by Taryn Quinn
“Pull up and follow the line, Miss Kane.”
“Do you think...” I gripped the handles and wrestled the stupid thing into submission. I gritted my teeth as we slowly leveled out. “Do you think you could call me Kay when you’re going to do something like that?”
“You’re doing amazing, Kay.”
Okay, maybe we needed to go back to Miss Kane. I wasn’t sure I could handle that kind of growly tone in my ear. There were far too few people who called me Kay. Kandy seemed to flow off most people’s lips, especially my family.
I swallowed a lump and nerves as I finally leveled the plane out.
“Now pull back a little—not so much.”
The plane inclined and I was thankful I hadn’t had time to eat. Jesus, I was not the right person for this. Not at all.
He flicked off his belt and leaned over to ease the wheel back. “Slow and easy. Kinda like a video game when you were a kid. No huge moves. A little does a lot.”
There was an overpowering scent of grease in the cockpit, but just then I could only smell him. Cologne that was spicy and woodsy at the same time. I shivered as he placed his hands over mine on the handles. He’d had his damn hands under my skirt and I wasn’t as nervous then as I was now.
“Perfect.” He let me go and settled back in his seat and closed his eyes.
“Hey.” I reached over and slapped his arm. “What are you doing?”
He opened one eye. “You’re doing fine.”
Panic rose. “There is no sleeping while flying.”
“Just ten minutes. Someone tired me out with all those children and a Santa suit.”
“Then we can call Joe back up here.”
He made an a-ok sign. “He’s sleeping.”
I looked over my shoulder and sure enough Joe had his arms folded and his hat over his face. “Well, wake him up.”
He laughed. “You know, if you were really flying, we’d have banked over there into that mountain.”
“What?”
He laughed. “I turned on the auto-pilot.”
I released the yoke and it stayed steady. “I’m going to kill you.” I flipped off my headphones and seatbelt and swung at him.
He held up his arms. “Hey, now.” He hooked his arm around my waist and dumped me into his lap. My hands were braced against his chest and our lips were inches away from each other.
“That’s a feral look right there,” he said in a low voice.
I couldn’t hear him quite as well without my headset, but I was doing well enough. And I was feeling pretty feral, to be honest. He’d let me think I was flying the stupid plane, so I had a right to rip his head off. But he was smart not to let a non-pilot do any sort of flying.
Not that I intended to give him any sort of out.
“I only turned on the auto-pilot a few minutes ago. So you did fly for a few minutes.”
“You’re just saying that so I won’t bite you.”
His lips twitched. “I don’t mind a few bite marks.”
“Pig.”
“Oink.”
“Incorrigible.”
“You have no idea. But you’re going to find out tonight.” He drew me closer. “Relentless, hungry, insatiable…” He trailed off as our lips met. His fingers curled into my sweater, then smoothed over my lower back.
Carnal and open-mouthed, the kiss was intense. He didn’t hold back. The laughter had gone between us and all that remained was his taste flooding my mouth. Air, oxygen, or even breath wasn’t an option. He took over every part of me.
The blackness fuzzed into the kiss and I tried to kill the panic. I dragged my mouth away and pushed back from him.
Too much. Dammit, why? Why did I always freak out when it got to be too much?
Though I’d never known anything quite like this before. Not even close.
He frowned up at me and tried to catch my hand, but I needed space. I headed for the back of the plane and nudged Joe. He sat up, completely alert. I nodded to the cockpit and he gave me a little two-fingered salute.
I dragged one of the blankets out of the overhead compartment. I had no idea what Linc had done with my damn purse. I was tired of looking out at the sea of blackness. At the trees and mountains that seemed so overwhelming.
Instead I did the only thing I could do when I was in this state. I tucked away the questions with no answers and the fear that existed with no likelihood of comfort.
And I slept.
10
Scrooge
Landing protocols were ingrained in our rhythm at this point. Joe and I had made nearly a hundred of these trips up to the cabin. He’d been working for me for over five years. Hell, he was the reason I was certified as a pilot to begin with.
I trusted him like no other, but right now I wished he was in the back of the damn plane. I liked having her with me—next to me.
Perhaps too much.
I gave our tail wing number to the control tower and prepared for landing. The small airstrip was only fifteen miles from the cabin. Luckily, the weather had been clear coming in and a couple degrees over freezing, so I didn’t have to worry about extra precautions. Touchdown was soft with only one extra bounce.
“My fault,” I muttered.
Joe glanced over his shoulder then at me. “She’s messing with your mind, man.”
“Maybe.”
“You know what you’re doing?”
“Nope.”
Joe gave a rare grin. “At least you know you’re fucked.”
I tightened my fingers on the yoke as Joe engaged the brake. I didn’t think that one really required a response. I would get her out of my system and forget about Christmas. In fact, I intended to be blissfully unaware of the date and balls deep in the woman behind me.
That was my story and I was sticking to it, goddammit.
We rolled to a stop and Joe kicked out the stairs. She still didn’t stir. I waved Joe ahead as I walked quietly to the last row. She was huddled under one of the thin blue blankets that had been in that overhead bin as long as I had owned the plane.
