He had no idea what was going on, but his hands most certainly did. It was like his body and brain parted company in that moment. He was fully aware of what was going on, but there was no way he could stop any of it, even if he tried. He would have been a damned sight more effective at stopping a train by standing on the tracks and putting a hand out.
Instead of his body obeying his rational brain, his hands were busy wrapping themselves around her body and splaying his fingers across her back to pull her body even closer into his and deepen the kiss. He expected her to stop, pull away and land a sharp slap across his face for allowing this to happen, even though she’d been the one to initiate it, but she was going right along with all of it. He fingers had managed to wind their way into Drake’s hair, giving it a sharp tug that should have brought him back into his senses. The rush of adrenaline and endorphins that came along with the slight pain of the sharp pull just sent him even further into a spiral he wasn’t going to come out of.
Before he really registered what was going on, the two of them had dropped their packs at the side of the trail and somehow managed to wind up with Celeste pinned between Drake’s body and a tree at the edge of the path. His hands were all over her body, and he was absolutely lost in her. He knew he was attracted to her. He wasn’t blind, and she was admittedly gorgeous. She’d have fit right in back in Hollywood, but there was more to it than that. He wanted her, and he’d pushed that to the back of his mind and tried to forget it until it broke him. Right now, she was wrapped up in his arms, and it was the first time in this entire process that he’d been a hundred percent honest with himself about what he wanted.
He had no idea what was going on in her head. All he knew was that she was encouraging him with every step. Her fingers were working at the buttons on his pants at the same moment he was fumbling with hers. They were gone, and there was no coming back until this entire process was over.
He ripped the buttons off her blouse as he tore it open with a hungry growl. Her breasts heaved as she continued to grasp at his waistband. He wrapped his hand firmly around her neck and pulled her to his mouth again. This time he thrust his tongue into her mouth, massaging her tongue with his own. Her hands clutched his shirt as he trailed his lips down her exposed neck and on to her breasts. With one hand firmly clutching her neck he used the other to pull down the cups of her bra licking and nibbling her erect nibbles.
The part of Drake’s brain that was in control pushed his rational mind out of the way, and proceeded to move to wrap Celeste’s legs around his waist, not caring that the two of them were out in the open in the middle of nowhere stripping each other’s clothes off while god only knows what was going on in the woods around them. There could have been other hikers on the trail, bears, a mountain lion, hell a snake could have fallen out of the tree right on top of his head, and it wouldn’t have slowed him down even a little bit. This part of Drake’s brain had a singular purpose, and it was hell bent on claiming Celeste Teller.
“Just a minute sweetheart, we need to get you ready.” Drake pulled her off of him and proceeded to sleep his hand down the front of her jeans and into her wet panties. He eagerly stroked her slit before slipping a finger inside her. She moaned loudly as her knees buckled and she let her head fall against his chest. He continued to thrust his finger in and out of her before she began to frantically pull at his arm.
“I’m ready, please I need you inside me now.” She pulled her jeans and panties the rest of the way down her legs as he struggled to extract his thick cock from his jean before she climbed back up his body.
When he finally wrangled a condom out of his pocket and on to his rigid length and slid inside her, it was like coming home. It did little to soothe the blood that was raging through his veins and roaring his ears though. Mostly it just spurred him on into a more feverish state as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and used her legs to pull him deeper inside her as she let out a desperate moan against his ear.
He wouldn’t have pegged Celeste as the type of girl who enjoyed getting pinned against a tree in the middle of nowhere, but she was surprising him at every turn here. Every surprise was just fuel to the fire that the irrational part of his brain had set. By now, it was an absolute forest fire that he was only stoking with every forward surge of his hips into her body. He couldn’t keep his hands off of her, and she was hungrily matching every single motion of his as best she could until she was moaning his name so loudly that it echoed off the trees at the other side of the clearing and hit his ears again as she fell apart wrapped around him. It was more than he could take as he slammed deep inside her one last time and tightened his grip on her hips enough that he was afraid he was going to leave marks behind where his fingers had dug into her fair skin.
Even when the two of them started to catch their breaths and untangle themselves from around each other, he was still not fully in control of his faculties. He certainly wasn’t able to do much more of the teasing that had driven the two of them this far up the hill. He wasn’t even sure what he should say to her. It hit him like a freight train that maybe both of them had been foolish, but that Celeste was going to regret every minute of what had just happened, even if he couldn’t bring himself to apologize for it or even feel bad out it. He just hated the thought that she was going to do that to herself.
He turned to her with a plastered on smile, trying to reassure himself that the two of them hadn’t screwed up any chance they had at having a good working relationship just now and trying to make sure that she didn’t feel like a fool. But he really had no idea how to do that or what he should say to make sure she didn’t hate him or hate herself for what had happened between the two of them, so he fell back on what he did know.
