Riding Wood

by Abigail Graham

  I clasp her bra for her, my fingers grazing her warm skin. She takes a step back, rubbing against me as she pulls up her shorts. I slip her shirt over her arms and wrap mine around her to do up the buttons, lingering as I close them over her breasts, feeling the warmth of her against my palms. I button her shirt all the way up to her chin.

  Alexa starts undoing them but I trap her hands in mine. “Stop.”

  “Why?”

  I nuzzle her cheek with my lips and savor her gasp as my teeth brush her ear.

  “Sometimes it’s about what you don’t show.”

  I draw back from her, ignoring the rapid hammering in my chest. The feel of her warmth in my arms and the softness of her hair against my skin is too tempting. I could rip her clothes off as easily as I put them on her.

  She crosses her arms as I start gathering my things. “What are you doing?”

  “This is the best time of day for the light. I’m looking for inspiration.”

  Alexa gives me a crooked smirk, sits on the table in front of the sofa, and starts lacing up her boots. “You’re not leaving me here by myself.”

  “I don’t remember saying I was. Are you sure you want to go? The hike can be a little difficult.”

  “Where are we going?” she asks as she strides to the front door.

  I could just watch her move for hours. I’ve never seen anyone so perfect. Standing by the door, she gathers her thick locks into a loose ponytail. For some reason it makes me even harder for her.

  Once I have everything, I open the door and lead her out.

  “This way,” is all I give her.

  She eyes me, but she’s trusting, and never asks again as we follow the path along the stream. I cut most of this trail myself, spending months hacking the branches and vines back. Now leaves crunch under our feet, and the air is crisp, heavy with earthy scents.

  Alexa stops and gasps as we reach the falls. On the other side of my little homestead there is a sheer drop-off, and the stream has cut a channel into it. The water falls sharply to pool at the bottom before running off in another direction.

  “Is this always here?”

  “It dries up if there isn’t enough rain. You’re lucky you weren’t here last week. It rained steady for four days.”

  She marvels at it, and while she is distracted, I watch her. She is most beautiful when she doesn’t know, or simply doesn’t care that I’m looking.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  “There’s a first time for everything,” I shrug.

  Alexa’s eyes widen slightly and her cheeks color. I can practically feel her curling her toes in her boots thinking about it. I should stop teasing her; it’s cruel.

  “What you said before—” she starts.

  I hush her with my finger. She shudders, and her lips part just a bit before I pull my hand away. If I feel them wrapped around my finger I’ll start imagining them wrapped around my cock, and then I’ll give in. This isn’t going anywhere. I’m not going to let her waste something she obviously cares about—no matter how dismissive she sounds—on a silly fling to make herself feel more mature. I want her to remember me fondly.

  “Sit on that rock,” I tell her, pointing.

  “Should I take off my clothes?” she asks with a coy smile.

  “Not unless you want to freeze.”

  “I don’t feel the cold when you’re watching me.”

  She gives me a look that matches the suggestion in her voice. She starts roughly unbuttoning her top. It falls on the rock, and then she sheds the rest of her clothes. The afternoon light softens her even more, bringing out her eyes. I watch intently, willing myself not to even blink as she drops her clothes and reveals her curves.

  She must have been listening to me. She gives me a thoughtful look and then turns on her seat until she’s fully exposed, yet displays nothing. Her arms hide her breasts. A twist of her hip and the position of her legs hides everything else, her thick hair draped down her body.

  I sit down on my favorite log and sketch.

  “If I sit on this rock too long, you’ll have to give me a back rub when we get home.”

  Home. I shudder when the word passes her lips.

  “There aren’t any bears or anything out here, are there?” she asks, rubbing her arms.

  “Yes,” I say. “Coyotes, too.”

  The look on her face is delectable.

  “Well. At least I have you to protect me. I’m sure you’ll throw me over your shoulder and carry me off if there’s any danger. Seeing as how I’m defenseless and naked.”

