cabin that served as the office. She didn’t have much in the way of cell service where they were at, but the office had a phone she’d be able to use. She also hopefully had enough money to get a shuttle back down to town before the storm hit.
“Dammit all to hell.” She bit the words out when she broke through the small cluster of trees and saw that the office was dark, all the lights off and the blinds drawn. Still not ready to give up just yet she trudged forward, dropped her suitcase on the covered porch, and beat her free hand against the heavy door. “Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?”
Unfortunately the place stayed quiet and dark, door firmly locked and building obviously empty.
Hannah huffed, bent down to pick up her suitcase, and turned to make her way back towards her cabin. “Well this obviously isn’t going the way I hoped it would,” she muttered bitterly to herself as she walked.
Thunder rumbled overhead just as she broke back through the trees, the sound ominous and threatening. She picked up her pace until she was once more on the small open deck. She dropped her suitcase again and rummaged inside her purse for the cabin key only to come up empty handed. Frustrated beyond belief, she was a hair’s breadth away from just dumping her purse out on the ground when ligh
tening cracked across the sky with another loud roar of thunder. Hannah jumped, startled and more than a little uneasy. It was then that she remembered that she’d tossed the key across the living room in a fit of anger earlier.
“Fuck,” she hissed as she slumped forward so that her forehead was resting against the cabin’s door. “Now what in the hell am I going to do?”
Resisting the urge to beat her head against the door, Hannah considered her options. She could stay on the deck and wait for one of the others to come back with their keys or she could trek over to the other cabin again. Given that she’d rather set herself on fire than do that her other option was to go back to the office and hang out on the covered porch there.
Or …
Without her consent, Hannah’s face turned to the right and the small glow of light that marked the only other cabin that was currently occupied.
Luke.
With a rough shake of her head, Hannah pushed the thought away and forced herself to straighten up. She wasn’t completely sure as to what she was going to do, but she did know that she’d rather freeze than spend another night in that cabin with the others. And bothering Luke was also out unless she had absolutely no other choice.
“Can this night really get any worse?” Hannah couldn’t help but ask. A fat, heavy raindrop hitting her cheek was her immediate answer. “Great. Just perfect. I just had to open my mouth.”
Like someone was mocking her, the first raindrop was followed by another and then another. Lightning arced across the sky and between one second and the next the bottom seemed to drop out of the clouds and the drizzle became a downpour. Resigned to the fact that she was going to get soaked no matter what decision she made, Hannah grabbed her stuff and took off towards the office.
She knew she’d probably have to give in and go to one of the other cabins eventually but for the moment her pride was still too sore for her to give up so easily.
At least for now the office building had a covered porch that would get her directly out of the rain for a while.
It was better than nothing, she supposed.
Chapter Two
Luke Draper sat silently in front of his laptop, fingers tapping on the tabletop in a disjointed rhythm. He’d finished the essay for his economics class and had already read over the stock reports his dad had sent him earlier. He could always read ahead for class or something but he honestly wasn’t in the mood to do any more work at the moment. No, instead he was bored and once again wondering why in the hell he’d allowed himself to be convinced to play chaperone on this trip with his little brother and his friends. They were all adults; they shouldn’t need him to hold their hands anymore. Besides, this was his last year in college and he was pretty sure he could have found some other way to spend his winter break.
He huffed out a small laugh a few seconds later, because he knew good and damn well why he’d let himself get pulled into this. It was all because of her.
The delectable Hannah Knowles.
He’d known her since she and Jamie had met when they were eight. He’d been eleven at the time and even then he’d thought she was cute, all long black pigtails and a sweet freckled face. He’d watched her over the years, watched the way she stuck by and up for Jamie, despite the way he treated her.
More than once he’d come close to telling her all about some of the things he’d heard Jamie and his little group of miscreants say about her, but in the end he’d always bitten his tongue. It wasn’t really his place to say anything and he had to admit, even if only to himself, that he really didn’t want to be the one to upset her like that.
Hannah was … sweet, for lack of a better word. Quick-witted and obviously smart, she was still naïve in a way that Luke found both surprising and alluring. He knew that she looked for the best in people and generally trusted a bit too easily, and those traits kept her from seeing that she was being used.
He knew she’d be a lot less trusting, a lot less open and warm once the truth came out, and he honestly didn’t want to be the one to do that to her.
Plus, there was always the chance that she’d stop coming around completely when that happened and as selfish as it was Luke didn’t even like to think of that possibility. She’d been a part of his life for so long that he truthfully couldn’t imagine a future without her at least existing on the fringes of his life, in one way or another.
