Chapter 5
Sierra
Ihear Luke coming up behind me, but he does not speak. Good, because I have no idea what to say to him either.
This has been a bizarre few hours. It has not even been an hour yet. Not even close. Damn.
In the last fifteen minutes alone, everything has gone sideways—my car breaking down, meeting a handsome cowboy chef, running into my ex-situationship, and crying in the arms of a strange giant who looks like a groundskeeper but acts like a knight in shining armor.
The whole thing has been infuriating, embarrassing, and extremely humiliating. I am not even sure what to say to myself right now.
I do not know what excuse I can offer for my ridiculous breakdown, only that I am physically and mentally exhausted, and I want to go to sleep so that it can be morning and I can leave this accursed retreat and forget the whole sorry episode ever happened.
When we finally reach my room, I walk in and close the door, expecting that to be the end of it.
But before I can even throw myself onto the bed, the door opens again.
I sigh.
I know who it is without turning around.
When I do turn, I give Luke an annoyed look.
“I am really not in the mood for conversation right now,” I say.
“I bet.” He still does not leave. Instead, he walks over and runs a finger gently down my cheek. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I am fine.” I bite out the words and turn my head so that his finger falls away. “I just want to be alone.”
“No, you don’t,” he says.
“Excuse me?”
“You do not want to be alone. I think you hate being alone.”
I cock an eyebrow. “Are you telling me how I feel right now?”
“Yeah. I do that a lot.” He shrugs. “I’m good at reading people.”
I gape at him in disbelief. The audacity of this man.
“For example,” he continues, “if you truly wanted to be alone, you would have stayed in your room and locked the door, or gone into the bathroom for a good cry. But you went out in the open because you wanted to be seen. Because you wanted help.”
“I don’t…” I shake my head, denying words that hit uncomfortably close to home. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just having a panic attack.”
“Then why did you run?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think that far.”
“Most people don’t, but that does not mean your subconscious was not doing the thinking for you.” He cocks his head. “Why didn’t you run away when you saw Talon?”
“Who?”
“That big ox of a fella whose hand you were holding.”
I wrinkle my nose. “He’s not an ox. He’s… well—”
Far from it. He was…
Alluring is the only word for it.
Sexy is another.
He is not classically handsome, but I definitely swooned a little when I saw those gray eyes of his. More wolf than bear—nothing like the mountain men I had imagined up here. Something older, wilder.
His long hair and beard give him that rugged mountain look, and then there is his size.
He is even taller than Luke, and until today I thought Reid was the tallest man I had ever met at six foot four. What on earth are they feeding these men up here?
Luke cocks an eyebrow. “You think he is handsome?”
I shrug, trying not to blush. “Well, yes. I mean, I was kind of crying too hard to notice properly, but he is certainly not just an ox.”
“Well.” A secretive smile spreads across his face. “I am sure he will be happy to hear that.”
I am not sure why Luke said it like that, nor why he is smiling. It feels like there is a punchline in there somewhere that I am missing.
“Anyway,” he says, “you didn’t answer my question. Why didn’t you run away from him if you wanted to be alone?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. He was there and he held me and …” And it felt good to be held, especially by someone like him.
Someone big and protective, with a growl that made me want to curl into him and stay there.
He smelled like fresh soap and wood, felt solid and grounding in a way that steadied the chaos inside me. Everything about him was raw, unpretentious, real.
He made me feel safe.
Which is a crazy thing to think about a stranger you just met in the woods.
“Didn’t you feel better after?” Luke asks.
“I guess.”
“Good. Maybe that’s the trick. Maybe you need to get it all off your chest.” He tucks both hands in his pockets. “I came to find out if you’re ready to tell me all about it.”
“You mean you want me to tell you about me and Reid?”
“About that… or anything else you want to talk about. The floor's yours.” He smiles at me, and the smile is genuine. Like he knows me of old, even though we’ve only just met. Like he actually cares.
I stare at him as he stares back, all traces of his earlier amusement gone, replaced by a soft, accepting calm.
On second thought, I can see how he could be a cult leader. His charisma is undeniable, and he has a disarming charm that makes it difficult to turn him down.
Not to mention his movie-star looks. Those blue eyes. That blond mop any woman would want to run her hands through. Those lips.
I could eat him up right now.
Another energy rises inside me, heat spreading.
There’s a bed right behind us.
I try to swallow the thought back, but I can’t stop thinking about the two of us making a mess of the sheets.
Some of it is the simmering attraction between us that has been there since we first locked eyes.
But some of it is because I need a distraction right now.
I need an outlet for the storm racing through me.
I need to feel good.
He can make me feel good.
“You’re really good at this, aren’t you?” I say, taking a step toward him, letting him see the desire in my face.
“Good at what?” he asks, his gaze lowering.
“Getting people to trust you. To let their guard down even when they know they shouldn’t.” I stop in front of him, tilting my head so I can meet his eyes. “Is that how you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Brainwash people.” I rest my head against his chest, where, despite his calm demeanor, his heart is racing.
Good. He wants me too. I’d thought he might, and now I’m sure.
“Do you seduce them first?” I lean forward and press a kiss to his neck. “Tell them a bunch of sweet things so they open up to you.” I slide my tongue along his neck, and he lets out a low groan, his hands snapping to my elbows.
“Sierra—” His voice is dark, warning.
I keep going, whispering into his ear, “Do you get off on seeing how much power you have over women?” I finish by grazing his earlobe with my lips.
He squeezes my arms and pulls me back, his stormy gaze and half-wild smile making him look a little unhinged.
“Oh baby,” he says, his voice like smooth liquor, pure sex and sin. “You have no idea how I get off.”
Then, before I can take a full breath, his lips capture mine.