“Come on, Celeste. We’ve got another mile to go before we get to the falls and the sun is sinking. I wouldn’t want to be out here hiking after dark.” It wasn’t entirely true. They were going to make it to the falls well before sunset, even with their little detour, but Drake didn’t know what else to do besides direct them both back to the reason they were out here in the first place and hope he wasn’t screwing everything up.
11
Celeste had absolutely no idea what had come over her back on the trail. One minute, she’d been so mad at Drake that she wanted nothing more than to land a sharp slap across his face. The next, she was wrapped up in his arms and pinned up against a tree while he claimed her mouth in a kiss. She couldn’t remember if she’d been the one to pull him in or if he’d been the one who initiated it all, but the two of them had gotten so involved in the whole thing that it had overcome any sense of propriety she had left.
Drake had gone back to hiking after everything was said and done like nothing had happened, so Celeste decided to go along with it and pretend that the two of them hadn’t been having sex out in the woods like a couple of crazy hormone driven teenagers less than an hour ago. It was the only way she really knew how to deal with the situation at the moment. She’d never been in a place to have to figure out how to act after you’d randomly grabbed your boss and wound up hooking up after a random fight out in the middle of the woods. Celeste had to admit it was a first for her, and this wasn’t exactly the kind of situation an etiquette class taught you how to handle.
The moment had happened, and she wasn’t sure if Drake was even going to acknowledge it or just go about his business like nothing had happened. She wasn’t sure if he regretted it, if he’d enjoyed himself, if he’d brought her out here with just that kind of thing in mind, or if it was all just a giant mistake. Celeste knew why she’d come out here. She just wanted to prove to him that she was just as good as he was at whatever she set her mind to do, but her body had decided to betray her. It had been long before the two of them had even kissed.
It didn’t help that the day before she’d found herself wrapped up in his arms as he stopped her from falling even more seriously than she already had. Her mind had been turning since that moment. Add in the close sleep
ing quarters last night, and her dreams had been something that made her blush to even think about and definitely nothing that she would have admitted out loud. Then she had to go and lose every last bit of sense she had left and let this happen. There was no way he was going to take her seriously after all of that. She’d ruined her credibility and her entire case in one moment due to temporary insanity.
As much as she’d liked to have blamed all of that on being out of her mind, there was a part of her that had enjoyed it far more than she should have. Drake was attractive, and he was the type of guy who would have been dangerous to her if he wasn’t a client and stubborn as hell. Every time he opened his mouth, she wanted to shut him up. The way she’d chosen to do it, however, left something to be desired as far as being a professional went, but it did have something of a desired effect. Drake stopped ribbing her like he had for every step of the hike today until both of them had lost their minds.
Celeste wasn’t certain if he was being quiet because he was upset with her or regretted what had happened between the two of them. She didn’t know how he felt about it because he stopped talking entirely until they got where they were going. He barely said two words to her for the rest of the hike after he told her they needed to get going before the sun set. She was still lagging behind so that meant she had a view of his backside without even the commentary to keep her mind engaged. It was enough to have her second guessing everything she’d done since she met Drake and analyzing it to figure out exactly where she’d gone wrong with this entire situation.
She tried to keep up pace in spite of the fact that her entire body was aching. She didn’t want to be left behind for the rest of the afternoon if he was going to give her the silent treatment. Celeste made a few attempts to start up a conversation with Drake, but he always kept his answer down to a minimum amount of words, almost like he was afraid to talk to her after what happened.
Celeste didn’t regret what had happened. She was surprised, and a little disappointed in herself for getting carried away, but she really wouldn’t have taken it back. She was starting to wonder if he was ever going to speak to her again when the two of them emerged from the trail into a huge clearing where an unexpected sight met her.
She’d known they were hiking to a waterfall. Drake had been very clear about their final destination, but she hadn’t known anything as pretty as this was going to exist out in the middle of nowhere in Colorado. Things like this were stuff you found on post cards and calendar photo shoots. She was pretty sure they computer generated half those pictures anyway, even if they were pretty to look at, but here it was staring her directly in the face. It was way more beautiful in person than anything she’d seen in photographs or any of the touristy destinations she’d visited in her travels for work or vacation. Those places were always crawling with people and vendors and all the commercial trappings that came with a vacation spot. This was something else. There was an element to it all that was just entirely untouched and wild. It was something she hadn’t expected to find out here in the mountains in Colorado, and it took her entirely off the track her thoughts had been going down now that Drake wasn’t really talking to her.
Celeste breathed in and held her breath for a moment, just studying the scenery around her and taking it all in.
“Nice, eh?” She’d half-forgotten Drake was there standing just behind her, and his question pushed her out of her silent awe at the scene in front of both of them.
Celeste just nodded, shoving her hands into her pockets and forgetting all the rest of the crap that had happened today. She wanted to take in as much of this sight as she could before she had to get about the business of setting things up for the night here. He moved over to her side close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating off his arm, and she instinctively leaned closer. Her body remembered being close to his and wanted it again, no matter what her brain might be thinking. That had been the problem all along as far as Drake was concerned. Her body and her brain were never cooperating, and lately her body had been winning.
