by Sara Cate
My forehead wrinkles at that statement since all the time I spent with Knox, the best I could get out of him was a grilled cheese sandwich.
“Oh, I know,” Valerie beams proudly. “During our honeymoon, he made me the most amazing breakfast in bed. They were amazing, even if a little cold once we got around to eating. Isn’t that right, baby?”
It’s the second time my sister has made an innuendo about their sex life, and it’s starting to piss me off.
I mean, what the fuck?!
But I don’t have time to feel bad about myself because it’s at this exact moment that James decides to push my panties to the side with his deft fingers. Air escapes my lungs as ever so softly he begins to draw circles on my clit, awakening the rest of my body with a fierce hunger that doesn’t evolve the asparagus on my plate.
Suddenly I go deaf to all my sister’s ramblings about breakfast in bed and the amount of fun she and Knox had on their Vegas honeymoon. I’m unable to hear one word that comes out of her mouth since I’m trying my very best not to pant and moan with the way James’ expert fingers play with my now dripping pussy.
I venture a glimpse his way and see that James’ marble stone features are still perfectly in place, making everyone sitting at this table utterly unaware that he’s fucking me under the table with his fingers. Even when Valerie asks James something to include him in conversation, he doesn’t so much as let up, never pulling his fingers away from my greedy pussy. Val and James keep talking while Knox sits uncharacteristically silent in his seat.
My eyes grow wide when the scent of my arousal hits the air around me, even though it seems no one else seems to smell it. My feverish skin bursts out in goosebumps when James inserts a finger in me only for seconds later to insert another. Sweat pours down my neck, in between the valley of my breasts, my nipples hard like fine cut diamonds. My parched throat feels like it’s on fire, while my legs unashamedly open wider to give him better access. Through my peripheral, I see a hint of a devilish smile tug at the corner of his lips.
I lean further against the chair to keep me tethered to the ground while my hands white knuckle the hem of my skirt up so I can take a little peek. A small gasp leaves me as I watch my pussy swallow his fingers, begging to be filled with his cock. I imagine said cock in me, fucking me right here on top of the dinner table. And with that gloriously deviant image in my head, all of me explodes. Quickly, I cover my mouth with my hand to keep my wail of ecstasy contained within me. A delicious shiver runs down my spine, my pussy clenching around James’ fingers as I silently cum.
“Nicole, are you okay? You look flushed,” Knox asks, piercing through my afterglow and bringing reality to the forefront of my mind.
Fuck.
I just let my ex-boyfriend’s father fuck me with his fingers at the dinner table.
The fuck is wrong with me?!
“Must be the wine. You’ve been going hard on it all night. Careful, sis. You’re not a spring chicken anymore,” Valerie taunts with a teasing laugh.
“Maybe I should take you on a little walk outside to get some fresh air. The air in here has become quite stifling,” James adds with a devious smile, his hands fixing my skirt from under the table.
“I’ll take her,” Knox volunteers, his chair screeching back on the floor as he gets up and rounds the table.
“Now? At night? Maybe your father should take Nicki since he knows the way around this mountain better,” Val is quick to discourage.
“I agree,” James retorts, also getting up from his chair.
I push the nervous lump in my throat down as I watch both Knox and James stare at each other down.
“Actually, I think I would rather retire back to my room. It’s been a long day, and I’m finally showing signs of it,” I explain with a fake smile. “Thank you for dinner, James. It was lovely. Have a good night.”
And before either one of them has time to poke holes in my plan of getting the hell out of there, I run like the wind back to my room, making sure I lock the door behind me.
Throughout the night, I lie restless in bed, staring at my door, unsure if I locked it to keep unwanted guests out or to prevent me from going to James’ bedroom so he can finish what he started at dinner.
When I step out onto the balcony of my room the following day, I see that a fresh batch of snow covers the ground as far as the eye can see. But it’s not the jaw-dropping mother nature beauty that has me tongue-tied. It’s the shirtless man just below me, chopping wood that has my stomach in a twist. James places a log in front of him and slices it in two like one would cut butter with a hot knife. All his exposing taught muscles have my mouth watering, remembering when my tongue traced all of them that first night together. My heart speeds up when he wipes the sweat off his temple with his forearm, and for an excruciating second, I think he’ll spot me up here staring in awe at him.
But just as I think he’s going to see me, someone else grabs his attention. The pit of my stomach drops when Valerie, in her Valentino coat and tight white pants, strolls over to him, a broad smile stitched to her face.
I’m too far up to hear what they’re saying, but when James offers her his ax, it doesn’t take much to realize she’s asked him to give chopping wood a try. Val tries to pick up the ax, her face falling when it’s too heavy for her to lift. The nape of my neck prickles when James’s laugh reaches my ears as he takes his stance behind my sister, almost making her small frame disappear behind his broad, large one. My chest tightens, watching him help her lift the ax and plunder down a log. It gets stuck mid-way, causing Valerie’s melodic laugh to ring out in the cold winter air. James whispers something in her ear that silences her laugh and has her looking steady at the task at hand. With ease, James lifts the ax out of the wood and helps Valerie swing it again, splitting the log in two this time. Valerie shrieks in excitement, letting go of the ax to wrap her arms around James. The way she holds onto him almost looks like two long-lost lovers reconnecting after years apart.
