Chapter 22
Wyatt
I bit the inside of my cheek, peering at the massive wall of snow that barricaded our front door. Taylor stood beside me with an air of gritty determination.
“So,” she said, grinning with the shovel in her hand, “have you any grand plans for today, oh, mighty snow conqueror?”
I chuckled and waved a gloved hand at the formidable snowdrift. “First, I plan to conquer this mound of frozen rebellion, and then… well, the world is our snow-covered oyster!”
Taylor laughed and swung her shovel at the solid snow wall.
We started digging in tandem, the crisp mountain air biting at our noses.
It was hard work, but the prospect of freedom was exhilarating.
It had been weeks, and the storm had finally died down enough to make venturing outside a possibility.
And if we were excited, Michael Keaton was leaping out of his skin. He enthusiastically shoveled snow with his front paws and snout, jumping and barking as if he could will the snow to melt with nothing but his tireless enthusiasm.
Taylor leaned on her shovel, a puff of breath rising into the icy air. “I think Mr. Michael Keaton has the right idea. Sometimes you just have to attack life with a degree of devil-may-care.”
“Why do you think I’m always channeling him?” I laughed.
We jumped back in, snow flying around us as we gradually chipped away at the barrier of ice. I was warmed all the way through to my bones, and not just from the physical exertion. It wasn’t lost on me that Taylor Kane was responsible for most of what I was feeling, and I loved it.
We finally broke free from the coziness of the cabin and ventured into the crisp, snow-covered landscape outside. Michael Keaton, as thrilled as ever, bounded ahead, his tail wagging like a runaway kite.
“Wow…” Taylor sounded breathless as she stood in one spot, turning slowly in a circle as she took in the pristine beauty of our surroundings. “It’s beautiful out here.”
My eyes never left her face, and I replied, “It really is.”
We started after Michael Keaton, our boots crunching in the snow. She got caught up in his hyperactive antics, while I tried my damndest not to fall in love with her. Which, all things being equal, was virtually impossible.
Taylor was the most intriguing connection I’d made in years. Although it was clear that we came from two very different worlds, I liked everything about her. It was like we fit, physically and emotionally.
“Wyatt, heads up!”
I caught the snowball right before it met my face, lowering it to find Taylor laughing at me. “Nice try.”
“Oh, if I wanted to get you, I would,” she chided. “That wasn’t a projectile, but an invitation.”
I watched her fall into the snow and urgently begin rolling another snowball. Michael Keaton raced back and forth around her, kicking up snowflakes that glistened like diamonds in the chilly air.
“An invitation to what?” I walked over to her, tossing my snowball from one gloved hand to the other. Her playfulness was infectious and I let the lightness replace my overthinking hamster wheel with relief.
She looked up at me, squinting against the glare from the sun. But even with that, there was no mistaking the naughty glint in her eye.
“Snowball competition.” Taylor wiggled her eyebrows. “Let’s see who can make the biggest one.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “What are we, five?”
“Stop being a killjoy and just do it.” Taylor rolled her eyes. “We haven’t been outside in weeks, and I need some of this right now, okay?”
I couldn’t argue that point and dropped to my knees beside her. “Fine, but I’m going to win. This is my playground, after all.”
Taylor paused her rolling and glared at me. “What you think is an unfair advantage will be your ultimate demise. Arrogance is the easiest way to fall.”
We carried on shooting the shit, our snowballs growing bigger and bigger.
Michael Keaton, not one to be left out, attempted to chase the ever-expanding spheres and sent them rolling in all directions.
The snow-coated mountains echoed with laughter and excited barks as we tossed the snowballs around, sending Michael Keaton darting between us in a furry whirlwind.
It was silly and childish, and the most fun I’d had in years.
“Come here, boy,” I called out, and Michael Keaton bounded over to me, jumping up with his paws on my chest.
The force of his enthusiasm made me stagger unsteadily, and while I went flailing through the air Taylor’s arms came out to wrap around my waist. Her rescue attempt didn’t stand a chance under the exuberance of my Lab, though, and only ended up adding another victim to his body count.
We went sprawling in a tangle of limbs and alarmed exclamations, the snow swallowing us into its pillowy bed. Something shifted, our faces inches apart, and the air became charged. We locked eyes, each of us caught in a moment of profound awareness.
Taylor’s hand floated to the small of my back, her intense gaze burning through me. “What do you say we move this party inside?”
I nodded, grabbing her hand on my way back to my feet. She gave a delighted yelp as I jerked her to stand up and descended into a fit of laughter.
