by Romi Hart
The way she moaned as she tightened her legs around me told me she just might be into it. “Twi, can you keep a secret?”
“You have no idea how well I can keep a secret, my dear.” Grinding into her hot core, I’d never wanted anyone as badly as I wanted her.
“Zoe can’t know about this. So, that means you can’t tell Mist either. This will be our little secret. It has to be this way.” She took my face between her palms and looked at me with desire in her pretty eyes.
Smiling, I knew she was about to give me more than I’d even dreamt of. “I won’t tell a soul about anything you and I do. I swear that to you.”
“Find somewhere off this trail where we can get closer to nature.”
Holy crap!
Carrying her off the path, I had to admit something to her, “Val, I don’t have any condoms.”
“Me neither.” Searching my eyes, she went on, “I was checked last month for STDs and came out clean. I’m on the Depo shot. So, the birth control is covered. But I have to know if you’re clean or not. And please do not lie to me about it, Twilight.”
Immortals didn’t get human diseases. “I am clean. I swear that to you.” Hurting her in any way didn’t seem to be a thing I could do. “Valentine, it would physically hurt me to do any harm to you. I wouldn’t lie to you about something that important.”
With a sigh, she put her head on my shoulder as I carried her even deeper into the woods so no one would stumble upon us. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done. I hope I don’t end up regretting it.”
“You won’t.” I wasn’t going to let her regret a single moment of the time she spent with me.
I just hope she’s not going to make me regret this either. Because I’m not going to want to let her go after this.
10
Valentine
Who the hell am I right now?
Valentine Maria Martin did not have sex with men she barely knew. And saying that I even knew Twilight Foxworthy was a real stretch. For all I knew, that wasn’t even his real name.
Like, who is named something like Twilight? And Foxworthy?
Running my index finger in circles over his broad chest, I asked, “So, how’d your parents come up with a name like Twilight?” I thought about his cousin’s odd name too. “And who came up with Mist?”
“Our genetic background is where our families fished out names for all of us in the Fox family.” His eyes scanned the area, looking for the most seclusion. “We call the entire clan, the Fox family. We all have surnames that spin-off that main name. I’m from the Foxworthy sub-clan and Mist is from the Foxmore sub-clan.”
“Twi, I don’t understand a thing you’re saying. Where is it that your family comes from? Originally speaking? Like my last name is Martin and the majority of people with that surname come from Canada.”
“Oh. Our family began in Ireland.” He darted toward a clearing. “That’s the place right there, my dear.”
“Oh, Ireland. That’s why you’re saying, clans. I get it now. So, how long have you been in America?”
“Years. Too many to count.” He placed me on the flat surface of a granite rock that jutted out of the forest floor. “How about this?”
Patting the rock, I nodded. “I guess it’ll do.”
His green eyes shimmered as he took my chin with two fingers. “It’ll do? I want you to look around. I want you to take in all the beauty of this place. It’ll do, won’t do for me. This is it, Valentine – our first time together this way. It needs to mean something to both of us. I’ll have it no other way, my dear.”
He’d impressed me with his intense scrutiny of the place we’d have sex. Most guys would’ve already had me undressed by now. And here he was, waiting, making sure I was as enchanted with our surroundings as he was.
“You’ve got a lot of heart, Mr. Foxworthy.” I ran my hand over his clean-shaven cheek. “I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone like you.”
“I am one-of-a-kind.” He took my hand, then moved it so that my palm rested against his lips.
My legs quivered as heat filled me. “Twi, you swear not to tell Mist, right?” I knew he’d tell Zoe if he knew what we’d done. And she would make me feel horrible for doing this. She’d slut-shame me until the end of time if she ever knew about this.
I can hear her now, “Remember when went to the Lake of the Woods and you fucked that guy you didn’t even know? So slutty, Val – so, extremely slutty.”
With one cocked brow, he grinned at me. “You know they’re probably doing the same thing we are right now. I wouldn’t be so worried about your friend teasing you about this if I were you. I can see it in your eyes. You think she’ll tease you about having sex with a man you barely know.”
“Only because she absolutely will do that. But tease makes it sound nice. It won’t be nice what she’ll do. She’ll shame me, Twilight. She’ll call me names that tend to hurt more than they really should. But they hurt just the same.”
Men had no idea how badly women could make other women feel just by calling them names like slut, whore, hooker – they all hurt.
Easing his hands around my face, cupping the back of my neck, he whispered, “Kiss me, my dear, and let me take your mind off all those ugly thoughts. You are with me now, and I will never allow anyone to hurt you in any way.”
I wanted to believe him so damn much. So I closed my eyes and let myself be taken into this fantasy world he lived in. “Kiss me, Twilight. Take me away with you.”
My veins seemingly melted away with his kiss. Warmth spread throughout my entire body, pulling me under to a place I hadn’t been to before.
A sense of calm mixed with immense desire, sprinkled with excitement in all the right places spun around like a whirlwind inside my body and mind.
Unsure of how it happened, I opened my eyes when his mouth moved away from mine and I found we both had shed our clothing. I didn’t know when it happened, but I didn’t care how it had happened, I was just glad all that awkward undressing was out of the way.
