Realizing that Jude is in his element, I ask, “Do you spend a lot of time here? It seems like you know it like the back of your hand.”
Looking at me a beat, he simply says, “Yeah.”
We drive even higher into the mountains for a few miles before turning off onto a dirt road. Driving another mile or so, we stop and Jude gets out, unlocks a swinging gate, opens it, gets back in to drive through. Then he gets out locking it back up. We drive on a narrow dirt road, winding back and forth until the trees open up to a clearing and we come up to a mountain home. Much larger than what I would consider a cabin, it has a two car garage attached to the fully log covered home. The house is two stories with a small covered front porch and a steep green metal roof. You can tell from the clearing that the house has amazing views from the back.
Jude turns to me and says, “We’re here.”
Smiling big and wanting to see more, I lean up, kiss him quick letting out a little, “Yay!” and hop out of the Jeep. Grabbing as many grocery sacks as I can, I skip up to the front door to wait for Jude to follow me with his own load of groceries. Unlocking and swinging the door open, he pushes me through. I walk through a mud room, mostly empty with only a short bench on one wall, then through another entryway. I look immediately through the home and out the vast wall of windows through the back of the house that go clear to the vaulted second story. It’s great architecture but I don’t see anything else for the view. The view that goes on for what seems like forever with mountains decorating the horizon. It’s a view that you could look at for a lifetime and never fully appreciate its beauty.
Jude pulls me out of my Rocky Mountain Trance and says, “That’s Indian Peaks, sugar.”
I turn to my left and look at him in a kitchen that is large but needs updating. It’s a walk through kitchen with a long island separating it from the great room with the great view. The counters are the ugliest laminate I’ve ever seen and the appliances have been around a few decades but the light pine cabinets still look to be in great shape. The floors, looking like they have been updated unlike the appliances, are covered in slate tile from the mudroom and throughout the kitchen, leading into wood floors in the great room. Looking back to the amazing view, there is a deep deck running what looks to be the length of the house with some plastic deck chairs and a covered grill. I notice the furniture is older, too, but still comfortable looking. In front of me between the kitchen and great room is an old oak round kitchen table with chairs that don’t match. There is a forest green sofa with two club chairs in a manly plaid in the great room, all centered for maximum viewing potential in front of a big flat screen TV mounted on the side wall between two side windows. The best part about the great room is the enormous, very tall and very wide antler chandelier hanging from beams in the vaulted ceiling. I never knew such an antler chandelier could be so beautiful and I’m a decorator! I haven’t seen the rest yet, but this area of the house is very spacious and could use a lot more furniture.
“What do you think?” Jude pulls me out of my mountain home assessment.
“The view is amazing and the house is great,” I answer with meaning. “Did you rent it or borrow it for the weekend?” I ask while looking down a hall to my right and I’m wondering where those doors lead.
“No babe, I didn’t rent it. This is my cabin.”
I swing my head around to look at him and he’s standing in the kitchen with arms out, leaning on the island looking at me.
“This is your house?” I whisper.
“It’s just a cabin, sugar.”
“Jude,” I start as I make my way through the room and around the island to him. “This is no cabin. A cabin is a tiny little hut that has a bed in the middle of the room with a kitchenette. This is a mountain home. It’s yours?”
Grinning at me now, he says, “I know better than to argue with you, Gabby.” I make it to him and put my arms around his waist and he pulls me in the rest of the way and finishes, “But, yeah, it’s mine.”
“How long have you owned it?”
“About six years. This is only a short drive from Denver and we would come here for day trips when I was young. I’m not big on touristy Colorado ski towns but this is out of the way, so when I was looking to buy, this is where I wanted to be. Even though I don’t live close, my dad is here to help me look after it and I come as often as I can. I’d rather pay for this and keep a crap condo or apartment wherever I live and know I have this to come to.”
“Wow,” is all I can say.
“I’m glad you’re here, Gabby,” he says softly and leans down to kiss me. “Do you want to see the rest?”
“Are you kidding? Of course!”
