The rain started out as a soft sprinkle, and Nora wondered if Cade hadn’t been exaggerating about the intensity of the summer thunderstorm.
Then a sharp flash of lightning lit up the sky followed immediately by a loud crack of thunder, and the sky opened up. Torrents of water poured down on them, and they were both soaked to the skin in seconds.
Lowering her head to shield her face from the rain, she trusted Beauty as the horse plodded after Gypsy. Nora raised her head as Cade shouted over the deluge. “It’s just in this clearing. We’re almost there.”
They emerged from the trees and the rain hit harder without the break of the leaves. A small log cabin sat at the base of the next ridge, pine trees ringing its back side. A flat roof jutted off one side of the cabin, offering a shelter for the horses, and Cade headed them that direction.
Another crack of lightning had Nora wincing and hunching into her saddle. Cade didn’t seem affected by the rain at all as he took charge of the situation, slowing his horse to the pace of hers, then taking the reins from her and leading Beauty under the shelter. He jumped down from the saddle and tied both horses to a post.
Her hands were shaking and numb as she tried to grasp the wet saddle horn. She was so cold. Her fingers refused to listen to her commands, and she was thankful Cade had taken the reins from her. She blinked against the water dripping into her eyes, then Cade was there, reaching his arms up to support her as she practically fell into them. They’d probably only been in the rain for about ten minutes, but she wasn’t dressed for the freezing water that soaked through every scrap of her clothing.
“I got you,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he led her to the front of the cabin. Kicking over a large quartz rock on the stoop, he uncovered a single key on a ring. Snatching it from the porch, he inserted it into the lock and quickly hustled them through the door. Rain water poured off the brim of his cowboy hat as he took it off and tossed it on the table, then rubbed his hand brusquely over his wet hair.
The air inside the cabin was musty and cool, and Nora wrapped her arms around her stomach in an effort to contain her chills. Cade grabbed a wool blanket from the back of the couch and draped it around her shoulders. She pulled the edges closed as she peered around the interior of the cabin.
Rough timber walls framed a large open space with a living room and kitchen separated by a wooden table and five mismatched chairs. The wood plank floors were scattered with area rugs, including a thick sheepskin one in front of the giant stone fireplace that took up the majority of the far wall. The room was decorated in a bear and cabin motif with little touches of pinecones and bear paws throughout. A pair of sturdy sofas faced the fireplace, their surfaces and backs laden with a random assortment of throw pillows and cozy blankets. A rustic chandelier fashioned from deer antlers hung above the dining room table, and blue-and-white gingham curtains framed the large picture window facing out onto the meadow. Two doors appeared to lead to a bathroom and a small bedroom.
Lightning lit up the room as rain pounded the rooftop, the steady downpour visible through the big window, and she flinched at the loud crack of thunder. “That sounded c-c-close,” she said, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.
“It was,” Cade said, striding into the kitchen and yanking open the cupboard above the stove. “These storms can get real nasty, real quick. I’m thankful we didn’t get hit with hail too. But we’re safe now.” Spotting what he was looking for, he grabbed a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels from the cabinet and a juice glass from the next one over. He opened the bottle with his teeth and poured two fingers in the glass as he walked back to her. Pushing the glass into her trembling hands, he told her, “Here, drink this. It’ll help.”
She lifted the glass to her lips, the scent of alcohol filling her nose. She wasn’t normally much of a shot taker, but this wasn’t a normal circumstance. She could barely keep the glass in her hand, it was shaking so badly. Bottoms up. She tipped the glass, swallowing the amber liquid in one gulp. It burned all the way down. “Gah, that’s terrible.”
“Yeah,” he said, tipping the bottle to his lips and taking a swig. “I’ll get a fire going, get this place warmed up.” He set the bottle on the table before hurrying toward the fireplace and grabbing several logs from the bin next to it. He tossed the wood onto the grate, then grabbed a handful of newspapers from the stack, quickly crumpling them and forcing them into the crevices between the logs. A box of matches sat on the hearth and the slight tremor in his hand as he took one out and struck it against the stone wall was the only indication that the cold was affecting him.
She might be wet and freezing, but she wasn’t too cold to notice the way his wet shirt clung to his muscular frame or the flex of his biceps as he’d pitched those logs. Or the fact that they were alone in a cabin in the mountains wearing wet clothes that would eventually need to come off. Dispensing with the glass, she swiped the bottle of Jack from the table and took another quick slug while Cade’s back was still turned as he focused on starting the fire.
