Chapter Three

Abby

Christ, I must be going out of my mind!

I can’t believe I hugged a man I just met and then proceeded to cry all over his shirt. And now, I am following him up a dusty path to some unknown location, all because he promised me a beautiful view of the sunset. How is this different from a stranger offering a child candy to get into his van?

I have seen a movie or two with this very script. I should know better!

Sure, the man in question is built like a Greek god with a face that looks like it was sculpted from stone and the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, but…aren’t serial killers usually good-looking? What’s the use of watching all those true crime shows if I don’t learn anything from them?

This man is dangerous. He carries a power in him that cannot be faked, and while that should scare me, it has the opposite effect.

With him, I feel safe.

I haven’t felt anything remotely close to the comfort I feel around this man since my mom died, and maybe what I am doing is reckless, but I can’t stop myself. I don’t want to lose these feelings just yet, no matter the risks.

“We’re almost there,” James calls out, walking ahead of me, Whiskers trotting beside him, her fur gently rustling in the breeze. It sure took no time for my cantankerous cat to warm up to the man. One treat from him, and she melted like ice. That’s a whole other thing. Whiskers seems as taken with the man as I am, and I wonder if our rivalry will extend to competing for this man’s attention as well.

The thought makes me chuckle, and James stops at the sound, turning around with his brows arched. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” I say, biting into my trembling lip before bursting out with laughter. “I just never thought I would live to see a day when Whiskers climbs a hill. It takes so much effort to get her off the couch, and now she’s suddenly an adventurer.”

James’s sexy mouth stretches with a grin. “Cats are surprisingly active animals. Growing up, my neighbor had one who would scale the wall and climb into our kitchen to steal our cat’s food. The neighbor swore they fed the cat, but I guess it got a thrill from stealing.”

I chuckle at the thought of Whiskers scaling any walls. She’s too lazy for that…or so I’d thought.

“She likes you,” I say, stepping up to his side.

James smiles, reaching down to run his fingers over the cat’s dark fur, and she doesn’t hiss or swat his hand like she does with me. Instead, she purrs, arching into his touch. “She was probably cranky from all the traveling,” he says, then looks up, those dark eyes firmly on mine when he speaks next. “I don’t think she hates you either, Abby. Cats are very sensitive animals and can even scent your mood. If you’re feeling down or stressed, they will sense that too.”

“I had no idea,” I say as it slowly dawns on me that he’s right. Despite our little rivalry, Whiskers had never hissed or swat at me until after Mom died. Between us, there’s been an overload of negative energy, and perhaps James is a welcome reprieve not just to me, but to Whiskers as well.

“That’s understandable.” He straightens and offers his hand for me to take, and I don’t even think about it as I slide my fingers into his. That massive palm closes around mine, and we walk the rest of the distance up the hill together.

We reach the top, and there it is: the sunset, just beginning to paint the sky in hues of orange and pink. Beyond the horizon, the town lies peacefully in the distance, its lights twinkling as the day slowly transitions into night. Up here, the air is cool, carrying a scent of pine and earth, a serene moment that I want to last forever.

James spreads a blanket he’d brought from his truck, and we settle next to each other to admire the evening sky. Exhausted from exerting herself more than usual, Whiskers drops onto the corner of the blanket and curls into a ball.

I take a deep breath of fresh, cool air and release it on a relaxed sigh. James was right, this spot provides the best sunset view.

“We can see the entire town from up here,” I say, pointing in the town’s direction, and this time my chest doesn’t hurt when I think of Valor Springs. “It’s so beautiful.”

“It is,” James agrees, and I turn to him with a smile only to find he is not looking in the direction I’m pointing. No, his eyes are firmly on me, dark and heated. His gaze sends bolts of desire licking up my skin, and my lips part on a gasp when I feel moisture pool in my sex.

He’s only looking at me. Other than the kiss to my hand and my impromptu hug, this man hasn’t even touched me. All he needs is his gaze for my body to grow tight and needy… It’s intoxicating.

I clear my voice and quickly look away with a shiver; goosebumps rise on my skin, and it has nothing to do with the cold. “So, do you come up here often?” I ask to mask what I am feeling, willing this need to fade away. I cannot afford to get any more attached to this man than I already am. He’s the town’s hero, and I… Well, I’m a mess.

“Are you cold?” James asks, ignoring my question. “You are shaking.”

