“How can you tell?” I asked, sitting down before I fell down.
“It’s my job to know these things.” He glanced over at me. I couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses. His jaw was sharp. His lips unsmiling.
I tilted my head to the side. “Everything okay?”
“It will be.” He gave me a hand and pulled me back up to standing. Already? Then he leaned in and kissed me, quick and hard. “Don’t sprain your ankle. I need all of you in good shape later.”
Oh my.
Electricity fired through me like a shooting star, leaving a trail of heat pooling in its wake.
He smacked my ass as he passed by. Then walked over to his guys and said something. They all put their packs on again.
“We need to get off the ridge,” Jake called to my yoga ladies. “We’ll take the trail down to the west. Brian will lead the way.”
I sighed, hauled my pack on, and fell in step at the back of the group.
Crystal jogged into place beside me. “What a glorious day.”
“Isn’t it? I’m so glad we came.”
“It’s such a relief to be in the mountains. I feel bad, but taking care of my mom is starting to be such a drag.”
Annette looked back over her shoulder at us. “It’s understandable, Crystal. You’re at your parents’ house every day.”
“I know,” Crystal groaned.
“We didn’t get the details of your date, Hannah.” Jennifer bumped me with her elbow. “How was it?”
Hot. Sexy. Wet.
I glanced at Jake, twenty yards ahead, then dropped my voice. “I was a nervous mess. But we had fun.”
“Jake can’t keep his eyes off you,” Annette replied under her breath.
As if he could hear us talking about him, he turned to look at me. Our gazes clashed, even behind sunglasses. “We have some unfinished business,” I said.
“The best kind,” Crystal cooed.
“Ladies, we have a vote going on, and we need you to break the tie.” Mike Jr. dropped back to wait for us.
Jennifer rubbed her hands together. “What’s the question?”
“Lumbersexual. Hot or not.”
“What’s a lumbersexual?” I asked.
Annette jumped over a rock on the path. “A sexy lumberjack.”
Jennifer leaped over the same rock. “No, it’s like a fake lumberjack. Like a city guy who wants to look outdoorsy. With the beard and the tight pants. But he’s never really touched an ax.”
“Oh, I think he’s touched one.” Mike Jr. waggled his brows. The guys sniggered.
“I think they’re hot,” Crystal announced. “But real mountain men are hotter. Right, Hannah?”
“What?” I looked up. How did I get sucked into this?
“Is Jake a lumbersexual?” Snuffy asked.
Jennifer scoffed. “God, no, he’s the real deal.”
“Jake makes them look like boys,” Crystal added.
“Jake makes every man look like a boy,” Annette nudged me.
“You guys,” I said, blushing. “He’s going to hear you.”
Mike Jr. shrugged. “So?”
I glanced up the trail at Jake. He was talking to Brian, their heads tilted toward each other.
“Two truths and a lie,” I said, hoping to change the subject. “Who wants to go first?”
An eternity later, we reached the valley where we would camp for the night. True to Jake’s predictions, dark clouds covered the sun and threatened rain. I just wanted to sit down and put my aching feet in the cold stream, but we still had to set up camp. We had six tents to put up between the nine of us, most of the guys choosing these tiny, personal cocoon things over a real tent. And sleeping bags to unroll and water to fetch and food to cook.
I was watching over a pot of boiling water—you know, to make sure it never actually boiled—when Jake strode over to me. The temperature had dropped, and he’d pulled on a fleece over his T-shirt.
“Where’s your stuff?”
“In Crystal’s tent.” I pointed behind me.
“Is she in there?”
I shook my head. Without another word, Jake marched over, grabbed my stuff, and took it to his tent.
My heart pulsed hard. Okay then.
“A storm is brewing,” Jake grumbled, crossing the camp again and handing me my raincoat. He didn’t sound happy about this. I was too exhausted to care. If it started raining, I’d just be asleep in our tent. “Get the other guys back to camp,” he barked at Snuffy, who was dozing nearby. “I’ll find the girls. Everyone needs raincoats.”