  I smirk, and start working.

  She’s still visibly tense, despite her earlier bravado. Yet she doesn’t complain as I work. The lighting is perfect and she is gorgeous. I have to be careful. Stop my work from edging into the pornographic.

  Alexa jumps but makes no sound when she hears the crack of a twig and some rustle of leaves below. She cranes around slowly and then slips off the rock, staring.

  The doe gracefully steps to the swirling water at the base of the falls and leans to drink. There’s a yearling buck with her, still carrying spots from this spring. Facing away from me, Alexa stares down at them in awe, hands pressed to her chest, her breathing shallow as she forces herself to be still and quiet.

  I work as fast as I can, desperate to capture the moment, wincing when my pencils scrape across the paper. This is what I came out here to catch, even if I didn’t know it. Alexa makes a little sound and the spell is broken. The doe looks up at her and their eyes meet.

  Not in any hurry, but with graceful speed, the deer retreat back into the brush, and Alexa lets out a slow breath, turning to me with wonder in her eyes. For the first time it’s like she’s truly unaware that she’s naked. She’s just there, totally confident and innocent at the same time.

  God, I have to have her.

  The moment lasts a delicious eternity, and then she flinches as she tries to cover herself and tries not to.

  I don’t answer her. I just smirk and stand up, helping her dress again. It becomes an embrace as I rub the warmth of my body into her back. She shivers even when her clothes are back on and presses against me while we walk. I end up taking her hand without thinking.

  The shadows are long when we reach the cabin again. The bare branches throw sharp, skeletal shadows across the world, reaching for the door.

  She rushes inside, and I close it behind her.

  “You all right?”

  “Yeah, I’ve just seen too many horror movies about cabins in the woods.” She rubs her hands together. “Can you make a fire?”

  “Sure.”

  I cover her shoulders with a blanket. She curls up in it on the couch while I build up a good woodpile and light the kindling.

  “Don’t you have a heater or something?” she asks.

  I shake my head. “I like the cold. I’ve got a little propane heater so my pipes don’t freeze but it’s not cold enough for that. Won’t be for a week or two more.”

  “There are other ways to stay warm.”

  Damn this girl. I’m guessing those other ways involve her naked in my bed, me thrusting into her. Tempting as hell. I pretend that I can’t hear the lewd suggestion, even though my brain is seized by an image of me tearing that blanket off her. “Want some hot cocoa?”

  She smiles knowingly. “Sure.”

  I heat the water for the mix on the stove. Alexa watches the blue flames, and the azure light dances in her eyes. It comes to a boil fast enough, and I pour a cup for each of us.

  “Marshmallows?” she says, hesitant.

  I smirk, and fish the bag out from the drawer. I watch her as I drop them into her cup. She likes it sweet. That doesn’t surprise me at all. I keep going until she nods. Her cup is half marshmallow.

  She takes it greedily and sips until she burns her tongue. “This is kind of romantic,” she says, leaning her head on the back of the sofa.

  Alexa kicks out of her boots and stretches her legs on
to my lap. I run my hands down her calves. She winces when my fingers dig into the soles of her feet. My hands are cold. She quickly relaxes, though, as I begin kneading them in my hands.

  “You will make an amazing husband,” she tells me.

  I smirk. “We’re not getting married. You’re staying with me for a few days and modeling for me—”

  “When you’re not eating my pussy,” she interrupts, smirking. She takes a sip of her cocoa.

  “The filthy talk doesn’t suit you.” Or maybe I can’t handle it.

  She lets out a fake moan. “Oh, Lucas. Make me come, claim me—”

  I’d love to. “Stop it.”

  She jerks her feet free of my hands and rubs her calves on my lap. Her eyes round. “You’re so big. I wonder if you’d fit in my mouth.”

  You and me both, babe. It takes everything inside me not to give in. “Alexa, if you don’t stop, you might get what you wish for.”

  “Good.” She takes a sip of cocoa and pulls her legs from my lap, curling up under the blanket. “I’m right here. I want you.”