He takes my hand, leads me down the hall I was looking at and it leads to the interior garage door, a utility room, a half bath and an interior room that looks like it’s used for storage. Back out through the great room and off the back of the house are stairs leading both up and down. We go up to a huge loft that juts out over the kitchen and part of the great room. There isn’t much in the loft, a card table with some chairs. Off the Loft is a small hallway and going both left and right are nice size empty bedrooms. Between the rooms is a full bathroom. Going back downstairs, Jude takes me to the basement that is a walk out to the lower level patio under the deck upstairs, but the basement itself isn’t finished. It looks like there could be another family room, a guest room and full bath still l leaving for storage. Going back upstairs, just beyond the great room on the back of the house is Jude’s master. It’s large, with French doors leading to the deck and a king size bed that is made of big pine logs. His bed seems to be the only newer piece of furniture I’ve seen because it sits with an old oak dresser and one nightstand. The master bath is off the bedroom and seems to have been refinished recently. It has a big corner Jacuzzi bathtub, separate vanities and a large shower with coordinating tile, matching the grey, green and black slate flooring. Off the bathroom is a small walk in closet and now I realize why Jude only brought a feather light gym bag. There are plenty of clothes hanging and folded in there to get him through the weekend and then some.
Turning back to him, I say, “Thank you for bringing me here.” I go to him fitting myself to his front and lean up to kiss his jaw. Looking into his melty eyes, I go on, “Thank you for everything.”
Jude leans down to kiss me, starts walking forward and me backwards out of the bathroom. I feel the backs of my legs hit his bed, he pulls me in deep for a kiss, and before I know it, his hands are in my armpits picking me up tossing me up and back onto the bed. Letting out a surprised scream and giggle, I try to right myself as he pulls off my shoes. His hands come to the button on my jeans, he grins and rasps out at me, “I’ve been looking forward to having you here, Gabby. In my cabin, my bed.”
“It’s a mountain home, Jude, and I could have been looking forward to it too, if I knew it existed.” I say as he yanks my jeans off by the bottom hem, pulling my panties down with them. “You’re full of secrets, Jude Ortiz. What else do I need to know about you?”
Jude stills for a nanosecond before he pulls my legs apart and puts a knee to the bed leering over me. “There’s not much more to me that this, sugar.”
My hands go to the hem of his long sleeve t-shirt and he bends to help me get it off. Then he whips off my sweater and bra lickety-split but my hands go to the button on his jeans. He stands up to help me, pulling them down taking his boxers and socks with them. Crawling back up over me, he slows down, looks into my eyes and traces my hairline with his fingers. Leaning down, he kisses me softly as his right hand finds my left, pulling it up and over my head, pressing my hand into the bed. With our fingers entwined, Jude makes love to me in the Rocky Mountains. And he does it slow, sweet and perfect.
Sometime after as we lay here tangled, he turns his head and with his lips to my ear he rasps in a whisper, “It seems like an eternity since I’ve felt settled like I do right now. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but it feels right. It fee
ls perfect. You do that for me, Gabby. You.”
“Jude,” I breathe. I turn, tucking my face into him. I feel his lips below my ear and his tongue dart out tracing my neck.
His breath comes to my ear again and I hear the simple but profound word repeated, “You.” I bring my hand up to the side of his face again to keep him close to me. He presses close while kissing the side of my head, cocooning me in.
We lay intertwined and quiet for what seems like a long time. Something weighty has happened. I don’t know what it is but I know it’s good. No. Amazing. Almost as if Jude has moved us to a new level, a significant level with his few words. But now he’s quiet, almost reflective. Finally, he whispers, “I don’t want you to get cold. We should get up. I need to go put the rest of the groceries away and you can get settled.”
He tries to pull away, but I tighten my arms and he stops, looking down at me. Pulling him close to me again and sucking in a breath for courage, I say quietly while looking into his melty but reflective eyes, “You. It’s you for me, too. You know that, right?”
