He nods. “Then you stripped out of your clothes, told me to take you. Have my way with you.”
“I did?” I cringe at that.
“Don’t be embarrassed.” He holds my face in the palm of his hand. “You were beautiful. Are beautiful. You said all the things I’d already been thinking.”
“So what happened?” I ask, my breathing growing shallow as he leans closer to me, my tiny panties are wet with excitement, with need. The towel that’s wrapped around his waist isn’t hiding what is so plain to see. His desire is growing too.
“I put you to bed, I tucked you in. I stood in the doorway as you pouted yourself to sleep. Then I went to sleep on the couch.” He adjusts himself and as he does, the towel loosens. He doesn’t move to keep it in place. I sit up in bed, wanting more than anything to crawl into his lap, to run my hands over his bare chest and thread my fingers through his thick hair.
“And what did you dream about while you slept?” I ask, my body primed to be taken.
Blaine runs his hand over my back, his fingers expertly unhooking my bra with one hand. He knows exactly what I want.
He guides the straps off my shoulders and lets my breasts fall out. He pulls in a sharp breath, shaking his head. I hear his thoughts. Damn, woman, you’re a fucking miracle.
And I shake my head, not believing his words, his thoughts. Thinking I must be making it up.
“I’m not,” I mumble.
“Shit. You did hear me.”
I know I should be freaked out, about the whole mind reading thing, but for some reason, it feels...natural.
“I think so. It’s so weird. Sometimes...since you kissed me...I feel like I can sense you, hear you even when you’re not talking. Maybe I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re not. But you are a fucking miracle, Harley. So damn sexy, and beautiful...and I’m in way over my head.”
I want to believe him, believe the desire in his eyes, but when Chad cheated on me, when I wasn’t enough for him, it screwed with my head, made me believe I’d never be enough for any guy.
Especially not a man that looks like Blaine Koleman.
Trust me, his thoughts push into my head. You’re more than enough.
I want to trust him.
Right now, I want to trust you so damn hard. I don’t mean to think it so clearly, but I must have, because he replies with a kiss that sends shock waves over my body. The kiss has my core aching for relief that I never imagined I’d find.
“Oh,” I moan as our lips part and his tongue finds mine. He tastes fresh, like vanilla and cinnamon, and it wakes me up - and even though I am sure I have morning breath - I forget all my insecurities when I’m with him. I want to be in his lap, so I let myself move to the place I want to be. Without second guessing or letting my insecurities ruin the moment, I don’t overcompensate with jokes or loud laughs. Instead, I let myself go as I crawl into his lap, feeling his thick cock as it presses against my pussy.
“Harley,” he growls into my ear. “You’re making me crazy.”
“It’s you who is driving me insane.” A small smile is on my swollen lips, his kisses have rendered me his.
“If I have my way with you, it’s gonna change things.”
“Good. I came to Alaska to start over.”
His hands massage my breasts and my nipples harden under his touch. He lowers his mouth, his teeth teasing my nipples, and I drop my head, my body moving into overdrive as shivers of desire run over every inch of my skin.
“You running from something?” he asks, his eyes meeting mine.
I lower my chin, taking hold of his thick cock, it’s big and velvety smooth. He said that if he had his way with me, I’d be changed, and as I run my hand up and down his large shaft, I swallow hard, realizing just how true his words are. My body is going to be opened up in a whole new way.
“I moved here to get over my ex,” I admit, and after I do, I feel like there is a weight taken off my shoulders, a heaviness I didn’t realize I’d been carrying. Kate and Piper were right. I need a rebound.
“How long were you together?”
“A few years. And then Chad...” I don’t want to think about the man who broke my heart.
“You loved him?”
I nod. “I thought he loved me too. He didn’t.”
But even as I think it, I know it isn’t true. What I felt for Chad wasn’t love.
Sitting in Blaine’s lap, our bodies feel connected, but his hands still at my words. “You using me to get over him?”
