Hooked

by Elizabeth Hunter

“You leave me with them another week and I’m gonna go insane,” Pop said. “I want some damn bacon, and your mother is convinced my sodium is high.”

  “To be fair, we probably all eat too much sodium, Pop.”

  “I am eighty-five years old, Jeremy Augustus Allen. You think I give a damn about my sodium? I want a piece of bacon with my eggs in the morning.”

  Jeremy shuffled his feet. “Mom and Dad already planned for you to visit for another week.” It was Monday night, and his mom had asked him to bring up some groceries from town. He hadn’t realized his pop was going to ambush him. He should have been clued in by the tofu his mom had included on the list. “Is the only issue the food? You and Dad are catching a ton of fish.” Jeremy had an ice chest full of bass and early trout.

  Gus crossed his arms. “There’s only so much a man can fish.”

  “And now you’re just talking bullshit.” He looked over Gus’s shoulder to the dim cabin. His parents were already getting ready for bed. “I’ll call Mom in the morning. Convince her that you’ve had your… score… I can’t remember what it’s supposed to be.”

  “Three score and ten! It’s biblical, Jeremy.”

  “Fine, fine.” Jeremy backed toward his truck. “I’ll mention the biblical reference and remind her that you’re a grown man who can pick his own food and if she wants you to keep visiting them, then she needs to let you have bacon.”

  “See that you do.”

  Jeremy stopped before he opened the truck. “Do you really want me to take you home?”

  His grandpa had given up his license a few years back, when driving at night became too difficult. He’d been placated by the fact that he liked walking, he lived close to all the places he liked to go, and Jeremy was always willing to cart him around. At times like this, however, Jeremy was reminded how limiting it was to be without a vehicle, especially for an independent man like Gus.

  “I’ll be fine.” Just venting about the diet seemed to have assuaged him. “You climb that new rock?”

  “Yeah. Went well. There are a few different routes we want to try next month when we have a couple more people, but for now we got a good feel for the lower level and what we need.”

  “You be careful.” Gus was the only one in Jeremy’s family who asked him about climbing. His mother claimed she didn’t want to know. His father made the right noises, but Jeremy could tell it wasn’t his thing and he didn’t really get it. “And how’s that Tayla?”

  “She’s great.” He forced a smile. “Her interview in San Francisco went really well. She’s waiting to see if they call her back.”

  Gus’s eyes didn’t waver. “I don’t understand wanting to haul yourself up a mountain,” he said. “I don’t understand the desire for it. I worry about the danger. But I’d never ask you to stop.”

  His pop wasn’t talking about mountain climbing. He was talking about dreams. “I know.”

  “Take care of yourself, son.”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow, Pop.”

  “Drive safe.”

  Jeremy slammed the door and started down the hill.

  When he pulled into his driveway, he saw a dark figure sitting on the porch. He pulled all the way up to the garage and got out cautiously but relaxed when he saw who it was. “Tayla?”

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.” He closed the door and walked around the truck bed. “What are you doing here?” He frowned. “We were supposed to—”

  “No.” She stood and brushed off her pants. She was wearing a pair of skinny black jeans he loved, a T-shirt, and a long cardigan that brushed her knees. “It’s still cold at night.”

  “Yeah.” He walked over and leaned against a porch post. “What’s up?”

  She looked at him, then away. “You know I like it here, right?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not San Francisco.”

  “And that’s fine. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Metlin, okay? I’m not being a snob. I’m not being a big-city shit about small-town life or anything. I don’t want you to think I’m being a snob because I want this job.”

  His heart twisted in his chest. “I don’t think you’re a snob.” He nodded toward the garage. “I really need to hang my equipment from yesterday before it gets tangled and—”

  “I can help.”

  He didn’t really want to continue a conversation where she justified all the reasons she was going to leave him, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her to go. “Yeah, okay.”

