4. Bear
Bear
She’s here. She’s in my cabin, sitting in my chair, and she’s about to take the first bite of my cobbler. Well, Mom’s cobbler but my point still stands. My girl’s here, and I’m going to make sure she doesn’t leave.
Riley moans, long and deep as the first forkful enters her mouth and her lips wrap around the fork.
Jesus.
Shit.
My cock has been rock solid from the moment I laid eyes on Riley, but right now it’s about to split my jeans open. I clench my own fork in my fist, unable to concentrate on anything but her lips and the way her eyes flutter closed as she moans.
I swear if she moans again I might come in my pants.
“Good?” I grit out, swallowing hard as I readjust myself in my seat.
Lips. Lips. Fucking lips. They’re cherry-red and softer than velvet I bet. I want to drag my thumb across them. I want to cup her face and capture them. Tug them with my teeth. Scrub them with my fucking tongue. FFFFUUUCK.
I’m gripping the fork so hard that it bends in my fist.
“Heavenly,” Riley finally says, her throat bobbing as she swallows.
She licks her lips and I swallow the growl rising in my chest, dipping my chin to my chest and sealing my eyes shut as the urge to flip this damn table and launch myself on Riley rockets through me.
Calm. Down.
I’ve already come on too strong. I know it.
I told her how I felt and she wanted to stay at the Inn instead of with me.
I’m lucky that the Inn was full, and she came back with me.
Now I need to calm down and not scare her away.
I need to show her that this mountain is perfect for her.
She can write in peace—hell she can go back to the city whenever she needs to for her meetings so long as she comes back home where she belongs.
With me.
Images of a future with Riley flash in my mind. She’s on the front porch, hand over her swollen belly. Twins in the yard, running everywhere. I finish chopping wood, head up the front stairs, and take her into my arms, dipping her low as I capture her lips.
I can almost taste their sweetness. I can almost feel their softness. I can almost?—
“Bear?”
Riley’s staring at me, amusement playing across her features as another forkful hovers near her lips.
“Are you okay? It looks like you were in another world.”
I swallow. “Mom’s cobbler can do that to a person, right?”
She nods, sliding another bite into her mouth as my cock throbs, seconds away from pulsing. I bite my bottom lip as my fingers dig into the table, and it’s just enough of a distraction.
It’s a chore to get a bite of my cobbler, my fork all bent out of shape, but I make do. Heavenly, just as I remember. But I’m sure Riley’s lips would taste sweeter. And I’d never get my fill.
Thunder cracks, rattling the walls of my cabin and making Riley jump in her seat.
“Wow,” she says. “I’m not usually so jumpy.”
“Storms in Whispering Winds can be intense. But I promise you, there’s no place safer than this cabin.”
Rain hammers the roof and windows as lightning flashes. Lights flicker but they’ll stay on. Even though this cabin was built well over a century ago, my family has made some improvements over the years. The generator will keep the lights on.
“Did you build it yourself?”
“No. This cabin was built back in the 1800s. It was no man’s land back then. Harsh and wild.”
“Mountain lions galore,” Riley says.
I laugh. “Probably. My family’s been here for generations. Mining. Lumbering. They did it all. Whatever they could to make ends meet.”
I awkwardly scoop up a bit of cobbler, the fork damn near at a ninety-degree angle. I take a bite, remembering the stories my grandpa used to tell about his grandpa’s grandpa. It’s strange how everything’s changed, but some things haven’t changed at all.
If my great-great-great-great-great grandpa wandered back onto the property, he’d be shocked at the few upgrades, but after that—everything else would be the same.
I still fish out of the same river. I hang my clothes on the line between the posts he erected.
There may be less wildlife and more roads, but the way of life has basically remained the same.
I’m proud to keep it going.
I swallow hard. Won’t happen if I don’t find a wife. I’d never thought about it. Not until Riley slammed into my life. She has me thinking about my life differently. She’s right. Now that I think about it, it’s lonely on the mountain. Wouldn’t mind a partner.
So long as it’s Riley. There’s no one else but her.
“Good thing we made it back when we did,” Riley says. “It’s really picking up.”
My hand shakes as I take a sip of water, trying to ignore the delicate curve of Riley’s neck as she looks out the window.
There’s not a single thing about her that doesn’t drive me wild.
Her eyes, her lips, her scent. Her irresistible curves.
It’s taking every bit of self-restraint inside me not to stare at her.
I grunt a response as my body temperature rises. My pulse and breathing accelerate as I imagine peeling every layer of clothing off her body. Tearing her panties off with my teeth. Tasting every inch of her. Making her mine.
“This was great,” she says, pushing her empty plate away. “But I think one serving is enough. That was decadent.”
Not as decadent as your lips.
“Can’t leave Whispering Winds without tasting it at least once.”
You can’t leave Whispering Winds is what I want to say—I open my mouth to say it but Riley stands up. “I need to take a shower. I can taste my body odor, it's so bad.”
I nearly groan because she’s wrong. There’s nothing wrong with her scent. It’s driving me wild. I want to grab her shirt by her collar, tear it open, and rub my damn face all over her body.
Drag my tongue across her stomach and up her sternum, relishing her taste.
“In there,” I say, my voice husky as I fight to keep my eyes off her tits. “This way.”
I guide her into my bedroom and to the bathroom, grabbing a towel for her from the cabinet.
“I’m glad there’s running water.”
“A recent improvement,” I say. “There’s a small lake not far from here that I bathe in from time to time. Cold but it wakes you up. Makes you feel connected with nature and the mountains. I’ll take you some time and you can try it out.”
“I think I’ll stick with a warm shower for now.”
Riley reaches for the towel, our hands touching as she pulls.
I don’t let go. I keep the towel close as I hold her gaze.
Jesus, she’s beautiful. It’s not like I didn’t notice before, but seeing her this close, penned inside the small bathroom—her irresistible scent everywhere—is firing up my animal instincts again.
I don’t want to let her go. I want to claim those lips. I want to?—
“Bear…” Riley whispers. So soft. So delicate. But it’s enough to wrench me from my thoughts.
“It’s happening again.”
“Sorry,” I say, letting go of the towel and stepping back.
“Where do you go when you get that look?” Riley asks, her chest heaving just as much as mine. Eyes hazy. Voice husky.
I shake my head, stepping backward as I scrub my hand over my face and beard, trying to shake myself out of it.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I don’t know,” I repeat as I make it back to the door. “I’m going to get a fire going.”
But there’s one already burning inside me. It ignited the moment I laid eyes on Riley. Possessive. Protective. Obsessive . It’s raging—an unstoppable wildfire that keeps growing.
If I'm not careful, it could consume both of us.