Chapter 10 #2
“You’ve had enough,” he finally said, his voice entirely different than before. When he released my hands, he surprised me by taking a step away.
Maybe I’d thought he’d pull me into his arms again.
I guess I’d thought wrong.
Still winded more from excitement than anything else, I pushed up from the counter, easing onto my feet.
He’d returned to the perch I’d caught him at what now seemed a lifetime before. Eyes glued to the outside. Hands gripping the edge of the counter.
Muscles tense.
Not looking at me. Was it from fear of his own reaction or maybe the temptation I offered?
The only difference was he was now standing completely devoid of clothes. I took a deep breath, holding the air in my lungs as I raked my gaze down from his chiseled jaw to his chest, his hipbone protruding out and the slight hint of the deep V in his abdomen I’d noticed earlier.
He was rugged in so many ways, handsome in all.
The man was a true creation of some amazing deity that I wanted to thank.
“You should get dressed. Now that the rain has stopped, hopefully, I can get some phone reception so I can find out how long we can expect to be stuck up here. If not, I’ll take the truck out and see if I can get some reception on my two-way radio.
At some point if I need to, I’ll see if…
” His shoulders slumped. “I’ll see if one of the chopper pilots can get you off the mountain. ”
My jaw stiffened. Will had been a pilot. That much I did remember. “Are you trying to get rid of me so fast?” I don’t know why, but I found it necessary to drive some humor into the moment. The switch had flipped again out of the blue and he’d fallen back into the same moment of sadness.
I was certainly no mental health expert, but I knew enough to feel concerned about his wellbeing.
He didn’t bother acknowledging I’d said anything to him.
At least at first.
“I’m sorry, Kenzie. What just happened was wrong.”
“Wrong? Why wrong? We’re both adults. We’re not attached to anyone else.”
The heavy sigh was filled with frustration. “Because it was. That’s all you need to know.”
“No, that’s not an answer. That’s a copout, Axe. You know it.”
I noticed not only was he standing on the tee shirt I’d worn but the sweatpants were on the other side of him nestled against his leg.
“It’s the only answer needed.”
“That’s not fair. Did I do something wrong?” Why was I asking?
“Of course not.”
“Well, that’s the way you’re acting. Just like you did before. Treating me like a little girl who doesn’t know what she wants.”
“You’re definitely not a little girl. You’re very much a…” Another sigh.
“I don’t understand you.”
Chortling, he threw me a quick look, or at least it was supposed to be quick.
He allowed his gaze to linger longer than I sensed he wanted, the look turning to fire in seconds.
With a hard jerk, he pulled his face away.
“Yeah, well, that makes two of us. I didn’t do anything back then, Kenzie.
You pushed me off. Remember? This time, it’s all on me. ”
“That’s not how I remember it. You snatched a kiss then walked away, telling me to go find someone my own age. Then you said… That I wasn’t good enough.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Oh, yes, you did and I hate to admit it even now, but you hurt me.” Why was I spouting off something that occurred years before? Why? Because being with him here and now had reintroduced the memories.
“That was never my intention.” His upper lip curled.
“But you made it clear by sticking your tongue down Roxanne’s throat. You remember that?”
Oh, my God. He didn’t. “I didn’t want Roxanne, Kenzie. I just knew I wasn’t good enough for you. Your father made certain to tell me that.”
The man was serious. “He did?”
His laugh was bitter. “Yeah. He did.”
“That’s why he tried to have your title stripped for cheating.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “That was a long time ago. Just let it be.”
My God. I’d never been so angry in my life.
I hated my father. “You’re right. That was a long time ago, but he’s not in control of my life.
Not that he ever was. What you’re doing right now is all about this moment.
What is going on? I’m confused. We’re adults here and from what I know, we’re perfectly capable of making our own decisions about who and what we want. ”
“It’s not that simple. Now, just get dressed. This was just a big mistake and I take full responsibility for touching you.”
I stood where I was, debating how to handle the situation. The same anger and despondency rushed in. Just like I’d felt as a teenager. I’d crushed on him for as long as I could remember and he’d acted as if kissing me had been a terrible experience.