I shake my head. “No. I mean, this doesn’t feel like a hook-up. It feels like…”
“Like you are where you belong.”
I nod, tears filling my eyes. It makes no sense. Blaine is my opposite and yet there is an attraction - a need - growing between us that I can’t hide from. That I don’t want to hide from.
“Hey, it’s okay, sweetheart.”
“Sweetheart? Really?” I smirk, blinking the tears away, not wanting the tender name to soften me to him. I’ve been hurt before, I don’t want to be hurt again.
Blaine refuses to let me hide behind my fears. “Yes, sweetheart.”
He cups my face with both his hands, and I lift my ass, needing to sink down against his thickness, wanting to be filled with a man so strong, so sure of himself. So unlike any other man I’ve ever met.
“Unless you’d rather me call you love muffin or sugar or—”
I press my hand against his mouth, laughing as he fills me. I sink down on his cock, my body opening to let every delectable inch of him in.
His eyes shine with an emotion I haven’t seen from him before - joy. It’s like I’m the one making him happy, even though I know the truth, that it’s him who is filling that hole inside my chest that’s been empty for too long.
“God, Harley. You feel so good.”
I can feel his pleasure, it matches my own, and it’s more than physical. I can also feel him opening up. All those walls he kept fortified around his heart, seem to tumble down, and I realize that under all his gruffness, there’s a piece of him that’s been hurt, a part of him I think he’s buried. Why, I don’t know, but I want to make him laugh. Smile brighter. Open up completely.
I want to make him mine.
The thought heightens my hunger. I wrap my arms around his neck, the moment suddenly intensified.
Make love to me.
He hears me and answers, Yes, sweetheart, that is the plan.
Chapter 7
Blaine
I roll Harley onto her back, her face so full of want that my inner bear stirs. I need to make love to her, but I also need to imprint myself on her more fully. I need her to understand that the connection she feels is real.
My cock threatens to explode way too fast as I take in the sight of such beauty, I run my hands over her soft skin, over her curves.
“You’re perfect,” I tell her, knowing she doesn’t take compliments well.
I plan on changing that. Her ex is more than a fucking fool, he’s a jackass for whatever insecurities he instilled in her. He hurt her, I saw that when she spoke about getting away. My bear growls inside me. I’ll hurt that fucker if I ever see him. How dare he mess with Harley.
With my mate.
“You’re pretty perfect yourself,” she murmurs as I thrust my cock into her slick pussy. It’s tight and feels so fucking good.
My mate.
It’s fucking insane. And terrifying. And it doesn’t feel like the shackle I thought it would, it feels...right.
But to have a mate means it’s my solemn duty to protect her at all costs.
If something ever happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself. If I ever lost her, I’d lose myself. That’s the scariest part of the whole thing, that she could walk away. She may be bound to me, but it’s different for her. There’s no animal inside of her, ready to walk a million miles or kill any and every threat.
Still, the way she looks at me as I fill her, the way her eyes fixate on me, I can’
t help but feel like maybe she could learn to love me.
Careful, my heart warns. You’ve already been burned once.
But I don’t want to be careful. Not with Harley. She’s wild and adventurous, and she makes me want to throw caution to the wind, jump off the proverbial ledge, and fall hard.
“Oh, God, Blaine, I’m coming, I’m coming so… so…” She moans as we come together, her fingers dragging against the skin of my back. She clings to me, her pussy spasming in the aftershocks of her orgasm, and she whimpers my name, “Blaine.”
“I’ve got you, sweetheart.”
And I do. Always.
Her legs wrap around me, and I cradle her back, pulling her closer to my chest. Kissing her forehead, her nose, her lips, her neck...her everything.
I need more.
Her.
Now.
This.
She rolls over, straddling me. Her thong is long gone and her delicate body is slick with sweat.
“Again,” she demands. “Take me again.”
She’s wild, she’s ready, and looking up at her there is no doubt that she is mine.