  They walked back to the garage, and Jeremy walked around to the side door and flipped on the lights. Pop’s woodworking bench lined one entire wall, each tool, saw, and clamp hung carefully on a pegboard. On the opposite wall, closest to the house, Jeremy had created something similar for his outdoors equipment. A rack of fishing poles hung high, a kayak was hoisted to the ceiling, but most of the wall was lined with hooks and small shelves to store his climbing gear.

  “You have a lot of outdoor stuff,” Tayla said. “This looks like a scaled-down REI.”

  “They have a lot of climbing stuff,” he said. “Cary buys most of his stuff from them.”

  “Where do you get yours?”

  “Local shops up near Yosemite. REI sometimes. A couple of places online.” He lifted the end of one rope and began to loop it around his palm and elbow.

  “What can I do to help?”

  “You don’t have to help.”

  “No, I’m really good at organizing stuff,” she said. “You should see my closet.”

  He smiled. “I have.”

  The slight red tinge to her cheeks told Jeremy she was thinking about the night they’d spent together in her room. She glanced at the house. “Where’s your grandpa?”

  “Up in the mountains. He and my dad are trying to outsmart bass.”

  “Is that difficult? Outsmarting bass?”

  “Harder than you might think.” What was he doing? Why was he torturing himself? He should be the one to end it. She was going to leave, which would just leave him… where? Looking like the small-town chump the glamorous heroine leaves behind. In the movies, she changes her mind and comes back, sets up shop in the small town, and marries the chump.

  Life wasn’t a movie.

  “Tayla—” He was about to turn and tell her to go when he felt her arm sneak around his waist and a carabiner clip onto his belt loop.

  “Gotcha.”

  Jeremy could hear the smile in her voice. It was irresistible. She was irresistible. He slowly turned. She had backed away to the other side of the garage, holding the end of the rope, a smile on her face.

  “You’ve hooked me.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Now what are you going to do with me?”

  She hopped up on the woodworking bench. “I’m reeling you in.”

  “Is that a figure eight knot?” A really good figure eight knot?

  “I told you I took a lot of classes at the yacht club. They occasionally come in handy.”

  He unlatched the carabiner from his jeans when he reached the bench and hooked it in her belt loop. “There. Hooked you back.”

  “Yeah.” Her voice was breathless. “You have.”

  Jeremy took her mouth in a hard kiss that left no room for argument. She kissed him back, digging her fingers into his neck. The edge of her nails hurt, but Jeremy didn’t care.

  Fuck it.

  He was going to get hurt either way. While she was still here, he wanted to do everything, feel everything, indulge in everything.

  If it was going to hurt, at least give him the thrill.

  He released her mouth. “Come inside.”

  “Yes.”

  They left the ropes in the garage, and she followed him into the dark house; he locked the door behind him. Tayla walked upstairs and into a spacious bedroom on the second floor that smelled like clean linen and cedar.

  She watched him in the darkness, her emotions a riot inside her.

  This is a bad idea!

  This is a great idea.
r />   You should tell him before you—

  Shut up, Inner Tayla. I’ve been listening to you all day.

  She wanted him. She wanted him with no reservations, no second thoughts. He was good and sweet and sexy as hell. Jeremy Allen was the guy romance books made you dream about. The thought made her simultaneously giddy and irritated.

  Stop being so perfect!

  Maybe he’s bad in bed.

  She found the idea improbable, based on their earlier recreational activities, but maybe that would be his one imperfection. He had come awfully fast the one time before. Granted, she’d been teasing him all night and she’d been giving him a blow job.

  Stop thinking so much!

  Jeremy turned on a lamp beside the bed while she lingered in the doorway. Then he walked back over to her, doing the reach-down-and-take-the-shirt-off-in-one-sweep thing that was so damn sexy her mouth went dry.

  He’d been mostly clothed the night of their escape-room date. Part of the fun was making him come in formal wear. This time his body was on full display.

