Cody took a long, slow swallow of the last of his beer as he watched her, eyes gleaming.
“Keep going,” he said when Cassie paused after the second button.
“Are you sure?” she asked, only half-teasing. Cody had told her that moose were sensitive to smell and instructed her to wash the clothes she planned to wear while hunting in scent-free detergent and then pack them in a plastic Ziplock bag. “I wouldn’t want to scare off the moose.”
“We’ve got the lake right here.” He gave her a daring grin. “Didn’t you say you’ve never been skinny-dipping? Now’s your chance.”
She laughed at the thought. “The water’s damned cold.”
“Yes, it is. We can just run in and run right back out.”
She shook her head. “The things I do for you, Cody Bradford.”
“Off with the clothes,” he encouraged her—not that she needed encouragement.
“I’ll strip for you if you strip for me,” she said.
“Deal.”
The idea of having sex outdoors in the middle of the day was arousing. Cody’s cabin was so remote that Cassie knew no one would happen along, and that made her feel free, spiritually and sexually. Plus, she’d been fantasizing about this outing ever since Cody made the crack about wanting to make her scream. Having had roommates her entire adult life until now, and living in a tightly packed city with thin-walled apartments, sex had often by necessity been a quiet affair, but there was nothing stopping them now, and the idea of being a little noisy was a turn-on.
Cassie tossed her shirt on the ground and then stepped out of her jeans, removing her shoes and socks along the way. Cody continued to watch her, his gaze lingering wherever her skin was exposed. She stood about ten feet from him in a red bra and panties, and she saw his chest rise and fall as his breathing grew deeper. She reached behind and unhooked her bra, sliding it off and tossing it, too, onto the ground. The late August air was crisp and chilly, and her erect nipples loved the teasing breeze that danced over them.
“Stay there,” Cody said. “I’m thinking of all the things I want to do to you when I get my clothes off.”
She stood with a coquette’s posture, one hand on her hip while jutting out the other for effect. “What are you waiting for?”
She stayed in that pose while Cody stripped off his clothing. Last to go were his boxers, and Cassie nearly gasped at his ready erection.
“Ooh, baby,” she said playfully.
He crossed the short distance that separated them, and after a deep, passionate kiss, he reached beneath her panties, grinning when he confirmed how wet she was for him. He fingered her once, right away, and as her breasts heaved, she cupped them, offering them to him.
Cody made a low, guttural sound as he put a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the ground. Her mouth immediately went for his swollen cock, eager to give him that blow job she owed him, but he stopped her. Instead he knelt beside her, guided her onto her back, and leaned over and kissed her. The kiss was searing, his lips against hers wanting. With one hand he held her hip tight against him; with his other hand he traced around her nipples, giving her goose bumps. She arched her breasts toward him, wanting his mouth on them, his warm tongue, and she lost all sense of where she was as he accommodated her, filling his mouth with first one breast and then the other, toying with the other so it wouldn’t feel neglected. Shocks of pleasure raced down her body into her core. Wanting more of him, wanting his hands everywhere, Cassie grabbed his hand from her hip and guided it downward to the juncture of her thighs.
“What’ve you still got those goddamned panties on for?” Cody growled when the fabric blocked his access. “Get them off.”
A new roughness was coming out in him, and it turned her on. Cody in charge, she thought, as she wiggled her way out of her underwear and spread her legs for him. She felt sure he’d drive her wild with his capable fingers like he had their first night together, but he left her spread-eagled, open to the breeze, and kissed his way down from her breasts to her toes. He only teased her inner thighs with his tongue, making her want to weep with longing.
“Cody …” she whispered in a desperate plea.
Sure enough, he finally gave her what she wanted and positioned his mouth between her legs. As his tongue swirled in exquisite motions, sending waves of sensation radiating outwards, Cassie moaned softly. And then she remembered they were alone in the wilderness, alone in the world, and she moaned louder, starting to lose control.
“Cody,” she gasped. “Yes. Oh, yes. Please don’t stop.”
He raised his eyes to look at her. “What if I do? What if I stop?”
“You can’t!” She arched herself toward his mouth. “Please don’t stop.”
“I’m supposed to make you scream,” he said, spreading her legs further apart and flicking her with his tongue, just once, then twice, leisurely, taking his time. “You haven’t screamed for me yet, Cassie.”
His warm breath on her wanting wetness made her shudder with pleasure. Raising her hands above her head and grasping handfuls of grass, she turned her head to the side and cried out as he unleashed ecstasy on her with his very capable tongue. She gasped with every motion of his, her hips bucking in a response she couldn’t help. Her orgasm was building fast—hard, rocking waves of all-encompassing, mind-erasing pleasure.
It aroused her even further knowing she was in the middle of nowhere with this man, dependent on him, at his mercy in every way.
The tenderness of his hands on her body, along with the firm expert sweep of his tongue … the knowledge that in this moment she was his completely … it was too much. He flicked his tongue across her again and again and then she shattered, screamed his name, and thrashed with the force of her ecstasy.
Every inch of her body felt raw and spent, and at the same time so, so wet and ready for him.