“As you wish,” I say as she lowers her mouth to my cock, swirling her tongue around my tip that is drenched in cum. Fuck, it’s so damn much all at once.
I pull at her hips, turning her around so her creamy ass is in my face. “That’s better,” I tell her, pulling her to my mouth, running my tongue up and down her slit.
God, she tastes so good. Like sunshine and goddamn vanilla and cinnamon and blue skies and a new day. A fresh fucking start.
Us.
Together.
It makes me a fucking mess, getting so caught up in the moment. I love the promise of her just as much as I’m terrified of ruining the first good thing I’ve had in a long ass time.
She begins to suck me off, my cock ready all over again. Her pussy lips are swollen and I press my mouth against her. And I can’t hold back what I’m thinking, not from her. I’m falling for you, Harley. Falling so fucking hard.
Then you better use that beard of yours and make me come.
Her words send a smile across my face, a laugh in my belly. And she turns her head, looking at me over her shoulder. Her eyes are so fucking clear that I can see all our tomorrows. “I’m falling for you too, Blaine Koleman.”
Chapter 8
Harley
We shower slowly. Hot water coating our bodies, soap suds covering our skin. Our lips are magnetically pulled to one another. We kiss as steam rises around us, until we are dizzy and starving and the water runs cold.
Stepping out of the shower, naked, exposed and seen, I laugh as he dries me off. I shake my long blonde hair out, sending droplets of water all over his bare chest. God, he is sexy. And ripped. And lean. His body is a never ending cord of muscle and strength. I have to avoid looking at the deep V that leads to his groin because if I look at his cock again, my body will start humming with need.
And before we can play again, I need to eat. I’m famished in a way I’ve never been before. It’s a hunger that can only come after you’ve been satisfied in every physical way.
“God, you look pretty when you smile,” he tells me as he hands me an oversized t-shirt. I pull it over my head, relishing the fact that it smells just like Blaine.
“Well, you look pretty good in those sweats.” They are slung low on his hips in a dangerously sexy way. I fan myself as he pulls on a white t-shirt. “You were right when you said sleeping together would change things.”
“Oh yeah?” We walk from his bedroom into the main room.
The cabin is small, one bedroom and one great room with a sleek kitchen outfitted with stainless steel appliances and concrete counters. Empty of any hint of personality. Nothing like the man who tickled me with his beard an hour ago, who laughed and called me sweetheart.
“Yeah, now that we’ve had sex, I can ask you why your house is so...cold. What gives, Mr. Koleman? It’s like I’ve seen two totally different sides of you.”
My words were meant to be playful, but as they leave my mouth, I see him stiffen, his shoulders tense, his jaw twitches.
“Um,” I bite my lip. “How about we not answer that question and eat instead.” I pull open his refrigerator door and see two shelves stocked with protein shakes. Nothing else. My shoulders sag. I reach to open a cupboard when Blaine speaks.
“Do you snoop around every house you enter?”
Baffled, I turn to him. “Snoop? This isn’t snooping. This is a chance for both of us to avoid running into Hangry Harley. She’s not cute.”
He pulls open the fridge and grabs two of the shakes. He hands one to me and I screw off the cap knowing I’m gonna hate it. Twenty grams of pea protein doesn’t exactly wet my appetite.
He chugs his and I close my eyes and take a tentative sip, but it’s chalky and fake and I just can’t.
Setting it on the counter, I try to lighten the mood. It’s like I merely mention him having two sides to his personality and it set him off to be even colder than I gave him credit for.
My stomach growls. Loudly.
He shakes his head and reaches in the cupboard and pulls out a loaf of sprouted grain bread and a jar of peanut butter. He puts two slices into the toaster and grabs a knife from the drawer.
“Sorry,” he says. “I wasn’t expecting company.”
I shrug. “Had you known, would you have bought the fixings for a fancy-shmancy brunch?”
