by Mari Carr
Ivy sighed. “You just cleared that one.”
“So you’ll stop turning me down when I ask to go out on a date?”
“Okay, I lied. You just cleared the second one. Because I’m pretty sure what we’ve been doing the past two months is dating. You nailed the initial hurdle the day you showed up at the pet clinic and invited me to lunch the first time.”
“You could have fooled me. I haven’t been able to steal a kiss from you since the shed.” He paused, then realized he was still confused about something. “What’s the second hurdle I just cleared?”
“The one where I invite you to my apartment.”
“Right now?”
She nodded.
“And what happens when we fly over that hurdle? Because, darlin’, I’m definitely nailing that one. Literally.”
He thought his joke would provoke a laugh.
Instead, her face sobered. “I’m not sure what happens after that. That’s where stuff is going to get sticky.”
“Literally?” he teased.
She tilted her head, feigning exasperation. “No, perv. Not literally. Or at least, not just literally. I don’t suppose I could ask for the same deal Becky Miller got. Friends with benefits.”
He winced. “You know about Beck?”
Ivy appeared to enjoy his discomfort. “This is a small town, and I figure I had the full rundown of your local escapades before I went to bed the night after our first lunch together.”
“From one person or lots?”
“Lots.”
He frowned, unhappy that, deserved or not, he’d earned a reputation in the area. “That many people were trying to warn you away from me?”
She laughed. “Hell no. Only a couple considered their gossip warnings. The rest were women telling me I’d be a fool to turn you down.”
His brows furrowed. “I haven’t slept with that many women!”
Ivy was grinning from ear to ear. “Oh, I know. But you’ve clearly impressed the ones you have been with. Apparently, your cowboy side comes shining through. Heard something about you and rope. Not going to lie. Bondage sounds pretty hot to me.”
James had never left a plate of food uneaten in his life. Until then. “Ivy?”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s go.”
Fortunately, she was renting an apartment over the local hair salon, which meant James only had to battle walking with a raging hard-on for three blocks. During the walk, they both texted work to say they’d need the afternoon off. James turned his phone off before Roscoe could reply. He was afraid Ivy’s dad would ask why, and he wasn’t touching the question with a ten-foot pole.
They hadn’t gone two steps inside her place before he’d twisted, pushing her against the front door she’d just closed behind them, and kissed her. The move was reminiscent of the one he had made in the storage shed. Except this time, they weren’t stopping.
Months of pent-up lust came out in a rush. There was a small voice in his head telling him to take it slow, but it was shut up pretty quickly when her hands reached around to cup his ass.
He broke the connection of their lips so that he could suck in some much-needed air, then he let them drift lower, skimming his mouth along the side of her neck. Ivy’s hands clenched his ass cheeks tighter, tugging him closer, so that his denim-covered cock was pressed firmly to her stomach. There was a good foot difference in height between them, which meant he could either bend over to kiss her or stand up straight to grind his cock against her body.
Ivy’s grip on his ass had taken that decision away from him. Not that he was complaining.
He reached down to lift her so that she was able to wrap her sexy legs around his waist. The change in position moved his dick closer to the target. Or would have. If he could manage to take the time to strip off her clothes.
“Where’s your bedroom, darlin’?”
Ivy lifted her lust-glazed eyes to his, and he wondered if she’d even heard the question.
“Bedroom?” he repeated.
She tried to lower her legs, but he wasn’t having any of that. He shifted her slightly to firm up his grip, then he turned toward the hallway. “How about you just point it out to me?”
“End of the hall on the left.”
The journey couldn’t have been more than twenty steps, but it felt like twenty miles as his gait left her bouncing up and down on his cock. Shit. If he didn’t rein it in, this wasn’t going to last nearly long enough.
James placed her on the bed, not bothering to look around the room. There would be plenty of time for a proper tour later. Maybe.
Or maybe he’d just let night fall and darkness surround them without ever taking his gaze off her pretty face.
