Trails of Love

by Melissa Foster

  “I like kissing you, sunshine.” He brushed her hair behind her ear and kissed her again, slower and sweeter than the last. “I’m adding that to my list. I think I need more than three things.”

  “Okay, ten, but only if six of them don’t include me.”

  He’d gone out with a lot of women in his life, but he’d guess that most would have wanted to claim all ten items, if they’d ever had the notion to ask. Which they hadn’t. Because they weren’t inquisitive and deeply emotional like—although she tried to hide it—Morgyn.

  “Ten. Go, cracker. It’s still your turn.”

  “Easy. Family is right at the top of those six things, along with any extreme sports event that I’m a part of. It doesn’t matter what it is—biking, rafting, skydiving, climbing.”

  “You have to tell me why,” she said.

  “They all take focus, determination, strength, and competitiveness. Knowing it’s me against the elements makes me push myself harder than I think I can. It’s a better feeling than almost anything I’ve ever known.”

  “I think I know that feeling, but not from sports.” She looked out over the tents and set the guitar beside her. She touched her necklace and said, “I get that feeling when I hear a train. It brings back memories of my grandfather, and for the briefest of moments, even after all these years, I get a rush of excitement, like I might see him again. Then I remember he’s gone. But in those first few seconds, I can feel his energy and it seems impossible that he’s no longer here. That’s how I know that when people leave this earth, they don’t fail to exist. Their energy lives on.”

  She looked at him, and her expression was so peaceful, he wanted to learn from it. To borrow it. To experience whatever she was experiencing.

  She sighed and said, “There I go showing my weirdness again.” With a quick shrug she added, “I get a rush from other things, too. Like when I saw your smile? Oh my gosh, Graham…”

  He couldn’t suppress his smile.

  “That’s it, right there,” she said. “I see guys smiling all the time, but my stomach never gets swarms of butterflies from it. And then there’s mint chocolate chip ice cream, and puppies, and creating a new outfit out of something old. They’re all rush worthy. Oh, and hikes at daybreak, when the world is barely awake and the dew is still glistening on the grass. And the first blooms in my garden, that’s definitely on my list. The sight of a deer grazing on the side of the road. Gosh, I love that. They feel very elusive to me. Like you’re being given a gift from this amazing creature. It bums me that they’re so frightened of us, so I built a deer garden in my yard. Now I get to see them a lot more often.”

  He had no idea how she went from one topic to the next so quickly, but her outlook was fascinating. “A deer garden?”

  “Mm-hm. I have an area by the woods where I let the shrubs and grass grow wild so they have cover, and I put in a pond so they have water. I also have corn feeders and salt licks out so they want to stick around.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I’m rambling, sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I love hearing about your life.” And seeing your eyes light up when you talk about it. She was more of a preparer than she thought, at least when it came to the deer, and he’d imagine it didn’t stop there.

  “I like my life, but it’s not very exciting, at least not the way yours is. You said you have a big family and you put them at the top of your list. Are you as close to them all as you are to Zev?”

  “You’re from a big family, so you know how it goes. We’re all close in different ways. Nick and I get shit done. We’re both headstrong, so we can butt heads, but for the most part we get along fine. The adrenaline junkie side of me is closest to Zev, because he runs on the stuff. And the meticulous, overthinker in me, which doesn’t seem to exist much when you’re around, is closest to my oldest brother, Beau, and probably to Jax, too. Jax and my sister, Jillian—Jilly—are twins. Jax is totally chill all the time. Nothing rattles him, but Jilly’s like you, a bundle of energy and game for anything.”

  “I can’t believe you have twin siblings. Sable is Pepper’s twin, and they are completely opposites in almost every way. Pepper is a scientist with no musical inclination. She prefers research to just about anything else.”

  “Isn’t it weird how that happens? But life would be boring if everyone were alike.”

  “Yes, it would. Do you travel a lot for work?”

  “Mm-hm. For work and pleasure. I take it you don’t, since you’ve never left the East Coast?”

