I had no idea. I barely resisted the urge to slam my fist into the wall before I took off outside looking for her. I was about to head the way she’d come last night, assuming that maybe she’d planned to head back toward her car, when something made me stop and turn toward the barn. The door was ajar.
It was only a few meters away, but by the time I reached it I was even more pissed…Christ, beyond pissed. The woman confused the hell out of me, did reckless things, could have burnt my goddamn house down, and now she’d run off. And that was just day one. Okay, yeah, she’d only run to the barn, but I could have been storming through the forest by now searching for her.
I shoved the door open and strode in. “What the fuck, Freya?” I bit out.
Then pulled up short.
5
Beau
She sat on my workbench, legs dangling, face in hands, and she was—shit, she was crying.
I stood there, not sure what the hell to do. Yeah, I’d been in the same room as a crying woman before, but that didn’t mean it freaked me out any less. And Freya wasn’t just crying, she was sobbing so hard she hadn’t even heard me when I came in.
“Freya?” I said, louder this time.
She jolted, her head shooting up, and she quickly dragged her sleeve over her eyes. “I just needed a minute…to get some fresh air.” She attempted a smile and pointed to her watery eyes. “Now my hay fever’s playing up,” she lied.
I moved toward her, like she was a terrified animal, like she’d startle and bolt if I made any sudden movements. “You don’t have hay fever.” I took another step closer. “I’m sorry for yelling at you back there. It’s just…I freaked. I saw smoke and I reacted.”
She shook her head, and her eyes, which were looking down at her hands again, lifted to me. Big, beautiful, and glistening. “Am I that obvious?”
I nodded.
Her eyes closed briefly, and she drew in a shaky breath. “It’s not you…and it’s not just about burned buns.”
“Talk to me, Freya. What’s going on?” My heart felt like it was crawling up into my throat.
She glanced away.
“Freya?”
Her eyes came back to me, and my gut clenched at the look on her face. “I’m starting to think that this—us—it isn’t what either of us expected. That’s not your fault. It’s mine for building this into something it’s not…and I keep messing everything up.” She bit her lip and her face crumpled, fighting more tears.
My stomach sank. “Not what you expected?” I tried and failed to keep my voice even.
She offered up another watery smile. “We’ve been talking for six months, Beau. We’ve shared a lot of stuff with each other. We’ve had…intimate conversations. We organized this time together, and I thought…I assumed…” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I think I should go home. This was a mistake.”
Go home? God, I sucked at this. She’d been here for one day and already she wanted to get away from me. Had I put too much pressure on her to be this ideal I’d built in my head? I was pretty sure I’d mess up under that kind of pressure. I hated feeling that way and I was doing exactly that to Freya.
“What did you assume? Talk to me, Freya,” I said again. Even though I didn’t want to talk—I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss the hell out of her, make her stay. I wasn’t sure that was what she wanted anymore, though.
“The truth?” she said softly.
I nodded, gut suddenly in knots.
“I think it’s obvious that I’m attracted to you. I’ve felt that way from the moment I saw your picture. I looked at your face and I…I…” She cleared her throat. “I wanted to get to know you. I felt a connection to you.”
I’d felt the same way about her.
She blinked, and another tear streaked down her cheek. “I already feel like I know you, Beau. I don’t need time to be sure my feelings for you are real. I thought I’d get here and”—she turned scarlet—“we’d spent the first few days in bed. I thought you’d be as desperate for me as I am for you, but you’re not, and that’s okay. It’s not your fault. You can’t help the way you feel. You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. Just because I feel it, doesn’t mean you do. But this just feels…strange. I feel like I’m visiting a stranger, not my…boyfriend, not the guy I’ve thought about constantly for months.”
She really had no idea? How could she not see the way she affected me? I took a step forward, my hands coming down harder than I’d intended on the bench either side of her thighs.
She blinked at me again, eyes wide.
