10. Paige
Paige
Aiden is waiting beside his truck when I step onto the porch at five twenty-four.
I stop beside the stairs. “You’re early.”
“Six minutes.”
“That is still early.”
“I didn’t want to give you a reason to leave without me.”
The new hiking shoes are the first thing I notice. The second is the fitted charcoal shirt beneath his open jacket. He looks prepared, awake, and irritatingly good for a man standing outside before sunrise.
“You followed instructions,” I say.
“I can be taught.”
“We’ll see.”
His gaze drops to the pack on my shoulders. “I can take that.”
“You can carry yours.”
“I was offering.”
“I know.”
His smile turns knowing. “You’re going to make me earn everything, aren’t you?”
“So far, you seem motivated.”
I lead the way up the trail behind my cabin. The first mile climbs gradually through pine and aspen, the ground still damp from rain earlier in the week. I expect Aiden to catch up or suggest a faster pace, but he does neither.
When the trail narrows, he falls in behind me. When I step over a washed-out section, he follows the same path instead of pointing out a better one.
At a slick log, he asks, “Hand?”
I nod. His palm steadies my waist until my boots hit dirt again, then he draws his hand away.
I’m far too aware of the moment his hand leaves me.
“You hike alone every Friday?” he asks.
“When the weather cooperates. I switch trails depending on how much time I have.”
“And then you come back here and spend the afternoon in your hammock.”
“That’s usually the plan.”
“I’m beginning to understand why dinner had such strong competition.”
I look ahead so he misses my smile. He hasn’t complained about the early start, questioned the route, or tried to take the lead. He’s letting me have my Friday exactly the way I like it, with him beside me.
At the second mile marker, I stop to tighten one shoulder strap. Aiden watches me adjust the weight.
“Trade me,” he says.
“Why?”
“Yours is heavier, and mine will fit you.”
“You brought water?”
“Two bottles, a jacket, food, and the first-aid kit you told me to pack.”
“Very responsible.”
“Paige.”
He waits. He doesn’t reach for the pack or decide that being bigger means he gets to take it from me.
I slide the pack from my shoulders. “You still follow my pace, and I lead the last climb.”
“Yes.”
“Then we can trade.”
His eyebrows lift as he hands me his lighter pack. “Was that permission?”
“Don’t make it weird.”
“I’m trying to enjoy the occasion.”
The final section rises sharply through a series of rocky switchbacks. Aiden stays close without crowding me, his breathing deeper but steady. The rancher looks good in my terrain, especially when the climb pulls his shirt tight across his back.
“Disappointed?” he asks when he catches me looking.
“I’m assessing your stamina.”
“You’ve had three days to think about it.”
My stomach tightens. “Fictional men would have pushed the heroine against a tree by now.”
“Fictional men don’t worry about other hikers.”
“We haven’t seen anyone.”
“You want me to stop?”
His blunt question sends a rush of heat between my thighs. “I want to reach the lake.”
“Then the cabin.”
“Eventually.”
He steps close enough that his voice reaches the back of my neck. “You told me exactly what you want when we get there. I’ve thought about it every night since.”
I keep climbing because turning around would put his mouth far too close to mine.
“Maybe the altitude is affecting your memory.”
“You want me naked in your bed with my cock inside you.” His tone stays controlled. “My memory is fine.”
Heat pools low in my stomach. “Keep up, rancher.”
His quiet laugh follows me around the last turn.
The trees open onto a clear blue lake cupped between gray peaks. Morning light touches the far shore, and the water is perfectly still. The shore is empty, and the only sound is wind moving across the surface.
I drop his pack beside a flat rock.
Aiden sets mine down and looks from the empty shore to me. “How cold is it?”
“Cold enough to make this interesting.”
I pull my shirt over my head before he can prepare.
Aiden’s gaze follows the shirt before returning to my black sports bra.
“You planned this.”
“I told you we were swimming.”
“You left out a detail.”
I unbutton my hiking shorts. “I assumed you knew how swimming works.”
His attention drops with the fabric as I shove my shorts and underwear down and step free. I hook my fingers beneath the band of my bra, pull it over my head, and straighten. His jaw is tight. We both know this isn’t just a swim.
I step out of my shoes and walk toward the water. “Nudity doesn’t have to be sexual.”
“That may be the least convincing thing you’ve ever said.”
Cold water closes around my ankles. “Some of us are comfortable with the human body.”
“I’m very comfortable with yours.”
I glance over my shoulder. “You’ve seen part of it.”
