Page 7 of Mountain Man Tempted (Hard Timber Mountain Men #2)

HOLT

Over the next several days, I tried to avoid Calla as much as possible.

I’d leave as soon as she got there in the morning and told her I’d bring dinner home with me so she wouldn’t stick around and cook for us.

But even trying to limit our interactions wore on me.

Now that I knew how it felt to hold her against me, I craved it twenty-four-seven.

I even checked to see if Nellie would be able to watch Lane during Friday night’s trail supper, but she’d already made plans to take her mom to Bingo.

That’s how Calla ended up staying late again.

The guys gave me so much shit that I almost left trail supper early.

Especially Harlan. Something was eating at him, but he didn’t want to talk about it, so he kept turning the conversation back to me.

Tension was running high, and no one had made any headway on figuring out who’d written the Ex-List. Everyone finally shut the hell up when I brought out a peach cobbler I’d picked up from Nellie.

Now I was on my way home, my gut knotted so tight that I could barely breathe, my nerves shot, and my mind racing with possibilities of what I might find when I got there.

It was only ten, over an hour earlier than when I got home last Friday night. Early enough that I shouldn’t worry about Calla getting back to her grandparents’ place.

That was a lie. I worried about her every second of every day.

She was so skilled when it came to working with Lane, it distracted me from how young she was.

And even though she’d been in Hard Timber for a few weeks, it took time to get used to some of the hairpin turns and switchbacks on the mountain roads.

To top it all off, she was a city girl who wasn’t used to keeping an eye out for bears and wolves and all the other wild animals that freely roamed around.

I wanted to protect her, to keep her safe. And that meant keeping her away from the biggest threat to her safety… me.

The lamp in the front room was on when I got home, though the house was quiet when I walked through the front door.

Calla curled up on the couch, her hands tucked under her cheek, sound asleep.

Damn, she was gorgeous. Her pink hair fell across her forehead, and I had to force myself not to reach out and smooth it away.

The smattering of freckles over the bridge of her nose begged to be kissed, but I resisted.

As I stood there, wondering if I should wake her and send her home or leave her on the couch and spend all night pacing my bedroom floor, she shivered.

I pulled the quilt off the back of the couch and spread it over her.

Then I flipped off the lamp, double checked that all the doors were locked, and made myself go to bed.

Sleep was impossible with her in the next room, so I tried reading. When that didn’t work, I found a true crime podcast on my phone. But nothing could distract me from thinking about Calla in the other room. About how it had felt to kiss her a week ago. About how much I wanted to do it again.

When Lane started screaming, it was almost a welcome distraction. I threw off the covers and ran into his room, but Calla got there first. She sat on his bed, cradling him in her arms, whispering something so low that I couldn’t hear. My son melted into her, his cries turning into soft sniffles.

Calla looked up and caught me staring at the two of them. “Sorry. I heard him yell and just reacted.”

“Yeah. No worries. Thanks for helping.” I moved closer to the bed to check on Lane. “How’s he doing?”

“Better,” Lane said, his voice shaky. “Can I have a hug, Dad?”

“Of course, bud.” I held out my arms and he reached up for me. He still sat in Calla’s lap which put me way too close to her. The three of us ended up in an awkward embrace.

“I’ll let you take it from here.” She tried to scoot out from under Lane, but he wrapped one arm around her neck.

“Can you both stay until I fall asleep?” he asked.

I looked at Calla and she looked at me. The tension between us stretched as tight as a rubber band about to snap, but I couldn’t deny my kid. “Is that okay with you?”

She nodded so I walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down. Lane stretched out between us, a welcome barrier. We both just wanted what was best for him. Having a common goal made it easier to be so close.

“Will you sing me the brave song?” Lane asked, his voice already edged with sleep.

I didn’t know what the hell the brave song was, but Calla did. She started singing, her voice low and quiet.

“Close your eyes, the stars are near. The moon is shining, there’s nothing to fear. You’ve got your sword and your dino pack. The monsters run when you fight back.”

Lane burrowed down under the covers, a sleepy smile on his face, mumbling the words along with her while Calla continued.

“Brave in my dreams, strong as can be. Climbing tall mountains, swimming deep seas. No shadow too dark, no night too long. I chase them off with a hero’s song.”

She kept going, finishing the song with the line “I’ll be right here, I always stay. Dream your dreams, I’ll guard the way.”

Lane’s breath evened out, already deep asleep again.

“Where did you find that song?” I whispered. It was perfect for him. I needed to buy half a dozen copies and download it to my phone.

She gave me a sweet smile as she carefully climbed off the bed. “I made it up.”

“Made it up?” I scrambled off the bed after her. “You’re a songwriter?”

We got to the hall, and I gently pulled Lane’s door closed.

“No. We were just talking about his dreams the other day, and I thought it might help for him to have a song he could sing to himself at night. You know, to help him feel brave.” She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth like she was worried she’d done something wrong.

Her gaze shifted from the floor to the wall to some spot over my shoulder like she didn’t want to look right at me.

“Calla,”—I wrapped my hands around her upper arms—“that was brilliant. I could kiss you right now.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying.

Her gaze jumped to meet mine, eyes widening.

I immediately let my hands fall to my sides. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Of course not.” Her tone changed, became more clipped. She brushed past me in the hall, her shoulder bumping against mine in the small space. “I should go.”

I followed her, needing to fix things but not sure how. “What’s wrong? What did I say?”

She whirled around right in front of me, and I bumped into her. Instinct had me wrapping my hands around her shoulders, so I didn’t knock her over. She tilted her head back, bumping the top of it on my chin.