I wanted her so bad I was in constant pain. “You don’t think I want you?” I forced out past my tight throat.
She shook her head.
“I’ve been hard for you since you showed up. Christ, Freya, I’ve been hard for you since we started talking six months ago. I’m sorry for the mixed signals. I’ve gone about this all wrong. I’ve…” Shit. I couldn’t tell her I’d been secretly interviewing her for the position of Mrs. Beau Smith, and looking at her now, I felt like an asshole for the way I’d gone about it. She knew what I wanted, how I felt about love and relationships, but she had no clue this was some idiotic test. No, I didn’t want some big love—that only ever ended in disaster—and yes, I wanted a woman who could thrive out here with me, but whoever I married, we needed to have chemistry, and I felt that with Freya in goddamn spades. I didn’t know how to get that across to her, so instead I rasped, “I don’t want you to go.”
“Are you sure?” she said, voice soft, with a little husk that lifted goosebumps over my skin.
I placed my hands on her knees and spread her thighs, so I could fill the space. “Christ, Freya, I want you so damn bad I can’t think straight. I’ve tried to take things slow, I thought that was what was best for us, but don’t want that anymore,” I said.
My mouth was an inch from hers.
Her breath came in short pants. “You don’t?”
I shook my head. “Fuck no.” I thrust my fingers in her hair, groaning at the softness of it against my skin, and closed the gap between us. My mouth came down on hers and I groaned again, all the pent-up hunger I had for her slamming through me like a tidal wave so intense it had the ability to knock me on my ass.
Her hands went to my sides and she fisted the fabric of my shirt, pulling me closer. My dick was an iron bar, hot and pulsing as I slid a hand down her back, yanked her forward on the bench, and ground my erection against her.
She gasped against my lips. “Beau…”
The way she said my name only amped me higher, and the way I was feeling, I had no idea how that was possible. I’d never been more turned on in my life. “You wet for me?” I muttered against her lips. “That pussy ready for me, honey?”
One of her hands shoved down the back of my pants and she dug her nails into my ass. She whimpered. “Yes, God, so ready.”
“I want to feel it. Are you going to let me feel it, Freya?” I had no control over the words coming out of my mouth at this point. I just wanted her. Now.
“Yes,” she rasped.
I shoved one of my hands down the front of her tights and cupped her pussy. Her panties were soaked. Jesus. Yanking them aside, I finally touched her. A hiss slid through my teeth at just how hot and wet she was.
“So many things, Freya, so many things I’ve imagined doing to you while I stroked my cock to your picture. It didn’t help, just made me want you more.”
She whimpered again.
“Did you touch yourself thinking about me? Wishing it was me? Imagining it was me getting you off?” I said, control gone now, shattered.
“Yes,” she said.
My hips punched forward at her reply. “Jesus Christ. Can you feel that? Can you feel how much I want you? Don’t ever doubt that, Freya, never that.” I pushed a finger into her tight pussy and watched her head drop back, and her lips part on a moan. “I’m going to make you come, honey, so hard, then I’m going to show you exactly how bad I want you.�
��
I slid my thumb over her stiff, slick little clit, then circled it while I worked her, sliding in nice and deep. I needed to see more of her, so I yanked her shirt down at the front, hooking it under her tits, and growled at the way her bra barely contained all she had going on. I shoved down one of the cups and cursed when her creamy breast, tipped with a dark pink nipple, popped free.
“Jesus, look at you,” I gritted out. “So perfect.” I lowered my head and pressed my lips to her pale skin, breathing in the scent of her skin, and then finally sucking her small hard nipple into my mouth. She cried out, her fingers thrusting into my hair, fisting, holding me there like she thought I’d pull away. Like hell.
I added a second finger, fucking her faster, and got serious—no more teasing her clit. I pressed down on it, flicking and rubbing. She cried out at the same time I felt her tightening around my fingers.
