Chapter Eleven
S pence propped himself up on his elbows after becoming aware of the light outside the tent, which was fluttering around him like something alive.
Holy shit, was there a lightning fire?
But as soon as the thought formed, he discarded it. Not in this rain. He crawled out of his sleeping bag and unzipped the tent door, poking his head out into the storm.
Holy shit again. Those were headlights. Some fool had tried to drive up to the lake during the storm.
Reed? Coming to rescue his baby brother?
Spence closed the tent door again, sat for a moment, then reached for his clothes. He was going to be soaked in no time, which brought on the danger of hypothermia, but as long as he could get out of the wind and his sleeping bag remained dry, he’d be fine.
He hoped.
Spence sucked in a breath, then opened the tent and crawled out onto the muddy ground, turning to zip it again, before standing and heading through the storm toward the headlights. The road was slippery, as granite clay roads tended to be when wet, and his feet threatened to come out from under him more than once as he approached the truck, which was broadside across the road. He barely had time to register the fact that it was Hayley’s truck, not Reed’s, before he took hold of the door handle, wrenched it open and climbed inside out of the rain, slamming it behind him.
Hayley sat behind the wheel, eyes wide, face pale. The overhead light began to dim into darkness now that the door was closed, but he could still see her taut expression.
“I came to rescue you,” she said.
“Again?”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded as if in shock, but he didn’t think she was. Hayley was too levelheaded for that.
“Kind of screwed it up.”
“This time.”
He smiled a little, started to reach for her, then thought better of it. Even without touching her, the air between them seemed to crackle.
“We have two choices,” he said. “Head back to the tent, or make ourselves comfortable here until the storm blows over.”
“I think we should stay here,” she said.
He nodded, then turned to look out into the blackness. The rain seemed to be abating to a degree. “Let me take a look at what we’ve got.”
Before she could answer, he pushed the door open and jumped out onto the slippery ground, holding onto the door handle until he was certain he had his footing. He used the flashlight to do a quick check, then took advantage of a large branch and shoved it beneath the truck, getting down on his hands and knees to dig out the earth enough to wedge it tightly under the rear wheels. Then he walked around to the driver’s side and opened the door, motioning Hayley to scoot over. She scooted, he got in and started the truck.
“This might not work, but...” He put the rig into four-low and then gently let out the clutch as he feathered the gas. The truck hesitated, then the wheels got purchase on the branch and, slowly, the vehicle lurched back onto the road.
Without a word, or even a glance at Hayley, he drove the rest of the way to the campsite.
“Wait here,” he said, then got out and, in a matter of minutes, had the tent dismantled and his small amount of gear jammed into the backseat.
Then he got back in behind the wheel.
“Where to?” he asked, only half-kidding.
“My place,” Hayley said. “We need to talk.”
*
Talk. Right.
As if Spence, who was starting to shiver despite the heater being turned on high, was interested in talking. He needed to get warm. Soon.
*
Instead of talking, as soon as Hayley got Spence to her place, she started the shower, then returned to the living room and told him he was getting in.
He started to say no, but his teeth clacked together, so he simply gave her a look and headed down the hall to where the steam from the hot running water was rolling into the hall. He closed the door and Hayley went looking for something he could wear while she washed and dried his clothes. She finally came up with a robe that should cover the essentials.
She tapped on the door. “Push your clothes into the hall. I’ll put them in the dryer.”
A moment later, the door opened, and Spence shoved the clothes out in a wet pile, then shut the door again. Hayley scooped them up and headed for the laundry in the basement. She shoved them in the dryer, set the timer and went back upstairs, nearly jumping out of her skin when she found Spence standing in the living room, a towel wrapped around his lean waist.
“You are supposed to stay under the spray until you’re warm.”
“I’m warm.”
“I have a robe that you can wear while your clothes dry.”
“I’ll stay in the towel.”
“You’re hard to deal with.”
“Why did you drive to the campsite, Hayley? How did you even know I was there? No wait. Henry told you.”
“He did.”
He took a couple steps forward, then seemed to realize that she might find it awkward to converse with a half-naked man in her living room, and stopped, hitching the towel higher.
“I’ll take the robe,” he said softly, his gaze boring into her.
“Right.” But Hayley didn’t move. “I like to plan things, Spence. I like to know exactly what’s going to happen and when.”