  “I’m a road-trip girl. I’m always going somewhere, to festivals, craft shows, that kind of thing. Just day trips, usually. Sometimes with friends or my sisters, but mostly alone. I love finding treasures to use in my shop and seeing other people and how they live. But I’ve never even flown, and it kind of freaks me out. That’s probably okay, though, because no one’s ever said, ‘Hey, let’s go to Maui.’”

  “Hey, let’s go to Bali,” he said, and he was surprised to realize he wasn’t kidding. His mind leapt ahead, envisioning them going on adventures together. How strange was it to have that reaction to a woman he’d only just met?

  Her eyes narrowed and she said, “Too much risk in Maui?”

  “No. You’re too interesting a person to take someplace so typical.” He laced their fingers together and lay back, bringing her down beside him. Then he went up on one elbow so he could see her face. “I have a confession.”

  “If you tell me you’re married, I’m calling Sable.”

  “I’m not married, sunshine. I’ve never even been in love.”

  “Me either,” she said softly.

  “That’s hard to believe. You seem like you feel so much. I really like you, sunshine.”

  “Is that your confession? Because I have to admit, I like it.”

  He ran his fingers through her hair, and then he kissed her softly. “No. I want you to know that I’m not one of those guys who hooks up with women everywhere I go. And I don’t take it lightly. If you don’t want to do anything more than kiss tonight, that’s okay, and if you do, you should know I’ve never had a disease, or any of that. I’m clean and careful.”

  “Thank you,” she said softly. “I haven’t either, and don’t worry, I’d tell you if I changed my mind. And, cracker? I haven’t changed my mind.”

  Thank God, because he’d never wanted a woman like this before. “Good. There’s just one more thing. As much as I want to sit here and get to know everything there is to know about you, if I don’t kiss you like I did this afternoon very soon, I think I’m going to lose my mind. But I’ve been sweaty and dirty all day, and to do the things I want to do with you, I really need to rinse off.”

  She laughed. “I was thinking the same thing. Not about you. About me. I got hot and sticky putting all my stuff away. Can we shower?”

  “We can do anything you want.”

  He kissed her deeply, and then she sighed dreamily and said, “Is it hard to set up?”

  “Hearing the word hard come out of your sexy mouth…Mm. If you only knew what you were doing to me.”

  A mischievous glimmer rose in her eyes. “I’m having a hard time processing that information.”

  She rose, rubbing her body against his, and he pressed his lips to hers. She went down on her back as he took the kiss deeper. His body sank into hers, and she arched beneath him, making sweet, sexy sounds as he moved over her, aligning their bodies even though they were fully dressed. Her innate sensuality was like a drug, luring him in. He had to feel her, explore, taste…shower.

  Fuck.

  He tore his mouth away, leaving them both breathless.

  “Shower,” they said in unison.

  He helped her down from the truck, stealing several more kisses as they tossed the blankets into the truck and put away the guitar. He connected the shower faucet inside the pop-up stall and hung two towels on the rope inside it. Then he gathered Morgyn in his arms and said, “The water takes a minute to he
at up. I’ll rinse off quickly; then it should be warm enough for you to get in.”

  “I have a confession, too.” She wound her arms around his neck. “When we went to use the bathrooms after carrying my stuff over, I washed up and took off my bikini. I’m completely naked under this dress.”

  He pushed a hand under the hem of her dress and holy hell, her bare ass had been right beside him all evening.

  “Christ, sunshine. Now I need that cold shower.”

  MORGYN KNEW SHE should probably be nervous about hooking up with Graham, especially since she wasn’t the kind of girl who normally jumped right into bed with guys. But she wasn’t, and she also wasn’t worried about what he thought of her, because he’d already made that clear. It was a hazy, moonlit night, and the neighboring campers were either inside their tents or too busy to pay attention to Graham stripping off his jeans and shirt. He stood before her in those dark briefs she hadn’t stopped thinking about since she first saw him in them hours earlier. His formidable erection strained behind the cotton, filling her with white-hot desire. He leaned in, kissing her so tenderly, she got all melty inside. Being with Graham felt good and right, and there was no way she was going to miss out on him.