And then she was coming, calling my name. She fisted my hair tighter and dragged my head to hers, giving me the hottest fucking kiss of my life, her tongue thrusting against mine in time with the pulsing of her pussy and the agonizing throb along my painfully hard cock.
Her hands dropped to the front of my pants while we continued to eat at each other’s mouths.
“I need you,” she said against my lips.
Not as much as I need you.
“Beau! You out here?” someone called from outside the barn.
I froze.
“Beau, man, you here?”
I knew that voice: a friend of mine from Eaglewood. What I didn’t know was why the hell he was here now. I cursed, pulling back, and looked down at Freya, who was flushed but fully alert and scrambling off the workbench.
“Sorry,” I said to her. “I need to go see what he wants.”
She flushed darker. “Of course.”
Christ, I wanted inside her.
The door to the barn opened before we could reach it.
Ed’s gaze landed on me then slid to Freya, then shot back to me.
“What are you doing out here, Ed?”
Ed shifted from foot to foot, looking antsy as hell. “It’s the old man. I need your help.”
With those two sentences, I was on full alert. “What happened?”
“We were out here hunting. He slipped down a bank and busted his ankle. I need help getting him out.”
I was already walking toward him. “Of course. Let me get my stuff and we’ll head out. We’ll swing over to Hank’s and grab him as well,” I said, striding for the house. I rushed upstairs, changed, loaded my pack with supplies in case we were out all night, and shoved back on my boots.
Freya was standing by the door, looking worried. I stopped in front of her. “I want you to stay here, stay inside, okay?”
She nodded.
“I’m not sure what time I’ll be back, so don’t wait up.” I leaned in and kissed her lips, still swollen from our make-out session in the barn.
She curled her fingers around my wrist when I started to walk away. I stopped and turned back.
“Be careful, Beau.”
I dipped my chin and walked out, and as I did, I couldn’t ignore the feeling unfurling in my gut. I didn’t know what it was—couldn’t name it—I just knew it felt good, really fucking good.
Knowing that Freya would be there when I got home…I liked it.
I liked it a whole lot.
6
Freya
I startled awake.
Sitting up, I shoved my hair from my eyes and looked around the dark living room. I was wondering what woke me when I heard a howl in the distance. A wolf, or maybe a coyote? I had no idea, only that the sound was hair raising.
The house around me was silent. Beau wasn’t back yet. I didn’t need to move from my spot on the couch to know that. I looked at the clock in the kitchen. 5:00 a.m.
I stood and flicked on some lights. There was no way I was going back to sleep. Not now that I was awake and starting to worry. What if Beau had been hurt? There were wild animals out there. I didn’t know what to do. How long I should wait until I called for help?
It was midmorning, and I was a complete mess, by the time Beau finally got home. I could see him through the window, walking toward the house. He had his gun in one hand, the other swinging loose at his side. His big, solid, muscled body moved with purpose, in a way that was sure and confident. He was comfortable in his surroundings, in his own skin.
The sight was mesmerizing.
But as he got closer I could also see that he was covered in cuts and scrapes, his clothes muddy and torn in several places.
I yanked the door open and rushed out as he walked up the steps. “Oh my God, what happened to you?”
He trudged through the door. “I’m fine. I had to climb down a ravine to get to Ed’s father. It was harder getting him up than we thought. He’d fractured his arm. Luckily, we had Hank there as well to help haul him up.”
I rested my hands on his chest, my heart going a million miles an hour. “I hate that there’s no goddamn cell service out here. I was worried out of my mind. I was positive you’d been eaten by wild animals or something.”
He looked down at me and cupped the side of my face. “We know what we’re doing. We were safe the whole time. I promise you, I’d never take any unnecessary risks. We were raised out here; we know better.”
I nodded, but I knew it would take a little longer to get over the fear I was feeling. “Why don’t you go have a nice hot shower and I’ll make you something to eat?”
He leaned in, pressing his lips to mine. They felt cool. “Yeah, I think I will.”