  She sets her cup and saucer aside on the table and crawls to me. I could get up, walk away, make an excuse, but I let her crawl on my lap and straddle me. I do more than let her. My hands slip under her shirt. I savor the shudder when my cool skin presses against her sides, just below her ribs.

  Alexa shifts closer, pushed tight so that when my cock hardens from her warmth she can feel it pressing into her. Her kiss is light, a silent invitation delivered with soft lips. I answer it hungrily, diving into her the way I want to dive into her body with my throbbing cock.

  “So this is the game. If I get you inside me, I win.”

  I laugh. “Win what?”

  She gives me a shy smile. “You.”

  Alexa doesn’t realize she’s already won me over.

  She wraps her arms around me, squeezes her breasts to my chest. I forgot how good this feels. There’s nothing on Earth quite like holding a lover tight and feeling her breath slow until it matches your own, until we breathe together. My cock is trapped against her. It almost feels like I am inside her already.

  Almost. Not quite. The thought of it makes me shudder, makes me kiss her harder.

  “I don’t want a fling,” I tell her, breaking the kiss to taste her throat. “I don’t want you to regret this.”

  “Why would I?”

  “Your first time should be meaningful.”

  She rocks her hips, much as I would want her to if there was nothing between us and I was inside her right now.

  “This is special. At least one of us knows what he’s doing.” Her delicate hands curl around the collar of my shirt, tugging lightly. “I want you to teach me. You made me feel so good when you…ate my pussy,” she hesitates for just a moment, summoning some deep reserve of bravery.

  The innocence she hides behind her fumbling seductions makes me crave her more. I can mold her until I can make her come anytime I please, wring every ounce of pleasure out of her body that she can produce until she passes out. I want her to adore me. I want her to sit in my lap with a big belly. I want to hold her while we watch our children play.

  “You’re too young for what I want.”

  She kisses my neck and slips her arms under my shirt. “You don’t know that.”

  “Yes I do, sweetheart. Once upon a time, I was twenty-three and all I could think about was fucking.”

  “Lucas, I’m not arguing about this with you right now.”

  “Then—”

  “Hold me,” she says, nuzzling my neck. “It’s cold in here and you’re warm.”

  I hold her. Her hands are freezing against my skin, but I don’t mind. “I can’t sleep with you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because if I do, then you’ll be mine and I can never let you go.” I trace my finger along her chin and cup her face, tilting her head back to kiss her again. “You’re too young to be stuck out in the woods being a housewife. It’s not what you’re for.”

  I can’t stand it anymore. I have to get her off me, but when I start to pull her off my lap she squirms and clamps down with her legs, wriggling loose from my grip as she takes me in hers.

  “I’m not letting go,” she protests.

  “It’s been a long day and I need my bed.”

  “Then you’re taking me with you,” she purrs. “Even if I have to hang around your neck.”

  The look in her eyes when I stand up, and make her do just that, is priceless. She locks her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck and clings to me while I walk into the bedroom.

  Instead of pushing her off, I hold her tighter. I don’t want her to fall.

  Chapter 9

  Alexa

  He’s taking me to bed with him.

  Giddiness rises in my chest. I feel like a girl again. It’s as though it’s Christmas morning, and instead of stumbling upon a pile of brightly colored gifts, I’ll get to unwrap his package. The one between his legs.

  He lets out a grunt as he lets me slide down his arms in the darkness of his bedroom. When my feet hit the floor, I don’t move away from him.

  In the dark, I can’t really see him. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I sure as hell know what he’s feeling.

  There’s an intake of breath as I let my fingers brush the rigid bump between his legs. “Sorry,” I whisper, not sorry at all.

  He’s silhouetted against the hallway light. “I need to get some shut-eye. If I let you stay in my bed, will you behave?”

  No. “Yes. Of course.”

