Chapter 16
Growling low, Marc cinched Kendall’s waist with his hands. “Hold that thought. Just let me add a little more to the fire—don’t want it going out and freezing you.” Gently, he lifted her off, his eyes pinned to her pink-tipped breasts as they bounced slightly. Setting her to the side, he stood up and hobbled over to the stove. Adding a few more sticks, he stoked the fire, battling back the chill in the room. As she rose and stood next to him, he snagged the waistband of her thermal underwear and pulled it down over her hips.
“I want to take my time,” he moaned, “and worship every inch of you, but I don’t want you to get chilled.”
“I think we’ll stay warm enough,” she panted, jerking her pants the rest of the way down and dropping them to the blanket.
They lay back down and his gaze roamed over her nude body, perfection in his eyes. She smiled, warmed underneath his appraisal. She knelt on her knees as he sat up, his shirt quickly shucked and next to hers on the blanket.
She drank him in, his chest more marvelous than she had remembered. Her eyes dropped to his hands as he began pulling his thermal pants off. “Let me,” she whispered, her hands replacing his as she pulled them down, freeing his impressive erection.
Capturing his swollen cock in her hands she encircled him, moving her hands up and down his shaft as he groaned. Throwing her leg over his hips again, he stopped her, “Wait.”
Slipping one hand between her legs the other cupped her breast. Moving between each breast, he tweaked her nipples, teasing them into aching buds. Sliding his fingers through her wet, silky folds before inserting one into her warmth, he pressed his thumb on her swollen clit. Throwing her head back, she reveled in the feelings of electricity spreading throughout her body. Panting, her release eminent, he inserted another finger, scissoring them inside. Finding the spot that would have her breath catching in her throat, he pinched her nipple at the same time he pressed harder on her swollen nub.
Crying out his name as her orgasm slammed into her, she felt her inner muscles grab his fingers as warmth spread from her core outward. He swore he had never heard a sweeter sound than his name on her lips.
She dropped her chin forward, gifting him with her smile. Chest still heaving, she seated her slick entrance over his cock and plunged him in to the hilt, causing them both to gasp. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she held on as she rode him, her breasts bouncing in rhythm.
Having always worn a condom, the feeling of being ungloved had him almost coming immediately. Jesus, what is this woman doing to me? Sucking in great gulps of cold air, he forced his thrusts to slow. Marc held fast to her waist, assisting in moving her up and down on his shaft. I’m close…so fuckin’ close! “Kendall…are you—”
“Yes,” she cried out.
He could tell she was tiring so, holding her tightly, he rolled them to one side, keeping her back on the padded sleeping bag. With his body over hers, he attempted to keep the chill from hitting her. Hell, as hot as I am, the cool feels good on top!
Taking over the thrusts, he tried to go slow but soon was overwhelmed with the desire to touch her very soul with his body. “Can you take it harder?”
Crying out once more, she dug her fingers into his shoulders before sliding them to clutch his muscular ass. Pressing him forward, she begged him to take her as hard as he could.
Barely hanging on to his control, he rocked her body until he was no longer able to tell where he ended and she began. Knowing he was close, he reached between them, pressing on her clit once more as he shifted his hips, changing the angle for deeper penetration. “Come on, baby, let go,” he groaned.
She cried his name again as her tight, warm core grabbed his cock. Just as his orgasm started to hit, he remembered to pull out, shooting cum on her stomach. Falling to the side, he panted as he held her tight, feeling her chest heaving as well.
Finally, able to maintain a somewhat coherent thought, he leaned up and grimaced as he saw the mess on her stomach. “Oh, Jesus, Kendall, I’m so sorry.”
She lifted her weary head, viewed her abdomen, and closed her eyes as she fell back to the blanket with a smile on her face. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, waving her hand. “I’ll clean up.”
“No, you wait here,” he protested, starting to rise.
“Marc, you’ve got a bum ankle. Let me get up.”
Leaning over, his face directly in front of hers, he said, “Kendall, you took over when I got hurt. But I’ll be damned if I let you go get cold water to clean up my cum on you. So do as you’re told, sweet girl—lie here and let me take care of you.”
Taking in the intensity of his gaze as it held her captive, she smiled. “Okay,” she breathed out on a whisper.
Closing the distance, he placed a quick kiss on her still-swollen lips before grinning. Standing, he bent over his duffle bag and grabbed a small towel. First dipping it in the melted-snow water, he then laid it on top of the stove for a moment to warm. Moving back to the blanket, he knelt beside Kendall’s body, marveling at her beauty as the firelight flickered over her skin. With his dried cum on her, he wanted to roar and pound his chest. God, that’s such a caveman notion, but damn if I don’t want to claim this woman!
