Souled: Bid on Love: Bachelor #1

by Shandwick, K. L.

  I did my best to ignore my erection because there was nothing sexual in the embrace. The spontaneous and sudden show of affection was a genuine response to her gratitude at having survived the near disaster.

  “Thank you for everything you did yesterday. Despite everything that happened, I knew if anyone could save me it would be you. You made me feel protected even as we waited for the rescue team to reach us. And if I had chosen to be buried by an avalanche, I can’t think of anyone better to have been stuck with.”

  “Ah, back to that crush you have on me again, huh?” I teased and felt her arms go rigid as her body grew tense in my embrace. Drawing back her head to look at me, she looked confused—possibly due to the way I’d refused to take things further previously. I could have kicked myself that I’d chosen that moment to try to lighten the conversation. When I noted the unease in her body language, I should have relaxed my grip, but I chose to ignore it and instead pulled her closer.

  Rubbing her back in a soothing gesture, I fought against how soft and feminine she felt in my arms, to deliver a hug thankful we were alive. However, nothing could have prevented me from inhaling deeply the sweet scent of her shampoo and her unique fragrance.

  “You were fabulous, baby. Ninety-nine percent of people would have panicked in our situation. Thank you for trusting me. It made all the difference in us being found quickly and in good condition.”

  “I did panic, you heard my screams, right? Still…” she trailed off as a frown creased her brow, then as if it was too traumatic to think about she quickly jumped forward in her conversation to when she was safely back at the cabin.

  “I was a mess last night. I’m so sorry. You were amazing. Thank you for bringing me back here with you and for taking care of me,” she added. I saw sincerity weighted the studious eye contact we had. When she held it a moment too long, I quickly diverted my eyes because the same chemistry that had almost led to me bedding her before, began to fizz between us again.

  Feelings of lust at the sight of her were never far from the surface within me. When I looked back up at her eyes, her gaze had dropped to focus on my lips. A small rueful smile spread on mine because nothing would have given me more pleasure than to kiss her again.

  As I fought my own demons about her, I watched her own internal battle play out on her face. For a second, I thought she was going to take what she wanted, but then she suddenly tried to free herself from my embrace. I wasn’t ready to let her go and stopped her dead in her tracks by holding her tighter and easing her back onto the pillow.

  “Relax, babe. It’s okay. I’m not going to do anything you’d regret later. You’ve been clinging to my body for most of the night while I’ve been wrapped around yours like a climbing vine to keep you warm, so don’t go getting all embarrassed about being in my bed now,” I joked. “When I brought you in here with me it was to keep you warm… not that I didn’t enjoy you being in here of course. That was a bonus.”

  My smile was one of affection because I wanted her to know that even in the worst of circumstances I had still found her attractive.

  Taking a deep breath, Charlotte’s body lost its tension, and she sighed heavily. “I feel like such a fool. If I hadn’t pushed for you to take me off-trail, it would never have happened. I put the both of us in real danger up there. We could have been killed.”

  “But we weren’t and we’re here to tell the tale. Charlotte, honey, if I’d thought for one minute you weren’t up to the terrain, I’d never have put you out there. We both knew the odds of what could happen when we chased that adrenaline rush. But, with the best will in the world, we could never have known they’d set that snow cannon off when they did.”

  “Are you always this calm and humble?”

  “Only when the chick I’m appeasing paid two thousand bucks for my time,” I teased. I flashed her a playful smile and Charlotte grinned in return.

  “Little did I know when I paid my money it included a sleepover in McKenna Low’s bed,” she remarked.

  “It doesn’t; there’s a separate bill for the gas we burned last night. I should think I’m about bankrupt trying to keep you warm.” Charlotte looked at the living flames in the fire and turned her attention to me again. Her smile slowly ebbed until her gaze intensified and her expression grew serious.

  “Seriously, McKenna, all joking aside, I owe you my life. What you did up there was incredible. Your clarity of thought was amazing, even when the snow was packed around us, and the air felt too thin to breathe.”

