Instant Temptation

CHAPTER 24

Nighttime in the Sierras was impressive. High mountain peaks cast black shadows over trees, as tall as skyscrapers, that whistled softly in the dark. The moon rose, painting everything in a soft blue glow.

The coeds had long ago quieted down in their tent. All that could be heard was soft snoring. Harley still sat next to TJ, incredibly aware of his heat, his strength. The log beneath them was long and yet they sat so close she couldn’t have fit a piece of paper between them.

TJ leaned forward to poke a long stick into the fire and with minimal effort coaxed the flames back to life. Sitting back, brushing against her as he did, he met her gaze.

And her body hummed. She knew his did, too. It shimmered in the night between them.

No matter what she told herself, there was something between them. Something uncontrolled, which should have scared her.

Instead, it turned her on.

He’d given her his support in Desolation, and when she’d wanted it, also his help. He’d given her a job this weekend. She knew he’d give her anything she wanted. But in that moment, all she wanted was to give him something.

Something of herself.

“Think they’re out for the night?” she whispered.

“Christ, I hope so. Why?”

She just looked at him.

His eyes widened, and she realized she’d managed to do what few ever did-surprise him.

When he spoke, his voice was low and husky, and basically sex on a stick. “Teasing me right now is not a good idea.”

“I’m not teasing.”

He closed his eyes. “Harley.”

She knew watching her come tended to shatter his control. She wondered if watching him come would do the same to her.

She was betting it would, since just thinking about it made her nipples hard. Without a word, she got up and walked to the tent. “You girls need anything?” she whispered through the zippered door.

No answer.

She walked back to the campfire. TJ hadn’t moved. He was still sitting there, watching her, cast in the flickering light of the fire’s glow. He had a few strands of sun-kissed hair falling over his forehead, curling past his collar. He’d gotten some sun, making his green eyes all the more striking.

He was so gorgeous he took her breath away.

She held out her hand.

He took it without hesitation, then raised a brow when she pulled him to a stand. She looked into his eyes for a long moment, then turned and led him away from the fire, down along the river, over bush and under trees, across a carpet of soft, giving, forest moss. Several hundred yards later they came to a small, isolated clearing, secluded and dark except for the faint glow of the stars reflecting on the water.

Without a word, she pressed on his shoulders until he obliged her by leaning back against a tree.

Looking into his eyes, she went up on tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the mouth. Then his jaw, his throat. After that she tugged on the neckline of his shirt to press a kiss to his collarbone.

His hands came up to her hips, squeezed gently, then started to slide beneath her shirt. “No,” she said, squeezing her hands on his wrists, indicating he could hold her hips but nothing else.

He let out a breath and went still, silently letting her have her way. Reaching down, she skimmed his shirt up over his head and tossed it aside. She kneeled between his splayed legs to kiss him on his amazing abs, feeling the ridge of muscles leap beneath her lips. She nibbled at his belly button, then kissed the spot beneath it.

He let out a long, shaky breath, but he didn’t speak and he didn’t move.

She rewarded him with another kiss, right above the button on his Levi’s.

And then she popped it open.

And the next.

And the next.

Beneath the Levi’s was nothing but TJ in all his silky, hot, hard glory.

He shifted. “Harley.”

“Shh.” She set her hands on his thighs.

He let out a long, jagged breath. “I-”

Cutting him off with a shake of her head, she trailed a finger from his belly button to the opening of his jeans.

He got bigger.

And harder.

She cupped him.

“Christ, Harley,” he said on a rough groan, his hands going to the thick tree trunk on either side of his hips as if he needed the leverage to hold himself up. “You have no idea what you to do me.”

“No. But I know what I’m about to do to you.” She looked up into his face and smiled. “Just relax. This will only take a few minutes.”

He choked out a laugh at his own words being tossed back in his face, but then she tugged on his jeans so that he sprang free, and kissed him on the very tip.

“Oh, fuck.” He sounded strangled. “Maybe less than a few minutes.” When she ran her tongue down his length, he gasped. “Definitely less.”

Smiling at the hoarse tightness in his voice, she sat back and stared at him in all his full, magnificent glory. Lord, he was beautiful. Leaning forward again, her hands still on his thighs, she slowly drew him into her mouth.

He released a guttural noise from low in his throat and said something entirely unintelligible. She took that for “more, please,” so she gave it. His fingers went to her hair, tangling in the strands as if he couldn’t help himself.