“The door…” Taylor stuck out her hand, but missed, still subjected to my determined guidance.
“Leave it,” I said, pushing her to sit down on the couch. “Michael Keaton will come in when he’s finished messing around.”
Her eyes grew dark and she smiled, resting her hands on my hips as I settled on top of her. “Well then, I guess that leaves us with some time to mess around.”
I responded by taking her face in both my hands and demanded her lips with a hungry kiss.
My mouth was on fire as I urged Taylor’s lips apart, my tongue urgently searching for some kind of acknowledgment.
A promise that we’d get to stay this way for a while longer.
Before the world came crashing in and forced us to reckon with it.
I pressed myself up against her until the warmth from Taylor’s body permeated the layers of clothing between us.
Persistent hands worked to eradicate the fabric barrier, fumbling with zippers and buttons so that there was nothing left to keep us from the intoxicating feel of skin on skin.
There was no choice but to succumb to the building passion that threatened to consume me.
To eat me up and leave not a crumb behind.
Taylor’s grip tightened on my hips and I bucked into her, feverishly grinding my pulsing core against her exposed bone in fast, mounting desperation.
Claiming her mouth with a voracious hunger I kissed her hard and deep, swallowing her moans as my tongue tried to satisfy the longing ache that was quickly spreading through my body.
It had only been a few hours since I’d last had her this way, but already the need had reached a painful peak.
I rose up on my knees, the movement sending Taylor arching, her head leaning on the backrest of the couch.
My hands swept over her stiff nipples while I left heated kisses along her exposed neck.
A ragged gasp slipped from between my lips as Taylor’s hand drifted between my legs, a finger ghosting over my swollen clit with the lightest of touches.
“Oh, God…” she groaned with a shaky breath. “You’re so wet.”
I sucked her lobe between my teeth. “That’s all you, baby.”
She moaned again, feeling the fresh rush of arousal spill out of me.
Her finger slid easily between my folds, increasing pace and pressure as she tended to the sensitive collection of nerve endings just there.
With her free hand, she cupped my cheek and guided my mouth back to hers, our tongues continuing their tireless battle for dominance.
The throbbing in my core heightened to an almost painful point, and more evidence of my unrestrained craving dripped onto my thighs and Taylor’s hand with a hot, slippery wetness.
I savored the feel of her, rocking my hips in rhythm with her movements.
At that moment, there was only one thing I wanted more than the feel of her inside me.
I rocked back, locking my gaze with hers as I slid slowly from the couch and onto my knees in front of her.
With a hand on each of her knees, I pushed her legs apart and breathed her in.
A gasp fell from Taylor’s lips, her lids drooping under the weight of her arousal.
I shifted closer, peppering her inner thighs with a trail of wet kisses that led me to the dark triangle between her legs.
Her delicious scent was as thrilling as it was mouth-watering, and I let out a deep, resonant moan when I made contact with her swollen center. Cradling her legs behind her knees, I slid my tongue along the length of her core, up and all the way back down between her silky folds.
“Oh, God, Wyatt, you feel so good.” The raw yearning in Taylor’s tone made my desire to satisfy her need surge stronger and hotter through my veins.
Now I was the one who was shaking.
Taylor’s fingers tangled in my hair, holding my head in place while she rocked her hips, grinding her core against my face. Mine was a hunger that refused to be sated as I greedily lapped up her juices, sucking her hard clit into my mouth.
She cried out, desperately clinging to me in an attempt to steady the quaking that had started up in her thighs. Waves of pleasure crashed through me. Just knowing that Taylor was this turned on, that I was the reason for her pleasure, was enough to make me come. But I didn’t. Not just yet.
With her hard bud still in my mouth, I flicked my tongue repeatedly over it, coaxing a breathless moan from Taylor.
She was close, I could tell by the way her body tensed up in my hands.
Breath shallow, she started to unravel with cries of ecstasy that grew increasingly louder.
That was the moment I started circling her clit with more pressure.
I moaned through the exquisite sensation of her juices dripping down my throat.
But I wanted more. I wanted to feel her come. So, with my mouth still attached to her core, I slipped a finger inside and curled it in a come hither motion.
Taylor’s breath hitched, her body gripped with impassioned shudders as her climax tore through her, hot and unyielding. Her legs quivered in my arms, head thrashing from side to side as she rode out the wave of pleasure, my name spilling from her lips in a melody she whispered over and over.