Page 8 of Thrilling the Mountain Man

The word broke off as he quickened his thrusts. The pressure, combined with his movements over my swollen nub, sent me hurling over the edge.

He watched me until I came down, only pausing briefly before thrusting faster than ever. He didn’t take his eyes off me as he moved faster and faster, his jaw clenched and his muscles tensed.

With a sound between a groan and a growl, he pumped a final few times. Finally, he slowed to a stop, closing his eyes and moving his thumbs over my thighs. And then he pulled out and leaned forward for a slow, sweet kiss.

“Is the pizza ready yet?” I asked when we finally broke the kiss.

He looked over his shoulder at the stove timer. “Not even close.”

When he turned back to face me, he was smiling. I realized, in that moment, that I was falling in love with this man. And that was dangerous because it meant he could easily break my heart.

5

NOAH

Iwas in love with this woman. I didn’t know much but I knew that.

I also knew that she could break my heart.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Layna said as she lazily traced circles over my chest.

She didn’t want to know what I was really thinking. Or maybe she did. But this was technically our first date. I probably should play it cool a little longer.

“I have a record,” I blurted.

Her movements froze. I certainly hadn’t planned to open up about that. It had bugged me all night—when we weren’t making love or eating pizza, anyway.

“When I was a teenager, I went through a phase.” I sighed. “I’m not proud of it. I was hanging out with a bad crowd. Got into some vandalism, burglary—that sort of thing.”

The truth was, I hadn’t done anything myself. But I’d been with my friend, Nick, and hadn’t done a damn thing to stop him and his friends.

“I was eighteen, so technically an adult,” I said. “The guys I was with when we committed the crime weren’t. I told the judge I was thinking about joining the military. He made a deal with me. I go forward with those plans, and he’d waive my punishment.”

She rose up to look down at me. We were in Grayson’s bed, which was Layna’s bed for the week. The only light in the room was the moonlight streaming through the window.

“You don’t think I judge you for that, do you?” she asked.

I stared back at her. “It isn’t that. I just want you to hear it from me. People talk, you know? Last night, I was sure you’d call the police on me, and they’d look up my record.”

She gave me a teasing smile. “You mean when you were watching me through the window, waiting for me to take my clothes off?”

“Yeah, about that...”

I took a deep breath. Should I tell her? Yes, I definitely should. Besides, knowing what I knew about her now, she might not be all that upset about it.

“I happened to be brushing my teeth and looking out the window when you entered the bathroom,” I began.

She nodded. “I know. It just freaked me out at first. I thought maybe you were deliberately peeping on me.”

“You were early that night,” I said.

Her smile fell. In that one second, I considered backtracking. But no, I had to be honest with her. We couldn’t start this relationship on a lie.

“It’d been a long time between women,” I continued. “Last Saturday night, I saw you enter the bathroom and turn off the lights. My plan was to exit my bathroom, but something stopped me. You were fully clothed at the time, but I couldn’t take my eyes off you. And then you took your clothes off and stood at the mirror, putting on creams and stuff. I couldn’t look away.”

“You watched me?”

I couldn’t read her expression now. She didn’t look angry. That was a good thing, right?

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