by Ellen Lane
How could he still smell so good after half an hour of stalking through the forest? It literally defied reason.
After a few minutes, my heart rate gradually calmed. Even after Rhett released my hand it retained the warmth that he’d lent me and I had to force myself to concentrate as he showed me how to work the harnesses and rigging system. I’d be damned if I fell to my death because of raging hormones.
Even though he explained the process to me painstakingly, I was no less nervous when he strapped me in than I’d been that morning. Rhett assured me that we weren’t going to climb very high - only about a hundred feet or so - and my stomach twisted in anxiety.
Only a hundred feet. That sounded pretty substantial for a first timer. “Don’t be nervous.” My attention jerked upward as Rhett tugged on the harness I wore, making sure it was secure. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll be right here.”
I might have brushed the moment off as another blatant attempt at seduction, but the eyes that met mine were completely sincere -reassuring, warm, and more than a little bit excited. Though a part of me was terrified, Rhett’s enthusiasm was engaging enough that I forced myself to swallow my doubts and just do the damn thing.
In the end, I enjoyed myself a hell of a lot more than I expected.
Rhett was patient with me, showing me the most convenient handholds and always ensuring that my restraints were well tethered to the hooks that suspended us in the air. The first time I looked down, I nearly had a heart-attack - but there was also a strange, euphoric rush that flooded my nerve endings as I realized I was swinging from a rock face a good fifty feet up. I looked above me to see Rhett clinging to a ledge about five feet over me, and couldn’t help but admire the flex and contract of his muscles as he secured the next support hook with ease.
If this was what he did on a regular basis, no wonder he was in such good shape. Climbing took a ridiculous amount of upper body strength, and I was already panting, even though I noticed Rhett was making sure that I was on a path upward that wasn’t half as strenuous as his own.
The view from halfway up the rock face was absolutely breathtaking, and it was while I was admiring said view that the part of the cliff my hook was wedged into crumbled, sending me plummeting a good five feet downward until I was yanked taut from where I was attached to Rhett.
I screamed. I couldn’t help it - for a split second, I had been sure that I would fall to my death, forgetting about the failsafes put into place specifically for such occasions. But then, the moment passed. I was dangling in midair slightly below Rhett as he stared at me, his eyes wide with concern. “Are you ok?”
“Fine!” I replied automatically, a strange, insane mixture of adrenaline, excitement and terror rushing through my veins. “I can keep going!”
“We’re almost at the top,” he assured me, his smile reassuring. “Ten more feet!”
They were ten very long feet, but somehow, impossibly, we finally reached the top of the rock face. When I was hoisted up onto the solid slab, I immediately stretched out onto my back, my eyes sliding closed as I caught my breath. My heart was still racing.
“Hey, you alright?” Rhett sat down next to me, his legs dangling carelessly off the edge. The man, was, indeed, one hell of a daredevil; and, in that moment, gleaming with sweat, muscles pumped from exertion, he was absolutely sinful.
“Well,” I breathed, looking up at him. “I’m alive, so that’s something.”
We stared at one another for a few poignant seconds before bursting into laughter. I’m sure I looked ridiculous, which triggered Rhett, but I didn’t know why I was laughing. I couldn’t help it. Sure, it was scary doing something this dangerous, but it was also unlike anything I’d experienced in the short, safe length I’d been alive. Something I could see being addicting. “It was...amazing. I mean, there were a few seconds where I thought I was legitimately going to die, but that rush... I can see why you like it.”
Rhett’s gaze suddenly gleamed with an approval I’d never seen before. It was like he was looking at me - really looking at me - for the first time since I’d arrived at the manor a few days prior. It was the way I had always imagined my man looking at me...even if I’d never managed to stumble across him.
Rhett was close, I realized. Closer than he’d been seconds before. Though I’d caught the man staring at my mouth numerous times in the past week, this was the first time I’d blatantly stared at his. The last time I’d kissed Rhett, I was young, impetuous and had no idea just how powerful hormones could be.
