Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
HARRY
A mber liquid slips from the mouth of the bottle, dripping onto Lou’s hard nipple. A man’s never been this thirsty in the history of all mankind. Her silky skin is pure heaven under my calloused hands. One hand on her hip, the other bracing on the bedroll beside her, I dip my head and take the hard peak between my teeth.
She arches into me instantly, sending my cock impossibly hard.
Damn, this woman.
Lovin’ her will never get old.
I lose the nipple with a pop and drench the next one with whiskey, repeating the process. This time, I’m rewarded with her drenched pussy pressing against my rigid cock. It’s fuckin’ heaven.
Her mouth opens, so fuckin’ hungry for me.
I hook a thumb over her bottom lip. She clamps down, sucking it hard.
“Sweet Jesus,” I growl.
At this rate, this will be over before it begins.
All blonde hair and green eyes, she lies on the bedroll, mine for the takin’. Fuck me if I ain’t goin’ to devour her like it’s the first time I’ve tasted her.
She drives me wild.
Pretty sure those saturated panties are my fault.
“Fuckin’ hell, Louisa May, you’re damn beautiful, spread wide for me.” I let a hand wander down her stomach, running two fingers through that soaked pussy of hers. “So wet, so needy, woman.”
“Please, plea?—”
“That’s my girl. Beggin’ for it.”
I rub a thumb over her clit, and her hips buck off the bedroll, sending pressure against my cock. I groan at the touch.
“Makin’ me wait ain’t very sweet.”
“Lou, nobody’s ever accused me of bein’ sweet.”
She chuckles. “You’re my sweet.”
“Oh yeah, I taste sweet to you?”
“You’re gonna have to remind me...”
She pushes on my shoulders and I’m leanin’ back. Wriggling out from under me, she leans down, taking my throbbing cock into her mouth.
“Oh, fuck...” The words burn their way out.
One fine hand gripping the base of my cock, she takes me all the way to the hilt. With a long, torturous upward stroke, she sucks me hard. My balls tighten. I fist her hair and pull her head back. The tip of my cock falls from her lips.
“As good as this feels. Balls deep in your pretty pussy—” The words break off as the last of my air whooshes from my lungs at her doe-like green eyes, puffy pink lips, and breasts bouncing from dropping her ass to her heels.
Lord above.
Gripping her hips with more pressure than I should, I flip her over and pull her back to me, nudging her legs apart with my knees. In the firelight, she is stunning. Ass canted up to me. The long, slender curve of her back, the soft golden locks scattered around her shoulders. She’s ethereal. Something sent from heaven for this man.
In this moment, I realize I have always thought of Louisa this way.
She has, in my mind, always been mine.
I have always been hers.
That will never change.
She turns her head, and green eyes study my face as I slide a hand under her stomach. With a tug backward, I nudge her entrance with my cock.
The campfire flames dance in her eyes.
My damn heart explodes.
I breathe through the emotion stuck in my airway.
“Harry...”
I slam into her. Her wild cry echoes over the mountainside. I pull out, slow and deliberate, like I want her to feel every inch of me inside her. Like I want her to understand that for every part I give her, she gives it back tenfold.
My fool of a heart wouldn’t have it any other way.
Even if I’d known this woman would shatter my heart to splinters, I’d still love her anyway. Like I said, no choice.
Not for this man.
Never was.
Feeling too far from her, I wrap an arm around her and pull her up to me. Her arms wrap around my head instantly, her mouth hunting for my own. I thrust into her, wanting her to feel the pleasure I can give her.
This is the love I make for her.
Making her feel everything.
As much bliss as I can give her, I will.
In exchange for her holding my heart, taking care of it the way only Louisa can, I give her everything I have.
With each punishing, all-consuming stroke, I pull another whimper from her.
Her body trembles.
Mine follows a moment later.
Slick need drips down her thighs. The sound of each thrust tangles with the crackle of the fire.
When we get off this godforsaken mountain, I’m gonna make sure she gets every last day I have on this earth.
“Ha—Oh. God.”
I slide a hand to her front, and with a steady rhythm, I circle her clit. Her breathing shatters, her back pushing against my chest as her hips roll and her tight little pussy clamps down around my cock, milking it.
I bite down on her soft shoulder. Sucking the spot to soothe it as she dances around my cock, her orgasm still rolling through her.
“Fuckin’ mine, darlin’. That’s it, strangle my damn cock.”
Fine hands grope my neck and face, her mouth opening and closing like she’s drowning.
God, we both are.
“Another one?” I ask.
She cries out.
I slam up into her and pinch her clit. I nibble her neck, and she shudders at the contact. Her slick drips down her thighs, soaking into the bedroll.
Utterly out of it, she drops a hand from my neck to her breast.
If that ain’t the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I keep up the rhythm, watching as she tugs her nipple and palms her soft flesh. The sight has liquid heat swelling low in my spine.
“Lou, fu-uck.”
“Give in to me, Harry.”
“Jesus,” I rasp. “When you do.”
Her head falls back onto my shoulder. I rub a thumb over her clit, coaxing her body into submission. Soon she explodes around my cock for the second time, and I let go, giving her what she wants. Hot ropes of release flood deep inside her.
She cries out as her pussy grips my cock, harder than before.