  The dark curl of hair across his chest wasn’t heavy, but it begged for her fingers. His body was exactly like she’d imagined. Lean and long, every muscle defined from climbing. He wasn’t bulky—far from it—but he was so strong.

  He flipped open the button on his jeans and unzipped them, reaching inside to allow his pants to gape and rubbing a hand over what was already a very hard erection.

  Jeremy walked back to Tayla, pulled her inside his room, and shut the door. He cupped her face with both hands and proceeded to kiss her in a way that left little room for doubt that he was very good in bed, he’d been imagining this for a while, and he was going to take his time.

  She stroked his tongue with her own and allowed her hands to run up and down his back, giving herself over to the familiar rush.

  Excitement, desire, hunger, trust—

  Fuck.

  Her breath caught. The trust was new.

  She pushed back the creeping doubt in her heart and focused on his hands cupping her ass, her fingers teasing the button of her jeans. He tilted her chin up and tasted her neck, running his tongue along the line of her collarbones, his beard roughing up the delicate skin above her breasts.

  Jeremy took her by the waist and walked her backward until she felt the bed hit the back of her knees. She sat and looked up at him, her mountain man. The sexiest man she’d ever met. A rock in a tumbling, twisting world that most of the time made no sense whatsoever.

  He made sense.

  Warm skin stretched over lean muscle, long arms reached down to tease her nipples through her shirt. Jeremy took a single finger and ran it around her lips. She opened for him, and he dipped his thumb inside. She sucked on it, scraped her teeth along the flesh, and he tapped her cheeks in soft reprimand. Her tongue licked out and soothed his thumb. Her hands reached for his waistband, but he batted them away.

  “You want to taste me?”

  She couldn’t do anything but nod.

  “Not tonight.” He nudged the sweater off her shoulders. “I want to see you. Every inch.” He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Take off your shirt,” he whispered.

  Tayla did, and her skin had goose bumps from the chill in the air and the rush of desire.

  “Jeans.” Jeremy gripped his erection through his boxers, watching her as she shimmied out of her pants. He stepped closer and ran a hand over the pink satin panties covering her ass, the pink lace covering her breasts. “You wear matching lingerie every day, don’t you?”

  Her cheeks went hot, and her chin went up. “Just because no one sees it but me doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to match.”

  Jeremy chuckled, his chest moving against her breasts. “I love it.” He bent down and kissed her, long and sweet. “I do appreciate the effect, but it’s in my way.”

  He reached back and ran his fingers along the hooks holding her bra closed. “Hmmm. Four.”

  “You don’t hold these girls up with anything less, Mr. Allen.”

  “I love it when you call me that.” He started unhooking her bra, kissing along her shoulder. She felt the release when her bra came off. His warm hands cupped her breasts.

  So good. So very good.

  He bent down to taste them. “Delicious.”

  Tayla’s heart started to race. “Jeremy—”

  “Don’t rush me,” he whispered in her ear. “I promise I’ll make it worth the wait.”

  Fuuuuuuck. How was she supposed to keep her emotional distance when he said things like that?

  Her back hit the bed. Her panties slid down her legs. He lay beside her, hands everywhere. She wanted his hand between her legs, but he didn’t oblige her. He teased the back of her knees and her ankles. He ran a single finger up the inside of her thigh. He licked just under her belly button and tasted the soft flesh with a playful bite. He spent a lot of time on her breasts.

  Sweet mother of dragons. He was going to make her insane.

  “Jeremy—”

  He kissed her again, moving his hand from teasing her nipple to the inside of her thigh. His finger slid inside, and his thumb teased her clitoris. She moaned into his mouth.

  Jeremy moved in a slow, torturous rhythm, clearly in no rush. He brought her to the brink and backed off, playing with her. He brought her up again, just to the edge of climax, before he moved his hand, taking it away from the one place in the world that Tayla wanted it.

  She nearly cried in frustration. “Jeremy Allen, if you don’t—”

  He laughed and kissed her again. “I like having you at my mercy.”

