Chapter 26 #2
He walked around me, caging me with his arms, hands hovering to help if I needed him. As I cranked the handle and stumbled back, his hands grazed my hips to steady me, my back against his front. I felt his fingers thread into the belt loops on my jeans, anchoring me there.
The tip of the rod curved and bounced as the fish broke the surface, the reel clicking with each inch I coiled in. A laugh escaped, my grin unbidden. This moment felt amazing.
I reeled in the line until the fish gave up the fight and calmed, floating near the surface just a few feet from the shore.
Gray dropped his hands from my hips and walked to the water, stepping in without worrying about getting his boots wet.
He grabbed the fish with his bare hands, fingers wrapping its belly with a firm grip as it wriggled.
I set the pole down and raced over to him as he inspected the fish’s mouth, extracting the hook.
The fish was about a foot long. While not the biggest trout I’d ever seen, it was still beautiful.
Its back was gray green, fading to sage before a vibrant coral pink stripe ran the length of its body.
Speckled all over, it had a pattern reminiscent of the river rocks that formed its home.
Its gills gulped for water, pleading to be let free.
“Do you want to release it?” he asked, holding it out to me.
Without hesitation, I took it gently from his hand.
It was slick to the touch and had an opalescent sheen that glittered in the sun.
I carefully knelt and lowered it to the water’s surface.
It wriggled, sensing it was almost home.
I submerged it, and the fish righted itself.
With a splash, it flapped its fins and slowly swam from my hands into the pool. Its unhurried nature surprised me.
I let my fingers rinse in the water for a moment, and Gray did too. As I stood straight again, watching the fish meander off into the deep, Gray’s hand found mine at my side. His thumb traced my knuckles, and I looked up at him, still grinning with the joy of the moment.
The setting sun cast a glow across his face, his hair disheveled and pushed back, as if he’d just run his fingers through it.
I hardly registered that I was standing calf-deep in the water, my boots submerged.
He turned to face me directly, cupping my cheek with his other hand.
His finger traced my cheekbone before pressing with a sense of finality.
He drew me in, and my breath caught just before the gravity between us became inescapable. We fell together.
His hand threaded into my hair, circling the back of my neck and tilting my head up. He held me against him, our lips meeting in an all-consuming kiss.
My lips parted immediately, and his tongue dove in. I was starving to taste him. Mouths dancing and breaths short, I eventually pulled back and bit his lower lip. Readjusting my grip on him, I wrapped my arms around his back, hands sliding up to his shoulder blades for a firmer, deeper hold.
It felt like climbing an evergreen, and I couldn’t get close enough.
Our tongues tangled again, a frenzied dance of need and pent-up desire. His hand slid from my back to my waist, snaking under my shirt until it found bare skin. He wrapped his arms around my torso, stealing the breath from my lungs.
I whimpered at the icy touch of his still-wet hands.
He growled and deepened the kiss, devouring me as he stumbled back a step. His hands fell to my ass, then my thighs, hoisting me up.
I locked my heels around his waist. My soaked boots released a stream of water that splashed down his back, soaking his jeans below the belt line.
A hiss escaped his lips, but I swallowed it with another kiss, my nails digging into the flesh of his shoulders. He broke to breathe, trailing kisses across my cheek and down my neck.
This still wasn’t enough.
I tugged at his shirt; the long sleeves preventing me from feeling his skin against mine. Fuck, I wanted to rip it off him, but I wasn’t strong enough.
I barely realized we were moving when the world shifted, and the wool blanket on the bank met my back. His weight pressed down on me, and we both moaned as the pressure between us increased. Giant hands threaded into my hair, pulling it free from the ponytail.
I was still scrabbling at his shirt, my singular focus all-consuming.
He hummed and leaned up on his elbows, allowing me to reach for his hem and pull it over his head. His skin steamed as the cold air hit it.
I let myself marvel at the man looming above me, reaching up and trailing my fingers over his pecks and through his rugged chest hair. I’d longed to touch him like this for days, and the euphoria of finally doing it made my toes curl.
His breath shook, his face consumed with lust. When his blue eyes found mine, they held me captive. We weren’t hiding anymore, and there was no stopping us this time; the momentum was too great.