  He pulled off his hat and tossed it into the truck, revealing short, thick brown hair, making him impossibly hotter. “I’ll be quick.”

  He stepped into the pop-up shower, and a second later he peered out of the flap and tossed his balled-up briefs into the open back of the truck. Morgyn’s heart rate spiked. He winked and disappeared behind the vinyl.

  What am I doing?

  He was naked behind that thin sheet of vinyl, taking a cold shower so she didn’t have to. She inhaled a deep breath and before she could chicken out, she stepped into the shower. Graham stood beneath the cold spray, goose bumps riddling his skin. She removed her dress, shivering from the cool shower spray. His eyes flamed as they trailed down her body. Thank goodness she’d remembered to wax. She reached through the flap and threw her dress toward the truck. Graham’s arms circled her from behind. His chest pressed against her back, and his warm lips touched her shoulder.

  “Hello, sunshine.”

  His voice was like liquid heat, warming her to her core. She turned as he gathered her closer, gazing down with pleasure and appreciation. His body was slick, sudsy, and hard—growing harder by the second. He smelled fresh and manly and looked at her like she was truly the only woman he desired. She no longer needed courage. She was positive that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

  “I thought it was silly for you to take a cold shower just so I could be warm.” Eager to explore, her hands wandered down his arms and over his sudsy chest. She extended her index finger and wrote C+S in the suds on his abs.

  He glanced down and smiled. “You are full of surprises. It’s good we’re not at a tattoo parlor. The way I feel right this second, I just might let them put that in ink.”

  Now she was a little nervous, because their connection was so magnetic, she wanted to put more stock in his words than she probably should. She knew he’d said it in the heat of the moment, but still, it felt more real than that.

  She’d never showered with a man before, and there wasn’t a lot of room in there for what she’d like to do. She tried to work it out in her head. She didn’t have to think for very long because he moved her under the water and took her in a scorching-hot kiss that rocketed through her. God, kissing him was the best of everything all wrapped up in one man’s deliciousness. Their bodies slithered against each other, arms and legs pressing and sliding, spreading suds from his body to hers. His erection ground temptingly hard and insistent against her lower belly. His hands slid up and down her body in a mesmerizing rhythm, dropping a little lower with each downward path. Water sprayed between them, washing away the suds and slithering between their joined lips as they kissed like they never wanted to stop. And she didn’t.

  She ran her hands down his back and clutched his ass, eliciting another of those sexy noises that made her insides clench in anticipation. He bit her lower lip, tugging it gently with a hungry look in his eyes, and oh, what that did to her! She thought about all the places she wanted his mouth and the places she wanted to put hers.

  “I’m going to enjoy every second of us, sweet sunshine,” he said greedily.

  The way he said us gave her that bigger-than-life feeling again, and Lord help her, she clung to it. Because that’s what you did when you saw the brass ring—and she didn’t just see it. She felt it through and through.

  He poured body wash into his hands and then kissed her ravenously as he bathed her shoulders, arms, and breasts. His rough hands played expertly over her nipples, caressing and tweaking, pulling sinful sounds from her lungs. His thick legs pressed against her, powerfully rooting him to the ground as his hands slid down her hips and he put space between them, allowing the water to wash the suds away. Rivers of water cascaded down his muscular chest and ripped abs, to his thick cock. She’d never seen so much power, so much man. She wanted to touch him, but it took all her focus to hold on to his arms as he followed the shower spray with his mouth, kissing and nipping at her neck. Every touch of his lips and graze of his teeth sent spikes of lust shooting through her. He dipped lower, fondling her breast and licking over and around her nipple until it burned with need. She went up on her toes, but he continued his relentless pursuit of driving her to the brink of madness.

