Page 74 of Making New Plans

“This is—” Chloe’s voice came out raspy and broken. She swallowed and tried again, her eyes still traveling from one sketch to the next. “This is beyond what I imagined.”

She walked over to one collage by my window. “These are the camp bunkhouses I thought of. With the equipment shack to hold kayaks, canoes, fishing gear…” Her voice softened as she ran a finger over my pencil strokes and looked out the window to where I’d imagined those buildings going.

I kept myself planted against the door, not trusting myself to move any closer to her. She wandered to another handful of papers taped above my table littered with pens, pencils, and paper.

“The Artist Cabin,” she sighed. “Floor-to-ceiling glass windows pointed at nothing but pine trees and the river.” She leaned in closer and laughed softly. “You even drew in the artist nook I imagined. Shelves for supplies. Room for an easel or a drawing/writing/creating table.”

She drifted around my room, murmuring over each vision. She stilled when she came upon the collection papering the wall above my bed.

“The lovers’ cabin,” she said in a strangled voice.

That voice drew my body of its own accord away from the door and toward her. I stopped when I could feel the heat from her body against my skin and breathe in her sweet vanilla scent.

“What do you think?” I asked, my own voice rougher than usual.

She brought her fingertips to her lips. She didn’t turn around even though I desperately wanted to see her face.

“It’s perfect,” she whispered. “You mapped it perfectly. Furthest from the other cabins on that knoll. Hidden in the trees but close enough to the river to hear it and see it from the breakfast porch. All the privacy you could want. A kitchenette and dining area so the couple never has to leave for food. I even thought about having special food delivery just for that cabin. Oh, and the heart-shaped hot tub. And the fireplace. And the king-size bed.”

She pulled in a deep breath and finally faced me, her eyes sparkling with emotion. “Were you going to hide these from me?”

My heart clenched, and I couldn’t resist running a finger down her cheek. “Of course not. I just wasn’t ready to show them to you yet.”

Her eyes searched mine. “Is that why you blew me off? You were nervous about showing these to me?”

A sigh stormed past my lips, and I stepped back from her. “No. It wasn’t about this.”

She closed the space between us again. “Then why, Hunter? I thought you felt the same way I do. The way you’ve been looking at me. Spending time with me. Kissing me.”

My naked torso tightened as she ran soft fingers over my chest then trickled them down my abdomen.

“Trust me,” I grunted. “It has nothing to do with a lack of wanting you. If anything, that’s what’s complicating everything else.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, reaching up to stroke my jaw.

The tightrope beneath my feet snapped cord by cord with each touch. The hurricane of questions and doubts in my mind had hushed to a standstill.

“I mean I feel like I’m losing control over everything. Over my life. Over my plans. Over myself.” I ran my thumb along her jaw and stopped it beneath her earlobe, wrapping my hand around the back of her neck. “Over how I feel about you.”

Her throat bobbed. I was fascinated with every one of the seductive emotions pouring from her eyes. They enveloped me, shoring up the wreckage of my resolve.

Words kept tumbling from my mouth as if to prove my loss of control. “It scared me. But then you walked into my room, and every fear, every question, every problem faded away. All I can see is you. And I don’t want to control how I feel about you anymore.”

“How do you feel about me?” she whispered against my lips.

“Like I don’t want you to walk out that door. Tonight, and for many more nights.”

She inhaled sharply, her fingers digging into my shoulders. Her chest heaved against me, and I could feel her heart racing alongside mine. I wrapped an arm around her waist and clutched her against every plane and angle of my body, gazing down at her.

“Chloe?” I whispered, the weight of a dozen questions in her name.

Her lips tilted in a soft smile, belying her intense eyes, as she cupped my face in her hands. “That sounds like the best plan I’ve ever heard.”

With a final snap, the tightrope give way, and suddenly I was in freefall. With a victorious growl, I slammed my lips into hers. She responded with a deep groan as she threw her arms around my neck and leapt up to wrap her legs around my waist. I hardly registered the weight of her body clinging to me. I gripped her thighs, and we rocked in place, consuming each other.

I forgot where I was in the universe and tripped over something. By some miracle, I managed to tumble us onto my bed in a heap. Her lips broke from mine in a gasp and a laugh. I grinned and raised myself on my hands to keep from crushing her beneath me.

Then her smile slowly lowered, and her eyes filled with something less innocent than laughter. My body ached with the need for more of her, but I let her take the lead. My heart thudded like it had to the drums of the rock concert, waiting.

---