  “I had the most amazing incentive,” I replied, my focus now on her rosy lips, desperately needing another taste.

  “What was that?”

  “I thought perhaps if I saved you, at the very least you’d kiss me as a thank you.” As soon as I said it, I knew I’d fired another mixed message in her direction. I’d enjoyed making out with her before, even if I'd felt it was wrong to do so.

  A slight tremor of desire ran though Charlotte’s body, and her pupils blew wide at my comment. Leaning in, she pressed a chaste kiss on my lips. “There, thank you again,” she said as her eyes came up to meet mine again.

  I’d have been happy to leave it at that, but she slid her tongue over her bottom lip and rolled them together as if she was savoring the taste of me. As soon I saw her do it. my restraint instantly dissolved.

  My hands snaked up her back and into her hair, and I grabbed a fistful as my body rolled toward her. I only stopped short of pinning her to my bed.

  Her eyes bore into mine with a new intensity, and my heart pounded in my chest at how confidently she held my gaze. Closing in on her, my lips landed on hers, soft and slow at first. The last thing I had wanted to do was to freak her out because this was no longer about her welfare, it was pure indulgence.

  Her lips opened in invitation, too tantalizing a gesture for me to ignore, and when I slid my tongue inside her mouth, the high whimper she released made my dick jolt in desperation. I knew my limits, and normally I had plenty of control, but with Charlotte I could feel myself quickly losing it.

  Separating myself from what we were doing was the last thing I wanted, but I knew I didn’t want to fuck her because after what she had said before, my abstinence was about me respecting myself. So before I went too far, I reluctantly rolled onto my back, breaking the kiss.

  My breathing sounded a little ragged at first, but I sat up quickly, then stood up off the bed. Before I turned around to face her, I adjusted myself in my boxers and pulled on my low-rise jeans. Clearing the growing lump of desire that had grown in my throat, I ran an absentminded hand through my hair as I turned and looked down at her. When I saw the confusion on her face, I felt like shit for kissing her again.

  “Damn. Sorry, that shouldn’t have happened,” I informed her, then turned and wandered into the bathroom chastising myself for taking advantage. I wondered why I kept caving with her. Was it because I knew she had a ‘thing’ for me? I didn’t want to be someone’s fantasy. If anything was ever to happen between Charlotte and I, it would be because of an organic attraction, not some imaginary fairy tale ending to a young girl’s fascination of who I was as a boy.

  After relieving myself and brushing my teeth, then held a flannel under the faucet then held the warm cloth over my face for a few seconds. After drying off, I went back to the room expecting to see Charlotte still there in my bed, but instead I found it empty.

  When I went in search of her, I knocked first then opened her bedroom door. She was in her bathroom and when I heard the electric motor driving her power shower I closed it again, not knowing if I felt relieved or disappointed.

  What the fuck is wrong with me? My mixed signals and indecision around her brought out alien behavior in me. Each kiss had been totally spontaneous and not in the least bit contrived. There was also the fact that on each occasion apart from the first time, Charlotte had initiated the intimate gesture.

  Shrugging the awkwardness of the situation off, I made us both breakfast. Instead of the sho
rts and tank she'd been wearing when she left my bed, she came out of her bedroom fully dressed for the weather in jeans and a form-fitting sweater. My mind mentally stripped those clothes off of her since I’d seen what lay beneath.

  "Smells delicious," she offered rubbing her hand across her flat stomach. It didn’t matter about the sweater she wore on top of it; it still looked sexy.

  "Tastes divine," I replied, holding out some creamy scrambled eggs for her to sample. As soon as her lips wrapped around the metal fork, my eyes were riveted to their gorgeous fullness.

  "Mmm," she mumbled around the utensil controlled in her mouth by me. My cock stirred, suddenly interested in the erotic sound and the small vibration that ran up my arm when she did that. I was in no hurry to remove the silverware from its resting place between her lips because there was a very real danger I'd replace it with my mouth and we'd be back where we'd started again.

