Page 15 of Hope's Highest Bidders

He groans his release, and when I finally catch my breath, I lie down on him, no longer worried about the extra weight I’m carrying. He’s proven by the way that he worshipped my body that none of that matters to him.

I’m panting as I tell him, “I’m not going to be able to walk.”

His hands stroke up and down my back. “That’s the plan.”

I lean my head up to settle my chin on his chest. “I have to go to work next week.”

Something flitters across his face, but he smiles at me. “I may let you up by then.”

There are so many questions I have for him, one of them being how this is going to work and how in the world am I going to leave him when I have to go back to work? I kiss his chest and try to put the thoughts out of my head because I don’t want to think about it. All I want to do now is make up for lost time and enjoy it.

“So what do you want to do today, Mrs. Cannon?”

I snuggle against him. “Mrs. Cannon. I like the sound of that.” I push off his chest and look at him. “Ooh, I know what I want to do today.”

He nods nervously. “Anything.”

I almost call him out on the anything because I know that whatever I want to do, he’s hoping that it involves staying on this mountain, and I refuse to push him any more than I already have. “I would love to go out and see you chop some wood.”

He smiles, and his forehead creases in surprise. “You want to watch me chop wood?”

I nod and laugh, running my hand across his taut stomach. He’s always been in shape, but I couldn’t help but notice the muscles he has now. I know it’s from his work lumberjacking, and ever since I heard that’s what he’s doing now, I’ve wanted to watch him. “Yes, that’s exactly what I want.”

At that instant, my belly grumbles, and Ethan and I both laugh. “How about I feed you first, and then we go exploring.”

I slap him playfully on the chest. “Don’t forget chopping wood.”

He shakes his head like he can’t believe that’s something I want to do, and I remind him, “You did say anything.”

He kisses the tip of my nose. “You’re right, I did. So food, then we’ll go chop some wood.”

I squeal and jump out of the bed. “I’m going to shower real quick.”

I turn to go to the bathroom, and when I cross the threshold, he’s right behind me. “Fine, we’ll get cleaned up, food, then wood.”

His cock is hard again, pressing against my ass. I look over my shoulder at him in surprise. “We should probably conserve water, but I have to ask... I mean... I thought men couldn’t…”

He reaches into the shower and turns the water on. “I’ve discovered with you, I’m always hard, Nikki.”

I step under the spray of the water, and he follows me in. My hand wraps around his shaft. “Maybe we should deal with this wood first.”

He pulls me into his arms. “Fuck, you’re perfect.”

I slide to my knees and take him in my mouth, wanting him to see how perfect we both are... together.

11

ETHAN

It’s been almost a week since Nikki and I got married, and she’s leaving to go back to work.

I knew it was coming. She’s told me a few times that she would have to go back, but I ignored it and didn’t want to talk about it. Now the time has flown by, and we’re standing at the helipad waiting on my brother to pick her up.

“I don’t know why you can’t just go tomorrow.”

She squeezes my hand. “Because Bobby or another pilot would have to pick me up at seven in the morning. I don’t want to inconvenience anyone.”

I wrap my arms around her and pull her against my body. “We have pilots on standby. This is literally their job.”

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