Holly
Holly could barely contain her excitement as she made her – slightly limping – way through the door.
She’d never responded to any man the way she was responding to Stefan. She had to keep reminding herself that they’d known each other all of a couple of hours, and yet, she could barely keep her eyes off him. With his tousled dark hair and bright green eyes, along with the light stubble that covered his chin, he could have wandered off the pages of a fashion magazine – except he was far too masculine for that.
She shivered as she allowed her eyes to pass over his biceps, visible even beneath the material of his jacket, and his denim-clad thighs, which were as thick as tree trunks.
Speaking of trees, I’d climb him like one, Holly thought, before blushing slightly at her own dirty thoughts.
You don’t even know him! she wailed at herself as she went into the kitchen, turning away so Stefan wouldn’t see her burning cheeks. Swallowing, she tried to reason with herself. Women go home with men they meet in clubs after even less time, she thought as she opened the coffee pot. It’s called modern life. No one cares about that stuff anymore.
But that wasn’t her scene, and it never had been. At college, she’d always been teased for being too serious and shy. She’d never had that much interest in going out and meeting men. Given a choice, she’d much rather spend her evenings curled up on the sofa with a good movie – or even a bad one – and a cup of cocoa than going wild at bars.
“You should let me make that.”
Stefan’s deep voice behind her made her jump. She’d been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard him coming. Though she wondered how she’d missed it now – the skin on her back was alive with prickles, as if it was sent into a frenzy of heat by mere proximity to him.
“What?” she asked, momentarily at a loss, before looking down at the coffee in her hands. “Oh – no! It’s fine. I said I’d make you a coffee – it’s the least I can do, after you’ve been so kind.”
Stefan shook his head, gently but firmly. “You should be staying off that ankle. I can make some coffee – it’s no trouble.”
Holly hesitated a moment. “But –”
“But nothing. Take a seat.”
Even if she’d wanted to argue with him, in the next second he’d plucked the coffee tin out of her fingers and was busying himself filling the pot with water.
“If you’re sure,” she said, lingering a moment longer.
“Of course I’m sure. I didn’t help you all the way back here for you to go ruining your ankle making me coffee.” There was laughter in his voice as he flashed her his brilliant smile. Holly couldn’t help but return it, feeling her insides melt a little.
Hottest man I’ve ever seen, and he’s a total gentleman, she thought to herself as she limped into the living room, flopping down onto the couch. She watched Stefan’s back as he put the pot on to boil. His shoulders were broad, and she found herself wondering what it would be like to run her hands over them, feel his steel-hard muscles beneath his warm skin…
Blushing again, Holly forced herself to look down into her lap.
Honestly. Anyone would think you were a horny adolescent, she scolded herself.
But she couldn’t help it. There was just something about him that… spoke to her. It wasn’t only a physical attraction. He resonated with something deep inside her – something hidden, something that perhaps she’d pushed down inside herself long ago. Something that yearned for wildness and freedom, the desire to fling herself headlong into the blue, open sky…
… The part of her that never wanted to go back to a desk ever again, spending all day surrounded by close walls and closer deadlines, before packing up and going back to her dull little home, cleaning up after George – or whatever man was in her life at the time – every day always the same, until… what?
Holly shuddered. She’d never wanted that life, but she had never been sure how to break out of it. With George unemployed and her paycheck the only thing keeping them afloat, there was no way she could have run off on any grand adventure. She had hoped maybe the move to San Francisco would be the beginning of something different – a new phase in her life.
And look how that turned out.
Holly swallowed, pushing it out of her mind.
I can’t dwell on the past.
Dwelling would only fill her heart with fear, and then she’d never be able to do the things she wanted to do – to fulfill the parts of her that had lain dormant.
Until now, it seemed.
“Here you go,” Stefan said as he placed the steaming mug of coffee down on the table in front of her. “White with one – did I guess correctly?”
Holly looked up, surprised. “You did!” She gathered up the coffee gratefully. “I know the sugar isn’t so good for me, but it’s a bad habit I can’t seem to break.”
Stefan shrugged. “You’re not going to approve of me, then – I like mine black with three.”
“Three!” Holly burst out laughing. “How can you even stand that?”
“I guess I’ve always had a bit of a sweet tooth,” Stefan said, settling himself into one of the armchairs on the other side of the table.
It was lucky the furniture here was so luxuriously oversized or else he wouldn’t have fit, Holly reflected to herself as she sipped her coffee, watching Stefan from beneath her eyelashes. As it was, the chair could barely contain him. He really was a big guy.
“A bit of a sweet tooth might be understating it,” she said. “If I tried that I’d be crawling around on the ceiling like something out of The Exorcist.”