Jude takes a beat to look into my eyes and then crushes me into him once more. I hold him just as close, needing him as close as I can get him. He finally leans back, kisses me soft and with our foreheads tipped to one another he says, “Thank you, sugar. You don’t know what that means to me, Gabby. It means everything.”
Chapter 17 - Fill Me Up
My legs ache. Seriously. I’m a runner, I thought I would fare better. I lean back further into Jude with his arms and legs around me and let the hot water of his big Jacuzzi tub in his master bathroom relax my muscles. His arms come around me to pull me in close.
“Babe, you need to drink more water in the mountains, especially during a hike,” Jude informs me for about the ten millionth time today.
“That’s what I hear,” I mutter sarcastically with my eyes closed. Immediately I feel Jude’s arms tense around me as his legs, knees hitched up with his feet to the bottom of the tub, squeeze me tight.
This makes me giggle as he mutters, “Smartass.”
Today was great. We slept in a little later than usual, drank coffee on the deck while gazing at the amazing views. I did this wearing Jude’s big sweats and wrapped in a blanket because the air was cool, thinking that next time (and I really hope there’s a next time) I’m bringing a winter robe to Jude’s mountain home. He said it wasn’t unusual to have major snowfalls in October but it could also be warm. This time of year is unpredictable in the Rocky Mountains. After coffee and breakfast, we packed some sandwiches, snacks and water in preparation for our big hike. Jude informed me I could handle a moderate trail and I wasn’t about to argue. I was feeling pretty optimistic, thinking I could hike the Continental Divide in my new pink trimmed clunky shoes! I was gung ho! He took me to a trail near Grand Lake named Little Yellowstone. With Jude wearing a small daypack carrying our lunches and a lot of water, we were all set! The almost ten mile round trip hike was breathtaking. The aspens had just turned a bright yellow with the season change and from different vistas we spotted moose and elk. Once we got to the top, we ate our late lunch, rested and took in the views.
Watching Jude in his environment is different. Different in a wonderful, I-can’t-fathom-how-wonderful-it-can-be, kind of way. Not that Jude doesn’t seem settled in Omaha, but he seems content here, more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. While we were making dinner last night, getting ready for our day today, or even just looking at him look at the mountains, this is his place in the world. He’s relaxed here. I find myself warm and fuzzy watching him look so happy. I can’t remember ever feeling so happy just by seeing someone else happy!
We were on our way back down the mountain and Jude was a step or two in front of me but still to the side. Jude was telling me about how his family used to come up to camp in the summers. He shared how he and his brother got lost one time when they were both pretty young. It scared both of them, but it turned out they were barely around the bend from their campsite and they only thought they were lost but their parents could hear them the whole time. There were stories about how he and his friends would come up on their own in high school and mountain bike on trails, doing crazy shit (his words). It was a miracle no one went off the side of a mountain. He talked more about himself than I’ve ever heard and I took it in, asked questions all the while loving every minute of it.
As Jude’s childhood stories continued, I let my brain wander. And my brain starts thinking about how lucky I am that my high school friend married a big time gun trafficker and I was lucky enough to be at her house finishing her OTT laundry room on the day Federal Agents decided to raid her home. Then my crazy brain thinks that I’m lucky I was patted down, cuffed, interrogated and then mentioned in not great ways on a wiretap so that I get to be here today with Jude. I mean, how did this happen? I’ve avoided relationships for years, yet somehow God put me in a myriad of crazy circumstances and by some means that can only be Divine, I’m hiking on the side of a mountain with Jude Ortiz. And I have never been happier.
“Gabby?” Jude calls out to me rather impatiently and I stop, almost running into him. Looking up to him, his brows are furrowed and he goes on, “What the hell? You look like you’re in another world, sugar.”
“What?” I ask.
He barely chuckles when he says, “Babe, where’s your head? Or am I boring you to death?”
“No,” I say giving my head a little shake. And then because I can’t help it, I let my eyes rake over him. He hasn’t shaved since Thursday morning and has almost three days of growth on his face. It looks amazing with his dark chocolate eyes, long lashes and uber dark hair. He’s wearing an old grey faded Air Force Academy sweatshirt with track pants and his own clunky shoes, but his have seen some major miles unlike my new ones. With his big frame and the height difference that separate us, he’s towering over me wondering what in the hell is wrong me.
