Page 35 of Creed (Rock Hard Mountain Men #3)

Kayden

It took another two months after our escape from the cult to finish building Creed’s house.

Summer had given way to autumn, and the mountain trees had changed from brilliant green to a fiery patchwork of colors.

In that time, I’d left for a few small trips to appease my editor, but I couldn’t bear to stay away for long and always ended up coming right back.

I’d never built a house before, or done any woodworking for that matter, but I helped where I could.

There was always plenty of basic labor that needed to be taken care of.

Creed had also managed to find a job, and I knew that he felt better now that he was able to contribute financially.

About two weeks after Creed and I were rescued, a group of campers went missing out on the mountain.

Creed volunteered his services to help find the missing campers, and his skills ended up being invaluable to the rescue efforts.

Apparently, the campers’ GPS had been broken and took them in the wrong direction.

None of them had been skilled enough at reading the environment around them to realize they were off track until they started running low on supplies.

They’d been so far from their intended destination that even the rescue team’s scent hounds were having trouble locating them.

Creed’s knowledge of the area and ability to read the almost invisible signs and tracks left by the group ended up being invaluable, and the rescue team even admitted that without him, they might not have found the lost campers in time.

After that, word quickly spread, and soon Creed was getting requests to escort people on their camping trips, and even host survivalist camps where he taught people how to survive in the wilderness.

The work suited him well and brought in decent money.

Plus, the flexible schedule allowed him plenty of time to work on building his house.

Or maybe, based on how much time I spent there, I should call it our house.

Finally, after months of hard work, the house was finished. The six of us had a party to celebrate the completion of the last main structure on the property.

Magnus and Brody, as well as their partners, stayed up well into the night, drinking and talking around the outdoor firepit. However, Creed grabbed my wrists and dragged me inside early.

“Come here. I... I prepared something.”

I’d seen the inside of his new house before, but I still looked around at everything with interest as we passed by.

It was a modest structure. Creed hadn’t wanted anything too elaborate, as he planned to spend a majority of his time outside, but it was also comfortable enough to ride out a long winter cooped up inside without going stir-crazy.

Most of the rooms were on the first floor, with only the master bedroom on the second floor.

This left plenty of space for an upstairs balcony, and also put distance between the master bedroom and the guest bedroom.

Just in case anyone needed to stay over.

Upstairs, Creed slowly opened the door to the master bedroom. An uncharacteristic pink blush stained his cheeks, leaving me dying with curiosity about what was on the other side of the door.

What I found was a scene straight out of a romantic comedy.

The room was mostly open concept, bathtub, shower, and fireplace all living together in harmony.

Apparently, Creed’s love of the outdoors meant that he didn’t understand the need for unnecessary walls inside and had designed the space himself along with Brody’s help.

It was an unusual bedroom, but I’d seen it before and no longer found it surprising.

What did shock me was that there were now rose petals everywhere.

A bright cascade of crimson covered the bed, the floor in front of the fireplace, and there was even a floral river leading to the bathtub.

He’d also illuminated the space with more candles than were probably safe, giving everything a soft, intimate glow.

“What’s this all about?” I asked as I entered the room, my feet kicking up more rose petals with each step.

Creed picked up a bottle of champagne that had been sitting in a tub of ice and held it in his hands like he wasn’t sure what to do with it.

“Well, it’s partly to celebrate the completion of the house, but also, you’re leaving soon, aren’t you? Finally going to the Himalayas like your editor wanted. Since I’m not going to see you for a while, I wanted to do something special. Did I get it wrong?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Wrong?”

“Yeah.” He brought the champagne over to the tub where two glasses were waiting. “All of my research implied that this is the kind of stuff that couples do.”

“Creed,” I gaped at him. “Were you... were you studying romance movies to figure out how to have a relationship?”

At first, he started to nod, staring more at his feet than at me, but then he seemed to change his mind and shook his head. “I started off with romance movies, but most of them featured a straight couple, and I feared that may not apply to us. Luckily, the Internet had more detailed examples.”

Sometimes, it honestly seemed like Creed spoke his own language. All the words he said made sense on their own, but putting them together required me to translate his meaning.

“Creed, were you...” I had to pause for a moment to keep myself from laughing. “Were you studying porn to figure out how to be gay?”

“Well, when you say it like that is sounds ridiculous,” he muttered under his breath.

For one moment, the pout on his face nearly broke my control and caused me to laugh out loud. If I had, then the romantic atmosphere he’d tried so hard to create would have been ruined. So, I bit my tongue, kept my laughter under control, and planted a kiss on his lips instead.

