CHAPTER 9
FALLON
Hutch’s jaw is hard like granite, and I can tell that he’s clenching his jaw. I know it’s not from annoyance and anger, but determination. It’s written all over his body. His need to protect me is sexy as hell.
The snow stopped falling late last night, but what is unspoken is the fact that we’re still stuck here. No, there’s no plan to leave, but knowing that you can’t is unsettling. Hutch is an amazing distraction when it comes to my worries and fears.
It would be ideal if I could just get lost in him, in the way he makes me feel, while getting to know him and experiencing pleasure I’ve never known before. But the reality is that there are people out there out to get me. Only because I did the right thing.
That truth is a heavy weight around my neck. I wish it weren’t there, but wishing and hoping won’t do a damn thing.
Which is why I’m listening intently as Hutch takes me back to his safe room again. He had already shown me the room and how to get in and out the second day I was here since he didn’t want to overwhelm me too much during the first tour. I’m glad he did because I was too freaked out after arriving to even consider the need for a safe room.
I’m still scared now, but I feel stronger. Hutch will do his best to stand between me and danger, but I want to feel like I can help myself as well.
I had no idea there was more to see, but as he presses against part of the wall and it pops open, I can see there’s a lot more to this room than meets the eye. I’m a little shocked with the number of guns on display in the portion of the wall exposed now.
“Woah,” I breathe out. “You have a whole armory in here,” I muse and glance up at Hutch.
His hazel eyes are already intensely locked on me. I want to fidget under his gaze, but I hold myself still.
“You need to know that you have weapons in here,” his voice is gruff. He turns toward me fully and a muscle in ticks in his jaw. “If I tell you to come into this room, you need to do it. Don’t ask questions. Don’t hesitate.” He reaches out and grips both shoulders and gives them a gentle squeeze. “I’ll only ever ask you to come in here unless it’s serious and I need you to be safe. I’ve changed the settings so that if you activate this room then it’ll let Duncan know.”
I swallow hard, hating that we need to have this conversation. There have been moments when I’ve been able to forget about why I’m here and just allow myself to get lost in the feeling of falling for the man in front of me.
But that’s dangerous. I need to remember why I’m here and be on alert.
“I don’t want you to be afraid and live in fear here, Fallon,” Hutch’s tone is filled with concern, like he knows exactly where my mind went.
“No,” I shake my head, “I need to remember why I’m here. It’s not a vacation. I’m here running from people with way too much money because I did the right thing.”
“You did do the right thing,” he assures me.
I give a curt nod and turn back toward the wall. I wave my hand in that direction. “Okay, tell me what I need to know.”
He pulls a small handgun off the wall, and I recognize it immediately. The sight of it has me thinking about the day before the storm rolled in. Hutch had asked, out of the blue, if I had ever fired a gun. I shook my head even though Dad had tried to take me to the gun range more than once while I was growing up.
After Hutch helped me get all bundled up, he led me toward the back end of the clearing around the cabin. I didn’t know what was happening until he pulled a handgun out and went over gun safety before showing me his the middle of nowhere gun range set-up. Even though I was nervous when it came time to shoot, the way Hutch walked me through everything put me at ease.
He didn’t rush me and didn’t make fun of me when my first few shots were wildly off target. I won’t be labeled as a sharpshooter anytime soon, but I was able to hit the target by the time we were done.
“This one should look familiar,” Hutch teases and I smile up at him.
“It does,” I whisper.
My gaze travels around the room and I take it all in while looking through it in a new way. I could be trapped here for an unknown amount of time if Hutch thinks this will be the safest place for me. There is not a single part of me that wants to be trapped in here.
I’m barely aware of Hutch putting the gun back in place and closing the hatch on the wall. This room is so small even though it’s been decked out as comfortable as it could be. The futon against one wall has just enough room to lay out flat.
Will I have to sleep in here? Will I have to eat in here? I know there is a cache of food and water, but I don’t want to be in here so long that I need to use any of it.
“Fallon,” Hutch’s voice sounds like it’s far away. “Hey,” he barks as his large hands cup my face and tilt my head back.
As I blink a few times, he comes into focus. When I do, I realize that air is sawing in and out of my lungs. The concern in the hazel eyes of the man who has vowed to stand between me and danger has my shoulders relaxing slightly.
“You’re okay, Beautiful,” he murmurs softly. “I’ve got you.”
I lean into him, needing his strength. The moment my forehead rests against his chest, warmth starts to spread through my body.
He’s got me.
There’s no way he’ll let me fall.
“I’m scared,” my voice is thick, the words difficult to push past my lips.
I don’t want to be afraid. It’s exhausting and it feels like this situation I’m in is so much bigger than me. So much has been taken out of my hands even though the decisions I made, the road I chose, is what led me to here.
I’m used to having control and being in charge of my world. After my education and experience, while there were things I couldn’t predict or control in the lab, there was an order to it. I could understand that work and I didn’t feel like I was spiraling through life.