Ivy wasn’t shy about what she wanted, not bothering with any of those coy games women liked to play in bed. She tugged her long-sleeve T-shirt off in one quick pull. Her bra wasn’t far behind.
“Jesus,” he muttered as he took in her full, lush breasts. Her rosy nipples were tight and just begging to be sucked. She started to unhook her jeans, but he captured her hands.
“You gotta give me a second to enjoy this first.” He lightly pressed her to her back on the mattress, coming over her. James took one of her breasts in his hand and drew her hard nipple into his mouth.
Ivy gasped as her hands flew to his hair. As he played, alternating between tiny nips, soft strokes and rough sucks, her grip tightened until she was pulling his hair to the point of pain.
He lifted his head and gently disentangled her hands.
She grinned sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“Come here.” James offered her a hand, pulling her back up to a sitting position as he stood in front of her. “Undo my jeans, baby.”
She narrowed her eyes, but he didn’t mistake her look as anger. “You ever ask nicely, Cowboy?”
“Undo my jeans, baby. Suck on my cock and I’ll treat you to some of that same hair pulling you just laid on me. Nice enough?”
She laughed. “You realize there was no asking in there.”
“Last part was definitely a question. Gotta warn you now, Doc. When it comes to sex, I’m not going to go slow or easy or do a lot of checking up on you. You want something, you tell me. You hate something, you tell me. Otherwise—”
“James?”
“Yeah?”
“I want to suck your cock. And I definitely want you to pull my hair.”
He bent over, unable to resist kissing her. It was hard and deep and quick. When they parted, he kept his face close to hers. “I knew it would be like this between us.”
“I did too.”
He didn’t fail to recognize the sound of regret lacing those words. Ivy was nowhere near finished fighting him, fighting them, but it didn’t matter anymore.
For the first time in his life, James wasn’t looking for an out, wasn’t trying to figure out the end game. With Ivy, the end game was going to be a real relationship, something serious and, God willing, lasting.
He stood again. There was time to worry about the next hurdle tomorrow. Right now, he wanted her too much to care about anything except her lips around his cock, and then his cock rocking deep inside her.
He unfastened his jeans himself, shucking them and his boots off, revealing exactly how much he wanted her. His erection riding high. Ivy was there, ready and waiting. She wrapped her hand around the base, tightening her grip as she sucked the head in greedily, hungrily. Her suction was hard, rough, and he saw stars.
Then he remembered he’d promised her something skirting the edge of pain too. James ran his fingers through her hair, softly combing it before twisting the long dark strands into his grip and tugging.
Ivy groaned around him, the sound reverberating just enough to drive him wild. He pulled harder and she repeated the sound.
Before he lost control, he released her, taking one full step away from her as he fought to drag air into his lungs. He never—never—had a problem taking his time with a woman, but right now he
was three seconds away from coming like a teenage boy.
Ivy was breathing heavily as well. Her hands drifted to her scalp.
“Did I hurt you?” James barely recognized the gruff sound of his own voice.
She shook her head as he struggled to read her expression.
“Ivy?”
“No one’s ever…I almost…you weren’t even…I was so close to…”
Her bewildered dialogue told him he hadn’t been alone. “You were going to come? From me pulling your hair?”
“Is that even possible? I mean,” she glanced down, “my pants aren’t even off yet.”
He laughed. “Hate to break it to you, but it sounds like you’ve got a kinky side. You like the pain.”
“That sounds ridiculous.”
“It’s not exactly an uncommon thing.”
Ivy blew out a hard breath. “I’ve obviously been sleeping with the wrong kind of men.”
James tried not to react, not to think about Ivy in bed with anyone else, but it didn’t help. “Past is gone. For both of us. From now on…”
He returned to the bed, his hands making short work of her jeans and panties. Once she was naked, he took care of the rest of his own clothing. Within moments, they were both naked.
“Get in the middle of the bed.”
She didn’t call him to task for the demand this time. Instead, she crawled to the center of the mattress. He expected her to lie on her back, but Ivy didn’t blindly follow commands.