“Let’s make it that simple.” Yes, my voice held irritation, but the sad truth was that my throat was trying to close out of humiliation. Ugly heat drifted across my face, the twinge of embarrassment for sharing my emotions unexpected.
“Stop, Kenz. Don’t make this any worse than it already is. Like I said. I shouldn’t have touched you. For that, I apologize.”
“Is my father holding something over you even now? Tell me the truth.”
I couldn’t tell by his laugh if I was right. “You deserve only the best, Palomino Girl.”
I’d realized long before my father had a vicious streak held under the guise of caring about his only daughter. At times, I’d felt special, even adored by the man. However, whatever threat he’d leveled against Axe was unforgivable.
“You don’t trust me. Fine. You really know how to treat a lady.
” My barb didn’t as much a garner me a deep breath.
The ache was worse than I’d experienced on that bright sunny day standing in the middle of a gorgeous meadow.
“You did more than touch me just now, Stephen. You kissed me. And you caressed me. And you kissed down there.” I don’t know why I was bothering. He’d shut down completely.
He made no movement, not a single sound uttered.
And you didn’t seem to mind when I had your cock in my mouth. Did you? The nasty question was on the tip of my tongue, but I held back. What good would inflaming the situation do?
I took a step closer, furious with myself for getting into this position. He’d obviously been too distraught to know what he was doing. Why hadn’t I left it alone? Why did I think I could cure him of all that ailed him?
Because I had more than a huge soft spot for the man. Fantasy or no, I compared every man to the one standing in front of me.
He seemed irritated with what I’d said and after a few seconds, tossed me another look, only this time full of irritation. “Why aren’t you dressed?”
“Why aren’t you dressed?”
“My house.”
Oh, the man was infuriating.
“Fine,” I said, fighting so many tantrum-styled urges it was ridiculous.
“I’m not dressed because you’re standing on my clothes.
Your clothes. The ones you allowed me to wear.
” I pointed and looked away, mostly because I knew my face was flaming red in color all over again.
Plus, I was certain tears were ready to form in my eyes.
Just another ridiculous reaction to him and the silly situation.
When I realized he hadn’t moved for what felt like an eternity, I finally looked at him then toward the clothes. Maybe I’d expected a grin or at minimum a look of amusement. I was given neither, more of a twisted expression of fury.
But he slowly reached down, snatching both into his hand. I also expected at this point he’d toss the items to me. “Take them.”
He held them out, studying me without understanding the pained expression I wore or the tenseness in my muscles. Or maybe I was in the process of shutting down my emotions around him. I took a single stride, trying to snatch them from his hand.
He wasn’t letting go.
I tried again, studying the hard clench of his hand when I did. When he didn’t budge, I flitted my eyes to his.
“Fuck. Kenzie. What the hell are we doing here? So much time wasted. So many fucking years I’ve thought about you.”
“You have?”
“Hell, yeah.” He yanked me forward and against him when I’d expected him to storm out after I’d grabbed the clothes.
The change occurred again, only this time, there was no playfulness to either the reflection in his eyes or the heavy breathing in his chest. I put my hands on his chest, but I wasn’t pushing, just standing. Touching.
Waiting.
“Kenzie. I never wanted to hurt you. You don’t understand. I would never want anyone to hurt you.” After taking a deep breath, he crushed his lips into mine.
The urgency was different, becoming such that whatever blip had just occurred was easily forgotten. He held the back of my head, thrusting his tongue past my lips, drinking from my mouth as a man dying of thirst would do.
He slid his other hand down my back, cupping my aching bottom. His hold was all about not letting me go, keeping me close so that I’d accept whatever he was prepared to toss at me.
The ache between my legs was even stronger than before, the scent of my desire wafting between us.
Hunger exploded between us, the rough pads of his fingers tingling my skin as he rubbed his hand up and down my spine.
I was all over him, twining my tongue with his, moaning into the kiss as I allowed my fingers to roam and tangle themselves in his hair.