Then he headed upstairs, and I watched him go, forcing myself to stay put and not rush after him. Playing it cool wasn’t as easy as I thought, especially after last night.
When he came back down a little later, he was wearing sweatpants and a thin, soft T-shirt that stretched across his chest. His feet were bare, and his hair was still damp. The man was perfection. I wanted to strip him naked and finish what we’d started in the barn.
I turned back to the stove and flipped a pancake. The one thing I knew how to cook, and it not end a total disaster.
“Smells good,” Beau said as he came up behind me, nuzzling the spot between my neck and shoulder. His beard tickled, lifting goosebumps across my skin. “Pancakes don’t smell too bad either.”
I grinned, trying to be all cool and collected when my heart was racing like crazy. “They’ll be ready soon. Go sit down and rest, and I’ll bring you a plate when they’re ready.”
He kissed the side of my throat and I shivered. “As soon as I’ve eaten my pancakes, I’m eating you,” he said against my skin.
His voice was rough, sexy, and I could feel him getting hard against my butt. I shivered when he kissed me one more time before walking away.
Somehow, I remained standing and didn’t dissolve into a puddle on the kitchen floor.
When I walked in with his food a short time later, he was stretched out on the couch, long, solid body on full display, one hand behind his head, one resting on his belly, bare feet crossed at the ankles.
And he was asleep.
I decided not to wake him. He’d been out all night and was obviously exhausted. I put the rest of the pancakes in the fridge as quietly as I could and went upstairs to have a shower. When I came back down, he was still out cold. His face was relaxed, his dark eyelashes resting on his cheeks. He looked so yummy lying there, so inviting.
The couch was wide and there was a little room down beside him.
Screw it.
I climbed on with him and wrapped my arm around his belly. I hadn’t slept great last night either, and with the heat of his body radiating through my clothes, I started to drift off a few short minutes later.
I didn’t fight it.
I was still half asleep when I realized the heat warming my butt was a hand. Strong fingers flexed, squeezing my ample flesh, followed by a groan. I heard it as well as felt it, the strong chest under my che
ek vibrating from the low, sexy sound.
It took a little effort, but I lifted my head, expecting to find Beau staring down at me. He wasn’t; he was still asleep. He was also shockingly hard and, I realized, commando under those gray sweatpants. The fat swollen head of his cock had actually pushed past the waistband of his pants.
Oh my God.
He was long and thick, and beautiful.
His shirt had lifted up and his tight abs, which were dusted lightly with dark hair, were clenched. I followed the sexy trail that led the eye right down—to his gorgeous cock—and bit back a moan.
Beau Smith was definitely all man. I took a moment to admire his amazing body. His long legs and thick, solid thighs. His wide muscled chest and biceps, those corded forearms. I could see through his worn-thin shirt that his chest was also dusted with hair, more than his belly. I’d never been up close and personal with a guy who hadn’t manscaped, and I was surprised at how hot I found it.
I squeezed my thighs together as I took in his thick neck, his beard covering a square jaw. I wanted to touch it. I lifted my hand and gently cupped his cheek, a shiver sliding though me at how surprisingly soft it was. My gaze moved to his strong nose, higher…
His eyes were open, and he was watching me. He was also grinning.
My face heated.
“Hey,” he rumbled.
I dropped my head to his chest to hide my face. “Sorry, I just…” What? There was nothing I could say, no lie he would believe. It was obvious what I was doing. Being a giant perv while he slept.
“I could get used to waking up like this, your soft curves pressed up against my side, working yourself up looking at me.” I felt his fingers shift my hair. “Don’t apologize for that, Freya.”
I kept my head where it was and worked at finding my courage. It was surprisingly easy lying against Beau. It certainly helped knowing how much I affected him.
I dropped my hand to his exposed belly and felt as well as heard him suck in a breath. “What were you dreaming about?” I asked. “You were moaning in your sleep.”
Wild Man Page 4