by C. A. Harms
I nudged him with my elbow in his stomach, his chuckle deepened, and the woman gave her own humored tuck of her chin to hide her smile.
“In that case, this is a list of the items that can be ordered for delivery to the door of your cabin if you should need anything more than what we’ve already stocked. We hope that you enjoy your stay.”
“Thank you.” Landon grabbed the key before I could and quickly nudged me forward. Once we were tucked back into the cab of his truck, we followed the signs that led us to our cabin. Sure enough, it was hidden back in the wooded area, surrounded by tall, full trees that gave us the seclusion I thought he was hoping for.
Putting his truck in park, he turned off the engine and started to open up his door. “Wait.” Placing my hand over his thigh, I paused to ensure he remained inside before looking up. “If I go inside with you, I need you to promise me that it’s just us in there.” His nostrils flared, but he remained quiet. “I need you to let go of this insecurity and irritation and stop picturing some dream in your mind, because I can promise you that what took place when I was seventeen with a guy who just happens to be a fellow firefighter of yours is nothing that you have managed to conjured up. It was nothing amazing, nothing earth shattering, so make me a promise right here and now that the minute we walk up the steps of that cabin, it’s over and gone. You’ll stop picturing things you don’t need to picture and instead you’ll be here with me and me only.”
“Okay.” Landon leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, and for the first time, it felt like he’d finally relaxed. His tongue brushed along my sealed lips, and immediately I parted mine to accept his. “But I can’t promise you that at some point I won’t end up hitting the guy.” I laughed against his lips, and he kissed me with more force, gripping the back of my neck to hold me close.
“How about we move this inside?”
“I like the sound of that. In fact, we should hurry it along.”
We walked up the steps side by side, and Landon used the key to unlock the door and pushed it open. Sunlight filtered in through all the windows that lined the back of the cabin, and I paused to take it all in. The smell of cleaning products, something lemon fresh, filtered through the air. The deeper we got, the more I fell in love. There was a small bedroom tucked back in the corner with a four-poster bed and canopy. Long flowing sheer material hung along the top and dragged the ground at each corner. Deep reds and cream filled the space. There was also a large jacuzzi in the opposite corner where the structure of the cabin formed an octagon shape that was surrounded by large windows. Thankfully, there was nothing more than woods outside.
There was a small kitchen, and a living room with a wood-burning fireplace and a lovely back porch we could sit out on late at night.
Turning to face him, I found him watching me instead of looking around. “What do you think?”
“It’s perfect.” Walking toward him, I placed my hand on his chest and lifted up to press my lips to his. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
The sound of the bags hitting the floor as they slid from his hand echoed around us, just before he gripped my waist, backing me up toward the wall behind us. I got lost in the way his body felt against mine. The slow, teasing way he was kissing me made my nipples harden.
“We could eat something for lunch.” He said this while shifting his hips in a slow, thrusting motion. “The fridge is stocked with food and drinks.” Again he pushed his hips forward, creating the perfect amount of friction. “Or we could light a fire.”
“Or we could get in the jacuzzi,” I interrupted him. “Where we could continue doing exactly what we are doing right now.”
“Why don’t you head that way?” Landon backed away, but I could see the struggle he was having. “I’ll grab us some drinks, meet you there.” I stood in place until he disappeared in the kitchen.
Foregoing the bathing suit I brought, I began to undress and dropped my clothes in a trail on the floor, leading toward the jacuzzi. Stepping in, I closed my eyes and tried to grow accustomed to the hot water before placing my second foot in.
After a few minutes, I lowered my naked body into the water and quickly piled my hair on the top of my head. I could still hear Landon shuffling things around in the kitchen as I waited for him to join me.
A few minutes passed before I finally saw him stepping out of the kitchen walking toward me carrying a large tray with water, wine, two beers, and an array of cheese, crackers, and fruit piled atop it. I tried not to laugh, and he noticed the struggle.
“I wasn’t sure what to bring, so I brought it all.”
“I can see that,” I said as he placed it on the platform that the jacuzzi sat sunken into. That was about the time that he recognized that I was beneath the water wearing absolutely nothing.
“Did you forget something?”
I pretended to think, pretended to look around as if I was searching for something, before finally looking back to Landon. “Nope, I can’t think of one thing that might be missing.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Landon
With her body pressed to mine, one leg on each side of me and her arms around my neck, Chloe was lost, her head thrown back in bliss, her body moving against my own as she took me inside of her over and over. Releasing my hold on her hips, I gave her full control and got lost in watching her and feeling her take me.
The water of the Jacuzzi splashing around us, the sounds of her panting while racing toward her release, it was all electrifying. I had never witnessed anything more beautiful than Chloe. Everything about this woman was euphoric.
“Let go,” I coaxed her, needing to feel it almost as much as she did. It was just another one of those reassurances I craved, knowing I was the one responsible for her feeling this good.
I could feel her growing closer as her grip on my shoulders tightened and her legs grew more rigid as she continued to ride me. Lifting my own hips, I drove upward, and just to add the last push over the top, I pressed my thumb to her clit. That was all it took, her fingernails biting into my flesh, her body gripping my cock tighter and her back arching, pushing her tits toward my face. I flicked my tongue over the peak, and she cried out, and I couldn’t hold out any longer.