Stefan cocked his head, his face blank. “I’m sorry, like what?”
Holly blinked. How could he not have heard of The Exorcist? “You know… like the movie. Little girl gets possessed by a demon, vomits on a priest, and… uh… well, all sorts of other stuff.”
Stefan didn’t look like he had any idea what she was talking about. “That sounds interesting. Is it new?”
For a moment, Holly pursed her lips, confused. “Not really. I mean… it came out in 1973. There was a bunch of sequels, but they’re all crap.” She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m a bit of a film nerd. I guess I… well, I thought everyone had heard of it. Maybe it’s just me.”
She laughed, but she was still amazed Stefan didn’t know what she was talking about.
“I’m sorry, I guess I just haven’t had the chance to watch many movies,” he said ruefully. “I hope that doesn’t count against me.”
There was a slight pause as Holly digested what he’d said. Count against him… how? In my opinion of him? She blinked. Because he cares about what I think of him?
Seeming to realize what he’d said, Stefan coughed a little, as if embarrassed. “I suppose I had a kind of… sheltered upbringing,” he said quickly. “My folks weren’t what you’d call conventional, I guess.”
Holly caught the significance of the past tense – his folks weren’t conventional. Again, she sensed a strange kind of sadness in him – she’d felt it before, when he’d said he’d moved out to this place for family reasons.
She wasn’t sure how, but when he spoke of his family, she could almost feel his sadness. Holly didn’t want to pry, so she’d hadn’t asked him what he meant back then. And despite the fact she was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to comfort him, she felt it might be rude or upsetting to ask him about it now.
They were still almost perfect strangers, after all.
“It’s not important,” she said, shaking her head and smiling. Feeling suddenly bold, she said, “It just means there’s plenty of movies I could show you.”
Stefan glanced up at her, his green eyes warm. Holly could feel the heat of his gaze rush through her, settling in her stomach, winding its way down between her legs…
But then he coughed and looked away, shifting uncomfortably on the large chair, and the moment was broken.
Confused, Holly licked her lips. She was sure she wasn’t imagining things – there was something between them.
But then again, she thought, covering her uncertainty by taking a long drink of coffee, you just got out of a messy breakup. Are you sure you’re not just grabbing at shadows?
It had only been a few weeks since George had left her, and left her life in a complete mess. It would be a terrible idea to have a rebound fling, or to try to make a judgment about any man right now. She just wasn’t ready for that. She couldn’t trust herself to be sensible – and what if she developed feelings for Stefan that he didn’t return? Sure, there was an undeniable attraction between them, but Holly didn’t think she could stand to get her heart broken for the second time in a month.
“You still need some ice for your ankle.” As if sensing her unease, Stefan had risen and was heading back to the kitchen.
“Oh – you don’t need to do that,” Holly said, feeling as if she was in a daze. It didn’t matter what she said, though: Stefan had already opened the freezer, pulling out an ice tray and popping the cubes into a towel.
He looked over at her as he twisted the top of the towel to keep them inside. “You haven’t let anyone look after you for a while, have you?”
Holly drew in a quick, shocked breath. What he said was true: despite her long relationship with George, she’d been taking care of both of them for a long time. The idea that anyone – let alone someone she’d only just met – would take care of her for a change affected her in a way she hadn’t expected.
“I guess not,” she said quietly. Loneliness welled up inside her. She blinked rapidly, feeling tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.
No. No way. Do not cry in front of him. He’ll think you’re nuts.
Drawing in a deep breath, Holly tried to collect herself before looking up – only to find Stefan kneeling on the floor in front of her, towel in hand. His dark brows were drawn together, concern clear in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked, though Holly was certain he could tell she was only just holding back tears. “Is there… something I can do?”
Holly shook her head, ruthlessly blinking back her tears. “No – no. I’m sorry. It’s nothing, really. I guess I… I’ve just been having a bit of a hard time recently.”
Gently, Stefan lifted her foot to rest it on his thigh.
It’s warm, Holly thought hazily – which contrasted to the sudden cold shock of the ice pack against the skin of her ankle.
“Eek!” she squealed, clenching her fists. “That’s so cold!”
But she could already feel the ice soothing her injured ankle – well, that, and the slow circle Stefan’s thumb was tracing over the ball of her foot. It felt almost as if he was drawing the pain steadily out of her body with every soft touch. And not only the pain in her ankle, but the pain in her heart – the desperate loneliness and depression she’d felt inside her since that terrible day she’d come home to find George’s things packed.
Like poison being drawn out of a wound, Holly thought vaguely, staring down at the top of Stefan’s head, his ruffled black hair hanging down over his face. She had a sudden urge to run her hands through it – but she managed to restrain herself. Just.
