It was as if the embodiment of everything he’d ever hoped to find in a wife stood before him now. And Kelsey thought his reaction was all about her brother. He couldn’t have asked for a better interpretation on her part. As much as she might be everything he’d ever wanted in a wife, she wasn’t what he wanted in a lover. Looks-wise, she was perfect. Sexually, oh yeah, she had that one down to a science. It was the feelings part where things became messy.
She’d admitted the night before how easily her emotions became involved in relationships, and that she wasn’t the type to have sex on the run. He wasn’t the type to have it any other way. At least, not for the time being. It was good they were on such opposite ends of the playing field. Knowing she was off limits would make keeping things between them to a friendly level much easier.
“Hey, don’t feel strange about wanting my brother,” Kelsey said. “Andy has that effect on women of all ages. You mention his name, and their brains and various other parts of their bodies turn to mush.”
He smiled at the truth in her words. Andrew Stuart had that effect on many men too, Nate knew. Not the mush factor, but the awe factor. It was the latter the man had on him, but he would leave it up to Kelsey to interpret things how she might. “I’m glad you feel that way, because I think I’m in love with your brother.”
She laughed. The sound was high and melodious and rich with relief. “If you want, the next time he’s around the area I’ll be happy to introduce you.”
His smile fell flat and his gut churned. He’d wanted to meet Andrew for years and now he had the opportunity to meet him face to face and with only the man’s sister in tow. His sister, who, if Nate turned down her gracious offer any woman in their right mind would sell their body to obtain, would assume he was after her. His sister, who if he didn’t turn down, would eventually come to think of him as an untrusting asshole who made plans with no intention of following through on them.
He could handle looking like an asshole. Or rather Natalie could. He could even handle never getting to meet Andrew Stuart the legend. He would do it, because he owed it to Kelsey to set her mind at ease. More importantly because agreeing to meet Andrew meant seeing Kelsey again after this weekend was over. And that meant telling her the truth about him and dealing with the consequences. More, it meant hurting her. She might be strong and she might be capable, but knowing the way she considered most men to be lying jerks out for a fuck and little else, he knew she could never forgive him. He couldn’t hurt her like that, by admitting he’d deceived her. Knowing who her brother was and therefore how their parents had been killed in a boating accident years ago, one that had clearly left her with considerable emotional scars, he wouldn’t even consider it.
Nate forced a smile into place. “I would love to meet your brother.”
“Then consider it done. After all, what are friends for if not for introducing each other to their good-looking single brothers? Speaking of which, you said you had a sister, what about a brother? Anyone you care to introduce me to? Let me rephrase that, any man you care to introduce me to who I can trust for more than a few hours?”
He shook his head at the actuality in her words, and how big of a factor trust was for her. He didn’t know a single man like the one she spoke of. Including himself.
Chapter Four
Kelsey was impressed and relieved. Impressed because she never thought Natalie would be able to keep up with her once they reached the steeper and more rugged mountain terrain and relieved because the other woman clearly wasn’t harboring same-sex tendencies the way she’d momentarily considered. And that made two of them.
Smiling over both her relief and Natalie’s admission she had a thing for Andy, Kelsey braced her feet for better balance and turned to regard the other woman.
Natalie sent her an expectant look. “Tired?”
“Nope. Just hot.” The cooler air that had been left behind from the rain had gone and the sun was now high in the sky and beating down upon them. The higher they ascended, the more humid the air became. Sweat beaded in thin drops on Kelsey’s forehead and her sweatshirt clung to her body.
She should have gotten rid of the shirt long ago, but they had such a great pace going she had hated to stop for so much as a drink of water. Now that they were stopped she wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. She shook off her pack and positioned it between her feet to keep it from rolling down the steep path. Dragging in a breath of fresh air, she stripped out of the bulky shirt. The slightest of breezes rolled over her flesh and the heat of the sun caressed her bared skin with a sensuality she was certain only another nature lover would truly understand.
