Page 52 of His One True Wish

There was so much I wanted to say, but if we talked about what we were doing, I feared it would break the spell surrounding us.

“How did you sleep in front of the fire?” Keeping the conversation focused on the world within these four walls felt safe to me.

“I slept so well,” he said, his face serious but playful. “Hard not to relax, sleeping next to you.” He pulled up his briefs and straightened his clothes. “What’s the temperature out there?”

“I let Cam out, but I couldn’t see the thermometer,” I said. “I think it might be a wee bit warmer?”

Axl picked up his fallen blanket and walked to the window. He sighed as he watched the snow. “You are right. It’s a bit lighter.”

“And the power is on,” I said.

“That is a good sign,” he agreed.

I walked across the room and stood in front of him. He wrapped me in a bear hug, his arms strong around my body and snaking across my lower back.

“You know, it’s not that bad being snowbound with you,” he said. “I have had worse company.”

My eyes bugged for a moment. I wondered if he was thinking of Bear Coat, but again, talking about our exes was something people in a relationship might do. We were not those people.

“Is that your idea of a compliment?” I asked.

“The highest, baby,” he said. He sighed and kissed the tip of my nose, triggering a wave of happiness rolling through my body. This man made me smile, made me come, and made me giggle. Maybe this is what I needed, time in the arms of a beautiful, capable, and gorgeous man. I sighed and leaned against him. His arms tightened around me, and I felt myself relax. He felt good. I felt good. This wasn’t a relationship, but even if our time was brief, I planned to enjoy every moment.

CHAPTER 15

AXL

Icouldn’t keep my hands off this woman. Goddamn. Well, if I was making a mistake, my dick was all in. There was no talking my body out of touching Billie Prescott.

A smarter man would have taken a cold shower.

When I fucked her on the kitchen counter, I almost exploded within three thrusts. Her body made me feel alive. The touch of her skin made my cock throb. Every cell in my body ached to be inside her. Her eyes sparkled, and my body felt long forgotten joy. She accessed parts of me that I’d buried long ago.

When I drove my cock deep inside her pussy, a single word thrummed through my mind.

“Mine,” my desire crooned. “She is mine.”

I laid claim to every inch of her body. Her firm breasts and hardened nipples belonged to my mouth. I owned her sweet, wet pussy.

She made me feel young and vibrant, reminding me of the days before I moved out at eighteen. I asked Mom to come, too. I begged her to leave my father, but she stayed. I remembered feeling light-hearted when I was in high school, playing with my boys or making out with girls behind the bleachers at Modesto High. I rememberedfeeling something different than stone-cold in my heart. I’d done fine for over twenty years, following a code of only pursuing uncomplicated or unavailable women. I wasn’t used to a woman lighting my heart up as if it weren’t damaged goods.

At least Billie wasn’t staying. The weather would change, and she’d head back to Denver. If I was lucky, she wouldn’t fight me on the lease. I knew that having sex with her was playing with fire, but I just couldn’t put down that match.

We made a pact. What happens in Smoke River stays in Smoke River.

We agreed to the terms with our words and bodies. I just wasn’t sure how easy it was going to be to forget the taste of Billie Prescott after she left.

I thought about our poker game. I lost, which meant I’d agreed to leave if she wanted me to. What Billie didn’t know is that I threw the game. I discarded an ace, giving up the royal flush. I knew Billie had a great hand; she sucked at bluffing. I also knew that there are some games in life that you don’t want to win.

I did not know what was going on between her and Louise, but I wasn’t going to get what I wanted if Billie had her back up. I needed her to let me stay and have it be her idea. Letting her win the game was a gamble, but I was betting she’d let me stay.

After pancakes, I put on boots and took Cam outside. While she did her business, I checked the temperature. It was no longer sub-zero, which meant it wasn’t dangerous to be outside. The snow continued to fall, but it seemed to have lost some momentum. It wasn’t as dense as the night before. The clouds overhead were losing valuable steam.

The blanket of snow muted all noise. It was beautiful. Not a sound came from the woods, save the intermittent thump of snow tumbling off overloaded branches.

I stayed outside and watched Cam play in the snow for a bit. After a moment, she padded up to the bottom of the stairs and sat at my feet. She nudged my leg and whined.

“So you like her, is that it?” I asked.

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