by Lia Lee
“Right, so what do you want for dinner? I had planned to cook chicken and veggies. Do you have any dietary requirements?”
What kind of a man asked that? He was so attentive.
“I eat pretty much anything,” I said.
“Right,” Lee said. “Come on into the kitchen with me. We can chat while I cook.”
He brought me a chair from the small dining table so I could sit with him in the kitchen.
After a moment, sitting seemed awkward, so I spoke up. “I can help,” I said.
Lee gave me the ingredients for a salad and I chopped it up while he put the chicken on the grill. He asked me how my week was. He asked about my work, how I had gotten into photography, and how I had decided to make it my source of income. I braced myself for a conversation about the pregnancy but he didn’t go there.
I was struck by how comfortable it felt to be in this cabin. How normal it seemed. He was so kind and calm, and somehow he made me feel right at home. Why wasn’t he pissed off? Why wasn’t he freaking out? Why did he take my word for it when I said I hadn’t planned this? I didn’t understand him at all.
Lee cooked chicken, then added vegetables and the great smell soon filled the cabin. It was amazing.
“What about your job?” I asked, after I’d told him about mine. “How do you decide to be a ranger?”
“I love nature and animals. I was that kid, the one that liked to go camping rather than going to the movies with my friends. I joined boy scouts when I was a kid and I loved it. I tried fitting into society doing normal things. I had studied accounting, of all things. But that life just hadn’t worked for me. So when I was twenty-eight I decided to follow my dreams after all and I became a ranger. I never looked back.”
“Was there no wife and kids in your dream?” I asked, before I could stop myself.
Lee wasn’t offended. He chuckled. “I just never met the right girl. They were all so fussy, and all hung up on fashion. The makeup, the high heels, the hair. None of that works out here in the forest. I met a lot of women I could have been happy enough with if I was okay with working in an office from nine to five, but that just isn’t my thing.”
We sat down to eat and talked more, getting to know each other better. The more I got to know Lee, the more I liked him. I liked the way he thought about life and I liked the way he talked to me.
Being around Lee was so calming. After Jim, the contrast was staggering.
Chapter 15
Lee
I enjoyed spending time with Farrah, and I liked having her in my home. We ate together and afterward, she helped me clean up. I hadn’t spoken of the pregnancy or the baby at all, wanting her to calm down and relax a little. She had been so tightly strung when she’d first gotten to my office, it was clear we weren’t going to get anywhere talking about it, then.
Inviting her to my cabin for dinner had been the one way I could imagine getting her to calm down and stop worrying for a moment. Plus I had been hungry, so it worked out all the way around.
She had thought I would be angry about the baby. I guess I could have been. None of this had been planned and it was a tough conversation to have with anyone, especially since she believed it wasn’t even possible.
After all the medical crap she told me, the endometriosis and everything she had been through trying to conceive, none of this should have been possible. It just shouldn’t have happened. And I didn’t miss the part where she’d said how much she’d always wanted a child. I could only imagine the pain of not being able to conceive when it was the one thing she had always wanted. It sounded like this Jim was a real piece of work too. How could he blame her and make her feel worse than she already did?
I couldn’t be angry at her for this. It wasn’t her fault. If there was anyone I had to be angry at, it would be the doctors who had been wrong. But judging from what she said to me at the ranger’s office, they had really tried to make it happen. If the doctors had seen her fail to get pregnant time and time again, they weren’t exactly wrong by concluding she couldn’t get pregnant.
And it all started when she was sixteen. That was a long time to have to struggle through it.
If anything, this pregnancy wasn’t a problem, it was a miracle.
But I didn’t want to talk to her about it just yet. I wanted her to be able to enjoy herself a little. I hadn’t asked when she had found out, but since we had slept together only a week ago, she hadn’t known for long.
None of it made sense. She had to have been barely pregnant. But I wouldn’t go there with her tonight. I wanted to spend time with her and get to know the woman that had been on my mind since she had left here on Monday.
I had tried all week to forget about her and I was acutely aware that it would be so much harder when she left this time. But this time, she wouldn’t be able to walk out of my life for good. Not now that she was pregnant with my child. She had come here to tell me, so we were connected one way or another until the baby was twenty-one.
That was something great to think about. Having Farrah become a part of my life was something I hadn’t thought would happen, but now that it was the case, I wasn’t upset about it.
I had a feeling I would need some time to wrap my mind around what had happened and how it would change my life, but I still couldn’t find it in myself to be upset about it.
I looked at Farrah as she moved around my cabin and I couldn’t help but feel she belonged here. She was at home in my space and I felt comfortable with her in my home. We washed the dishes together. I didn’t have a dishwasher. As a bachelor, I hardly needed one. So, she washed and I dried.
Everything about Farrah was graceful and elegant, and despite the terrible week I’d had, I couldn’t help myself. I still wanted her.
With her dark hair pulled back she looked efficient and classy. She wore a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, but even though it was casual, she was still polished and I liked that about her. Farrah didn’t seem like the type of woman that would look terrible in the morning. I couldn’t imagine a scenario in which she would look bad.
