Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
"Barometric pressure. Wind direction. The way the birds went quiet about ten minutes ago." I adjust my pack and pick up the pace. "Things are changing fast, we’re not going to make it back to camp. We need to find shelter."
"But we can’t be more than a few miles away, surely?"
"Two and a half miles. That’s too far if this hits as hard as I think it's about to." I scan the area, looking for options. "There's an old hunting blind about two hundred yards north. It's not much, but it'll keep us dry and protect us from lightning strikes. Mountain trees are like lightning rods, and they can explode like bombs if they get struck."
Five minutes later, the first drops start falling. By the time we reach the blind—a small lean-to structure that doesn’t get much use or maintenance—it's coming down hard enough that we're both soaked.
"This is cozy," Marley says, pressing herself against the back wall of the tiny shelter once I get her inside, reach into my pack and pull out an electric lantern. It’s barely big enough for me. Laying down I’d be wall to wall.
"Cozy's one word for it." I shed my wet jacket and hang it on a nail that's probably older than both of us. "Come here."
"Why?"
"Because you're shivering and your lips are turning blue." I sit down on the old wooden bench that runs along one wall and pat my lap. "Body heat. I told you, it’s not a ploy, it’s basic survival."
"I'm fine."
"You're hypothermic." I reach for her, but she steps back.
"I'm not hypothermic. I'm just a little cold."
"Marley." I use the voice that has made grown men follow me up mountains without question. "Come. Here."
She comes, as I sit on the only furniture in the small space a little bench against one wall. She perches herself on the edge of my lap like she's planning to bolt the second the rain stops.
"That's not how this works." I pull her fully against me, arranging her so she's straddling my thighs, chest to chest. "Better."
"This is very..." She swallows hard. "Close."
"That's the idea." I rub my hands up and down her arms, trying to get her circulation going. "Your clothes are soaked. You need to get out of them."
"Absolutely not."
"It's not a request." I'm already reaching for the hem of her shirt. "Wet clothes will kill you faster than no clothes in weather like this."
"I can't just—" She catches my hands. "We're supposed to be maintaining professional boundaries."
"Professional boundaries?" I look at her like she's lost her mind. "Little girl, I had my tongue in your pussy less than twenty-four hours ago, I spanked your ass out in the woods and you were doing a pretty fucking phenomenal job jacking me off earlier today. What fucking professional boundaries?"
Her cheeks go red, but she doesn't let go of my hands. "That was different."
"How?"
"That was...research." She struggles for words. "Spontaneous. This feels more... deliberate."
"Damn right it's deliberate." I tug her shirt up despite her protests. "I'm deliberately keeping you from dying of exposure."
"I'm not going to die from—"
The shirt comes off, and whatever she's about to say dies on her lips when she sees the way I'm looking at her. Like I want to devour her whole. Her tits are perfection. Tight dark pink nipples pushing out on the wet white fabric.
A masterpiece.
"Fuck," I breathe.
She's perfect. Small and soft and everything I imagined when I had my hands on her in the dark. Her bra is plain white cotton, probably bought for function rather than form, but it doesn't matter. She could be wearing a garbage bag, and I'd still want to fuck her through the Goddamn floor.
"Cade," she whispers.
"I know." I force myself to focus on the practical. "Pants too."
"I can't."
"You can, and you will." I help her stand up on shaky legs and start working at the button of her hiking pants. "Trust me."
"I do trust you. It's just..." She looks down at my hands working at her clothes. "I've never been naked in front of anyone before. Not completely naked."
The confession hits me harder than it should. This brilliant, beautiful girl has never let anyone see her. Never trusted anyone enough to be completely vulnerable.
"Hey." I tilt her chin up so she has to look at me. "You know what I see when I look at you?"
She shakes her head.
"I see someone who’s not afraid to take a risk with a man she met in a hotel bathroom." I kiss her softly, gently. "I see the bravest little girl I've ever met. I see someone so fucking beautiful and smart and interesting it makes my chest hurt."
Her pants are wet enough that they practically peel off her legs. I work her boots off then drag of her socks, then her pants, tossing everything into the corner.