“That feels really good,” she said instead, knowing she sounded a little… well, out of it. There was something about the way he was touching her that just made her relax, the tension draining from her body. “I don’t remember the last time anyone gave me a foot rub,” she continued after a moment. “Let alone one this amazing.”
Stefan looked up at her, green eyes almost seeming to glow. “That’s a shame,” he said, smiling. “Especially if you’ve been having a hard time. Is that why you came out here?”
Biting her lip, Holly nodded. She had sworn she wasn’t going to spill her guts to Stefan, but his tone was so gentle and so genuinely sympathetic that she felt the words beginning to spill out of her. “Yeah. I guess I… well, things didn’t work out the way I wanted them to. I wanted to forget about an ex-boyfriend.”
Stefan’s eyes narrowed, the warmth draining out of them. “What did he do?”
Holly shook her head quickly. “Nothing bad. I mean, he never hit me or hurt me. Not physically, anyway. But I guess he just turned out to be way more selfish than I thought he was. He dumped me really suddenly, after we’d made plans together and… and I thought we’d be starting a new life.” She shook her head ruefully. “It was stupid of me, but I quit my job really quickly too. My boss was looking to make cutbacks, and I thought it would save him some hassle and maybe a couple of my co-workers’ jobs.” She laughed, though it was humorless. “So as you can see, I got myself into a bit of a pickle. A couple of weeks in a cabin seemed like a better antidote than sitting around my apartment feeling sorry for myself.”
“It is beautiful out here,” Stefan said softly. “And yes, I think that qualifies as a hard time – and definitely something that deserves a foot rub.”
Holly laughed, settling back on the couch. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
Glancing up at her quickly, Stefan seemed surprised by her words. “I’m sorry?”
“Oh – it was just a joke,” she said quickly, smiling down at him. “I mean, I’m sure there can’t be that many girls wandering around the forest who need rescuing.”
Okay, back off on the pop culture references, she told herself. Clearly, Stefan had a bit of a gap as far as they were concerned – but if he lived out here, then perhaps she shouldn’t be surprised. She had a sudden vision of him roaming about the forest, hunting for his own food, chopping his own firewood – a true mountain man, strong, self-sufficient, and utterly masculine. She could cut a guy like that a bit of slack for not having seen The Exorcist.
“How did you find me out there?” Holly asked, beginning to feel relaxed again. “It really did seem like you just came out of nowhere.”
Stefan paused before answering. “I guess I… well, I heard you talking to the bear,” he said after a long moment. “I like to get out and hike myself.”
Holly nodded, but she still felt a little confused. “It’s a pretty big coincidence, though. These forests are huge.”
As he looked up at her, Holly could see unease on Stefan’s handsome face. “Holly,” he said, placing her foot carefully back down on the ground. Vaguely, Holly realized that it didn’t hurt at all anymore. “There’s something I – something I think I need to –”
As he rose, he placed a hand on the bare skin of her knee, below the material of the shorts she was wearing.
A spark of pure electricity raced through her, seeming to travel from her to him. Holly stared down at where their bodies connected, her heart thumping, her breath suddenly seeming very short.
She swallowed heavily, feeling heat building between her legs. She had never felt this way before – not with any man, and certainly not ever with George. Despite the fact he hadn’t done much around the house while she was at work, he’d often told her he was too tired for sex. While she’d tried to believe him, it had still made her feel undesirable. But the way Stefan was looking at her now, an almost unearthly fire in his eyes, was enough to wash the memory of George and everything he’d ever said and done straight out of her head.
Her mouth had gone dry. She wanted to say something, but no words would come to her. “Stefan – I – oh, God…”
In the next second, his lips were on hers, kissing her as she’d never been kissed before in her life.
It was like being kissed by pure fire – like she was being burned up from the inside out. His scent filled her: he smelled like the fresh green leaves on the trees outside, of wood smoke and clean earth. Dizzy, Holly felt herself being held up by his strong, well-muscled arms as they rose together, still locked at the lips, melting against each other’s bodies.
Holly felt helpless against her desire – the promises she had made to herself about not being swept up in a rebound fling were forgotten. The only thing she knew was that she wanted him, more than she could ever remember having wanted anyone before in her life.
She had felt it from the very first moment she had seen him. There was something between them, something she couldn’t explain or understand, and which she’d never felt before. All she knew was that it felt like wildfire racing through her, claiming her, and wiping out everything else.
Holly gasped against his lips, filling her hands with the muscle of his shoulders, pulling herself even closer against him. Pressing her hips against his, she could feel a bulge in his jeans pressing against her belly, hot and hard.
