After Amelia's makeovers and waiting for their new identification cards to be complete, they drove for several hours in amiable silence, acting like the strangers they now looked to one another. Of course, she could still see him in there. There was only so much a new hair cut and color, a spray tan, and different clothes could do. Catching glimpses of him as they drove, she realized how little all of that mattered when your heart had gotten involved. And, damn it to hell, hers had. Add her to Gerri Wilder's list of matches. Against all odds, she'd not been a match for the woman's matchmaking skills. Maybe Gerri was a witch as well as a shifter, she mused.
Thinking of Gerri made her think of her mother, out there faking mourning the loss of her daughter all the while wondering when, if ever, they would see each other again. While she would miss her family and friends, and her studio, her life, the idea of running off with this man, of maybe letting go, seeing where that took them, not just for something different, but for a total change, might not be the worst thing in the world, as she thought just a few days ago. Everything else in her life had changed with that one attack, so why not this too? Why hold back?
Gerri had said she needed something different, and that a friend of Ian's would be her savior. Jacob had been that for her in more ways than one so far.
She had known people who had life take everything away from them, left them with nothing. Sitting here now, running her hands through her odd-feeling hair cut, looking down at the silk pants and cashmere sweater that felt so strange to her skin, she looked over at Jacob, and realized how lucky she was. She had lost it all, and in one fell swoop had been given something else, something with the potential to be good. A second chance at something so very different could be just what she needed. It was here, so why not embrace it? For the first time in her life, just maybe, she could manage her way past the fears.
At this point, the whole of it played like a fairy tale of sorts anyway. A whole new life awaited her, for an indefinite amount of time, so why not just play along, let go, see what came of it all. If it all disappeared later, she could make it out to be a great experiment in living an alternate reality because calling these changes in her reality something different didn't begin to define it.
Like the gentleman he was, once they'd arrived at their destination, Sam looking out the window with her mouth open, Jacob came around the car and opened her door. He gave her his arm to help her out of the car and then into the cabin. Leaving her to stand in wonder for a moment just inside the front door, he had gone back out for the trunk full of supplies, telling her to look around as he did so. They did have a trunk full of supplies, too, from clothes and toiletries, to food and a few other things like books and movies to keep them occupied. Ian had spared no expense where his best friend and fake girlfriend were concerned.
As for the cabin, to call the place amazing didn't cut it. Like something out of the movies, or maybe even one of her fantasies, she stood in a romantic wooden getaway out in the middle of nowhere. They'd even have land to explore. Fresh air would be an abundant option, not just a musty old hotel room. A fireplace welcomed her, with wood stacked up alongside of it. A deep, plush couch sat in the room, hunter green to match all of the dark wood. Thick country curtains covered the windows, keeping her and Jacob from view, of bears she guessed. She walked over, past the huge, rustic kitchen with copper appliances and warm wood cabinets as far as the eye could see, to open the first of many closed doors. A bedroom with a handmade quilt on the bed greeted her, burgundy and cream with floral patterns and lace stitched into intricate designs, it had to be one of the most beautiful she had ever seen.
She'd been so lost in her thoughts and perusal of the cabin in its finery, she jumped when she heard Jacob come up behind her.
"I'm so sorry I scared you. I hope you know that you are safe, Samantha. And, thanks again for not running once Amelia insisted I keep the cuffs off of you."
"I'm not stupid. I know the smart thing for a girl in danger is to stay with her savior."
"I'm sorry I can't tell you how long we are going to be here. I will try to make your stay here as pleasant as possible. Whatever you want, I will try to give it to you if I can," he said, his face serious, his eyes swimming with emotion as he stood before her, head bowed, clenching his fist as if to hold back from grabbing her.
"I want you," she got out in a strangled whisper, though she'd pushed back her shoulders and stood up tall.
In the moments that followed, her world as she'd known it crumbled in her mind, fell away until nothing but a shaking shell of a woman remained, one hopeful of the future. Lifting her hand to his cheek, letting it flutter there like a leaf in a storm. Her words, the vulnerability she'd exposed herself to, blurred the situation before her eyes. Thoughts whirled through her head, a tornado that deafened, caused tiny pinpricks of pain that overrode the throb of her heartbeat in her ears. She blinked, slightly alleviating the sting of tears that threatened.
The ache of her body for him showed in the tenseness of each limb on her body; under his hand that came to rest on her thigh and beneath the other hand he moved to a death grip on her pants. Both gathered her attention, granting her a break from the rush which played havoc with her breathing, her ability to steady herself. A diversion for a brief few seconds from trying to infer just what kind of trouble she might be in. Breathing heavily, now, she gave into the frailty of her womanhood, the lust born of love for a man.
When a woman spent her life on the rough side of love, fear soothed as her friend, the companion that kept one smart and alive. She’d known what to do with men who could harm her. It hadn’t been personal then to be emotionless, run by hormones only. This time, this man, he stood there pretty damn personal, and she allowed the fear freeze her one second more. Then, enough was enough. She'd move in. She'd let go. She'd have him, let him have her.
Jacob pulled her into a crushing embrace, his face nestled in the crook of her neck as he sniffed her hair like he'd done when they were hidden in the wall and last night in bed. She heard the growl rise up in his chest, and her heart skipped a beat as all of her womanly parts pulsed.
He brought his hands to cup her face, moving her back enough to look her in the eyes, asking without words for the permission he sought. She gave him one soft and subtle blink before his lips descended toward hers.