Tiny goose bumps of bliss raised on her flesh as she stuffed her shirt into the top of her pack. She pulled out her water bottle and, taking a thirst-quenching drink, glanced back at Natalie. She frowned, trying to guess the woman’s thoughts. Her attention was fixed somewhere around waist level and there was an emotion in her amber eyes that was unidentifiable.
The gleam of perspiration that lined her wide forehead wasn’t unidentifiable however. She had to be roasting with all those layers on. Yesterday Natalie had worn a black running suit that was zipped to her chin and hid ninety-five percent of her body. Today she wore a white nylon suit zipped just as high. “Aren’t you hot?”
Natalie looked up from whatever it was she’d been looking at and shook her head. “Not really. I hike a lot. So far I haven’t even broken a sweat.”
Typically there was only one person who could prick at Kelsey’s temper, and that was Andy. Yet, Natalie had managed to do it last night at the campfire with her out of place smile and again now with the accusation that seemed to be hidden just beyond her words. She sounded as if she thought Kelsey were incapable of going any farther without taking a break. The truth couldn’t be further off.
“I hike a lot too,” she said, not bothering to hide the bite in her words, “and am by no means winded; however, I am starting to get sweaty. It has to be close to eighty-five and muggy as hell out.”
What looked to be amusement flickered through Natalie’s gaze. She dropped her pack from her shoulder and unhooked her water bottle from where it was mounted to the bag’s side. She downed a long swig and pressed the cap back down. “You’re right, it is hot out. Maybe I’ll change when we get back to camp. I don’t have a T-shirt along.”
Whereas Kelsey’s temper rarely unleashed itself around anyone but Andy, neither did the urge to gloat. That urge coursed through her now and she couldn’t stop her victory smile. Natalie grinned back, clearly not missing the reason beyond her expression, and the affinity she felt toward the woman grew to an all new level. A few hours ago the closeness might have bothered her. Since learning she had nothing to fear with Natalie and nothing to fear of herself but an overzealous imagination and the way she allowed it to get to her, she embraced it. “You have a bra on, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then just wear that. It’s not like we’re going to run into any men up here.”
Natalie’s mouth fell flat and she reattached the bottle to her pack. She hoisted the pack to her shoulder and nodded toward the trail. “I’m really not that hot. Now if we’re going to be back on time for the afternoon events, we had better get moving.”
Kelsey nodded and settled her bag on her back. She didn’t miss the tremor of uncertainty in Natalie’s words. She was clearly lying about not being hot. She was also clearly embarrassed. She should just start walking and let things slide. She didn’t do it because she hated the idea she was at the source of the woman’s discomfort. “I’m sorry. That was pushy of me. I know not everyone’s comfortable with their body. To be honest, I am usually the last one to be comfortable around someone I’ve only known for a short while, but I am with you.”
She frowned at the reality that came with voicing those words. She was more at ease with herself at this moment than she’d ever felt with another person aside from her brother. While she never spoke of her parents’ death to an
yone with the exception of Jan, she found she wanted to tell Natalie everything, from the threatening phone calls they’d received in the weeks leading up to the boating explosion to the final, “You were warned,” call that had come in the day after. If Natalie asked about her parents again, she would do just that. “It’s strange, but I feel more relaxed around you than I feel around friends who I’ve known for years. I feel like I can be myself around you, that I can trust you. Do you know what I mean?”
Natalie stared at her, her gaze intent and her mouth pinched together in an unyielding line. Finally, the firm set of her lips relented, and she gave a slight nod. “I think so.”
She thought so? It wasn’t that strange of an answer really. It was the look in Natalie’s eyes that seemed so strange, the expression on her face. It was almost as if she hadn’t wanted to voice the words aloud, Kelsey thought as she continued to trek up the mountainside. Did it have something to do with this morning, had she been awake the whole time and as a result afraid of what Kelsey wanted from her? Or was it merely the fear of beginning a friendship only to never again talk after this weekend? Either way, Natalie had nothing to worry about.