Ten minutes later, Jake had us all rounded up in our rain jackets.
The storm blew in hard. The winds whipped in first, then huge, rolling thunder. Finally, lightning strobed across the sky. I’d never seen anything like it.
Then a sound stirred up, making me think of a stampede.
“Everybody down the ravine,” Jake yelled. “Hands over your head, crouch down when it hits.”
When what hits?
He grabbed my hand, and together, we ran down the hillside toward the ravine. The galloping horses grew closer, deep cold fell around us, and the skies opened.
Hail.
Hard, pelting ice balls battered my head and shoulders. Bounced off the ground and slammed into my calves and thighs.
“Shouldn’t we be in our tent?” I yelled. But Jake just tugged me along behind him.
Thunder clapped with such force, it hurt my eardrums. Lightning struck the ridge behind us, not two hundred yards away.
Jake stopped and motioned for everyone to come closer. “We need to spread out, at least twenty feet apart, crouch down.” The wind caught his voice and scattered it. He pointed to the other side of the meadow. Lightning and thunder cracked around us. “Run to those low trees and bushes. Cover your ears and stay out of the wash.”
Grabbing my hand again, he pulled me across the open meadow, hail pelting us hard enough to leave a sting of tears in my eyes. The he stopped and nudged me toward a low clump of trees.
“Get in there, stay out of the wash, and cover your ears,” he yelled.
“What about you?” I yelled back.
Brian came up behind him. “We don’t want to be near the trees.”
“Just do what the fuck I say for once, Brian. Trees or bushes.”
Brian frowned but ran off to a stand of bushes a short distance from my girls.
“Stay here.” Jake planted me behind a small boulder, near a clump of larger boulders. Then he kissed me, hard, and ran off into the hail.
I crouched down, shivering from cold and fear. The sky flashed brighter than I thought possible. The storm was right overhead. And Jake was out there, checking on everyone. Mike Jr. and Snuffy ran after him as he directed them to a safer spot. Lightning hit the ridge again. And Jake remained a target.
Thunder boomed. Was he was thinking about Afghanistan?
He certainly looked like a soldier. Like a hero.
Then he glanced back over at me, raised his hand, and disappeared behind a hill. Hopefully going to hide himself.
I forced myself to take long breaths through my nose. Clenched my mouth so my teeth wouldn’t chatter. I would not panic. Even if it was dark and wet and the wind was howling and the hail was hitting my skin like icy nails. I crouched down like Jake instructed and covered my ears. Lightning flashed, and I counted to two before the thunder rolled across the sky. Another bolt of lightning hit the ridge, branching off into three fingers. Then another boom and four lightning strikes on the ridge, all at once. The hair stood up on my arms. Electricity sizzled through the air.
I squeezed my eyes closed.
Then I was wrapped in warmth. Jake was there, pulling me into his arms. Holding me. Whispering in my ear. I couldn’t make sense of his words. But he was there, and that was all I needed to know.
He crouched beside me, and I swiveled around to face him.
His eyes were wide and focused. His mouth and jaw set in determination. But there
was something else, something I couldn’t quite name.
There was a wildness to him. His eyes. His hair. The way he held his body.
He was amped up. Energy surging through him. He would fight the storm himself. Harness the power of the thunder, like Thor. He would make us all safe. I knew it was a matter of science—blood and adrenaline making his muscles stronger, his lungs pumping more oxygen, his brain alert. But there was more. Much more.
I’d never felt anything like it.
Thunder rolled overhead. Dark clouds churned. But the storm was moving on.
I leaned up and put my lips near his ear. “What are we going to do?”
He pulled back and looked at me. “We’re going to wait out this storm. Then I’m going to take you back to my tent and make you come.”
His hands in my hair, he sealed his promise with a fierce, deep kiss.
Finally, the hail lightened. The lightning stopped, and the thunder rumbled away. Golf-ball-sized hail littered the ground, along with a few tree branches and pale-green leaves. The mountain itself was unaffected. It had survived many storms like this. It had already been honed down to its elemental strength.