Sam lost herself in the shock of the kiss, the passion that sparked between them so naturally. As he took the kiss deeper, their bodies pressing together so hard and close as if merging were the next logical step, she realized in a profound way that she fit against him perfectly, each of his hard angles pressing against her soft curves. They were two pieces of a puzzle meant to be together.
Heat blossomed quickly, catching her breath, stealing her thoughts as he kissed her senseless, made her easy prey when he crushed her against him. Her breasts became full and heavy, her nipples grew hard as they pressed against his chest. Just the feel of his mounting erection against her stomach had her tugging at his clothes, attempting to strip him while he led them to the bed, their footsteps synchronized in some lover’s waltz.
With an abrupt turn, he pushed her backward toward the wall, her head hitting the hard surface as her back slid along the wood. She could have cared less. In fact, she welcomed more of it, more roughness, more anything that got them closer together and naked.
They continued on, stripping off each other’s new clothing, ending up with just her lacy underwear on by the time he swung her with him as he twisted around, the back of her thighs hitting against the mattress. Amelia had insisted on the black, see through things to make her feel sexy under the guise of plain Jane uppity-pants. It had worked.
Wetness pooled between her thighs, gaining her full focus now on being touched there, by him, save for the need to touch him as well. When he began to kiss her with more force, the swell of her lips increased. His mouth tasted so sweet as her hands made their way to grasp his bulging arms. She let her fingers trail over the veins there, tracing over them, brushing against the dips and mounds of his biceps.
“I want you, and only you, Samantha,” he growled as he ripped away her panties, the thin lace barely resisting his strength. The pull of them over her flesh created a glorious burn that made her stomach clench.
He made short work of shoving her hand down under the waist of his boxers. More than happy to obey, she grabbed his hard cock as she listened to his breath hitch. Yet still, he managed a growl deep in his throat after. It vibrated through her as she squeezed him harder, moving her hand up until the rounded head settled in her grip. She moved her other hand down to cup his balls, hearing the changes in his breathing patterns, as she rubbed and squeezed as gently as she could manage, though she could tell her slight roughness only fueled the fire of his need for her.
He pushed her back to the bed then, tugging open her thighs, revealing to him her glistening folds there that pulsed, ached, begged for him. He gave her what she wanted and more in no time at all, gloriously ungentle in his biting and sucking of the area, his licks more gentle spanks against her flesh. When he swiped his tongue across her hard clit, she rose up, arching her back. When he kissed her folds again, with more force this time, she let out a cry that surely scared the animals in the surrounding woods. With no magic at all, she swore she felt the world tilt, the animals rush away, the energy of all of the universe converging to help them come together in this moment.
She moved with it, sitting up, grabbing his erection and forcing it into her mouth, loving the salty taste of his skin mixed with the first drops of pre-cum. She explored him, by feel and touch. She granted more pressure in places to add to that frail line between pleasure and pain, then allowed for some gentleness in other spots to the point of a tickle and tease. She studied how he responded to her with urgency and curiosity, as if nothing else in the world could be more important than this.
She took as much of him as she could get into her mouth, responding in elation to the way he sucked in air. As she pleased him her stomach continued to tighten. Even with all the other sexual encounters she'd had that had meant so little, she'd never allowed herself such freedom with a man. She sucked him into her mouth and then released, letting her lips slide along the taut, red skin until swollen veins showed there, too. She let her tongue ride along them, lick and press, inciting him to pump his hips. She held on, digging her fingers in as he tried to get more and shake her off at the same time, she assumed not knowing how much more he could take. She knew that line well.
When she'd crossed it, she guessed, he reached down and grabbed her, pulling on what he could manage to grab of her body. He turned, falling to his back on the mattress, taking her along with him. She landed straddling him, and with a firm hand pressing on her back he moved her up higher until she ended up on her knees, thighs spread, positioned over his head. He brought his mouth up hard against her tender flesh. He pressed his fingers into her generous hips holding her tightly in place as he went back and forth between teasing kisses and torturous sucks. As she came, falling over that edge this time, he moved his hands to cup her ass, kneading the skin there, massaging it until she wanted more, wanted him inside of her.
As if he read her mind, he slid her back down his body, settling her over his erection a second before forcing her down on his hardness. The thick invasion to her heated core stole her breath, even her train of thought until they were just one, a union of overly enticed nerves rubbing against each other in a furious and greedy display.
She rode him hard, at his direction, at her desire, her inner thighs hitting his hip bones, sending shots of pain that amplified the pleasure. The bed squeaked under their escapades, but it sounded like music as he took her up and over that edge once again. This time she couldn’t have told him her name if he'd asked. The rubbing of his pelvis under her clit joined with the thrust of his cock against that soft fleshy skin inside of her causing more contractions within, making her walls grip him as he slid in and out, pushing her again over that precipice.
With a loud growl he tensed, crying out his own release on a howl into the wilderness surrounding them as they finally came together as one inside that cabin.
Only when he had drained every last ounce of energy, emotion, and pleasure out of her, did she let herself fall into his arms, her body covering his. As she nuzzled her face into his neck, his fingers combing through the tangles left in her hair, she sighed out her satisfaction, sated beyond reason, exactly where she wanted to be. A place where only the two of them existed, someplace different, experiencing something different, like love, as they settled into each other, falling asleep to the slowing rhythm of their synchronized breathing.
The End