“Holly,” Stefan said, his eyes blazing as they looked down into hers. “We shouldn’t –”
His words pierced through the haze of her lust. She bit her lip, her good sense warring against her overwhelming desire. But she already knew which side of her would win.
“Please,” she eventually whispered, standing on tiptoes to bring her lips closer to his. “Please, I want you so much –”
After everything that’s happened, please… just let me have this…
That was apparently all it took, though. His lips crushed against hers, and she was engulfed once more in pure sensation, wrapped in his arms.
His embrace made her feel safe and protected in a way she’d never felt before – he was so much bigger than her, but it wasn’t only that. She had only just met him, but somehow, she felt safe with him. It was almost as if she had known him much longer.
Almost as if I’ve known him all my life, she thought hazily as she leaned against him, weak-kneed.
His tongue swept into her mouth, claiming it, leaving her breathless. His huge, strong hand cradled the back of her head tenderly, his other hand holding the small of her back, pulling her against him. Her own hands roamed over the broad plane of his chest, before her right hand slid up to cup his cheek, feeling the prickle of his stubble against her palm.
“Come on,” she whispered when they broke apart again, taking him by the hand and leading him toward the bedroom.
He followed her, his hand completely engulfing hers, before he caught her in his arms again. Laughing, Holly pressed a kiss to his throat, smelling the heady, masculine scent of his sweat. Feeling bold, she nipped a little at the soft skin beneath his Adam’s apple, and felt him draw a quick, hissed breath in response.
“Hmm,” he murmured, lifting his hand and tilting her chin up so he could press a warm kiss against her lips. “Like that, is it?”
Holly smiled against his mouth as he kissed her again, deeply this time, his hands wandering over her back and into the valley of her waist.
She wanted him so badly she just wanted to tear off all her clothes – and his, too – and throw herself down on the bed, ready for the taking. She pulled at him, though she knew she wouldn’t have a hope of shifting him unless he wanted to come. Together, though, they moved toward the bed before she felt it against the backs of her calves, and together they tumbled down onto it.
Holly yanked at the bottom of her tank top as they kissed, frantic to feel his skin against hers. Pulling her top up over her head before flinging it across the room, Holly’s fingers then went to the buttons on his jacket, only to find his fingers there too, strong and calloused. She bit her lip as his chest was revealed, hard and flat, the ridges of his abs covered in dark hair that led down into his jeans – which Holly could see were straining to contain him.
Running her hands over his chest, she found the pebbled circles of his nipples, hearing him gasp as she traced them with the tips of her fingers. Holly looked up into his face, surprised that her touch could arouse such a response in him, only to find his green eyes blazing down at her.
“I want you so badly,” he breathed, raising one hand to stroke her face. “You’re so beautiful.”
Heat surged through her, and Holly reached up to catch his lips with hers again. No one had ever said anything like that to her before – and definitely not with such warmth and sincerity. She began tugging at her shorts, wanting to be completely bare before him, open and ready.
His hands joined hers, sliding her shorts down over the ample curve of her hips, leaving her wearing nothing but her bra and panties. Stefan paused, pulling back, looking down at her.
Holly’s instinct was to cover herself – for all her confidence in the way she looked, she knew she was bigger and curvier than fashion dictated women should be, but the way Stefan looked at her stilled her hands. He looked at her like a parched man in the desert seeing a lush, green oasis; like he desired her more than he’d ever desired anything in his entire life. His eyes seemed to devour the sight of her, running from the top of her head, over her breasts, belly and thighs, to the tips of her toes.
“Beautiful,” he said again, his fingers tracing a light circle over the soft skin of her stomach. “Perfect.”
Holly could feel a blush creeping up over her throat. She was so pale she knew it’d be clearly visible, but Stefan didn’t seem to care. He leaned over her, dropping kisses along her collarbone, slowly moving down to her breasts. She arched her back as he expertly unclipped her bra, leaving her exposed to his mouth.
Holly gasped, writhing up off the bed as he took the sensitive bud of her nipple between his lips, caressing it with his tongue.
“Oh,” she sighed as pleasure rippled through her, his mouth playing over her right breast, while he cupped the other with his large hand.
It felt so good, and Holly could feel herself growing wetter and wetter between her thighs. Stefan moved his body over hers, his kisses leaving her breasts and drifting lower, down over her belly, before sinking lower still.
Holly raised her head in surprise, looking down to where he was resting between her thighs, his fingers tracing over the waistband of her panties.
“Lie back,” he said, his voice a low growl.
Feeling lightheaded, Holly let herself fall back on the bed as Stefan slid her panties down over her ankles, leaving her open and waiting for him.
