Chapter Five

Jovie

His hand is on my neck, and he's pressed me against the back wall of the small cabin he calls home. I breathe him in. Pine, cedar, balsam, the woods.

His beard is dark with patches of gray, and his eyes are deep and knowing, like he's seen the world and he knows better, like he has answers to questions I haven't heard yet. There's trust in that. Faith. A promise that he knows life, and he understands things in a way younger guys don't.

His rough fingertip lands on my bottom lip and he stares down at me, breathing heavily.

God, I want him to touch me. Really touch me. I want to feel his heart against my chest, his cock against my pussy, his calloused hands on my skin.

My body aches with need and desperation as his hard length pulses against me. My frame trembles as he leans into my ear, our bodies swaying to the music, and then he says, "This is a mistake, darlin'."

Darlin' . The way he says darlin', I want to hear him say it over and over again just like that. It's deep and rough in my ear, with warm heat spreading down my neck.

My clit throbs and my nipples spear into hard knobs that rub against his chest. I shouldn't want him to fuck me, right? We barely know each other. Yet, here I am, desperate for this man to open me up like a fresh can of cherries.

What's wrong with me? In two years, I never felt like this with Wyatt. Maybe it's the alcohol. I don't usually drink beer, and I've had two bottles.

Kade grips my waist with his free hand and tugs me close.

"Why was this a mistake?" I'm panting now, desperate, grinding my hips against him like I can't get close enough.

"Because I need you," he grunts, pushing his body against mine before leaning into kiss my neck. His teeth scrape against my shoulder and he slips his hand under my shirt and cups my breast.

Dear God, I might die here and now. My heart thumps hard against my ribcage and every desire I'd ever had to be a virgin until I was married disappears in seconds. I want this man all over me, inside and out. I want him taking me deep and hard, rough and wild, like we're two animals who can't be stopped.

Reaching down, I brush my hand over the hard ridge in his jeans. The fabric is thick, but the outline of his cock is… thicker.

"Fuck me!" I don't know who this girl is, but she's needy and begging. "Please! I need your cock like I've never needed anything."

Kade bites back a smile and leans into my ear again. "We're moving fast, and you're drunk. You'll regret it in the morning."

"No!" I pant, moving his hand between my thighs. "I won't."

He presses his giant palm against my mound, grinding the heel of his hand up and against my thin cotton panties. I wish I had something sexy on. Instead, all I have is this pair of high-cut briefs. I wasn't expecting this to happen, even in my wildest dreams.

"You're soaked through," he groans, pushing his finger into the drenched cotton.

"Go deeper!" I pant. "I want to feel you."

He groans, sliding my panties to the side before diving into my pussy with two thick fingers.

"You're so fucking tight, darlin'."

I tip up onto my toes and whimper as he holds me in his arms, finger fucking me against the back wall like I wasn't engaged to another man months ago.

My intention is to grip him, stroke him, excite him like he's exciting me, but I can't focus. He thumps into me fast and steady, before growling into my ear, "You're my tight little girl, aren't you?"

Little and tight are two things no one has ever called me, but in Kade's giant arms, I feel like I'm both of those things and I like it.

"Come for me darlin'. I need it. I need to feel your come on my hand."

I rock back and forth without thought, thrusting into his fingers like I've never thrust onto anything. I'm feral, desperate, needy with a desire I didn't think was humanly possible until now.

My hand rolls over the hair on his chest and I'm clawing at him, close to convulsing. I've had an orgasm on my own before, but I've never felt anything like this in my life. My head is tingling. My heart is pounding. My skin is on fire. He lifts me off the ground and thrusts deeper.

He lifts me off the ground.

This is another first. I've never been lifted off the ground. Wyatt's tall, but he's not very big. Kade is, and it shows as he holds me in his arms and thrusts deeper and harder.

"Good girl. Now come for me. Soak my hand."

His command is all I need to let go.

My thighs shake, and as our eyes hold on one another, I release in a wave of convulsions and sighs as a heavy thud hits on the front door.

I'm whining and the orgasm is still slipping through me, so I hear the knock, but I don't fully comprehend what's happening until the door kicks open and I see Wyatt standing in the hallway with a shotgun aimed in our direction.

My heart stalls and the pleasure I was just feeling falls and dissipates to worry. What the hell is he doing? I don't think Wyatt's ever touched a gun in his life. He even has one of those anti-gun bumper stickers on his car, next to the global warming sticker.