  She grabbed his head with both hands. “Cracker—”

  He sucked the achy, taut peak into his mouth, sliding one hand down her belly and between her legs. His thick fingers teased over her wetness as his thumb found her most sensitive nerves and began moving in mind-numbing circles. She closed her eyes, and her head fell back as desire mounted inside her. Her senses were overloaded. She clung to his shoulders, trying to focus on the overwhelming pleasure coursing through her, but just when she caught the feel of his tongue, he applied more pressure with his thumb, sending her senses reeling. She whimpered and moaned as pressure built inside her, pulsing and throbbing, filling up all of her empty spaces. She leaned back—and kept falling backward—forgetting they were in a vinyl encasing. Graham’s arm swept around her waist, bringing her upright again. He captured her mouth at the same moment he thrust his fingers inside her, stroking over the spot most men had no idea how to find. And there in the pop-up shower, with water raining down on them and Graham pleasuring every part of her, an electric shock scorched through her, and she shattered into a million magical stars.

  As Graham’s handsome face came back into focus he said, “We’d better get out of here before we collapse the shower.”

  He turned off the water and then wrapped a towel around her back and used it to pull her against him again. He slanted his mouth over hers, kissing her as they stumbled to the truck. It wasn’t until he was closing the doors buck naked that she realized his ass hadn’t been covered by the towel. But as he pulled the curtains closed and came down over her, she knew that had been the last thing on his mind. His hips nestled between her thighs, his thick cock perched at her entrance. He touched his lips to hers in a single, soft kiss.

  “Hey, sunshine,” he said softly, gazing down at her with as much tenderness as passion. “Still as into us as I am?”

  Her heart swelled at his thoughtfulness. “More than before.”

  A hint of dimples appeared, but it was the emotions swimming in his eyes that had her reaching up and pulling his mouth toward hers. “I’m on the pill, but do you have protection? It could get messy.”

  “I do, and just so you know, I’m used to camping and always keep gallons of water in the storage beneath that bench.” He winced and said, “Not for sex. Man, that sounded bad, didn’t it? I meant for washing up, brushing my teeth…”

  She loved that he cared enough to explain. He brushed his nose over hers as he had earlier, and the intimate touch felt incredibly meaningful.

  “I’d never do this if you weren’t properly taken care of bef
ore, during, or after,” he said with a serious expression. He reached into a backpack behind the driver’s seat and withdrew an unopened box of condoms. He tore it open and tossed a few packets beside the pillows. “Zev gave me his stash. I came prepared for a lot of circumstances but not for this.”

  The confirmation of what he’d said earlier about not taking sex lightly did undefinable things to her emotions.

  Her heart fluttered erratically as he cradled her in his strong arms, taking her in a series of deep, intoxicating kisses, clearly in no rush to get to the next step. And she was glad, because in the space of an instant, everything had changed. A tangible bond had formed between them, and she felt it everywhere. His hands skimmed her hip as he rolled them onto their sides, their legs tangling. He lifted her leg at the knee and rested it on his thigh, bringing his thick shaft against her. The hair on his legs tickled. His hands moved over every inch of her, into her hair, between her legs, along her ribs, like he wanted to memorize all of her. She was right there with him, running her hands all over his body. Kissing his chest, his nipples, stroking his shaft, riding his thigh until it was slick with her arousal. She was dizzily happy, unable to hold on to a single thought past how good it felt to want someone that badly and be desired just as strongly. Everything felt so right. His strong arms felt like they were meant to hold her, and his mouth—his glorious, talented mouth—brought her to unfamiliar heights. When he rose up on his knees to sheathe himself, she reached up to help him, and together they protected themselves.

  Neither one looked away as they aligned their bodies. A hot ache grew inside Morgyn as the broad head of his shaft pressed against her entrance. This wasn’t just sex, or maybe it was, but it wasn’t like any sex she’d ever had. She felt his energy melding with hers, their hearts beating in time, as he laced their hands together and kissed the edges of her mouth. Could he feel it, too? Could he sense the coming together of more than just their bodies?

  “Why do I feel like this is going to change me?” he nearly growled.