Page 21 of My Mountain Man Grump
He squeezes my hand in his. “Thank you. You lost your mom too?”
I tell him all about Mom, how I nursed her through the chemo, and then when she relapsed, how I nursed her through the last days of her life. I tell him about Suzie leaving her studies and coming back from England not yet knowing she was pregnant. I tell her about my nephew and how I helped Suzie out because she was a single mom without a mother.
Cole grasps my hand in his, spreading warmth down my arm. “It seems to me you’ve spent your life looking after people, Carrie. But who’s looking after you?”
He draws me to him, and I climb onto his lap. I’m wearing jeans today, and I straddle him as his hands slide over my waist.
“There’s only one way I need looking after.”
His lips crash onto mine and I shudder at the heat and the pressure and how damn good it feels. My body responds to him and I tilt my hips, pressing myself to him, needing to be closer.
“Can you do something for me, Cole?”
My voice sounds breathy, and he gazes at me with lazy hooded eyes. “Depends on what you’re asking.”
I bite my bottom lip, not sure what he’s going to think of my request.
“My coming here was a chance to do something for myself. For the first time since I was eighteen, no one needs me. I want to do something that’s just for me.”
I lean forward to whisper in his ear, too embarrassedto show my face as I request the one thing I want from him. “Can you take my virginity?”
Cole gasps at my suggestion and I squeeze my eyes shut in embarrassment. It’s a brazen request. But this guy is a stranger from another state. He’s the perfect candidate. Then at least my trip out here won’t be wasted.
“You deserve better than a quick fumble on the side of a riverbank.”
I roll my hips against him, because he didn’t say no, which means it might be a yes. “Then don’t make it quick.”
My lips move down his throat, and he tastes of sweat and horse, and it’s surprising how nice that combination tastes.
I stick my chest forward so it brushes against his and am rewarded with a low groan.
“Please, Cole. I won’t ask anything else from you. Just make love to me, just one time.”
His fingers dig into my hips, and his breathing is ragged.
“Are you sure it’s what you want?” His voice rasps out, and he pulls me back to look me in the eye.
They’re blazing with desire, but there’s something else there. Uncertainty.
“It’s just one time,” I reassure him. “So my trip out here isn’t entirely wasted.”
Something flashes across his face that I can’t identify. But I don’t give him time to hesitate. My fingers slide down his shirt, and I ping one of the buttons open.
“If it’s what you want. But you can change your mind anytime, okay?”
A thrill runs through me at what I’m about to do. “Okay.”
Cole brushes his thumb over my cheek, his hard callus grazing my skin. “But I might be rough, Carrie. I’ll try to go slow, but you’re driving me crazy.”
His words send hot shivers to my lower belly. My core pulls in tight, and I press my sex against him. Annoyingly it comes up against my jeans. I need to feel him. I need his touch, his skin on mine.
Cole puts his hand behind my back, and in one quick move he flips me around so I’m lying on the picnic blanket and he’s kneeling before me.
His fingers tug at my jeans, and he pulls them off and discards them next to us.
“Will anyone come by?” From where I’m lying all I see is long grass and the river, but the horses give away our position.
“Maybe.” He speaks the words against my skin as he kisses my thighs. But all thoughts of being discovered by a stranger flee my mind as his mouth moves up my inner thigh.