Just like Jake.
Slowly, we all gathered back at camp. Snuffy and Mike Jr. looked pale and shell-shocked, but my yoga girls were too badass ninja to be freaked out.
“That was amazing,” Crystal breathed.
Brian shook his head. “Amazingly dangerous.”
We all changed into dry clothes, checked our tents for damage, and ate a quick dinner. Darkness had settled around us, the clouds blocking the moon and stars. There was nothing left to do but retire to our own tents for the night.
Or, in my case, Jake’s tent.
The girls and I wandered off—but not too far—to wash up. When we bid each other good night, I was the lucky recipient of winks and elbows and waggling brows. Then I was on my own.
Jake’s tent glowed from his light inside. I stood outside, awkward and cold. “Um, knock knock.”
“Who’s there?”
I huffed a laugh. “Hannah.”
“Hannah who?”
“Hannah who wants to come in.”
Jake unzipped the door and held it open, a smile on his face. He had taken his shirt off, and his skin glowed golden in the dim light. My breath caught. “Welcome, Hannah who wants to come in.”
I nodded regally, as if I were entering a fancy dining room rather than a wet tent. “Thank you, kind sir.”
I ducked inside and stopped to kick off my muddy boots in the little outer area, separate from the sleeping bags. Jake zipped the door closed behind me and climbed into the main part of the tent. He splayed out on the sleeping mats, pressed up on one elbow like a sultan, golden and strong, and watched me.
“You zipped our sleeping bags together. I didn’t even know they did that.” I swallowed. “Do all sleeping bags do that or is there a trick? Of course, you would know it. I suppose it’s warmer that way. But—”
“Come here, Hannah.”
My heart lodged in my throat. His eyes were hot on me, and there was no mistaking his intent. I rubbed my hands on my thighs.
He crooked his finger at me. Come.
The tent was too small to stand up in, so I had the crawl across the sleeping bags toward him. I stopped just out of arm’s reach in a moment of self-preservation. He looked like a predator and myself his prey.
His eyes darkened. “Good girl. Now take off your shirt.”
“It’s cold,” I protested, my heart galloping.
“Off.”
I scowled at him playfully but pulled off my fleece sweatshirt. Then my long sleeve T-shirt. That left me in a tank top with an old sports bra beneath. Not exactly sexy lingerie.
He raised his brow and made a rolling motion with his hand. Get on with it.
I bit my lip. “Can we turn off the light?”
“Nope.”
He was in a mood. A domineering, sex-starved, bossy mood. I kinda liked it. “Can’t people see us with the light on.”
“Don’t care. Off. Or I’ll rip it off.”
“Jeez, okay.” I pulled off my tank top, then, quickly, my black sports bra.
Which left me topless before him. My nipples hardened at once.
“Come closer,” he growled.
I crawled toward him, some ancient sense of female power pulsing through me.
He grabbed me as soon as I was in reach and pulled me to him.
I gasped in shock.
Skin against skin.
He was hard everywhere.
“I can’t go slow. Not tonight.” He rolled me onto my back and kissed me, hard. Tongue and teeth and lips. Hands everywhere. My breasts. My belly. My face. He whipped up the flame inside me.
My pants came off in one firm tug. He slipped his fingers, rough and calloused, through my moist folds. Thrust them into me.
I arched and cried out.
“Shhhh…” he whispered in my ear. Then added another finger and thrust again.
I bit his shoulder.
The storm was inside him now. The wind and the lightning and the thunder. And he was not going to be soft. Or patient. And I was ready for him.
I spread my thighs.
“Yes, Hannah. Just like that.” His words were like kisses. His breathing harsh in the small space.
I slid my hand down over his bare abdomen—good God—and under the loose waistband of his pants. He was hard and thick and hot and silky. I gripped him, pumped once, twice.
He rolled away. For a moment, I was cold. I heard the crinkle of a foil packet. He was putting on a condom. This was it.
He rolled back toward me, bringing the fire and the lightning with him. He settled himself between my thighs. Heavy. Firm. I wiggled my hips, getting the feel of him. This man.
