and she hisses in either pain or pleasure—I can’t tell. She grips her ribcage, and I bite my tongue to keep from barking at her to stay still. Her orgasm seems to last for minutes until she finally falls limp, legs closed, and curls into my side.
I lie next to her, my eyelids heavy, and try not to overthink what the hell just happened here tonight.
The stickiness on my fingers reminds me that she needs to clean up. I get to my feet and pull my jeans up. I grab a strip of cloth and wet it, then turn and marvel at the naked woman lying on the floor of my cabin.
I grin, thinking about what my grandfather would say if he knew what we’d just done in his beloved hunting shack.
“Let me,” I say and squat by her side, rolling her to her back so I can clean up her stomach.
“Can I stay down here with you tonight?” Her voice is so timid, so unlike her, I wonder if she regrets what we did. I sense she’s prepared for my rejection.
I suppose one night of indulging each other isn’t too dangerous.
I nod. “Get dressed, though.” Eliminate as much temptation as possible.
I give her my back to stuff the woodstove while she dresses. When I’m sure she’s done, I turn around and lie next to her on the bed of animal pelts. She curls up against me and rests her cheek against my chest.
“Grizzly?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.” A yawn crawls up her throat. “Ya know, for everything.”
“Sleep now.”
Because if she doesn’t stop being sweet, I may fuck her again before sunrise.
Fourteen
Jordan
I wake in the dim light of the cabin, my cheek pressed to a wide, firm, warm chest, and for the first time in a long time, I feel content. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I felt this good. Relaxed, rested, and perfectly sore in all the right places.
Grizzly, as it turns out, knows his way around the female mind. His touch alone would’ve been enough to light me up, but, combined with his whispered words and the way he cradled my head from the hard floor and avoided my sore ribs, it was an aphrodisiac I never expected.
Thirsty, and with my bladder’s need for the outhouse, I sit up gingerly.
His eyelids pop open as if he’s been awake this entire time and only faking sleep. “You okay?”
My insides warm at his concern. As long as Lincoln and I were together, I never got the feeling that he cared for my well-being. If I got sick, he’d sleep on the couch. If I got really sick, he’d sleep at a friend’s house so that he wouldn’t catch it. I get the feeling Grizzly here would risk the worst of viruses before he’d leave me while I was incapacitated. He’d like me to believe he doesn’t care about me. After last night, I have to wonder if the only person he’s ever lied to is himself.
I lay my hand flat on his chest, and his muscles tense under my touch. “I feel great. I just need to pee.”
His eyebrows slant as if disapproving of the TMI, but he nods in a nonverbal release of me from his presence.
I lean down and brush my swollen, sore lips against his. The roughness of his facial hair against the tender skin makes me moan. He sucks in a shaky breath at the contact. The knowledge that I affect a man of his control and stoicism in this way makes me feel all kinds of powerful. “I’ll be right back.”
He grunts a little when I push off him to stand. I slide on my boots and grab my coat, and by the time I walk outside, he’s up and has fresh wood in the stove. The sun is shining, and the clouds are thin strips of white through the blue sky.
The outhouse is like stepping into a meat locker. I no longer look for spiders or evil demon creepy crawlies coming up from beneath but instead shiver with cold as I sit and pee. Smiling at how far I’ve come since my first night, I also feel a sense of worry. What will happen after I’m returned back to the city? It’s not like I can give Grizzly my phone number and wait for him to call. He doesn’t even have a phone. I’m not even sure I can rely on what I feel when I’m with him. Are my feelings