The Path to James

by Jane Radford

“Turn to me.”

  She turns in my arms, and I take the pants back from her. It's a shame to cover her perfect body, but it's an unfortunate necessity.

  “Here,” I hold the pants out. She lifts one foot, I pull the leg up, and then she lifts the other and I repeat the process. I hoist the waistband and cinch the drawstring. My clothes are much too big for her, but somehow that makes it infinitely more adorable as they swallow her up.

  “Ready?” I turn Alex and pat her ass as I go after a harness.

  “No,” one of her hands wrings the other. “I'm fairly certain I belong safely on solid ground.”

  I look back at her, amused. “I thought you craved adventure?” I come back to her side with a small harness. I kneel to put it on, her pelvis directly in front of my face. I have to fight the urge not to lean in those couple of inches, to latch onto her vee through the fabric of her sweats.

  I sigh, remembering the concealed heaven just a thin layer of fabric away. “There is nothing more liberating then climbing into the sky and gazing down on your expanse of earth.”

  She doesn't argue any further as she lifts one foot through the loop of her harness, and then the other. She holds her arms up to allow me to secure the straps on her.

  Once the harness is tightened into place, I stand and gift her one swift kiss on her flawless mouth. Her lips melt against mine and she leans into the connection. The act leaves me wanting more, and when I detach from her, I have a haunted feeling that it would always leave me wanting more.

  Chapter 15

  James gets me strapped in and ready to go, then pats my ass as he stands back to act as my belayer, standing as my silent guardian until I gather the nerve to continue.

  What have I gotten myself into?

  I place tentative fingertips onto the first handhold, then look back to check if James is serious about me continuing forward.

  “Go on,” he urges. This man who I have no right to trust, who I really shouldn't feel safe enough to place my life in his hands, for some reason he gives me this sense of security that I have never known before.

  I swallow and take my first step upward. This isn't so bad.

  “You're going to be the death of me,” I murmur as I take another step up.

  “I've got you,” James admonishes. If I didn't know any better I'd think he was offended.

  I take another step higher while I try not to look out over the balcony, out over the world sprawled below.

  Oh, what am I doing?! To the left there is an overhang, and farther still, the route looks completely impossible. I stick to the right, where it's an easy shot toward the roof.

  “Touch the bar secured to the top of the wall, and I'll give you a reward when you return to me.” James entices from his spot, now ten feet below.

  I'm trying not to look any lower than where I need to place my feet next. The way this wall was placed, when I look back I don't see the balcony underneath me. “What kind of reward?” I refuse to look down at him while I speak.

  “It's a surprise.”

  I want to glare at him suspiciously, to look down and narrow my eyes at my handsome belayer, but I know that the moment I look below me, I'll lose my nerve to move forward. Right now it feels as though I'm impossibly high—towering over the forest. I'm climbing over trees, dominating mountains, I'm reaching for the sunset.

  The rope attached to my harness remains taut, tugging at me, giving me this continuous feeling of safety. Whenever the line tugs at the hold of my harness, I get this added sense of assurance, this feeling that he will rescue me if I happen to fall.

  The higher I strain, the more I realize James is right, this climb is liberating. I pull myself higher and I'm nearly there. My forearms and legs have this pleasant burn to them from hauling my body up the wall. I'm almost at the top.

  I feel more free than I've ever felt in my life.

  “Hurry back to me,” James breathes in a voice so low I don't think he intended for me to hear him.

  “Almost there!” I shout down, more to lighten his mood than to boast.

  Right as I look below me, my stomach lurches, doing a little flip of protest. I cling to the wall as my legs swoon. My toes slip, scraping from the edge of one of the handholds and I nearly lose my grasp altogether. I have to scramble to get my feet back into place.

  Gah! I hate heights! I squeeze my eyes shut with my teeth clenched. I'm frozen for a moment with my heart pounding, while James stares up at me amused.

  “Almost there,” he muses.

  “Shut up!” I laugh. So rude.

