Page 13 of Heart of the Mountain
CUTTER
Ilook at the brewing instructions on the back of the bag of coffee, surprised to read that for every cup of coffee, I should be using one and a half tablespoons of grounds. Not the three that I usually do.
After measuring out the correct amount of coffee and water, I start up the coffee maker. Opening the fridge, I grab the creamer and whipped cream I picked up at the store last night after Sadie went to sleep. I set them on the counter along with a box of raw sugar crystals and a bottle of hazelnut syrup, which I was shocked the little grocery store in town carried.
We didn’t discuss Sadie spending another night, but how could I send her away after what we shared yesterday? She shined her light into the darkest corners of my soul, and then forgave me for sins she doesn’t even know about. Sadie saw me spiraling about my father and didn’t hesitate to step in and calm me down. I even snapped at her, but she saw right through the anger, straight to the heart of my shame.
Her words echoed in my head all night.We can’t change the past, but we get to decide how we live in the present.How did she know what I needed to hear? I didn’t even know. She gaveme permission to let go of the past. While I still don’t know how to do that, for the first time since the incident, I want to try.
As if that weren’t enough of a revelation for one day, I went and stole a kiss from her. Jesus, her lips, her taste, her needy whimpers…
“Morning,” Sadie says, her voice soft with sleep.
I turn my attention toward the woman changing everything about me, unable to help myself from scanning her deliciously curvy body. She’s wearing one of my t-shirts, which is long enough to be a dress on her. God, she looks good enough to eat. I might have to do just that.
“Morning,” I cough out, trying to get control of my lustful thoughts.
“What is all this? Oh my god, Cutter!” Sadie grins at me and then studies the spread of coffee fixings on the breakfast bar. “Did you go into town for these? Just for me?”
The confused yet hopeful look in her emerald eyes makes me want to wrap her up in my arms and kiss the top of her head. It’s as if no one has ever gone out of their way to do something nice for her, which I suppose lines up with what she’s told me about her past. Foster care, too many kids, likely abuse at the hands of the people who were supposed to care for and love her. Each new piece of her story tears at my jagged heart. I want to be better for her, to give her everything she never had growing up.
“You made it sound so good that I wanted to try it for myself,” I finally answer.
Sadie narrows her eyes suspiciously at me, which has my dick twitching beneath my jeans. “You look like you haven’t had sugar in years.” Her cheeks glow pink as her gaze roams over my body, and I remember that I never put a shirt back on after my workout and shower this morning.
Fuck it, how can I resist the curvy little goddess when she’s staring at me with an intoxicating mix of desire and innocence?I stalk toward her, and she turns in her seat, the barstool making her the perfect height for me to step between her parted thighs.
“You like what you see?” I ask, my voice deep and gravelly. I cup her cheek, then slide my hand down, wrapping my fingers lightly around her throat.
Sadie lets out a soft moan as she tilts her head up, those green eyes foggy with lust. “Yes,” she whispers. The tip of her tongue darts out, wetting her bottom lip.
“Me, too,” I growl a millisecond before fusing my lips to hers.
She somehow tastes sweeter than I remember, her citrusy flavor branding me for all of time. Sadie parts those precious lips of hers and lets me in, lets me drink more of her down, lets me become utterly addicted to her.
Our tongues tangle as my hands slide up and down her body, over the curve of her breast, her ribcage, her curvy waist, finally landing on her rounded, mesmerizing, mouthwatering hips. I pull her toward me and slide my hands lower to her thighs, lifting Sadie onto the counter in one swift move. She moans loudly as we both get completely lost in this kiss.
I already know it won’t be our last. No fucking way.
I need more, need to feel her skin under my tongue, need to lap at those perky nipples, need to breathe her in. I need to see her come. I need to smell her release as it drips down my chin.
Reluctantly, I break our kiss so I can fill my lungs with air. She follows me like our lips are connected by magnets. It pleases me to know she's as addicted to me as I already am to her.
I watch as she catches her breath, her eyes closed, lips swollen, cheeks flushed.
“Beautiful,” I whisper into the side of her neck before placing a soft kiss there.
Her pulse beats rapidly, which makes me groan and lick the same spot. She bucks her hips, grazing her hot little pussy against me.
“Do you like it when I kiss you here, Sadie?” I ask as I continue trailing kisses up and down her slender column.
“Yes, Cutter,” she whimpers.
I growl into her skin, my already hard dick becoming granite at the sound of my name on her lips. She tilts her neck, baring the soft flesh to me. I feel like a wolf, needing to sink my teeth into my prey. Her skin is smooth and warm beneath my lips, and she shudders when the tip of my tongue grazes her heated flesh.
“Please,” Sadie whimpers again as I slowly kiss my way down her chest, over the fabric of the shirt she’s wearing. “I need more. Please, Cutter.”
My large hands skim up her soft belly, higher, higher, until my thumbs graze the sensitive underside of her breasts. Sadie lifts her arms, giving me the green light to remove her shirt. I grip the hem of the too-large shirt and slowly slide it up her body, revealing inch after creamy inch of skin to my hungry eyes.