“Ow.” She reached up to rub her head as I pulled her into my arms.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Her cheek on my bare chest felt like heaven. I needed to step away, had to break contact, but I couldn’t.

“I’m fine.” She didn’t hug me back, but she didn’t pull away either. “What are we doing, Holt?”

I didn’t need to ask her what she meant. Both of us had been avoiding talking about that kiss. And now I was standing in the hall in a pair of boxer briefs with my cock getting harder and thicker by the second.

Clearing my throat, I tipped her chin up. A tear trailed down her face and my heart split in two. I was a dick, and it was time for me to be straight with her. I couldn’t keep pretending that I wasn’t out of my mind for my kid’s nanny.

“I’ve been trying to keep my distance, but it’s been impossible. I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve gotten under my skin, baby girl. Every second of every day, I replay that kiss over and over in my head.”

Her eyes finally met mine. “You said it was a mistake.”

I swiped the tear from her cheek with the pad of my thumb.

“It was a mistake. I never should have kissed you. But not because I didn’t want to.

Because now I know what you taste like. And I’ve been going out of my mind trying not to think about it.

To not think about you. I don’t want to do something to drive you away. Lane needs you, and…”

“What?” Her forehead creased and she reached up and cupped my cheek with the palm of one hand.

“Fuck it, Calla. I need you, too.” I searched her eyes for a reaction.

They softened around the edges as she rose to her tiptoes. Then she kissed me.

The room spun as I shoved my fingers in her hair and pulled her closer.

I’d been fighting it for so long, something broke free inside me when she made the first move.

Her arms circled my neck, and I spun her around to put her back against the wall.

My cock throbbed with the insatiable need to get closer.

I pressed my hips into hers and hiked her leg up to my waist.

Thank fuck I still had enough working brain cells to realize we couldn’t stay in the hallway. I lifted her other leg and put my hands under her ass to carry her to my bedroom.

“If you don’t want this, tell me now, baby girl,” I mumbled against her neck. If she told me to stop, I would even though I wasn’t sure how I’d survive. We both needed to be on the same page.

“I want you, Holt.” The way she rubbed against me told me she was telling the truth.

Just like that, we were done pretending.

We made it through the doorway, and I locked the door behind us before I set her down in the center of my bed.

I kissed her like I’d been starving for her for years, because I had.

Her body pressed against me, warm and eager.

She made a sound when I slipped her shirt over her head, half gasp, half moan, and I silenced it with my mouth.

Her skin was soft under my hands, and her breath caught when I ran my palm along her side.

She let me take my time, and God, I wanted to.

I wanted to memorize her… every curve, every shiver, every place she melted under my mouth.

I laid her back on the bed and followed her down, kissed the hollow of her throat, the soft swell of her breast, the curve of her hip.

She arched beneath me, fingers curling into my hair, and I felt her come apart one touch at a time.

“Holt.” She whispered my name like it meant something. Like I meant something to her.

When I finally rolled on a condom and sank into her, it felt like exhaling after years of holding my breath.

She was so fucking tight, warm and wet, gripping me like her body had been made for mine.

Her mouth parted on a gasp, and I froze, chest heaving, barely holding on as her legs locked around my waist.

“Fuck, Calla,” I whispered, resting my forehead against hers. “You feel like heaven.”

She moaned softly, her hips shifting to pull me deeper, and the thin thread of control I was hanging onto dissolved.

I started to move, slow at first, grinding into her, pulling almost all the way out before sliding back in with a rhythm that had her eyes fluttering shut and her fingernails dragging down my back.

“More,” she said on a breathy exhale.

More was exactly what I wanted and her asking for it was the green light I’d been waiting for.

I drove into her harder, deeper, my hands gripping her thighs, my teeth dragging along her collarbone.

She cried out, her head tipping back as her body arched to meet every thrust. Her tits bounced with every movement, flushed, perfect, and begging for my lips.

I bent down and sucked one into my mouth, teasing her nipple with my tongue until she writhed beneath me, cursing my name like it was the only one she knew.

“You like that?” I growled, switching my attention to the other. “You like when I fuck you like this?”

She nodded, her swollen lips parted. “God, yes. You feel so fucking good.”

I sat back on my knees and hauled her hips into my lap, watching her come apart as I slammed into her, rougher now, sweat slicking our skin as she gasped and begged for more. Her fingers clawed at the sheets, her thighs shaking, her voice breaking with every thrust.

I leaned down and kissed her hard, swallowing her moans as her walls clamped down around me, tight and pulsing.

“Come for me, baby girl,” I whispered against her lips. “Show me how good I make you feel.”

She shattered with a strangled cry, her whole body trembling, nails digging into my shoulders as she came hard around my cock.

The feel of her, so damn hot and wet and perfect, pushed me right over the edge.

I groaned her name, spilling into the condom with one last deep, desperate thrust, my body locking up as pleasure ripped through me like wildfire.

We collapsed into the pillows, tangled and breathless, my chest still heaving as I held her tight against me. Her skin was damp, her hair a mess, her lips swollen from my kiss. She looked like sin. Hell, she looked like mine.

I left her long enough to take care of the condom, then got back in bed and wrapped around her, my hand on her back, her leg slung over mine. She fell asleep fast. Like she trusted me to hold her through the night.

But I couldn’t sleep. I lay there long after her breath evened out, my heart thudding like I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life. Because the more I wanted her, the more I risked losing her… and I wouldn’t be able to survive a hit like that.