Chapter 10
Amelia
Early afternoon light filtered through the lace curtains, casting delicate patterns across the quilt. I blinked awake slowly, my body warm and heavy with the kind of deep rest I hadn’t experienced in years.
Then I registered the solid weight of Grayson’s arm draped across my waist, and everything from the night before came rushing back.
The hot springs. The interrupted sex. The late-night phone call. Then the magic of falling asleep in his arms while we whispered secrets to each other in the dark.
I was tangled in this man’s arms, and when I turned my head, I found him already awake, watching me with those dark brown eyes that seemed to hold mysteries.
His hair was mussed from sleep, his beard slightly flattened on one side, and he looked absolutely devastatingly handsome.
“Morning,” he rumbled.
Before I could respond, he dragged his calloused palms down my sides, over the curve of my hips, then back up to cup my breasts.
I gasped at his unexpected touch.
Grayson was unhurried and deliberate, like he was memorizing every inch of me. Heat bloomed everywhere his fingers traveled, and my body woke up fast, responding to him with an eagerness that almost overwhelmed me.
His thumb brushed across my nipple and I arched into his touch, a soft moan escaping my lips.
“I’ve been waiting hours to do this,” he growled against my throat. “Do you know how hard it’s been, watching you sleep, wanting to touch you, trying to be a gentleman?”
“I don’t want a gentleman.”
He let out a rough laugh, and the sound vibrated into me.
Grayson’s lips found a sensitive spot below my ear, and I felt myself melting into the mattress, ready to let him do whatever he wanted.
It was finally time.
But then he pulled back unexpectedly.
“Get dressed.”
I blinked at him, confused and more than a little frustrated. “What?”
He was already climbing out of bed, reaching for his jeans on the floor. The sight of his naked body in the daylight made my mouth go dry. My eyes caught on the dark trail of hair leading down to where his cock hung heavy between his thighs.
“Grayson, what are you doing?”
He tugged on his jeans, not bothering with underwear, and turned to face me.
“Our first time can’t be here,” he rumbled. “I’ll break the bed and scare the guests. We need to go somewhere private. It’s time for me to get my rain check.”
Twenty minutes later, we were in his pickup truck heading out of town. I’d barely had time to brush my teeth and pull on clothes before he’d hustled me out of the Summit House, his hand warm on the small of my back.
“Where are we going?” I asked, even though I already suspected the answer.
He glanced at me as he drove, heat simmering in his eyes.
His voice was a low growl as he dropped a possessive hand on my thigh. “Where do you think? We’re going back to where we started things. I want you naked in those hot springs again.”
His touch sent shockwaves of heat through me.
I needed this man.
Now.
The drive felt longer than it had yesterday, anticipation building with every mile. When we finally pulled up to the Iron Peak Trailhead, my heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
We hiked faster this time, Grayson’s long strides eating up the distance while I scrambled to keep up. He knew exactly where he was going, navigating the invisible deer trail with the confidence of someone who’d walked these woods a thousand times.
When the hot springs finally came into view, steam rising in lazy swirls up into the cool mountain air, he was already pulling his shirt over his head.
This time, there was no pretense of modesty from either of us.
He stripped completely, jeans and boots discarded on the rocks, and waded into the water without looking back. The muscles in his back flexed as he moved, and I watched the way the water rose up his thick thighs and over his hips.
Then he turned and held out his hand to me.
I stripped faster than I ever had in my life.
The hot water enveloped me as I stepped in, and Grayson pulled me against him immediately.
Our naked bodies pressed together, skin to skin, nothing between us this time. His cock was already hard, pressing against my belly, and I felt myself clench with anticipation.
“No interruptions this time,” he growled against my ear. “I’m going to finish what I started.”
His mouth crashed into mine.
The kiss was hungry and desperate, nothing like the tender exploration of the night before. His tongue thrust past my lips, claiming me, and I gave myself over to him completely.
My fingers dug into his shoulders as he lifted me up. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist.
“I need you now,” I breathed. “Please.”
He rumbled out a laugh and slipped his tip across my slit, teasing me. The head of his cock nudged against my entrance, and I gasped into his mouth.
“Is this what you want, Amelia?”
“Yes. Stop your teasing,” I begged as I tried to force him inside. But that didn’t work. It just made him laugh more.
