by A. J. Wynter
I stepped inside the steamy bathroom and shut the door behind me.
“There are towels on the shelf,” he yelled through the door.
Candles were flickering on the ledge of the sink and the bathwater was so hot, the steam hung heavily in the air. I pulled off my clothes and let them fall into a heap on the bathmat. I dipped a finger into the water as my thermometer. It was perfect. Tears welled up in my eyes. This gesture, giving me his hot water was one of the kindest I had received in years.
I felt overcome with emotion but breathed out slowly and stared at the ceiling, stopping any tears from falling. I tiptoed to the door and creaked it open. Without taking time to second guess myself, I called out to him.
“Is everything okay?” He appeared from around the corner, averting his gaze from the crack in the door.
“Join me.” I opened the door fully, backlit by the candlelight, completely naked.
“Emma.” He turned his body towards me, his gaze trained on the pine floor.
I reached out my hand and slipped it into his, pulling him gently. He resisted. “I want to share the water with you,” I whispered and tugged again. This time, he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and I could see the slight upturn in his lips as he gave in and stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
I wanted to kiss him, but instead, I slid his sweater up his body. Chase raised his arms and I slid it as high as I could. He reached behind him, gripping the back and pulled the shirt off over his head like a hockey player. I took the sweater from his hands and let it fall to the floor onto my pile of clothes. I slipped my hands into the waistband of his work pants, unfastened the button, and pulled down the zipper. I did all of this without saying a word. Neither did he. I slid my hands around his taut waist and slipped them into the back of his pants. I edged the pants over his firm round ass with the back of my hands and once they cleared his muscle, gravity took over and they dropped heavily to the floor. He was wearing a one-piece thermal long underwear suit and the waffle fabric clung to his defined pecs and v-shaped torso. I started unbuttoning it from the top, slowly revealing Chase’s washboard abs. These weren’t muscles that were formed in a gym. These were wood chopping, manual labor abs. When I reached the waist, I realized that the buttons stopped right on top of Chase’s manhood, which was now straining at the front of the fabric. I gently undid the buttons and Chase shrugged out of the shoulders of the suit. It dropped to the floor, leaving his cock swaying in the steamy air, full and hard. It was bigger than I had imagined, and I tried not to stare as I bent down to free his ankles. The whole undressing had been slow and silent. The want for him was slick between my thighs.
He held my hand and helped me into the bathtub. I settled down slowly into the hot water, my exposed skin prickling with goosebumps. Chase stepped into the bathtub behind me and I slid forward, giving him space. Chase’s mass displaced the water and it rose high in the tub until it covered my shoulders. His legs slid down beside mine and I rested my head on my exposed kneecaps. The water gently shifted back and forth as Chase settled in behind me. My breath hitched as I felt his hands on my shoulders and his lips brush against my spine. The gentle brush of his beard sent tingles from my core to the tips of my fingers and toes. I moaned lightly and inhaled deeply, letting him pull me back to rest against his chest. The warmth I felt was coming from within, even though the bubbles had settled around my collarbone. The water was still as we breathed in unison, his chest pushing against my back. I let my hands settle on his thighs, his fingers found mine and they wove themselves together as if they had a mind of their own.
When he spoke, his baritone vibrated through to my chest. “Emma...”
“Yes,” I whispered. I let my head fall to the side, resting against his hard chest.
“Tell me about your story.”
I smiled and as the words flowed out of me, I could feel him nodding, and when I got to the funny parts, his body shook mine as he laughed.
“I can’t wait to read it,” he whispered into my ear as I finished.
I flipped over, suspended in the deep bubbles and slipped my hands around Chase’s neck. The candlelight flickered in the crystal blue of his eyes. I couldn’t leave this cabin without telling this man that I was falling in love with him. His hands had found my hips, but instead of whispering those words, my lips found his cheek. I kissed along his jawbone and he rested his head back against the bathtub. His thumbs pressed into my hips, his fingers rhythmically lightly kneading my ass.