Together we fell apart, crumpled, our bodies holding onto one another to keep from slipping beneath the water of the jacuzzi. I never meant for it to go this far, not here anyway. My intentions were to talk, maybe fool around a bit before we’d get out and find our way to the bed. Only the very instant she crawled over me and started kissing along my jaw, I knew that plan was a bust. She didn’t know it, or maybe she did, but I could not resist her. I felt weakened when it came to control, unable to stop myself from giving her whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it.
As we come down from the high we both felt and our eyes refocused on each other, reality struck. I paused with my hands on her hips and looked down to where we were both connected as one and felt my stomach drop.
“Shit,” I mumbled, “I never…we never—”
“I’m on the pill.” Chloe placed her hand against my cheek, and I looked up at her. “I’m clean, too.”
Something passed over her face, and I snapped out of my state, wrapping my arms around her waist when I felt her slowly slipping away from me. “Me, too.” Her brows wrinkled. “The clean part, not the pill.”
To this, she laughed, and the tension of the moment quickly passed. “I’ve never gone without protection, not once, until now.”
“Neither have I.” Her cheeks reddened. Averting her gaze, she looked toward my chest. “I’ve also never had sex in a Jacuzzi tub, or any tub for that matter.” Chloe appeared embarrassed, but I was proud to be the one to share those firsts with her. A memory of another first of hers flashed in my mind, but I quickly tucked it away.
“I plan on giving you a lot of firsts, Kitten.” Glancing back at me, she smiled. “This thing between us is just getting started.”
“Thing?”
“Yeah.
” I kissed the top of her nose, she closed her eyes, and her smile widened. “It’s the best thing I’ve felt, and I plan on keeping it.”
This seemed to please her, and yeah, I could have chosen a different word to describe what we were building here, but it would have to do for now. All I knew was that keeping it, allowing it to grow, that was what I wanted more than anything.
***
“Did you ever wish you weren’t an only child?” Chloe traced circles with the tip of her fingers over my chest and arms.
We’d been laying on the hammock, hanging in the enclosed back porch beneath a big soft blanket talking for the last hour or maybe more. It was nice, just the two of us enjoying one another.
“I used to wish for a brother, but then it was kind of nice not to share, too.”
“That’s right, you don’t like to share.” I felt her lips tip up into a smile when she buried her face to my shoulder.
“Not you.” I kissed the top of her head. Silence settled over us, the sounds of the leaves being rustled by the wind outside, the creaking sound of the wood cabin, the soft echo of the television just inside playing in the background. I could stay just like that with her and be perfectly happy.
“Growing up with Maddison and Grace always felt like I had sisters. And the guys, they’ve been like big brothers. So yeah, I was an only child, but never alone.”
“I have cousins, but none of them I’m close to, not like you all are. I’ll admit that I’m a bit jealous of your family.” Chloe turned her head so she could look up and see me fully. “I know it drives you all crazy how everyone seems to know everyone else’s business, but I speak from experience when I say having no one to lean on is much worse. I have my parents, yes, they’ve always been on my side, but what you and the others have, it’s pretty great, too.”
“You have Mike and Rhett.” Rising up on her elbow, she stared at me. “You are all close.”
“Yeah, we are.” Pushing back the hair from her face, I wanted nothing to obstruct my view of her. I adored Chloe, more and more each day. “But you’ve had that your entire life. You’re lucky is all. I know you girls get irritated with the guys, but they’re just protective.”
“And nosy,” she added, and I chuckled. “Poor Grace will never have a boyfriend. Not with her father and Rhett watching her every single move.”
“She has a thing for Torrance, doesn’t she?” Quickly, Chloe looked down to avoid my eyes. “You don’t have to answer that. I already know. I’m pretty sure all the guys have picked up on it, too, which could be one of the reasons why Rhett is so adamant about watching her. No guy ever wants to imagine a friend of his messing around with his younger sister.”
“Yet here we are.” She laughed, and I pulled her body up and over mine. She lay flush to my own, her hair hanging down around us, providing a shield. “You’re beautiful.” So damn beautiful. “I know in the beginning you thought I wasn’t interested in you, that I couldn’t be. But you should know not once did I ever think of you as anything less than an achingly beautiful woman. It was more the fear of never being enough for you—in the eyes of your father and the guys. They’re a hard group to please.”
“And now?”
“Now the only person I want to please is you.”
“How about we work on that right now?” Her lips hovered over mine, grazing ever so lightly before moving away. I lifted my hand to cup the back of her head, pulling her close, and she laughed. There was something about her, something magnificent and hypnotizing. Her smile, her laugh, those damn eyes, it was all so compelling. Like a drug, one that consumed me and left me at her mercy.
I preferred control; I needed control. But with Chloe, I was weak. She led me. It was frightening—terrifying, honestly—but I had no hope of stopping it. I was falling for Chloe Rigdon. I knew this. She was the one I never believed in, the one, the person out there that made everything make sense. She gave me clarity, purpose; she was the one person I wanted to turn to when things fell apart and the one I’d wanted to share the news with when everything aligned.
