Chapter 15 #2
“You’ll have to work very hard to impress me.” My voice was breathy and not at all convincing.
“Mm.” The deep thrum of his voice vibrated against my throat as he moved down to kiss my collarbones. “I’ll take that under advisement, Marian.”
I curled my arms around his head, enjoying the woodsmoke scent of his hair. It brought back memories of camping trips with him. Times spent exchanging stories around a fire with Trace, my dad, Rosie, and Lennon.
Back then, Trace had seemed larger than life. The younger guy who was ten times cooler than my dads and always had stories of intrigue from his job as a bodyguard, and then later, his search and rescue adventures.
Trace Bishop had always been fit and energetic, but also calm and capable. For years, I’d tried to explain away my attraction to him as a simple desire to be him.
But it had become harder and harder over the years to ignore the way my body reacted to thoughts of him.
A memory snuck its way between us. “When I was sixteen, I jerked off to the sight of you rock climbing.”
I felt Trace still, and then his lips curved into a smile against my skin. “Oh yeah? Your little gay awakening?”
I barked out a laugh, the sound obnoxiously loud in the small space. “No. That came earlier.”
He pulled back and met my eyes. “Tell me.”
My fingers threaded through his thick, wavy hair. “About the awakening or the jerking off?”
“Both. Obviously.”
Trace’s hands moved warm and strong up and down my sides, making it hard to concentrate.
The awakening was too precious to share. Not when I was aware that whatever this was between us was temporary. So I told him about the other.
“We were all out climbing Goat Rock. I went first. Papa was cheering me on, like he always does. I remember you had this smirk on your face like fond amusement. Then Dad said something to you I couldn’t make out, and the two of you started snickering.
Papa called Dad a jackass, the way he does where he doesn’t mean it, so I figured Dad was teasing him for being so eager—”
Trace’s face lit up. “I remember. I muttered something to Derek about whether Jude would ever see you as anything other than a chubby-cheeked toddler. Derek said no, then asked Jude if he wanted another baby since he still had a lot of overprotectiveness to give.”
I laughed. “As if Papa’s the overprotective one.”
Trace nodded and moved a hand up to thread through my hair. “That’s why I was laughing so hard.”
“Anyway, I saw you laughing in the sun. The harness was… doing things to your…” I cleared my throat. “…shorts, or whatever.”
Trace’s eyes widened, and so did his mouth. “Wolfe Marian. You dirty boy.”
“Shut up. I looked away and kept climbing. Made it to the top, which wasn’t easy. Then rappelled down—”
“Your favorite part anyway,” he added.
I loved that he knew that about me. “Yeah. So when I got to the bottom, I was feeling that high, you know?”
His hands moved up to cup my face for a long, lingering kiss. “So you walked behind a tree and took care of business?”
“Basically, yeah.” My face was on fire, and I was pretty sure the blush was leaving ugly splotches over my neck and chest. I could only hope the dim light of the van hid the worst of it.
“I could still hear you teasing Dad. Your voice made my skin break out in goose bumps, and I had this, like… sliver of a view between tree branches where I could see your leg muscles shift and tighten as you began your climb. Fuck.”
I was getting harder just remembering it. The desire to arch up into him was becoming impossible to ignore.
Trace’s fingertips skittered over my collarbones and shoulders, touching me the way I’d wished he could back then. I could tell by his knowing grin that he could see the streaky blotches of my blush just fine despite the dark.
His voice hit low in my belly as his fingers moved down the center of my chest, brushed too lightly against my nipples, and continued down to my hips before dipping down into my waistband. “Did you come for me, Wolfe? Out there in the mountains with the rest of us only a few yards away?”
My breath hitched. My cock was hard and aching, probably as hard as it had been that day when I’d been nothing but a raging ball of hormones and unfulfilled fantasy. I finally arched up into him. “I can’t… I need…”
He tilted his head while pressing his own hard cock down onto mine, his eyes dark and focused. “Tell me another time you watched me.”
The air pulled heavier into my chest as I struggled to think. “H-hawaii? One of the anniversary trips. Senior year of high school.”
Recognition widened his eyes. “Christmas.”
I nodded. He’d brought someone. A man named Gio. Trace’s total opposite in every way. Someone who hated the outdoors and probably had a twenty-step skincare regimen.
“I saw you,” I admitted, feeling a familiar curl of jealousy. “You and Gio were in the little alcove where the ice machine was.”
I could tell by the look on his face that he remembered. Gio on his knees. Trace’s head thrown back in pleasure. Thankfully, his eyes had been closed. Otherwise, I probably would have died right there on the spot from embarrassment.
Trace moved one hand up to cup my face and leaned his forehead down until it was pressed against mine. “I’m sorry you saw that.”
I clenched my back teeth against the whiny words that wanted to spill. “Was fine. Would have been hot as fuck if it hadn’t been… you know…” I pressed my palm in the center of his chest. “You.”
“Ouch.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. I was jealous. By then, I’d admitted to myself I had a crush on you. And most of the guys I’d hooked up with at that point hadn’t done… whatever it was that gave a man that kind of look on his face.”
“And now?” he asked with a teasing smirk. “Pretty sure I saw a look on your face earlier when I had you naked and gasping on my tongue.”
My cheeks were still on fire. “Yeah?”
He moved his hand down between us and drew his thumb along my half-hard cock through the soft fabric of my pajama pants. Blood rushed south, stealing my breath and my patience.
Trace’s voice was low and honey sweet. “What do you want, baby? Want me to put that look back on your face?”
I arched into his touch, knowing his mouth wouldn’t be enough. My heart thundered with nerves, but if I had this chance with Trace, I was going to make the most of it.
“Want you inside me. Want you to fuck me.”