He was ready, too. He positioned above her then and quickly entered her with a well-earned urgency. His girth filled every inch of her, and as they moved together in their own intimate rhythm, Cassie felt a sense of completion she’d never felt before. A sense of wholeness, and togetherness, and oneness with this man, who offered her not just his decency and heroism and understanding, but the mountains and rivers and wilderness, too. Their passion was undeniable, and she knew he was leading her somewhere she’d never been before.
What’s happening here? she wondered as he moved above her, as her pleasured exhaustion turned to wanting once more. How can this man make me feel this way, and how can I ever leave him? You can’t, she told herself as her muscles tightened around him, as he made a primitive groan as he felt her grip him. Something this good you don’t walk away from.
Wrapping her legs more firmly around his back, she whimpered softly in his ear.
“Cody,” she whispered. “What are you doing to me?”
He made another, louder groan. She could tell he was getting close.
“Harder,” she urged him, and he did, thrusting harder as her hands began exploring, her nails scratching softly down the broad expanse of his muscled chest. Each thrust was controlled, until suddenly he cried out again and lost control and together they cried out into the wilderness, and together they came, and together they fell onto the blanket in spent exhaustion.
As Cody rested beside her with his eyes closed, smiling idly as one hand covered her left breast in a way that felt like possession, Cassie admired his rugged good looks, his hard body, and remembered her question to him, the one he hadn’t answered—but she no longer needed him to.
She knew what he was doing to her—he was making her love him.
He was making it impossible to leave.
Cody and Cassie spent a lazy few hours making love, completed with a brief but shriekingly cold skinny-dip in the lake, after which they dressed in their unscented clothing and set off on their moose hunt. In the high mountain sunshine, with the wind tousling her hair, Cassie looked breathtaking, like a blonde Viking princess. He paused their sojourn on
more than one occasion to kiss his Viking princess.
He took her to his lucky spot, the one where he’d taken a moose five years in a row, a fifteen-minute hike from the cabin. It was a natural meadow next to the lake, picturesque, and a favorite spot for moose to graze, drink, and rut. At this time of year, the higher elevation of the lake was ideal; as it got colder later in the year, the moose would migrate to lower elevations. Cody had built a hide a few years earlier downwind of the meadow in the cool shadows of the forest, and when they arrived, he laid down a waterproof canvas for them to lay in wait.
“When we see something, look at me and I’ll motion to you to put in your earplugs,” he whispered. “And remember, be as quiet as possible.”
Cassie nodded that she understood, and Cody’s heart swelled. He knew hunting was far outside her comfort zone, and her constant willingness to try and understand his world—where he came from, how his values formed, what made him who he was—never ceased to amaze him. Unable to help himself, he kissed her cute small nose. She gave him an Eskimo kiss back.
Around them, the sun dappled the forest, and while the meadow at first glance seemed static, as if a picture postcard, the stillness was an illusion. As they lay there, all kinds of animals crossed their field of vision. Birds sang and twittered in the trees. Rabbits hopped, squirrels scampered, and even a fox slunk through the bushes nearby. Cassie watched it all with wide-eyed wonder.
They didn’t wait long to see a moose. A healthy, mature female appeared in the meadow, ambling through it. Cody could see that Cassie was transfixed by its grace and beauty, and he understood she’d prefer to simply watch the moose in its natural habitat than for him to kill it. Part of him wanted to accommodate her wish, but his practical side nudged him to take aim while the wind was just right—so he did. Slowly, carefully, he put in his earplugs. With one hand he pointed at his ears, nodding at Cassie, and quietly she inserted her own earplugs.
He shouldered his rifle. He’d half-decided that if Cassie took his arm to stop him, he might just pass on shooting the moose; he could always come back a different day without her if the kill would upset her too badly. But Cassie left him to his task.
He had a good shot, aimed for the moose’s chest, and pulled the trigger. Cassie squawked out a cry when the moose dropped. Cody stood, slung the rifle across his back, and extended a hand to Cassie to help her up. As they removed their earplugs, he saw her wrinkled brow and pressed-together lips.
“Are you okay?” he asked, putting an arm around her. With the moose felled, there was no need to whisper anymore.
“I think so,” she said, although she looked disconcerted.
He kissed her forehead. “It was a clean shot,” he promised. “She never knew what hit her.”
“She?” Cassie looked at the spot in the meadow where the moose lay still. “It was a she?”
Her voice wavered, and Cody instantly recognized that Cassie shouldn’t witness what needed to happen next, the dressing of the carcass to ensure the meat didn’t spoil. It was too raw, too visceral, for someone who’d cried upon killing a river trout.
“It was a she,” he said.
“But what if she’s a mom? What if there’s a baby moose that’s now missing its mom?”
“There’s not. If the cow—that’s a female moose—had a young one, it would be right with her. The fact there isn’t one means it’s already been killed off by a bear or wolf, which happens to a lot of them.”
“Brutal world,” Cassie said.
“It can be. But that’s the way it works. Nature’s both beautiful and brutal. You’re about to see it in full force once winter hits.”
“What do you mean?” she asked warily.
