Page 96 of You, Me, & Après-Ski
This was never the life I’d imagined, but it was everything I didn’t know I needed.
And it’s mine.
Chapter 35
NOLAN
Isatontheplushleather chair in the living room of my cabin at Hale’s Peak, drinking whiskey and mulling over the events of the past week. Cressida would have said I was brooding, but brooding implied unhappiness, and for once, I was pretty fucking pleased with myself.
The clock on the kitchen stove read 11:31 p.m., and Val would be here soon. Between investor meetings, connecting with Anton, and making sure Jason, Robert, and Cyrus were called to heel, I’d had a hell of a week. Val had been busy closing out the last days of the skiing season—and fake dating Anton. Right now, they were making good use of his time here meeting with me to canoodle for the cameras. My jaw clenched as I thought about the flirty photos that were probably being published right now. But Val loved me. Lovedme.And that thought alone was enough to silence the jealousy.
Cressida was staying at Summit’s Edge for the night so we could be alone. I didn’t mind the late hour either. I never slept well or soundly, but after what happened in Calexico, sleep was even more scarce. My shoulder still smarted but I’d abandoned the arm sling almost immediately. I didn’t care what the doctor said, I wasn’t wearing that fucking thing. The stitches would come out this week anyway.
I didn’t know what I’d been thinking in that shitty motel room. I wasn’t the kind of guy to go barging into dangerous situations—I had people to do that for me. But for Val, charging into gunfire was the least of what I’d do. And while that scared the shit out of me, it also feltright.When she’d called me and said she needed me, my heart had threatened to burst out of my chest. No one had ever neededmebefore—they’d only needed my money, my power, my connections. And I liked being needed by her.
The sound of the front door opening pulled me out of my reverie. Still in my button-down shirt and slacks, I wandered down the hall. Sure enough, Val entered, swathed in a parka.
“Hi.” Her breathy voice went straight to my cock. I stepped back and allowed her to pass, her scent of fresh honeysuckle swirling around me.
As I followed her into the living room, she shucked off her jacket, revealing a thin gray tee shirt and jeans, and sat on the couch. I didn’t bother disguising the fact that I noticed she wasn’t wearing a bra, and her nipples hardened under my brazen stare. Tagging her around the waist, I pulled her into my lap and slid my hands under her shirt to caress all that beautiful skin.
“Hi,” I said, my lips against hers, loving the little sound she made when I nipped at her bottom lip. But before we got too carried away, I pulled back, settling my hands on her thighs. “I’m going to say some things to you now, if that’s okay.” It was our first moment of peace since we’d returned to Hale’s Peak, and I needed her to know exactly where I stood.
“Okay,” she breathed, her lips already plumping from our short makeout session.Jesus, stay focused.
“I was a different man when I first arrived at Hale’s Peak,” I said. “A man on a mission who didn’t care about anything except for his own ends. But then I met you, and it’s like every shred of my being knew thatyou were it for me. At first, I resisted, because that’s what I’m good at. I’m not used to a woman invading my mind and rendering me senseless in her presence. But I know what I want, Valeria. And it’s you.”
Her eyes watered almost immediately, her pulse throbbing at the base of her throat. The words came easy for me now as I looked into the face of the woman who’d captured my heart. “I love you, Valeria. Being CEO, running a company, those are all empty things. You showed me that I want my legacy to be about more than my own ambition. I want to be a good man who lives a good life and loves a good woman.”
Val sat in my lap for a moment, her chest heaving as if she’d run a marathon, her tawny eyes darkened to liquid chocolate. “I’m it for you?” she asked, bringing a hand to my face and tracing my jawline. As I closed my eyes and leaned into her touch, I swear I fuckingpurred.
If my woman wanted me to shower her with praise, I damn well would. Squeezing her thighs and tugging her until she was flush against my chest, I said, “I love you and your unending ability to see the good in people—even me. Even when I don’t deserve it. I want to explore every corner of your brilliant, creative mind until I know it better than my own. I want the late-night conversations, talking about nothing and everything. Everything you are, everything you will be and hope to be—I want it all. I wantyou.I love you—mind, body, and fucking soul. I’ll say it as many times as I have to until you believe me.”
In an instant, she was kissing me with a wild fervor. My hands explored all my favorite places that haunted my dreams. The nape of her neck. The curve of her waist. The swell of her breasts. The round firmness of her ass. Her strong thighs. Her soft hair. As she ground her hips against me, my pants tightened around my growing cock. I could kiss this woman for the rest of my life, and it would never be enough.
“I love you, Nolan. More than anything.”
The words swooped in my stomach like I’d just plunged off a rollercoaster. Taking her face in both hands, I kissed her until we were breathless and gasping. Months of pent-up passion and emotions I didn’t even know I’d been holding back flooded out of me with each of her breathy sighs. But this time, every touch, every caress was charged and heavy with meaning.
I loved this woman and I wanted to show her in every possible way.
My hands ghosted across her curves as my mouth explored hers. I grazed her nipples through her shirt, enjoying the little sounds of pleasure she made against my lips. Lifting her, I shifted us until she was on her back and I caged her in with my arms. I trailed kisses down her neck and she dug her nails into my back, arching into me.
At some point, she’d undone the buttons on my shirt because her hands swept over my torso, exploring my body with a newfound confidence. Our touches weren’t desperate or rushed; rather, they were slow and deliberate. I threw my shirt on the floor and pulled up the hem of her tee slowly, stopping just below her breasts. I teased kisses across the smooth skin of her stomach, trailing my fingers around her breasts but not touching them outright. Underneath me, Val wriggled in protest and I chuckled against her skin.
“Patience is not one of your strong suits, is it?”
Her only response was an adorable snarl as she shimmied her body in an attempt to get my mouth where she wanted it. When I licked the skin under her breast, she shuddered. “Greedy little thing,” I said as I rubbed my hand across the seam of her jeans.
“You’re a tease,” she said, eyes bright and dark.
“Says the woman who once got herself off in front of me and wouldn’t allow me to participate,” I scoffed and she smirked at me. I wanted to kiss that look off her face. “I haven’t even begun to tease you yet, Val.”
I pulled off her shirt and tossed it over my shoulder, then traced around her tits with both hands, ghosting across them. She pressed into me, the hard peaks of her nipples grazing my skin. I loved the feeling of her under me. The way she moved, the sounds she made when I touched her just right or when she wanted what I wouldn’t give her. It took all of my self-control to draw out our little game, but I wasn’t a quitter. I wouldn’t stop until I had her begging for my cock.
Finally, I gave her nipples the attention they craved. Taking one into my mouth, I bit, sucked, and licked, while pinching at the other one. Val leaned into my rough touches, panting in my ear. I unbuttoned her jeans and slid a hand below her waistband—
“Christ, woman,” I growled against her lips. “You went on a fucking date with fucking Anton and you weren’t wearing underwear? Are you trying to kill me?”
