“When I find something I want, I don’t give up until I get it,” he said, his eyes locked on hers. “And I always get what I want.”
She couldn’t find the words to respond, would have melted in his arms if he’d kissed her right then, and she was sure that he knew it, but he calmly picked up his sandwich and took a bite. Deep inside, her body was throbbing with desire, images of them together crowding her mind, and making her squirm in her chair.
Colin just kept eating as she sat there staring at him, then he grinned at her and asked. “Aren’t you hungry? I’m sure you have something exhausting planned for this afternoon, so you should eat.”
She picked up her sandwich, determined to ignore him, and took a big bite, but the look of satisfaction on his face made her want to slap him. Using that anger to block the pulsing desire racing through her, she felt it fade and breathed a sigh of relief. Keeping her distance from him was going to be the only way she’d make it through the day, and she knew exactly how to make that happen.
“How would you like to go on a little adventure this afternoon?” she asked, her appetite returning.
“Hmm, does it involve both of us naked?” he asked.
She nearly choked on her food. “No, it does not,” she said, shooting him a dirty look. “I thought we’d go into the forest and forage.”
Colin shrugged his shoulders. “What I had in mind would have been a lot more fun, but you’re the boss,” he said.
Feeling much more in control, Darby was able to finish her lunch and get the kitchen cleaned up without throwing herself into Colin’s arms. But as she set out from the farmhouse into the woods, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about what Colin had in mind. It was a relief when they finally stepped out of the sunshine and into the shadows of the forest to focus on something besides the man who was walking beside her, driving her crazy with just his presence.
It wasn’t long before Darby realized that she’d made a mistake; instead of going their separate ways, Colin stuck close to her. “This works better if we look in different places,” she said.
“That might be true if I knew what I was looking for,” he said.
“Sorry,” she said, blushing. “I forgot you’ve never done this.”
Colin grinned at her. “But I’m more than willing to learn from a teacher as pretty as you are.”
Darby’s knees trembled a little, and she tried not to look in his eyes, but couldn’t stop herself. They were full of desire, and her body responded by throbbing again. “Ummm, we’re looking for mushrooms, so you want to find fallen trees; they like the rotting wood,” she managed to croak.
“Okay then, rotting wood,” he said, heading off into the trees.
Darby watched him go, thinking about following him and tackling him, but stopped herself. When he called her name a few minutes later, she followed the sound of his voice and nearly collapsed to the ground when she saw him grinning from ear to ear pointing to something on the ground. Wishing she could turn around and run the other way, she walked over to him and looked at what he was pointing to.
“Good job, you found the first mushrooms of the year; that’s good luck,” she said, happy to see him so pleased by something so simple, but hardly able to control the need to kiss him.
Chapter Thirteen
***Colin***
Colin could feel the desire radiating from Darby and knew that it wouldn’t take much to send her over the edge, but something held him back, and he wasn’t sure why. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted another woman, but that didn’t seem to be enough; he wanted more. Then it hit him like a bolt of lightning; it wasn’t just the pleasure Darby’s body would give him that he wanted: it was Darby herself.
Shocked, he stumbled back a few steps, not sure what to do with this newest revelation in his already crowded brain. “Are you alright?” she asked, bringing him back to the moment.
“Ummm, I’m fine, just got lost in my thoughts for a second there,” he said, grinning down at her. “So, finding the first mushrooms is good luck; does that mean I get to make a wish or something?”
Darby laughed. “No, it’s just good luck,” she said, bending down and slicing the tender fungus free. “These are yours.”
Colin looked down at the mushrooms. No bigger than a small coin, they weighed almost nothing and looked rather unappetizing. “What do we do with them now?” he asked, leaning down to sniff them.
“Well, we could eat them raw or cook them, or you could dry them and make a tea out of them,” Darby said. “Some people think they…”
“What?” Colin asked, grinning when her face turned pink.
“Ummm, they help men, ummm, you know,” she said, her cheeks getting even pinker.
Colin felt himself stiffening and wanted to curse Darby’s tendency to blush and the effect it had on him, then gave up fighting and pulled her into his arms. The mushrooms went tumbling to the ground, forgotten as his mouth came down on hers in a kiss that wasn’t sweet and gentle, but hot and demanding.
Darby groaned, threaded her arms around his neck, then pressed her body against his, and he knew in that instant that she was his to do with as he pleased. Tightening his arms around her, he rubbed her back as he kissed her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth over and over until she was breathless and clinging to him. Then he slid his hands around to her stomach and up under her shirt until her breasts were cupped in his hands and rubbed each tender peak with his thumb.
She sucked in a deep breath and moaned into his mouth, making his body throb with pleasure. With a move he’d used more than once, he slid her breasts out of the lacy bra covering them with a flick of his thumb, then gently squeezed her hard nipples between his thumb and finger. He felt her knees buckle and was just about to lower her to the ground when a crack of thunder shook the trees around them.
