Chapter Seven Jake #2
But the truth is, I’m more like her devil.
What kind of man has a woman coming from his touch, knowing he can’t give her any more the moment the sun rises?
But I don’t regret one touch or taste. I just have to hope Ash doesn’t either.
Ashley
Nothing will ever beat the rough yet gentle feeling of a man’s touch on my body, sending my heart racing with unexplainable pleasure. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s been so long that I’ve forgotten what being touched feels like. Or is it purely because it’s Jake touching me?
Here in the cold dark woods, scared of what could be hiding in the trees and with my ankle injured, I have been begging a virtual stranger to touch me. The way he spoke in that low timbre and told me I was enough made me desperate for him to take away my ache.
He met my needs in such a way that all the words he whispered in my ear felt like he was reading my mind.
Creating a warmth that flowed through me like nothing I have ever known, taking away the chill and fear of the night from my body.
He barely touched my skin as his hand pressed down over my underwear, making me want everything he was promising.
I know I shouldn’t have let things get so far, but there was no holding me back once my sex drive took over.
I’m not usually the kind of woman to have meaningless sex with a man. Yet here I am, my body floating after being played like an instrument. Technically we didn’t sleep together, but he made me orgasm harder than I have in a very long time.
The shifting of Jake’s weight from over top of me shocks me back into the here and now.
“Oh shit.” I quickly do up my jeans and try to push my body out from underneath him and back up into a sitting position.
I can feel the burning on my cheeks as embarrassment starts racing through me.
How could I have let this get so far out of hand?
My quick movements almost make Jake fall sideways as he tries to give me space.
My brain is scrambled, and I’m desperate to put distance between us, but as I try to get to my feet, putting the slightest weight onto my ankle, Jake reaches out to balance me at the same time as the pain shoots up my leg.
“Arggghhh!” I can’t help but call out, loud enough it has Rosie shifting from her spot next to the warmth of the fire.
“Steady there. Let me get you comfy again.”
I don’t want to look directly at him, although it’s more like I can’t.
Because I have no idea what I will see in his eyes.
Will he be looking at me and just seeing a desperate woman?
Or will he be shocked at what I just asked of him?
Me, the woman who has been hating on him since the day he arrived, has flipped and was just begging him for sex.
I’m so confused, but I don’t want him to see that.
And if I glance at him, I know that look in his eyes will confirm my thoughts one way or the other.
“I can do it,” I mumble under my breath as I adjust myself into a sitting position on the blanket and pull it up tight around my shoulders. Like I’m putting a barrier between us.
“Don’t do that,” Jake whispers as he gently places his rough hand on my cheek, turning me to face him.
I still can’t bring myself to look at him, so my eyes remain downcast, and that’s when I see it.
I might have gotten my release, but the bulge that is still pushing against his jeans must be agony for him. A good woman would offer to do something about that, but I’m too busy over here freaking out.
“I’m scared of snakes,” I blurt out like some crazy woman. My eyes are stuck staring at his crotch, and the awkward moment is broken by Jake’s loud laugh. He continues to lift my face, so I have no choice but to meet his eyes.
“Good to know, and I can assure you I’ll protect you from any out here in the woods.
” He leans forward and kisses me on the lips again, ever so gently in such a contrast to the steamy one we shared a few minutes ago.
“And the snake you riled up, I can assure you it won’t be coming out tonight either. So just relax.”
His voice is not much more than a whisper as he pulls away from me, standing and walking over to the other side of the fire to give me the space that I’m obviously needing.
Picking up a bigger branch he had left beside the fire, he lifts his left knee and snaps it over his thigh without flinching.
He then throws both pieces onto the fire, and as he walks back toward me, he stoops and grabs the empty water bottle.
Before I can say anything, Jake looks at Rosie, who’s now wide awake.
“Stay with Ash.” The demanding tone in his voice makes Rosie sit up and lean so close to me that her body is now pressing against mine.
“No, Jake!” I know we need water, but the fear that he just washed away for me with his mind-blowing distraction is creeping back in again.
