by J. S. Scott
I’d explored his “cabin” first, and it was big, just like he’d promised. It was all one level, but I’d counted five bedrooms and several bathrooms.
But it still had a country, homey feel to it. And it was decorated in a rustic style that I loved.
Once I’d gotten my bearings, I’d grabbed a pair of jeans and some hiking boots, went to a bathroom that wasn’t close to the master so I didn’t wake Carter, took a quick shower, and set out to explore.
From what I’d seen so far, I gathered we were in a popular hiking area. I’d seen occasional signs of previous visitors, but I hadn’t run into anybody during my long walk.
I also hadn’t seen any other homes.
The driveway of Carter’s place was paved, but it looked like a dirt road to his house.
The sun was climbing higher in the sky, and I knew I should head back. I didn’t have a watch or my cell phone, but I’d been gone for a while. Carter had satellite service set up for his house, but I was doubtful I would have gotten coverage out in the woods anyway.
I miss Carter.
Although the solitude had been therapeutic, I would have done anything to have him share this amazing view with me.
I shuddered as I thought about the pure temptation he’d been when I’d woken up with him. It wasn’t like I didn’t know that he was all muscle, and smooth, hot skin. But imagining it and experiencing it were two totally different things.
Somehow, our lives had become so entwined in such a short period of time that it was almost scary.
I turned and headed back down the steep incline, trying to watch my step. There were all kinds of hazards right beneath my feet.
“Brynn!” I heard the deep baritone calling out my name once I’d gotten close to the bottom of the steep incline.
Carter. He’s definitely awake.
“Here,” I yelled. “I’m coming down.”
I could see Carter jogging down the hiking trail once I finally hit the path.
My heart flip-flopped, and I hurried to meet him.
“I’m sorry. I guess I lost track of time,” I explained once he stopped in front of me.
“Goddammit, Brynn,” he growled as he wrapped his arms around my body and squeezed me so tight that it was almost uncomfortable. “Where in the hell have you been?”
“Hiking,” I squeaked. “I wanted to check the area out.”
He finally pulled back, and his face was a mixture of fury and concern. “I woke up and you were gone. Your phone was still at the house. And there wasn’t one damn sign of where you’d gone. I’ve been looking for hours. I almost didn’t come this far.”
“I didn’t think I’d get phone service. I woke up at sunrise, and I wanted to explore a bit until you woke up.”
“It’s one o’clock in the afternoon,” he said tersely.
“Oh, my God. I did lose track of time.”
Carter might be angry, but he had a right to be. I probably would have freaked out if he’d done the same thing to me.
He grabbed my upper arms. “You scared the shit out of me, Brynn. I was ready to call the damn police.”
“You were worried something happened to me,” I said, slightly astonished by his turbulent expression.
The man looked terrified, and even though he was pretty magnificent in his ferociousness, I’d never want him to be this concerned. Not if I could help it.
“This isn’t Seattle, Brynn.” He shook me lightly. “There’s a lot of nothingness out there. What if you got lost? What if you ran into a bear, or a damn mountain lion? You could die out here. So, hell yes, I was concerned.”
I stared at his face, searching his eyes. He looked genuinely tormented, and it made me want to weep.
“I’m sorry, Carter. I didn’t mean to be gone for so long. I’m used to going my own way, and not thinking about consulting with anybody else. Nobody else has ever worried about me,” I said hesitantly.
“I fucking do, so you better get used to it,” he said sharply as he took my hand and started back down the trail toward the cabin. “I give a shit about where you are, and if you’re okay, especially in this environment, but I’m not even going to say that I wouldn’t be worried if you took off like that somewhere else.”
“Are you really mad?” I asked carefully.
He stopped and turned to me, his eyes still fierce. “Yes.”
Jerking me close, he kissed me, his mouth descending like a ferocious summer storm.
This was a side of Carter I’d never seen, but I wasn’t afraid of him. He was agitated because he’d been afraid something had happened to me, and all I wanted was to reassure him that I was more than fine.
I opened my mouth and let him consume me, and then pressed my body against his.
I got lost in the feel and the taste of Carter, and the passion that was raging between us.
There was nothing gentle or sweet about the embrace. It was pure desperation, and it wasn’t just him who was feeling it.
I let myself feel every emotion that had been seething inside myself from the moment I’d met this man, and I let myself get lost in it.
Pressing my body closer, I could feel his rigid cock against my sex, and was frustrated as hell about the jeans and t-shirts that separated us.
I needed to feel him. I had to touch him.
Panting heavily as he released my mouth, I pleaded, “Fuck me, Carter. I need you.”
“Goddammit, Brynn!” he said in a raw baritone. “I’m done pretending that I don’t feel like this all the damn time.”
I grabbed his hair and fisted it. “Then don’t. Fuck me. Make the ache go away for both of us.”
“If I do, there’s no turning back,” he warned me in an ominous voice.
