Chapter Eleven
Hollis
Contentment wraps around my soul like a warm blanket as I lay draped across Mike in front of the cozy fire, watching the flames dance high and bright while white lights twinkle all around us.
My head rests on his strong chest, feeling the powerful cadence of his heartbeat beneath my cheek as his fingers gently coast up and down my naked back.
A throw blanket has been added to our tangled bodies, the soft material more for modesty than warmth as we bask in the aftermath of what just took place between us.
An indescribable moment I wish I could bottle up and keep forever.
I knew being intimate with him would be unforgettable, but it surpassed anything I ever thought it would be.
I’ve been in relationships, one I would even consider serious, and nothing I experienced with them compared to what I just experienced with the man next to me. A man, whom up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know existed and probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for that fluke fender bender at Heart Mountain.
The thought has me thinking back to the legend and the tragic story of Duke and Amelia.
“Your thoughts are so loud I can barely hear my own,” Mike murmurs, amusement coating his tone. “Care to share?”
Smiling, I prop my chin atop his chest, admiring the way the orange flames cast shadows across his handsome face.
“I was just thinking about the first time we met and what an asshole you were.”
He chuckles at the half-truth. “I was an asshole.”
“Yeah, but at least you were a hot asshole,” I tease.
His gaze holds mine as he sweeps a piece of hair out of my face in a heart-touching gesture. “I didn’t like the way this complete stranger had the power to make me feel things I’d never felt before.”
My breath stalls in my chest, the admission holding me captive.
He felt it too, even then.
“Even when she came flying out of her car, tripping over her goddamn shoelaces, and almost face-planted.”
A burst of laughter escapes me before I drop my face onto his chest with a groan, the shame I felt at that moment still fully intact.
“And yet, I still thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”
His words echo through me like a steel drum, crashing against the walls of my heart. My face lifts back to his to see the truth of those words mirrored back at me.
“What if it was the mountain?” I whisper before I can think better of it.
His brows furrow in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“What if us meeting that day was somehow caused by that mountain? What if there’s some truth to the legend after all.”
He peers back at me like I’ve lost my mind. “That’s not possible, Hollis. It’s just folklore. A tale. It’s not real.”
“How do you know for sure?” I counter. “Have you ever kissed anyone on that mountain before?”
“Not until tonight,” he admits, giving me a generous slap on the ass. “Guess we’ll find out.”
A giggle escapes me before it softens into a smile. “You have to admit there are a lot of coincidences that followed the first meet. Poppy and then Ellie. Don’t you think it’s the least bit possible that there’s some truth to the legend?”
“No, because as we already established, I don’t believe in magic.”
“Do you believe in love?” I ask.
He tenses at the question.
“Easy, Cross. I’m not looking for a ring,” I chuckle. “I’m just asking since we’re on the subject.”
He cocks a brow. “I thought we were talking about magic and mountains.”
I shrug. “Love is magical.”
Silence stretches on, and I figure I’m not going to get an answer to that question until he surprises me a moment later. “I never used to, but now I think it’s possible.”
I find myself intrigued by that response. “What changed your mind?”
“Poppy,” he answers, unfaltering. “I never knew love until she came along. I figure if that kind exists, then I’m sure there are other forms of it out there.”
That response is as sweet as it is heartbreaking. To know he never knew love until her truly saddens me. It leads me to my next question a bit more cautiously.
“Can I ask you something?”
By his expression, he already knows where this is going. “You want to know why she’s with me.”
It’s a statement, not a question, but I find myself nodding anyway. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Especially if it hurts you to talk about.”
The last thing I want is to cause him any pain. It’s obvious he has been through enough of it in his life.
“It doesn’t hurt me. It pisses me off,” he exclaims, unable to keep that anger out of his tone. “But I’ll tell you. You have a right to know.”
I remain quiet and still, grateful for his trust in me.
“To make a long story short, our mother is an addict,” he says, putting it bluntly. “She has been for most of my life but managed to get clean when she found out she was pregnant with Poppy. I had a feeling it wouldn’t last, but she went to rehab, moved into the city, got a job, and did quite well for herself for a few years. I thought she had proven me wrong…”
“But she didn’t,” I finish sadly.
“She didn’t,” he confirms with a nod. “She made it almost six years before she fell back into old habits and put my sister’s life in jeopardy.” His jaw hardens, his anger becoming more prominent than ever. “Poppy was only five years old when she called me in the middle of the night, crying that she was hungry and scared because our mother said she would come back but hadn’t yet.”
Pain swells in my chest to think about a younger Poppy so vulnerable.
“That’s when I found out she had been alone in that apartment for two goddamn days while our mother was out getting high.”
My sharp breath cuts through me like a knife to the chest, the horrifying revelation bringing tears to my eyes.
“I had no idea she was using again,” he says, the guilt in his voice unmistakable. “I checked in often, but I had been working nights that week and…” His words trail off, the pain in his voice devastating.
Reaching out, I cover his jaw with my hand. “It wasn’t your fault.”
My touch, along with the words, seems to break through his turmoil, his gaze shifting back to mine. “You’re right, it was my mother’s, which is why I made sure she was stripped of all her rights. She will never have the power to hurt my sister again.”
Or him.
As angry as he is, there’s no denying the hurt hidden beneath that hard armor he keeps in place.
“I’m sorry. You both deserved more.”
He reaches out to wipe a few stray tears that managed to escape.
“I’m glad Poppy has you,” I add, hating to think where she would be if not for him.