Kade looks at me, then toward Wyatt before slipping his fingers from inside of me and licking them clean.

Oh God! My clit throbs again and again. Even though we're being held at gunpoint by my ex, I can't help but feel a ravaging desire to hop on Kade's cock and let him spread me wide.

"She's tight," Kade groans, pulling his fingers from his lips, "and she's mine. Leave now and I won't take your life." His tone is dark and commanding. "And in a world where you do have the balls to pull that trigger, I have cameras all over this property. My brothers will make sure it's the last thing you do."

Oh God. Did Kade really just tell Wyatt how tight I am? He's an animal. A rough, wild, mouthy, animal… and I love it. I love it like I've never loved anything.

Wyatt stares toward me. "You really letting this sick fucking hillbilly touch you?"

"Leave, Wyatt. You don't know what you're doing."

"I know you don't belong here." He glances around the cabin and scowls as though it's trash. "You're better than this. He's brainwashing you."

"He's not brainwashing me. I want to be here. Leave!" Suddenly, I've never been surer of anything.

As I'm talking, Kade pulls his pistol from his jeans and aims toward Wyatt.

"You really want to go shot for shot, man?" Wyatt barks at Kade like an angry puppy who's losing control. "I've got the bigger gun."

Kade steps forward, his eyes never showing a sign of worry. "Trust me, I'll be okay."

My heart squeezes as I balance the reality of the situation with the raw intensity. No man has ever stood up for me like this in my life. I want to jump on him now. I want to make him mine. Forget everything I ever wanted. What I need, is a big, strong lumberjack.

Kade, with his eyes locked on Wyatt, his pistol ready to kill, says, "We both know I'm within my rights to shoot. So, you've got two choices. You stay, and I put you down without another thought, or you leave, and you keep my girl's name out of your fuckin' mouth for good. Your choice."

Wyatt is frozen. I'm sure the gun gave him some sense of false confidence, but now he's pale and shaking, like he might piss himself. Also, did Kade just call me ‘ his girl ?'

Wyatt steps back and Kade opens the front door, shoving him out onto the porch where he lands on his ass with a thud. I'm not sure why I like this a little, but I do. In fact, my heart squeezes as I resist the urge to plan our wedding and the subsequent birth of our children. That would be rushing things, though. I shouldn't rush things… right?

It's just so nice to feel seen, validated, cared for.

As Kade picks up the fallen shotgun, Wyatt scurries back to the Corolla like a boy who's not used to playing with men. I've never felt a chapter close more dramatically in my life.

Kade steps back into the house and closes the cabin door, glancing at the frame in need of repair as he makes his way toward me. "You alright, darlin'?" He brushes his calloused hand over my face and down my cheek. "Clearly, I need better fuckin' security. That bastard got a lot closer than anyone ever should."

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have come here tonight. I brought all this onto you, and now you have to fix your door, and—"

"I'm not worried about the door. I'm worried about you. I'm glad you're here. He'd have shown up at your place and God knows what he'd have done."

I've never known Wyatt to be like this. Then again, maybe I didn't know Wyatt all that well at all. I spent two years with him. Two years … and we never had a night like the one Kade and I just had. We never talked about anything real. We never danced in the kitchen.

I blow out a heavy breath, and while in Kade's arm, my shoulders relax.

"Come on." He bends down and cradles my frame, carrying me toward the bedroom. "You've had a long day. You need to lay down."

Is this what love looks like? Can it happen this fast? Can a man lick his fingers clean in front of your ex, win an armed standoff, and then carry you to the bedroom… and that be love?

I want it to be love, desperately.

I want Kade to be the one I was destined to bump into all along. I want it to be fate that Wyatt called off the wedding, that I ended up here tonight, but that's probably the alcohol talking.

I sit on the edge of the bed and stare up at Kade. Part of me knows I should head home. I should get this thought out of my head, leave Rugged Mountain tonight, and head back to San Diego because that's real life and real life is where I need to be.

He tips his hand under my chin and draws my gaze up toward his. "That was scary. You're a good girl for handling that the way you did."

Validation. My clit throbs again.

He pulls back the blankets and guides me down against the pillow before tugging off his jeans and tucking into bed behind me. His big, rough, warm frame cuddles in and I listen to the heavy beat of his heart and the rasp of his breath as I stay his Christmas captive just a bit longer.