Page 33 of Mountain Man's Muse
“Adelyn.” He waited until she raised her green gaze to his, more shy than he had ever seen her. “You said not everything fae is fake. This—” He took a step closer to her, his heart pounding with the boot-fall. “This thing between us is real. And I’m going to hold onto it no matter what it looks like, not matter whatyoulook like.”
He leaned down to kiss her.
Her lips parted beneath his on a soft sigh, a sigh echoed by dozens of tiny tongues flickering around him. He closed his eyes—it would take him a couple kisses to get used to this—but not seeing only intensified the pleasure of having her mouth under his, the curves of her body under his hands.
“So,” he murmured against her mouth. “I’ve heard about Medusa who turned all the Greek warriors into rock.”
“The Greeks got her name confused with what she was, but I suppose even musetta can have an uninspired day.”
“You rock me. Part of me anyway.” He traced his way from her face, down her shoulders, over her breasts, to settle on her hips and pull her close so that she could feel the hard truth, his truth. “I want you. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything. Not because you are beautiful and surprising—I get enough of that on a ranch full of cows—but because there’s more to you than that, and you remind me there’s more to me too.” He finally opened his eyes again. “And I want to share all of that with you.”
“Do you want badly enough to get us out of here?” She met his gaze solemnly. “You are a smith at heart, Josh. You could command these doors.”
He shook his head. “Command the doors how? With magic?” He took a step backward. “I’m not like you. I’m a…cowboy.”
She followed, edging him toward the locked gate. “More than that,” she reminded him. “You stepped into the circle without hesitating. You said my name and found me. There is magic in your heart, Josh Reimer, should you desire it. What do you want?”
He stood his ground. “You. I want you. Back in my valley, back in my bed.”
She took one more step that brought her into his arms again. “I want to be there.” She kissed him. “Now let me inspire you.”
Her hands went to the fly of his jeans.
His brows shot up. “Whoa! Here? Now?”
She smiled up at him. “What better time?” But her hands stilled on his belt. “Think how you would have me do it, Josh. Imagine how the buckle comes apart. Dream how the edges unseal to release your desires.”
Blood pooled hot and heavy in his cock.
In his chest, his heart strained with equal yearning. This was not the place for them. Here, under the lies was only this cold, hard, steel gray. They should be back in his valley, the sun shifting to stars as they made love through an entire day and night.
“That’s it,” she crooned. “You want it. And I want you. It’s up to you, Josh, my love. Believe it.”
As his belt buckle clicked open, he grabbed her and swooped down for a tongue-tangling, breath-stealing, soul-searing kiss. She threw herself into his embrace, knocking him into the steel doors behind him.
Which swung apart at their touch.
He staggered backward, clutching Adelyn to his chest. “How—?”
“You know metal, and metal knows you. How else do you make such beautiful pieces? They love you. But not as much as I do.”
She yanked the doors closed behind them. Ahead of them, pines grew in a tight circle, needled boughs towering into darkness.
“This is one of the faedrealii’s forever gates.” Adelyn took his hands in hers and stared up at him. “Your heart brought you to me, Josh. Now I want to go home. To your valley. To your bed. Take me there.”
She lifted herself to her toes, and the serpents flowed back from her face.
He plunged his hands into the tangle of scales and kissed her.
The sound of a dog barking interrupted.
Josh pulled back. “Wolly?” A bundle of bristling red fur and stub tail butted his knees, and he stared around in confusion. These trees were not in a circle, and between the trunks, the white glow of snow in evening light lit the scene. “I say again, how—?”
“This is our forever, Josh. This is where we are meant to be.”
He shook his head. “Is that how fae magic works?”
“No. That’sourmagic.” Gently, she pulled away. “If you still want it.”