“Listen Celeste, I’ll set up the tent and you just hang out here. You’ve had a rough couple of days…”
Maybe Drake was trying to be friendly, and maybe the fact that it struck Celeste as patronizing was just her brain overcompensating for the fact that her body was betraying her every time he got close. Something in her snapped when he said that, and she wheeled on him, eyes burning as she faced him.
“Well aren’t you just a damned gentleman now, Drake? Where was all of that when we were hiking up here and you were giving me the silent treatment like I’d fucking done something wrong? Or did gentleman go out the window once you got in my pants? I think I can manage well enough with setting up whatever you need setting up. I’d hate for you to think I was just out here to flirt and twist my ankles.” She wasn’t quite yelling, but it was loud enough that it overcame the sound of the falls crashing in the background and echoed off the rock walls behind the rushing water.
She could see his expression melt entirely as she started in on him. This time it was him that pulled her into his arms and crashed a kiss on her lips. She wanted to melt into it again. Part of her was dying to pull him in closer and thread her fingers into his hair one more time. The tips of his fingers digging into her back felt like they were on fire and burning into her skin with every touch. Her body was betraying her again, but the anger that was roaring through her brain kept her just the slightest bit sane.
Celeste put her hands on Drake’s chest, pushing him away and took a step back, putting a little space between the two of them as she stared him down.
“What the hell are we doing, Drake? Just tell me you didn’t bring me out into the woods just for this. I had a lot of respect for you, and I didn’t want to think that you were that guy. Was I wrong?” Celeste was hurt. She let that show through her expression as she folded her arms across her chest, fighting the urge to thread her fingers back through his hair and just forget about the rest of this. She wasn’t certain what the two of them were doing here. If he was just out here to use her, then he’d picked the wrong girl, even if she was out in the middle of nowhere. She’d hike right back out to where they’d left their cars right now, even if it took all night.
Drake moved closer, and she could tell from the look on his face that her words had stung, just like him not talking to her the entire afternoon had been a blow to Celeste. The two of them were crossing wires over and over again, and it was time for some of the sparks to fly.
“Don’t be silly…” He started to reply, but his choice of words hit her wrong again. She interrupted him in mid-sentence.
“Silly. That’s what you think of me, right? I’m just some silly girl who flew in here from the city who doesn’t know her ass from a hole in the ground. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do to prove you wrong here, but I don’t think some damned silly girl would be out here in the middle of nowhere after a two day hike into the woods arguing with the man who is technically her boss over the fact that the two of them wound up fucking against a tree this afternoon. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe that’s exactly what a silly girl would do. Maybe I have been silly, but I’ve been trying. I’ve been trying since I got here, and I don’t know if I was trying to impress you or prove something to myself.” Celeste had no idea where she was going with this, but she was finally letting out all the frustrations she’d felt about Drake since the two of them met. It felt good to finally let it all out even if she was pretty certain she was going to lose the firm this client and in turn lose her job and her chance at getting back to the branch in Los Angeles as a senior partner.
“Celeste listen to me, please?” His voice was soft, and it took her just slightly off his guard as he moved in closer. She let him reach out and place his hands on her upper arms, pulling her in closer as she stopped ranting on about everything she’d been keeping inside all this time.
“I don’t think you’re silly or stupid. I think you’re new at a lot of this
stuff, but I like the way you’re trying. I like the fact that you give me a hard time. I even like it that you call me out on my bullshit like this right here. I’d rather be yelled at by a woman who gives a damn than anyone else, and from what I’ve seen since you walked out of that car down at the base of this mountain is that you definitely give a damn. Most of the spoiled ass princesses that I knew back in Los Angeles wouldn’t have made it half this far. They’d have had a helicopter come pick them up and take them back to the car after the first time they twisted their ankle or the first time a bug landed on their shoulder.” He took a breath and let his hands move down her arms towards her wrists. She let him for the moment.
“And what about the rest? Why exactly did you bring me out here Drake?” She studied his eyes, daring him to tell her the truth without saying in words.
“I brought you out here to show you this place. I wanted you to see it. It’s my favorite place, and maybe I wanted to see how you reacted to the hike and everything else before I passed final judgement on you. But I promise you I didn’t plan what happened this afternoon. It just… happened.”
“But you regret it?” He shook his head as soon as the question was out of her mouth.
“No. I don’t regret anything. I don’t do things I’m going to regret later, Celeste.” He looked sincere. He’d lost that joking glint he’d had in his eye when he was teasing her earlier in the day. She didn’t know him well enough to know how honest he was, but in the short amount of time she’d known him, she’d come to trust him. Celeste didn’t know what it was about Drake that made her believe him when he said something, but when he looked into her eyes like that and held her arms near the wrists she didn’t doubt him for a moment.
Drake: A Rocky Mountain Romance Page 7