  “Just remember it’s my turn next.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  He bent down, sucked her nipple into his mouth, and put his hand between her legs, finally throwing her into a climax so hard she felt tears come to her eyes. Every muscle in her body tensed and released at once. Tayla yelled so loud the neighbors probably heard her. Her hands gripped the sheets of the bed. Eventually she had to force his fingers away.

  “Too much,” she panted. “Jeremy, too much.”

  “Never too much,” he whispered. “I told you it’d be worth it.”

  Despite her earlier threat, she felt too boneless to move. It was her turn, but she was going to need some recovery time. Jeremy shoved his pants and his boxers down his legs and lay on his side, facing her, one hand on his cock.

  He smiled. “You okay?”

  “You ask that, knowing how hard you just made me come,” she muttered. “That, Mr. Allen, is gloating.”

  “Maybe a little.”

  She rolled toward him and looked him up and down. “Have I told you that you’re a very attractive man?”

  “You have.”

  “And I would very much like to have sex with you now.”

  “Since you asked so nicely, I think we should do that.”

  “I’m so glad you agree.” She draped her leg over his hip. “I am assuming you have protection.”

  He reached back and opened the drawer on his bedside table. “I do believe I can take care of that, Miss McKinnon.”

  “That’s excellent news.”

  He took her mouth, making love to it as he rolled the condom on and scooted closer. He nudged between her legs and Tayla opened more, hitching her leg higher so he could slide inside.

  Oh. There was nothing like that feeling. She was full, her mind clear, her body moving as one with his.

  “Fuck, you’re sweet.” He bit his lip and closed his eyes. “Tayla, I need to…”

  She rolled to her back, bringing him with her. “Move.”

  “Yes.”

  Jeremy propped himself on his elbows, his body weighing hers down as he moved his hips. They were so close, his rhythm was hard and deep. He took her mouth again, and Tayla wrapped her legs around his waist, angling her hips up.

  “Fuck.” He grunted. “You’re flexible.”

  “Yoga.”

  “Yoga’s awesome.” Jeremy moved from his elbows
to his hands, bracing himself above her as his hips rocked harder. He closed his eyes. “I could stay inside you forever.”

  “Sounds complicated, but we could probably work something out.” What was she saying? She was babbling nonsense. Why did sex with Jeremy make her so stupid?

  Shut up, Tayla!

  Jeremy grinned for a second before pleasure overtook him. He mouthed the word fuck one more time before he came hard. His face was frozen in satisfaction, his mouth open, his muscles tense. A few moments later, a look of utter bliss stole over his features and he lay beside her, running his hands up and down the skin of her naked back.

  It was like a full-body sigh.

  Relax. You’re safe here. You’re safe with him.

  Tayla fell asleep with her face pressed to Jeremy’s neck, the scent of him filling her senses.

  Chapter Seventeen

  She woke in a dark room lit by a small lamp. She panicked for a moment until she caught his familiar cologne.

  Jeremy.

  She blinked her eyes open and turned to the side. He was lying next to her, a blanket pulled up to his waist, his arm stretched over his head. Tayla was on her side, somewhat shocked she’d fallen asleep so quickly.

  It was a point of pride for her that she did not stay over. She had a normal, active sex life, but she also had her independence. She didn’t stay at men’s houses, not even for a night or a weekend.

  But…

  She only lived a couple of blocks away. If she went home right now, she’d wake up Emmie, who was going through a stretch of insomnia. She could leave in the morning and not cause a scene if she was careful.

  You want to stay with him.

  You’re fooling yourself.

  You know this isn’t going to last.

  For the hundredth time, Tayla hushed the internal voices that were warning her away; she reached over and turned off the lamp. She scooted closer to Jeremy, and his arm fell around her waist as he snuggled closer.

  They were skin to skin, lying next to each other with nothing between them.

  It was the most intimate moment of Tayla’s life.

  Bathed in darkness, she was lulled back to sleep by the moonlight and his even breathing.