“I don’t care,” I gasped, tearing at the t-shirt. “Let me touch you, Carter.”
It didn’t matter that we were in the middle of the woods. I had to satisfy both him and myself.
“Up there. Move it,” he demanded, taking my hand again and lugging me up to rougher terrain instead of a well-worn hiking path.
The second we were beyond the view of the potential hikers, he pulled the t-shirt over his head, and I did the same thing, taking my bra along with it.
And then we were fused together again, my sensitive nipples abrading his bare chest as he kissed me as if our lives depended on it, which it actually felt like they did.
It was good. So good. And I tried to absorb Carter into me as I felt every inch of his bare skin that I could get to.
I moaned underneath the force of his mouth as his strong hand pushed between my thighs with hard, powerful strokes that rocked me, even though I was still wearing my jeans.
Carter was demanding that I give myself to him, which I did. Right now, he had me as vulnerable as a woman could get.
Our bodies fit together like they were made for each other.
He sunk his hands into my hair, tilting my head so he had the best access to my mouth, and kept tasting me like he was trying to get every morsel he could.
I nipped at his lips, egging him on, needing so much more.
I wanted everything he could give me, and then I needed it all over again.
My chest was heaving as I moved back to claw at the buttons of his jeans. “I need this. I need you,” I pleaded.
He reached down and helped me unbutton his pants, and I finally gave up and worked on my own, startled that my hands were visibly shaking.
This is how much I want Carter. This is how powerfully he affects me.
I kicked off my hiking boots, frenzied to get naked.
Carter was already there the moment that I had my jeans and panties off.
He lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.
I released a whimper of relief at our bodies finally fused, both of us naked, our skin meeting w
ith a profound sense of rightness that I couldn’t explain.
It was bliss. It was hell. And I couldn’t decide which one was stronger.
“Now,” I demanded. “Right now.”
He used a nearby tree to steady us, and cried out in pure elation when he surged inside me.
No mercy. And I didn’t want any. I just wanted Carter so deep inside me that we didn’t know where one of us ended and the other began.
“Yes,” I said next to his ear. “Please.”
I wasn’t hesitant as I grabbed fistfuls of his hair and fused my mouth with his.
This was what I needed.
The moment was raw and beautiful, hard and tangible.
He pulled back, and then surged inside again. And again. Each stroke more forceful than the one before.
I reveled in the fast pace, and the way his fingers dug into my ass with our mouths still fused like we couldn’t let go.
I ground against his cock every time he pummeled inside me, the knot in my stomach tightening.
When I surfaced to breathe, Carter growled, “Jesus! You’re so damn wet and so tight, Brynn. So fucking hot, sweetheart. All I want is to make you come.”
My body was in flames, but hearing his rough baritone infused with so damn much passion made my core clench around his cock.
I ground against him harder, putting pressure on my clit.
It felt so good that I kept doing it, over and over until I felt my climax rushing up to meet me.
And, sweet Jesus, did I come.
My orgasm rushed through me like a powerful tornado, and Carter gave me no quarter as he kept hammering into me.
“Carter!” His name was the only thing I could scream, my mind completely gone as my interior muscles clamped around his cock.
My fingernails dug into his back, and I heard him hiss, his body tightening as I milked him to his own heated release.
I panted as I slowly came back down to earth, and Carter let out the sexiest groan I’d ever heard as he loosened his grip on me. He still held me tight, but the viselike grip he had on my rear decreased in pressure.
“You nearly killed me,” he snarled into my ear as he lowered my body to the ground.
It took us a moment to catch our breath, and Carter held me against him, cradling me, until we could finally breathe again.
My heart was still racing, but I eventually became aware of the world around us.
We dressed slowly, and it seemed like a shame when he started to cover the incredibly beautiful body that I’d just come against like I’d never climaxed in my entire life.
He helped me down the incline, and pulled me to his side when we hit the hiking path.
“Did we really just screw like that in the woods?” I teased gently.
He kissed the top of my head. “Yes, we did, Ms. Davis. You’re a very naughty girl.”
Euphoria was still zinging through my body as I answered. “Feel free to punish me any time, Mr. Lawson.”
He whacked me playfully on the ass. “Be careful. I just might if you scare the hell out of me like that again.”
Carter
I felt like I’d waited forever to hear the sweet sound of Brynn screaming my name in ecstasy, and I’d done it with absolutely no finesse in the middle of the woods.
I wish I could say that I regretted it, but I’d be lying.
The moment I’d seen her completely unharmed after agonizing over where the hell she’d gone, I’d lost it.
It wasn’t the way I’d planned it, or the way I’d fantasized about being with her. But fuck me, it was so much better than even my imagination could conjure up.
Luckily, she’d seemed just as happy as I’d been all day.
We’d ended up walking around for several hours, exploring a few of the things I’d seen when I’d been up at the cabin before.
And then we’d put some steaks and potatoes on the grill, and ate like we were both starving.
