Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
AXL
I couldn’t keep my hands off this woman. Goddamn. Well, if I was making a mistake, my dick was all in. There was no talking my body out of touching Billie Prescott.
A smarter man would have taken a cold shower.
When I fucked her on the kitchen counter, I almost exploded within three thrusts. Her body made me feel alive. The touch of her skin made my cock throb. Every cell in my body ached to be inside her. Her eyes sparkled, and my body felt long forgotten joy. She accessed parts of me that I’d buried long ago.
When I drove my cock deep inside her pussy, a single word thrummed through my mind.
“Mine,” my desire crooned. “She is mine.”
I laid claim to every inch of her body. Her firm breasts and hardened nipples belonged to my mouth. I owned her sweet, wet pussy.
She made me feel young and vibrant, reminding me of the days before I moved out at eighteen. I asked Mom to come, too. I begged her to leave my father, but she stayed. I remembered feeling light-hearted when I was in high school, playing with my boys or making out with girls behind the bleachers at Modesto High. I remembered feeling something different than stone-cold in my heart. I’d done fine for over twenty years, following a code of only pursuing uncomplicated or unavailable women. I wasn’t used to a woman lighting my heart up as if it weren’t damaged goods.
At least Billie wasn’t staying. The weather would change, and she’d head back to Denver. If I was lucky, she wouldn’t fight me on the lease. I knew that having sex with her was playing with fire, but I just couldn’t put down that match.
We made a pact. What happens in Smoke River stays in Smoke River.
We agreed to the terms with our words and bodies. I just wasn’t sure how easy it was going to be to forget the taste of Billie Prescott after she left.
I thought about our poker game. I lost, which meant I’d agreed to leave if she wanted me to. What Billie didn’t know is that I threw the game. I discarded an ace, giving up the royal flush. I knew Billie had a great hand; she sucked at bluffing. I also knew that there are some games in life that you don’t want to win.
I did not know what was going on between her and Louise, but I wasn’t going to get what I wanted if Billie had her back up. I needed her to let me stay and have it be her idea. Letting her win the game was a gamble, but I was betting she’d let me stay.
After pancakes, I put on boots and took Cam outside. While she did her business, I checked the temperature. It was no longer sub-zero, which meant it wasn’t dangerous to be outside. The snow continued to fall, but it seemed to have lost some momentum. It wasn’t as dense as the night before. The clouds overhead were losing valuable steam.
The blanket of snow muted all noise. It was beautiful. Not a sound came from the woods, save the intermittent thump of snow tumbling off overloaded branches.
I stayed outside and watched Cam play in the snow for a bit. After a moment, she padded up to the bottom of the stairs and sat at my feet. She nudged my leg and whined.
“So you like her, is that it?” I asked .
Cam looked at me with her familiar, all-knowing brown eyes. “Yeah, I like her, too. Don’t get attached, girl. She isn’t staying.”
Billie opened the door and poked her head outside. “Looking better?”
“A bit,” I said. Cam bounded up the steps to Billie. She jumped up, knocking her snowy paws into Billie’s middle.
“Down, Cam,” I said.
“She’s okay. She’s just excited,” Billie said. Scratching Cam’s head, she looked up at me. “Do you think we could try getting into town. I’d really like to call my mom.”
“That car isn’t getting out,” I said, looking at the drift. It was over four feet deep at this point. “We’d spend all day digging.”
Billie bit her lip and surveyed the yard. “Okay, but what if we walked into town? We could snowshoe?”
“Snowshoe,” I repeated.
“Yes.” Her face lit up. “We have old snowshoes in the barn. There is a path by the river. Mom, Gran, and I used to like to walk it, even in the snow. We could basically walk straight into town.”
I nodded and looked at the falling snow. “If the river is high, we’ll need to turn around. The path is steep, and we do not want to tumble into that water.”
“Deal,” she said, clapping her hands. “Do we bring Cam?”
“Nah, too cold. I’ll leave her here.”
Cam looked up from the snow. She’d buried her nose searching for something. She sneezed as if in agreement.
About an hour later, Billie and I walked out the back door of the cabin to put on old wooden snowshoes I retrieved from the barn. Billie expressed no interest in going to the barn this time. The snowshoes had leather straps and were the size of old wooden tennis rackets. I gave Cam a rawhide bone to distract her and made sure the fire was stoked to keep her warm.