His lips were soft, his tongue warm, his breath scalding hot and his touch undeniably possessive.
Something possessed me and I wrapped my legs around his waist, shifting my hips back and forth against him.
The way the ridge of his hard cock was pressed against my naked skin was an amazing aphrodisiac.
He was finished with either one of us teasing each other.
So was I.
With me in his arms, he carried me from the kitchen to the hallway leading to the bedroom.
He wasn’t interesting in any additional foreplay either, placing one knee on the bed.
With his upper body strength, he gingerly placed me on the bed, still leaning over me when I was placed against the soft comforter.
After breaking the kiss, he palmed the bed, straightening his forearm. The smile had returned but was that of a predator or carnivore and not a man.
My legs were still wrapped around his waist. I lowered them by a few inches, enjoying a few seconds of being allowed to touch his heated skin all over again.
Maybe at some point we’d need to discuss what happened long ago. Or maybe we wouldn’t. With both of us breathing heavily, the moment I wrapped my hand around his cock, placing the tip against my pussy lips, he lowered his head.
Then he thrust the entire length of his shaft inside. For so many years I’d wanted him, using vibrators and touching myself. Envisioning what it would be like. Wishing that I’d have a chance to indulge in my greatest fantasy.
For all those times, nothing had prepared me for the electricity soaring through me or the connection.
“Oh!” I gripped his arms, pulling myself up from the bed. He was huge, so much so the ache in my pussy was as unexpected as it was incredible.
“So fucking tight.”
I laughed nervously, uncertain what to say or if I should even bother. The stars I’d seen before returned, but they were shooting instead of prickling across my field of vision.
He pulled almost completely out, still leaning on his hands. In the waning afternoon light streaming in through the half-open blinds, I was gifted with an incredible vision of the man who’d never been far from my mind.
When I placed both hands on his chest, kneading his muscles, he let out a single guttural sound. Almost that of a wounded animal. There was still pain in his eyes, but I was certain there was in mine as well. To touch him, to study him, to hold him meant everything to me.
Together we rocked, never blinking.
Never speaking.
Just being together, the two of us.
In the touching and holding, in the moment that obliterated the past, I finally found a sense of peace in coming home.
He rolled me over, forcing me to rest on top of him. I grabbed his arms as he’d done with mine, pulling them over his head. Only one hand wasn’t large enough to grab both his wrists. So I settled for intertwining his fingers with mine and holding him in place.
The shared moment of intimacy was exactly everything I needed, and in a few minutes, my body was trembling.
I’d never been able to let go with a man.
Maybe because I was holding out. Now, I trembled by just being in his arms. I bucked even harder against him as he cupped my breasts, the man never blinking as he watched me.
He was more enthralled than I’d ever seen a man, refusing to miss anything.
“So beautiful,” he whispered in his dark, husky voice.
Where he could make me feel like some little girl, when the handsome hunk turned on the charm, I was blown away by how amazing he made the moment.
Damn him for teasing me, making me hunger for all of him.
Body and soul.
Just when my body was ready to let go, awash in a heightened moment of bliss, he rolled me back over. He refused to release my hands, his fingers digging into my skin from the brutal hold.
As he rocked his hips, I did what I could to arch my back, hungry to get as close to him as possible. All time ceased as the climax rolled into my system.
“Oh. Oh. Oh…” My body stiffened, another wave sweeping through me. Unable to control my actions, I closed my eyes and fell into a sweet dreamland. I lolled my head to the side as I slowly began to come down from the intense high.
When I turned my head again, he nodded. It was his way of telling me that now he planned on taking his turn. His actions were rougher, needier, and in the next seconds or minutes, there was no one else on the planet but the two of us.
His body tensed and he pounded into me, filling me completely.
With a slow but deliberate toss of his head toward the ceiling, his body spasmed as he erupted deep inside.
There was that moment when I knew this was the best of what life had to offer. Being close to someone you cared about.
Even if somewhere deep inside, I knew what we’d shared would never happen again.