  He makes a suspicious sound in the back of his throat, and then the floorboards creak. The lamp sitting on his nightstand flares on, illuminating the bedroom in soft, yellow light. It’s pretty Spartan as bedrooms go. There’s nothing but a bed, two nightstands, and a huge dresser.

  Lucas strips the button-up shirt from his back, the sparse light flattering his body. The shadows enhance every dip and crevasse, making his abs look like a maze I’d like to lick my way through. I’m fascinated by his every movement, even the way his muscles roll when he flicks his hand. The shirt flies across the room into a wicker hamper. He opens the sliding doors to his closet where everything is neatly arranged, and then he pulls his jeans down his thick legs. I watch the taut bubble of his ass tighten when he straightens to hang his pants.

  In a strange way, the tidiness of the cabin makes me feel insecure. He’s not like the hopeless boys at school. Lucas keeps his room neat, launders and irons his own clothes, and cooks. Unlike them, he’s capable. He doesn’t want to use me like a mom he’s allowed to fuck.

  I glance at the empty nightstand on the right. Once it was filled with her personal things. Whoever she is. He could’ve easily thrown it out, turned it into splinters with that axe of his, but he kept it empty. As if he were waiting for the right person to come along so he could fill it again.

  He wants a wife. A partner. I understand now.

  Feeling returns to my limbs when he moves to his side of the bed and slides beneath the covers. He makes a line in the middle of the bed with his arm, casually lying on the comforter.

  I approach the bed, pulling the shirt from my body. Lucas’ eyes devour me as I unclasp my bra and let myself loose. I bend over, my breasts a teardrop shape as I stick my fingers behind the waistband of my jeans and pull down. There’s nothing but a thin piece of cotton guarding the heat between my legs.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  I look up. “Getting ready for bed.”

  “You need to do that with your tits all out?”

  I smile to myself. “It’s uncomfortable to wear a bra.”

  He balls the sheets in his fists. “Alexa, don’t make me regret letting you sleep here.”

  “Oh, you won’t.”

  Lucas doesn’t miss the coyness in my voice. He gives me a sharp look. “I have plans for you, babe. If you curl up next to me with your tits pressed against my arm, all those plans will go out the window,
and I don’t want that.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No,” he says, a trace of annoyance creeping into his voice. “Come here.”

  A thrill runs down my spine as his command cracks through the room. I walk to the bed, peeling back the covers. My knees sink into the mattress as I crawl into bed, and all the while Lucas’ eyes are trained on to mine, filling me with heat.

  His fingers curl around my jaw, and I expect him to manhandle me. Throw me down on the bed. Crush his lips against mine. But that’s not Lucas. The only sign of his waning restraint is in the way his eyes shift like burning coals.

  “Alexa,” he says, breathing my name over my lips. “I’m not going to pop your cherry until I’m sure you know what you’re signing up for.”

  Is he insane? “I do know.”

  “No, you don’t, because I’m not interested in meaningless sex. If that was all I was after, I would’ve tied you to my bed the moment you trespassed on my property and had my way with you.”

  My heart beats faster as I open my mouth to tell him that sounds fantastic, but he’s still talking.

  “I don’t want to fuck you and send you on your way.”

  Then I force myself to speak, voice cracking. “I don’t want that either.”

  “Hold on, I’m not finished. There’s something else I need.” Then warmth brushes my stomach as he moves his hand lower to cup me. “A family.”

  My heart thumps again, harder this time. A rush of blood floods my brain as Lucas’ intoxicating scent swirls around me.

  He stares at me, his eyes hard now. “Do you honestly think you can handle that?”

  Can I handle letting him fill me with his seed, my belly growing huge with his child—our child? Can I handle a life with him forever, in this cabin? My heart says yes. Undoubtedly, yes.

  “Of course I could. Lucas, you realize those are all things I want, too, right? I’m twenty-three years old. I want a husband and kids just like everyone else.”

  “But you’ve never had a man. You’re going to need to do a lot more to convince me you know what you’re getting into.”