Chapter Eleven
The Thaw
Eli
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“Y ES.” ERIN’S VOICE rasped as she opened the covers and slid across the bed. “Thank you.”
A chorus of angels I didn’t believe in cheered in my head as I stowed my gun safely by the side of the bed and dove between the sheets after her. Securing the blankets over us, I flicked off the flashlight and inched closer. That a woman as lovely as Erin had assented to me holding her at all, let alone thanking me for doing so—whatever the circumstances—was worthy of celebration, but I wouldn’t waste time reveling in my glory. I intended to savor every second of being close to her.
“This is weird.” She sounded nervous as my arms found her body in the darkness and snaked around her.
“Don’t let it be,” I whispered. “Come back toward me.”
She wriggled in my direction, her cute little ass and bare legs the first to graze my trouser-clad legs. Even though there was no skin-to-skin contact, the energy in the room shifted at the new closeness, each breath ramping up the sizzling intensity of what was transpiring.
We’re close.
Much closer than we’d ever been, and Erin seemed at ease with the change.
“Wait!” As though she’d heard my thoughts and sought to contradict them, she twisted in my direction. “Your boots! They’ll be filthy. You’ll need to remove them.”
My lips curled at her concern, though she wouldn’t have seen the gesture. With my hulking frame beside her in the sheets, she had far bigger things to occupy her than my boots, yet those had been her first thought.
“I took them off hours ago.” Along with my sweater and shirt.
Squeezing her shoulder lightly, I encouraged her to relax and felt some of the tension releasing from her muscles. “Don’t worry.”
She swallowed, the sound amplified in the shadows. “Okay.”
“You’ll be warm in no time.”
Cocooning her body, I sensed she was reticent to fully let her guard down. That was understandable; she’d found herself half-naked in bed with a stranger. Clearly, whatever her objections had been, they had not been strong enough to overrule her reason. She needed to stay warm to stay well, and without the fire, only I could provide that for her.
Wrapped around her diminutive frame, I could exult in all the tiny things I’d never had a chance to enjoy until that moment. The weight of her body pressed against mine, especially when I tightened an arm around her, the little gasp that escaped her lips when my embrace stiffened, causing her breathing to spike, and the honeyed scent of her hair as I snuggled behind her. Those were all treasures I’d never been allowed before, but finally, they were mine.
“How’s that for you?” My cock swelled at her sudden vicinity, throbbing as I took in her sweet, soothing smell.
“Better, thank you.”
Once more, she hesitated, the lingering unwillingness to accept there was anything going on except two people sharing body heat. Perhaps, for her, that was true. Maybe she truly felt nothing for me save for the need to survive, but being so close to her body made it all but impossible for me to think of anything but what it would be like to slide my hand beneath her top and discover how her nipples would respond to my caress.
Stop it. My jaw clenched. She doesn’t want that.
“Good.” I wondered if she could hear my growing arousal from my strained tone.
The bulge in my pants was shielded by the layers between us, but surely, she was a woman of the world. Erin was in her forties. She knew what men thought about when they held a woman, especially in bed. It couldn’t be long before she noticed my interest.
“Try and sleep.” Squeezing my eyes closed, I willed myself to do the same, but I knew already it was hopeless. No man could sleep with a raging erection and a beautiful woman within his grasp. “You’ll need your energy for tomorrow.”
“Yes.” She squirmed beside me, grazing her alluring backside against my trousers.
Fuck.
I bit back on the moan that tried to escape my mouth. Had she done that on purpose, or was it just the action of a woman attempting to get comfortable?
Curled around her in the shadows, there was no way of knowing, but it didn’t change reality. She did need to rest—we both did. I was pretty damn certain there’d be no sleep on the horizon for me, especially if she was going to writhe that way all night.
We lay there together in silence, both pretending to sleep, when I suspected we were both wide awake. I could hear her rapid breaths and feel the tension in her body as she, presumably, consciously considered each move at my side. Suddenly, her senses seemed heightened, as if she was well aware of how each precarious wriggle might affect me. Inching my head closer to hers on the pillow, I breathed in her delightful aroma again, thankful for the good fortune that had found me there in bed with her.
It had been a long time since I’d been in bed with any woman.
Too long.
I’d started to wonder if I would ever know that delight again, but then James’s job had landed in my inbox—a thousand bucks for taking four city-dwellers around the park for the day—and it had been too good to refuse. I’d snapped up the offer, wanting the cash, and generally, enjoying the work.
The forest was an old friend of mine and one I respected. I’d been living in and around it for so long that taking tourists under my wing had become a necessary, if laborious, part of my life.
“Thank you again for this.” She broke the edgy quiet, turning her head a little my way. “I know it’s...” She paused, apparently unsure how to proceed.