I wondered what it would be like to kiss him now.
As soon as the thought entered my mind, it took over. I found myself raising my mouth, all but inviting the gesture. Rhett’s face was a mere hair's breadth from mine when a cold, wet droplet ran down my thigh, startling me out of my trance.
My water bottle was leaking. It must have snagged on a rock.
“I…” Turning my head, I swallowed thickly. Christ, that was close. Entirely too close. “I’d better drink most of this.”
Before I could lift the bottle to my mouth, however, Rhett stopped me with his hand on mine. “Cece, be honest with me.” His blue eyes were intent on mine, seeing straight through my facade of disinterest and down to the very core of me. “Have you thought about us since I left? What might have happened if I stayed?”
A lie was on the tip of my tongue. Really, a lie was the only safe answer. No sane woman would admit that she wondered about what might have been on a monthly basis – that she had to force herself to ignore every ad and TV program that popped up with his face on it. I had decided, a long time ago, that dwelling on the past was idiotic. The best thing was to move forward – onward and upward. That meant putting aside childish love affairs – no matter how serious they’d seemed at the time.
But the words wouldn’t come. With Rhett so close – close enough to press my mouth to his see if he tasted the same way he had a decade ago – I found I couldn’t lie. Not to myself, and not to him.
If nature hadn’t intervened, I probably would have made a goddamned fool of myself; but, thankfully, before I could answer Rhett a fat, cold, heavy droplet of rain tumbled from the heavens to splash on my nose, making me jump.
The good luck that had been on our side all morning seemed to be up. Before I could even point out the fact that it was starting to rain, a crack of thunder sounded so loudly that I scrambled to my feet in shock.
“Shit.” Rhett joined me in short order as the heavens opened up, dousing us in a surprisingly cold deluge.
“So much for the weather report!” I had to shout to be heard above the sudden din of the storm. Though it had been overcast for hours, this mess had literally popped up in the space of a few seconds. That’s what we got for testing mother nature. “How are we going to get back down the mountain in this?”
“Don’t have to!” Rhett called back, lifting his head upward as a brilliant flash of lightning lit the sky. “There’s a cabin on the property, about ten minutes away. We can wait out the storm there!”
Despite the unbelievable weather pummeling us, I found myself hesitating. An isolated cabin, on a mountain with Rhett, alone? It sounded a bit too much like a ploy to get into my pants for my comfort. At the end of the day, though, there was no way he could have foreseen the weather turning so sour, and if I had to choose between holing up with a generous billionaire or freezing my ass off, I was inclined to take the former.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to rappel down the cliff we had just climbed. Rhett showed me another way down along the rock face - though it was slippery and treacherous in the downpour. To his merit, the man didn’t grope me once as he helped me down - and there were some hairy bits where he all but grabbed the back of my shirt to keep me from toppling over the edge.
Still, he was surprisingly well-behaved; a boon, considering it only took about five minutes for me to start shivering. Even though it was summer, the elevation up here was wicked, and it might have been raining in mid-au
tumn. By the time we reached the forest floor it was a muddy mess, and I promptly slipped and fell in the muck.
In other circumstances, I might have laughed at my own clumsiness, but it was far too cold. When Rhett hauled me back to my feet, his gaze was concerned. “You ok?” Despite the fact that I’d been skiing and snowboarding more than a handful of times, I couldn’t remember ever being as cold as I was.
“I’m fine.” My teeth chattered over the words, and he merely frowned.
“Come on. Let’s get moving.”
Georgia was known for it’s fierce, momentary storms, so a part of me hoped the rain would pass in the next few minutes and we could simply head back to the mansion. Unfortunately, during our short hike to the cabin, the forest only grew darker and wetter. By the time the small, wooden structure came into view, my fingertips were numb.
Rhett fumbled with a keychain for a moment before unlocking the door and pushing me inside first. The moment he closed the door, the storm outside was muted. A few moments passed in the cold dark before he turned on a small lamp near the door, casting light over the room.