“And I’m glad she has you.” His words wrap around my heart. “She has really enjoyed spending time with you, Hollis. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time, and I don’t thank you enough for that.”
I swallow past the emotion gripping my throat. “You don’t need to thank me. I love spending time with her. She has come to mean a lot to me too.”
You both have.
I stop myself from saying that thought out loud, not wanting to make things too intense, even though I am pretty sure we’re past that point. “She plans to come visit me in California, you know,” I reveal with a smile, opting to lighten the moment.
He plays into it. “Oh yeah?”
“Yep, and she is determined to save every penny herself.”
He grunts. “And how does she plan to do that when she makes no money?”
“I have no idea,” I admit with a laugh. “But your sister is very resourceful, so I’m sure she has a plan.”
“That’s what worries me. She’s too smart for her own damn good,” he grumbles.
She is. She’s also kind, compassionate, and unbelievably resilient.
“You know,” I start cautiously. “Christmas is just around the corner, and I still don’t have a present for her yet…”
His gaze narrows dangerously. “Don’t even think about it, Hollis.”
I don’t let his burly tone deter me. “Ooh, I like it when you get bossy with me, Cross.”
“I mean it,” he says, refusing to budge. “I know where you’re going with this, and it’s not happening.”
I arch a brow. “Are you saying you don’t want to visit me in California?”
My tone is light and teasing, but the truth is, I can’t imagine not seeing Mike and Poppy again once the store sells. It’s unfathomable to me.
“I’m saying, you’re not buying my sister a flight to California as a Christmas present.”
“How about Disneyland tickets then?” I suggest. “And you can pay for the airfare. We can split the trip and give her the most epic Christmas gift in all the land.”
I’m pretty sure the dark expression on his face is supposed to scare me, but it does the exact opposite.
I mock a scowl back at him. “Have I ever told you how hot you are when you’re broody?”
“Have I ever told you what a pain in the ass you are?”
His response elicits a giggle from me that is quickly silenced by his mouth as he kisses me with an intensity that steals my breath and sets my soul on fire.
By the time he pulls back, I’m breathless, my lungs gasping for precious air.
His hands remain in my hair, cradling either side of my head as he searches my face. “Are you going back to California for Christmas?”
I frown at the sudden topic change. “No. My parents are in Germany this year. So, I figured I would stay here. Why?”
“Because I want you to spend it with us.”
Happiness erupts through my entire body, spreading right to the tips of my fingers and toes. “I want that too.”
“Good. We can have a sleepover.”
My mouth curves into a smile. “I like the way you think, Cross.” Pushing off his chest, I climb on top of him, straddling his hardening length before letting the blanket fall free.
A deep growl rumbles in his chest. “And I really like you.” His large, warm hands move over my swollen breasts, cupping their heavy weight.
My hands cover his with a moan, loving the way they feel on my naked skin.
“Such pretty tits.” His fingers expertly pluck and roll my sensitive nipples, triggering another throbbing to take place between my thighs.
Biting down on my lip, I shamelessly rock back and forth on his hard shaft, attempting to alleviate the ache.
“That’s it, baby,” he groans, long and deep. “Rub that wet pussy all over my cock.”
I whimper at his filthy words, feeling my need for release amplifying with every grind of my hips.
“Mike.” His name falls past my lips on a breathless warning as I feel myself reaching the point of no return.
“Don’t hold off, Hollis. Give into it, baby.”
How do I tell him I don’t want to give in to it, that I never want this to end because it would bring us one day closer to the inevitable?
Grasping my hips, he quickens my pace, sliding me harder and faster until I self-destruct.
Pleasure explodes through my body like a pack of dynamite, incinerating me down to my core.
“Good girl. Come all over it.”
Wave after wave of pure ecstasy washes over me. Right when I think I might possibly die from the pleasure, he slips his cock deep inside of me.
“Oh god!” I sob at the beautiful invasion, my body gripping his in the best way.
“Keep going,” he grits, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of my hips. “Ride it out.”
My hands find home on his hard stomach as I shamelessly ride out the aftershocks of my orgasm. I slide up and down on his thick shaft, taking what he so freely gives me, feeling every hard line and ridge.
“Fuck, Hollis.” His low, throaty voice groans my name. “You take my cock so good, baby.” His eyes are wild with need, his sculpted chest rising and falling with each harsh breath.
It empowers me to know I can make him feel like this. To know I can give him the same pleasure he gives me. Reaching up, he cups my cheek, changing the carnality of our moment to something more. My rhythm never falters as I lean into his touch.
His thumb traces the outline of my parted lips before he slips a finger inside my mouth. “Suck it,” he rasps the order.
I obey, moaning at the salty taste that coats my tongue.
His nostrils flare at the erotic act before he withdraws his finger and settles it between my slick, wet folds, stroking the sensitive bundle of nerves.
I sob at the sensation, feeling a renewed ache building within.
“Give it to me,” he growls as his cock jerks in time with his finger. “One more time.”
I’m powerless against the onslaught of pleasure that builds inside me and crashes right into divine oblivion. Mike follows, his hips stuttering, body tensing as he spills himself inside of me.
I fall over him, completely spent. His arms envelop me, lips resting at my damp hairline as our hearts beat as one.
Once again, I’m left feeling like my world has irrevocably changed for a second time. I have no idea where to go from here, but I do know this is not something I’m willing to walk away from so easily.
My heart no longer feels like my own. I’m losing it piece-by-piece to Officer Grump.