Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Ever since he watched Maisie drive away, Axel had been mad at himself.
Yes, he’d been respectful, and yes, he’d done the right thing.
But sometimes the right thing totally sucked.
He had played it safe—because he respected her—but he swore if she came back he’d kiss her. Just once. That was all he’d allow himself. And now that he was doing it, he wondered if maybe he should have asked her if it was okay first.
But she dropped her bags on the porch and wrapped her arms around him, pressing those glorious curves up against him, so he figured she didn’t mind.
His hands were cupping her face, and she was holding him so tight as if he were vital to keeping her upright.
Her lips were soft, and she kissed like a damn dream—alternating between slow and sweet to deep and wet and then back again.
Lowering his hands, he gripped her ass and hauled her inside.
Kicking the door shut would have been awesome, but her things were out there, so he had to pivot and put her on her feet and break the kiss.
“Don’t move,” he gruffly demanded before grabbing her bags and placing them inside so he could kick the door shut with a clear conscience.
No sooner was the door closed than they reached for each other again, and the kiss was even more frantic than before. She clutched the front of his shirt, his hands grabbed her long hair and gave it a gentle tug, which caused Maisie to let out a low moan that turned him on more than it should have.
His cabin was small and kind of a mess, so he was afraid to maneuver them across the room without breaking the kiss, so for now, he was content to just stand here and kiss and touch her.
And he’d been dreaming about touching her.
Releasing her hair, his hands smoothed down her back until they gripped her bottom and gave it a not-so-gentle squeeze. Maisie hummed again as she pressed even closer, zeroing in on his growing erection.
It felt so good, but his self-control was slowly slipping away.
Tearing his lips from hers, he panted her name and waited for her to open her eyes. They were a little dazed, and the look she gave him made him want to dive in for another taste.
But he needed to make sure they were on the same page.
“Maisie…” Swallowing hard, Axel reached up and caressed her cheek. “I didn’t mean to pounce like that. I just kept thinking…and I need to know if…”
She surprised him by reaching up and cupping his face in both hands. “Did you hire me because you wanted to sleep with me?” she demanded.
“What? No!”
“Did my work speak for itself?”
He nodded because, honestly, he was afraid to say anything.
“Is this going to affect our working relationship moving forward?”
Shaking his head, he said, “It doesn’t have to.”
That response seemed to please her because she said, “Good,” and then kissed him again.
She was killing him.
As much as he was enjoying this, he wanted to get them away from the door and to someplace a little more comfortable.
So he broke the kiss again, grabbed her hand in his, and tugged her along to his bedroom.
It was kind of a mess in there too, but he didn’t think it mattered.
And when Maisie reached for him again, he knew neatness was the last thing on either of their minds.
They were next to his bed, and it didn’t take much for them to fall onto it.
Rolling her beneath him, he settled between her thighs like he'd dreamed of all damn night, kissing her because he couldn’t get enough.
Her limbs wrapped around him like a vise, and he almost lifted his head to tell her she didn’t have to worry; he wasn’t planning on going anywhere.
One kiss blended into the next as the wind and rain grew louder outside.
A small part of him wondered if maybe it would be safer for them to be back up at the lodge, but he didn’t think he’d survive stopping what they were doing.
It was crazy that all he could think was that if a tree crashed through the roof, he’d die doing exactly what he loved.
Making love to a beautiful woman.
Maisie’s hands raked through his hair, and she tugged on it while breaking the kiss. Breathless and panting, she smiled shyly up at him—a complete contrast to the woman who had him hard as a rock.
“You…you should know something,” she said quietly. “I haven’t been with a lot of guys. I’m not as experienced as the women you’ve probably been with.”
“Mighty bold of you to assume you know the kind of women I’ve been with,” he said gruffly, teasingly.
“Axel…I’m just saying…”
Awkwardly, he placed his finger over her lips. “I don’t care about anything or anyone who came before. I only care about what’s happening here and now.” Pausing, he swallowed hard. “If this isn’t what you want, or you want to slow down, that’s fine. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
And for some reason, that seemed to make her relax.
“I want this,” she assured him. “So much it scares me.”