Unable to withstand the sight any longer, I walk back into my room and close the doors and curtains to the balcony, blocking that image out.
I inwardly slap myself in the face, knowing that I have no just cause to be jealous of anything my sister does with James. He’s her father-in-law, and spending time with him must be important for her to get his approval on her marriage to his only son. It’s my insecurity that sees salacious intent in her harmless way of creating a bond with her husband’s side of the family. I really wish that my mind didn’t immediately jump to thinking she was flirting with James. I guess all the times I didn’t realize Val was flirting with Knox right in front of me when we were together now has me seeing things that are just not there.
When will I just get over this already?
When can I just move on?
I don’t love Knox anymore—that’s a given. When I saw him for the first time since he broke my heart, I was relieved to realize that any feelings of love and affection for him were indeed a thing of the past. I felt absolutely nothing when I looked at him—not even anger for his unfaithfulness.
But then again, this trip was never about Knox.
It was always about trying to salvage whatever relationship I could still have with my sister.
The only problem in that equation is that most of my baggage stems from Valerie and the way she treated me for most of my life. Without care or guilt of the suffering and misery, she caused with her betrayal.
It also doesn’t go unnoticed to me how watching Val with James brought out of me more jealousy than any of the various shows of PDA she had displayed with Knox.
So maybe that’s why something as sweet as a father-in-law trying to teach his son’s bride how to cut wood affected me so much. I don’t trust her motives. Not when she’s given me proof that Valerie only cares for herself and no one else. But if I genuinely want to have my baby sister back in my life, that means I will have to start trusting her. Little by little, I need to give her the chance to
gain back my trust, and I can’t do that locked away in my bedroom throughout all of my stay here.
Just as I swing the door of my bedroom open, I come face to face with none other than my sister’s new husband, arm halfway up, looking like he was about to knock on my door.
“Oh, hey,” I greet, my eyebrows pinching together in confusion as to why Knox is seeking me out.
“Hey, Nicki.” He smiles. “I was just about to see if you wanted to go on a walk with me before breakfast.”
“I… um...”
“Come on, Nicki. For old times’ sake,” he says with that all-American toothy grin that used to make the butterfly wings in my stomach take flight.
Pleased to confirm that his smile no longer brings such school girl behavior in me, I nod and concede to a quick walk on the grounds. I grab my winter coat and my snow boots and follow him outside through the front of the house. Knowing that James and Val are having their own moment at the back of the house, I suggest that Knox and I take a stroll through the vast lush forest in front of us. He’s quick to agree, telling me that there is a river nearby that he wants to show me anyway.
As we start walking towards the river, our conversation isn’t as stilled and awkward as I would have assumed it to be. In fact, it almost feels like putting on an old pair of worn socks that you know will keep your toes warm on a cold night. They may not be pretty or something you would take to bed when you had company, but they are familiar and comfortable. I’m not sure Knox would appreciate the analogy of being compared to old socks, but in the end, that’s exactly how I feel towards him. Maybe I should be more on guard, seeing as he broke my heart and ran away with my sister, but all that bitter resentment has disappeared. Perhaps because he didn’t hurt me as much as I thought he did. Maybe the only one I cried over for months was Valerie and not the boy I thought I would marry. And if that’s true, there is only one plausible explanation for it.
I never loved Knox.
In the back of my mind, I think I always knew that. I might have loved him to a point, but I was never in love with him. Not like a woman should be in love with a man. When a woman truly falls head over heels in love, she spends every waking moment thinking about her lover—wondering when he will kiss her again or when he will put his hands on her body and claim her as his.
I’ve never felt like that about anyone.
That’s a lie.
Someone does make me feel all those things, even if I don’t want to admit it to myself.
These thoughts are still rummaging in my head when we reach the river. Just like Knox had boasted, it really does feel like a sliver of paradise is right here hidden amongst the Colorado mountains, buried under white snow and pale blue skies.
“You’ve grown quiet on me,” he jokes, nudging my shoulder with his. “I’m going to take it as you like the view.”
“More than like. It’s breathtaking.”
His genuine smile splits his face in two.
“I’m glad you like it. When I had to come here for the holidays and summer break, I always thought that one day I could bring you here.”
I maul my bottom lip, not liking the nostalgic taint to his tone.
“It’s lovely. I’m sure Valerie liked it too when you brought here.”
Knox kicks the snow at his feet.
“I haven’t brought anyone up here. Only you,” he confesses, increasing my unease.
“I’m not sure how to respond to that,” I reply nervously.
“Shit,” he utters, a red blush tainting the bridge of his nose and cheeks. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just had this need to make at least one of the promises I made myself come true. Bringing you here was one of them.”
“Well, you can cross it off your bucket list. You finally showed me. But all this walking has opened my appetite. We really should head back now,” I say with a light tone, turning around so we can go back to the cabin.
