by Frankie Love
“This is gorgeous,” I tell him, taking in the magnificent lake before us. I see he has a boat docked and several kayaks. It’s the kind of place you could get lost in, and I understand why Ryder lives here. Why would anyone leave when the best parts of the world are within arm’s reach? The blue water is so still and peaceful, and I spot moose in the distance poking their heads through trees. From this vantage point, it doesn’t look like there was a powerful storm last night, all is calm.
I point out the mama and her baby. Ryder moves my hand to the west, and I see the buck eyeing his family protectively. My heart swells at the sight of them. Those animals are the reason I held the auction last night. To keep their land protected, their homes safe.
“Do lots of deer live here?” I ask.
Ryder nods.
“How much land do you have out here?”
He narrows his eyes, his head cocking from side-to-side. “A thousand acres, give or take a hundred.”
My jaw drops open. “A thousand? Are you serious?”
I think back to his cabin––it may be small, but it is sustainable. Solar panels and a high-end generator. Not to mention top-of-the-line furnishings, clothing, even the kayaks out here. Everything is the best of the best.
“Who are you?” I tease.
He gives me a side smile. “My family has had this property for generations. When my mom died, she willed it to me with stipulations that I keep as much of it untouched as possible. So when I built my cabin, I kept my footprint small.”
“That’s incredible, Ryder.” I swallow, thinking about my footprint back in Los Angeles, where my family home is. I live in the guesthouse, not even holding a job with a salary. I make blog posts and fly to demonstrations, but none of what I do has a tangible impact like Ryder’s choices. I was hoping the auction last night would start to change that.
“I’ve always wanted to leave the city, but I’ve never had the guts,” I admit, following him to the sauna.
He checks the heat level of the sauna, then turns to face me, untying the sash of my robe. He moves as if he knows exactly what he is doing at all times. It’s sexy as hell, his self-possession.
“Living out here isn’t for everyone.”
“But you love it?” I ask as he takes my robe, hanging it on a hook on the outside of the sauna.
“It’s home.”
His words are simple but I can see they sum him up. He isn’t flashy, looking for attention with his choices. He is merely living with as little impact as possible and enjoying himself while he does it.
He pulls off his boots and sweatpants, hanging his hoodie next to it. I notice a shower stall a few steps away. “A shower even?”
“It’s not heated though, just to warn you,” Ryder says. “But I turned on the sauna from the house, so it’s probably warmed up by now.
“Sounds good, I’m all for the sauna. The shower, not so much,” I tell him, unable to imagine putting my body under that shower head.
Ryder steps closer to me, his thick cock between us and I feel my pussy react to seeing his length so close, untethered. “Come on, baby, let’s get warmed up.”
I follow him into a sauna built for two and immediately feel my shoulders drop from the dry heat. Sighing loudly, I take a seat across from Ryder, beads of sweat already on my forehead.
“You like it hot?” he asks, watching as I lay a towel under my butt. I can’t help but be very aware that his massive cock is hanging between his legs. I remember how it felt in my mouth this morning. It was so hard, yet velvety smooth at the same time. His cock tempted me when we woke, and it tempts me now.
“I’d think most people would keep their eyes on the lake, not my cock.”
I laugh, but then pull back my shoulders, making sure my tits are right in his line of sight. “So you bring a lot of ladies out here?”
That makes him straight up chuckle. “No other woman has been here.”
“Ever?”
“Ever.”
My eyes widen. “Wait, were you a virgin too? Last night?”
He laughs again, reaches for my hand, and pulls me toward him. I effortlessly sit down in his lap as his hands find the small of my back.
“You think I was a virgin?”
My cheeks burn up and I don’t know if it’s because of the dry sauna that’s reaching a boiling point, or if it’s his hard cock pressed so close to my pussy, or if it was the idea that Ryder was a virgin. A man who touched me the way he did could never be a virgin.
“I don’t know what I think anymore, Ryder. You’ve made me pretty much forget why I’m even here.”
He lifts my ass, his fingers running up and down my slick slit. Then he eases me down, on top of himself. “I wasn’t a virgin, but Shortbread, I wish I’d waited my whole damn life for you. Your tight pussy would have been worth the wait.”
His cock opens me up, and my body accepts all he has to give. His cock is powerful and it makes me feel powerful too. It’s like his cock is the perfect toy—always ready to be played with. And as my pussy takes him, I know I could get used to playing with him every single day.
“So you just like me for my cunt?” I tease as my body fills with all of him. Not caring one lick of why he actually likes me. In this moment, all I want is for this day to go on and on.
All I want at this moment is for this day to last forever.
Chapter 14
Ryder
Later, after the sauna, we’re dressed and cleaned up for the day. We head outside with refilled mugs.
“You run on coffee all day?” she asks. She’s bundled up in a fluffy dark green parka. She has heavy boots on too, and I must say I’m impressed with how she packed for Alaska. She may have been in a tight strapless gown last night for the auction, but she was playing the part. Looks like Justine is just as comfortable in blue jeans and a sweater.