This morning had been a fluke, one that would never be repeated. As far as their friendship went, she still didn’t know where Natalie lived, but wherever it was she would keep in touch with her, as well as make good on her words to introduce her to her brother. Not that Andy would go for Natalie. Or for that matter that Kelsey wanted Andy to go for Natalie. She loved her older brother, he’d been all that she’d had for years, but he wasn’t known for his relationship skills or for dating women that weren’t both superficial and flawless.
Nate stared at Kelsey’s back as they neared one of several mountain crests. She hadn’t spoken a word to him since they’d stopped over fifteen minutes before. He could tell by her slightly irregular breathing she was starting to get tired, but he had it on good faith that wasn’t the reason for the silence.
She thought she had embarrassed him and was maintaining her silence in an effort to not do so again. She hadn’t embarrassed him. The instant she yanked off her sweatshirt to reveal a thin, white sports bra, she had blindsided him with a bolt of sexual desire so strong it had been all he could do to jerk his attention from her breasts to her waist before she caught his wolfish ogle.
He had wished she’d had on camping underwear last night, had believed if she was in camping underwear instead of a slip of black lace someone had obviously told her was a bra he wouldn’t be so damned turned on by her. He had been wrong, painfully so. The sports bra was every bit as arousing as the black lace had been. The sight of her tanned, lightly-sculpted back and arms glistening with a fine sheen of perspiration had been one of the most erotic sights he’d ever seen. It had taken almost more control than he possessed to keep his hands at his sides and not run them all over her sumptuous body the way he’d ached to do nearly from the first minute they’d met.
It was peculiar as hell. He had seen plenty of women perspiring in sports bras at the gym and various outdoor events. He had seen more than that wearing nothing at all and perspiring for a much more pleasurable cause than fitness. Yet, for some reason not one of them had turned him on so completely as Kelsey in a plain white cotton sports bra, hiking along a mountain trail.
It had to be sexual deprivation. It had been almost two weeks since he’d last had sex and obviously it was catching up with him. It couldn’t be that he was honestly this attracted to her. That she blindsided him so completely with each and every new thing she revealed about herself. It had to be sexual deprivation that made his guts knot at the thought of keeping things between them on a friendly level. Almost as badly as they had knotted when she’d admitted to trusting him.
Worse than trusting him, she’d expected him to understand. To feel the same damned way!
It was ludicrous. More ludicrous than spending the weekend parading as a woman while sweating to death beneath two layers of too damned snug spandex and nylon. No, he wasn’t this attracted to her or so caught up in her intrigue that he couldn’t keep his cock from pulsing with the need to fuck her and his mind free of thoughts of doing the same. He was simply so hot he was becoming delirious.
“Wait until you see this, Natalie! It’s incredible!”
Delirious, Nate reminded himself sternly, as his balls tightened at the sound of Kelsey’s excited voice coming from the other side of the rise several yards ahead. Not captivated. Not aroused. Not hard as hell and wanting to screw her pretty little brains out until thoughts of her unhappy past and how he might make her present a whole lot more enjoyable left his mind permanently. Just delirious.
He crested the rise a moment later and the breath lodged in his throat. The mountain peak had leveled off to reveal an open glen of flowering trees and shrubs and several acres of mossy grass. A river ran through it all, and in the center of that river was Kelsey. The water came to just below her breasts and she’d obviously been under completely at one point because her nipples strained against the soaked bra and her hair hung in long, dark strands to just below her neck.
Nate’s heart took off, slamming against his ribs as he met her eyes. Their ashen depths sparkled with life, with energy, with vitality. With an exuberance reflected in her brilliant smile and the sinful dimple in her cheek he knew he had to run his tongue over if it were the last thing he did.
“I know you said you aren’t that hot, but c’mon, Natalie, this is just too tempting to ignore. I’m telling you, it feels like pure heaven. Give it a try.”
