Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
MCGREGOR
O nly my family calls me Mateo. It surprises me how much I like it on Callie’s sexy lips. “Let me grab a couple of towels, and we’ll head down to the lake.”
“The lake?” Her face fills with a sensual delight. “You have a lake on your property?”
“Of course.” I’m surprised Mack never mentioned it in his emails. Relief seizes me. We’re finally breaking new ground together, getting out from under the old hippie’s shadow.
As I head back outside with a stack of fluffy towels, I still can’t wrap my head around how unhesitatingly she accepted the confession about me not being Mack.
It felt too easy. But then, maybe she sensed something was off all along and didn’t want to admit it.
All I know is I have never felt more relieved.
“You sure you don’t want to grab your luggage out of your car? Put on a bathing suit?” I ask, staring down at her gorgeous, round face and mischievous dark eyes.
“No, we’re fine. In case you haven’t already figured it out, I’m not an especially shy woman, and I don’t stand on ceremony when it comes to what I want.”
My cheeks burn at her bold statement. “Neither do I.”
“And what do you want?” she asks, lifting her chin.
“You.”
“Why is that?” she whispers, face flushing.
“Because you’re the most goddamned beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. A fucking queen, a goddess who should be worshipped.”
Her cheeks darken, an ambiguous smile capturing her lips. If she knew how I want to worship her, she’d be glowing right now. This is my best attempt at talking like Mack in those goddamned letters. I fear it’s not enough.
But I continue anyway, hoping that if I speak from my heart, even if my words are awkward and clumsy, it will somehow touch her.
“I love your style, how you carry yourself, your fragrance, your facial expressions, and the way your sunny eyes sparkle with mischief. We’ve got very similar musical tastes, too. ” I know this from Mountain Mates.
Her face beams.
“Prince, Marvin Gaye, Kendrick, Kanye before he went off the deep-end ...”
She giggles.
“JPEG Mafia, Freddy Gibbs, Mach-Hommy,” I add.
“Tupac, Biggie, Nas, Dr. Dre?” she asks.
“Obviously. Lauryn Hill, Outkast ... I could go on and on.”
Her eyes dance. “You really like all of them?”
“Of course.”
“I just learned something new about you.” She beams. Damn, this feels good.
“There’s a lot you still don’t know about me, but I mean to change that,” I say firmly. “We both love Kung-Pow Chicken, Ninja movies, Sour Patch Kids, and want to visit Japan someday. That’s a decent start for turning over a new leaf together, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I do, Mateo.”
“But I have to know what you like about me.” I level my gaze on her, needing her answer more than she knows.
Her smile broadens. “You’re gorgeous, first of all, and I love how strong and muscular you are.
You’re built like a brick wall, and you make me feel safe.
Your red hair and turquoise eyes are both crazy turn-ons.
So is your thick beard and tan complexion.
And I love how you live out here in the wilderness, preferring a simpler existence, closer to nature.
From your military service to your more mature age and your life experiences, you could be my anchor. My safe place and foundation, but …”
“But?” I arch an eyebrow, heart overflowing with her words. I can be all those things for her. I would make it my life’s mission.
“The way you’ve acted since I got here … so grumpy, upset, and rude. I don’t know. It has me confused, second-guessing myself.”
I grunt, knowing I need to apologize but not sure what to say. “I’ll do better moving forward. I promise.”
We walk in silence toward the lake.
I hear Callie trip behind me, and I stop, ready to catch her. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, just didn’t see that rock there,” she says. “It’s so dark out here. At least, you won’t be able to see my birthday suit.”
I chuckle. “Is this a bad time to tell you I have exceptional night vision?”
“Oh,” she exclaims, a little poof of air escaping her mouth.
“Don’t worry. It’s a good thing. How else am I going to ensure no wild animals creep up on us while we swim?”
“Wild animals?” A shiver thrills through her voice.
“Or dudes in hockey masks with chainsaws.”
“Don’t even.” Callie laughs nervously.
“Don’t worry, Shivers, I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear.”
“Shivers?”
“Yeah, Shivers. I don’t know if it’s more because of the shivers in your voice when I tease you about scary stuff, or the shivers that dance up and down my spine every time I look at you.”
She hugs herself as we near the black waters of the lake. “Funny nickname aside, are there really wild animals out here?”
“Of course.” I shrug. Is this a trick question?
“What kinds?” Her voice full-on trembles.
“Nothing I can’t protect you from,” I conclude firmly.
“You say it with such authority. I could almost believe you. But I’ve seen The Revenant . What kinds of animals?”