They jumped apart and looked up through the trees to find dark angry clouds filling the sky. “We’d better head for home,” Darby gasped, taking a shaky step and nearly falling.
He scooped her up in his arms. “This might be faster,” he said, “but I’m glad I have that effect on you.”
She opened her mouth to deny it but shut it again, and he burst into laughter. “When are you going to stop fighting what’s meant to be?” he asked.
Another crack of thunder reminded him that they needed to get out of the storm. “We can save that discussion for later,” he said, heading for the trail, Darby silent in his arms.
But when they came out of the trees, the sight that greeted them made him stop and put her down. The harbor was filled with angry clouds that swirled over the water and whipped it into waves bigger than any he’d ever seen. The wind began to blow as they stood there and then the rain began, driving sheets of it that soaked them instantly.
He grabbed Darby’s hand, and raced for the farmhouse, pulling her along behind him, his eyes focused on the fuzzy outline of the structure. When they finally made it to the porch, it was impossible to see through the torrent of rain, the wind at times blowing it sideways. Lightning lit up the sky, and thunder cracked above their heads as the storm grew into a howling frenzy of power.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Colin said.
“Me either,” Darby said, then a look of panic appeared on her face. “The animals. I have to check on the animals.”
She started to go back out in the storm, but he grabbed her arm. “You can’t go out there in this,” he said just as a crack of thunder shook the house.
“I have to,” she said, pulling away from him. “We depend on them, Colin; that’s our food for the winter out there in the barn.”
He let her go, cringing when another crack of thunder shook the porch, then followed her out into the storm. She was fighting the big double doors on the barn when he finally found his way through the storm to the barn. Running over to help, he grabbed one of the doors, and pushed it shut, then waited while Darby struggled with hers.
A break in the wind finall
y allowed her to shut the other side, and he quickly slid the bar in place just as the wind gusted back to life, tearing at the doors again. They rattled but held, and he was just turning to go back to the house when he saw Darby running toward the chicken coop. He tried to yell at her to go back to the house, but the storm was roaring around them, and his words faded into nothing as soon as they were out of his mouth.
Cursing, he followed her, the wind and rain tearing at his clothes and blinding him. He was on her before he could stop himself, and they both went tumbling to the ground in front of the chicken coop. Darby pushed him away and pointed to the roof, then climbed to her feet and stood staring at the chicken coop.
“We have to get them out of there and into the barn,” she said, heading for the door. “We can stuff them into our jackets and carry them to the barn.”
***Darby***
Darby opened her jacket and let the last of the chickens tumble to the floor, it wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but she was exhausted. Colin was standing next to her, his chest rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath, a puddle of water forming at his feet. Outside, the storm was still raging and showed no signs of stopping.
“I’m not going out there again, and neither are you,” Colin said, looking around the barn.
“No, I think we’re trapped in here for now. I hope this doesn’t last much longer,” she said, shivering now that the danger was past.
Colin crossed over to where she was standing and pointed to a ladder in the corner. “Where does that go?” he asked, taking off his jacket and wringing the water out.
Darby’s teeth had begun to chatter, but she managed to say, “The hayloft and a little room that we used to use for storage. Eli fixed it up once and stayed there over a summer.”
“Come on, it’ll be warmer up there,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and leading her over to the ladder. “If we’re lucky, he left something behind.”
When they got to the top, Colin disappeared down a little hallway, and she stood shivering, wondering if they’d freeze to death before the storm was over. But then he reappeared with a pile of blankets and a box, a huge smile on his face.
“We’re saved,” he said. “Dry blankets and junk food.”
She managed a smile even though her teeth were chattering. “Eli does love his junk food; that’s probably a stash he forgot about.”
“You have to get out of those clothes,” he said, unfolding one of the blankets. “Do you need my help?”
She felt her cheeks pinken. “Just turn around,” she said, grabbing the blanket.
It wasn’t easy to remove her sodden clothing quickly, but she hurried, afraid at any moment, he’d turn around. But instead, he began stripping off his own wet clothes, and for a second, all she could do was watch as he removed his shirt. The sight of his muscular back was almost her undoing, and the memory of him carrying her through the forest as if she were weightless awakened something primal inside her.
When he reached for the button on his pants, she should have turned around, but instead, she watched as he slid the wet fabric off his body, one inch at a time. Her breath caught in her throat when he turned around, his manhood already erect, and the blanket she’d been holding fell to the floor in a heap.
She shivered, but not from the cold, then took a small step toward him, then another. “You’ll never get warm unless you take everything off, Darby,” he said, his voice soft and gentle.
Frozen in place, all she could do was watch as he came closer, the desire in his eyes making her body throb. He walked around behind her, then leaned over and whispered. “Would you like me to help?”
Goosebumps erupted on her arms, and she shivered again, then nodded her head, gasping when his fingers brushed up the sensitive skin on her back to the clasp of her bra. He slowly unhooked each clasp, kissing the back of her neck after each one, then let the wet lace fall to the floor. She was throbbing deep inside, desperate for more but unsure what to do, when she felt his fingers sliding into the elastic of her panties.