“No,” I repeat, taking in a big breath. I wave my hand around a bit and keep on, “It’s just you. I can’t believe I’m really here with you. I mean, who meets someone during a Federal Raid looking for guns for heaven’s sake? How does that happen?” I ask. He’s now looking at me like I have horns growing out the top of my head, so of course I go on. “I mean, look at you. I’m learning so much about you, watching you in your mountain home and how much you love it here. And you chose me, to share this with me, on my birthday, no less? How did I even get here? It’s all very overwhelming, but in a good way, you know? I’m really happy and I don’t remember that last time I was this happy. It makes me happier to watch you here. You say you don’t have a home, Jude, but you’re not paying attention. This is very much your home. Thank you for sharing it with me and bringing me to be here with you.”
As I finish my mini rant and explanation for zoning out on a mountain, I miss the change in Jude’s face. He’s not looking at me like I’ve grown horns anymore, but rather soft, yet significantly, straight into my eyes. He brings his hand up to cup my cheek and slides it under my ear and into my ponytail looking at me.
Then he rasps softly to me saying, “It means everything to me that you’re here, Gabby.”
Then, because I can’t help it and because he has to know, I inform him, “Honestly, Jude, I thought you were hot in your police getup the first day I met you and you can sure rock the cowboy look, too. But, I think you’re really a mountain man disguised as an FBI Agent. None of it compares to you in the mountains with your three day shadow. I know it’s going to be scratchy on my sensitive parts later, but you can seriously work it in the mountains.”
His hand flexes on my scalp and his mouth barely turns up and he mutters, “Shit.”
All of a sudden, his hands are under my arms lifting me, giving me no choice but to wrap my legs around him and hold on. I let out a small scream of surprise! I feel us moving and find my back up against a pine tree trunk with his tongue is my mouth. Wrapping my arms around his neck to hold on and keep up with him, I kiss him back as his hi
ps press me hard into the tree. We go at this awhile before he finally slows down, touching his forehead to mine, pushing my head into the tree trunk. He looks into my eyes and says, “Sugar, you think you’re overwhelmed, there are days I can’t believe this is real and today is one of those days.”
I can only assume he means this in a positive way because I can see his eyes smiling, looking content and happy again. Plus, he’s pressing his hips between my legs in a good way that is easy to feel through my leggings and I can’t help but feel the tingles. But what I say to him is, “Jude, I’m going to get sap in my hair from this tree.”
“I’ll wash it out,” he says into my neck and I feel his tongue dart out under my ear.
“But, you’re going to snag my new pink puffy vest. It’s my birthday present and it was expensive. I was there when you bought it, remember?” I go on, like he’s doesn’t remember.
He chuckles into my neck, pressing his groin into me one more time for good measure before he steps back and puts me down on my clunky shoes. He leans down, kisses me again and then taking my hand, he leads me back to the trail we veered off of for our up against a tree make out session. “Let’s go home, Gabby.” Then looking back at me with a devilish grin he says, “I need to wash your hair and you have sensitive parts I need to see to.”
My eyes get big and I feel myself shiver from the thought of him seeing to my sensitive parts. I skip to catch up with him, still holding his hand as my other hand goes to my hair feeling for sap, or worse, bugs! Not feeling anything in my hair, but feeling all kinds of good about everything else right now, we double time it down the mountain to get home so Jude can wash my hair and hopefully see to other things as well!
*****
Standing in front of the mirror, I can’t believe I’m just going to waltz out there like this. I barely dried my hair, Jude seems to like it wavy and a little crazy. After our bath, where Jude did wash my hair as promised, we ate dinner sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. The fire warmed the room, taking the evening chill out of the air and making Jude’s mountain home super cozy, although he can really use some area rugs! I’ve had three glasses of wine and feeling more courageous than normal, I’ve decided now is the time to break in my new nightie.
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