“What?” I prompted, eager to hear her thoughts.
Had her provocative little ass wiggle been inadvertent, or a symptom of a much deeper yearning she was attempting to suppress?
The latter. My pulse accelerated at my silent prayer. Say it’s the latter.
“Different.” She heaved in a breath. “Being here, with me, like this.”
“It’s my job to keep you safe, remember?”
“I remember.” She snuggled her head into the crook of my collar, sending a fresh wave of her honeyed scent washing over me as I welcomed the latest intimacy. Choosing to be so close to me had to mean something, didn’t it? Save for consenting for me to join her there, it was the closest thing to an invitation she’d offered. “But I can’t imagine holding your clients like this is usually part of the deal.”
“No,” I agreed. “It’s not, but I’m happy to take the perks of the job.”
A heavy wall of hush descended at my quip, and staring into the gloom, I didn’t know what that meant. Had my witticism upset her? Had I gone too far already and driven a wedge between the wonderful new status quo and any chance of getting to know her better? The black of night shrouding us offered no clues.
“Is that what this is?” Her voice was breathy. “Is that what I am? A perk ?”
“You’re a beautiful woman,” I clarified, relieved at least that she didn’t sound snubbed. “But I’m sorry if I offended you. I meant no insult.”
“You didn’t...” She paused as though she couldn’t believe she’d said so aloud. “And thank you... for the compliment.”
“I mean it.” Taking a risk, I skimmed my left hand down to her bared thigh and rested it on her soft skin. She was so fucking enticing, so close to me and yet still so far. “It really is a pleasure to look after you.”
“I don’t normally do things like this...” She suddenly sounded so unsure.
“Like what?” My thumb traced invisible circles over her skin, and I waited to see if she’d respond. Maybe, irritated by the gesture, she’d bat the hand away, or perhaps she’d relax, inviting more. “Go hiking?”
We both knew I was being facetious, and I smiled at the sound of her anxious laughter.
“I definitely don’t normally do that.” Her tone was emphatic. “And after this, I doubt I’ll ever come to the woods again.”
“That’s a shame,” I breathed onto the side of her neck, grazing my hand a little higher along the curve of her ass. My dick throbbed urgently at my hand’s progress, demanding that it, too, be permitted to make the journey, but I ignored its urgent call. “Nature is beautiful.”
“And lethal.” Her tone was clipped, yet still she didn’t try to fend me off.
“Sometimes, yes.” I hesitated, aware it was James and Miles on her mind and not me. “But not always. When it comes to destruction, nature doesn’t hold a candle to man.”
“That’s true.” Her hand reached for mine, but rather than push me away, she only splayed her fingers, enmeshing them with my digits. Triumph roared in my mind, forcing my lips to curl. It was the first time she’d touched me, and it boded well. “Man can be a problem.”
“Yes... but sometimes, man can be advantageous.” I liked the way our interaction was heading. Her body seemed to soften with every gentle word, and she lifted one foot, draping it tentatively over the top of my leg.
“Advantageous, how?”
Her teasing tone begged me to be bolder, and dragging my palm to the underside of her ass, I abandoned her hand and squeezed her tight behind. Desire rocketed at the feel of her taut backside, insisting I dip my fingers between her pert cheeks, but I resisted, waiting to see how she’d react to my temerity.
“What are you doing?” That same husky tone met my ears.
“Exploring you.” Leaning closer, my mouth found her neck, and I nuzzled on her tempting nape. Seconds merged into minutes as our skin collided, her gasps only intensifying my pursuit.
“Oh, God,” she moaned. “We shouldn’t.”
Trapped between my lips and my hands, she twisted, exposing more of her neck, and I obliged gladly, imagining the red marks my attention would leave on her sensitive skin.
“I’m here to warm you,” I whispered eventually, covering her seat with my palm. She was so petite that the underside of my hand almost covered her alluring derriere entirely. A rush of energy raced along my spine, temporarily robbing me of breath as I considered landing that palm on her ass repeatedly. How would she react to the physical rebuke, and how could I possibly justify the brutality? “And that means all of you.”
“Yes.” She rolled onto her back, crushing my hand beneath her until I snaked it free. Something had altered in her as she stretched, and I didn’t need the light to see it. Whatever walls she’d erected to keep me out had begun to crumble, and her voice spoke of desire. “ All of me needs body heat.”
The breathless and wanton banshee squirming beside me was nothing like the coy and reserved woman who’d requested to sleep in the bed alone. Perhaps whatever barriers she’d constructed had weakened the moment the lights had gone out, and there, in the sway of the night, a new power had overtaken her, one that had possibly even taken her by surprise—the strength of her lust.
She wants me . The thought lit me up, tightening my balls as it consumed me. She’s too afraid to say it, but she wants me.
