When We Fall, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge Novels Book 6)

by J. H. Croix

  At that, Lacey tightened her grip on Quinn’s hand and practically ran outside. He strode alongside her once they reached the deck. A soft snow started to fall as they walked quietly toward the trees flanking the ski slope where the path wound its way to her cabin. She was burning up inside. The biting cold air only served to fan the flames within by its contrast. Quinn’s hand was warm and strong around hers.

  Once they were in the trees, Lacey paused and turned to him. In the shadowed light of the forest with moonlight falling through the trees and casting an otherworldly glow over them, she reached for his other hand and pulled him close. He looked down, the strong lines of his face cast in relief in the light from the moon. She leaned up, desperate to feel his lips against hers again, and he met her halfway. In flash, he fit his mouth over hers, claiming her lips in a fierce, possessive kiss. Their tongues tangled while he slid a hand down her back, his touch leaving a path of fire in its wake. His palm cupped her bottom and pulled her against him. She gasped at the feel of his hard arousal against her. Their kiss went from hot to burning, a clash of lips and teeth. By the time he pulled away and threw his head back to gulp in air, she was steaming inside and out.

  Their breath misted the air around them. Lacey let her forehead fall to his chest as she tried to catch her breath. As she stood there, trying to marshal her senses, she shivered, realizing she’d completely forgotten her jacket at the lodge. She glanced up at Quinn. “I forgot my coat.”

  “I noticed,” he said, the corner of his mouth curling in a half-smile. “Come on, let’s get somewhere warm.”

  Without his touch leaving her, he spun her sideways, his palm a warm brand on her low back as he nudged her forward. They walked swiftly through the trees and broke into a run when they reached the small field beside her cabin. They stumbled through the door. He kicked it shut behind them and whirled her around, dipping his head and catching her lips in another fierce kiss. By the time he tore his lips free, she was almost boneless. If the door hadn’t been holding her up, she’d have fallen. Heat suffused her, need pounding like a drum with every beat of her heart.

  Quinn’s amber eyes stared down at her, his gaze dark and intent. His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. He brushed her hair, damp and cool from the chilly walk back through the falling snow, away from her face before stepping back.

  “Fire,” he said as he toed off his boots and immediately strode to the woodstove.

  For a second, she’d thought he was speaking of the burning desire between them, snapping and crackling with its own force. She almost laughed aloud when she realized he was speaking quite literally. In record time, an actual fire was brightening the dim room. Lacey kicked off her shoes and stepped toward Quinn as he closed the door to the woodstove. The flames flickered behind the glass, reflecting how she felt inside. She glanced up at him. In one step, he reached for her, picking up right where they left off moments ago.

  She didn’t know how many more of his kisses she could survive. She was drenched with need and frantic to feel all of him. She shoved his shirt up, which he helpfully tugged off and tossed aside. Impatient, she tore his jeans open and slipped her hand inside, a moan escaping as she felt the hard, hot length of him through his briefs. He was just as impatient as she was, swatting her hands away while he made quick work of the buttons on her shirt and tossed it aside. His eyes gleamed as he looked down. She wore a black lace bra, her nipples tight against the lace. His hands kept moving as he pushed her jeans down over her hips. She felt reckless and disordered inside, the only thing anchoring her to the moment the feel of his warm skin under her hands. Greedy to feel him, she traced a palm up over his chest, which was practically carved from stone. He mumbled something as she kicked her jeans free and turned her swiftly, sitting down on the couch with her standing between his knees.

  Everything went from fast to slow with his hands stroking reverently up her legs, over the curve of her hips, into the dip of her waist, and to trace the underside of her breasts through the lace. Her breath caught when she glanced down and saw the look in his eyes. Her heart gave a hard kick, sending her pulse up another notch. He leaned forward and drew a nipple into his mouth, drenching the lace covering it. A low cry broke from her throat as he moved to the other nipple. She stroked her hands through his hair and held on, tremors running through her body.