“Yes. I’ve recognized that about you.”
“And you seem happy not knowing what’s happening next.”
“I’m comfortable with it. I kind of like surprises in my life.”
She lowered her gaze, then raised it again. “I don’t know what’s going to happen now.”
“What do you mean?”
She pointed at the ground. “Like now. Right now. You and me. I don’t know.” She gave him a look that probably bordered on imploring. “You are shaking up my world.”
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“I don’t want you to feel sorry or bad.”
“What do you want, Hayley?”
She opened her mouth. Closed it. Sent a pleading look heavenward, and then before dropping her gaze said, “I guess I want you to drop that towel.”
The air went still. Or so it seemed. Hayley slowly lowered her gaze and found Spence staring at her with a skeptical expression. Then he deliberately let go of the towel, which dropped to his feet, and damn... he was as perfect as Hayley had always imagined. She swallowed.
What in the hell had she just done?
Something that she had no intention of undoing.
“I have condoms.” She gave herself a swift mental kick after uttering the stark statement. “What I mean is that I’m not looking for, you know...”
“A donation?” Spence asked softly.
Hayley should have blushed, but, miracle of miracles, she did not. “Yes.”
He started toward her, his erection growing with each step. Hayley didn’t look away. She was too concerned with not drooling. The man was gorgeous.
“Maybe,” he said, when he came to a stop only a few inches away from her, “you can tell me what you do want.”
“I want you to realize that you’re needed.”
He frowned, drawing back a little. “Needed.” He cocked his head, a faint smile forming on his gorgeous mouth as understanding dawned. “What exactly do you need, Hayley?” He reached out to undo her top button, then the one beneath it. Then the next.
Hayley shrugged out of her shirt, then undid the buttons on her jeans and slid them down her thighs. “I need for you to keep me from thinking. I think too much.”
“You do.” He smiled into her eyes and ran a hand over the curve of her waist and pulled her a step closer.
“I want to stop talking,” she said huskily.
“I thought that was why I was here. To talk.”
“I lied,” she said, meeting his gaze as she set her palms on the warm flesh of his chest.
“So this was all a trap so that you could have your way with me,” he muttered, pulling her close, his skin warm and damp against her own.
“At least once before you leave again.”
He stilled. “How do you know I’m... Henry.” He let out a breath. Sensing it was not the time to talk, Hayley kept her mouth shut. Or tried. It proved to be impossible because she simply had to taste his skin, so she pressed her lips to his chest, felt his muscles tighten and his erection swell, then did it again, lightly tracing her tongue over the muscles until he tilted up her chin and claimed her mouth.
Hayley wrapped herself around him, pressing her body into his, hungry for what only he could give her. On a ten scale, she was approaching twelve by the time he scooped her up and headed down the hall to the open door that led to her bedroom. He easily carried her inside and laid her on the bed. Instead of waiting for him to do the honors, Hayley peeled out of her bra and panties before pulling him down to the sheets that were still mussed from when she’d left her bed over an hour ago to attempt a rescue, only to be rescued herself.
Spence eased onto the bed, gathering her against him, the feel of his hard body lighting her senses on fire.
It had been a while, like years, since she’d made love to a guy, but the nerves that should have made their awkward appearance did not. This felt right. Ridiculously right. Like smack-your-forehead-why-haven’t-we-done-this-sooner right.
Hayley’s hands roamed over Spence’s body, tempting, teasing, relishing, and her lips soon followed, licking, kissing, caressing, until Spence groaned and suddenly rolled her over onto her back.
“I want this to last,” he said.
“It’s okay if it doesn’t, because we’ll have an encore.”
“I’ll show you an encore,” Spence growled, reaching down to guide himself to her wet, slick center.
“The condom,” Hayley whispered. He stopped.
“Are you—”
Hayley put her fingers on his lips, then reached with her free hand to the bedside table, where her hopeful packets of condoms were stashed. She only hoped, for Spence’s sake, that they were not expired.
Spence took the condom, rolled it on. “Thank you,” he said.
She answered by looping an arm around his neck and arching her body against his. Spence took the hint and slowly pushed into her, stretching her, filling her.
Making her whole.
And Hayley hadn’t had a clue before this moment that she’d been anything but.