“Pretty much. I switch to decaf though, around two in the afternoon.”
“Me too,” she says. “My mother is a tea drinker, and it has always caused tension in our relationship.”
We walk over fallen branches and stop when one is too big to step over.
“Sounds intense.”
She smiles at me. “I know, first world problem.”
“You get along with your mom then, other than that?”
She nods. “Mostly. My family has never wanted for much, and even though there was a lot of wealth around me growing up, my parents never made it seem like we were loaded. We never took flashy vacations. Instead, we road tripped to the Grand Canyon or Mount Rushmore. And even though my aunts and uncles had live-in help, my mom was the one who made me after school snacks. They sent me to summer camp but not rich kid camp. I slept in a bunk and ate in a dining hall and canoed in the lake like a regular kid.”
“Sounds pretty idyllic,” I tell her. “And what did they think of this auction?”
“We’re going there, huh?” she asks. I take her hand and we sit down on the fallen trunk. Sitting out here, in the fresh air, is the best place to get to know someone. And the truth is, I want to get to know Justine. All about her.
“It’s kind of why you’re here,” I tell her, watching a bird land on a branch heavy with leaves. “It would be strange to pretend it wasn’t.”
“Well, they had opinions.” She takes a sip of the coffee and I decide to not let her off the hook that easy. Truth is, I don’t know how I’d feel if my future daughter told me this scheme of hers.
“What sort of opinions?”
“First of all, they said they were proud of my convictions. They always dreamed of having a daughter who knew who she was and what she wanted. And secondly, they thought this was a little obscene and wanted to just donate the money to HAHA themselves.”
“But you didn’t want that?”
She shakes her head. “No. I wanted to do something all on my own, in my own way.”
“For a cause you believed in.”
“Exactly.”
“So, this animal right�
��s thing isn’t just a publicity stunt?”
She frowns. “You think I’d sell my virginity just to be famous?”
“I don’t know what you’d do, Justine. We just met.”
“Well, I wouldn’t. And I know we haven’t known one another that long, but I guess I’d like to believe it would be obvious that if I decided to do that it would be for a good reason.”
“I take it back then,” I tell her, raising a hand in defeat. “Look, it was a bold move, and I wanted to know how much it meant to you.”
“How much the animals meant to me?”
“Yeah.”
“They mean a lot.” She purses her lips. “I was a biology major, always had a fascination for living things.”
I look at her more closely, trying to picture her on a campus, books in her arms, a pencil behind her ear.
“What?” she asks.
“I’m just picturing you in a library, memorizing complicated definitions, your hair in a bun.”
She punches me playfully. “You are such a guy.”
I shrug. “This is true, but I like to think of myself as a man.”
“Okay then, fancy-man, now that you know I am not all talk, tell me about you. I’m not the only one who deserves the fifth degree.”
“Not much to tell.”
“No way. You’re giving me more than that.”
“Okay, I went to college too, in Juneau. Never left the state in my whole damn life.”
Her eyes widen. “Never?”
“Nope. Never needed to. This is my home, the land I love.”
“You sound like a politicians’ slogan.”
“I mean it. I love Alaska. And after my mom died, I moved out to the woods. Didn’t need the city anymore.”
“You and your mom were close then?”
I nod. “My dad died when I was eight. And it was always her and me against the world. And she had saying it like it was.”
“She was a fighter?”
I smile sadly, remembering the woman who raised me, who taught me right from wrong. “You would have loved her.”
“Oh, yeah?”
I nod. “She founded HAHA.”
“Wait, what?”
I pull the coffee cup to my mouth. “Yeah, my mom is Helen Ottenbagh.”
Her eyes narrow. “Your mother is Helen Ottenbagh?”
“Yeah, and she married Luther Morris. The man who tried to buy you.”
“What are you talking about?” She sets her coffee mug on the gravel drive and stands, putting her hands on her hips. “This whole time you’ve been keeping that from me?”
“I didn’t mean to keep anything from you. When exactly should I have brought up my mom? While we were in my bed this morning?”
“But it changes everything,” she says shaking her head as if confused.
“How?”
“It just feels like a major omission.” She sets down her coffee, biting her bottom lip. “It makes me feel like…”
“Like what?”
“Like I don’t know you.”
I cock a brow, feeling like she’s overreacting, but knowing that if I tell her as much she’ll flip out. “I think you know enough, Justine.”
“This was a mistake.”
My eyes go wide and I reach for her, but she pulls away. “What do you mean? We’ve had an amazing time. And I feel things for you, Justine, that I’ve never felt for anyone.”
She shakes her head. “I should never have slept with you.”
I can’t help but get annoyed at those words. “That’s bullshit. This was not a mistake. This was meant to be.”
“No, Ryder, you kidnapped me, telling me the whole time that you were protecting me, that Luther Morris was a monster but your mom was married to him. You’re telling me that a wise woman like her would fall for an asshole?”
“That is exactly what I’m saying. Luther’s a manipulator.” I clench my jaw, not wanting to talk about that fucker. “And I didn’t want you to be played by him.”