Billie wore her bright purple coat and borrowed a pair of my wool socks. We pulled them all the way up to her knees. Once outside, we strapped on the snowshoes and headed around the side of the cabin. Snow crunched underfoot.
We crossed the fields, Billie’s pink cheeks shining. She tugged on her hat, the ends of her dark hair sticking out and hitting her shoulders. Snowflakes collected in her curls. I resisted the urge to tuck her hair under her hat. I had a feeling she might deck me if I tried.
“Quiet’s nice,” I said as we approached the woods.
“It’s gorgeous.” Billie grinned, her smile stretching from ear-to-ear.
“You’re pretty proud of yourself,” I said.
“Hell, yes,” she said. “Ever since I arrived, I’ve felt like I don’t know a thing about surviving in the Colorado winter. But I’m telling you, I know how to manage myself out here. Contrary to what you’ve observed … ”
“What?” I said, my tone playful. “I never thought you didn’t.”
“Bullshit,” she said, giving me a sideways glance.
“Okay, maybe I did wonder how you survived the drive here.”
“I knew it,” she said, grinning. “You are such a know-it-all asshole, but I suppose you know that already, too.”
“Sure as shit do,” I said.
We crossed the field, step after step. A line of deer tracks crossed the snow. I was doubly glad we hadn’t brought Cam. She was liable to chase after anything with four legs out here. We passed the trees where the family of raccoons lived. Luckily, those tricky fuckers were nowhere in sight.
“Once we get to town, I’ll ask Mason if he can help dig out the truck, or maybe his boys, if they are home,” she said.
“You mean the twins, Alfie and Ethan.”
“You know them?”
“Yea,” I said, laughing. “I have lived here for half a year.”
“I know. I keep forgetting,” Billie said.
“It’s okay,” I said, not wanting to pour any more salt into this wound. Clearly, Louise had secrets, and her reasons were none of my business. “I saw Ethan recently, but I am pretty sure that Alfie is home, too. They are both at UC Santa Cruz this fall.”
“Mason with an empty nest. I can’t believe those boys are grown.”
“So where is Mrs. Mason?”
“I don’t know. Mom always said that Mason’s wife wasn’t made for Smoke River, so she left.”
“Her loss,” I said.
“Yeah, she left and Mason stayed with the boys. I never asked more since that was kind of … ”
“None of your business,” I said.
“Exactly.”
“I make it a point to mind my business,” I said. Was I minding my business when I ran my tongue between her legs? Was I minding my business when I sucked on her luscious tits until I thought I would come from pure anticipation of feeling her orgasm?
“Me, too,” she said, glancing over at me. “I know that you and I … ” Her voice trailed off, and her cheeks flamed.
“Hey, what happens in Smoke River stays in Smoke River,” I said, cutting her off.
“Yes, it does,” she said. She gave me an awkward smile before biting her lip and looking away. We reached the end of the south field. The path grew more narrow and uneven as it snaked through the woods. We both concentrated on placing our snowshoes firmly on the ground.
“Are you usually alone out here?” She glanced over her shoulder at me. I walked behind her since there was no room to walk side-by-side. “I mean, it’s you and Cam.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty solitary. I’ve had Cam since she was a puppy. When I left the Air Force and moved to Lauderdale, one of the engineers at the company found her in a dumpster out behind our office.”
“A dumpster?”
“Yeah, she was sick and dehydrated. I took her home, cleaned her, fed her with a dropper for months. It’s been the two of use ever since. ”
“That is one lucky dog.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. “I think I’m the lucky one. Cam has been a great companion. Dogs are uncomplicated.”
“Unlike your ex-girlfriend,” she stated, her face forward.
I exhaled, cringing at the mention of Angel. It seemed wrong to talk about our time together when walking with Billie through these beautiful woods. Angel and I were a mistake. We didn’t belong in the beauty of Smoke River. “I suppose.”
“Where did you two meet?”
“We doing this?”
“Sorry, I am just making conversation,” she said. “It’s a long walk.”
“I don’t not want to talk about it.” This was a lie, but I realized the less I told her about Angel, the more focus it put on her. “We met through work.”
“Was she a passenger on one of your flights?”