  I have to force myself onward, with every fiber of my being screaming to turn back. I drag myself that last little bit higher, and it's the most satisfying feeling in the world as my palm slaps against the metal rail above me.

  “HAHA!” I gasp. I can't believe I made it!

  I allow myself to look back at the landscape with the infinite mountains, at the diminishing sunlight, at the whole world spread out before me. This is how living would feel with James, as if everything in the world were available to me. Everything exhilarating—everything within my grasp—I simply would have to reach out and take it.

  I deflate with a frown. I am far too tempted. He is far too tempting.

  “How do I get down?”

  James calls up to me, “Just lean back and let go.”

  “WHAT?!” His words make me want to cling onto the wall harder. I feel like he might be teasing me. This must be some kind of cruel joke.

  “I've got you, trust me,” James grins. His beautiful smile is dazzling in the fading light. His skin glows more enticing than any sunset.

  This, I really don't want to do. It feels counter intuitive, leaning away from the wall, forcing my fingers to relinquish their hold. Letting go. But I trust him. I trust James implicitly. And it shows, as I do exactly as I'm told, as I release myself into his hands.

  I close my eyes as I go. My stomach sinks and I have to fight the instinct to scramble for another handhold, but I do it. As I feel myself drifting down, I giggle like an idiot. This whole endeavor brings such a sense of accomplishment.

  Right when my feet touch the deck, James pounces on me. He snatches me up before I can find my bearings. His hands fist into my hair and the latch on the harness digs into our hips as he presses into me. He backs me into the side of the house, pinning me there against the wall and its handholds.

  “You're a natural,” he growls. His voice so breathy, so arousing. My skin heats, my breathing quickens. I'm ready for him already.

  “Where is my reward, sir?” I can't help myself. There is no holding back my curiosity.

  “This isn't reward enough?” he grinds his hips into mine.

  I inhale sharply at the pressure of him rubbing against me, “I can think of no better prize.”

  One side of his lips quirk up in a lop-sided smile. He is so handsome. I love how pleased he looks with my answer. I want to give him that reaction daily—hourly, if I can. I want to please him every moment of every day until he can bear me no longer.

  James kisses me one last time, his tongue dipping into me with his whole body pressed against mine. I never want this moment to end. But he steps away and smiles that gorgeous, mischievous grin.

  “I do have something for you,” he reveals as he begins unstrapping me.

  I step out of the harness and he frowns when he realizes that I'm not going to take off his pants as well, going back to just his t-shirt. I must look frumpy, but he is the one who put these on me, he must now suffer the consequences. Besides, being swaddled in his clothing, the smell of him engulfing me, it's quite heavenly.

  He holds out a hand, “Come.” And I place my palm in his without hesitation.

  I gaze out at the sunset one last time before James pulls me inside. For tonight I will follow wherever he wishes to lead me.

  He takes me through his bedroom, along the upstairs walkway, down the stairs, past his kitchen which still smells like leftover pizza. He kisses me in the living
room, sweeps me off my feet as he takes me down a second flight of stairs.

  I hadn't realized there was a downstairs.

  We descend the stairs. He carries me down a hall and a glass door slides open seemingly by its own volition. Unknowingly tripping the censor, the fogged glass opens, revealing a rock rimmed swimming pool and a hidden sauna.

  James sets me down to hit a button on a wall panel and a waterfall bursts from the ceiling. He triggers the pool's lights and the water illuminates from beneath. It's magical.

  “This is a good reward,” I gasp as he sweeps me up again.

  “I'm glad you're so easily impressed.”

  He clutches me tight as he bears me to the edge of the water. A part of me expects James to toss me into the pool—frisky devil that he is—but instead he carries me down the stone steps, slipping me gently into the water with him. He makes it seem so intimate, the way he handles me so reverently. Slowly sinking with me into the blissful deep.