“So, you just took my virginity so he couldn’t have it?”
“I never took anything. You are the one who wanted to sleep with me if I remember correctly.” I run my hands through my hair, getting pissed now. “And for the record, Justine, you may have idolized my mother, but she wasn’t perfect. She was a person like everyone else.”
“I need to go home, Ryder.” She wipes a tear from her eye “My parents are probably worried sick.”
“I get that. We can call them, but you don’t need to leave in a hurry.” I keep thinking about last night, how with Justine in my arms, it felt like the world was ours for the taking. Being around her gives my life meaning in a way it hasn’t before.
“I meant it when I said I wanted to protect you, Justine, and I still do. I can’t have you leaving so damn soon.”
“It’s my choice to make, Ryder. Not yours. And I don’t think I know who you are anymore. In fact, I don’t think I ever knew you at all.”
“That’s not true,” I insist. But she isn’t listening. She’s fixated on the one thing I didn’t tell her last night.
Instead of hearing the reason I kidnapped her, she’s assuming the worst in me.
Chapter 15
Justine
Ryder may have set my skin on fire and his hands may have opened me up and made me whole, but I totally forgot the reason I ended up at his cabin.
I ended up here because he kidnapped me.
It’s like I needed this heated conversation with him so I could be pulled back from the fog that is Ryder. It’s like he brought me to the woods and put me under a spell. I forgot myself when I was in his arms, and now, I’m waking up and remembering.
“I need a moment alone.”
“Out here?” He looks around. “You can’t wander off, Justine. This is still the wilderness.”
“I won’t go far—just to the lake where we were this morning. I need some space. I need to think this all through. Think us through.” I walk away from the bearded mountain man who somehow made me feel seen and heard and understood—all in one night.
But he also confuses me. Why does he think he knows what is best for me? I’ve always been able to take care of myself and I like that about me.
Yet somehow I fell head over heels for a man I hardly know. Any why? Because of his insanely broad shoulders and ice-blue eyes? Because he made me lentil soup?
“Justine, don’t overreact. So what, we don’t know each other that well. But that doesn’t mean what we’ve shared isn’t real.” He sighs. “And you’ve got to trust me on Luther.”
I turn to face him. “Overreact? I have to trust you?” I throw up my hands, frustrated. “I don’t have to do anything I don’t want, Ryder. And right now, I am trying to work out why you thought you had the right to intervene in my auction.”
Ryder stares at me incredulously. “Because Luther is a creep. A monster. He doesn’t deserve you. He’s nothing but—”
I raise my hand to cut him off. “How exactly can he be a monster when he was married to one of my heroes?”
I honestly can’t believe Helen would have married a creep, which means Ryder had his own reasons for bringing me here.
Scratch that. For kidnapping me and keeping me here.
He wants me for himself, yet he didn’t respect me enough to pay fair and square like everyone else.
Ryder runs his hands through his hair. “Look, I can’t convince you to believe what I say. It’s just the way he is. The way he treats women.” He exhales, reaching for me but I pull away.
“I let my emotions take over last night. But now in the light of day, I see more clearly.”
Ryder shakes his head. “I think you are scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of this. You and me. Of what we could be.”
I look away, wondering if my heart is tightening right now because he is right or because I should walk away.
“I’m falling for you, Justine. Hard. And I think you are falling for m
e. And that terrifies you because you’ve never had a man before. A man who knows what he wants.”
I blink back tears, scared he might be right.
“You don’t need to run away because your feelings are stronger than you planned.”
“I have plans, Ryder. I want to make a difference with my life. Not give it all up for a man I don’t even know.”
“Dammit Justine,” he says reaching for me again. “Why does it have to be all or nothing with you? Why can’t you have both?”
“I don’t do things halfway, Ryder. And I don’t know how to do this. Us.”
“So, instead, you’ll walk away from what we could be because this is new territory?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I need to figure out what I want. And I can’t do that here. I need to go home.”
When I look into Ryder’s eyes, I see he’s pissed. If he had his way he’d keep me here forever but I’m not sure I’m ready for forever.
“Well, I sure as hell can’t get you off my property today.” He runs his hands through his hair.
I look around the driveway, it’s covered by the fallen tree and his garage is completely blocked. “Isn’t there someone you could call?”
“I get that you want to go, but, Justine, what do you expect from me? This isn’t LA. This is Alaska. And maybe you’re idealizing everything right now. My mom and this state. Because you’re acting like a spoiled rich girl who can snap her fingers and get what she wants. That’s not the real world, princess.”
“I’m not a princess.”
He snorts. “Right, you’re just an heiress.”
“You’re loaded yourself. Your mom was a billionaire. So don’t judge me.”
“I can do what I like. This is my land, Justine.”
I groan, seriously agitated now. “Land that you forced me onto.”
“You know what, Princess? I’ll figure it out. I’ll find a way to get you home since you want to go so damn bad.”
I suck in a sharp breath as he steps away from me. I’m both infuriated with this argument and desperate to pull Ryder back in my arms. To rewind this stupid fight and remember how good we could be together.