“Jack,” I whispered. He opened his eyes and lowered his chin to look at me. Our lips were a fraction of an inch apart. “I...” I whispered, but the rest of the words were interrupted as Chase’s lips pressed into mine. I thought my heart was going to pound right out of my chest. Chase’s heavy arms pulled my body against his and I grabbed fistfuls of the hair at the nape of his neck. My legs were now straddling his, my knees squeezing his thick thighs. We were hungry for each other. Our kisses had grown in intensity from gentle and soft, to hard and frantic. I could feel his cock between us, tapping me in my lower belly every so often as we surged against each other. Our breaths were coming hard and fast. I cupped his face with my hands and rose up onto my knees, my lips never leaving his. He squeezed my ass and as he pulled my hips towards him, I held onto his muscular shoulders and arched my back, my exposed nipples puckering in the cool air, but not for long. Chase’s mouth warmed each one as he nipped and sucked on my sensitive skin.
He let go of me with one hand and I heard the water dripping as he reached for the bar of soap. He cupped it between his hand and my body and proceeded in a circular motion, soaping first my chest, then his circles traveled down my belly, goosebumps followed his trail as he washed my entire body.
I took the soap from his hand and kissed his neck as I started running the bar over his broad back. Washing each other was such an intimate act. Even though we had never slept together, I felt like we had just stepped onto new ground.
A water jug sat on a stool beside the tub and Chase reached for it, filling it up with water.
“What’s that for?”
“Washing your hair,” he said. “Turn around.”
I followed his order and turned so I was nestled between his legs once again. He poured the clean water slowly over my hair and then massaged the shampoo into my hair. His strong hands worked gently as he washed and rinsed and then conditioned my hair.
“Now you.” I took the jug from his hand. He turned, the water sloshing as I spread my legs around him. I poured the water slowly, guiding the stream away from his forehead. His hair was thick, and when it was dry it was a light brown, but now with it soaking wet and dark, I could see a few stray strands of gray.
When I finished, I kissed the center of his broad back and rested my head against it. He took the pitcher from my hand and filled it up again.
“Stand up.” He stood and held out his hand, his erection so huge, it blocked my view of his face. I let him pull me up out of the warmth of the water. He poured the bucket over my body, rinsing off the bubbles and then I did the same for him.
He shivered and my body responded with a shiver of its own.
As he stepped out of the bathtub, he grabbed a towel, but instead of drying himself off, he stood dripping wet, holding it open for me, wrapping me in its warmth and rubbing my arms through the thick woven cotton. Then, as if I weighed nothing at all, he lifted me out of the tub and set me on the mat in front of him. I opened up my arms and wrapped them, and the towel, around Chase.
“I don’t want to leave,” I whispered into his chest.
“Then don’t,” he whispered into my ear.
My heart surged but as fast as it swelled, it shrank and dropped into the pit of my stomach. The day had been so perfect that I had forgotten the reason that I was really here. I was Emma, a hard-hitting reporter, tricking Chase into trusting me. A few minutes earlier, we had just been Emma, stranded reporter, and Jack – the mountain man.
IT WAS JUST AS I HAD imagined. Emma sat at my feet, typing away on her computer, her eyes tracking across the screen as her fingers flew across the keys. I was trying to read, but I couldn’t focus on the words. My eyes kept flicking to the beautiful woman beside me.
When she told me she never wanted to leave, I was shocked. She had the courage to voice the words that I was too afraid to say. The cabin felt alive with her in it. Being with Emma made me forget the reason why I was here, and for the first time in my life, the guilt that had parked itself in every fiber of my being had lifted. I didn’t feel like an outcast with Emma, I felt accepted. I could be myself with her.
It was stupid. She couldn’t stay here. Once she found out the truth about me, she would be so disgusted she would never want to see me ever again.
She looked up from her story as I finished off my coffee and stood up. I stepped into my work clothes and boots.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m going to check the road and try that damn snowmobile one more time,” I replied. The sun had sunk to the jagged horizon and I had to get out of the house before Emma and I made any more terrible mistakes together.