She remained on her hands and knees, shaking her firm, full ass at him in invitation. “Teach me more. About being kinky.”
James lifted his hand and brought it down on her ass with more strength than he should have, considering she’d never been spanked before.
Ivy arched her back in obvious bliss. “God! Yeah. Do it again.”
He placed five more smacks on her skin, building up a pretty pink flush. Ivy grew more excited with each swing of his hand.
She was close again. Thank God.
James prided himself on always making sure his lovers came first. Ivy was the first to test that ability.
He knelt behind her on the mattress and pressed two fingers inside her, quickly, deeply. She was soaking wet, so he slid in easy.
Ivy’s whole body fell forward, his hand falling free as her teeth sank into a pillow, absorbing her loud cries. She was fighting the goddamn climax, trying to stop it.
She really was his kindred spirit. She didn’t want this to end any faster than he did.
But it didn’t matter if she came now. He wasn’t going to quit until she came. And came again. And a thousand more times.
He reached down and grasped a handful of her hair, pulling her head back up. Caging her body beneath his—her back to his chest—he placed his lips next to her ear as he thrust his other hand lower, three fingers penetrating her this time.
“Don’t you dare hold it back,” he growled.
The threat was wasted. Ivy’s ability to fight vanished before he’d managed a second thrust. Her pussy spasmed, clenched, tightened around his fingers as he continued to fuck her with them. She jerked and trembled and begged for more, and then she pleaded for mercy, but James didn’t give any. The first orgasm had only begun to wane when the second hit.
“Motherfucker,” she cried out. “Fuck. Fuck!”
James slowed his motions, giving her a few minutes to recover. She’d fallen facedown on the bed, her body limp, only the occasional shudder passing through her as he kept his fingers buried deep, though still.
James slowly stroked his erection as she lay there. It would be the work of mere seconds to bring himself to that same peak. He’d jerk himself off, paint her soft back with his come, then crawl next to her to steal more kisses.
He’d almost decided that wasn’t a bad idea at all when Ivy slowly rolled over, her legs parting, inviting him to kneel between.
“Inside me,” she demanded. “Now.”
He was as alpha as they came in the bedroom, but that clearly didn’t mean Ivy would play the submissive.
He didn’t move. Instead, he glanced toward the floor to see how far away his jeans were. “Condom,” he said as he started to move.
She gripped his wrist and shook her head. “I don’t need it if you don’t.”
James bent forward, placing his elbows on the pillow under her head. “I’m afraid this isn’t going to last long.” He might have managed to buy some time with the latex muting some of the sensations, but riding bare? He’d never done it before—which was yet another way Ivy was different. Unique. Special.
She reached down, grasping his dick and guiding it to her. He waited until she had the head tucked just inside, and then he took over.
Gripping her wrists with his hands, he held them next to her head. On any other woman, it would look like a pose of surrender. With Ivy, it felt more like he was doing her bidding, giving her exactly what she desired.
He fucked her hard, fast. She liked that bite of pain, so he gave it to her.
And then, as he’d warned her, he was there. The amazing part—she was too. They came together, both cursing, pleading, gasping for air.
He collapsed on top of her briefly until she pushed against his shoulders, forcing his sated body to her side.
Neither of them spoke for a long time. He was content to lie there for the rest of the day, lightly caressing her stomach as he watched her breasts rise and fall with each inhale and exhale.
Ivy was the first to return to reality, to break the silence. “You never answered me in the diner.”
“About what?”
“About giving me the same deal as Becky. Friends with benefits.”
James lifted his head and studied her face. “You really think that’s possible?”
He knew her well enough now to know she wasn’t capable of lying about her feelings. She’d been up-front with him about not dating smokejumpers from day one. And while he still didn’t know the why, he’d known her reluctance was there because she didn’t wear a false face.
Ivy shook her head. “No. It’s not possible.”
It was as close as she’d ever come to confirming he wasn’t the only one whose feelings were engaged. That idea made him way happier than it should.
Until she added, “And there’s the insurmountable hurdle.”