Ugh. Her throat burned, and another hard shiver ran through her as she replaced the whiskey to its spot on the table.
Flames licked the dry newspaper, the crackle of the fire catching filling the quiet cabin, and Cade opened the flue as thin wisps of smoke drew upward into the chimney. He waved her toward him. “Come over by the fire. Let’s see if we can get you warmed up.” He tended to the logs, adding more small kindling and newspaper until the fire took.
Nora sat on the edge of the hearth and held her hands out to the heat, but they were shaking so badly from the cold that the tremors went all the way up her arms. She tried to keep her teeth from chattering, but she was losing that battle as well.
Cade pulled her boots off and rubbed her feet between his hands. He frowned down at them. “Damn, you’re soaked to the bone. Even your socks are wet.” He peeled her socks from her feet, then stood and lifted her into his arms. “We’ve got to get you out of these clothes and into a hot shower.” Cradling her to his chest, he carried her into the small bathroom, stopping to toe his own boots off on the way.
The bear theme extended into the bathroom with a log cabin light switch cover and a mama bear and her cub on the curtain of the shower stall. Cade tore back the curtain and wrenched the knob. A groan and a creak shuddered through the wall then a stream of water poured from the shower head. “That should heat up in a minute.”
He set her down and turned to go but she reached for his arm. “Don’t go. You’re soaked too.”
The kind of heat that no fire could generate surged through her chest as he stared intensely into her eyes. He held her gaze for what felt like hours but was probably seconds, then he gave her a solemn nod and pushed the door shut behind him. The sound it made as the latch clicked into place was louder than any crack of lightning. Not taking his eyes from hers, he pulled his T-shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor.
Nora’s mouth went dry at the array of solid muscle and hard abs. Holy hot cowboy. She stood frozen, unable to do anything but stare as he unhooked his belt buckle, drew down his fly, and shrugged out of his jeans.
Left in only a pair of black boxer briefs, he looked like a Greek god. His skin was tanned, and his shoulders seemed as broad as the doorway behind him. A dark purple bruise smudged across his side, and his chest was marred with a few scattered scars. Nora’s gaze followed a white line of scar tissue that crossed his ridiculously hard abs and ended somewhere below his waistband. She swallowed as she prayed she would get to see where.
Wanting nothing more than to fling herself into his arms and commence licking him, she found she couldn’t move. She seemed to be frozen—not just cold and wet, but held captive by his gaze as it raked over her body, his eyes narrowing with hunger and desire. He looked at her as if she were a four-course meal and he hadn’t eaten in months. Her limbs might not be able to move, but inside she was aching and couldn’t wait for him to taste her.
Moving slowly, he reached for the hem of her shirt and gently tugged it up, easing it over her head. Like a rag doll, she let him undress her, holding his gaze as he ran the back of his fingers down her arm. Goose bumps broke out across her skin as he paused at her waist, then drew his fingers across her stomach. A gasp escaped her lips as he slid his hand under her waistband to release the snap on her jeans.
It might have been the rain, it might have been the whiskey, but it was most likely the pure lust she felt for this man that had her shimmying out of her wet jeans and backing into the shower with him in just her bra and the tiny slip of her lacy thong underwear.
Not that they mattered. She hazarded a quick glance at herself. The white fabric of her bra was practically clear as the thin material molded to her breasts and outlined the hardened tips of her nipples. The sight of the rosy-pink nubs peeking through the sheer fabric was somehow more erotic than if she’d been totally naked.
He paused at the edge of the shower, his voice husky as he spoke. “I’m dying to get in there with you, darlin’, but I have to stop.”
Stop?
Oh shit. Had she made another colossal mistake? Had she completely misjudged this whole situation?
Her shoulders shrunk in, and she wrapped her arms around her belly, which a moment ago had felt curvy and sensual and now just felt flabby and soft. She dipped her chin to her chest.
“Hey now,” he said, his fingers gently touching her chin as he raised her face to look at him. His eyes were so blue and radiated with sincerity. “Don’t do that. Don’t shy away from me.”
His thumb grazed her bottom lip, and she fought to keep it from trembling. She was confused and embarrassed and wanted to melt and wash away with the water swirling into the drain. “But you said you wanted to stop,” she whispered.