It wasn’t half as rustic as I might have imagined. There was a small kitchen that looked to have been cleaned relatively recently, a couch draped with a dust cloth, and a large fireplace opposite the single, queen sized bed.
Another particularly loud crash of thunder made me jump as Rhett shook his head, almost dog like, spraying me with minute droplets of water. “Hey!”
“Sorry.” His sheepish smile was just barely visible in the low light. “I’ll see about getting us warm.” With that, he stripped his t-shirt off over his head, letting drop to the floor with a wet smack. My cheeks immediately flamed as I turned away quickly - but not quickly enough to avoid seeing the chiseled lines of his chest, shoulders and abdomen.
I didn’t know if I was going to need anything to keep me warm. Rhett’s mere presence was doing plenty. I could only pray the storm let up relatively quickly. Staying here with him could only wreak havoc on my libido.
Chapter Six
~ Rhett
It was fucking freezing. Say what you want about Georgia’s intense summers, weather in the mountains was unpredictable. I assumed we’d be able to get in a quick climb before it turned, but mother nature decided otherwise. I could only thank God that the storm hadn’t started when we were halfway up the cliff. Even though the climb wasn’t a dangerous one, the rain might have made it life-threatening.
Cece looked aptly miserable. We’d been in the cabin for about half an hour to find out that the oven’s gas supply was turned off. I hardly ever used this place except on long climbing trips, so that made sense. But it didn’t really help our situation. After ten minutes in the storm, I was gritting my teeth with the cold, and without the gas on in the cabin, I couldn’t see us getting warmer anytime soon.
Luckily, Eric, who looked in on the cabin for me every few weeks, had made sure to keep a stockpile of wood by the fireplace. “Sit tight.” I glanced at Cece who stood, shivering, in the kitchenette.
It had been quite the trial to behave myself as I was helping her down the cliff face. The temptation to grab a handful of the ass sliding so decadently against me was nearly unbearable, but, somehow, I managed. I suppose the prospect of plummeting to our deaths if I chose to fondle Cece instead of making sure she had a hold on the slick rock provided more than a little motivation.
But where was that motivation now? There was no one but us around for miles, and her wet clothes clung to her body so decadently it was all I could do to keep from salivating. I could see the scalloped edges of the lace bra she was wearing beneath her t-shirt - the pert outlines of her nipples, peaked from the cold. Despite the frigid air, I felt my body responding, and moved quickly to start the fire.
“I’ll get a fire going. There’s a bathroom over there,” I indicated the far corner of the cabin. “They might be a bit musty, but there should be some clothes in there you can wear while yours dry out.” I did my utmost best not to imagine Cece peeling wet fabric from those sensuous curves of hers. It certainly wasn’t going to help my current predicament.
“R-right.” She was so cold, her lips were a light shade of purple. I would have given anything to close the distance between us and pull her into my arms - but that was a no-no. If I wanted to win Cece over, I would have to do it on her terms...which meant I had to get her to talk to me.
She toed off her sneakers, leaving them by the door before hurrying to the bathroom. When she closed the door behind her, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now I could see what I could do about convincing my cock to stand down before she got back. I found a lighter in a drawer in the kitchen and plenty of old newspaper to use as kindling. Within ten minutes, I had a pretty decent fire going.
Talk about fragile senses of masculinity all you want, but there was something pretty damned fulfilling about making your own way in nature. One of the things I always marveled at was how easy it was to flick a light switch on in the mansion compared to starting a blaze out in the wilderness. Little things like that served as a reminder to me of just how far I’d come. Once, the bare minimum was my only option. Now, I could choose whether I wanted to slum it, or be served cherries off a golden platter.
It was all about perspective.
Though the storm didn’t seem to be letting up outside, the interior of the cabin was slowly warming. I pulled the sofa close to the fireplace after casting the dust cloth aside before sticking my hands out to warm them. Good old-fashioned fire always did the trick.