I pulled it away from her and she made a snarling noise before pulling it back up.
My elf was a grouchy sleeper.
I shrugged out of my leather jacket and pulled her forward before wrapping her inside it. She murmured a death threat that sounded like she was going to castrate me with her heel, but I couldn’t be certain. I picked her up anyway and groaned as she curled into me, putting her face in my neck.
Her warm breath fluttered over my skin. I settled her more surely in my arms and reminded myself just how many ways I was going to take her tonight. She curled her arm around my neck with a soft moan.
It was just sex.
It was a chant in my head as I walked down the stairs and stashed her in the backseat of the Land Rover. Joe was already rolling out before I got my door closed. I peered up at the sky. The iridescent orange from approaching snow was backlighting the mountains.
Winter weather came up out of nowhere up here. Joe knew it and the town better than anyone. As the tires gripped the highway and we increased speed, Kay slept on in the backseat.
I wasn’t sure which was better—her sleeping through the impending storm, or her getting to see an honest to God, lake-effect event. I checked my app on my phone before we lost a signal. Twelve to eighteen inches was heading our way.
Great for the resorts, and definitely great for keeping her in my little cabin for as long as possible.
“Darla has been in?”
Joe nodded. “She even left you a crockpot of sauce.”
Darla Peterson took care of the cabins for the both of us. I trusted her to keep the cabin stocked with all the essentials I’d need to visit whenever I could. If I called ahead sometimes she even treated me to a home-cooked meal. Evidently, tonight was an early Christmas present.
I opened the glove box and took out my satellite phone, leaving the other for Joe. “You can drop us at the cabin and keep the Rover. You’re further u
p the mountain.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, no need for you to hike up there. You’re a crazy fucker, but even you know that’s too much snow.”
He shrugged. “Good enough.”
The snow started the minute we hit the winding road that lead to my place. Fat snowflakes swarmed the car and killed visibility. We slipped and inched our way up the hill. Kay slept on as if she was in her own damn bed. It was probably better that she was out. There was no way to turn around at this point. There was only forward.
When we rounded the shoulder, I held onto the oh, shit handle. Joe slammed into four-wheel-drive and we fishtailed a few feet before correcting. He jammed the wheel and we tapped the guardrail. It was enough to wake Kay.
She came out of sleep with a start, her huge blue eyes unfocused and confused.
“Miss Kane, we’re fine. Just a little snow and ice.”
“A little?” She pushed her wild hair out of her face. “Are you delusional? That’s a blizzard. When did this start?”
“Just after we landed, but don’t worry, Joe knows these roads better than Manhattan.”
“Grew up here, Miss Kane.”
“Both of you better be calling me Kay at this point.” She pulled her seatbelt over her shoulder and clicked it into place. “How long was I out? Why didn’t you wake me?”
I threw a smile over my shoulder. “You’ll be needing your sleep.”
She rolled her eyes at me before focusing her attention out the window as she nibbled on her lower lip. Her profile was lit up with the refracted light on the snowflakes and eerie sky. He eyes were shadowed with makeup and fatigue and her lipstick was long gone. She was still so fucking beautiful it hurt to look at her.
The trees were a canopy of white the deeper into the mountains we went. Icicles dripped from branches and the snow gave the night an eerie silence. Visibility was nonexistent and Joe took it slow. The fifteen-minute drive took more like forty with tension vibrating inside the car.
Everly Lane came into view. Joe slowed and punched the four-wheel-drive into gear again. We climbed the winding road to my sprawling two-story cabin. Post and beam style with a wraparound porch, it was the center of my universe. I was a city boy by trade, but my heart belonged to this house.
I took my SAT phone and tucked it into the bag at my feet before opening my door. “Thanks, man. I’ll see you on the twenty-sixth.”
“Will do.”
“Thanks, Joe,” she said softly.
“Wait there,” I said gruffly.
“I’m perfectly capable. I’ve walked on ice with heels.”
I swore as I slammed the door and gathered her bag and my larger one from the back. I met her on the driver’s side as she carefully picked her way to the walkway. A good four inches of snow had fallen during the ride. It completely buried her ridiculous boots. The fact that I’d been having fantasies of her wearing nothing but them was beside the point.
“Just couldn’t wait.”
“No. The faster we get in there, the faster—”
“I get you naked.”
Her gaze shot to mine. “I’ve got icicles for teeth and you want me naked?” she asked with a shiver.
“As soon as humanly possible.” We got to the huge stone steps that created my entryway. Her jaw dropped open followed by a squeak as I hauled her into my arms. “Let’s just make this easy, huh?”
“I’m too heavy!”
“Who do you think got you out of the plane and into the Rover?”
“Joe?”
“Nice.”
“What? You could—whoa.” Her fingers gripped my shoulders. “Well, I wasn’t exactly planning this little trip.”
“Which is why you’re wearing my jacket and I am not.”
“Looking for a medal?”
“Just you, naked under me. Hypothermia would put a damper on that.”
“You’re all heart.”
“Nothing about this is heart. It’s pure sex. I want you, and you want me. We made a deal.”