In fact, I knew what she looked like in the morning. I had stayed the night in the motel last weekend. That was probably what had fucked me up, because I hadn’t been able to get my mind off her, since.
I wanted Farrah. I wanted to sleep with her again. I wanted to kiss every inch of her body, and to run my fingers over her smooth skin. I wanted to tangle my hands in her hair and taste her most intimate parts. I wanted her to press her tall body up against mine.
The thought of being with her made my dick twitch in my pants. I was turned on by her. I was hot for her. But I wasn’t going to act on it tonight. We had been through enough emotional trauma for one day, and hitting on her to get her into my bed now was the last thing I was going to do. No matter how much I wanted her.
We would take the time to figure things out, and once we decided how we were going to go about it, we could approach the topic of sex again.
Even though it was what I really wanted right now. But I would wait. If Farrah was pregnant with my child, I wanted to have a go at being with her. Not only because she was fucking hot and she still fascinated me to no end, but because I believed it was right for us to try to be parents together. It was right for me to try to make it work with her. I wanted to do right by her, and the baby.
She hadn’t made this baby alone and no matter how crazy it was that she was pregnant, I wasn’t going to have her raise the baby alone.
Once the kitchen was clean and everything had been packed away, we walked into the living room. I put on a movie so we had a bit of noise in the background, but neither of us was really watching. We faced each other, her legs folded underneath her on the couch, and we talked some more.
When Farrah wasn’t stressed or worried, when she wasn’t closed down because she was shy or unsure of herself, she was quite sweet. She was easy to talk to. She laughed easily and I loved the sound of it. She had a sense of humor, too. Farrah was smart. H
er jokes all had double meanings, and her outlook on life was just as intriguing as the rest of her.
We talked about everything under the sun. She told me about her job when she worked as a photographer for a large company.
“I was stuck, there,” she said. “The pay was great but I realized I would always be shooting the same things. I would always be doing the same kind of projects. I wanted to do my own stuff, to explore my art, but I was never able to because my job took all of my time. So, I decided to leave.”
“And what do you want to do?” I asked. “What is your own thing?”
“Nature,” she said. “The photos in the National Geographic have always fascinated me. Being able to catch a moment that no one is able to see because no human can normally come that close. That is magic to me.”
I couldn’t believe this woman. How was it possible that we were so well suited for each other? Fate had to be fucking with me.
Listening to her talk, I watched her mouth. It was mesmerizing. How could someone have hurt her? I wanted to know about this Jim character who had obviously done a number on her. I wanted to know who the hell he was and what right he thought he had to hurt her, when she was nothing but beautiful, kind, and so genuine. But I wouldn’t ask her about it tonight. Whenever she had spoken about him she’d gotten visibly upset, more than any other topic. Whatever he had done to her, it was still very raw. I had to take that into account if I wanted to make things work with Farrah, but I could deal with a shitty ex-boyfriend. I was already better than him, I decided. I wasn’t going to reject Farrah for her shortcomings.
For one thing, I had yet to find any.
Farrah and I talked until deep into the night. I told her about my family, how Hannah and I had grown up close even though she was five years older than me. I told her about Hannah’s past, about Nick, the asshole who hadn’t been good to her. The day my sister had gotten a divorce, our family had celebrated her narrow escape.
“It’s a pity that she’s seen so much pain,” Farrah said. “She’s such a great person.”
“She is,” I said. “But with pain comes growth.” I didn’t tell Farrah that I thought it was the case with her, too. But I knew she thought it.
When I glanced at my watch it was two in the morning.
“It’s so late,” I said. “We’ve talked the night away. Did you book a room at the motel again or at the lodge?”
Farrah shook her head. “I didn’t book any rooms. I came straight to you. I was too worried to think about any of it.”
“It’s going to be a mission to get something now, even though they are open twenty-four seven. You’re welcome to stay here for the night. I can sleep on the couch and you can take the bed.”
I was trying to do the right thing here, and I didn’t want to pressure her.
“I don’t mean to be forward,” Farrah said, looking at her hands. “But will you sleep in the bed with me? I don’t really want to be alone.”
I nodded. “Of course,” I said. I would love nothing more than to sleep in the bed with her.
Farrah headed out to her car and grabbed the overnight bag she had packed. She had expected to have to stay. She closed herself in the bathroom, and I quickly changed into the boxer shorts I always slept in.
When Farrah stepped out again, she wore pajama shorts and a matching t-shirt. She looked shy again and blushed when my eyes slid over her body.
“You’re beautiful,” I said. I opened the covers for her and she came to the bed.
When she was tucked in I walked to the bathroom to brush my teeth. She was already half-asleep when I returned. I climbed into bed and Farrah quickly wrapped herself around me.
I barely knew this woman, but the moment she curled into me, I was happy. This just felt right. It didn’t matter how little I knew about her, we were now on a journey together. And I would try my best to see it through. Not just out of duty as the father of the child, either. I wanted to be with Farrah. I wanted to look into her eyes every day. I wanted to be the one to chase her nightmares away, and to make her smile.
