Chapter Ten
Piper
Sometimes lightning does strike twice.
Being carried into a cozy cabin by a muscled mountain man for the second time is surreal. The cabin is cleared of the smoke smell from earlier but my heart still thunders as I recall the fire. How could I have been that clueless? That reckless? I risked everything with him to play cute with some cookies.
“At least I didn’t burn the cookies,” I murmur as he sets me down by the fireplace.
Pace chuckles, shaking off the rain that soaks us both. It isn’t until he starts stripping my clothes off that I recognize I am shivering. My entire body is ice cold, shuddering from the cold I spent the last few hours sitting in. I am warmed when he draws me close, cradling me against his chest.
“Explain how you wound up in a tree again, sweetheart.”
Sighing, I let him scoop me up in that hero-like way he does, clinging to him as he carries me to the chair by the fireplace. It’s going again so it will warm us both in no time. Deciding I’ve got a better idea, I snuggle into him more, settled against his firm chest, pulling the fluffy blanket down to cover us both.
We sit quietly by the crackling fire for a long time, no need for words. Pace’s skin is warm against mine despite us both being damp from the downpour. I snuggle closer, arms going tight around his broad shoulders as I play back all that has happened with us. All because I needed a meet cute for my story and saw the perfect specimen on the corner one day.
“I did come looking for you, Pace. I saw you that day, while trying to come up with a storyline for Bettie Buttons. I was stuck. Stuck in life, stuck with my work, stuck inside my own head. I came up here because I saw you and I just had to know. I walked up here like a fool and then that damn rabbit,” I laugh as I pull back to smile down at him.
“Was it really a rabbit or were you just being cute?”
Laughing, I flush as I settle on his lap. “No, it really was a bunny. But it had horns. What are those called? Horns, fluffy ears, little furballs?”
“Babe, you can’t be serious. A jackalope? That’s not even a real thing.”
We laugh together as I shrug and fall against his chest. He kisses my jaw, down my throat, and then his tongue flicks at my pulse point. My hips start to rock on his lap and I feel his hardness between my thighs. I pull back again, staring down at him in the darkness of the cabin.
“I never should have left that way. I got spooked, Pace. I…told you I always tried to get out of the way. Tried to not make noise or catch any attention. Bettie does that for me. Bettie Buttons is my alter ego, all the loud, brave parts. I want to be more like her. Here, with you. I want your attention, I want to be in your way. I want you to come home to me with the stove on fire and know you’re going to save the day.”
Pace smiles at me tenderly, cradling my face in his rough hands. “I will always save you, from fire or a jackalope, baby. I promise. I know why you left, but I want to make it clear: being without you would be the tragedy. Not the kitchen catching fire or you burning cookies.”
Smiling at him, I nod as I settle closer once again. “Funny thing is, the cookies turned out perfect. I just…I fell asleep with Smokie and…oh! She saved me too! She drug me outside when the stove was on fire. You’re both heroes,” I exclaim, turning to smile at the dog, curled up on the floor by the fire.
“She…she did….” He trails off as he sits up to stare at the dog too. “She tried to save my sister too. But she was too little to get her out.”
“Oh, honey,” I coo gently, cradling him to me as I see tears sliding down his cheeks. “I cannot imagine the pain you have handled all alone for so long. I told you my father…he just walked out one day, said mother was too much. Too much for him to handle three of her. That’s why I tried to always be good, to stay in the shadows, not call attention to myself.”
“Look at me,” he commands gently, his hands cradling my face again. “You’re not too much, Piper. You’re sweet and kind. Funny and patient. You’re so talented. If someone thought you were too much, they were wrong. Totally fucking wrong. I can’t get enough of you, sweetheart.”
Something inside of me flutters at his words. My heart beats differently. Any of the rough, raw pieces inside of me, the ones that held me back for so long, that kept me hiding behind Bettie Buttons, they go soft. They will take time to smooth over completely, time to heal, but with him there, I know it will happen.
My entire life I did not want to be seen. I hid as a way to protect myself. It was all I knew. I let my sister and mother be loud and dramatic and whoever they wanted to be. I was fine holding back I was, fine being forgotten by friends, by men, by the rest of the world.
Now I want to be who I am, I want to take the chances I write about.
Dropping the blanket to the floor, I sit up on his lap. Our skin is damp but we’re warmer now. Holding his gaze, I let my hands walk over the curves and dips of his muscled chest and arms. He’s exactly what you would think a gruff man living in solitude on a mountain is built like.
“You are beautiful,” I whisper as I trace the tattoos on his chest. “Not sure I ever told you that. You’re so beautiful. That day when I saw you on the corner, I just…I decided I had to talk to you. I hid for so long, but I wanted you to see me.”
