Chapter 7
Grayson
My head was still spinning from that kiss.
One moment I’d been sitting across from her, telling her things I’d never told anyone, and the next she’d been in my lap, her soft curves pressed against me, her lips moving over mine like she’d been starving for me.
The taste of her still lingered on my tongue. Sweet and warm, with a hint of the coffee she’d had at breakfast. My cock throbbed painfully, and every nerve ending in my body was lit up, demanding that I pull her back against me and finish what she’d started.
But I couldn’t. Not without knowing.
Her face crumpled at my question, and I watched the light drain out of her eyes. She wrapped her arms around herself, shrinking back against the far edge of the spring.
“I’m sorry,” she stammered, her voice small. “I shouldn’t have… I don’t know what I was thinking. You obviously don’t want…”
She gestured vaguely at herself, and understanding hit me.
Amelia thought I was rejecting her because of how she looked. This beautiful, soft, perfect woman thought I didn’t want her.
“Hey.” I moved toward her, stopping when she flinched. “Amelia. Look at me.”
She raised her eyes reluctantly, and the vulnerability there made my chest ache.
“I think it should be pretty damn obvious that there’s an attraction between us.” I gestured down at myself and the erection that was still tenting my wet underwear under the water’s surface. “You felt that. You know I want you.”
Pink flooded her cheeks.
“But you’re just passing through,” I continued, the words coming out rougher than I intended. “And you’re young. Have you given any thought to what you’re doing here? Throwing yourself at a stranger in the middle of the wilderness?”
Her jaw tightened. “I’m a grown woman.”
“How old?”
The pink deepened to red. “Twenty-six.”
“Do you make a habit of throwing yourself at older men?”
Something steely flashed in her eyes, and for a moment I saw the woman who’d quit her job, sold everything she owned, and driven across the country chasing a dream.
“You’re not that old,” she pouted in return.
“Older than you,” I rumbled.
“I don’t make a habit of throwing myself at any men.” She lifted her chin. “You’re the first man I’ve ever tried to kiss first. Every boyfriend I’ve ever had has chosen me. I just… went along with it.”
That knowledge settled somewhere deep in my chest, warming a part of me I’d thought had gone cold years ago.
She had chosen me.
Not because I’d pursued her or worn her down or convinced her. She’d looked at me, an old, scarred mountain man with nothing but debt and a half-finished building to his name, and she’d chosen me.
“I’m thirty-eight,” I said quietly. “That’s twelve years between us. You comfortable with that? I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
She gave me a look that could have melted steel.
“You’re not taking advantage of me. I came to you, remember?
I kissed you.” She took a breath, steadying herself.
“I’ve spent my whole life being safe. Making the careful choice.
And where did it get me? Nowhere. So yeah, maybe this is crazy.
I barely know you, but I know what I felt when you kissed me back, and I know I want more of it. ”
That knowledge settled right on the tip of my cock.
Shyly she added, “I’ve never been with an experienced man before. I’d like to know what it’s like to be with a rugged mountain beast just once in my life before I settle on an accountant who doesn’t know how to give a woman a proper orgasm. Can you understand that?”
Yeah. I understood perfectly well. This was just temporary. I was a wild, weekend fling at a random stop on her travels. My cock would be a warm memory long after my face had faded from her mind.
Part of that hurt, an exquisite pain that reminded me that I still had a heart that beat in my chest.
But it also made me hungrier for her.
That beastly part of me wanted to rise to the challenge and show her what a proper mountain cock could do.
The sexual charge between us crackled like lightning before a storm, and I crossed the distance between us in two seconds flat.
My hands found her waist beneath the water, sliding over the soft curve of her hips.
Her skin was silk under my calloused palms, warm from the spring. She gasped as I pulled her against me, her breasts pressing against my chest through the thin, wet fabric of her bra.
“If we do this,” I growled against her ear, “I’m in charge. Understand?”
She nodded, her breath coming faster.
Then I claimed her mouth. This kiss was nothing like the first one. That had been surprise and discovery. This was about possession.
I kissed her like I owned her, one hand fisted in her wet hair while the other explored the lush terrain of her body. She moaned into my mouth and the sound went straight to my cock.
The hot water swirled around us as I backed her against the smooth rocks at the edge of the hot spring. Steam rose in lazy curls, carrying the mineral scent of the water and the sweeter smell of her skin.
Somewhere in the trees, a bird called out, and I automatically tracked the sound, cataloging it as harmless even as my hands continued their exploration.
I cupped her breast through her bra, feeling the weight of it fill my palm. She arched into my touch, whimpering. The wet fabric did nothing to hide the stiff peak of her nipple, and I rubbed my thumb across it, watching her face as pleasure flickered across her features.
“Grayson,” she breathed.
A low grunt was my only response as my other hand slid down over the soft swell of her belly. She tensed slightly, and I kissed her harder, letting her know without words that every inch of her was exactly what I wanted.
The forest pressed in around us, ancient pines standing sentinel as I touched her. A branch cracked somewhere in the distance, and my head came up automatically, scanning the tree line. Just a squirrel. Nothing dangerous. I returned my attention to the woman trembling in my arms.
My fingers found the edge of her panties, and I paused, giving her one last chance to stop this.
She answered by rolling her hips toward my hand.
No man could have resisted that. I promise you.
I slipped beneath the fabric and found her slick and hot, even hotter than the spring water surrounding us. She cried out as my fingers parted her folds, finding the swollen bud of her clit.
“So wet for me,” I murmured against her throat. “Is this what you wanted when you kissed me?”
“Yes.” The word came out as a moan. “Please.”
I circled her clit slowly, learning what made her gasp and what made her dig her nails into my shoulders. The water lapped against us with each movement, and I could feel her pulse racing beneath my lips as I kissed my way down her neck.
This was wrong. I knew it was wrong. She was leaving in a day or two, and this was going to hurt like hell when she did.
But I couldn’t stop.
I slid one thick finger inside her and she clenched around me, her whole body shuddering. She was so tight and responsive, making these little sounds that drove me crazy. I added a second finger, stretching her, and she threw her head back.
“Oh… Grayson…”
I worked her steadily, my thumb pressing against her clit while my fingers curled inside her. The water churned around us as her hips began to move, riding my hand as her breasts bounced with each thrust.
Her inner walls fluttered around my fingers, and I knew she was close.
“That’s it,” I growled. “Let go for me.”
As soon as I made this gorgeous woman come, I was going to make her come again.
The second time would be with my cock. I was aching for my own release as I increased my pace, driving into her harder, pressing my palm against her clit with each thrust.
She was gasping now, her nails leaving marks on my shoulders that I’d wear proudly.
“Come for me, Amelia,” I growled out, in charge, taking from her as much as I was giving.
And then she shattered for me.
Her whole body went rigid, her pussy clamping down on my fingers as she lost herself in her orgasm. She cried out my name, and the sound echoed off the rocks, scattering birds from the nearby trees. I held her through it, gentling my touch as the tremors slowly subsided.
When she finally opened her eyes, they were glazed with satisfaction.
I knew I’d just made a terrible mistake. Watching her drive away was going to tear something open inside me that might never heal.
But looking at the wonder on her face, I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.