He groaned at the whisper of excitement in her words. Groaned even more as his cock hardened further still and his blood heated to fever pitch.
Oh, hell, he was delirious. Going out of his goddamned mind with it. Judgment was gone. Reasoning was gone. Everything was gone, but his ability to move forward and do just as she suggested and give her a try.
Halting long enough to toss his pack aside, he strode to the riverbank and down its side. Cool, crisp water worked its way past the many layers of his clothing and offered divine relief to his sweltering body. Divine and yet not the relief he craved. That relief he found when he reached Kelsey’s side several seconds later.
Mirth rallied through her expressive eyes for another instant then vanished as a hunger she couldn’t have concealed if she had wanted replaced it. He slid his gaze from her smoldering eyes to her full pink lips and the primal groan that escaped his mouth said more than any words could have. Her lips parted and a breathy gasp stole out. He returned to her gaze, expecting her to make a hasty retreat. She didn’t move. Just remained still, her lips parted and raw need burning in her eyes.
Christ, he wanted her. Wanted her in a way he’d never before experienced. Wanted her in a way that was not logical. Wanted her in a way that refused to be denied, so Nate didn’t even bother to try.
He reached for her and she seemed to fall into his arms, to lock onto his mouth, to need his kiss every bit as badly as he needed hers. He’d thought of her as many things since he had first laid eyes on her, as her hands gripped his arms with a wild strength and her lips pressed demandingly against his own, he realized he’d left out passionate. Her mouth waged a mad siege, pressing ruthlessly against his lips, insisting he open to her, and when he didn’t do so immediately her teeth took over, nipping into the soft pad of his lips, teasing with playful bites and pushing him ever farther over the edge.
Unwilling to remain immobile a moment longer, he moved his hands over her, feeling every inch of sleek contours. She was muscled enough to prove she spent time seeing to her body’s fitness and curvy enough to ensure she was all woman. He filled his palms with the firm globes of her ass and delved his tongue past her lips. Her grip on his forearms turned stronger and she suckled at his tongue, licking and kneading with the force of her own.
He skimmed his hands from her buttocks along her naked sides, pulling her body flush to his as he went, needing to feel the wet heat of her cunt pressed against his cock regardless
of the consequences. First, he had to get rid of the damnable cup. And he would. Soon. For now he reveled in the feel of her sex riding his thigh, the press of her pussy lips grinding against his hard muscles. He moved his hands higher, dipping beneath the edge of her drenched bra to palm her bare breasts, and connected with her plump, aroused nipples. He drew one rigid crown between his fingers and squeezed. A moan exploded from her mouth and into his, and she arched into his touch and ground her cunt harder against his thigh. The feel of her pussy parted beneath the thin layers of her clothing to rub repeatedly against his thigh the way he ached to feel it rubbing over his throbbing cock was too gratifying, too stimulating, too damned intense to ignore.
A groan of ecstasy bubbled up in his throat and he drew back from her mouth to plant hot, wet kisses along her jaw, down the supple line of her neck on a journey to the breasts he had to taste, to the nipples he had to have in his mouth, to the rest of her tantalizing body he wanted to sample one slow, lazy lick at a time.
He ran his tongue along the hollow of her neck and the intoxicating scent of her that had filled his nostrils all morning exploded in rich sweetness. The taste was too natural to be perfume, but it was something. Something that made his head spin and his blood boil ever hotter. Something noteworthy. “You are so damned sweet. You make me want to come and we’ve barely even touched yet.”
The feminine voice registered to Nate’s ears the instant the words left his mouth and he knew that it had registered with Kelsey as well because she went from writhing and purring with rapture to irrevocably still.
She shuddered within his arms and he lifted from her throat to meet her eyes. They had been closed, but now they parted to reveal bewilderment. Slowly, her lips parted as well, and words trembled from her lips, “Oh…my…God…”
Wild Hearts: One Wild Weekend Page 6