Page 7 of Fighting for the Mountain Man

Sloane looked off to the side thoughtfully. “You know, I thought I was sure until we got here. But the more time I spend around you, the more it seems insane that I would just give up something important to a random guy I met on some mountain.”

Fuck. Double fuck. Triple fuck. I didn’t have to talk her out of it. It sounded like she’d done that for herself.

“But you’re the guy,” she said. “You’re the man I want to take my virginity. No one else.”

5

SLOANE

Ididn’t dare breathe in the seconds that followed saying those words. I was basically propositioning the guy again. I was torn between being direct and to the point and ensuring he respected me as a woman who took sex seriously.

“There’s just one problem with that,” he said. My spirits sank, but his next words lifted them again. “One time won’t be enough for me.”

A smile spread over my face. “I’m free every night this week,” I said. “We aren’t leaving town until Sunday.”

I did a mental calculation. Six nights, including tonight. Would that be enough? Would it ever be enough?

“I don’t think you understand me,” he said. “I don’t want some short-term thing with you. There’s something here. I sensed it from the first time I saw you. I don’t want to scare you off, but I also don’t want to get involved if you’re just going to breeze out of here and never speak to me again when the week is over.”

His words should have scared me off. I was twenty-three. I’d made up my mind to focus on my career. There’d be plenty of time for marriage and children later.

But the news that Bryce wanted more than just a fling made my heart soar. Apparently, at some point, I’d done a complete one-eighty.

“You just met me,” I said. “For all you know, I could be annoying.”

He was already shaking his head before I reached the end of that. “You’re not. You’re the most interesting, most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. But if you’re just looking for a one-night stand, or even a one-week stand, I’m not the guy for you.”

“You’re the relationship type, huh?”

He didn’t smile in response, instead keeping a fully straight face as he answered, “Only with you.”

Had anyone said anything even close to this romantic before? I couldn’t think of a time.

“I want to see where this goes,” I said. “No way can I leave this town Sunday and never talk to you again, especially knowing you feel the same way I do.”

He pushed his now-empty plate toward the center of the table and stood. My breath caught at the realization that this was it. Tonight, I would lose my virginity.

“Your place or mine?” I asked with a smile.

“Both,” he said. “But first…”

He stood and came around the table, holding out a hand. I stared at it a long moment, not sure where he was going with this. But I trusted him, and on top of that, I was curious. So I slipped my hand into his for a second time that day and stood, waiting for him to start walking.

But he didn’t. Instead, he stood in that same spot and pulled me toward him, my breath whooshing out of me. He didn’t kiss me right away, though. Instead, his arms went around me.

At first, he just looked down at me, the heat in his stare warming me from the top of my head all the way to the tips of my toes. In my wildest dreams, I’d never imagined a man would look at me like that. It was like I was the only woman in the world—a woman he waited his entire life to meet.

Finally, he lowered his head and brushed his lips against mine. He took his time, his hands settling in the small of my back, the heat from his fingertips seeming to burn through the thin fabric of my shirt.

I would have let out a sigh, but my mouth was otherwise occupied. Meanwhile, my knees had gone weak. But I knew I could count on him to keep me upright. I would always be safe with his arms around me.

Any minute now, I expected him to break the kiss and suggest we head out of this building and toward the parking lot, where we’d either drive separately to his cabin or the retreat center. But when I started feeling my shirt being tugged from the waistband of my pants, I knew we weren’t going to make it out of here without at least doing some serious foreplay.

And I, for one, was here for it.

As our tongues tangled and his hands wandered, I began working the fastening of his shorts. I’d never done anything like this before. I’d even avoided heavy make-out sessions. I never wanted to be labeled a tease.

But I didn’t hold back now, eagerly unbuttoning and unzipping, then reaching one hand inside his briefs. My fingers came into contact with something hard, thick, and long, and he moaned against my mouth.

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