“Okay,” she said, her brow knitted together. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“Nah.” I pulled on my hat. “It’ll be faster if you just stay here.”
“Oh, alright,” she said quietly.
I knew that I was being short with her, but the honeymoon was over. “You need to get back to reality,” I said. This fairy tale couldn’t continue.
I called Dumpster and the two of us got in my truck, plowing our way to the forestry road. I truly was torn. Part of me wanted to find it buried in a blanket of snow, giving Emma and me one more day together, but reality had settled in weighing heavily. When I saw the thick tire tracks, evidence of a front-end loader pressed into the snow, I knew that it truly was over. It was time for Emma to go home, and it was time for me to get back to my life.
I finished plowing the driveway with Dumpster sleeping in the passenger seat beside me. When I returned, the cabin lights were glowing, and every once in a while, I saw the shadow of Emma as she walked and stretched around the cabin. I turned off the ignition and in the dark, I rested my head on my hands as they gripped the steering wheel.
Dumpster nudged at my cheek when the cold settled into the cab of the truck. “I know, buddy,” I whispered. “It’s time.”
I stepped into the cabin and was met with the smell of roasted garlic and onions. The radio crackled and Emma was standing at the counter chopping vegetables and humming along with Shania Twain. She turned to face me, and she was radiant. Her hair had dried into waves, and even though they were a billion sizes too big, she made my sweatpants and plaid shirt look good.
“Any luck?” she asked and took a bite of a carrot.
“No.” I pulled off my hat and shook the melted snow onto the doormat. You are a selfish prick, I thought to myself as the words slipped out of my mouth, “They still haven’t plowed the road.”
“I figured,” she smiled and pointed to the frying pan with the knife. “That’s why I got started on dinner.”
“It smells delicious.” I took three big strides into the kitchen and wrapped Emma in my arms. It was only one more day. We could have this for one more day, couldn’t we?
Chapter 15 – Emma
I’D BE LYING IF I SAID I was upset that the road was still closed. As Chase and I washed and dried the dinner dishes, we chatted about the weather and he told me all about what he was going to plant in the garden in the spring.
I pulled the curtain back to look at the mound of snow that was his vegetable garden. The moon had risen above the mountain peaks and was shining so brightly we didn’t have to light all of the lamps inside.
“It’s a full moon,” he brushed my hair back and whispered in my ear. “In November the full moon is called the beaver moon.”
“Why?” I asked.
“There’s a couple of theories, but I think it’s because this is when the beavers are preparing for winter, as opposed to when the trappers were setting their traps for the little guys.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and his beard tickled my neck as he kissed my collarbone. I giggled and squirmed in his arms.
“Your beard, it tickles,” I said.
He pressed me against the wall and rubbed his face into my neck, back and forth, his beard scratching at my skin. I squealed and half-heartedly pushed him away – I loved it. He pulled me back and I grabbed his face and kissed him, pressing my hips against his, his hips responding, pressing equally as hard against mine. The kisses in the bathtub had been sensual, slow and deep, but these, these were feverish.
He pulled back; his voice raspy. “We should go for a walk in the full moon.” His hands held my hips tightly while he stared into my eyes.
The last thing I wanted to do was go for a walk. “It looks cold out there,” I whispered.
“You’re right,” he said and grabbed my ass. “Fuck that,” he growled and then picked me up with one arm. I wrapped my legs around his waist, squeezing him tightly, rocking my hips forward and pressing myself against him. He carried me to the bedroom and tossed me onto the bed. He pulled his shirt off his head, undid his pants, stepped out of them and crawled onto the bed. He pulled the sweatshirt I was wearing over my head, exposing my bare breasts. I hadn’t bothered with a bra after our bath. “No long underwear,” I whispered as I hooked my fingertips into his boxer briefs.