He shook his head, the ghost of a rogueish smile curving his lips. “No. I didn’t. I said I had to stop. Because as much as I wanted to step in and take you against the side of this shower, I wanted more to stop and just look at you.” He reached for her hand and pulled it away from her stomach. “I needed to stop and convince myself this was really happening.” He took her other hand and pulled it away as well.
Oh. Her breath caught in her throat as his stare moved over her body.
“You are so beautiful,” he said, his voice gravelly with need. “More beautiful than I’d even imagined.” Her confidence blossomed as his smile grew, then transformed into an expression of wolfish desire. “And I’ve imagined a lot.”
His words, and the look of hunger in his eyes, gave her the courage to stand taller. The expression on his face told her everything, but a quick glance at his briefs was further proof that his appreciation of her body was real. Those two things combined emboldened her, and she lifted her chin and pushed back her shoulders, giving him a better view of her plump breasts. “Well then, stop imagining and get in here and start doing.”
He laughed a hearty laugh that sent another flurry of sensations racing through her. The sensations might also have to do with him kicking his briefs off and pulling her to him.
She grinned up at him, a grin that she hoped was seductive and coy. “Now, what was that you were saying about taking me against the side of the shower?”
He laughed again, but this time it sounded more like a growl. The warm water rained down, but her body heated from the inside as he pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was deep and demanding, full of yearning and need.
He tasted like whiskey and desire. And she couldn’t get enough of him. Her body was his for the taking as he kissed her neck, her shoulders, the tops of her breasts. He cupped one in his hand, grazing his thumb over the hardened tip of her nipple as it pushed through the soaked fabric. He dipped his head to suck the tight nub between his lips. Even through her bra, she could feel the heat of his mouth.
She braced her hands against the wall behind her as he unclasped her bra and peeled it from her wet skin. Taking his time, he knelt in front of her and slowly drew her panties over her hips and down her legs. Ignoring the water streaming down her body, he pressed a hot kiss to her stomach, just below her belly button, and heat swirled and coursed through her in anticipation.
Another kiss, lower this time, then another. The sharp scrape of his whiskers against her thighs had her biting her lip and trying not to beg him to touch her.
He stood, replacing his mouth with his hand, his sure touch sliding between the vee of her legs. The tile was cold on her back as she pressed against it, but she didn’t care. All she could think about was this man and the feel of his hands on her body.
She moaned as she surrendered to the relentless ache between her legs when he finally made that connection, circling and stroking, sending sensations rushing through her.
One hand pressed against the wall while the other gripped his shoulder. She was utterly at his mercy, holding on to him, a tide of heat rising in her with every secret caress.
A hot flush swept through her, and her thighs trembled as he commanded more from her, bringing her closer to the edge. She couldn’t think straight as tingles of pleasure ripped through her. She was drowning and flying at the same time as the sensations rushed up and seized her muscles, pushing her higher and higher until she shattered in surrender. She cried out as the pleasure swelled, pulsing and hot, as wave after wave raged through her.
He kissed her again, hard and greedy, as he caught her next moan in his mouth, stealing her breath as he inhaled her. She clung to him, her legs shaking, unraveling from the inside out, as she kissed him back with an abandon she didn’t know was possible.
She let out a tiny shriek as the hot water ran out and cold liquid streamed down her back.
Cade let out a whoop as she jumped out of the shower, and he rushed to turn the faucets off. Her breath was ragged, and she fought to stand up as he folded her into a scratchy towel that he grabbed from a cabinet next to the sink. She used one corner to soak up the excess water from her hair. He dragged a second towel over his wet head, across his chest, then wrapped it around his waist.
She reached to pick up her wet shirt, but he put a hand on her arm. “I’ll take those out to put them by the fire. Not just to get them dry, but because I’m not ready not to be naked with you yet.”
Oh.
“I mean, that shower was a-mazing,” he said, giving her one of his roguish grins. “But I’d like to try that again horizontally instead of vertically. And in a real bed.”
Offering him a seductive smile, she let the towel fall to the floor. “Horizontal sounds good.” So did sideways, right side up, and upside down. She’d take this man whatever direction he wanted—or be taken by him.
She’d thought he’d sapped every ounce of energy from her but his comments, and that dang grin, had her body heating up and ready for more.
What had gotten into her? She wasn’t usually this brazen. But with Cade, everything felt different. She felt different. At this point, she probably couldn’t blame it on the whiskey anymore, but something sure had her letting her defenses—and her towel—drop.