  Charlotte glanced up at me with a soul-searching look, which once she'd read the situation morphed into a small smile as she pulled her head back and separated herself from the fork.

  "Delicious," she whispered as she rolled her eyes in ecstasy. Right then and there, I wanted to throw her to the floor and pin her down with my body because even the way she made such a meal out of tasting those fucking bland eggs made me horny.

  "Sit, I'm almost done," I advised, needing to make some space between me and her before I jumped on her, then I groaned inwardly as I watched her turn and walk over to the table. The way her ass cheeks took turns to wiggle made my mouth run dry.

  Moving the flatware to the countertop, I shared out the eggs onto some toast I had previously prepared and weaved my way around the counter to join her. In the time she'd taken to get ready, I'd laid everything out, and she was busy pouring coffee into my cup as I placed the plate out in front of her.

  Grabbing the salt condiment, she sprinkled it sparingly onto her eggs, then to my surprise swiped my favorite hot sauce and lavished a hefty splash of this onto her food. I swear the girl was my clone because the similarities of our likes and dislikes were astounding.

  "Thank you for letting me sleep with you last night."

  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep the smile from my face.

  "The pleasure was all mine," I said, meaning it was the least I could do since I was the one that had put her in danger in the first place.

  I watched her struggle with a smile of her own until she lost it and grinned widely.

  "I bet you hear that all the time," she guessed.

  I chuckled softly, "I'd be lying if I said you were the first... but I think you're the first where my dick never saw action in quite a while." In my head my words had come across as a mark of respect, verbally they sounded like I found it a novelty.

  Heat rose to her cheeks, staining them pink, and once again she looked adorably innocent for a woman her age.

  "Has anyone told you how adorable you look with that cute embarrassed look you have?"

  "I'd be lying if I said you were my first too... but you were the first that hasn't tried to get into my pants." Her comment made me laugh, and the tight feeling in my chest around the conversation dissipated. I held up the jug of orange juice and saluted her, then proceeded to pour some out for the both of us.

  Charlotte poked at her eggs with her fork in thought then glanced up to see me still staring at her. Watching her had become my favorite pastime because I found almost everything she did fascinating and that was saying something considering the number of women I've met.

  "Can I say something I want to get off my chest while I have the courage to do so?" she asked, moving the eggs around on her plate.

  "Sure, although I can't think of anything you'd need courage for with me, Charlotte. We go way back."

  She glanced up through her lashes and smirked wryly, as if she felt that wasn't the case with whatever she had wanted to say.

  "Okay, hit me," I offered and paid attention to scooping some eggs from my plate into my mouth.

  "For at least half of last night I was frozen lying in bed, both from the cold and also from shock to be laid next to you. For the rest, I struggled with lust when I radiated in the warmth of your body and the horny feelings it gave me." A small smile curved my lips, and I was glad she had felt some of the same feelings I had. She took a deep breath. "But I get the vibe you're holding back with me. Is that because of the past? Or because you don't find me attractive; or else you think I'd gossip about my conquest once you'd gone?" Her voice sounded genuinely concerned. Placing my fork down slowly, I slid my hand under hers which was resting on the table.

  "Baby, of course I find you attractive. Look at you. And if you think it was hard lying next to me in bed you should have been viewing that gig from my side of the fence. It took all that I had not to nuzzle hard up against you and my cock was at odds with my head. You have no idea what you do to me, girl."

  If she had blushed before, it was nothing compared to how her complexion looked after I'd spoken straight to her. A secret smile to herself told me she'd gained pleasure from my response.

  "No matter how I felt... or currently feel about you… I'd never fuck you like that. Or here like this. Not when this date has been contrived to raise money. Don’t forget I was sold, that’s why we’re here.”