  He is so graceful, controlled and powerful in his movements. He carries me fully clothed into the water, but the moment we're in he allows me to stand on my own. He unfastens the drawstring at my waist and dips beneath the surface to flow the garment off over my legs. He emerges a moment later dripping and sexy, smoothing his hair back and tossing the pants to the side of the pool with a wet slap.

  Next he goes for my shirt, peeling the material from my flesh and exposing me to him. “You are perfect,” he stands back to marvel at me.

  I can feel his words all the way to my core, soothing my insecurities. I've never felt so beautiful, and to hear such praise coming from someone who is nothing short of perfection itself, means more than anything in the world to me. I hate the thought of this ever ending.

  With his eyes on me I sink into the water, arching my spine, lowering my head to wet my hair. His predatory stare is on me as I slick my hair back with both hands.

  “If I didn't know any better, I would think this reward was for you,” I tease.

  His eyes darken and the hunger has returned to his expression. I know he is just about to pounce. Before he can reach me, before his hands grasp me and never let go, I submerge myself in the water, slipping away from him.

  When I resurface a few yards out of reach, he is staring at me like a lost puppy. The look is adorable on such a hardened, male exterior. I bite my lip from the short distance away, hoping my mien would be enough to draw this handsome stranger to me, but he doesn't move. He only stares out, lost at sea.

  “Will you chase me?” I ask, hopeful, hating the bleak expression he wears.

  “Always,” he dares to answer. It's the sweetest sentiment ever uttered.

  When he dips under the water after me, I hurry in the opposite direction. I glide to the other side of the pool and he reemerges only to find himself bereft of me once more.

  When he comes up he stiffens, finding this section of the water now vacant for all but him. He swipes the droplets from his face, wiping it from his eyes, from his stubble. He turns until he locates me once more, then freezes. He had expected to catch me so easily.

  “Vixen,” he purrs. His voice makes me shiver.

  The problem with this game is that I want him to catch me. I want him to grasp my arms and tug me to him. I want him to trap me and keep me forever.

  When he paddles after me one last time, I kick off the wall and glide out into the deep. But instead of coming directly toward me, like he had feigned, James anticipates my movements, and I end up swimming directly into him.

  He catches me with a playful growl, holding me in an iron grip with one arm while he takes us back to the shallow end of the pool.

  “You look beautiful wet,” he says once he has taken us to the pool's steps. He smooths my hair back and kisses my forehead.

  My fingers untie the drawstring on his pants and I relish the swell of his arousal as I roll the fabric away. “You are beautiful wet,” I correct him. Nevermind me.

  Water streams from his slicked-back hair, down his toned arms and defined abs. His happy trail gleams tantalizingly down toward his erection. He steps out of his pants and advances.

  “Mmm,” James kisses me again, “you're mistaken, madam.” He snatches me up in a sudden swirl of water, tosses me over his shoulder and hauls me up the stairs. “With you, there is no contest.”

  He carries us up and rests me on the ground. I don't have long to find my bearings before he is walking me back, pinning me against the nearest wall. I barely register the waves of the waterfall over the roar of blood pumping through my heart.

  The wall halts my retreat. The stone is cold against my back. We both drip water, leaving a fluid trail from our current location back to the pool. James' breath on my neck sends my entire body quivering.

  “Handsome stranger,” I whisper against his ear, “what do you want from me?”

  “Do not run from me,” James deliberately misinterprets the intentions behind my question. Something about my game in the pool had unsettled him.

  I wrap my arms around his muscled back, he seems bothered. “Would you chase me?”

  “If you would allow it,” he nuzzles my neck.

  His reply soothes me. He is making it clear he wouldn't pursue me if I didn't want him. Unlike Jaren, I can sense he is incapable of stalking me against my will, striking fear into me in hopes that I would falter under threat of harm. If I tried to leave he wouldn't stop me. If I told him not to contact me, he wouldn't. He wants me to want him.

  There is something safe about being in James' arms. It is a comfort that I have never sensed before, not in the arms of any other lover. There is something hard and unyielding about him, but I think for me he softens.

