He, on the other hand, didn’t totally trust her, but she didn’t take that personally. He wasn’t ready to trust any woman yet, unless maybe she was the cookie-baking, curtain-sewing, nesting type. And that was fine. A lack of trust on his part was a good thing if it kept her from falling for him.
He met her at the front of the truck and offered a steadying hand as she stepped up onto the damp rock. She decided not to mention that he’d vowed not to lay a hand on her ever again. Being a gentleman didn’t really qualify, anyway.
Besides, he released her hand right away. “You’re now standing on the sacred site revered by the Shoshone Indians for…”
“Centuries?” She looked down at her feet.
“Who the hell knows? Let’s just say it’s been a long, long time.”
She took a deep breath of the cool air scented with pine, and focused on her dilemma. Did she plow forward and grab her career opportunity, or should she open her heart to the possibility of a home and family, maybe even with this man?
But no answer came to her. “Are we supposed to say anything?”
“Like what?”
“Like an incantation, a special chant, a Native American prayer.” A breeze sighed through the tops of the evergreens nearby, but it was only the wind, not some magical message.
He shrugged. “I never did, but if that appeals to you, go for it.”
“Alex! I’m looking for a mystical experience, here. I want clarity of purpose.”
“Hmm.” He glanced at her before gazing off into the blackness surrounding them.
“I could use a little help. I mean, you’ve been here before, and obviously had a positive experience, so if you’d be willing to make a suggestion instead of staring off into space, I’d appreciate it.”
“When I was here last fall, I was alone.” He continued to look into the inky night as if mesmerized by the darkness.
“I realize that. Maybe alone is better, but I’d rather not have you leave me here in the cold and dark with potential wild animals around, if you don’t mind.”
“I wouldn’t do that, Tyler.”
“Good. So when you were here, how did you maintain your focus?”
He cleared his throat. “Like I said, I was out here by myself, so naturally it didn’t strike me as a particularly sexual place.”
“Well, it’s not. It’s a very hard rock which looks wet and extremely uncomfortable.”
“Does it?” He turned, allowing her to see the glow of desire in his eyes.
Despite the unsexy conditions, she responded with a rush of heat. “Yes, it does. This is not a good place for sex, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Are you sure? Because to me, it looks like the perfect place to pull you down, strip off your clothes and pump into you until neither one of us can see straight.”
Her breath caught. As she imagined him doing that, her panties grew damp and her n**ples became tight buds of anticipation. She swallowed. “I suppose that’s another way of looking at this place.”
“I was hoping for clarity about us when I stepped onto this rock.”
“So was I. Sort of, anyway. I mean, clarity about my job, and what I—”
“Turns out I have clarity.” He closed the gap between them but didn’t reach for her. “I can see clearly that although I want to be noble and leave you alone, when I have a chance to touch you, kiss you and slide my c*ck deep inside you, I’m going to take it. What sort of message do you get from this rock?”
She ached with longing. She had no answer to what the future held for her, but she knew what she needed in the present. “It’s…becoming remarkably similar to yours.”
“I guess the rock has spoken.”
“Are we really going to do it right here?”
“Yes, I believe we are.” Pulling her into his arms, he began working her out of her clothes.
She decided not to let that become a one-sided situation and started working him out of his clothes, too. It was complicated by his boots and her shoes, but eventually they accomplished what they both had in mind.
He pulled her close and feathered a kiss over her lips. “I have a blanket in the truck.”
She was hot, achy and desperate. “I don’t want to wait for no stinkin’ blanket. We’ll use our clothes.”
“The rock’s wet,” he said. “They’ll get messed up again.”
“I don’t care.” She pushed the discarded clothes together into a makeshift bed and stretched out. “Perfect.”
“You know, it is. Except you’re lying on something important.”
She started to get up.
“Stay there.” He knelt beside her. “I’ll have fun finding it.” Leaning over to kiss her, he fondled her br**sts with one hand while he reached underneath her.
The maneuver, which stimulated her both in front and in back, was driving her insane with wanting. Clutching his head in both hands, she forced his mouth away from hers. “Stop fooling around.”
He chuckled. “I thought that’s what we were here for.”
“No, we’re here so that you can get down to business, so either you find that little raincoat toute de suite, or I’m getting up and finding it for you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He produced the foil packet and tore it open.
“And don’t litter.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He shoved the foil packet under the pile of clothes before kneeling between her thighs. “Is the rock too hard?”
“No.” And even if it had been, she wouldn’t have told him at this point in her frenzied state. Some things were worth suffering for.
“I’m glad, because I really, really need to do this.”