He slid his cock up and down, up and down, before finally settling his tip back in place. Then, ever so slowly, he began to push inside.
I gasped as he stretched me, inch by incredible inch, filling me in a way I’d never experienced before. My previous boyfriends had been adequate. Average. Forgettable, if I were being honest.
There was nothing forgettable about Grayson Ford.
He was bigger than anyone I’d been with, and I could feel every inch of him as he worked himself deeper. The hot spring water swirled around us, jostled by our movements. By the time he bottomed out, I was panting, my nails digging into his shoulders.
Grayson let out a deep groan and held me tight against his chest, giving me a moment to adjust. I could feel his cock throbbing inside me.
He was trembling with the effort of holding still, and knowing that I affected him this much made my chest ache with something dangerously close to tenderness.
Then he started to move.
Slowly at first, pulling almost all the way out before sliding back in with a deliberate thrust that made me see stars. The water lapped against the rocks with each snap of his hips, creating a rhythm that matched the building pleasure between my thighs.
He picked up speed gradually, his hips thrusting against mine with increasing urgency. I used my legs to pull him deeper, and he captured my mouth in a kiss that stole what remained of my sanity.
His tongue stroked against mine in time with his thrusts, and that’s when I lost myself completely.
The forest faded away. The cold mountain air on my wet shoulders ceased to exist. There was only Grayson, his body moving inside mine, claiming me in a way that felt permanent, even though I knew it couldn’t be.
“So good,” he groaned against my lips. “You feel so fucking good.”
I couldn’t form words anymore. Could only hold on as he pounded into me, the water churning around us, pleasure building toward something explosive.
This is what it felt like to get fucked by a mountain man.
Oh my lord, let me die and go to heaven right now just so this can be the last thing I felt in life.
He was perfection. All heat and hunger and man.
I was close. So close. And from the way his rhythm was growing sporadic, I knew he was too.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “You make me crazy, Amelia.”
Water splashed around us, waves lapping against the rocks with each powerful thrust as he began to lose control.
His hands gripped my hips hard enough to bruise, holding me in place while he fucked me.
There was nothing gentle about it, nothing polite. This was raw need, all of our hunger compressed into this single moment.
“Grayson,” I gasped, my head falling back.
He took advantage of my exposed throat, his mouth hot against my pulse point. His teeth scraped across my skin, and I shuddered, my inner walls clenching around him.
“That’s it,” he growled against my neck. “Take all of me.”
I bounced in his arms with each thrust, my breasts pressed against his chest. Steam rose around us, the mineral scent of the spring mixing with the musk of sex and sweat.
He shifted his angle and hit something deep inside me that made my life complete.
“Right there,” I moaned. “Oh, fuck, right there.”
He did it again.
And again.
Driving into that spot with relentless precision until I was practically delirious with pleasure. The sounds coming out of my mouth were embarrassing. Desperate little cries that I couldn’t control.
“You’re so fucking perfect,” he rasped.
His hand slipped between us, finding my clit beneath the water. The added pressure was too much. I shattered around him, my orgasm crashing through me in waves that matched the rhythm of his thrusts. I cried his name, the sound bouncing off the rocks and scattering birds from the nearby trees.
He fucked me through it, never slowing, drawing out my pleasure until I was shaking and oversensitive. Then his rhythm faltered, his thrusts becoming even more erratic.
“Amelia,” he groaned, burying himself deep. “Fuck, I’m going to…”
He came inside me with a roar that echoed through the forest. I felt him pulsing, filling me with his release, and something about the intimacy of it made my chest ache with emotion.
We stayed like that for a long moment, tangled together in the hot water, both of us breathing hard. His forehead rested against mine, his eyes closed, and I could feel his heart pounding against my chest.
When he finally opened his eyes, the tenderness there took my breath away.
This was the best sex I’d ever had in my life. Nothing else even came close. And now that I’d had him, I couldn’t imagine going back to a life without this man.
Eventually we untangled ourselves, floating side by side in the warm water, our fingers loosely intertwined. The late afternoon sun filtered through the pine branches overhead, dappling the surface of the spring with golden light.
“So,” I asked tentatively, my heart hammering with nerves. “What happens now?”