Chapter 5

Ihad no idea what I'd been thinking when I'd offered Macy a place to stay. All I knew was that she needed to be in a place where she could be safe, and I was actually in a position to give her that. It was obvious to me that she wasn't such a fan of mine, especially after I'd lectured her about her actions on the trail, but I'd been so relieved when she accepted my offer that I hadn't bothered to overthink it before I'd turned the truck around and headed back up the mountain to the cabin.

"Was it someone from home?" I didn't even know where home was, but I figured I could at least start with the basics. Unfortunately, she didn't answer me, just stared out of the front windshield as we came closer to the cabin once more. We got out, and she followed me into the cabin, closely tagged by Bucky, who lingered next to her with his head under her hand. I led her to the room at the end of the hallway without another word and opened it for her, revealing the big, comfortable bed that was still made with the blue-and-green patchwork quilt my uncle had never bothered to replace. I'd changed the sheets since he'd passed away, of course, but I hadn't made any other changes to the room.

"There are towels in the closet if you want to take a shower. Feel free to use the bathroom whenever you want. I have a spare toothbrush under the sink. Make yourself comfortable," I said, standing there awkwardly as she walked into the room, looking around at her surroundings.

She looked completely drawn and exhausted, and my heart hurt for her. Nodding at her quickly, I backed out, catching sight of her sitting on the bed as I shut the door.

I walked to my own room, thinking about how I would best be able to help her. She was clearly afraid and exhausted, so the two most obvious things that she could use were rest and a safe place to sleep. I knew that at the very least, those were two things that I could give her.

Back in my room, I closed the door and flopped onto my bed, figuring I could probably use some rest too. It had been a long couple of days, and I was feeling the strain of these sleepless nights.

I lay there for a while before remembering I could probably benefit from a shower too. Bucky and I had gone for a long walk this morning before starting to play in the front yard, and I wasn't feeling great after accruing all of the dirt and sweat for the day. I got up with a groan, grabbing a towel from my own closet and heading over to the bathroom.

Not thinking about the possibilities, I opened the door as if I were in a daze, blinking in surprise as I took in the harsh fluorescent light of the bathroom. It wasn't until I blinked a couple more times and met the startled blue eyes inside that I was able to really take in the scene in front of me.

She'd taken me at my word when I'd suggested that she should take a shower, and I'd been the idiot who had forgotten everything that had happened that day.

Her skin was just as perfect as I thought that it would be, a sheer expanse of opalescence that stretched over her rich, luscious curves. Her red hair was down, and it was long enough to skim the top of her perfect ass. Just as she turned toward me, I caught a glimpse of one of her gorgeous tits and instantly felt all of the blood rush out of my head.

"I—I'm sorry. I didn't—I forgot." I backed out of the door of the bathroom and shut the door quickly behind me.

Well, what a way to make a vulnerable woman feel safe,I thought to myself, turning and hitting my head against the world. Amazing. Not even an hour in my home, and I was already fucking up.

I went to the kitchen and started pulling out the ingredients for the dinner I'd planned on. I put the eggplants, tomatoes, and zucchini in the sink, starting to wash all of them before pulling them back out and starting to slice them. I settled into the rhythm of cooking the familiar dish, letting myself smell the herbs and remember everything that making this particular food had prompted in my heart. By the time I slid the dish into the oven, I was a lot more settled than I had been.

But unfortunately, I was still seeing her beautiful, naked body every time I closed my eyes.

"Um… hi."

I turned around, and I'd never been more thankful for the kitchen island than I was in that second when it stood at the perfect height to hide the raging erection that was resurrected just at the sound of her voice.

Her ivory skin was now flushed a gorgeous, dusky red, and I couldn't tell whether it was from embarrassment or from the heat of her shower. It was probably both, and I felt even shittier than I had when I'd first walked in on her. The usual smell of her skin was magnified by the smell of my shampoo on her long, damp hair, and I was seized by a sudden desire to bury my hands in her mane and let my fingers get shackled in it.

No. Apologies first, fantasies after.