“I’ve seen it get as cold as fifty below. You can get frostbite in minutes if you’re not careful. And you know how light it is all summer? Well, you’ve got the opposite of that in winter. Near solstice, we’ll have just over three hours of sunlight a day—if it’s not cloudy.”
“Why?” Cassie said, looking at him. “Why would someone choose to live here when they could pick virtually any other place in the world?”
“Because it’s beautiful, too,” he said, and for him it was as simple as that. “That’s what I love—beauty in the extreme.” He looked around. “Imagine being out here in the forest with snow all around, not another person for miles, and with the Northern Lights glowing pink and green. It stops your heart, it’s so pretty. It really does.”
“Give me ice skating at Rockefeller Center any day of the week,” she said, her voice full of regret. “I’m sorry, I guess I’m just on sensory overload right now, with the gunshots and the remoteness, and … I’m terrified about what comes next.” Locking her eyes on him she quickly added, “With the moose, I mean.”
It seemed to Cody she was terrified about more than just the moose. She was terrified about the turn their relationship was taking, and the truth was that he was terrified, too. The word love had popped into his mind, unbidden, on more than one occasion when he thought of her, and he’d damn near almost said it back at the cabin while in the throes of their considerable passion.
“I’m not sure I can do this,” she said.
“Do what?” Cody asked, his heart in his throat.
“This.” She gestured around them. “Shoot a gun. Watch animals die.”
“You don’t have to shoot a gun if you don’t want to, Cassie,” he said, with perhaps a bit of impatience, but what had she expected to see on a moose hunt if not a moose being hunted? “I hunt for meat, not for sport. I do it to feed myself all winter, just like you go to all your restaurants for food. Just because you don’t see the animal dying doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
“I know,” she said. “I think people like you are more honest about the world than people like me.” She gave him an apologetic look. “Maybe I’m just not cut out for Alaska.”
“Most people in Alaska don’t hunt,” he said. “These lessons, they’re just …”
“They’re things you do. They’re how you live. They’re part of your world.”
And you can’t see yourself as part of it, he thought.
“I guess we should have gone to the Pioneer Hotel after all,” he said, feeling at odds with her reaction.
“No … That’s not really what I’m saying.”
It was, though, and out here, even though Cassie’s face was natural, with none of the usual makeup she wore during her broadcasts, he’d never been more conscious of how different they were.
“Listen, I need to get this moose dressed, and it’s pretty … uh … bloody. Would you feel more comfortable going back to the cabin and hanging out? It won’t take me long, an hour or so.”
“I don’t know if I can find my way back—”
“I’ll walk you back. I have to grab my dressing kit and the folding table, anyway.”
“Okay,” she said, looking relieved.
The walk back was far different from the walk there, during which they’d chatted and joked, having just spent hours having great outdoor sex before dipping into the frigid lake to de-scent themselves. Now Cassie was uncharacteristically quiet and contemplative.
When they reached the cabin, Cody grabbed what he needed. He had to hustle back to dress the moose before the meat spoiled, but he felt unsure about leaving her there on her own. When he returned, would she have talked herself out of any more Alaska, any more of him?
Cassie went to the cooler, grabbed a beer, and settled herself into a chair facing the lake. He came around to kneel in front of her and was dismayed to see the trace of a tear that had rolled down her cheek. “Hey,” he said. “Are you okay?”
She nodded once, as if it took effort. Then she wiped her cheek. “Yeah. It’s just … a lot to take in. The violence. I agree with it intellectually, but I guess I didn’t expect to feel this way. And we’re so far out in the middle of nowhere and …”
Cody almost teased her that “middle of nowhere” was the whole point, but he thoug
ht better of it. Instead he said, “Hunting isn’t for everyone. And I guess it’s not for you.” He tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
“How long will you be gone?”
“I’ll take the boat, so it’ll only take me a few minutes to get back to the hunting site. I’m taking a radio, and I’ve left the other one on the kitchen counter. It’s already on the right channel. Just press ‘Talk’ if you need me. And the field dressing won’t take long; I’ve been doing it all my life.”
“So—less than an hour?”
“Two, tops.”
She sniffled once and looked away.
“I don’t have to go,” he said, more sharply than intended. “But it would be an awful waste.”
“No, of course. Go.”
He was at a loss for what else to say. Cassie was clearly having second thoughts, and her resistance to hunting made him almost defensive. And the tears—for a moment it was his mother all over again, his mother in the winter, and Cody failing to make her feel better.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” he finally said.
She tilted her head to the side, considering. “I will be. I’m just feeling like a stranger in a very strange land.”
His frustration dissipated. She was out of her element, and that was his fault. This was simply how she coped.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I think this was too much, too soon.”
“Pioneer Hotel,” she said, a smile breaking through at last.
“You got it.”
“Next time,” she said.
He bent and kissed her, grateful that at least she was trying to manage her reaction. Trying to uplift her spirits on her own. She wasn’t succumbing to her fear or her dread or whatever it was she was feeling. Unlike his mother, at least Cassie was a woman who tried.
True North (Golden Falls Fire Book 1) Page 15