Chapter Three #2
I drag a hand through my hair and immediately wince when dirt rains down onto my shoulder, reminding me yet again how badly I need to clean up. “Maybe if I just…”
But I have nothing.
The tears threaten to come again, and I hate how helpless I feel. Around this man. In this situation. I’m exhausted, aching, sticky with sweat and dirt, and now the only way to properly clean myself up involves stepping into a shower with a stranger.
A stranger I don’t fully trust.
But, every time Walker touches me, my body reacts in ways I don’t understand. My skin feels too sensitive beneath his hands. Heat pools low in my stomach whenever he gets too close, confusing and impossible to ignore.
“Kelly.” His voice gentles, and his hand lifts to my chin, guiding my eyes back to his. “I know you don’t know me, but I give you my word I will only do what you need me to do. Nothing more than that.”
I blink at him before nodding slowly. What choice do I really have? “You’ll keep your clothes on?”
“I will.”
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll take some of mine off, but…” Heat creeps into my face. “You have to look away for a second.”
To my surprise, he immediately turns toward the door without argument.
I gnaw on my bottom lip before carefully beginning to undress. My jacket comes first, followed by my shirt. I hiss quietly as I pull it over my head, scratches along my arms and ribs stinging from the tumble down the ravine.
Great. Walker is definitely going to notice those.
Getting my jeans off proves harder with the swollen ankle, but eventually I manage to peel everything away except my bra and panties.
“Okay,” I murmur. “I’m ready.”
Walker turns back slowly, and something flickers across his face when his gaze lands on me. It disappears quickly, but not before I notice tension that briefly tightens his jaw. He reaches for my hand carefully before guiding me toward the shower.
“Hold onto me,” he instructs, bracing one hand firmly at my waist as we step beneath the spray.
Hot water rains over us instantly, filling the small bathroom with steam.
“You can wash your hair,” he says. “I’ve got you.”
I nod shakily and reach for the shampoo bottle. My fingers tremble slightly as I work it into my hair, partly from exhaustion and partly from the awareness of Walker standing so close behind me. His hand never leaves my waist.
Every time my injured ankle shifts, his grip tightens slightly to steady me, grounding me before I can lose my balance. And somehow, that simple touch affects me more than it should.
Warmth spreads through me each time his fingers flex gently against my skin. The bathroom fills with the scent of soap, pine, and damp earth as I rinse the dirt from my hair.
“You’re shaking,” Walker murmurs quietly.
“I’m okay.”
But my voice sounds breathless even to me.
His hand slides carefully up my side as he steadies me again, and awareness sparks beneath my skin so suddenly that my breath catches. God. Everything feels too close in this tiny shower. The steam. His body behind mine. The rough warmth of his hand against my skin.
My nipples tighten painfully beneath my bra, and I’m suddenly hyperaware of every inch of damp fabric clinging to my skin.
“Walker…” His name slips out softer than I intended.
“What?” His voice comes lower this time. Rougher.
I swallow hard. “There are still pine needles and bits of debris stuck under my bra,” I admit quietly. “It’s driving me insane.”
Silence stretches between us. Outside, the storm howls against the cabin while hot water pours over us in steady streams. Steam curls thickly through the air, making it impossible to fully read his expression.
“Do you want me to help?” he asks carefully.
My pulse stutters.
“Yes,” I whisper.
His fingers move slowly, giving me every chance to stop him as they slide to the clasp at my back. The bra loosens a second later, and cool air brushes my damp skin as he carefully eases the straps from my shoulders.
My breath catches sharply.
Walker’s hand settles against my side again, steadying me when my injured ankle wobbles beneath me. His touch is warm. Gentle. Careful in a way I didn’t expect from a man who looks like him.
Every nerve ending in my body feels painfully awake.
“Better?” he asks quietly.
“Uh-huh.” I suck in a shaky breath as his fingers brush lightly over my skin, helping sweep away the pine needles still clinging to me. The touch is careful. Gentle. But every glide of those rough, calloused fingertips leaves heat in its wake.
“Walker...”
Need thickens my voice in a way that startles me. His eyes meet mine instantly, darkening as steam curls around us. “Kelly.”
The way he says my name sends another rush of warmth through me. His hand settles against my waist again to steady me, but this time neither of us moves away.
My pulse pounds harder.
“I gave you my word,” he says roughly, his thumb brushing absentmindedly against my side. “Only what you need.”
I swallow hard.
“I…I think I need more.”