She glanced up at him. Eyes closed, head back, he wore a look of such agonized pleasure it gave her a rush that was only a millimeter beneath an orgasm. When she felt him draw tight under her hands and mouth, she knew he was close, a fact that was verified when he groaned and tried to pull her away, shifting his hips backwards.

Not taking the hint, she tightened her grip and kept at him.

“Harley. God, Harley-you’ve got to stop, I’m going to-”

She murmured her understanding without releasing him, and just the vibration from her throat wrenched a rough groan from him. His muscles spasmed as he came, one hand still fisted in her hair, the other slapping to the trunk at his side to keep him upright.

She didn’t move away until she felt him relax. He staggered, then dropped heavily to his knees. Without opening his eyes, he reached for her, pulling her into his lap as he sank all the way to the ground, sagging back against the tree, panting, boneless.

He slouched there, head back, eyes closed, wearing nothing but the opened jeans that were barely still on him.

Barefoot.

Shirtless.

Looking hot enough to spread butter on and eat up in one bite.

She smiled and curled into him, nearly purring as his hands slowly roamed her body. “Hope that helped with the tension a little,” she whispered against his throat, smiling when he shivered.

“More than a little.” His voice was rough, giving her a feeling of satisfaction. “In fact, I seem to be missing all of my bones.”

She laughed, was still laughing when he slid his hands into her hair, tugged back her head, and kissed her long and deep. She realized he’d fully recovered, because he had his hands beneath her top, his thumbs gliding over her nipples. She moaned, and felt him smile against her neck. “I found my bones,” he murmured, rocking his hips into hers.

No kidding! She snuggled in, not wanting to move, enjoying the way his heart was still pounding beneath her cheek. “We’ve got to go back.”

“Mmmm.” He took a deep breath and reached down to kiss her again. “Not yet.”

“If they wake up and need anything-”

He went still, clearly thinking-fun or duty? Watching the battle was fascinating, as it took a very long few minutes.

Duty won, which only made her like him all the more.

With a groan, he climbed to his feet, reaching down to pull her to hers, holding her against him for a minute when she would have turned away. “Thank you,” he murmured.

“I had a good time,” she said, and made him grin.

He’d had a good time, too. It was in every line of his body, and holy smokes, that body. Milk did a body good, and sex did it better.

He hugged her hard, pressing his face in her hair. “Remember how we both said that being out here on the mountain, away from all the bullshit, made us feel alive?”

She tilted her head back and looked into his warm eyes. “Yes.”

His gaze searched hers, his smile slowly fading. “I’m starting to think it’s not the mountain at all, that maybe it’s you. You make me feel alive, Harley.”

On that shocking statement, he took her hand and led her back to camp.

The next day on the river was a rinse and repeat of the one before. Except instead of otters, they saw three huge, gorgeous bucks on one of the ridges watching them from afar. Later, they heard a pack of coyotes howling. Harley assured the girls they were not about to be coyote bait, and to distract them, told them a little about what she was doing for her internship, and from that moment on, they looked at her with what might have been respect instead of competition for TJ.

By nine o’clock that night, the coeds were once again in their tents, out cold.

“Kayaking takes it out of you,” TJ said from the fire, where he was putting on more wood.

“The way you do it, it does.” Harley moved toward the heat, hands out. Her legs were chilly since she was still in her bathing suit with a hoodie sweatshirt and board shorts over it. “You pushed them a little hard today.”

He slid her an inscrutable glance.

She met his gaze, raised a questioning brow.

And he caved with a smile.

“I knew it,” she breathed. “You did it on purpose. For a replay of last night, perhaps?”

His eyes dilated black. “I had to dunk myself in the cold water every time I thought about last night.”

“I was wondering why you kept going in.” She grinned. “Did it help?”

“No.”

She was quiet a moment, then voiced what had been on her mind all day. “Maybe it’s not the mountain?” she whispered, repeating his words from last night.

He just looked at her.

“Where did that come from?” she asked. “Because aren’t you the guy who isn’t into commitment. I mean, did the rules change?”

“I’ve never been much of a rule man.”

More off balance then ever, she shook her head. “You say that like…like you’re sure.”

His gaze remained steady and thoughtful.

“But…you can’t be sure,” she whispered. “No one I’ve ever known is sure.”

“Stone and Cam seem pretty sure.”

She was having trouble processing the words. “But they’re not playing the temporary game that we are. We have one week. Even that could be too long if you think about it. What if you get tired of being with just one person? Tired of the banality of it, tired of the daily grind? What if you get tired of sleeping with just one person, of having sex with just one person? Hell, maybe I’ll get tired of it.”

“You wouldn’t get tired of the sex.”