  I step into him, my arms coming up to wrap around his neck. He feels better than any dream. His mouth finds mine and I slip into his grasp. His hands come down to my ass and he pulls me up. My legs come around to hold onto his waist. I'm already so wet, so ready for him. I feel like today has been one arousing ride after another.

  Leaning my back against the wall, my legs around his waist, and one arm for support under my ass, his free hand comes up to circle around my clit. He is a master at this. Light enough not to be too intense, firm enough not to be too reserved. He has me panting within moments.

  “What do you want from me?” I gasp through moans.

  His free hand is relentless, his fingers dip into me as his palm continues to rub the mass of sensual nerves above my sex.

  “May I make love to you again?” James rests his forehead against mine. I can feel his throbbing penis tucked underneath me, waiting patiently for his turn.

  “Such a gentleman,” I rasp. His fingers are divine, but his awaiting erection is better, “I would love that.”

  He growls as he repositions me within his arms. I never touch the ground. His powerful hold never waivers. His taut legs support me with no outward sign of strain.

  He bundles me to him and begins carrying me out of the room, back through the hall and up the stairs. Turning on and off lights as we go. On the main floor he opens a linen closet, all while holding me to him with one arm. I feel so delicate in his embrace.

  He bends slightly to grab a condom from the box stashed in a closet. He comes back up, putting the foil package between his teeth to free up his hand once more. He shuts the door and continues onward. He looks at me ravenously with the rapper between his teeth, he looks adorable, almost like a puppy—fetching toys for me.

  We stop in the kitchen, James resting my bare ass on the kitchen island to hand over the condom, out of his mouth and into my hands. He knows how I like to put them on for him. I take the package and rip it with my teeth. Staring at him as I break the seal. I have never felt so wanted. I have never wanted someone so much. I run my fingers down, then up his erection, wrapping my hand around him. Smooth stone. I unroll the condom over him and that is all the invitation James needs.

  He pries my thighs apart right there, right on the counter. I fall back onto my elbows and he sl
ides into me. He fills me with his heat—with his throbbing, succulent penis—and I find myself exclaiming with the intense thrill of him filling me to the hilt.

  He slides out only to ram back into me. His cock glides against just the right spots. So unyielding, so perfect. I grip the edge of the counter to remain steady.

  James holds under my knees. He is panting over me with every thrust. His eyes are soft, his look yearning. I'm so close to an orgasm. I want to give him more than just tonight—I want to give him forever.

  My core tightens exquisitely. Everything tenses and I throw my head back with an extended cry. I explode around his erection as he continues his relentless penetration. Waves continue to crash over me. The walls of my vagina choke James' penis, milking him as the walls constrict with my orgasm.

  James growls as he finds his own release. Slipping in and then out of me, finishing with gritted teeth as I lay enraptured upon his table. When he is finished, he bends over me. His elbows support him as he kisses my chest, right between my breasts, directly on my sternum. “You unravel me.”

  “The feeling is mutual,” I kiss the crown of his head. How I could have been so lucky as to find him. If I had been any earlier or any later, if I had strayed from my path in any way, I would have missed him entirely. This dream would have been lost to me.

  “I am glad I found you,” he says as if reading my thoughts.

  Our panting slows, our needs are sated. I'm left with only the uneasy feeling of what tomorrow will bring.

  Chapter 16

  Time is against me. As I clutch Alex closer to my chest, I can feel her slipping farther and farther from my grasp. Today has been the best day of my haunted life. Holding Alex with hands covered in proverbial blood, she makes me feel good again. Her purity cleanses me.

  Laying in my bed, the moon slips from one side of the sky to the other, cold and unkind. The stars care nothing for my plight. I stare off with bleak thoughts that match my bleak exterior. I know better than to relax and close my eyes. I know better than to allow my mind to drift away. But the curve of Alex's body is so warm and so inviting. Her scent is comforting. Her innocence and compassion, they make me feel whole.