I growl into her ear, and a breathy whimper leaves those pretty lips.
So, I follow with, “I love you, Louisa May. Always have. Always damn well will.”
A sob chokes out her next breath.
Hot, wet kisses find my four days’ worth of stubble. The moment I pull away, she flies into my arms so fast, I almost topple backward. Her arms cradle my head as she wraps herself around me, and her fingers dig into my hair.
“I love you, too, Harry.”
* * *
The last leg of the descent off this mountain is the hardest. I knew it would be. I slide back and forth with Darby. Head down, he reins from side to side as we hold the herd steady, heading down the slope. The storm from last night turned into a constant downpour.
Not the best-case scenario.
At all.
The stream marking the border between the flats and the mountains was already at full capacity. If it swells, we’re stuck. And we do not have the provisions or the timeframe for that kind of delay.
Louisa’s sweet little hup-hups have turned raspy over the last few days. She’s exhausted. I can see it in her eyes, and the way she slumps over the saddle when she thinks I’m busy checking over the herd.
The sooner we get home, the better.
An hour later, we’re riding toward the stream turned torrential river.
“Fuck!”
I pluck the hat from my head and run my hand through my soaked hair.
The rain washes away the muted sounds of the herd behind me. So when Lou appears on Mara, I startle.
“Can we cross downstream?” she asks.
“Maybe. We can’t stay stranded on this side.”
“I’ll take a look.” She reins the mare away, trotting on the muddy ground along the bank of the stream. In the downpour, she disappears into the gray sheet of weather.
My heart picks up pace.
With her out of sight, my gut ties into a bundle of knots.
I strain to hear her returning.
I hear nothing.
“Dammit.”
With a quick glance over the herd, I trot off in the direction she went. The thunderstorm intensifies, and I shield my eyes like it’s the sun I’m lookin’ into, not cold, soaking rain.
Mara bursts through a scattering of trees up ahead, Louisa riding high. She waves when she sees me.
“Down here, it shallows out.” She turns in her seat, pointing behind her.
“Right, I’ll push them down. Wait here!” I shout over the hiss of the pelting drops.
She nods and pulls the mare to a halt.
I make my way around herd and send them down the bank toward Lou and Mara. She starts off, crossing the shallow part of the stream. The current buffers against the mare’s legs. She snorts, plowing her way through the rapid current. Louisa looks back. I usher the cattle into the water. They, to my surprise, follow the lead with no hesitation.
The calves struggle, their lighter weight too easy for the current to drag away.
“Louisa! Watch the calves!”
She stands in the stirrups, twisting to look back. The cattle wade through the rapids, slowly. A calf stumbles and his head disappears under the turbulent surface. It comes up, startled, and bellows. Half of the herd rushes. Some move past Lou, some drift off downstream.
Hell.
Darby enters the water after the last beast is in the stream. I push him harder. Send the cattle at the rear faster. This could go sideways any second.
Louisa makes for the opposite bank. The tension in my gut unfurls a little.
A bellow makes both of us turn toward the sound.
A calf bobs, being carried by the current downstream. He’s closer to the opposite side of the stream. Louisa turns Mara back, sending her into the water, fast. The mare obeys, despite shaking her head. Her tail twitches side to side.
The calf goes under.
“No!” Louisa yells.
The second she makes the spot the calf disappeared, Mara falters.
Both Mara and Louisa plummet into the current and vanish.
Fuck!
No!
“Ha!” I spur Darby forward, around the cattle.
God, no...
Heart between my teeth, my focus is homed in on the water, desperate to see horse and rider resurface. I slap the reins either side of Darby’s neck, sending him faster.
“Louisa!” I call. “Fuck! Lou!”
Mara reappears, panicking, and scrambles up and out of the current. Froth flies from her muzzle as she slides and slips over the shallower section and up the bank.
No rider...
“LOUISA!”
Darby’s head is high as he rushes through the water.
My blood thunders in my veins.
Goddammit, Louisa May.
Fear snaking through every inch of my veins, I make the other side and fly out of the saddle. I sprint along the bank, slipping on the slimy surface as I go, following the current. I jump over a fallen tree hanging over the raging water, scrambling as I almost lose my footing.
A gasp and a cry break from behind me.
I spin back to find Louisa grabbing for the fallen tree.
“Lou!” I drop to the ground, crawling out to her along the fallen trunk. She gasps for air. Her lips are already blue. Her hat gone, her teeth chattering. She looks up at me, pain twisting her face. I haul her up and out and settle her on the tree, folding her into my chest.
“I—” She shivers in my hold. “Lost.” Her teeth smack together violently. “Him.”
Oh god.
I pull her head into my neck. Rubbing her back with my hand, I watch with amazement as the half-drowned calf scrambles up the bank fifty feet away.
“Fuckin’ Christ,” I breathe. “He’s fine, darlin’.”
She moves her head, slow and shaky, to see the calf in question. A huffy laugh puffs from her blue lips.
“Let’s get you home, Louisa May.”
“Su-ure, I cou-ld use a h-hot ba-th.”
She shakes against my body.
“Among other things.”
She melts into me, and I hold her, herd forgotten for a moment.
Just for this small slice of time, this is all that matters.