Chapter 5
SADIE
The storm outside might be over, but the one inside me is still roaring in my ears.
What a kiss.
My back is still pressed against the window, Ledger's large frame caging me in, blocking out everything else. Every nerve ending in my body is firing at once and I’m practically vibrating with need.
I’ve never been kissed like that before. My whole mouth still tingles and I want more.
So much more.
"Sadie." His voice is destroyed, as he closes his eyes, forehead resting against mine. "If you want to go, you need to. Now."
He's giving me an out. The responsible thing would be to take it. I'm a law enforcement officer. He’s an illegal forager I was just chasing down two days ago. He's fifteen years older than me, an ex-con built like a mountain, and…god, the way he’s looking at me, it’s as if I'm his salvation and damnation all at once.
Fire radiates from his darkening eyes. But there’s something else there, too—vulnerability, like he's already preparing for me to reject him.
Maybe I should go.
But there’s no way in hell I can now.
I reach up, trace my fingers along his jaw, feeling the scruff catch against my skin. "After that kiss? After being stuck here watching you move around this cabin like some kind of lumberjack wet dream?"
His eyes go wide. "Sadie, I—"
"No, you started this." I press closer, feeling every part of him against me. "You've been driving me insane. Do you know what it's like trying to maintain my distance when all I see are those big, rough hands…imagining them touching me, stroking me…?"
"Christ." He groans, his breath going ragged. "Saying things like that…"
I turn my head, lips brushing his ear. "I got myself off in your shower this morning thinking about you."
The sound he makes is inhuman. Then his hands are in my hair, pulling my head back, and he's kissing me like the world is ending.
It’s possession, pure and simple.
He moves to grab my hip and yanks me hard against him. I can feel every steel plane of his massive body.
When he lifts me slightly, my feet barely touch the ground.
"Take me," I gasp when we break for air.
He doesn't need to be told twice. He scoops me up and I wrap my legs around him, attacking his neck with kisses as he carries me. He tastes like salt and pine trees, and when I suck on the bare spot near his collar, he actually growls.
"Marking me already?" His voice is low, amused. "Didn't peg you for the feral type, Ranger Giles."
"There's a lot you don't know about me," I gasp as he kicks the bedroom door shut. "Like how I've been thinking about the scruff of your beard on my thighs since—"
"Fuck, Sadie." He tosses me on the bed and I bounce, laughing. Then I'm on my back with two hundred and fifty pounds of man above me.
"That's the idea," I say, surprising myself with my boldness.
"You sure?" he asks, hand shaking slightly as it touches my face.
"Ledger, I swear to God, if you stop now—"
He cuts me off with another kiss, and then he's leaning back to tear his shirt off and my brain short-circuits. Because Jesus Christ, he's gorgeous…with a broad, mouth-watering chest covered in dark blond hair, muscles from years of physical labor, and sexy, tanned skin.
I run my hands over him, feeling him shudder at my touch.
"I need to see what you've been hiding under my clothes," he demands, eyes predatory.
I pull the thermal shirt up slowly to reveal my bare stomach. "Does it do something for you? Seeing me in your things?"
His hands fist at his sides. "You have no fucking idea."
"Tell me." I push up and peel the shirt off, tossing it aside.
"Makes me want to keep you," he says, roughly. "And make you come so hard the only word you remember is my name."
I whimper.
"Hell," he breathes, undoing my bra, and then exploring my bare breasts. "You're so beautiful."
I arch into his touch, trembling.
"It's been years," he admits, and then his mouth is on me, capturing a taut peak, tongue swirling around it. I bow off the bed with a sound I've never made before.
"Listen to you," he murmurs, switching to the other breast. "So needy. So perfect. Bet you're already soaked for me, aren't you?"
I just nod. “God, Ledger, I need—"
"I know." His hands are on my sweatpants now, peeling them down my legs. "I know what you need."
His mouth and hands worship every inch of skin he reveals, until I'm writhing beneath him, begging in ways that would embarrass me if I could think straight.
Then he helps me with his pants, and—shit, that’s a big cock.
Proportional is an understatement.
"Second thoughts?" There's vulnerability under his teasing tone.
"No way." I reach for him, wrapping my hand around his thick length, earning me a hiss. “Just strategizing. Everything about you is oversized.”
“I’ll take care of you,” he promises, his fingers tracing up my inner thigh, teasing.
"Ledger, please—"
"Like this?" His thumb brushes over my pussy through my panties, barely there pressure that makes me want to scream.
"I need you to stop teasing and—oh!" He pushes my panties aside, sliding his thick fingers over my wet, aching folds.
"So damn wet," he breathes, caressing my sensitive flesh.
I gasp, rocking against his hand. "God, your hands—"
His fingers circle my clit, brushing over it, then more deliberately, making my muscles shake and flutter.
“Is that the magic spot right there, Sadie?” he purrs, varying his sweet touches until I can barely take it anymore.
“Don’t stop…” I manage to whisper, my hips nearly coming off the bed as he plays me like an instrument.
“Oh, don’t worry, you’re going to come for me before I stop,” he says, with utter confidence. “I’ve been imagining all the sounds you'd make, how you'd smell…taste.” He kisses behind my ear.
My head goes back. “I-I’m going to come.”
“Yes, baby. Are my fingers driving that aching little pussy crazy?”