“Not really much of a cook, to be honest.”
“Me either. I almost started a fire with the toaster at our apartment.”
“Good thing I’m making the toast today, then.” He gives me a tight smile. Whatever momentum we found in his bed and shower, left the moment we stepped into the rest of his house. Like we were brought back to reality.
Our reality. Which is exactly what?
Two completely different people who butt heads, and can’t get along other than when screwing.
We said we were falling for one another as we made love, but the truth is, we don’t even know one another.
Can I really see us in a relationship? Sure, the sex is mind-blowingly good, but we’re complete opposites.
His jaw tenses and his nostrils flare, and for a second I wonder if he didn’t hear my thoughts, which is another bizarre thing I’m not really sure I believe.
Even though he stands still, I swear he’s pacing inside, like there’s a part of him that needs to get away from me.
“Drink your shake,” he orders, finishing his own.
I place the bottle on the table, then cross my arms.
“What’s your problem?” Crap, Hangry Harley is starting to rear her head. But I can’t stop myself from pushing him. “You’re acting—”
His eyes narrow on me. “Like what?”
“Like the guy I thought you were.”
“And who’s that?”
“A jerk.”
He grunts. “Maybe that is who I am.”
“And maybe you should drive me home.”
How did things spiral so quickly?
“No. I just...” His fingers dive into his hair and he pulls at it. “I’ll go into town and get us some food. Just stay here.”
I push off my chair. “Stop ordering me—”
“Stay, Harley.” He glances up at the ceiling, then shakes his head before glancing back at me, a new vulnerability in his eyes. “Just stay here, please.”
I give a small nod, and he doesn’t wait for more of an answer before he’s out the door.
Through the window, I see him stalk toward his pickup. His mouth moves like he’s mumbling, and he flexes his fingers like he’s ready to hit something. Instead of getting in the truck, he starts pulling at his shirt.
He tosses it in the bed of the truck before reaching for the waistband of his sweats.
What the hell?
Maybe he plans on stripping down and coming back in here for make-up sex. It wouldn’t be a terrible idea, except at some point we’re
going to need to figure out how to get along with our clothes on.
The pants come off next.
God, the man is gorgeous, and a small whimper of lust tickles my throat.
But then I’m no longer staring at the man, but an incredibly large bear.
I blink.
Once. Twice. Praying I’m hallucinating, but the animal is still there, and Blaine, well...Blaine isn’t. And then the animal sprints off, darting into the trees and disappearing into the green foliage.
I know there’s a part of me that should scream, but it’s impossible to make a sound when all the air has left my lungs.
What. Just. Happened?
My entire body has gone numb, and as I stumble toward the bedroom in search of my phone, I’m pretty sure I’m having a stroke.
“Adelaide?” I cry into the phone when she answers. I pull on my jeans, slip my feet into my sandals. Hysterical as I wait to hear the sound of her voice.
“Harley, what’s wrong?”
“I...” I search frantically for my clothes. “I don’t know. I think...Oh God, Addie.”
“Just breathe. Is Blaine with you?”
“No. He...” I scramble to find the right words. “He...I don’t know.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at his house, but he...” I grab the rest of my stuff and start toward the door. “He’s a bear.” My voice sounds hysterical.
There’s a pause on the phone. “Harley—”
“I know what you’re going to say, but I saw it. He turned into a freaking bear.”
Addie sighs. “Just stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.”
“No way am I staying here.”
“Harley—”
The call ends, and when I glance down, I notice that the battery is dead.
“Shit.”
Maybe I should stay. Or maybe I should get out of this house before Blaine the freaking bear comes back. I joked earlier about me turning into Hangry Harley, but this is so much worse, crazy, and...not possible.
But as I run through the woods, praying that I’m headed in the right direction, I know that what I saw was real. Especially when Blaine’s desperate words echo into my mind.
Untamed Lovers (Mountain Men of Bear Valley Book 2) Page 4