“It’s perfect,” I said, and I meant it. “Now, I’m not sure what you had planned for tonight, but I see two glasses of champagne and an extra-large, jetted tub that are dying to be shared. How about we start there?”

It was a night of indulgence.

We lounged in the bath, trading kisses and sensual touches, until the water went cold and every bubble had popped. I felt so clean that I almost expected to squeak when I walked.

After we climbed out of the tub, we intended to head for the bed, but never made it. We were so caught up in kissing that we ended up just sprawling out on the floor in front of the fireplace.

The faux fur rug cushioned us from the hard floor and was just large enough to hold us both. I entirely forgot we weren’t on a bed as Creed climbed on top of me, trailing kisses from my mouth down my neck and even farther still to the rest of my body.

“Your... studies have been... paying off,” I gasped as his tongue swirled around one of my nipples. In just two months, the stoic yet shy man who could barely say the word “sex” had disappeared. In his place, was a man of confidence who seemed to know exactly what to do to get me going.

What kind of porn had he been watching?

“You’ve been so patient with me,” Creed said as he moved over to lavish the same attention on my other nipple. “I want to make you feel good as well.”

“You always make me feel good,” I tried to say, but the words mushed together into one jumbled sound when he bit my nipple just hard enough to send an electric jolt of pleasure racing up my spine.

He seemed to understand what I meant to say anyway, because he smirked up at me before continuing his exploration down my body.

When he reached my cock, I eagerly spread my legs for him. His mouth was like nirvana against my heated flesh, but to my shock he didn’t stay there long. Instead, he gripped my hip and urged me to turn over.

“There’s something new I want to try.”

At first, I wasn’t sure what he intended, until his mouth latched onto the skin right above the swell of my ass and sucked until a bruise formed.

“Are... are you sure?”

He pressed more kisses along the small of my back.

“Absolutely. I want to try everything with you.”

After I agreed, I expected him to hesitate, but he charged forward with an eagerness I hadn’t expected. Grabbing my ass in both hands, he buried his face against me. The feel of his tongue against the rim of my hole was surprisingly cool, and I jumped from the unexpected sensation.

Even my previous partners hadn’t wanted to do this with me. I’d never thought I was missing much, but as Creed’s tongue wormed its way inside me, I realized I’d been wrong.

So, so wrong.

The feeling of his mouth down there, hot breath panting against me and his tongue working me open, was so different from anything I’d experienced before. It was smaller than a finger but moved so unexpectedly that his tongue somehow seemed to be everywhere at once.

I moaned and buried my fingers into the rug. Every inch of my body felt so sensitive, I was already on the verge of coming.

Maybe I was the one drugged this time.

My hips rutted against the floor, leaving stains of precum matted into the carpet. I was a sweaty, mewling mess, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was begging for more.

Creed obliged, and pushed his tongue even deeper inside me, searching out nerve endings I didn’t even know I had.

My climax hit me so unexpectedly, I nearly blacked out. I didn’t even have time to take a breath before I was locked in the jaws of ecstasy. Creed held me in place the whole time, and didn’t let go until, with a final gasp, I collapsed boneless against the carpet.

My thoughts were nothing but gray noise.

I couldn’t have formed a sentence if I tried.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt him spreading my legs and positioning his hips against me, but I was too wrung out to react.

I put up no resistance as he slid into me.

His thrusts were hard and fast, causing me to gradually slide up the carpet each time he slammed into me.

We’d ditched the condoms after the first month of our relationship, so there was nothing separating us.

I could tell he was already close to his end as well.

Gripping onto the ruined carpet, I hung on for dear life until he finished.

He was behind me, so I couldn’t see him, but I heard his gruff shout and felt the warmth flooding through me when he reached his end. Then, after pulling out of me, he collapsed onto the carpet as well and we just lay there catching our breath in the firelight.

It was nearly fifteen minutes before we felt strong enough to move.

Then, after quickly cleaning up and throwing the rug into the laundry with the hope of saving it, we climbed into bed together.

There was an unspoken agreement between us that our night wasn’t over yet, but for the moment we were content to simply lie tangled together.

My head was pillowed on Creed’s chest, and from this position I could see out the window. I had a perfect view of the rest of the property, and I could even see a bit of firelight where the others were still gathered around their celebratory bonfire.

It was such a peaceful night. In that moment, this little piece of property seemed like heaven.

“Hey, Creed,” I spoke up when a question occurred to me. “Do you ever give any thought to my earlier suggestion, about naming this place?”

Creed’s hand stroked through my hair.

“Actually, yes. I talked it over with Magnus and Brody, and we came up with a name.”

Turning away from the sight out the window, I looked up at him instead.

The smile he gave me could have turned winter into spring.

“We’ve decided to call our home Trinity Escape.”