“Wouldn’t want to forget about the deal.”
I climbed the last stair. “Oh, we won’t.” I put her down on the porch. The wind hadn’t blown through yet so most of the snow was isolated to the paths and road. By morning it would encroach on the three yards deep of decking.
She tried to make space between us, but I wasn’t having it. If I allowed it, she’d be crossing the room and we’d end up in separate rooms for the night. I needed to remind her of what happened in the office, in the closet, and almost happened on the plane.
I hauled her in and dropped my mouth to hers. She was stiff for a moment. I could taste snow on her. The clean, bright cold on her lips gave way to a soft moan and her hands went from gripping my shirt to my shoulders. I unlocked the door by touch and pushed her and our bags inside.
A lone light was on in the corner, and the fire was already roaring in the main living space. It would be too easy to stop there. She needed a bed. Some women got off on the wild and the danger of being discovered. Kay seemed to have a little of that inside her, but I suspected there was far much more traditional romance lurking under her smart mouth and candy cane lips.
She started to kick her boots off.
I swept her back up into my arms. “No, leave them on.”
“Do you have a thing for my boots?”
“I like you almost as tall as me.”
She swallowed. “On a bed that doesn’t matter.”
“Who said we’re going for a bed first?”
“Then why are we going upstairs?” Her blue eyes were wide and a touch of fear seemed to tinge them. Was she afraid of me?
“When you see my room, you’ll know why.”
“Is that what you say to all the girls?”
“No. You’re the first to see my place up here.”
Her eyebrows snapped down and I shut her mouth with mine again. The staircase was grand and had been created to allow for the vaulted ceilings. I took a right and headed for the master bedroom. It was the only bedroom on the right half of the second floor. I liked the space and the view.
“Lights,” I said between kisses.
A trio of small lights created a soft glow in my room. She gasped at the huge California King four poster that dominated the space. A huge stone fireplace stood opposite the bed, but the real showcase was the huge window. My view looked over the village and the lake. The Adirondacks filled the night sky as snow fell in fat flakes.
I set her down on her feet. She immediately went to the window. Exactly why I’d bought the place in the first place. The view was stunning.
I followed her, then lowered my mouth to her ear. “See why I wanted the boots on?” I set her hand high on the glass. “I’ve never had someone match me in height.” I skimmed my fingers along her belt and flicked open the buckle. “I’ve hoarded this view to myself.”
“It should be shared,” she said in a reverent whisper.
“And now it is.”
“Look at the lights, Linc. The entire lake is lit up.”
My fingers tightened on her hip. Christmas was alive and well here in Lake Placid. The town liked to keep it simple and classic with white lights. Enough that I could look at it as a decorative detail, and not the festive colors of the holiday.
When I’d bought the cabin, it was to be filled with loved ones and light. The small town below was created for vacationing with a family. But things had changed. Sheridan had changed—and it had become my solace.
Why I had brought this woman up here, I didn’t know. Maybe I was just tired of being alone. Maybe I was tired of viewing Christmas in an alcoholic haze.
Maybe a lust-filled one was better.
“Spread your legs, Miss Kane.”
11
Kay
My breathing stopped and the lights outside shimmered as my oxygen-starved brain fuzzed. The coolness of the glass under my hands made Linc’s touch feel that much hotter. His nose brushed along my neck, followed by his li
ps, open-mouthed and hot on my skin.
I groaned when his tongue flicked over my pulse point. “Do you honestly expect me to believe you don’t want this?”
I did want this.
More than anything.
I just couldn’t get past the anxiety building in my belly and flowing out to my muscles. I was too tense. It was like all the liquid pleasure living inside me was trapped inside a candy shell.
I almost laughed at the analogy.
To prove it, I opened my thighs, shifting my foot over until it bumped into his shoe.
He stepped back a little, but his fingers remained caged over my wrists. “Wider.”
Once I’d obliged him, he trailed his fingers over my midriff. “So soft.” Instead of moving up to my breasts, he arrowed down into the waistband of my skirt and teased along the lacy top of my panties. He didn’t dip his fingers under, just kept tracing the lines of silk and lace.
When he fit his hard length against my ass and moved in a slow, grinding rhythm, I relaxed a little.
“Remember the song we danced to? I watched you from across the room. The way you moved so effortlessly. You didn’t give a good goddamn that anyone else was in the room.”
“Dancing is different,” I whispered.
“Not at all.” He nipped at my ear then turned his face away. “Alexa, play ‘Fades Away’ on repeat.”
A voice came out of the dark. “Playing ‘Fades Away’ by Gavin Haley.”
“You remember the song?”
“I couldn’t stop listening to it after you ran off.”
My hands tensed under his.
“It’s all right. It’s just us and a few hundred miles of snow. We can take all night.”
With his other hand, he gripped my hip and moved us to the slow, undulating beat. With each watery echo of lyrics, I lost myself in his touch. I was drowning in him and the chaos outside and the beacons of white light on the lake. What was before me echoed how he made me feel.
Chaos and light.
Was he a beacon of hope, or a light that would send me crashing against the rocks?
I wasn’t entirely sure I knew or cared right then.