"I'm so sorry about before," I said, my voice crackling. "I think—I think I just forgot that you were here for a minute, despite the fact that I was the one who invited you to stay. I've been alone for so long. I feel like such an idiot."

"It's not a big deal," she said, coming up and sitting on one of the tall barstools in front of me. "I'm sure I'm not the first girl that you've seen naked. But I feel like I should've… warned you or something."

"About what? That you were taking me up on my offer of a shower?" I shook my head. "Don't apologize for that."

We stayed there in silence for a minute, a little unsure of each other.

"That smells good," she said, gesturing with her chin to the oven. "What is it?"

"It is—" The timer went off, and I turned around, pulling out the steaming casserole dish. "—ratatouille."

She leaned over and raised an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. I just… didn't peg you for a French chef," she said.

"My nephew is obsessed with the movie. He and I would make it together." My heart tightened at the thought of Patrick, Neil and Jackie's son, and I turned away from her as I swallowed.

"That's really sweet," she said. I pulled out two plates and dished out the stew for us.

"Now that I've told you something, I think you should tell me something," I said. Her fingers tightened around the fork at my tone. "You don't have to tell me everything; just tell me why you're here."

She looked up at me. "I'm here because you asked me to stay."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. And I asked you to stay because you were clearly panicking at the idea of going home. So tell me why it was so unsafe for you to go home."

She swallowed, and I saw her hand go even whiter. "I—I can't."

I huffed a breath. "I think you can. And more than that, I think you should. At the very least so that I know what I'm dealing with."

"And what's the other part?" she asked, her blue eyes sparking as she looked up at me. "Do you think I owe you an explanation or something?"

"Did I say anything about you owing me?" I asked, feeling my temper rise. "That's not what this is about."

"Of course it is," she said.

"Whatever you say." I held my hands up in surrender. "I'm not fighting about this bullshit." I went to the door and grabbed Bucky's leash. "I'm going for a walk. Do me a favor and stay put, okay? We can make a plan for you to get your stuff tomorrow. Eat whatever you want."

I shut the door before she could say anything else and walked off into the forest.

* * *

By the time I got back to the cabin, I was way calmer than I had been, and I was even hopeful that she was still awake so I could go apologize to her yet again. But when I walked inside, I saw that the crack under her door was dark.

I'd never met a woman this impossible or frustrating, and it made every inch of my skin crawl with desire for her.

I shook my head. She was here for help, and she didn't need me lusting after her. I would just go to the shower and get to bed, trying my best to tamp down the longing I hadn't felt in so long.

Grabbing my towel once more, I went to the bathroom, making sure to stay as quiet as possible as I shut the door behind me and turned the water on. I stripped down and stepped under the hot water, allowing it to flood over my skin at the same second that the image from earlier, which I hadn't been able to get out of my head all day, flooded my mind.

Immediately, my cock became as hard and needy as it had ever been, and I reached down, gently placing my hand around the throbbing shaft. I groaned a little bit as I took it into my hand and started dragging it up and down, allowing every detail of what I'd seen before to come to mind.

I thought of her beautiful, long hair and how it would smell when she was on top of me, her tresses falling over both of us to form a wall around us. I thought of her full, beautiful lips and the way they would feel as they played over my neck, my chest, the small scars that I'd gotten over the years. As the water sluiced down between my hand and my cock, I imagined how wet she would be for me when I backed her up to the shower wall, my sensitive head pressing up against her tight passage.

I worked myself back and forth, over and over in long strokes, feeling myself come closer to the edge by the second. I felt the tension spooling at the bottom of my spine and my cock twitch in my hand and knew it wouldn't be long.

I thought of how her sapphire-blue eyes lit up when she was angry, or frustrated, or—in the brief moment when I'd seen it—amused, and the way her beautiful skin had flushed after that shower. I tightened my hand around myself, imagining that it was the clenching of her pussy as she came around me and held me there, inside of her.

I came with a groan, spilling all over my hand and thankful that I'd decided to do this in the shower. Heaving a few deep breaths, I leaned my forehead against the cold tile wall and let the water wash over my back, wondering when it had happened that I'd allowed myself to start wanting a woman like this again.