“Come here.” Drawing her closer, I wrapped my free arm around her.
She shifted without complaint, squirming against me as she yielded and pushing her panty-covered sex toward my groin.
“Eli.”
Had anyone ever made my name sound so fucking dirty and flawed before?
She’d complicated everything—with her complexity of emotion and her so-called friends. The woman was a living contradiction. She didn’t want to hike, but she’d enjoyed being in nature. She hadn’t wanted to share the bed but seemingly had changed her mind on that score. Everything she touched spoke of paradox, while each sensation she inspired magnetized inside me.
“Tell me what you want.”
Heat surged between us as my palms separated and swept around her body. My left hand delved beneath her underwear between her legs, stroking at her inner thigh, while the right one lived out the fantasy playing in my head and slid beneath her clothing to find the soft cups of her bra.
All thoughts of the tour guide who’d sought to make a good impression on her were lost. That version of me—the one who’d given up the bed—had evaporated between the sheets, replaced by one at the mercy of his rampant lust.
I’d wanted her from the first moment I’d laid eyes on her. The pretty brown-haired woman with the large green eyes and the bristling defiance was the personification of everything I’d spent long nights dreaming about and, in that moment, she was mine.
“This.” Her voice was pained, as though admitting her need had stung.
Perhaps it had.
I didn’t know her or her history. All I could promise in the confines of the cold cabin bed was that while we were sprawled together, I would ensure she had everything she needed.
“You.” Her hand pushed my palm to her breast, urging me to take what I wanted. “Please.”
“Like this?” Brushing over her nipple, my fingers elongated the bud until she released a throaty cry.
“Oh, God.” Her hips rolled forward. “Yes!”
That noise—the sensual sound of her surrender—was everything. In one blissful instant, it became the center of my entire universe.
Her breasts were so responsive, her nipple puckering between my fingers as I coaxed more breathy whimpers from her.
“And this?” My other hand yanked at her panties, pulling them up until the fabric tugged at her clit.
“Jesus, Eli.” She threw her head back against me. “What are you doing?”
“Giving you what you need.” There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that she yearned for the attention. Her body communicated all the needs she was too afraid, or ashamed, to say. “I bet this little clit is desperate for me.”
Slipping a finger underneath her bunched panties, I brushed my fingertip over the bundle of nerves, grinning at the way she lurched.
“Fuck!” She reached for the hand, halting its progress, but I nudged her fingers away.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” I cautioned. “Or I’ll find a way to keep them out of my way.”
“What do you mean?” She writhed harder when my free hand found her other nipple and started work on beading and teasing the bud.
“I mean, I’ll tether you.” I was sure I had another length of rope in my rucksack.
“But...”
“But nothing.” I pulled her hand down to her side. “That’s your first and only warning, Erin. Now, open your legs.”
“You can’t do this.” Her ankles slid wider, despite the protesting noises from her mouth. “You can’t threaten to bind me.”
“It’s not a threat.” My shaft was so hard; the pulsing organ was painful as it grazed its fabric prison. “It’s a promise.”
My fingers dove back to her underwear, ripping her damp panties to one side and skimming a line over her pussy. Hot, slick moisture met my fingertips as they enjoyed her wetness, my cock aching to be allowed to take their place.
“So wet for me.” I couldn’t have been prouder. “Already.”
“I...” Her breathing was labored as her hand reached north for my hair. Burying her fingers in its dark length, she whimpered, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with you,” I assured her. “You’re fucking perfect.”
Pushing one digit into her sex slowly, I relished every second of her mewled response.
“You want more?”
“Please,” she panted, her fingers tightening in my hair. “Oh, yes.”
My shaft throbbed desperately, concurring with the longing in her voice as I slid a second finger to join my first. Easing them from her sex, I enjoyed the benefit of both bared breasts now that her troublesome bra had been pushed aside.
“Fuck.” She sounded frantic, her hips moving in unison with my fingers, rising when they delved into her sweet pussy and falling ever so slightly when they eased away.
Her growing euphoria filled up the cabin, the feverish noises escaping her lips coupling with the wet sounds of her sex to create an orchestra of her desire.
“That’s it,” I enthused as she ground her clit against the palm of my hand. “Use me. I want you to come apart. I want to feel it.”
“Eli!” She lurched, her limbs tensing as she called my name. “Oh, God. I’m going to come!”
I considered withdrawing, making her wait and suffer while I took what I wanted but decided then was not the time. There would come a moment when her savior—the man who’d rescued her from the wild and protected her interests would reveal who he really was—but pushing her to the stars was not that time.
Let little Erin have her moment in the sunshine.
Let her bask in its rays until all she knew was the heat ravishing her body.
The winter would be waiting.