At the first touch of his lips against her, Holly let out an involuntary cry, squirming up off the bed. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done this to her, and even the lightest touch had her crying out in ecstasy. But it wasn’t only that – it was that Stefan seemed to somehow intuit what she would respond to, moving his lips and tongue expertly to drive her higher and higher into utter bliss.
Holly parted her thighs, inviting him deeper, and again he seemed to read her mind as well as her body, his tongue finding her opening and delving inside.
Again she cried out, her hands clenched in the comforter, her hips rising off the bed. Nothing in her life had ever felt so good. Stefan’s mouth guided her further and further toward her climax, until finally she came, her back arched, thighs clenched, her mouth open in a full-throated cry. Stefan stayed with her the whole way, riding out her orgasm with her, his mouth buried between her legs, his hands curled around her thighs.
“Oh. Oh wow,” Holly breathed as she began to drift down from the heights of her pleasure, back to planet Earth. “That was amazing.”
That’s an understatement, she thought as she blinked up at the ceiling, which was slowly beginning to resolve itself back into wooden rafters rather than the white-hot spots of light that had swum across her vision as she came. She had never had an orgasm like that before.
Feeling out of breath, Holly looked down to where Stefan was resting his chin against her thigh, a lazy smile on his face.
“The pleasure is all mine,” he said, drawing his lower lip into his mouth for a moment, as if savoring her taste.
Holly could feel herself blushing again as Stefan crawled back up the bed to lie beside her, pulling her against his chest. She could still feel the rock-hard bulge of his erection against her, and she shivered.
“You still – I mean, I can, if you want to –”
He cut off the rush of her words by kissing her. “What do you want?”
It was true that she’d just come harder than she’d ever come before in her entire life, but Holly knew that her desire for him was far from sated. She wriggled against him, her hand drifting down his taut stomach and between his legs, giving him a firm squeeze through his jeans.
Stefan groaned, his bright green eyes half-lidded.
“I want you,” she whispered in his ear, her fingers fumbling at the button of his pants.
He said nothing – he just kissed her, long and hard and deep, his hands joining hers in shoving his jeans down over his narrow hips.
Holly broke the kiss to look down at him, wanting to see him. She gasped as she saw his erection, jutting up from his dark public hair, huge and hard and flushed. Holly couldn’t help but bite her lip as she imagined him inside her, and need surged through her belly, making her even wetter.
Stefan moved his body over hers, kissing her, parting her legs with his own. She closed her eyes, gasping in pleasure as he slid inside her, filling her to the brink. He was huge within her, stretching her perfectly. She clung to his shoulders, barely daring to breathe in case the sensation of utter bliss turned out to be an illusion.
In the next second, however, with his first thrust into her, Holly knew it was real. Ecstasy spiraled through her, her inner muscles clenching as he worked his length in and out of her body.
She could feel her climax building within her once more, wave after wave of pleasure rolling through her with every stroke of his body. Holly could feel his breath hot on her face, the movement of his hips growing faster and stronger as his own pleasure grew within him.
“Holly,” he groaned, his voice a low rumble in his chest. She responded by squeezing herself around him, drawing him even deeper within her, and bringing a hoarse cry to his lips.
He plunged into her one final, glorious time, and she cried out as she came, her back arching up off the bed, her head thrown back in complete abandon. She felt the movement of his hips stutter, and then he too was coming, his cock twitching inside her.
Holly had no idea how long she lay beneath him, her hands playing dreamily over his back as she descended from the peak of her pleasure. Every muscle felt utterly, deliciously relaxed, the aftershocks of her orgasm still sending splinters of light through her body.
Oh. Oh my God.
Her legs were splayed around him, and he rested inside her, his cock still twitching.
She was in no hurry for him to move. Although he was heavy, she honestly didn’t care if she never moved again as long as she lived.
Holly groaned in mild protest when he finally did roll away from her, his softening cock slipping from her body. But as soon as he was gone he pulled her close, molding her to his side, his arms around her.
“That was… that was amazing,” he whispered against her forehead, as his hand played through her hair.
“You can say that again,” she said, her hand resting on his shoulder.
It was still early, but Holly could already feel her eyelids drooping. She’d walked a long way today, and now, after everything that had happened…
“Stefan, should we – ” she began to say, before he shook his head.
“Just rest for now,” he said. “We can talk later.”
Holly just nodded, yawning widely. That sounded perfect. She didn’t want to think about anything right now – not about where this might lead, or what might come after. All she wanted to do was lie warm and content by Stefan’s side, listening to his slow, steady heartbeat, and drift slowly into an untroubled sleep.