“No grizzlies here, Callie. You may not want to hear this, but I’ll kill anything or anyone who tries to harm you. You’re safe with me.”
“Oh.”
The crease in my forehead deepens. “Does that admission freak you out? Too honest for you?”
“Not at all. It’s sexy as hell,” Callie says definitively.
I puff out my chest, pride filling me as blood rushes to my cock. I want her to find me sexy. I want her to feel safe around me. My body hums with longing for her.
We reach the lake, and my heart slams against my ribs. Am I really about to go skinny dipping with this breathtaking woman?
“You can’t be too honest with me. I got that trait from my parents, who attribute it as one of the reasons they’re still married after more than three decades.”
“That’s quite an achievement. You don’t hear about long-lasting relationships like that much anymore,” I murmur, setting the towels down on the sandy banks of the lake.
“What about your parents?”
“Still together,” I grumble. “And toxic as hell. I don’t know which culture handles alcohol worse, Mexican or Scottish.”
Her eyes fill with an empathy I’m not accustomed to. Calliope makes me feel safe, understood, and acknowledged. Things I don’t want to get used to in case she goes away someday.
I turn away from the beauty, toeing off my cowboy boots and removing my socks. I go slow, fully prepared to strip to my skin.
Silence greets me from behind. Glancing over my shoulder toward my guest, I realize she’s not undressing. Instead, she stands unmoving, her hands clutched tightly in front of her.
“Having second thoughts?” I ask, lifting an eyebrow as my fingers fumble with the button of my Wranglers and then the zipper. Its familiar overtures put a knot in my throat and a ravenous glimmer in her eyes.
“No,” she says, reaching into the pocket of her jean jacket to pull out bobby pins. Expertly, she parts her long hair and wraps it around her head, securing it with the pins to keep it out of the water.
Watching her do something so intimate that few people get to see sets my body on fire.
“What are you staring at?” she asks.
“You.” I swallow loudly. “You’re so damn sexy when you do that with your hair.”
She giggles, shrugging out of her jacket and then bending to remove her strappy sandals.
“About those animals,” she adds. “None of them are aquatic, right?”
I chuckle throatily, pulling down my jeans and leaving them in a pile next to the towels where she’s thrown her sandals and jacket. My shirt comes off, followed by my boxer briefs. “What are you expecting? Jaws?”
“No.” She swallows loudly, and I can feel her eyes on my ass. “But I had to ask.”
I eye the clothes pile, throat constricting and heart enflaming at the addition of her black-and-white floral sundress, followed by a lacy magenta bra and matching panties with a wet line along the crotch.
It takes every ounce of willpower not to grab and lick them.
I want her so desperately that my mouth waters.
Wading into the lake, I can’t hide the sigh that escapes my lips. “Fucking cold,” I mutter under my breath, wading out until the water covers my hips before turning to look in her direction. What I see is beyond tantalizing.
Dark mocha skin cast in pale moonlight. Weighty, full breasts, the nipples barely covered by one hand and arm, and glimmers of curly black hair peeking out between the fingers lightly covering her pussy. She keeps it natural. I love it.
“Oh,” she exclaims, eyes rounding as she stands up to her ankles in the frigid mountain water, her mouth hanging open. “Turn around and don’t look.”
I obey without thinking, my stomach in knots and my cock bobbing to the top of the water, more than happy to get in on the outdoor recreation. “You didn’t really expect me not to look, did you?”
I hear water splashing, and her teeth chattering. It doesn’t take long in a crystal-clear alpine lake at sixty-five hundred feet, summer or not.
“This is freezing!” she exclaims.
“I’m sure the Pacific Ocean off San Francisco could outdo this any day of the week.”
“Maybe.” Her teeth clank together like she’s hypothermic. I could warm her up. The rogue thought makes me suddenly very concerned about her body temperature.
“Oh, goodness,” she inhales sharply, heading in deeper.
“On the bright side. This lake’s far too cold for most animals. So, it’s just you and me,” I say, turning and feasting on the stunning beauty backlit by the celestial light of the night sky.
“Oh,” she exclaims, lurching forward to cover her breasts with water, encountering a dropoff I meant to warn her about. Her head bobs beneath the water.
Swiftly crossing the distance between us, I lift her back up, holding her by her upper arms and laughing. “You do know how to swim, right?”
“Of course,” she says, sputtering and gasping as her body relaxes in the water, and I let go. “I wasn’t expecting that hole, though. Oh, my hair.” She worries her thick bottom lip.
“Sorry. Should’ve warned you better. Come over here by me. It’s shallower.”