“I’ve had your thighs spread around my head while you came on my tongue.” His eyes drag slowly down my naked body. “I’ve seen enough to know I want all of it.”
My pussy clenches at the memory of his mouth.
I turn toward the lake before he can see exactly how hard that lands. “Still talking.”
“Still watching.”
I laugh and keep moving until the lake reaches my thighs. The temperature steals my breath, but standing still only makes it worse. I push forward and dive beneath the surface.
The shock hits every inch of me at once. I swim several hard strokes before coming up, gasping as I shove wet hair from my face.
Aiden is naked on the shore.
I forget the cold. I forget everything but the sight of him.
His cock is already half hard, thickening beneath my attention as if he knows exactly where I’m looking.
“Still casual?” he asks.
“Completely.”
He walks into the lake with far less noise than I made, though his shoulders tense when the water reaches his waist. Then he dives, surfacing so close that water droplets spray my face.
“Show-off.”
“You were watching.”
“The scenery is hard to avoid.”
I turn and swim parallel to the shore. He catches me easily near a submerged shelf. Here the water reaches my shoulders, and my toes can touch smooth stone. One arm circles my waist beneath the surface.
His chest presses against my back, hot compared to the lake. “Tell me this part is casual.”
“You’re preventing me from swimming.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
His hand spreads over my stomach. The pressure draws me back against him, and the hard length of his cock presses against my ass.
“Aiden.”
“Still casual?”
I reach behind me and close my hand around his cock. His breath changes against my ear, but his arm stays firm around me.
“Just proving a point,” I say.
His hips shift, pushing more of his length into my fist. “Keep stroking me like that, sweetheart, and I’m going to prove one of my own.”
The low warning sends heat through me despite the cold water. I tighten my grip once before releasing him.
“Point proven.”
He turns me in his arms. My legs circle his waist. He keeps us afloat as I settle against him, and his hand slides down to grip my ass.
“Anyone could come up that trail,” he says.
“Then you should kiss me before they do.”
He presses his mouth to mine, his lips still cold from the water.
The kiss is deep and possessive, his fingers tightening while I wrap both arms around his shoulders. He braces his feet on the shelf, keeping every hard inch of him pressed against me without giving me the friction I need.
I move against him.
His lips move against mine. “Cabin.”
“I know.”
“Tell me what happens there.”
“You already know.”
His hand slides between my thighs and cups my pussy beneath the cold water. “Tell me.”
I press into his palm. “I want you naked in my bed.”
“Again.”
I grip the back of his neck. “I want you to lay me down, spread my legs, and fuck me.”
His eyes lock on mine.
“Again, Paige.”
The firm command strips away the last of my hesitation.
“I want your cock inside me. I want to feel every inch, and I want you to make me come while you watch.”
His thumb presses against my clit once, hard enough to pull a cry from me, and then it’s gone.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” His mouth brushes the corner of mine. “I’m going to watch your pussy stretch around my cock. I’m going to find out how you sound when I’m buried all the way inside you, and I’m going to keep fucking you until you come for me.”
My nails dig into the back of his neck.
“Aiden.”
“Was that explicit enough?”
“It was a good start.”
His mouth curves against mine. “Greedy.”
“You like it.”
“I fucking love it.” He kisses me once, hard and possessive. “Now we’re leaving.”
He releases me. On shore, we rush to dry ourselves and drag our clothes over damp skin. Aiden shoves both our shirts into my pack, leaving his chest bare. Less than two minutes later, we’re heading toward the trail.
“You carried it up,” I say when he lifts the heavier bag.
“You’re leading us down.”
I look at his bare chest, sling his pack over one shoulder, and start walking.
Three miles no longer sounds short.
By the time the cabin comes into view, my legs are tired, my skin is warm from the sun, and every glance over my shoulder has made the ache between my thighs worse.
I unlock the door and step inside. I drop his pack while Aiden lowers mine beside it and closes the door behind him. We kick off our hiking shoes and peel away damp socks, all the patience he showed on the trail gone.
“Bedroom,” I say.
“Water first.”
I turn. “You cannot be serious.”
“We hiked six miles.”
He pulls two bottles from my pack and hands me one. I drink because he’s right, and because watching the muscles in his throat work as he drains his bottle makes me want to press my mouth right there.
“Finished?” I ask.
He sets the empty bottle aside. “Still want this?”
I walk to him, take his hand, and press it between my legs. His fingers close over my pussy through my damp underwear.
“Does that answer you?”
“I want the words.”
“Yes, Aiden. I want you inside me.”
His mouth covers mine before I finish.