Electricity crackled between us, as real as the lightning on the ridge.
Jake grabbed my hands, held them in his. His eyes were heavy lidded, dark, his face sculpted in harsh lines. His breaths ragged like he’d been running hard. But his gaze was focused on me.
He shifted so the thick head of his cock was at my entrance.
“You made me wait, Hannah. For weeks. And what did I tell you?”
Fire curled through me. I arched, wanting him inside me. I was liquid heat.
He pinned my wrists beside my head. “What did I tell you?” he growled again.
“Beg,” I panted. “That I would beg.” His eyes darkened even more. “Please, Jake. Please, I need you inside me. All of you.”
And then he pushed. Filled me. Long and thick and so hard. My eyes rolled closed.
He pulled out slightly, then thrust again, burying himself all the way inside me.
A cry of pleasure burst through my lips. “Shhh,” I panted, opening my eyes, watching him. “Shhh.”
The others were close. We had to be quiet.
His face was set in hard concentration. He pulled out, thrust in again, burying his head in my neck with a harsh grunt. I tilted my hips, taking him deeper, and we both gasped.
He was a force, intensity flowing out of him and into me. He was powerful and strong and alive, and I gripped his back and tucked my head in his shoulder, swallowing back my cries, and let him ride me. Let him harness his power and drive it into me. Harder and wilder. Pleasure whipped through me, drawing me to breathless heights. Impossible heights. I bit his shoulder and stiffened. Then splintered. My orgasm crashing, shaking, pulling me apart. Then Jake found my mouth, kissed me hard, and poured himself into me.
It was later, when I was half-asleep, that I understood.
Jake would never be the two-kids-and-a-dog fantasy man. He wasn’t meant to be. His soul was made for something else. Wildness. Danger. Power. Fighting for control over elements that could not be controlled.
I could not take that away from him. I could not ask him to change.
Chapter 22
Jake
I’d finally gotten Hannah into bed with me, and I was flying h
igh. The sex had been mind-blowing, even better than I’d imagined. And I’d imagined a lot over the last few weeks. She was hot and receptive and drove me fucking wild. We didn’t sleep much that night in the tent; took our time getting up the next morning too.
But, life called, and we had to get back to town. Days rolled into each other. My busy schedule and her busy schedule colluded to keep us apart. It was killing me.
At last, I had her to myself again.
She arched up into a backbend beside me. I turned my head—ouch. My neck twanged. I lowered onto my back and turned again to watch her. Her boobs pressed up against her tight shirt, and her ass was round and firm. My chest hardened. Did she do this in front of her class? With dudes there?
She planted her hands beside her head and pushed all the way up into a backbend that a gymnast would do.
“Jake,” she said, not looking at me. “Back to your practice.”
“Can’t I just watch?”
She lowered down and turned her head to the side toward me. “Why don’t we go back to the usual private lessons where you practice and I assist.”
“I like doing it with you.” I waggled my brows.
She rolled her eyes.
“You’re just too sexy.” I slid my hand down her arm. “And I haven’t seen you all week.”
“You’ve seen me.”
“Coming and going. You know what I mean. I want to take you out tonight. What do you say? It is Friday.”
She tapped her finger on my lips. “Yes. But we have to do our twists and shavasana. Let’s talk about it later, okay?”
“Fine,” I grumbled.
I lifted my right leg over into a twist with a long exhale. My muscles groaned and pulled. Finally, my favorite pose, the one where you just lie on your back and relax.
“Jake.” I was rocking, like on a boat. “Jake, wake up.”
My eyes jerked open.
“You fell asleep in shavasana again.” Hannah was sitting cross-legged beside me, her lips tilted up at the edges.
I lifted my arm and dropped my hand on her knee.
“You look exhausted,” she said.
“Gee, thanks.”
“Hard training week?”
“Up at four thirty every morning.” I sat up and scrubbed my hands through my hair. “I’m out of it.”
Breathless (Yoga in the City Book 1) Page 19