I was falling for Chloe, and I was falling fast.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chloe
“Are you gonna fill us in on your weekend away with Landon?” I knew it was coming; it was only a matter of time. The very second we pulled back into Brooklet, my phone started chirping with incoming messages from the girls. Even my own mother asked me where I’d been. It was almost like they had a tracking device attached to my ass and knew exactly what I had been up to for the previous forty-eight hours.
Nonchalant, that was what I had attempted in regard to their pushy behavior. Even during the following week when I dodged them all, wanting to keep Landon’s and my weekend all to myself, they grew pushier.
Yet here I was, now trapped in an SUV with AJ, Maddison, Raven, and Grace, unable to escape the questions. Each one of them stared at me, and I had no way out.
“Before you try to deny it, you should know that Mike already confirmed that the two of you were, in fact, together.” Maddison gave me a pointed stare from over the back of the passenger seat. “What we all are dying to know is one, where did he take you, and two…” She looked at Raven and wagged her brows before looking back at me. “What exactly did you spend your time doing, and how good was it?”
“I wanna know if what they say about big hands is true,” Grace mumbled, and I wasn’t sure she meant for all of us to hear, but we did. “Please,” she scoffed, “I know I’m not the only one wondering what Landon is packing.”
“Who are you?” I shook my head and wondered where our sweet little Grace had gone.
“This is my first night out of the clutches of my overbearing father and my idiotic brother. I plan on enjoying it. How far is it to the hotel?” The girl was practically dancing in her seat with energy, her eyes wide with excitement, and part off me was fearful of just what she might do. She was like a caged animal salivating at the prey that lingered just beyond the bars, counting down the minutes until she could attack.
“She’s gonna combust.” I laughed at AJ’s whisper near my ear and quickly covered my mouth. It was far too late, though, and if looks could kill, I would have fallen over right then to my death.
“So back to your hot weekend away.” Raven wagged her brows in the rearview mirror, and it was my turn to glare. Only they were all fearless; my uneasy response did nothing to stop them. “He’s insatiable, isn’t he? Or at least that’s exactly how I’ve imagined Landon to be.”
“You’ve imagined?”
“Uh yeah.” She didn’t even hesitate to respond. “I challenge you to find one woman, or girl for that matter, in the town of Brooklet who hasn’t. I’m sure the reach expands farther than that, but by the greenish look that has now taken over your face, I’ll stop there. But you should really accept the fact that when you date a good-looking man, girls are going to fantasize.”
I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
“So give us some details. Let us live vicariously through you.”
“I’m living out my own fantasies just fine, but a girl is always curious enough to listen.” AJ and Rhett were always so touchy feely, it’s no wonder they’d gone baby first before everything else. More than once they were caught by one member of the family or another with their pants down, so to speak.
“It was a good weekend.” I knew I had to give them something or they would never leave me alone. “We spent a lot of time getting to know one another. It wasn’t all about sex.”
“But parts of it were?” Grace asked with a hopeful expression, and again I laughed without control.
“You are like a ticking time bomb.” AJ shook her head, but she was right; the poor girl was going to combust.
“Tell me about it.” There was no denying it. Even Grace herself understood how wound up she was.
Quickly the conversation ventured off once again to Grace and her need to break from the clutches of her father and brother. Each of us all gave her advice
on how to scratch the itch. I had a feeling if this all kept up, whomever the man was that finally got past her guards, she’d end up killing them by sexual exhaustion.
The idea of it only made me laugh internally. Oh, what stories I could see in our future.
***
“Are those sequined underwear?” I had never truly seen AJ so drunk. In fact, I’m not sure I’d even gotten the pleasure of seeing her tipsy. Then again, I was currently seeing two of her, so I wasn’t a great judge of character at the moment. “I think they’re see through.” When she leaned in to get a closer look at the two men in front of us, I gripped her shirt and pulled her backward.
She flopped against the couch cushions with a thud, and her head lobbed to the side as she tried to bring me into focus. “Don’t get too close. You might lose an eye the way it’s flopping around.” When she stared at me as if I’d just spoken Spanish, then slowly it dawned on her that I was referring to the stripper’s flopping penis, she widened her eyes.
“That would be a hard one to explain to Rhett.” She broke out in a fit of giggles. “Hard.” She pointed to the blond guy’s cock, and my eyes of course followed in that direction. Instantly, I felt guilty as my gaze traveled up his chiseled chest and found him staring at the two of us. Swallowing hard, so hard I actually felt as though my ears clogged, I reached out in search of my phone.
“This is amazing.” Grace stood on the coffee table, her arm stretched out and wrapped securely around the brunette. Her fingers combed through his long locks. “I’m never leaving this hotel room.” She was completely sober, but from the freedom of her actions, you’d never know it.
Feeling something jagged rub over my knee, I shifted my eyes back to the direction of the man that was now practically dry humping my knee, his chest rising and falling, his deep blue eyes watching me close. And my heart sank.
Guilt, though I wasn’t even moving. I was like a statue afraid to breathe, with fear he’d take it as a pant and think I was inviting him for more.