His fingers moved over my skin with a touch so light, it felt as if a summer breeze flowed over my body as I lay back on the rock. As hard as it was, it didn’t seem that way to me at all. It felt as if I lay on a cloud, instead. It felt like he was carrying me in his embrace. He shielded me, covered me in masculine rigidity, away from the harshness of that world I knew.
The trees so thick, they dimmed the rising sun’s light, thin rays managed to break through the canopy wrapping Twi’s body in golden ropes. He hovered over me, looking at me as I looked at him as if we were both works of art, rather than a couple of real humans – naked in the wilderness.
Tracing one of the golden paths along his shoulder, I sighed, “You’re beautiful, Twilight.”
His soft touch on my cheek drew my eyes away from his body, to look into the viridescent pools he gazed at me with. “You are beautiful, Valentine. Such a rare and true beauty you are, my dear. How fortunate you make me feel that you even entertain the thought of allowing me to make love to you.”
I couldn’t believe how wet he made me. My body responded to his every word. Every penetrating trace his eyes made over my body sent tingles down my spine. I felt the my body flush red all over, for him. My wet pussy, aching, requesting to be the center of his attention.
He kept his locked in mine. One knee spread my legs apart and he lowered his body down on mine. Pulling my knees up, I helped guide his throbbing cock to the place that longed to be filled with the long, pulsating, girth that was now free from any constricting clothing.
My breasts heaved as he forced his way into my slick tunnel that was more than ready for him. Anticipation nearly overwhelmed me as he moved slowly into my hot depths.
A gasp escaped my mouth into his. “Oh my god!”
My nails curved into the flesh of his shoulders as I held them tightly. The walls of my tunnel burned with the intrusion so large, it spread them wider than they’d ever been spread before. “You’ve found new
places in me, Twi.” I gritted my teeth with the white-hot pain that filled me.
He kissed my forehead as he stayed still, waiting for my body to adjust to his. “You will fit me like a glove soon, my dear.”
The juices that had rushed to aid my tunnel finally subdued the pain and the fire ebbed into a bed of warm coals. “Ah... wow.” Kissing his cheek, I arched my back to get him to move.
Pulling out of me slowly, he gently but firmly went back in as he moved his lips to graze mine. “I am home, Valentine.”
My swelling heart pounded. “What is happening?” My body moved with his as if we’d done this a thousand times before. I didn’t know I could move like this. His hips moved like waves that fell against mine. I moved up to meet his every, thick, deep thrust. “I feel so safe with you.”
“Because you are safe with me. Safe in my arms. Safe in my heart. You are completely safe with me, my dear Valentine.” Soft kisses trailed along my neck as he buried himself inside me.
“I’ve never felt like this. It’s a little frightening.” I bit my lower lip to try to bring me back to reality. This feels like a dream.
“Don’t be afraid of love, my dear. It’s more natural than you think it is. People find love much easier than some believe.” He kissed me so soft and sweetly, that it made tears stream down my face.
This was not sex. This was something so different that I finally understood why people called it – making love.
There was no way in hell that I could be in love with a man I didn’t know well at all. But my body sure as hell felt like we were so deeply in love that it was impossible to tell where I stopped, and he started.
Our bodies blended in ways I had never imagined. I felt things tingle, prickle, and throb in places I didn’t know that could happen.
With every move he made, my body screamed for more. I gripped him so tightly that it felt as if I could never let him go. My legs began to shake, and my body began its descent into the blue waters of the most spiritual act I’d ever been a part of.
“Twilight!” I couldn’t even speak as the orgasm moved through my entire body. It began in my core then moved in slow waves both up and down my body at the same time.
“Yes, my dear Valentine. Give me all you’ve got to give.” He moved faster, plunged harder. “Your body knows what I crave.”
The orgasm went on and on as he moved faster and faster. I wrapped my legs around his waist, trying not to scream with the intensity of the passion and the orgasm that refused to subside. “What are you doing to me?”
“Loving you. Wanting you. Needing you.” His body went stiff before his cock jerked hard inside of me. “Yes!”
I didn’t know it could possibly happen, but the orgasm that had been coursing through me evolved. The frequency of his orgasm combined with mine and together they went off the charts.
Rainbow-like orbs filled my vision as I thought my eyes had rolled into the back of my head. My toes curled as my fingers did the same and our voices united in the sweetest chorus of climax that I’d ever heard.
We stayed there, on top of a high that seemed as if only the two of us together could come to, for a long time. So long that when my brain began to function properly again, I found the sun was directly overhead, shining strongly through the trees and into my eyes. “Oh, Lord. How long have we been doing this?”
Lifting his head off my chest, he smiled sleepily at me. “I think we fell asleep.”
“Twi! God! No! Zoe’s probably freaking out right now.”
Without moving, he said, “I doubt she is. She’s most likely doing the same thing we are right now. Her and Mist are probably cuddled up somewhere together as we speak.”
“I’ve got to find her.” I pushed him off me and began searching for my clothes that I found had been scattered all over the ground. “Good Lord. How’d we get undressed? I feel like I drank a bottle of vodka or something.” My body ached and my head was in a fog.