  With a flick of his thumb between her breasts, her bra fell open. He proceeded to drive her mad with need as he mapped her breasts with his lips and tongue. He paused and glanced up. She loosened her grip on his hair and shook her shoulders, letting her bra tumble to the floor. His eyes on her, he curled his hands around her hips and lifted her. Before she knew it, she was stretched out on the couch and he was sliding his palms up her calves, the calloused surface sending sparks along the surface of her skin. Her breath came in short pants as he reached the juncture of her thighs. He stroked a finger over the silk there, back and forth, back and forth. Her legs shifted restlessly, and she managed to drag her eyes open and glance down. His eyes locked to hers as he hooked a finger on the edge of her panties and dragged them over her hips roughly. She kicked them free and reached for him, only to have him shake his head sharply and grip her hips with one hand, holding her firmly in place.

  “Oh no. We won’t be rushing.” His words were low and gruff and sent another ripple of need through her.

  Without another word, he dragged his fingers through her slick folds. Her hips arched into his touch, and her breath broke on a moan when he slid one finger into her channel and then another. She lost herself in the rhythmic stroke of his fingers inside of her. She almost came the moment he brought his mouth against her, swirling his tongue around her clit. In seconds, she was crying out, her channel convulsing around his fingers. He slowed his touch and pulled away. She dragged her eyes open at the rustle of clothing to see him kicking his jeans free and rolling a condom on.

  At the sight of him with the firelight flickering on his amber skin, illuminating every inch of his muscled form, her breath caught and desire tightened inside her again. He rested on one knee, his eyes mapping her body. It was as if he touched her with his gaze, lighting tiny fires on her skin. Heat suffused her and the air around them was heavy with desire. He moved slowly and deliberately, easing his weight on top of her. His elbows bracketed her face. His cock rested at her entrance, and he nudged his hips just barely, a maddening tease. On the heels of her shattering orgasm, he proceeded to stir the coals inside. His lips traveled in a blazing path down her neck, teasing her every inch of the way by nudging his cock against her entrance. Liquid need drenched the inside of her thighs as she arched into him, frantic for more.

  “Quinn…I need…”

  He answered with his body. With a swift surge, he seated himself deeply within her just as he closed his mouth over her nipple and bit down softly. At her ragged cry, he lifted his head.

  “This?”

  Somehow she managed to open her eyes to find his waiting. Wordless, she nodded and flexed into him as he began to stroke into her in long, deep surges. With his eyes on her, she held on through the building storm. She couldn’t tear her eyes away, the sense of connection so deep it struck her at her core. With each stroke, she rose to meet him as he pounded harder and harder into her. Chasing bliss, she raced after it until sensation tightened in her center and spun loose, sending pleasure spiraling through her.

  Lacey’s held fell back when she cried out, the clutching heat of her channel gripping him. Quinn had been barely holding on. He finally let go, driving deeply once more before his own release crashed through him with such force, his body tightened like a bow and he collapsed against her. He eased his weight to the side and rested against her. After several moments, he felt her roll her head and opened his eyes to find her luminous green gaze on him. He reached over to brush her tangled hair out of her eyes. After several quiet moments, she bit her lip.

  “Well, I guess we went a little crazy there,” she said with a wondering laug
h.

  “That’s one way to put it.”

  Her eyes coasted over him. He could practically see the wheels turning in her brain and wondered what she was thinking. She surprised him by reaching over and smoothing his brows. A small gesture, but oddly intimate. “We should sleep down here in front of the fire,” she said softly.

  He glanced around and back to her. “Works for me, but don’t you think we might be a little crowded on the couch?”

  She giggled. “It folds out. Let’s get up and pull it out.” She wiggled her hips against him. His body reacted instantly, and her eyes widened before she giggled again. He rolled his eyes and slowly lifted his weight away from her.

  Not much later, Lacey had quickly tossed sheets and a quilt on the couch bed, while she directed him to make hot chocolate. She piled the bed high with pillows and grabbed the remote. “It’s not that late, so let’s do a movie.”

  Quinn handed her a mug of hot chocolate and set his own on the small table beside the couch. He crawled into the bed beside her and leaned back against the pillows. “Sounds good. You pick.”