“Conquered the stone age, have we?” I chuckled at Cece’s wry comment from behind me, turning with a witty retort on the top of my tongue.
And then, I forgot how to speak entirely.
I was never sure what clothing I left in the cabin, but it was apparent there hadn’t been any pants or long johns. All Cece wore was a long, faded flannel shirt of mine buttoned to her neck and stopping abruptly in the middle of her glorious thighs. The shirt was so big on her that she’d rolled up the sleeves just to expose her hands, and her wet hair was pinned atop her head in a haphazard knot. She was, by far, the sexiest thing I’d ever seen in my life.
“I... yeah.” I finally finished lamely. Despite the fact that I was still chilled, my cock didn’t seem to be paying attention to the temperature in my extremities. “You should probably come over here and warm up.” It was an idiotic line - on a level of teenage desperation. But that was just what Cece did to me. When I was around her, all at once, I was an impulsive child again - following her around like a puppy when Jeb wasn’t looking.
Cece eyed me warily for a moment before coming around the edge of the sofa to sink down on it. As the fire’s warmth enveloped her, painting her face in a warm, rosy glow, she sighed. When she leaned forward, extending her hands to warm them, the shirt she wore hiked even further up her thighs and I almost had a heart attack.
“Are there any more dry clothes in the bathroom?” I had to clear my throat so I could get the words out, shifting to make sure my erection wasn’t obvious.
“There were some sweatpants, but they were way too big for me.” Cece glanced over at me for a moment, her cheeks reddening, before she went back to warming her hands. It was clear she was far from unaffected by my nearness, and it was enough to make me want to take advantage of her. Wicked advantage, for hours upon hours on end.
Instead, I merely fled to the bathroom to change into the sweatpants. Staring into the small mirror, I ran a hand through my dark blonde hair, assessing my reflection. I could do this. It was just a couple of hours alone with her. In a cabin, miles from anyone who might hear the way I could make her scream my name.
“Fuck.” I spat the epithet under my breath, my hands fisting around the cold porcelain of the sink. This was doing absolutely nothing for my erection, and considering that I’d shed my underwear with my drenched jeans, now was the absolute worst time to try and hide the tent my dick had pitched.
I could be a gentleman. I could
go out there and talk to Cece - like we used to talk before there was romance involved in our relationship. I’d just have to pretend she wasn’t sitting there in just my shirt...not wondering what she might have on underneath it.
Goddamn, I needed a drink.
The moment I left the bathroom I made a beeline for the kitchen cabinet, withdrawing the bottle of Jameson I kept squirreled away. I rinsed out two mason jar glasses before filling each of them about a quarter full. When I offered Cece one of them, she arched a brow. “It’ll help warm us up.”
And hopefully stave off my craving for her.
For a while, we merely sipped our whiskey in silence as we listened to the storm rage outside. Call me sentimental, but it was pretty cozy with the fire roaring, sitting beside a gorgeous woman. A gorgeous woman, who, I realized, hadn’t answered the question I asked her up on the cliff.
Before the downpour started, I asked Cece if she’d thought about us over the years, and what might have been, and she hadn’t answered. As my next sip of whiskey burned down my throat, I glanced over at her. I wasn’t yet drunk enough to make any stupid decisions, but that wasn’t going to stop me from pressing the subject.
“You know, you didn’t answer me.”
Cece’s head jerked up, her beautiful honey eyes locking with mine in alarm. “Didn’t answer what?”
She knew exactly what I was talking about, but I didn’t mind playing along. “On the cliff. I asked if you’d ever thought about us.”
I didn’t want her drunk when she answered. I hoped she might tell me the truth sober...and I hoped the truth was what I wanted to hear.
Cece opened her mouth and hesitated, her lips slightly parted. It took everything I had not to lean forward and kiss those lips. To claim them for my own. She raised her glass in both hands, taking a long swallow of whiskey, before she finally answered.