Yeah, he knew the feeling. The attraction to her hit him like a ton of bricks yesterday and had him tangled up in knots just thinking of her. And now that she was here, everything felt a bit out of control.
“It’s okay, beautiful girl. It scares me too.”
Her smile went from shy to sweet to sexy, and he knew they were back on track.
Axel put all of his attention on her—touching her, kissing her, worshipping her.
All he wanted was for Maisie to feel. And from the way she was clutching at him and panting his name, he knew she was.
It wasn’t long before he forgot all about the storm outside and fully focused on the one they were creating here in his little cabin.
A loud roar of thunder followed by a violent flash of lightning made them both jump.
They had been lying all tangled up under the blankets, completely exhausted from their sexy afternoon. Maisie held the blankets to her chest as she sat up, her dark eyes wide and frightened.
“Is it too late to go back up to the lodge?” she asked. “The storm was just as wild yesterday, but it didn’t feel like it when we were up there.”
Slowly, he guided her back down beside him, wrapping her in his arms. “Yeah, I thought of that earlier. But with all the food we just moved down here and the way the rain is coming down, I think we need to ride this out for a while or maybe check the weather apps and see if there’s going to be a break in the action again. ”
She sighed softly. “Storms rarely bother me, but…”
“Same. But this cabin suddenly doesn’t feel like that much of a barrier against it.”
“Exactly.” Shifting, she looked up at him. “Would it be terrible if I wanted to look at my phone right now?”
Laughing quietly, Axel shook his head. “Not at all. I’m kind of curious too.” He kissed her soundly before climbing out of the bed. “I’ll go and grab it for you. Which bag is it in?”
“Um…the duffel bag. Please.”
Nodding, he stood and stretched—totally aware of the way Maisie was staring at him.
Based on her earlier comments, she hadn’t seen a lot of naked men.
And probably hadn’t seen one standing so close and stretching because he didn’t feel like putting any clothes on.
It didn’t seem like a big deal to just walk around nude, but he hoped he wasn’t making her feel uncomfortable.
Out in the living room, he found his phone on the coffee table and grabbed it before picking up her bag.
Back in the bedroom, he handed it to her before climbing back under the blankets with her.
Beside him, she rummaged through her belongings before pulling out her phone.
Meanwhile, he was already on the app and checking out the forecast.
Rain, rain, and more rain.
Great.
“It looks like the rain is going to stick around, but the stormier part will be over soon,” he told her. “If that’s the case, we’ll be fine here in the cabin.”
She was still staring at her phone while she murmured her agreement.
He figured she was reading the weather report for herself and found that he had missed a group text from the guys.
It felt a little weird to be lying here naked in bed with Maisie beside him and checking messages, but as he glanced over at her, it looked like she was doing the same, so…
Tapping on the group chat, he felt guilty because it seemed like they were all checking on him.
Connor: Hey, Axel! How’s everything going up there with the storm? Did we sustain much damage?
Walker: What storm?
Connor: Big storm hit the area yesterday and was supposed to linger for a while. I was supposed to fly to Boston but ended up driving. I was just looking at the news and saw that Harbortown was mentioned.
Connor: Seriously, Axel, you need to check in and let us know if everything’s alright.
Slater: I just checked in with my buddy who was supposed to fly you out, Connor, and he said trees are down all over town. Especially on the 87.
Walker: Crap. That’s the only road in and out of the resort.
Walker: If Axel’s not chiming in, it’s possible the cell tower’s down or damaged and he’s not getting any of these messages.
Milo: I’m checking that now. Hang tight!
Connor: Who do we know in town that we can get a timeframe on when the road will be cleared?
Walker: It’s a Saturday, so I doubt anyone’s answering phones at public works. Although they’ve probably got crews out working on restoring power, right?
Slater: Not if the storm’s still raging. That’s a safety concern. It looks like there’s still a lot of lightning strikes in the area.
Walker: Shit! What are we supposed to do?
Axel knew he should jump in and respond, but he wanted to finish reading the entire thread first in case there was other pertinent information.
Connor: We can try reaching out to public works and see if anyone answers, or we can leave a message. It can’t hurt. I’m going to go to their website and see if there are any updates.