Ever since I saw the file on Dr. Hamilton’s computer, everything has been out of whack. There is only one place where I’ve felt centered. The way he’s holding me filters through my fear. The strength of him against my body is the only thing that makes any sense to me in this entire situation.
A touchstone.
A grounding force.
“There are you, Beautiful,” there’s a note of praise in his voice which causes a shiver to run up my spine. His eyes turn harder, but I know it’s not because of me but whatever is on his mind. “It’s okay to be scared. You should,” he emphasizes the word, “be scared. You’re entire life has been turned on its head.”
I nod against his chest. The bite of pain as Hutch’s fingers thread through my hair and pulls until I’m looking up into his eyes has me swallowing down a moan. The ghost of a smirk on my man’s face tells me he knows exactly what he does to me.
“I’ll go back over how to shoot the moment the snow starts to melt,” he promises.
“I’d like that.” I swallow hard and flatten my hands on Hutch’s chest. “Knowing how to shoot does make me feel safer and more in control.”
“You also look sexy as fuck while shooting a gun,” Hutch teases, but the heat in his eyes tells me that he’s only partially joking.
My thighs clench together, and I’m tempted to climb the man in front of me. I want him inside of me right now. He can make me fly in clouds tipped in pleasure and I want to experience that now.
Hutch makes a humming sound before he reaches down and grips the hem of the top I’m wearing. This one isn’t one of mine. Even though his Hutch’s henley is huge on me, it’s one of the most comfortable things I’ve put on.
This morning, when I walked out of the room we’ve been sharing, the room I desperately want to be ours, Hutch’s eyes turned molten. I could practically taste his desire in the air as his gaze roamed over me.
Fuck, the way this man makes me feel like a goddess takes my breath away.
When I raise my arms, Hutch groans softly and strips his shirt off me. My leggings are stripped away just as quickly. After reaching for him, my hands are shaking, and I fumble undoing his belt.
He pushes my hands away, his lip curling ferally and making me feel like my man’s prey again. I’m standing in front of him naked and there’s something incredibly hot for him to be clothed still. It feels naughty.
Hutch pushes down his pants just far enough for his cock to spring free before he sits down on the futon. His large hands grip my hips and pull me toward him. The way he lifts me easily and then positions me until I’m astride his lap has my pussy dripping.
I’m so turned on by the way Hutch manhandles me. It’s like he can’t help himself. It’s such a contrast with the gentle touch he uses the rest of the time. My man on the edge of his control is a sight to behold.
Hutch’s hazel eyes are glued to where my pussy is hovering above the head of his cock, one of his hand gripping my hip and the other wrapped around his shaft to hold himself in the perfect position. My body is screaming out, desperate, to feel the stretch of him inside of me.
It’s exquisite.
This? It’s torture.
“Hutch,” I rasp, my words punctuated by gasping breaths and needy moans, “please. I need you inside of me. You make me feel safe and desired. Need it. Fuck, I need you.”
His attention snaps up from where we are almost joined, but not and his eyes bore into mine as he yanks me downward. I go from feeling too fucking empty to being filled so completely. The quick change has my head spinning in the most delicious of ways.
“Oh yes,” I hiss, my hands coming up to grip Hutch’s shoulders.
He cups one of my breasts with such reverence that I tip my head back and close my eyes. Then I start to move up and down his length, savoring how good it feels. How right.
As I move up and down, I swivel my hips one direction and then the other, settling into a pattern of a figure eight while I fuck myself harder and faster. It’s not nearly enough and I know I won’t be able to keep it up.
Thankfully, I know I won’t have to.
Hutch repositions his hands, both arms wrapping around me to cup the globes of my ass. His fingertips dig in and I can only smile blissfully. Because I know this is going to be a pleasure-filled ride.
When he leans forward and sucks one of my nipples into his mouth. When his teeth scrape across my sensitive flesh, I feel an answering pulse in my clit. I come down harder on his cock, my thighs shaking from the strain and how damn good it feels.
He starts thrusting up to meet my movements which makes me move faster. We’re together in this, chasing something neither of us has been willing to name but is right there under the surface. Love.
How have I fallen in love with this man? Can he really be my forever? Could my life involve a mountain, solitude, and never having to worry about whether I’m safe because I have Hutch to stand in front of me and ensure it?
I want it.
I want it all.
He bites down on my nipple and my pleasure explodes. Bliss, something only he’s been able to make me feel, courses through me as my walls clamp down on him.
“Fuck yes, milk my cock, Beautiful,” he growls, letting go of my nipple and burying his face in the crook of my neck.
The groan that comes from deep in his chest only heightens how good it feels. It’s irresponsible and makes no sense, but when I feel the first jet of his cum filling my pussy, I hope that this is the time I get pregnant. Having a baby looking up at me with Hutch’s hazel eyes feels like a dream come true even though it’s only a hope in this moment.
A needy part of me wants to be tied to him for the rest of my life, to be tethered and never allowed to leave. This mountain, the one he’s sought for solace, could be my home.
I collapse against his chest and feel the pounding of his heart. It grounds me and my worries melt away as the aftershocks of our combined orgasm.
This? It’s more than enough.