  “You always say that! How come you never want to pick what we watch?” she said with a soft laugh.

  He shrugged. “Because I don’t care all that much.”

  “If it was just you, what would you watch?”

  “Hmm. Probably something funny or an action flick.”

  She grinned and leaned back, tossing him the remote. Much later, he lay beside her, listening to the sound of her breathing. Another mind-blowing encounter with her tonight. While perhaps that should have made him worry, it was the comfort of having her curl up against him while she sipped hot chocolate that clenched his heart and made him want so much more.

  Chapter 11

  The feel of a palm sliding over the curve of her hip nudged Lacey into consciousness. She was curled on her side with Quinn spooned behind her. His hand came to rest at the dip of her waist. It felt so good to awake in the dark like this with him that she didn’t dare move for fear she’d snap the sleepy, intimate moment. Once he became still again, his breathing settled into a slow, steady rhythm. She opened her eyes to find the room shrouded in darkness and the banked coals in the woodstove glimmering. It was toasty warm, although with the fire dying down, the room was cooling. She had her own personal heater curled around her. Quinn fairly simmered with warmth. She burrowed her hips closer into the cradle of his and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

  The way she felt with him was so unlike anything she’d ever felt before, it rattled her. Yet, she couldn’t turn away from it. A small voice inside of her wanted to kick off the covers and crawl out of bed, anything to tear herself free of this need to savor the intimacy between them. The rest of her shouted down that voice. She took another breath to steady herself and looked out the windows. The soft snow that had been falling when they walked to her cabin last night had stopped and the stars were twinkling bright against the sky. Her eyes fell closed and she drifted back into sleep, warm and more comfortable than she might ever have been.

  A few hours later when she opened her eyes, Quinn was still curled behind her, but she sensed he was awake. She rolled over to face him. His amber gaze caught hers, and he lifted a hand to brush her hair out of her eyes.

  “Mornin’.”

  His voice was gravelly with sleep and sent subtle wash of heat through her. It was beyond her comprehension how little he had to do to turn her on. “Good morning to you. How long have you been awake?” she asked.

  “Maybe five minutes.”

  “Oh.”

  She ran out of words with that when he shifted his legs against hers, sending a jolt of heat straight to her center. His mouth curled at the corners in one of his dangerously sexy grins. Her cheeks heated, despite her best efforts to wrangle her body’s response under her control. She felt as if he could see right through her. In the quiet, her phone beeped from where she’d left it on the small table behind the couch. She reached up and blindly fumbled for it, relieved for the interruption.

  When she glanced at the screen, her stomach knotted. Dr. Marshall’s name blinked at her. She was probably calling to confirm Lacey’s MRI appointment, which was the absolute last thing Lacey wanted to think about just now. She clicked to turn the ringer off, but not before she noticed Quinn had seen the screen. She slipped her phone back onto the table. “I’ll call her later,” she said before kicking the covers off her legs and rolling away from Quinn.

  The ice-cold dash of reality intruding snapped her out of the warmth of the moment with Quinn. Restless and not thinking, she stood before she considered the fact she was bare naked. “I’ll make pancakes, and you make coffee,” she announced as she spun to face him with her hands on her hips.

  His eyes darkened, and he arched a brow. “Okay,” he replied, his voice gruff.

  Heat slid through her veins when she saw the desire in his gaze. She suddenly became aware of her state and crossed her arms, which was somewhat pointless as her breasts only plumped over them. She whirled away and jogged up the stairs. “Be back down after I shower,” she called out.

  Moments later with steaming hot water sliding over her skin, she heard the shower curtain rustle and felt Quinn’s hands slip around her waist. Pure carnal need flooded her as he brushed her wet hair off her neck and blazed a trail of kisses through the water. His hands came around to cup her breasts. He traced slippery circles around her nipples and tugged lightly on them. Her weak resistance, entirely of her own making, crumpled. She wanted to think she could control her response to him, but she didn’t even care to try.

