Chapter 11 - Madeline
He goes inside and I rush back to my car. My heart is thumping. I don’t know what to do. I just came up here to ask him once again to help with our community garden. I wasn’t expecting to see him completely naked, walking around outside like some kind of Tarzan.
Actually, I’m not sure why I came up here. I’ve been telling myself it’s for the project, but now that I’m here – I don’t know. I think I just wanted to see him again. I wanted to have his eyes one me, and I wanted to see his broad shoulders and his muscular arms.
I’ve seen them now, and much more. I grab the car door handle and pull it open. My cheeks are burning and my heart is bouncing against my ribcage. I take a deep breath, trying to ignore the image that’s been burned into my mind.
His chiseled, muscular body turned the corner and all I could see was that thick cock swinging between his legs. His abdominal muscles seemed to funnel my gaze straight down to his shaft and the wetness immediately started pooling between my legs.
As I stand next to my car, I close my eyes and enjoy the pulsing of my center for just a second. I haven’t felt this turned on in years. I take a deep breath and shake my head.
This is wrong.
Everything is wrong. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be imagining him naked. I shouldn’t have seen him naked! I put a foot into the car and start climbing in when the front door opens and he reappears.
He’s wearing pants now, if nothing else. His shoulders are broad and defined, and I can still see that ‘v’ shape of his abdominals that seems to be pointing to the girth between his legs. My cheeks start to burn again and I look away.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I should go.”
“No!” he exclaims, taking a step towards me. He runs his fingers through his hair and bites his lip. My heart does a flip and the wetness between my legs seeps through my panties.
I want him.
I shake my head and grab a brochure from the passenger’s seat of my car.
“I was just going to bring you this. I know that you’re worried about the hotel and how it’ll impact your property. I want you to know that I’ve heard your concerns.”
He takes the brochure without looking at it. His eyes are glued on mine and it takes all my self control to not let my eyes wander down to his bare chest. My hands are itching to reach towards him, to touch his skin and smell his musk.
I shake my head slightly and shrug.
“Anyway, I should be getting back,” I mumble, starting to climb back into my car.
“Can I show you something?” he asks. His voice is soft and his eyes seem to plead with me. I hesitate. I’m torn. Part of me just wants to stay near him, to hear his voice and look at his body. Every time his eyes pass over my body it sends a thrill through me. I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t. I open my mouth to give some excuse when he holds up his hand.
“Let me grab a shirt. Stay here.”
Usually I’d be offended at being ordered around like that, but I do exactly as he says. My feet stayed rooted to the ground and my hand stays glued on top of the car door as I watch him jog back to his cabin and re-emerge, pulling on a t-shirt. His head pops through and he grins at me. His hair is disheveled and his eyes have a lightness to them when he looks at me.
He runs his fingers through his hair again and nods to a path next to the cabin.
“Come on,” he says.
My feet carry me towards him. We walk side by side on the pathway until it becomes too narrow, and then he leads the way. We walk in silence, and I watch the way his ass curves with every step. He pushes branches out of the way, careful to lift them for me as I pass under them. He smiles at me and my heart jumps in my chest. We continue like that for an unknown amount of time, winding our way up the mountain.
The path switches back and forth until the trees thin and we get to a view point. Aiden stops and turns towards me, extending his hand to help me climb a big boulder on the edge. I shake my head.
“I’ll stay here,” I say, peering over the edge. “I’m fine.”
He grins and extends his hand again. “Come on.”
I slip my fingers into his and an electric thrill passes through my arm, all the way down to my core. The apex of my thighs is still pulsing and I can feel the wetness of my panties with every step. He pulls me up beside him and we stand on the boulder, overlooking the wide expanse of the Adirondack Mountains below us. I’m hyper aware of his body next to mine as we stand close to each other. It takes me a few moments to take in anything except his presence. When my eyes do sweep over the view, it steals what’s left of my breath away.
“Wow,” I breathe. “It feels like we’re on top of the world.”
Aiden doesn’t answer. Instead, he points to a bird gliding through the sky. “Peregrine falcon,” he says. “There’s only a handful of them in these mountains.”
He turns to the left and points down the mountainside. “That river has no less than three endangered fish species.”
I look at the river he’s pointing to, and my gaze travels up to the wide swath of land that’s been cleared for the hotel. I feel a lump in my throat and I try to swallow.
“The hotel…”
“They won’t survive,” he says. “No matter how much sediment protection, how much water treatment, how many signs and warnings and fees you impose on tourists, it won’t matter.” He turns to face me and I see a deep sadness in his eyes. “This is why the people of Lang Creek don’t want this hotel. Don’t take it personally.”
I still can’t speak, and I let my eyes travel along the mountain peaks that surround me. I take a deep breath and let the air fill my lungs. I wonder if I’ve ever breathed air this fresh. I glance back at Aiden and take a deep breath.
“I don’t know what to say,” I tell him. His eyes travel up towards me and his lips purse together in a thin line.
“I can’t tell you what to do,” he says.
With that, he turns back towards the path and holds out his hand. The same thrill passes through my body when our palms touch, and I feel just a little bit emptier when his hand slips out of mine. We walk back down in silence until his cabin comes into view. When we get to my car, we stand in front of each other until I look at his face.
“I know I can’t convince you,” I say. “But you obviously know these mountains better than anyone else. Won’t you come help with the community garden and you can teach me what my company doesn’t know? I can help. I can make a difference.”
His face sours and he glances into the forest. His eyes swing back towards me and we stay motionless for a few long moments. Finally his chin dips down a fraction of an inch.
“I’ll think about it,” he says. Without another word, he spins around and stalks back towards his cabin. The door closes behind him and my shoulders slump. I get into my car and drive back down towards Lang Creek, trying to ignore the pulsing between my legs and the fire in my belly.