Something sharp flashes across his face before he glances away briefly like he’s fighting himself.
“Kelly,” he warns quietly.
But the warning falls apart the second I lean forward and brush my lips against the rough edge of his jaw.
His breath catches.
“Please,” I whisper.
That single word seems to snap whatever restraint he’s clinging to.
Walker’s mouth crashes against mine in a deep, heated kiss that steals every coherent thought from my head. I gasp against his lips, my hands clutching at his flannel shirt as he pulls me closer.
Heat surges through me instantly.
I barely know this man. Some small rational part of me knows this is reckless and probably insane, but the rest of me melts beneath the way he kisses me—slow at first, then deeper when I press closer.
His beard scrapes lightly against my skin, rough enough to make me shiver as his hands slide carefully over my waist and back, always mindful of my balance.
“Walker…” My voice breaks on his name.
The sound seems to undo him because his grip tightens slightly before his mouth trails from my lips to my throat. Every brush of his mouth leaves me breathless.
“You’re still trembling, Kelly,” he rasps, breaking the kiss to trail his mouth along my throat. His teeth scrape lightly over my pulse before he nips at my earlobe, sending a violent shiver through me. “Do you want me to stop?”
His hand slides lower, slow enough to give me time to stop him, and I jolt when he cups me over my panties.
“I’ll stop if you want me to.”
“Stop?” I whisper dazedly, struggling to make sense of the question through the haze clouding my head. Why would I want this to stop?
I turn toward him immediately, chasing his mouth in another desperate kiss. “Don’t stop,” I breathe against his lips. “Please.”
His grip tightens slightly at my waist. “Tell me what you want.”
“You…”
The word breaks apart on a gasp when his fingers slip beneath the edge of my panties and brush against my swollen clit. Heat explodes through my body so suddenly my knees nearly give out.
“Walker…”
My hands clutch at his shoulders as I bury my face briefly against his neck, overwhelmed by the slow, deliberate circles of his touch.
I’ve touched myself before out of curiosity, trying to understand the strange ache that sometimes built inside me, but it was nothing compared to this. Nothing compared to the way Walker’s touch makes every nerve ending in my body spark to life.
“Fuck,” he growls softly against my mouth, his touch turning slower, almost careful. “You’re so wet. So responsive. And so fucking innocent.”
Heat rushes into my face when his forehead rests briefly against mine.
“No one’s ever touched you like this before, have they?”
“W-what?” I pant, gripping tightly onto his shoulder as his fingers continue their slow, deliberate strokes between my thighs. “Feels good…kiss me. Want you to kiss me…”
His mouth crashes back onto mine instantly.
The kiss turns messy and heated, every wet slide of his lips pulling another helpless sound from me.
Walker kisses like he’s trying to hold himself back and failing badly.
One hand stays firm around my waist to keep me steady while the other continues teasing me with slow, devastating movements that leave my entire body trembling.
I tip my head back as he devours my mouth, letting him take what no one else ever has.
Pressure builds tighter and tighter low in my stomach until I’m practically panting against his lips, rocking helplessly into his touch. The slick sounds between us should embarrass me. They should make me want to hide. Instead, they only send another wave of heat through me.
“Walker…” is all I manage before his fingers move faster, circling exactly where I need him most. The pressure inside me turns almost painful. My thighs shake around him as I cling harder to his shoulders, completely overwhelmed by how good he makes me feel.
“That’s it,” he rasps softly, kissing the corner of my mouth before dragging his lips down my throat again. “Let go for me.”
The words alone nearly push me over the edge. “Walker!” I cry out as release crashes through me all at once. My body locks up before shuddering violently against his hand, my knees threatening to give out beneath me.
Walker catches me immediately, one arm tightening hard around my waist and he steadies me as the overwhelming waves rolling through my body.
I’m shaking so badly I can barely breathe. My face buries against his neck as another tremor runs through me, my lips desperately searching for his again like I need the connection to stay grounded.
Walker kisses me slower this time, softer, while I come apart against him. It feels endless. Intense in a way I never could have imagined from all those curious moments alone beneath my blankets at night. This is different. Bigger. Hotter. Completely consuming.
I’m still trembling when he finally pulls his hand away. Reality creeps back in slowly and horribly.
My bra hangs loose around my arms. My panties are shoved aside. I’m clinging to a man I met barely over an hour ago while he stands fully dressed beneath the spray of the shower.
A stranger. A man I still don’t really know.
What the hell have I done?