A harsh clap of thunder drew him from his thoughts as the cabin shuddered. The storm he’d seen on the weather forecast had obviously arrived and he knew it was going to be pretty rough. Again he was grateful that he’d insisted on getting his own cabin and had taken the smaller, one room building set off to the side of the small resort. Being stuck inside with all of them for the rest of the week would have been enough to drive him to either insanity or homicide.
Hannah, though … well, Luke would have been more than happy to be trapped somewhere with her for an extended period of time, if given the chance. His cock thickened at just the thought of all the ways they could spend their time together, at all the things he’d always thought of doing to and with her.
Frustrated, Luke pushed himself up from his chair and moved to toss another log into the fireplace to help ward off the building chill. Standing at the fireplace, he clenched his hands around the mantle for a moment before he reached up and raked his fingers through his hair. Just thinking about Hannah was enough to get him hot and half-hard, full of unsatisfied lust and need.
With a groan he moved back towards the table and practically collapsed back down into his seat in front of his laptop. He reached down to adjust his cock with one hand and reached for his mouse with the other. He was bored, frustrated, and now, worst of all, hard just from thoughts of Hannah.
Hannah with her thick, wavy black hair, her pale, creamy thighs, and the delicate arch of her neck that he wanted to put his mouth on in the worst way.
It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for. The video was a favorite of his and he set it to buffer without a second thought. He reached down to pull at the drawstring of his sweatpants and pulled out his rapidly thickening cock. It wasn’t long before soft, sweet sounding moans filtered through the speakers to fill the silence of the cabin.
Luke closed his eyes as he wrapped his hand around his cock and began to stroke. It was all too easy to imagine it was Hannah making those noises, that it was Hannah’s hand running up and down the length of his cock instead of his own. He could just imagine what it would feel like to have her plush lips wrapped around him, how hot and wet her mouth would be, how it’d feel to tangle his hands in her hair as she sucked him.
A loud and sudden crack of lightning startled him back to attention for a moment. Before Luke could shake off the small shock and go back to his fantasy a loud knock on the cabin door shattered what remained of his mood.
With a bitten off curse he slammed his laptop shut, tucked himself away, and got up to head to the door, retying his pants as he went. He flipped the lock and pulled the door open only to be met with a blast of frigid air.
For a split second he was too shocked to do anything but stare. Another loud crash of thunder and bright flash of lightning brought him to his senses quickly, as he finally registered who was on his doorstep.
Standing in front of him soaking wet, obviously freezing and looking miserable, was Hannah.
****
Hannah realized about half way back towards the office and its covered porch that the temperature had begun to drop frighteningly fast. She was already soaked and she could feel that the rain was beginning to freeze, little shards of ice clinging to her hair and clothes. The lightning lit the area in brief snatches and she realized that the thunderstorm she’d thought she’d ended up in the middle of was actually more than likely the beginnings of a snowstorm.
There was no way in hell she’d be able to stay outside now, not even with the porch for cover.
So that left her with two options.
Either she could slink over
to other cabin and deal with Jamie and the others or …
Determined and eager to be out of the storm, Hannah tightened her grip on her bags and practically ran towards the inviting lights of Luke’s cabin. She banged on the door with her open palm and waited, miserable and slightly impatient.
It only took a few moments before Luke wrenched the door open between them and for a second all Hannah could do was stare. Dressed in a tight fitting long sleeved shirt and a pair of loose sweats that hung from his hips, thick brown hair disheveled and dark eyes intent, he looked warm and safe and altogether too inviting.
“Hannah?” The way he said her name, voice sharp with surprise and what sounded like worry, snapped her back into focus abruptly. “What the hell are you doing outside? Get in before you fucking freeze to death.”
Hannah let Luke take the suitcase from her hand without any protests, as he pulled the door open farther and waved her inside. He slammed the door shut behind her, dropped the suitcase, and ushered her over to the crackling fireplace with a hand on the small of her back. Her purse and backpack were quickly abandoned beside the couch.
“What were you doing outside in the storm like that? You could have gotten hurt or something and you know it, not to mention the cold.” He reached for the zipper of her jacket and yanked it down hurriedly so she could shrug out of it. She felt herself flush as he rubbed his large hands up and down her arms in a bid to warm her up a bit. “You’re smarter than that Hannah, so what the hell’s going on?”
Hannah just shook her head, melting ice and water droplets flying into the air around her. Her teeth chattered lightly and she refused to look him in the eye or answer his question.
“Fine.” She felt the warm breath of Luke’s sigh against her face as his hands tightened just slightly on her shoulders where he held her. “We’ll talk about it later if you want to, but for now you need to get warm before you get sick. Go take a hot shower and get out of those clothes.”