I want to tell him that it has nothing to do with the cold, but he’s already touching me. He wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me flush against him. I bite back a whimper when he starts rubbing his hands up and down my arms in an attempt to warm me up, but I am already warm. In fact, my body is burning so hot, I am surprised he can’t tell.

“James—”

“Maybe bringing you up here was a bad idea. I didn’t even think to ask you to grab a sweater. I forgot how quickly it cools off once the sun starts to set,” he says, oblivious to the feelings he is arousing in me by touching me the way he is, but it’s too late even if he stops now. I’m half delirious with need, and I can’t help but close my eyes and inhale his strong masculine scent, a mix of evergreen and musk that’s addictive.

Christ, he feels so good. All muscle and warmth, and despite my better judgment, I find myself leaning into him, laying my head on his shoulder and nuzzling his neck, losing myself in his scent. “I’m not cold,” I whisper, my mind miles away from the sunset we came up here to see. I don’t even care about the scenery anymore. All I can think about is him and the way he makes me feel.

“You’ll be feeling it soon,” he says, his voice deep and rough, sending a tremor through me. “Maybe we should head back.”

“Can… Can we stay a little longer? It’ll be a while before it starts to get dark, and I’m not ready to go yet,” I say, unable to make myself look at him. Being in his arms is the safest I’ve felt since my mom died and everything I thought I knew turned upside down. I’m not ready to let go of this feeling yet, to let go of him.

James smiles at me and pulls me tighter against him. “Alright,” he says. I snuggle in close and relax into his side. I feel James’s sigh beneath my cheek and smile to myself at the thought that I might be providing some of the same comfort to him that he is to me.

After a few minutes of silently watching the sky change colors, we start to talk. We’re both quiet, as if speaking above a whisper might disrupt the contentment we’re feeling. James tells me about what it was like to grow up in Valor Springs and the large extended family he still has there, despite being an only child himself. As it turns out, he knew my aunt, though only in passing, and is familiar with her inn. He asks me about my mom, and I share a few stories. Talking about her causes an ache in my chest, but it’s the good kind. I’d been so wrapped up in a mixture of grief and anger whenever I thought about her, I hadn’t stopped to remember all the good times we had together as I grew up. She might have kept secrets from me, but she was still a devoted, loving mother.

We fall silent again as the sun begins its final descent, sinking behind the silhouette of Valor Springs in the distance.

“It’s getting late,” James says, a hint of regret in his tone.

His words shatter the silence that had fallen over us and snap me back to reality, and I flush with embarrassment when I realize I’d cuddled in so close to him, I am practically in his lap. I push away quickly, ashamed at how needy I became when he touched me. His arms release me, and I immediately miss their warmth, hating myself a little for how needy I’m feeling for someone who is essentially a stranger to me.

Am I really so desperate that I will cling to anyone who offers me comfort?

Christ, I need to get a hold of myself.

“You’re right. The sun has nearly set, we should head back before it’s too dark to see where we’re going,” I mutter looking around for Whiskers, who is chasing a cricket.

The walk down the hill happens in silence, and it’s painfully awkward. As much as I don’t want to be parted from James, another part of me is desperate to escape him. This man makes me feel things I shouldn’t, and once he’s gone, it’s going to hurt. Delaying the inevitable will only make it hurt worse.

We make it back to our cars, and I scoop Whiskers into the back seat before she can protest. Then James and I stand awkwardly by the side of the road. Well, the awkward bit is all me. The man doesn’t seem affected by the weird tension between us in any way.

“Uh…thanks for everything,” I tell him, shuffling nervously on my feet. “I’ll probably go back to that spot when I get settled in Valor Springs. The sunset was beautiful and it helped take my mind off things.” You helped take my mind off things.

James doesn’t speak. He moves forward, making me back up a step as he closes the distance between us. My breathing comes in short pants as he backs me to my car, caging me in and making it impossible to escape—not that I want to escape. No, the thought doesn’t cross my mind once.

“W-what are you doing?” I whisper, my heart beating rapidly in my chest. “James—”

“You have no idea, do you?” he grinds out, his voice low and husky, causing my sex to clench painfully.

“W-what do you m-mean?” I stutter, barely able to get the words out.

“What you do to me when you bury your face in my neck and nuzzle my skin like a touch-starved kitten or when you press those perfect breasts against my chest.” I gasp when he lifts his hand and brings it to my breast, causing my nipples to harden under his caress.

