Page 12 of Chiseled Mountain Man

“Do you want me to keep my clothes on?” she asked.

“Hell no.”

The words flew out of my mouth. I winced. I hadn’t meant to be so blunt. What was wrong with me?

But a smile spread over her face, making it well worth it. Okay, so maybe she thought I was a total perv, but she didn’t say another word. She just started unbuttoning.

Only a few buttons remained, and the shirt was completely undone. She pulled it off, dropping it to the floor, and there she sat, wearing only that gray bra. I had to force my attention off her and back to my carving. I was here to work, not to gawk.

But damn, those tits were beautiful. Perfect. I wanted more than anything to touch them. To remove that bra and run my thumbs over her nipples, followed by my tongue. I’d kiss my way down that gorgeous body of hers, undo her pants, and?—

“I think I should take off the pants too,” she said.

I looked up to see she’d grabbed the glass and was taking another sip from it. She’d barely touched it since I’d freshened it up for her. I only put a small amount of brandy in the drink, so it was mostly orange liqueur and lime juice. Maybe she thought the alcohol was what was giving her courage.

“You don’t have to,” I said, looking up at her. Then, remembering the hurt look I’d spotted in her eyes earlier, I quickly added, “Unless you want to.”

“I want you to sculpt me naked.”

Sculpt me. I knew that probably had everything to do with the wood on the table in front of me and not what she wanted me to do to her specifically. But my cock heard it another way. As it pressed against the zipper of my jeans, all I could think about was running my hands over her body the way I smoothed out my carvings.

I began working as Bronte stood and unbuttoned her pants, letting them drop to the floor. She kicked off her shoes, and that left her only in her underwear and socks.

As she settled back on the stool, my erection became downright painful. My cock was begging to be set free. I had to keep it under control, though. If she knew what was going on over here, she’d definitely label me a pervert.

“Have you ever sculpted a naked woman before?” she asked.

“You’re not completely naked,” I said. “But no, not even close. I just started wood sculpting when I moved here. I never really considered myself an artist. But one day, I found a piece of wood that looked like an apple, stem and all. I brought it home and got to thinking. There are bear carvings all over town. Shops full of them. It’s a tourist thing. If people can carve wood into bears, why not other shapes?”

As I talked, I got to work. I was already rounding off the area that would be her head. It took almost every ounce of concentration to not think about the way those breasts strainedthe fabric of her bra. Her cleavage was so abundant, my imagination was going wild.

“And you’ve never thought about selling this stuff?” she asked. “I’m sure the local shops would love it. You could maybe even sell them in the lobby of the ski lodge. You’re a local resident, after all. There’s probably nobody else doing stuff like that here in Seduction Summit.”

I shook my head. “I love doing this. It’s relaxing. But my work gets me out of the cabin. I wouldn’t want to be cooped up here all day working.”

And yes, I was aware that I could do this and still get out in nature. It wasn’t an either-or proposition. I just didn’t see myself giving up working as part of a team, even as much of a loner as I was.

No, this would probably always be fun for me. Nothing more, nothing less.

“I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Her sudden statement made me aware of the silence that had stretched between us for a while. I was so caught up in my work—not to mention trying to shut out the nearly naked woman seated just feet away from me—that the silence hadn’t really bugged me yet.

I lowered the tool in my right hand and looked at her, really processing what she’d said over the past hour or so. “Can I ask something?” I asked after wrestling with how to word the question for several long seconds.

She nodded. “Anything.”

That permission alone went straight to my heart. She trusted me. She wanted to be open with me. I could ask her anything.

I loved that, but I also felt the weight of the responsibility. I never wanted to break that trust, not as long as I lived.

“You’ve mentioned you’ve never done anything like this before,” I said. “Have you…?”

Crap, this wasn’t as easy as I might have thought it would be. I couldn’t seem to force out the question. She’d said ask me anything, but I didn’t want to overstep her boundaries.

“No,” she said. “I’ve never slept with a man. I’ve had kisses. None were all that good, though. I’ve never been kissed by a real man.”

Real man? I wasn’t sure what that even meant. But she was in her twenties, so I could only assume she meant an older man. A man who knew what he was doing. If the bar was set that low, I probably could live up to her expectations. At least I hoped I could.

---