I put my arm around her and held her close to me. After a week of restless nights, I closed my eyes and finally fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 16
Farrah
When I woke up, Lee’s arm was wrapped around me. He his body was pressed against mine and I could feel that he was pure muscle. His chest rose and fell rhythmically with his sleep and I closed my eyes and relished the warmth that radiated from his skin.
I couldn’t remember when I’d last felt this safe and happy.
With Lee pressed up against me and his arm around me, his strong forearm was pressed up against my breasts and I was aware of how hot his skin was against mine. I was wearing a pajama top with matching bottoms. Where my skin was bare his arm pressed against it and just the direct contact turned me on.
Or it was because Lee had been perfect about everything that had happened so far, and seeing that he was drop-dead gorgeous, made him the perfect man.
Lee moved against me, pushing his hips forward, and as he did so, I felt him grow harder. He was waking up and he thought the same thing I did. I wiggled my hips and pressed my ass against his crotch. I snuggled against him and Lee groaned behind me.
“You’re awake,” I said, smiling.
“So are you,” he said, in a hoard voice.
Something about Lee woke up the wildness inside me. With him, I wanted to do things I had never considered before. I wanted to take control. I turned around so that I faced him, pressing my front to him now and I kissed him. I ran my hands through his hair and slid my tongue over his lips, inviting him to taste me. Lee complied.
As we made out he ran his hands over my body, feeling me, pushing his hands under my skin and touching me. I moaned and gasped as he ran his hands over my breasts, running his thumbs in circles over my nipples until they were hard, poking against his palms.
I wasn’t ready for him to take control just yet. I wanted to do more first. I gently pushed Lee so that he lay on his back, then climbed onto him. I straddled his hips and lowered my lips to his neck. My hair splayed over his chest and I knew the sensation was soft and ticklish.
Slowly, I worked my way down Lee’s body, kissing his shoulders and his chest, running my hands through the graying chest hair. I moved lower and lower down. I loved the sounds Lee was making, gasping whenever I kissed him somewhere sensitive or ticklish. He groaned as I worked my way down, running my hands over his ribs so that he shuddered. When I reached his boxers I pulled them down. His cock sprung free, hard and straining. He was so turned on, it was delicious. I slid my hands over his shaft and he gasped again, crying out when I closed my mouth over the head of his dick and sucked him inside.
I bobbed my head up and down, sliding him in and out of my mouth. I moved faster and faster, fucking him with my mouth.
“Farrah,” Lee cried out and I knew he wanted me to stop before he lost control. I smiled and looked up at him. Lee looked at me with dark eyes that were filled with desire. He growled and moved so fast that I didn’t see it coming. He grabbed me and pinned me on the bed beneath him. He kissed me hard and the kissing became urgent, serious. As he kissed me he started peeling my clothes off, working to get me naked. Then he moved between my legs.
He didn’t take the time to slowly work his way down the way I had done for him. He moved his head straight to my pussy and pushed his tongue into my slit. I cried out when he flicked his tongue over my clit again and again.
After a while, he pushed two fingers into me. I groaned as he curled his fingers over my g-spot while he sucked on my clit, working me up into a frenzy, making me numb and setting my nerve endings on fire. I fell apart when an orgasm crashed down on me and I called out, closing my legs around Lee’s head.
He didn’t slow down or stop pumping his fingers into me and it prolonged my orgasm.
I gasped and moaned until finally I was able to think straight again. Lee let go of me and looked up, smili
ng. His mouth glistened with my sex.
He moved up my body, planting kisses all over until his dick pressed against my entrance. I held my breath and let it out in one long exhale when he pushed into me. Lee was bigger than I remembered, and my body stretched to accommodate him.
With his body hovering over mine, he started rocking back and forth, sliding his dick in and out of me. I moaned and called out as he rode me, pumping harder and faster. It didn’t take very long before I came undone at the seams and orgasmed for the second time.
Lee wasn’t done with me yet, and I didn’t want him to be. He pulled out of me and I turned over. I didn’t know what he wanted but I knew what I wanted to give him. I turned with my ass toward him and wiggled my hips, looking over my shoulder. The look on his face was almost primal. Hunger had taken over as he put his hands on my hips and plunged his cock into me again, fucking me harder and faster. His balls slapped against my pussy and my breasts swung back and forth as Lee had his way with me and I loved it. Any trepidation I’d felt about this position before had vanished. We alternated between tenderly making love and fucking like animals, and the wild passion along with the gentle affection was beautiful.
I came a third time and I cried out. It was quick and intense this time, the orgasm shattering my body, but leaving as quickly as it had come. And still, we weren’t finished. Lee had yet to come and by the look on his face, he wasn’t ready to finish yet.
When he pulled out of me, I climbed onto him once again. This time, we were both naked and I wasn’t here to suck him off. I lowered myself onto him, his cock pushing into me and we both cried out. After orgasming, again and again, I was sensitive and tight. Lee’s dick felt even bigger than before. I moved back and forth, getting used to the feel of him before I started rocking my hips, riding him. I rocked him harder and faster, my knees chafing on the mattress but I didn’t care. I was lost in the sensation of amazing sex, encouraged by the moans and groans that escaped Lee’s lips. His hands were on my hips, sliding up and down my thighs every now and then, and I rode him harder and faster still.