Chapter 15 Sierra
SIERRA
Tonight, out here in the wilderness, far from home, the snow outside wraps around us like a cocoon.
My skin burns everywhere the air touches it, as if steam could rise off me like it did the hot tub earlier.
Ryan’s over me, his body almost laughably perfect. His shoulders are round, his biceps flexing. There are more muscles than I can name.
The little fairy lights glint behind him, forming a halo around his body.
But it’s his focus that has me feeling as though I’m in for it. I’m not sure I’ll survive tonight. The way he touches me as if I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen is getting to me. It’s hard to keep him at a distance when it feels as if he’s crawling inside my skin.
Especially when he says, “I’m going to make you come so hard you’re crying for it.”
Ryan got even hotter in the last year.
I don’t want to fight with him. I want him, want everything he can give me tonight even if I know tomorrow it’ll have to go back to the way things were.
“Relax,” Ryan insists.
There’s nowhere to put my hands. I trail the fingers of one over the duvet.
He grins and returns to work. His fingers are wicked and so damn big. He pumps in and out of me, slow strokes that hit me in so many right places I didn’t know I had.
His thumb brushes my clit with impossible lightness.
It should be barely noticeable.
It’s the only thing I can think about.
“Damn, you’re good at that.” My voice trembles at the edges.
“That’s it,” he murmurs. “You feel so perfect.”
His praise lights me up. My hand fists in his hair, the strands soft and silky against my damp palm. I grind my hips harder against him.
My palm finds my breast, rubbing and kneading. I do come, my core tightening around him. Every part of me shudders and he keeps stroking, drawing it out of me. Then I collapse back against the sheets.
“Stop,” I pant.
“Sure. Once you come again,” he says agreeably.
Ryan shifts, lowering his face between my thighs.
If his fingers were giving, his mouth is greedy. He licks at my skin, sucking and pumping until I’m a writhing mess.
The next climax comes even faster.
I’m satisfied but unsatisfied too. I shift up onto my elbows, gasping for air.
He’s right there, his mouth damp and his eyes bright. “You’re so perfect.”
My heart kicks. He means in bed, not that it matters right now.
I stroke a hand across his chest, loving how the muscles flex under his smooth skin as I slide down. When I get to his abs, his mouth falls open on a tight exhale. My hand slips under the waist of his pants and wraps around him. He’s huge and hard, already leaking.
That he wants me this badly is such a trip.
“I’m impressed you lasted, Rookie,” I say lightly.
He chuckles. “I’ll keep you up all night.”
I play with the head of him the way he played with me. He presses into my hand, his eyes falling shut.
“Looking forward to it.” I lift my hips to brush across him, both of us groaning now.
“Shit.” He freezes over me. “Condom.” Ryan looks around us.
“Downstairs.”
He pulls on his pants and heads for the ladder.
Watching him leave has my chest tightening. It’s stupid, but I had gone all in on the idea that it’s only him and me here, that nothing in the world can touch us.
“Come back,” I whisper right before he disappears.
Ryan stills, twisting back to look at me, cocking his head in surprise before I watch him slip out of sight.
It’s crazy how much of the good vibes evaporate. Even when I turn toward the window, watching the snow drift by, I still feel his absence.
Minutes pass. I’m lying in bed, my thumbs stroking my stomach absently.
What if he doesn’t come back? What if he forgets or loses interest?
I crawl toward the opening in the floor, leaning down. I’m straining to hear—footsteps, anything.
It’s quiet.
He’s probably gone to bed.
Except… suddenly there are voices.
Ryan’s.
Then Jay’s.
We’re so busted.
I lean farther over, trying to make out the words. I can’t tell what they’re saying, but the tone is light.
He’s not coming back. There’s no way.
Disappointment slams into me. I crawl back to the bed. The sheets feel cooler than they did when I was sharing them.
It shouldn’t be a big deal. The bed is soft and decadent. My bones feel lighter than they did this afternoon. I’m in a beautiful cabin and can get a good sleep.
Even if I am sleeping alone.
I hunker down on my side, tugging the duvet around me. I try to shut my eyes, pretending I can sleep when all I want is to go downstairs and drag Ryan back up here.
A creaking sound has me blinking my eyes open, looking over my shoulder.
Ryan’s head appears, then the rest of him.
“You came back,” I say.
“It’d take a lot more than running into my teammate to keep me away from you.” His grin makes my chest expand.
“You got one?”
His hand disappears into the pocket of his pants. He shifts over me and presses a packet onto my stomach.
Then another.
Then another.
I laugh quietly. “You have a lot of confidence in yourself.”
“Give me tonight and you will too.”
I glance down at the packets and raise a brow. “Christmas colors?”
“And flavors.” He lifts the first one. “Candy cane.”
“God. What else is there? Eggnog? Holly?”
“Holly’s poisonous.”
“Please tell me there’s no Christmas pudding.”
He smirks. “You’re the holiday grinch. I’m going to change your mind from the inside out.”
“I guess it would be unkind not to let you try.”
“That’s the spirit.” He grabs my ass, and I swear I still feel his fingers inside me. “Now flip over.”