He carefully wiped her stomach, making sure to clean her thoroughly while trying to avoid her tickle spots. Glancing down at the neatly trimmed hair at her apex, he stared as he saw the sticky residue between her legs. Stilling, he wracked his brain to remember if he had pulled out completely before his orgasm hit. Jesus, being in her bareback, it’s hard to remember anything other than her tight sex clenching my cock! Wiping her gently, he tried to ascertain if it was his cum or her slick juices. Unable to tell, he looked at her sweet face smiling up at him and decided to say nothing.
His gaze dropped back to her delectable body, full breasts, narrow waist, and slender hips that curved into a delicious ass. Noting a small scar on her lower abdomen, he drew his finger over it, asking, “Appendix scar?”
Glancing down at his large tan hands moving across her pale skin, she nodded. Mesmerized by his fingers trailing along the small scar, she said, “My appendix ruptured when I was a senior in high school. I was taking an exam and felt sick. I knew I needed to finish the test so I didn’t say anything until it was over. Then I passed out right in class and they took me to the hospital in an ambulance.”
“Shit, Kendall,” he exclaimed, his brows pulled down as he frowned at her. “What’d your parents say?”
Giggling, both from his question and the tickling of his fingers, she said, “Mom was frustrated with me and Dad wondered how it might have affected my test score!” Seeing Marc’s surprise, she quickly amended, “Oh, Dad was concerned about me, but after I had surgery and was fine, he wondered about the affect.”
“Is your mom a biologist as well?” His hand stilled on her stomach as he watched her smile slide from her face.
“She was a physician…ran a free clinic in Louisiana. She was killed when I was in college.” She looked up at Marc’s ruggedly handsome face in the flickering firelight and lifted her hand to cup his jaw. “It’s okay…I can talk about her.”
“I’d like to know,” he replied, leaning his face into her hand, loving the feel of her small fingers stroking his beard.
“She and my dad met in college and, even though they were both brilliant, they complemented each other so much. I was an only child but they never put pressure on me. In fact, when I was little, I took piano and dance lessons. They always said they wanted me to be happy in whatever I did.”
“And science made you happy?”
“Yeah…I know, I’m a geek.” Shrugging, she said, “Mom had long hours sometimes, so I would go to Dad’s labs after school. I loved what he did and found that I had an aptitude for science.”
Kendall dropped her hand from his face and trailed her fingers along his chest, down to his hard, six-pack abs. Finding a puckering along the way, her hand stilled. “Looks like you have a few scars as well.” She held his gaze as she surmised, “Why do I get the feeling these weren’t from an appendix surgery?”
Chuckling, he admitted, “No, ‘fraid not.”
“Gunshot?”
He searched her face, but found nothing but concern…not curious fascination as other women had expressed. Others had wanted him to talk about what he had done to get shot, and were disappointed to find out I wasn’t like a CIA operative in a movie!
Nodding, he said, “Yeah.” Offering a shrug, he added, “It was a job hazard.”
“Looks like it still is,” she observed, her fingers gently sliding from the scar back up to his chest. “I hate the thought of you being hurt.”
Her confession shocked him…and pleased him, unused to someone caring. Before he could respond, she shivered and Marc was jolted back to the matter at hand. “Okay, you need to get dressed now,” he ordered gently as he took the cloth and wiped his cock as well.
They dressed quickly in their thermal underwear and he stoked the fire once more. Standing, she blushed nervously, wondering what the protocol was for just having had cabin sex with a man she had only met a few days ago.
He watched her avoid looking at him and he shook his head as he hobbled right up to her, pulling her into his embrace. “Oh, no, sweet girl, no shyness now. And I sure as hell hope you don’t regret this.”
Lifting her chin, she stared into his face, seeing the concern in his eyes. “No. No regrets from me,” she admitted.
“Me either,” he confessed, cupping her smooth cheek. Dropping another kiss on her cooling lips, he added, “I need to get you covered up and warm.”
They lay down and he pulled the sleeping bag over the top of them, encasing them in a cocoon of warmth. Pulling her close, he wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head underneath his chin.
“Kendall?”
Warm and snuggly, she said, “Yeah?”
“This meant something, sweet girl. I don’t know what all we’ll need to do to keep finding out what we could have together, but you need to know…I consider this to be the start of you and me.”
Smiling, with her soft breath against his chest, she fell asleep.
*
Marc’s arms held Kendall close, his heartbeat against her cheek. He desired to hold her naked body tucked into his, skin to skin as they fell asleep, but did not want to take a chance with the cold. As it was, they had dressed quickly and he had built the fire back up to finish drying their wet clothes.
Now, she slept peacefully and he watched her face in slumber. What am I feeling? Hell, I’ve never felt anything for a woman before other than friendship or pleasure. But he knew this was different. I really, really like her. More than any other woman I’ve ever been with. But how can we move forward after our rescue? Would she want to try? Or is this all just me?
Finding no answer in the stark cabin in the middle of the wilderness, he drifted off to sleep.