“And I am damn glad I saw you in that tree,” he teases before he lets out a little sound.
Dropping my hands between us, I brazenly stroke him. His moan is throatier as I find a rhythm he likes, his hips rocking up with each slow stroke of my hands. My hips still twist on his lap and my thighs start to shake. His body coils tight as I tease him, watching his eyes as they stare up at me, darkening with need the longer I tease.
“I love watching you, baby,” I whisper as I dip my head lower. “It makes me feel…powerful. Makes me feel…sexy,” I admit softly.
“You do have power, sweetheart. Over me. I would let you do anything to me. Become anything you asked me to. And you’re the sweetest, sexiest thing I have ever seen…oh, shit…” he grunts when I rub the crown of his swollen cock against my sex.
“Can I do something…you’ve tasted me. I want to taste you too.”
“Ah, hell, what did I just say, baby? Do anything you want.”
Once he husks the words, I push off his lap to settle on the floor. Knelt between his legs, I still pump his thick, swollen length in my hands. Dipping my head, I flick my tongue at the tip, where a bead of arousal glistens. Pace’s head falls back against the chair, his throat working as he swallows hard. His hands come to tangle in my hair as I lick the length of him.
“Ah, fuck,” he hums. “That’s so good. Don’t stop, baby.”
Spurred on, I don’t stop. I lick him again, again, swirling my tongue as I open my mouth to take him deeper. I suck at the tip as I stroke the pulsing vein of the underside of him. He’s silky velvet and hard stone. I suck harder, letting my tongue work up and down the length of him.
“Jesus, yes…take it deeper baby. Show me how you want to choke on my cock,” he hisses, his fingers tangling in my hair as I take him deeper, deeper, my head bobbing as I suck lick at him greedily.
I do choke on him, years slipping down my temples as I swallow him as far as I can. Between my legs pulses with my own arousal. I reach down, curious how it would feel to touch myself while I pleasure him. When my fingers rub over my clit, I choke on his cock again, as bliss rockets through me.
“Dirty girl, playing with your needy pussy. Give me some of that, let me lick those fingers,” he grunts, his hips rocking faster, faster.
Doing as I am told, I lift one hand to his mouth, moaning as he suckles at the stickiness coating my fingertips. This just makes me wetter, hotter, and I am not sure how much more I can take. I want him to come for me, but I want to come with him too. I want to please him, but I love sharing our pleasure. I am shaking with need when he decides for me.
“Come here, sweetheart. I need to get inside you,” Pace demands as he lifts me, settling me on his lap again.
“Please, please, I wanted to make you come but I need…oh, yes, yes, please,” I pant as his cock rubs against my pussy before he thrusts up and pulls me down at the same time.
“That’s it. There it is. Fuck, there it is sweetheart,” he grunts
“Don’t stop,” I beg as he starts thrusting up slowly, taking his time, driving us both to the edge. “Don’t stop, baby. Make me come.”
“I won’t. I won’t quit, baby,” he swears, banding an arm over my back to press me close. “Look at me. Give me those eyes.”
Grasping his powerful shoulders, I nod as I meet his gaze. “Don’t stop. I won’t quit either, Pace. Make me come, please, I need to….”
Shouting as he does just that, his teeth nipping at my breast, tongue licking at a budded nipple, I come hard. Still, he thrusts up into me, his hands digging into my hips as I rock with him. His mouth sucks and pulls at my breasts, marking my skin.
“So fucking beautiful,” he tells me as he settles back on the chair, our movements slowing. “I love watching you too, Piper. Watching you come is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. Seeing you let go is so goddamn gorgeous. Do it for me again, sweetheart. Come for me again, show me how good I feel inside of you pretty little pussy.”
Pace slows down again and it’s then I notice. He’s matching the rhythm of the rain pouring outside. Rain that kept us locked away in this cabin together. I kiss him deeper, harder, moving with him. Our bodies move as one, entwining as our lovemaking consumes us both.
“Pace…I think…I think…” I pant against his mouth.
“I know, sweetheart. Me too. I love you, Piper. I am stupid in love with you, baby. This won’t quit. Not ever, not for me.”
“Yes,” I whimper as I feel our climax build between us. “Yes, I love you. I love you, Pace. I’m in love with you. You saved me.”
“Yeah, well you saved me right back, sweetheart. Saved me right back.”
Outside, the rain continues to pour down and our lovemaking matches its frenzy. We make love through the night, by the fireplace, even in the kitchen where I feed him perfectly baked cookies. He pins me to the dining table and takes me from behind, making me promise to never run out on him again. It is a promise I make with ease. I could not know that coming up here that day, pretending I was doing research, I would end up being saved by him.
Turns out I was right—I saved my mountain man right back.