“I’ll be quick, and I’ll sing out loud all the way down and back so you can always hear me. The phone is in the backpack if something happens. Rosie will protect you.” And before I can say a word, he’s gone, moving through the trees and over the embankment.
“Ten bottles of beer on the wall . . .” I can hear him loud and clear, and it’s awful.
I didn’t think it was possible, but his singing is even worse than my drunk singing voice.
As he gets to the end of the first verse, I hear him yell, “Sing with me, Ash.” I’m smiling, it’s so hilarious and suddenly find myself joining in to the duet of terrible voices.
“Nine bottles of beer on the wall . . .” I start to giggle as the words fall from my lips.
“I can’t hear you.” His voice echoes through the woods, which just makes me laugh louder.
Shouting my words, I’m now actually smiling at the stupidity of what we are doing, and by the time we are down to two bottles of beer, he appears out of the shadows.
I stop singing when I see him, but his head starts shaking side to side.
“Nope, you can’t stop at two. Keep going.”
Starting off the next line, I feel obliged to finish with him. He has done his best to distract me, and it has worked. I laugh at him still singing and lifting his arms out to his sides as he finishes with a bow on the last line.
“I don’t know if that was bow worthy.” I give him a half-hearted round of applause anyway.
“So rude. I’ll have you know that I performed for you in my best singing voice, one that has earned having food and shoes thrown at me in many a bar.
” He leans down and gives Rosie a pat on her head for staying where she was told, and then he sits back down on his patch of dirt next to me, passing me the bottle of water.
The relief of having him back so close to me again runs through me, and I can’t help but lay my head on his shoulder.
“Thank you, Jake.” And he knows it’s not just for the drink.
Taking a small mouthful, it’s so cold, and the fresh water coming from the mountain springs tastes amazing.
I wish I had more confidence in the woods because I’m sure it’s beautiful at the top of the falls, where the water cascades down into the river.
Tiffany described it as a place where magic is born.
Sitting together, I let the silence wash over me. I know I need to talk to Jake about what happened between us. He might be trying to do the right thing by me by not mentioning it, but we are both adults, and I can’t settle until I say something.
“I don’t know what got into me before.” With both of us gazing straight ahead into the fire, it makes it easier for me to talk.
“Same. I shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t right.” Jake’s quiet reply makes me realize that he’s feeling just as embarrassed as me. But I don’t want him to take all the responsibility.
“Oh, I can assure you, it was right,” I say under my breath, which brings a small chuckle from beside me.
“Like we said, ‘what happens in the woods stays in the woods.’ But I just want to make sure that you understand you should never settle when it comes to a man. Unless he treats you like you are his queen, then he isn’t enough for you. You deserve more than that Jeremy guy.”
I can feel him looking at me.
I have a sense that if he wasn’t leaving again, Jake might just be that guy. But that fantasy is not even worth thinking about. He has an end date in Abbey Falls, and that’s enough reason to stop this before we let anything else happen.
“Yes, sadly I worked that out, just after the fact, and that didn’t help.
” Letting out a small sigh, I continue, “Please, can we just forget this happened?” Turning to look at him was a mistake.
The softness of his stare and the smile lines beside his deep brown eyes tell me that neither of us will be forgetting tonight anytime soon.
“I want to say no, but we both know that’s not the right answer. So, it looks like we just get to be neighbors, and I hope at least friends too?” He shrugs, and I really like this other side of the man I thought was an asshole.
“Friends, yeah, I can do that. On one condition.”
“Why do I know I’m already going to regret this?” He pulls his knees up to his chest and links his arms around them. “Go on, let me have it.”
“You let me show you how amazing animals are. I mean, for someone who didn’t want a pet, Rosie has already won your heart.” I drop the blanket from around me, not feeling like I need a barrier between us anymore, and then pull Rosie close to show her some love with a big pat.
“Ughhh, see? I told you I’d regret it. What makes you think Rosie and I are friends?” The pretend scowl on his face does nothing to stop Rosie from trotting over to him at the mention of her name and pushing her nose between his knees so she’s all up in his face, waiting to receive her pat.
“Gee, I don’t know, maybe the way she sat where you told her to, protecting me until you returned, and, oh, maybe the tail that is wagging like crazy now.”