Page 48 of His One True Wish

What happens in Smoke River stays in Smoke River, my body whispered, urging me to touch him, to taste him, to make a move.

“How long have I been here?” I whispered, looking up at him, frozen by indecision.

“You arrived yesterday … ”

“Feels like forever.”

“I know.”

He bit his lip and stepped back from me, raising his hands in the air as if I were molten lava.

“Goodnight, Billie,” he said, backing away. “I’ll use the bathroom first.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” I whispered, crossing my arms. I bit my lip, my heart pounding.

He walked down the hall. The bathroom door clicked shut. The moment was gone.

I stood in front of the fire, gutted. I reached out to hold the mantle. My body ached with an emptiness I couldn’t explain. I didn’t want Axl, did I? I didn’t want anyone. Yet, the way he touched me felt as though his fingertips were meant to dance across my skin. I turned and faced the fire, my eyes blurry with tears. What was wrong with me? What had I expected?

We barely knew each other. I hadn’t even been able to tell him the truth about Gran. We were trapped in this cabin making the best of a terrible situation. Today was make-believe. I thought back about our breakfast, the accident, the poker game, and the delicious omelet for “linner.”

Axl was being kind to me because he had to be. He would treat anyone the same way. But then I thought about the bath and the way he made me feel. I remembered that wild rush of longing that pushed me to kiss him. I bit down on my knuckles, covering my smile. What was happening to me out here? Axl was taking all my defenses and breaking them down brick by brick. I wanted to know what it would be like to hold him. I’d seen his naked body, but what would it be like to touch him, to make him my own.

I heard the bathroom door click open and then Axl’s footsteps striding down the hall.

“Did you forget … ?” I turned to face him, but before I could say another word, he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into his body. He kissed me, his lips fierce and uncontrolled.

I whimpered and melted in his arms. I was unable to form wordsas his lips moved against mine. His tongue pushed into my mouth and danced across my teeth. All the while, he held me close.

My body was warm and compliant in his arms. I was overcome by his power and his need for me. The rock-hard bulge of his erection pressed against me just like it had when I’d kissed him in the hall. I hadn’t imagined it. He wanted me. Axl Grey wanted me as much as I wanted him.

“What happens in Smoke River … ” I gasped between kisses.

“Stays in Smoke River,” he growled.

His kisses slowed, but his lips didn’t stop moving. He sucked on my bottom lip and bit down gently. I felt my limbs tingle back to life and exhaled, reaching my arms up around his neck. I pushed into him, feeling his hard cock press against my middle.

He slid his hands under my ass and lifted me as I read his movements and jumped. I locked my legs around his middle, enjoying the feeling of his hard shaft bumping against my mound and the nub of my clit. My pussy felt alive, pulsing with desire. I was dripping wet and opening for him, and he hadn’t taken off a stitch of my clothes.

He held me in front of the fire, my legs wrapped around his waist. I ground my cunt against his body as his tongue explored my mouth.

There was a fierceness and a fire in his kiss that felt wild and uncontrolled. His breath shallow and hot against my skin, his lips sucked on my neck and his teeth grazed me, making me cry out. He spun me around and lowered me onto the rug in front of the fire.

“Don’t you,” I gasped. “The bed.”

“Fuck the bed,” he said. “I want you now.”

Kneeling between my legs, he tugged off my pants, leaving me in my panties. I scooted up on my elbows and worked my arms out of my sleeves. The heat from the fire danced on my bare skin, mixing with the heat between us. He worked his hands under my sweatshirt and pulled it off my head. I lay in my bra and panties on the ground in front of the fire, in front of him.

He looked at me as if drinking in every inch of my body. Adoration rippled off him. Without a word, he ran one of his large,calloused hands up my belly, slipping behind my back and unhooking my bra one-handed.

I was tempted to make a joke about his ambidextrous hands, but before I could speak, my breasts were exposed, and he was on his knees between my legs, his lips locked on my nipple.

I moaned, my voice shaking as he sucked and nibbled on my breast. His tongue flicking across the bundle of nerves in my nipple, pleasure spooled inside of me and rolled down my body between my legs.

He sensed the shift in my energy, and his fingers were inside my panties. His clothes still on, I felt worshiped as his tongue licked my breasts and his fingers circled my clit and then slid deep inside me.

I cried out at the sensation of his fingers entering me.

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