I cleared my throat, remembering the day Angel Jules boarded my plane. She’d set her sights on me like a laser and made a point of staying around for a tour of the cockpit. I could have resisted, I should have, but my dick wants what it wants. It wanted an uncomplicated fuck, but I ended up with a load of bullshit. “Yes, she was a passenger.”
“What’s her name?”
“Angel.”
“Wow. Memorable.”
“I flew her and a few other people from Lauderdale to Boca Raton. We hit it off, our paths crossed again in Miami, and that’s how it started.” I kept it short. I kept it light. I did not know for sure, but I sensed the less Billie knew about Angel and the truth of our relationship the better.
“How long did you date?”
“On and off, a year.”
“I see,” Billie said. “I was with my ex for two years. We were on the whole time, well, that is what I thought, until I figured out he was a lying cheat.”
“Damn,” I said. “You caught him? ”
“No, he confessed all on his own. He fell for Brenda in hot yoga.”
“Rough.”
“I caught my college boyfriend cheating and my high school boyfriend. My high school boyfriend made out with my best friend.” She sighed and held her gloved fingers up in the air as she counted up all the men who had done her wrong.
“That’s rough.”
“I have bad radar. I pick liars. I pick cheaters. And I’ve learned the hard way, once a cheat, always a cheat.”
“I see,” I said, swallowing and wishing we could talk about something else. The path ahead sloped down steeply.
Billie stopped walking and glanced back at me. “This part gets a bit tricky.”
“I’ll go first,” I said, stepping to the side to pass her.
“No, I’ve got it.” She held up a hand.
“Seriously, you don’t need to do this yourself.”
“I’m not going to fall,” she said, slowing her walk. She planted her feet firmly and took another step.
“I am not saying you will fall. I’m saying that the smart thing to do is plan for the worst-case scenario.”
Billie took a slow step, brow furrowed, her body tense. “You mean the margin for error in this part of the walk is very low.”
“It’s high,” I said, sighing. “The margin for error is high. If the margin for error is low, it means things are less likely to go awry.”
“Look, I basically grew up in these woods,” she said, taking a solid step.
“Uh huh,” I said, my hand extended. She was only inches out of reach.
“I know this path. I know the incline.” She took another step. “I know … ”
There was a crack as an overhead branch snapped. Billie looked up. “Shit!” Her voice rose, arms flailing as she slipped.
I reached out, grabbed her waist, and yanked her back, pulling her straight to my chest .
“Well, damn.” She exhaled and looked up at me with her big brown eyes. “I guess this is the part where you tell me you are right.”
“What, me?” I grinned.
“Yes, you.”
“I don’t need to be right. I just need you to stay safe.”
She blinked twice and stared at me, her beautiful mouth falling open.
“May I go first? Please.”
Her eyes didn’t leave mine. Her chest rose and fell, and my body responded with a wave of heat. My dick hardened so fast I wondered if I was in danger of passing out from a head rush.
“Fine,” she said. Her breath froze in puffs in front of her bow lips. Her cheeks pink, the tip of her nose was red, making her look like a gorgeous woodland elf.
I walked around her, glad she couldn’t see the bulge in my pants.
We walked toward the rushing river, treading carefully on the slope. I anchored each of my footsteps, digging the tip of my snowshoe deep into the snow to make an icy step. The trail opened up onto a snowy bank. The water wasn’t frozen. The river was too wide and the water moving too fast.
“Look at those rapids,” Billie said, moving beside me. She crossed her arms and stared at the river.
“Yeah, the path is not looking good,” I said.
The normal path was buried under snow. Our snowshoes were too risky here. One wrong move and we could tumble into the icy waters.
“I really wanted to call my Mom,” Billie said, softly, looking at the whitewater. “She’ll be so worried.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Seems like this mountain doesn’t want me to leave.” Billie turned and looked up at me. There was a pause in her voice and an expectation in her eyes that made me think she was looking for a specific comment from me. “I guess I can make a wish.” She shrugged.
“You can’t wish on a river,” I said.
“Yes, you can, and I will. I grew up wishing on this river .
“Fine, wish! Go ahead!”
Billie took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I wish that Mom could come see me in Smoke River and that we can all go home.”
Billie was a woman who believed in wishes, and maybe it was true that Smoke River didn’t want Billie to leave. The question was, what did I want? When I didn’t answer, she walked away without a word.