“Buttercup,” he growled. “God, you’re beautiful. I need you.” He slid his shirt from my hand, lifting my head and placing it beneath my head for support before gripping my waist, weaving into the hem of my shirt. “I’m not backing away this time.” It felt like a warning.
My gaze tilted upward as I arched my back into him, letting my arms rest above my head.
“I don’t want you to,” I challenged. I was wearing a similar long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and he yanked the hem of the thermal up, hooking it above my breasts as I gasped at the gruff action and the sharp nip of the cold air.
“Fuck, Betty,” he panted, his hand gently covering my bare breast, worshipping it.
“Why don’t you wear bras?” His chilly touch caused my nipples to grow even harder than they already were, becoming almost painful.
He stroked it with his thumb, relieving some of the intense sting before trailing his knuckles down the swell of my breast to my side, then further to the hem of my jeans before crossing over my belly, eliciting a relentless wave of shivers.
I felt hot, yet cold; the sensation intensifying my desire when his large hand completed the route, returning to cup my breast again. Our gazes met, his breath hitched, and he crashed his lips to mine as though they offered him a breath of life.
I moaned at the combined feel of his hand on my breast and his lips and tongue swirling with mine.
He pressed into me, and that nearly did me in.
I could feel his erection, hard and long in his jeans.
Intense longing surrounded him like an intoxicating aura, a desire that had been building for some time.
I wanted to breathe it all in like a greedy bandit.
I kicked off my wet boots behind him and wrapped my thighs around his waist. “Are you complaining about my choice of underwear?” I finally breathed out as he continued to tease my nipples.
My nails dug ever deeper into his back as I pulled myself up against him, rocking my center up and down his hard length.
He shook his head. “Your nipples have been driving me crazy for days; the cold air making them peak through every shirt, staring me down and driving me half-mad. Why is it two little hard nubs can make a man crumble?” His thumb circled a perky, sensitive bud, then he pinched… hard.
I tried to yelp, but his mouth muffled my sounds, tongue claiming mine once more. My rocking intensified, my desire to have him so acute that I felt ready to split apart here and now, and then do it all over again.
He pulled back, giving attention to the other breast now. The fresh change sent shockwaves to my core, causing my pussy to clench with want and the need for more pressure.
He hummed, then sucked a nipple into his mouth.
The contrasting warmth made wetness pool between my legs.
He released his mouth with a pop before confessing, “You have no idea what you’ve been doing to me.
I’m stunned every time I look at you, lost and helpless.
” His lips peppered open-mouthed kisses down my sternum, his rough beard sending a delightful shiver up my spine.
When he came up, his eyes met mine, and they were raw with emotion.
His calloused hands cradled my waist as he kissed his way back up my stomach and between my breasts, rough hands wrapping my rib cage.
I let out a cry, the sensation of his grip cradling me almost unbearable as I squirmed beneath him, locked in this place of pleasure.
“Please, Gray.” It felt like he was everywhere at once, overwhelming my senses.
He answered with a nip on the breast, pressing his erection in and up in rhythmic motions, allowing his primal side to move him.
Growing impatient, I cleared my head long enough to find his belt buckle; my hands fumbled with the clasp.
I had to push at him to give me space before quickly unbuckling it.
I forced the zipper down and didn’t hesitate to reach inside, my fingers finding his hot, smooth length, skin to skin.
The mere sensation sent another wave of pleasure through me, and his hand soon found the buttons of my jeans in return, unzipping them and sliding his giant hand inside to cup my sex over my damp underwear.
“Look how ready you are for me,” he whispered, his lips against mine, a moan escaping as he pressed himself into my hand. “I need to be inside you.”
“Yes, Gray. Please,” I responded, sliding my hand up his length before attempting to shuck his pants down his backside to give me more room and better access.
He leaned back, giving us both the room we needed and working off his shoes.
I began pushing down my own pants, breathing heavily and growing frustrated.
He stopped me, grasping hold of the denim and yanking the jeans over my hips in one gruff tug. “Let me,” he growled, a second tug, and he had them completely off.