CHARMANE
Sleep is impossible.
Not because the cabin is cold or in the middle of nowhere. Actually, I quite like this cozy cabin Harvey built. I wish my bank account afforded me the opportunity to sneak away for weeks at a time out here instead of picking up every shift I can.
The restlessness is all Blaine’s fault.
The man is sleeping peacefully beside me in the queen bed, his leg brushing mine no matter how many times I kick it away. The contact is driving me wild. It’s not fair how badly I wanted to kiss him earlier. I figured the moose was some sign from the universe to keep my head on straight.
But the longer I lie awake, the more I wonder why the universe stranded us here together in this tiny, one-bed cabin. If I’m supposed to keep my hands off the man I’ve craved like no other since the moment I laid eyes on him, why this impossible situation?
Maybe it’s a test of will.
It’s been years since I’ve let a man get close. The last time…I shake away that awful night, replacing the nightmare memory with the one of Harvey coming to my rescue. My true father figure, with a loaded shotgun, if ever there was one.
I don’t let anyone get close.
I considered it with Blaine that first night I saw him. Our eyes met across the crowded beer garden and my heart leapt in a joy I’ve never experienced. It was like my soul recognized him. An undeniable pull tugged at me, making it impossible to keep my gaze off him. I was certain he was coming over to talk to me, and nervously rehearsed what I’d say to him in my head. But before he reached me, he draped his arm around two girls and led them back into the bar.
All night long, he flirted with one girl after another. Ignoring me.
I guess the difference is they all fawned after him. But I have more self-respect than that. I was going to make him do the work. Blaine is a sinfully attractive man. One who doesn’t have to try to win a woman’s affection. He’s got a fan club gathered every time he shows up at the bar. I don’t want a man who sits back and waits for what he wants to come to him. I want a man who will go to extraordinary lengths for love.
It was several weeks into the summer before Blaine started trying. By then, it was too late. His impression was already made, his reputation on the tongues of every gossiping mouth in town. His efforts were not made from interest, but rather the fact that I was the only woman who said no to him and he saw it as a challenge.
I tried not to care, but inside it stung.
But what I felt between us that first night has never gone away. It lingers every time Blaine is around. I feel him before I see him most of the time. It’s annoying as hell and has left me sexually frustrated like no other.
Stupid universe. I could be in my own bed, by myself, without this completely bad-for-me temptation.
Blaine stirs, his arm bumping into me. I reach to move it, but the second my fingers wrap around his wrist, I freeze. The contact sends zings of electricity up my arm, straight to my core. It’s been so long since a man has touched me. So long since I’ve experienced any pleasure I haven’t given myself.
I stare at Blaine, who’s still fast asleep, and wonder if maybe this is a gift from the universe instead of a test. A way to get Blaine out of my system without anyone ever having to know I was weak enough to give in. Maybe if I give in, my curiosity will be satisfied and Blaine will finally move on and stop shamelessly flirting with me every chance he gets.
An aching between my legs nudges me into action.
“Blaine?” I whisper, turning toward him, our arms and legs brushing. I gasp as the tip of his erection grazes my belly. “Blaine, are you awake?”
“Hmm?” His eyes flutter open, concern in his expression. “What’s wrong?” He sits up so quickly that the sheet falls away. Revealing ripped muscles because the man refused to wear more than a pair of boxers to bed. Boxers that have tented quite significantly.
“Nothing’s wrong.” My attempts to meet his gaze fail. I’m so nervous about what I’m about to propose. For the first time since that night he arrived in Three Rivers, I’m worried about being rejected. This is stupid. “Never mind. Go back to sleep.”
He leans my way, almost hovering above me with the movement. “Are you having trouble sleeping?” he asks, genuinely concerned. Or maybe he’s just not awake enough to put on that playboy act for me.
“I’m fine.”
Blaine lets out a laugh. “If I’ve learned nothing else in my thirty-eight years on this planet, it’s that when a woman says I’m fine, she’s lying. Every. Single. Time.” Blaine reaches a hand to my cheek, hooking a finger around a strand of hair stuck to my cheek. “What is it, sweetheart?”
It’s the way his intense eyes peer into mine that returns my courage. Or maybe it’s how badly I need a release. “I have a proposition for you.”
“Oh?” His fingertips trace a line over my jaw, down my neck, and onto my shoulder. I didn’t pack for an overnight adventure, so I was forced to sleep in my bottom layer. He pushes the strap of my tank top off my shoulder. My nipples are hopelessly hard and unashamedly poking right at him.
“Whatever happens in this cabin stays in this cabin.” I suck in a breath, but it’s not nerves now. It’s the softest graze of his fingertips tracing a circle around my hard nipple through the thin cotton.
“Are you finally giving in to me?” he says, that arrogant smirk spread across his lips. It’s always irritated me, but right now I don’t have the good sense to let it stop me from surrendering tonight.
“With conditions,” I add, softly groaning as he palms my breast. Slickness has built between my legs, begging for me to hurry this up.
“Name them, sweetheart.”
I wonder what he’d do if I ever admitted how much I love that nickname. Even when he’s driving me crazy and tempting me to dump a glass of beer in his lap, I love the way that single word makes me feel. “This is a friends-with-benefits situation,” I say, groaning again as he leans down and covers my other nipple with his hot breath.
“Go on.”
“No one will ever know about this. No one.” I whimper when he frees a breast from the tight fabric of my tank. He scrapes his teeth over my nipple.
“Anything else?”
“Once we leave, that’s it. This won’t happen again.” Even saying the words feels wrong, but I hold to them. This is the only way. I give in tonight—maybe tomorrow night if fate decides to strand us longer—and cut myself off when we go back to reality. I’ll have my taste of forbidden fruit, and Blaine’s challenge will have been won so he’s free to move on to the next girl.
“Is that it?”
“Yeah,” I answer in a throaty whisper as he fondles both exposed boobs with the entirety of those warm, capable hands. Everything about this man is strong and large. The anticipation of him inside me is driving me wild. I need this release. A night or two of reckless abandon. Faint whispers that this is a bad idea are drowned out completely by Blaine’s scorching touch.