Chapter Six
For three weeks, Ivy kept her eyes closed to reality because she was so damn happy. Over the moon, actually. Nearly three months after meeting James in the woods, she was falling head over heels for him.
Every time she thought about his job as a smokejumper, she pushed it away, refusing to face it. Because she didn’t want to give up…well…any of it. Not the friendship, the laughter, the sex, the pleasure she found when he tied her up and did unspeakable things to her, or the peace she’d experienced in the moments when they were just vegging on the couch, indulging in a Game of Thrones binge watch on his day off.
“Any luck on the job hunt?” James asked as they hung out in the commissary. She’d just finished up her day at the clinic, but he was on call, so she shifted uncomfortably wishing they were anywhere other than on the base right now.
She knew he was worried about her finding something that would take her away from West Yellowstone. Truth was, there was a big demand for large-animal vets. She had her resume queued up and ready to email to no less than four clinics in different states in the Midwest. But every time her finger hovered over the send key, she couldn’t find the ability to click the mouse.
“Not yet.”
James leaned back in his chair, not bothering to hide his relief as he picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. “Weather is getting nicer.”
She’d been around smokejumpers long enough to know that wasn’t actually a good thing. Nicer weather brought more visitors to the park, thousands and thousands of hikers and campers. More people in the forest meant a higher chance of fires. So did the lightning from spring storms.
Recently she’d
been toying with a thought, something she couldn’t let go of. An idea that gave her hope.
“Why do you do it?” she asked, forcing herself to broach the subject.
“Do what?”
“Smokejumping. It seems to me like you’ve got the perfect life on the ranch. You’re surrounded by family, and I’ve listened to you talk about the horses you and your dad breed. You clearly love that work. So why leave six months of the year to do this?”
James shrugged. “I’m not sure it’s something I can really explain. It’s more the feeling I get when I’m here.”
Ivy tried not to roll her eyes. She’d heard too many of the idiots around here talk about the adrenaline rush they got. Every time she listened to them going on and on about how it was the ultimate high, she wanted to scream. Putting your life in danger for a damn rush was stupid. Period. In her mind, that reason for jumping made them no better than druggies begging for their next hit of heroin.
If James said the same thing…
“On the ranch, I’m one of almost a dozen Compton guys working the land and with the animals. Between my uncles, cousins, and in-laws, it’s hard to feel like I’m making a difference. When I’m here, I’m doing something valuable, protecting the land, keeping it safe. It means something.” He sighed heavily. “Guess that’s a pretty shitty way to describe it. What it boils down to is, at home, I’m Seth’s boy and I breed horses, just like my dad. Here, I’m Jamie Compton, the smokejumper, the guy willing to put his life on the line to protect this incredible wilderness.”
Ivy wished he’d just made the damn adrenaline comment. At least, she could have combated that, made a reasonable argument against it. Tried to convince him that his work back home was more valuable than chasing some rush.
But it was obvious James did love this land. They’d taken a few hikes together, and she had sensed he was moved by the beauty of nature as much as she was. Another thing they had in common.
Then James continued to try to explain. “One of my first seasons, a bunch of smaller fires broke out near Crowheart, so your dad decided to do a garbage dump. Drop us down in two-man teams to battle the blazes at the ass-crack of dawn. Me and my jump partner, Charlie, managed to scratch ours out by late afternoon. It wasn’t a bad one. Helicopter comes to pick us up and the plan is to gather everybody, camp out, and then head home in the morning. Most of us were back by nightfall, and we’re setting up the tents, looking forward to falling into those sleeping bags. Next thing you know, a few trucks roar up and a bunch of locals pile out. They’d brought us cake and pie and big pots of coffee. One guy even snuck me a flask of whiskey. They were from some of the nearby ranches, and they wanted to thank us for saving their land. Up until then, I thought I was just doing a job, you know? Jumping out of planes because it was cool. But that was when I started to realize that what we did mattered. I was helping people. Kind of hard to describe how good that felt.”