  The look she gave me was one of disappointment, tinged with regret. My heart clenched, and my arms ached to hold her again. "I’m in lust… you’re not husband material…”

  “While we’re being honest what you said to me the other day really stung. I expect women to use me—hell I use them—but hearing you say it like that affected me down to my soul.”

  “McKenna, I never meant any of that. I’m sorry. After the way you… I… I wanted to hurt you. I do think more of you than that, but my life is complex. I’m not looking for a long-term thing. If I was then maybe I’d be a fool to climb into your bed.”

  “Well you succeeded, that comment coming from you cut me to the quick.”

  “I didn’t mean it. They were words. I don’t see you like that at all. When I hear the name McKenna Low it affects me in here,” she said tapping her chest. "My memories of you are associated with good things. Times when I laughed a lot, memories of happier times. When you said you’d never sleep with me, I can’t explain how it made me feel.”

  "I never said it wouldn't happen. I said I wouldn’t give in to being someone’s fantasy. Then there are the circumstances of why you’re here. You paid for my time. What would that make me if I fucked you? Your escort? I’ve never paid for sex, and by the same token if I do sleep with you it will be because it’s a mutually consented agreement, cash free, and not because someone has thrown us together. I was attracted to you before I discovered you were little Charlie from all those years ago in your dad's cabin complex, but once I'd gotten past that, the chemistry between us has been off-the-charts hot."

  "Look, I know I should feel privileged you kept your distance out of some sense of protecting my honor, but why do I feel like I've missed out on my one opportunity to spend our one-on-one time in a much more intimate way?"

  "In my head the date finishes at six. Let’s see how the day pans out. I’m not making an appointment to fuck you, Charlotte. Besides I have a surprise for you.”

  "A surprise? What is it?"

  "If I told you that it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it?" I checked my wristwatch, "That reminds me, we need to get moving. We need to leave in less than ten minutes," I informed her, picking up my fork and digging in again. Charlotte didn't challenge my question and ate silently as I read a text message telling me the location of my video shoot.

  Chapter Seven

  With the weather a couple of degrees warmer than the day before, we headed to the address I had punched into the satellite navigation system. It took us to the outskirts of town, about two miles down a one track road I never knew existed before that day.

  When we arrived at the location of the shoot, Lorraine, my manager, was standin
g on the balcony looking every inch the successful professional that her executive business position afforded her. She acknowledged me by waving from the wrap around veranda on the first floor of the wooden cabin.

  "You never said we were visiting your friends; I'd have made more of an effort with my appearance." I glanced at Charlotte's face, then checked out how she looked.

  "Baby, you couldn't look more perfect if you tried, and they're not friends, this is work."

  "Work?"

  "Yep, ever seen a video shoot before?"

  "Well... I can't say as I have," she replied glancing up at the cabin veranda.

  "Then today is your lucky day. Apparently, they've shot all the other guys, but as I sing on my own, my segments need to be finished today. I didn't know this when I put myself forward for the auction, but it shouldn't take too long. Then I promise you a wonderful dinner and a romantic horse-drawn sleigh ride. How does that sound?"

  "Sounds like the date I should have had yesterday instead of the ski run to rival the Everest Basecamp Challenge."

  My heart felt light she could manage to joke about her horrific ordeal. "I'm telling you, babe, everyone else is gonna be green with envy because McKenna Low showed you a good time," I replied, winked, and pressed on the foot brake to secure the SUV.

  Once Charlotte had gotten out of the car, I slung my arm around her and headed up to where Lorraine was waiting.

  "Coffee's inside, honey. Help yourself, but stay out of the way. We've got a shitload of takes to get through today," Lorraine said to Charlotte, like she was one of my groupies.

  "Lorraine, this is Charlotte, an old friend from back home. She gets everyone's respect, understand?"

  Lorraine eyed me, then scanned up and down Charlotte like she was weighing the validity of my statement. She nodded. "Sorry, doll," she replied. I silently thanked her for not elaborating about the women who usually hung around when we were working.