With a chuckle, he said, “Seems you got drunk on me, baby.” He seemed impressed with himself as he picked up his pants and slipped them on. “I did the same thing. Only, I’m trying to hold onto this buzz, and you seem to be fighting to get out from underneath yours.”
Pulling my t-shirt on over my head, I shook my head to help clear it. “She’s got the keys to the van, Twi. She might’ve left me. I’ve got to get back to camp.”
“Then I’ll get you there.” His strong arms wrapped around me from behind. “Let’s just slow down a bit, shall we? I don’t think your friend would really leave you behind.”
I wanted to turn to him, run my arms around him, and bury my face in his broad chest. But I couldn’t do that. “I’ve got to find her. I’m sorry that I don’t have time to bask in the afterglow with you. But I just don’t have the time. I know Zoe. And she is not doing what we were doing.”
“Well, she missed out then, didn’t she?” He laughed as he took my hand now that we were both dressed. “So, let’s go find her.”
She’s going to know what I did – I just know it.
Walking back to the trail, I had to rely on Twilight completely as I hadn’t paid even a little bit of attention to where we were going when he’d carried me away. “I am a real moron. I can’t believe that I let you take me so far out in the forest that I have no idea how to get back to the trail or the camp. This was, by far, the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
“You chase killer creatures for a living – and this is the most dangerous thing you’re ever done?” His eyes rolled. “Valentine Martin, I would spend eternity with you if you would allow it. This wasn’t dangerous in the least.”
I didn’t want to lie to him. What we’d done was magical. But I didn’t know about spending the rest of our lives together. “Twi, I loved what we did. It was beyond amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” I hoped I wouldn’t offend him, but it had to be said, “I don’t know where we’re going from here.”
Pointing ahead, he said, “We’re going this way for a bit then we’re going to turn at the large conifer.”
“No.” Shaking my head, I laughed. “I mean that I don’t know where you and I are going from here.”
“We’re going to find Zoe, is where you and I are going from here, my dear.”
I had the feeling that he knew exactly what I was talking about. He just didn’t want to talk about it. “Look, I just want you to know that I don’t expect you to do anything more than what we’ve done so far.”
“Well, then you will be in for a surprise because I’m not about to hit it and quit it.” He stopped and cupped my face in his hands. “That was special. I hope you realize that. It was as special for me as it was for you. I know how people are and I know that saying a thing about loving you would send you running – thinking that I’m crazy. But there’s something between us, my dear. I’m not going to let you go until we figure out what this is that we’ve found.”
I wanted to believe him more than I’d ever wanted anything. “We live far away from each other. How can we make things work for us?”
“We’ll figure out a way.” Moving on, he shrugged. “I’ve got enough money to get a home in Canada if you insist on staying there.”
Oh yeah, he’s rich. This really might work out after all.
11
Twilight
My nose led us right to where Zoe and Mist sat three feet from each other on a rock that hung over the edge of the lake. “Oh, well, seems you were right, Val. They weren’t doing what we were, after all.”
“I told you. Zoe is one of those people who closes herself off to others. I don’t think she’s even had sex that much at all. That would mean giving something of herself to another person and she’s just not into that sort of thing.” Val squeezed my hand. “We should stop holding hands now.”
She was crazy if she thought I was about to act as if I didn’t even like her. “I won’t say a word about what we did. But I’m not goin
g to pretend that I’m not crazy about you. I hope you’ll do the same thing. You can’t let her ideals get in the way of your own wants and needs. And you need me, baby.” I kissed her cheek. “And you know that now. Don’t you?”
Her cheeks went to a lovely shade of pink. “I think I do need you, Twi. I can’t stop thinking about what happened between us back there. I think you were right to have me check out the surroundings. Everything is etched in my mind now.”
Letting her hand go, I ran my arm around her, pulling her close to my side. The way it felt when our bodies were pressed together in any way made my heart happy. “Mine too, baby. Mine too.”
Coming up behind Mist, we caught Zoe’s eye and she jumped up, shouting, “Where have you been, Val? I’ve been worried sick about you. Do you have any idea how much time has passed since you two took off?”
I held up one finger. “You were the one who took off, Zoe. Mist went after you. Val and I decided to go on an off-road adventure.” Looking at Mist who got up slowly, I saw his depressed state. “So, you look unhappy, cousin.”
His eyes went to Zoe then came to mine. “Nah. I’m fine. You ready to get going?”
“I thought we could hang out a bit more. Val has decided to stay on,” I said.
Zoe’s eyes went wide. “You told him that you want to stay here? Why? We packed the damn van up already. We’re not staying.”
Val’s body tensed. She had her arm around my waist and removed it then took a couple of steps away from me. “I just thought that we might get the guys to help us out. We did come here to get some footage of the Wendigo. Twi said he’d help us.”
Mist’s jaw dropped. “You said what?”
“I said that we can help them find the Wendigo and help protect them if they want to stay and keep up the search.” He could be so clueless at times. How can he not know what I’m doing? Of course, I want Val to stay on.
Zoe shook her head. “We don’t need them. And we all know that creature has exited the forest after last night’s fiasco.”