He kissed his way down her back, sliding the panties down her legs, then nudged her to step away from the puddle of lace. When he rose to his feet, he slid his hands up her legs over her hips and cupped her breasts with his hands again, making her knees shake and pleasure rush over her. She leaned back against him, sure that she’d fall to the floor as he teased her nipples and bit at her neck.
Colin wrapped one arm tightly around her chest, one breast still cupped in his hand, and began sliding the other down her stomach, making her gasp with anticipation and hold her breath. When he slid his finger between her folds and found her swollen nib, her breath came rushing in a cry of pleasure as he gently stroked her. Each movement of his finger driving her farther and farther to the edge, her body pulsing with pleasure from deep inside.
She leaned against him, mewing with pleasure, soaring to heights she’d never known were possible until with one final burst, she tumbled over the edge, her body trembling in his arms. They stood there locked together, his warm chest pressed against her back, his arm steadying her until she stopped shaking, then he scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the short hallway to the little room in the back of the barn.
Out the window, she could see that the storm was still raging, but she was warm and snug in Colin’s arms, and it no longer seemed scary. When he laid her on the bed, then stood and let his eyes travel over every inch of her body, she felt herself blush, and Colin laughed.
“You’re even more beautiful when you blush,” he said, laying down next to her.
A thrill raced through her, and her body began to throb deep inside again, so she reached up and pulled his head down and kissed him.
Chapter Fourteen
***Colin***
Colin was throbbing with need, both physically and in his soul, and he knew that only Darby could satisfy that need. Her body was soft and warm, his to do with as he pleased, and he was more than ready to delve into the bounty she had to offer, but first, he wanted to take her to the heights of passion.
“Spread your legs for me, sweetheart,” he whispered in her ear.
He heard her suck in a quick breath, then she slid her legs apart, moaning when he teased first one nipple then the other while nibbling on her neck. Sliding his hand between her parted legs, he couldn’t help but moan when he felt her slick and moist, imagining the moment when he could finally bury himself inside her.
When his finger brushed across her pleasure center, she gasped and opened her legs to him further, and he couldn’t resist sliding between them. Still stroking her, he positioned himself at the opening of her throbbing core, then slowly slid inside her. As he filled her inch by inch, her hips came up to meet his, and with one hard thrust, he filled her, the delicious feeling of her body accepting his making him moan her name.
Darby wrapped her legs around him, drawing him deeper inside her, and thrust her hips up, a cry of pleasure escaping her lips. Unable to control himself any longer, he drove himself into her over and over, until she was digging her nails into his back and crying out his name. When her muscles clenched around him, and her body began to tremble, he drove himself into her with one final thrust and let oblivion take them both.
He collapsed on top of her, unwilling to move until he had to, the feeling of her body still cradling him keeping him suspended in a cloud of pleasure. A huge sigh from Darby made him realize that he was probably crushing her, so he rolled off her and gathered her in his arms. She shivered a little, and goosebumps immediately appeared on her skin, so he covered them with the blanket he’d left behind earlier.
She snuggled into his arms, then looked up at him. “You left this here on purpose,” she said, pulling on the blanket.
Colin grinned down at her. “Well, it never hurts to be prepared,” he said.
She slapped him. “You have just a little too much confidence for your own good,” she said but settled down into his arms again.
He watched th
e storm rage outside the barn window and wondered what felt so different about being with Darby, then understood that she’d found her way into his heart. Gathering her closer to him, he sighed, truly happy for the first time in a long time, then closed his eyes and let the exhaustion of the day sweep him into a deep sleep.
The sun shining through the barn window woke him the next morning, and for a second, he couldn’t remember where he was, but then Darby sighed, and it all came back to him. A flood of affection washed over him when he looked over at her still sleeping, and he wondered if he’d ever be able to leave her. That thought brought a strange ache to his chest, so he buried it and concentrated on the woman lying naked next to him.
When they finally emerged from the barn an hour later and stumbled over to the farmhouse, both wrapped in blankets and carrying their clothes, they were still grinning. But the sight of a wagon coming down the road wiped the smiles off both their faces, and after a quick glance at each other, they raced for the house.
“It’s probably just Eli, but I’d just as soon not get caught this way,” Darby said, slamming the front door and heading for her room.
He grabbed her before she could get far, and kissed her until she melted in her arms, then let her go. “I’ll start the coffee,” he said, grinning at her.
She stood wobbling there for a second, then turned and ran for her bedroom, her face pink. He laughed and thought about following her but went to his room instead and got dressed. The clothes didn’t feel quite as strange today, and the boots not quite as heavy, and he smiled when he saw his reflection in the mirror.
Darby was coming down the hallway when he came out of his room, dressed for a day of work, and he wanted to push her back into the bedroom. But the sound of a forceful knock on the door stopped him, and instead, he followed her to the front door. She peered through the little peep-hole in the door, then frowned.
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