“And I really, really need you to. Forget the foreplay.”
“Nice to know.” With a quick movement of his hips, he thrust deep and joined them together. Then he groaned softly. “Damn, that’s good.”
“Uh-huh.” When she felt him there, the tip of his c*ck touching her womb, her world shifted and settled into place. She wasn’t supposed to feel this sense of completion, wasn’t supposed to want this more than anything else in her life. But she did.
He stayed still for a moment, his arms braced and his chest heaving. “I’m glad I left the headlights on.”
“So you can see the sparkle?”
“Yeah. In your eyes.” He drew back and eased forward again. “I never realized how they light up when I do this.”
She ran her hands up his muscled arms and clutched his powerful shoulders. “So do yours. I couldn’t see your face very well in the hayloft.” And because of that, he’d remained a shadowy memory, one more easily relegated to her fantasy life.
But the man gazing down at her while he loved her with slow, steady strokes was not the least bit shadowy. His gray eyes focused intently on her face and the tiny lines at the corners crinkled as he subtly increased the pace. Faint stubble roughened the strong outline of his jaw, and his beautifully sculpted, highly kissable lips parted as his breathing became more ragged.
She would never forget the way he looked, poised above her like this, his eyes filled with the need to drive into her over and over. His neck and jaw muscles were tight. Instinctively she knew he was holding back his own orgasm until he’d given one to her.
“I love the way you move with me.” His eyes darkened as he changed to an even faster rhythm. “I love the way you lift your h*ps and meet me halfway. Like that, and, ah…like that.”
“Because when you push in deep it’s…so good. So very…” She gasped as she rose to meet him again. The pressure and friction set off little explosions of delight building to what she knew would be a mind-blowing orgasm.
Around them, the night was still, forming a silent backdrop for their labored breathing, the soft rumble of the truck’s engine and the intimate, liquid sound of his rhythmic strokes. Each time he made the connection that sent shock waves vibrating through her system, she whimpered in anticipation. He coaxed her closer…and closer yet. She moaned softly and dug her fingers into his shoulders.
“No need to be quiet.” He shifted his angle to bring more pressure on her clit. “This isn’t the hayloft. No one can hear you yell.”
“Guess…not.” A sense of freedom washed over her. She arched upward with a groan of intense pleasure.
“Open that beautiful mouth for me. Let it out.” He pumped faster.
Feeling reckless, she welcomed the next thrust with a joyful cry.
“That’s good. Again.”
The more she cried out, the more excited she became. Giving voice to her pleasure intensified it, hurling her toward her cli**x at warp speed.
“Now I want to hear you coming.” He bore down, his movements rapid and focused. “Go for it, Tyler. Be loud. I know you’re close. I can see it in your eyes.”
She gulped for air. “Be loud…with me.”
“I’m right behind you. That’s it…”
She yelled as the first wave hit. “Louder!”
“Oh, God! Alex! Alex!”
“Louder!”
Her cli**x lifted her right off the rock and she emptied her lungs in a wild cry of triumph that echoed through the trees.
True to his word, he followed with a deafening bellow as he plunged deep and shuddered against her, his c*ck pulsing. With a groan he pushed forward, as if to go even deeper.
She wrapped her legs around his, locking him in tight. Slowly he lowered himself until his weight was on his forearms and his body rested lightly against hers. His breath was hot as he nuzzled her throat and behind her ear.
He raked his teeth along the curve of her shoulder. “I could eat you up.”
She drifted in a dreamy haze, satisfied in a way she’d never been in her life. “Bet you didn’t bring the whipped cream.”
“No.” He licked the hollow of her throat. “Too bad, because you won’t be able to yell like that when you’re in my bed.”
“Being quiet can be fun, too.”
“With you, everything can be fun.” Leaning down, he flicked his tongue over her nipple. “I can hardly wait to squirt whipped cream all over your hot body and lick it off.”
“That’s if we ever leave this rock.” She couldn’t imagine moving. Apparently endorphins had made her oblivious to the rocky surface, because she could swear they were lying on a cloud.
“Oh, we’ll leave it.” He lifted his head and feathered a kiss over her lips. “Much as I like lying nak*d here with you, I’d rather not let the truck run out of gas and strand us on this rock.”
“How much gas is in it?”
“Don’t know. Didn’t check it when we left.” He nibbled on her lower lip. “Should have, I guess.”
“Maybe we should get up.”
“Mmm.” He settled in for another kiss.
Tyler realized that kissing Alex was an activity that was excellent all by itself. Even when she’d just had amazing sex with him, she still enjoyed every second of having his lips moving on hers because he was so good at it, so sensuous, so…