And then I’m coming, moaning, as his fingers work me through a blinding orgasm. My body convulses, my hands gripping his shoulders.
“Damn, you’re magnificent,” he growls in my ear as I tremble. “I need to be inside you before I lose my mind."
"Condom?" I manage.
"Fuck." He freezes. "I don't—"
"IUD," I interrupt. "And I'm clean. You?"
"The prison medical system is surprisingly thorough about testing," he says. "I'm good."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
He smiles down at me. “You ready for more?”
I reach between us and stroke his huge cock, the head slick with precum.
He lets out a long gasp…
“Let’s do this,” I say, kissing his jaw.
Then he's positioning himself, the broad head pressing against my entrance, and we both groan.
"Look at me," he commands. "Want to watch your face when I take you."
I meet his eyes as he pushes in, slow and steady. The stretch is intense—but it's the look on his face that undoes me. Like I'm magical and he can't believe this is real.
When he's finally all the way in, we're both shaking.
"Oh hell," I breathe. "I'm so full—"
“You feel incredible,” he grits out, holding himself still with visible effort. "So tight, so wet, so hot." He pulls out slowly, and pushes back in. "Such a good girl, taking all of me like you were made for it."
The praise scrambles my brain and I roll my hips. "Fuck me now."
"Demanding little thing." But he complies, setting a rhythm that has me clawing at his shoulders. "That's it. Mark me up. Want souvenirs that lasts for days."
"More," I demand, locking my legs around his waist.
He grabs my ass cheeks, driving into me even deeper. “Yes…”
"Like that?" He does it again, and again, until I'm incoherent. "This what you need, baby? To be fucked properly?"
"God yes—"
He growls, shifting and hauling my leg over his shoulder, and oh fuck he's hitting that special spot with every thrust now. "You're mine now, Sadie. Mine to pleasure until you can't remember why you ever thought this was a bad idea."
"Yours," I agree, beyond pride at this point. "Please, I'm so close—"
“Come for me,” he groans. And I realize how close he is to doing the same. “Let me feel you fall apart on my cock.”
I've never been this vocal in bed, never felt this wild and uninhibited. But something about Ledger brings out a side of me I didn't know existed.
"That's my girl," he growls.
And suddenly the coil snaps and I’m shattering beneath him, vision blurring, as I cry out his name.
Every muscle clenches and spasms.
“You’re gonna make me explode. I can’t resist that tight little pussy milking my goddamn cock.” He groans as he thrusts…then roars moments later.
I hold him tight as his heat floods into me, his hips jerking erratically.
We finally collapse together in a sweaty, satisfied tangle.
After a moment, he shifts, pulling me against his chest.
"Jesus," I pant.
"Yeah." He presses a kiss to my hair.
His bed smells like both of us now.
Reality starts seeping in.
I stiffen without meaning to and his arm around me loosens. I can practically feel him retreating even though he hasn't moved.
"Regrets already?" he asks, flatly.
"No, I—" I sit up, pulling the sheet with me. "It's just…not typical for me."
“And you think this is typical for me?” He's already getting up, reaching for his pants. “After prison…I figured this part of me was dead.”
"Ledger, wait." I grab his arm. "Please don’t shut me out now. Can we just talk?"
He looks at me for a long moment, then sits on the edge of the bed, far enough away that we're not touching. But the distance feels like miles.
"I don't regret it," I say firmly. "I could never regret that. It's just—god, my job is literally to enforce regulations, and instead I'm—"
"Fucking the lawbreaker?"
"That's not—" I take a breath. "You're not just some lawbreaker to me. That's the problem."
His shoulders relax slightly. "Then what am I?"
"I don't know," I admit. "This is insane. We've known each other two days. You live alone in the woods and seem perfectly happy to never see another human being. While I have a job, a life in town. This shouldn't work."
He runs a hand over his face.
"But I've also never felt like this." The words tumble out before I can stop them. "I've dated, had relationships, thought I knew what chemistry was. But this? With you? It's like nothing I've ever experienced. And that’s really scary…because I don't want this feeling to end."
He turns to look at me then, and the hope in his eyes breaks my heart.
"I know it's crazy," I continue. "I know there are a thousand reasons this is a bad idea. But when you look at me, when you touch me, none of those reasons matter."
He scoots closer to me on the bed, his hand sliding over my arm. "I've been alone so long I forgot what connection felt like. Figured I'd die out here, just me and Bear til the end. Thought that's what I deserved."
"Ledger—"
"I thought that any chance I had at a real life, a real relationship, was gone. But then you crashed into my world and..." He strokes my cheek with his thumb. "I’m wondering if it’s not too late. That maybe I've been punishing myself long enough."
I smile at him. "So what should we do?"
"Give it a try?" he asks.
I lean in and kiss his cheek. “I’m game.”
He covers my hand with his and squeezes.
"We take it one step at a time," I say. "No running, no hiding."
He leans in and kisses me, soft and sweet this time. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah." He pulls me against him, and I settle into his arms like it’s exactly where I belong.
Bear scratches at the door, whining pitifully.
"Someone feels left out," I chuckle.
"He'll survive." Ledger's hand trails down my back, making me shiver. "I'm not done with you yet."
I turn in his arms, and straddle his lap. "What else did you have in mind?"
His hands grip my hips, and I can feel him getting hard again beneath me. "Let me show you."