  She spun around and placed a palm on his chest, pushing him against the tiled wall. She stroked her hands over his chest, savoring the slip and slide of the water over his sculpted muscles. Curling a fist around his cock, she bit her lip at the sound of his breath hissing through his teeth. She knelt down and licked along the underside of his cock. Her name came out on a rough gasp.

  “Hmm?” she murmured as she drew him into her mouth.

  She glanced up through her damp eyelashes to see his head thrown back against the shower wall, the veins in his neck standing out as she explored him with her lips and tongue. Again and again, she drew him into her mouth, sliding her fist up and down when she pulled back. She tasted a hint of salt before he yanked her up and spun her around. He suddenly froze, and she glanced over her shoulder.

  His expression was pained. “Hold that thought. Have to get a condom,” he bit out.

  For a second, she didn’t say anything and then she didn’t care. She wanted to feel him, all of him, with no barriers. “No need. I’m on the pill.”

  His eyes slammed to hers, a question in them. “Are you sure? Because…”

  “I’m sure. I trust you, so I hope you can trust me too.”

  His gaze darkened. “No question,” he said, grabbing her hips roughly.

  She had to catch her balance with her palms on the wall when her knees almost gave out as he slid his fingers between her thighs, stroking into her drenched channel. She was so ready, she could hardly bear to wait. He didn’t seem inclined to make her when he positioned his cock at her entrance and surged in swiftly, seating himself all the way inside of her. Her channel throbbed around him, and she cried out at the delicious stretch of him filling her.

  With Quinn’s hand gripping her hip and anchoring her, she tumbled into the maelstrom of sensation overtaking her. She arched her back, her hips driving to meet each thrust of his. Abandoning herself to the storm rushing within, pleasure whipped through her. He stroked his hand around her hip and circled his thumb over her clit. The pressure inside unraveled, letting loose in a rush. Dimly, over the sound of running water and her own sharp cry, she heard a low growl from him when he drove deeply into her and felt his body tighten before his palm slapped against the wall beside one of hers.

  Tremors rippled through her body as she slowly became aware of the cool tile under her palms. Quinn eased his grip on her hips and slowly
pulled out, his palms sliding up her sides as she straightened. Dazed and almost boneless in the aftermath of yet another interlude with him that stole her senses and chipped away at the defenses around her heart, she slowly turned in his arms. He looked down at her for a long moment before dipping his head and catching her lips in a quick kiss. He seemed to sense she wasn’t up for actually talking. His unnerving ability to read her so well was as comforting as it was disconcerting.

  Quinn glanced around his suite, his eyes scanning the perfectly made bed and otherwise almost undisturbed room. He wondered if it might make sense to call off the fiction of staying here and just cart his bag over to Lacey’s cabin. The only reason he hadn’t suggested it yet was he wasn’t sure how Lacey would respond. He quickly changed his clothes and grabbed his lightweight down jacket off the hook by the door. The dusting of snow from last night had remained this morning under an overcast sky. He headed out of his room and downstairs, planning to swing by Dr. Daniels office to drop off some paperwork.

  When he reached the foot of the stairs, he found Marley waiting by the reception desk with her baby seated in backpack on her shoulders. She was in the middle of a conversation with Harry, gesturing with her hands for emphasis. She glanced Quinn’s way and waved him over.

  “Well, hey there! What are you up to today?” she asked with a warm smile and a glint of curiosity in her eyes.

  “A trip to town to drop some paperwork off at Dr. Daniel’s office.”

  Marley nodded and paused to free a lock of her hair from where it was clutched in Holly’s fist.

  “Morning, Quinn. Hope you’re enjoying your stay here,” Harry said with a sly grin.

  Quinn couldn’t say he knew Harry well, but it was obvious Harry kept his finger on the pulse of all comings and goings from the lodge. Quinn didn’t doubt for a second that Harry was quite aware Quinn hadn’t spent a single night here yet. He elected not to take the bait and nodded. “I’m just happy to be in Diamond Creek,” he replied, figuring he was hewing to the truth with that.