The sensation is as shocking as it is sudden, but it’s not unwelcome. I’ve only known James for a few hours, but it feels like much longer. From the first touch, I was desperate for more. I’d wanted him to make his move on the hill and wondered why he hadn’t. Was he waiting until now? Or was our imminent departure what finally spurred him to act?

This should feel wrong; I barely know this man. But it doesn’t. It feels perfect, like finding the light after so long in the dark.

I try to remind myself that James is a stranger, that we are standing on the side of the only road that leads into Valor Springs and someone could happen by at any moment. I need to stop him, not arch into his touch, but I can’t stop myself from reacting to the feeling of his hands on my body.

“I was on active duty for eighteen fucking months, stuck in the desert fighting, then I spent five months in the hospital. Not once did I come across anyone I wanted as badly as I want you. I want to feel you wrapped around me as I make you writhe and scream in ecstasy over and over again.” He brings his free hand to my cheek, those blue eyes turning darker by the second. “Oh, the things I want to do to you, Abby Miller…”

I should run. His words should have me trying to escape. But I can’t. I won’t .

Every part of me wants—craves this man like I never have anyone in my life before, but even I know a dangerous man when I see one, and James… I can’t handle him like this. He has a wild look in his eyes that reminds me of a wolf ready to pounce on a helpless rabbit, and I feel every bit like I’m prey to this man.

Run, Abby!

I shush the warning voice in the back of my mind. I can tell he’s watching to see what I will do next, how I will react to his blatant declaration. I have been making a lot of bad decisions lately, though, so what’s one more?

“Do it,” I whisper, my voice barely audible, but I don’t break eye contact with the beast of a man staring down at me. “What you just said, I…I want you to do it. Now.”

His mouth slams over mine with little warning, taking me by surprise. I gasp at the move, and it seems that is the opening he was looking for as he deepens the kiss. There is no coaxing, no slow sweep of lips like I was expecting.

My pulse drums rapidly as I bring my hands to that sturdy chest and lean in, my lips parting eagerly against his. A whimper climbs up my throat, my sex clenching achingly when his tongue grazes mine. I can practically feel my panties growing damp, and it’s a strange feeling. One I have never felt before.

A moan escapes as I push up for more, but the cruel man breaks the kiss, that sexy mouth stretching into a grin, and he pulls back to look at me. His blue eyes are sparkling with intensity in the low light when our gazes meet. Our mutual desire is an inferno that’s quickly engulfing us both. The force of it is shocking.

James dips his head to take my lips once more in a quick, passionate kiss before pulling back slightly. “You are thinking,” he rasps against my mouth. “I must not be doing a very good job if you are able to think so hard.”

“No, I—”

That is all I manage to get out before long fingers slide down to my backside and grip the hem of my dress, hiking it up impatiently before he hooks his forearms beneath my ass cheeks and lifts me onto the hood of the car, positioning himself between my legs. I barely register the cool metal against my skin, too busy panicking at the scandalous position we’re in.

We’re on an open road!

A nearly deserted road, but it’s still a space anyone could drive through and see clearly what is happening. James, the hometown hero, doesn’t seem to care that someone could drive by and spot us, that he could be stripped of his title for doing something so reckless.

No, those hungry eyes fixed on mine tell me he doesn’t care at all.

“Focus on me,” he growls, his deep voice commanding attention, and I give it to him. “I need you to stop thinking about anything but what I am doing to you. You can do that for me, gorgeous, can’t you?”

“But we—” I let out a gasp when he yanks me hard against the massive bulge pushing at his fly. Moisture pools in my panties as he rolls his manhood over my sex. I wrap my legs around his hips, crying out when he rocks his erection against my aching sex. Spots explode behind my eyelids at the move as delicious heat spreads in my core.

“Oh, God,” I whimper, moving my hips to chase the feeling. I need more! Is this what I have been missing by not entertaining men in my life? “Do it again,” I whimper needily, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and humping his erection, all reservations forgotten. And dignity? Who needs that when the tradeoff for losing it is this delicious feeling? “Again… Please !”

“Fuck!” he shouts, wrapping his hand tighter around my waist before he thrusts his hips forward, pressing the thick length of his shaft against my panties, and I cry out at the pleasure that bursts through my system. “You have no idea how hungry I am, baby. I need to be inside this pussy right now!”

“Yes!” I cry out, delirious with desire. Eager fingers climb up my thighs, and it barely registers when he slides them beneath the waistband of my panties, and with a violent tug, yanks them down my thighs before tearing them completely off. I jolt against him when I feel the press of his middle finger over my sex.