“No bra?” he cupped my breasts as I transferred the waistband of his pants to my toes and stretched my legs out straight to pull them down his legs. When I reached his ankles, he helped kick the briefs off onto the floor. He was breathing heavily, and I nipped at his full lower lip while his hand slid down my abdomen into the waistband of the sweatpants. He paused as his fingertips grazed between my legs and he whispered into my mouth with a grin, “And no panties...” He rocked back onto his knees and easily pulled the baggy sweatpants off my body.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered and bent down to kiss my lower belly, his breath sending ripples through my body that were so intense, my toes curled involuntarily, and my entire body flexed, curving into a bow shape. He continued kissing down my body until his face was between my legs, the warmth of his breath causing my core to pulse with want. I arched my back, squirming with desire, my body urging him to continue, his breath taunting me, his beard tickling my thighs that were quivering in anticipation. I balled my fists up in the quilt and writhed as he teased me. I was on the verge of an orgasm and the man had barely even touched me. He squeezed the outside of my thighs with his calloused hands, while he teased the insides with his lips, kissing down each leg slowly, then finally his kisses were between my legs and the surge of warmth shot through me as his lips and tongue kissed and flicked at my desire. I writhed with this man between my legs, the sensation bordering between ecstasy and insanity. He brought me to the edge three times, pausing to kiss my thighs and my belly before burying his face between my legs again. By the fourth time, he didn’t pause, he didn’t tease, and the wave of my orgasm surged through me, my body bucking as I screamed out his name. “Jack. Oh, my God. Jack.” As I collapsed beneath him, he kissed his way up my body, slowly and methodically covering my upper body with touches from his lips.
He nuzzled into my neck and placed his hand on my heaving chest. I was panting like a dog in the summertime heat. I could feel his hardness between my legs, and even though I had just had a mind-blowing, body tingling orgasm, I wanted more.
“Have you got a condom?” I whispered.
“I think so,” he replied and yanked open the nightstand drawer. I heard it clatter to the floor, its contents spilling with a thud. “Shit,” he whispered, and leaned over the bed, pawing around on the floor. He returned with a foil packet in his hand and bit off the corner. Just watching him roll the condom onto his girthy cock had me wet with desire.
I k
issed him and hooked my feet around his waist, urging his hips forward with my heels. He slid in slowly and gently, taking his time. I moaned as his body filled me completely. We kissed slowly and in time with his gentle thrusts. Our kissing was growing harder as he pumped faster as if he were frantic. His low moans were growing louder, his breathing faster, and then he stopped. He pulled out.
“What?” I propped myself up on my elbows. “Why are you stopping?”
“It’s been so long.” He shook his head. “If I don’t slow down, it’s all going to be over soon.”
My body was aching to have him back inside, stretching me with his fullness. “Have you got more than one of those?” I asked, grabbing the condom wrapper in my hand. “A few,” he whispered.
“We’ve got all night, Jack,” I whispered. I got up onto my knees and turned to face him. I pressed my hand into his chest, pushing him down onto the bed. I threw my leg over him and braced myself with my hands on his flexed abs, slowly lowering myself onto his shaft. I rocked and rode Chase, starting slowly, but when he sat up and pulled me tightly to his body, our chests rubbing as I moved against his body, the sensation from earlier returned and built faster than before. “I’m going to... Oh, God, Jack,” I panted and as my second orgasm sneaked up on me, I dug my fingertips in his back and screamed out his name. He gripped my hips and thrust into me hard and as I was coming, his own groans matched mine as he shuddered inside of me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed the top of his head. He was panting into my chest as his body shuddered one more time.
“Emma, oh Emma,” he whispered and hugged me tighter. He nuzzled his face into my neck. I was still straddling him, but he moved his hands to grab me around my waist and turn me over as he pulled out of me.
“I’ll be back in a second,” he whispered.
I could feel my chest tingling from the after-effects of my orgasm. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror above his dresser. My hair was mussed, and my face was almost as red as a tomato. I shivered and pulled back the quilt, slipping in between Jack’s sheets.