*
Marc’s eyes jerked open from a deep sleep, feeling the cool where Kendall’s warm body had been. Seeing the faint light of early dawn peeking through the wooden wall slats, he wondered where Kendall was. Sitting up, noticing her bent near the stove, her pants in her hands, he called out, “What’s up?”
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I need to step outside to…um…well, I’ve got to pee.”
Pushing the sleeping bag off to the side, he began to stand. “No, no,” she said, pushing down on his shoulders. “I’ll just be a minute.”
“I don’t want you out there by yourself,” he said, taking her hands in his.
“Marc, I just can’t do what I need to do if you’re there too. Please. I’ll just walk around to the side of the cabin. You can stay by the door with it open if you want, although it’ll make it cold in here.”
Coming to a full stand, he balanced on his good leg while grabbing his jeans and nodding. “Okay, get wrapped up and I’ll wait at the front door for you. But don’t wander anywhere,” he warned. “Just take care of your business right by the side.”
Kendall slid her now dry jeans on over the thermals and jerked her sweater over her head. Zipping up her coat, she joked, “It’ll take me longer to get dressed than it will to do what I need to do!”
Smiling down at her, he placed her knit cap on her head, pulling it down to cover her ears. “I’ll make the best use of this time and take care of my business too.”
Pursing her lips, she agreed, but warned, “Okay, but stay on your side of the cabin!”
Laughing, he agreed as he grabbed one of his guns for protection. Opening the cabin door, they were greeted with wind-swept snow piled against the walls. The dawn’s faint light glistening against the white world was blinding. Blinking, Kendall held her hand up to shade her eyes. It was still snowing, the wind tossing the flakes sideways, pummeling the couple. Stepping carefully into the first snow drift, she turned to the left and tried to hurry around the side but made slow progress, as the snow came to her knees. Marc watched her turn the corner and, now out of his sight, he headed to the right.
Taking care of his business, he was just zipping his pants when his ears perked up. Wondering what he had heard, he stilled his breathing, his ears alert for another sound. A low growl came from the distance…just before a scream pierced the storm.
Charging around the corner with his weapon out, ignoring the searing pain in his leg, he saw Kendall as she made it around the other front corner, her face a mask of terror with a huge bear in the distance charging straight for her. Unable to get a good shot, he yelled, “Drop!”
Acting on instinct, she threw herself face first into the snow at his feet just as he discharged his weapon. Firing several rounds into the head, knowing it was the only way to stop the bear, the large animal slowed before dropping to the ground. Marc fired several more rounds to be sure the bear was dead and not suffering. Moving closer, cautiously, his heart pounded as he recognized it as a grizzly. Its mouth was open, exposing long teeth, but it was the razor-sharp claws that caught his eye. Fuck, I thought the bears would still be in hibernation for another few weeks. The bear’s thick fur was already becoming covered in the falling snow, quickly hiding the blood splatters.
Hearing a gasp, Marc twisted around and saw Kendall standing close by, eyes wide in horror staring at the bear, before she dropped to her knees and began to retch. Hustling over, he knelt next to her, supporting her shoulders. Shaking violently, she heaved into the snow before sitting back, gasping for air.
Marc swooped her up in his arms, his ankle nearly buckling under him, but he powered through the pain until he got her inside and lay her on the sleeping bag. Turning back, he shut the door, throwing the wooden bolt in place. His heart pounded out of control, the adrenaline kicking in. Never have I felt so scared on a mission…so out of control!
“I can’t…I can’t…this…I can’t,” she babbled as he rushed back to her side.
‘You can’t what, Kendall? What?” Seeing her begin to hyperventilate, he pressed against her chest. “Breathe with me, sweetheart. Breathe with me.”
Lowering his face so that he was directly in her line of vision, he captured her gaze. Breathing deeply, he nodded as she began to mirror his breaths. “Good girl, keep it slow and steady.”
As the adrenaline left her body, Kendall felt weak, her arms and legs shaky. Closing her eyes for a moment, she felt the cold of shock creeping through her system.
Marc laid down next to her, drawing her into his embrace after pulling the sleeping bag over them. Whispering words of comfort, he held her close to his still rapidly beating heart. “You’re safe now, sweet girl. I’ve got you. You’re safe. You did so good…exactly what you needed to do. I’ve got you now.”
Cocooned in warmth, she slowly felt her body return to normal, although her mind whirled. A tear slid down her cheek as she whispered, “I can’t do this. I want to go home.” Finally, exhausted, she drifted off.
Marc knew sleep would not come back for him. When he closed his eyes, all he could see was Kendall as she rounded the corner with the growl of the charging bear behind her. And while the bear was not very close, if he had not been able to kill it, their fates might have been very different. Kissing the top of her head softly, he pulled her tighter into his warmth. Unable to imagine life without Kendall in it now, he also wondered about her final whisper…when she goes home, will I ever see her again?