“Kiss me, sweetheart,” he demands a second before his mouth sweeps over mine, and I match his need. Our tongues lick into each other’s mouths with such feral desire it’s downright obscene, but I can’t stop. My sex grows slicker by the second as he rubs his middle finger between my feminine lips. His thick digit grazes my sensitive bud, causing me to cry out and jolt hard against him as a delicious storm of pleasure shoots through my core.

“Oh, God!” I cry out, but James doesn’t stop at my reaction, breaking the kiss only to trail his mouth down my neck, kissing and licking hungrily at the skin; I find myself arching back to allow him more access.

I barely know this man!

I am letting him touch my body in ways no other has. I am letting him feel secret parts of me I have hidden from the world, and…I can’t help myself.

His mouth is hot as it trails my body, his fingers urgent as they caress the sensitive spot between my legs. My breath comes in short pants as I feel his lips draw closer and closer to my aching nipples pushing against my bra and trembling with anticipation for…

Christ, I have no idea what to expect, and yet, I can’t help but lean into James’s touch when I feel his hand search my back for the zipper before tugging down the sleeves of my dress, pulling the straps of my bra right along with it. I bite back a whimper when the cool air brushes my exposed breasts, but I don’t feel too much of it as he leans down and sucks my nipple into his mouth, drawing on it hungrily, causing me to flood the finger teasing at my sex with slick arousal.

God! Oh, God!

I’m hot…burning up with the need for something I have never experienced in my life, and now, I want it—him—like my next breath.

My body is strung tight with anticipation as I drop my hands between us and palm his cock. He makes a deep guttural noise that I feel against my skin.

“You need to stop, baby. Let me take care of you,” he says roughly, but I shake my head. I love what he’s doing to my body, but I want more.

I’m not naive when it comes to sex, just inexperienced. When you live in an apartment complex with thin walls, you learn a thing or two about sex against your will. The walls shaking from impact or the loud, pleasured cries always made me wonder what I was missing.

But until now, living through the noise and wondering is all I ever did.

No more.

Here’s a man I want more than my next breath, and I am determined to know what it feels like to share this part of myself with someone, so I don’t stop. No, instead, I pull my hand away from his bulge to unbuckle his belt. My hands are so shaky and eager that it takes two tries to tug it off before twisting open the button and sliding down the zipper of his cargo pants.

He inhales sharply when I slide my hand into his boxer briefs and wrap my fingers around his stiff shaft, but… now what? I’ve never done anything like this, and I am desperate to feel him, but I don’t know how to proceed.

“Fucking hell, gorgeous. Do you even know what you are doing?”

“Yes,” I counter, lying through my teeth. “I have experience.” And by experience, I mean that one time I clicked on a link in an online forum and found myself on a porn site. I clicked out so fast, I nearly broke my finger, but that’s the closest I ever got to seeing a dick.

I shake my head. James doesn’t need to know about any of that. In fact, he doesn’t need to know that he is the first man that’s ever touched me. At twenty-two, it’s embarrassing to even bring it up.

Would he care?

“You are doing it again,” James says, pulling his hand from my sex to close it over the one I have curled around his heavy erection, guiding me in how to stroke him. “Your inexperience is such a turn-on, baby, but this is not the place for a sex lesson.”

I tighten my grip on his cock, stroking his thick shaft even as I glare at him. Christ, the man is so big. Every last inch of him. Am I perhaps biting off more than I can chew? His cock barely fits in my grasp, how the hell will he fit inside of me?

I shrug off the thought. It’s just my fear talking. I want this enough to overlook the fact that the man is built like a freaking mountain.

“I don’t need any lessons,” I say stubbornly. “I know what I am doing.”

His tongue pokes his cheek, and I read amusement in his eyes, but that is not what I want to see so I push up closer, and with trembling fingers, guide the tip of his cock to my sensitive sex. His muscles are tense, but he lets me take control, his eyes firmly on mine as I drag the head of his shaft through my folds, whimpering with need when his thickness grazes the sensitive nub once more.

“Oh,” I whimper, dropping my forehead against his shoulder. My sex is pulsing hotly with the need for more, but I have no freaking idea how to proceed, and James is no help. “Please…”

“Please what, gorgeous?”

Is he trying to teach me a lesson? Lucky for him, I am too far gone to care about his all-knowing smirk. I’m desperate enough to beg for him to take back control.

“Please take me,” I cry out, the ache in my sex growing unbearable. “ Please…”