Unfortunately, Knox has other plans. He surprises me when he holds me by the wrist to keep me in place.
“Wait, Nicki. Don’t go.”
“Let me go, Knox,” I demand, pulling my arm away from his grip.
Thankfully, he lets me go without a fight.
“Shit. This isn’t how I saw this going down at all.”
“How did you see this going?” I retort back coldly, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Honestly, I wasn’t sure. I guess the real reason why I brought you up here is to thank you for coming to my dad’s cabin in the first place. I missed you, Nicki. Things have been pretty crazy lately, and having you here reminded me of a more peaceful time. A time when things made sense for me.”
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me. I thought that you and Val were happy.”
His face falls at my statement, looking utterly lost and alone.
“I thought we were too. I guess I was wrong.”
“Hmm,” I chew on my lower lip, trying hard to put myself in his shoes, even if my gut tells me that I should hail tail it out of there.
“I heard the first year of marriage is hard, so don’t beat yourself too much about it. As long as you remember what brought you two together and the love you have for each other, then I’m sure you both will be able to jump over whatever hurdle is in your way.”
“You always know what to say,” he beams, the shiny glint in his aquamarine eyes, the very one I’ve seen in his father’s eyes has me paddling back.
“Um…I really am starving. How about we go back to the cabin and have some breakfast?”
“Sure. Thanks for coming up here with me. It meant a lot. You mean a lot to me,” Knox confesses, and before I can make head or tails about any of this, he pulls me into a hug and tightens his hold on me.
I shudder in discomfort the minute his nose dives into my hair, taking a good long whiff of my curls. All of me wants to push him away, but I figure if this is what he needs to keep his shit together throughout my visit here, then so be it. The last thing I want is for him and Valerie to start fighting while I’m in close range.
It’s only with the familiar sound of someone clearing their throat near us that Knox finally lets me go. Instantly I take two steps back away from Knox, but it’s too late.
The damage is already done.
James' piercing blue-green eyes skate over the two of us, and he does not look happy. Like a lone wolf baring his teeth to his prey, he throws us a white, savage grin, promising all sorts of hellish torture. But while Knox at my side looks utterly impervious to the silent threat of his father’s gaze, I’m not as immune.
I’m not sure if I should be afraid or excited.
That’s another lie.
I’m very much the latter.
By the way, my heart just leaped out of my chest, and my panties stick to my drenched folds, the fear of having this beast of a man unleash himself on me heats the blood coursing through my veins.
“Hi,” I blurt out, sounding breathless.
James just nods.
“We were about to head back to the cabin for breakfast,” I add, like an idiot.
Before I have time to make an even bigger fool of myself, I walk in the direction of the cabin. In a rush, I leave the two men behind, knowing that nothing in the cabin’s kitchen will satiate the hunger I’m currently being afflicted by.
Only James could do that.
And by the look in his eyes, before the day is done, he’ll make sure I’ll never forget it.
Chapter 6
He comes for me in the middle of the night, but at first, I think I’m having an erotic dream
I was on pins and needles the entire day, just waiting for something to happen. It would’ve been so damn easy to be in denial and tell myself that everything is fine and that James wouldn’t overreact about what he saw between me and his son, but I know better than to try and categorize a man so virile and silently brooding.
I saw the warning in his eyes… a warning of things to come and now, my body was buzzing
with lust all day. I was jumpy and to top it all off, James was gone the entire day.
I’m warm and snuggled in my comfortable bed. I don’t hear the door open or the sound of his footsteps as he comes closer to me. He’s as silent as the predator he is. But what I do feel though, is his sensual touch that starts at my toes like bolts of electricity.
Then his touch starts caressing my body, his long deft fingers stroking and soothing, awakening a hunger deep within me that only he knows. I moan, loving his gentle touch on me.
Then I feel his hot lips kissing my thighs, then up my body, bypassing where I’m throbbing for him, heading for my belly, both my heavy and heaving breasts, my collarbone, and then he stops where my pulse is beating erratically.
His kisses are almost hypnotic, a bit tranquil, peaceful, sensual and so damn sensual...but that’s all an illusion. I’m not prepared for what he does next.
He rips apart my nightie with just one tug.
My eyes fly open as the sound awakens me fully, only to come to a halt as I look up at his dark, heated bottomless gaze.
James is literally hovering over me, but he looks like a storm that’s about to take me over. A dark, aroused and angry storm.
My shredded nightie falls to the side of the bed, leaving me exposed to this hot man’s gaze. My nipples are already hard like diamonds as the realization of what’s about to happen takes over my senses, sharpening them until James is my entire focus. He’s already naked and I can feel his hard cock at my thigh, but it’s the look in his eyes as he stares down at me that makes my heart race.
“J-James,” I stutter, but his only response is to rip my lace panties as well. The sound makes me gasp as adrenaline spikes in my system. “Where were you?”
“Is that relief in your voice, Nicole?” he breathes in my ear. “Did you fucking miss me today?”
He’s angry. I knew that off course, but why the hell is he angry with me?
“No!” I gasp when I feel his knee parting my thighs. “It’s not like you missed me.”