I started up the fire pit on the back patio, and slipped into the hot tub, knowing Brynn would be out shortly.
She was having a discussion with her mother on the phone, so I’d left her so she could have some privacy.
I appreciated the pressure of the jets and the warm water. I worked out, but I was pretty sure I’d used some muscles today that I hadn’t in a very long time.
The jig is up. I can’t hide the way I feel about Brynn anymore.
She made me crazier than I’d ever been, digging emotions out of me that I didn’t know existed.
And she also made me happier than I knew I could be. Granted, I hadn’t meant to be rough with her earlier, but that was just how she made me feel: out of control, and fucking terrified that if anything happened to her, I’d never survive it.
She pissed me off.
She amused the hell out of me.
She made me hard with just a smile.
And she made me completely lose my shit over something that she hadn’t meant to do.
In short, I was fucked.
But I couldn’t bring myself to give a damn about it.
“You’re already in,” Brynn said from the sliding door as she closed it behind her. “I don’t even have my suit on yet.”
I grinned at her. “Baby, I wish I was in you, and I’m not wearing a suit.”
Our relationship had changed, and I loved the quick hint of a flush on her face as she got close to the hot tub.
“You’re naked?”
I nodded. “As the day I was born. Who’s going to see us? I don’t have any neighbors. I own all of the acreage surrounding the cabin. The only thing that I don’t own is the hiking paths, and they’re not exactly close.”
Brynn hadn’t realized that she walked for miles earlier in the day, going across my property lines. Way farther than she should have.
She started to smile, her lips turning up with mischief, an action that had me standing at complete attention almost immediately.
She shrugged. “I have no problem getting naked then.”
My damn heart nearly stopped as she tossed her gorgeous dark hair back, and her dark eyes met mine.
Brynn had an exotic, wild beauty that had drawn me in from the very beginning. And it wasn’t only her external appearance.
Brynn could be lush and untamed, and she tempted me like no woman ever had before.
She was also intelligent, inquisitive, and probably the sweetest woman I’d ever known when she wasn’t pissed off at me.
Her eyes had beckoned me, and something inside me had clicked into place, connecting me to her in a way that didn’t make sense. Still didn’t. But I was learning not to question something that felt as good as she did.
The protective, primal instincts to keep her close and protect her that I felt on day one had reared their ugly head today, and I knew they weren’t going away. Nor were they going to be suppressed again.
I’d needed to be patient.
I’d needed to gain her trust.
She’d needed to be approached with caution, and I’d needed her to know that I wasn’t going to go anywhere.
We’d gotten to know each other without sex. But damn, I was glad that was over with.
I adored every damn thing about her, but not giving in to the possessive instincts I couldn’t control was just plain hell.
Mine. Brynn is fucking mine!
Funny thing was, I didn’t even care that I was irrational when it came to her.
I was holding my damn breath as I watched her pull the t-shirt over her head.
I let it out when she paused.
“Don’t tell me you’re shy,” I prodded her.
“I’m a model. It’s my job to be sexy. I’m just letting you enjoy the show,” she said in a provocative alto.
I watched as her jeans hit the concrete, and sh
e kicked them to the side, her eyes running over me like she appreciated what she saw.
“Brynn,” I said in a warning voice.
“Yes, Carter?” she said in an innocent tone that I knew was meant to provoke.
“Get in the hot tub.”
Jesus Christ! I’d already fucked her like a guy possessed in the middle of the wilderness. I wanted to take my time the next time I got that naked body against mine.
“Just a minute,” she answered as she ignored me and slowly released the front clip on her pretty, pink bra.
I had to stop myself from grabbing my aching dick and easing the pain myself.
Her breasts were so damn perfect that I gritted my teeth. They were more than a handful, and I nearly groaned as she touched one delicate pink nipple before she put two fingers under the elastic of her barely-there panties and lowered them slowly to her feet.
She kicked those aside and stood in all her glory, feet from where I was sitting in the hot tub.
Fuck! I didn’t know if the water was suddenly boiling, or if it was me who was throwing off so much heat that I felt like I was going to burst into flames.
I knew I was staring at her pussy, but I couldn’t help myself. She had a bikini wax, but wasn’t totally bare. And that neat triangle was hot as hell.
Brynn obviously didn’t have any kind of body issues. She didn’t need to. But I could tell that her modeling career had made her pretty bold about posing in any state of dress—or in this case, undress.
Her confidence was seductive, but I knew I was going to have to suck it up about the fact that men lusted after my woman. I’d never ask her to give up her career until she was ready, but it was going to be far from easy to not let it bother me.
Thank fuck that her biggest contract was being the face of a cosmetics company, and I wouldn’t allow myself to look at some of her previous shoots for bikinis or lingerie.
“You’re right,” she said as she stretched when she reached the steps to the tub. “Naked is definitely better.”
“Get in the tub, Brynn,” I said again, more desperate than I had earlier.
I wanted her in my bed.
I wanted to take my time.