She stared at him. “Only a man would say that.”

Tossing aside his stick, he rose and came toward her. Unlike her, he’d changed. His look was the usual, basic badass mountain man…a pair of faded blue jeans, beloved battered trainers, and a long-sleeved Henley. It was the jeans that held her attention. They were molded to him and like the night before, there was no indication of anything between him and the denim.

He got real close. “Sounds like maybe you’re the one that has the commitment problem.”

Before she could comment on that, he tugged her into him, nudging his hips to hers.

“Um, are you”-she swiveled a finger in the region of his crotch-“commando again?”

“I took a quick dip in the river to wash off.” He shrugged. “Got dressed in a hurry.”

“And forgot your underwear?”

Some of the tension left him, and he smiled as he nuzzled his face into her hair. “Is that turning you on?”

Duh. “Not at all.”

He laughed. “Let’s go for a walk so we can talk.” One of his hands went to her hip, his fingers slipping beneath the hem of the sweatshirt to touch bare skin.

“Where to?” She did her best not to sound all breathy and failed. Miserably.

Taking her hand, he turned and headed out of the clearing, away from camp. She followed him alongside the water’s edge for a good quarter of a mile, even more breathless by the time they finally stopped at a small protected inlet. TJ sat on a fallen log, haloed by the moon’s glow on the water behind him. “Come here.”

Perfectly willing for a repeat of last night, she stepped closer, then between his long legs, but he smiled and shook his head. “Here.” Tugging her into his lap, he snuggled her in.

His hand slid to the nape of her neck, his fingers in her hair as he touched his forehead to hers. After a moment, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, a warm, sweet kiss. Lots of warm, sweet kisses. He took his time, and the slow buildup was incredibly…hot. And she could feel that he felt…hot, too. “I thought you wanted to talk.”

“Always.” He smiled against her mouth. “But maybe not right now.” He kissed her again, his fingers holding her head in place as he took the delicious buildup to the next level, still taking his damn time, but plundering now, taking what he wanted, pleasing them both with deep rhythmic thrusts of his tongue that made her think of what she wished he was doing to the rest of her body. She wanted to tell him so, but it felt so unbelievably good she couldn’t speak, and when her toes curled, she began to wonder if she could orgasm from a kiss alone. When he finally pulled his mouth from hers, she heard a moan of protest and realized it was her.

Eyes still closed, she sighed. “I wish…” so much, she wished, but mostly that he could be deep inside, filling her.

“What do you wish, Harley?” When she remained quiet, he stroked his thumbs over her jaw. “Anything,” he said softly.

She wondered at all the possibilities of that intriguingly wicked promise.

Still holding her face, his lips curved. “You have to be able to say it out loud. You know that, right?”

Yeah. She knew that. But she really wasn’t good with voicing her needs, especially those kinds of needs.

A rough laugh escaped him, and he nipped her jaw. “Harley, after all we’ve done, what could possibly embarrass you?”

“Don’t you ever lose it?” she asked, frustrated.

“I’m close now,” he murmured, voice low, eyes hot, his body hard beneath hers. “Say it, Harley.”

“You know what I want.” She nibbled on her lower lip, watching him watch her from those heated eyes. “I want you to do what we haven’t managed yet. At least not as legal adults.”

He trailed a finger down her throat to the zipper on her hoodie, which he slowly pulled down. “That actually covers quite a bit of ground.”

It did?

“Tell me,” he coaxed. He tugged the hoodie off her arms and it fell to the ground behind her, leaving her in just her halter bathing suit top. He slipped a finger under the thin strap over her collarbone. The pad of his finger slid a little lower, heading south.

Her nipples, already hard, pebbled into two tight beads. “I want…”

A corner of his mouth quirked up as his finger slid even farther. “If you can’t say it, how can we do it?” he asked on an amused breath.

“I’m not sure what to call it.” She felt the top of her bathing suit sag a little, no longer supporting her, and she realized he’d untied it. Her breath backed up in her throat as it began to slip away from her. “Saying ‘making love’ seems so sappy, given the circumstances. And the other seems a little…coarse.”

“Sex?” He was watching his finger as he slowly tugged on the suit, revealing just the very top of her breasts. “The word sex is too coarse?”

“No.” She squirmed, and the bathing suit caught on her nipples. “That wasn’t the word I was thinking of.”

He lifted his gaze off her breasts and met her gaze, his so hot it stole her breath. “You want me to-”

“Be inside me,” she whispered so softly she might have only mouthed the words. Fuck me…

Her top pooled in her lap, baring her to the waist. TJ adjusted her so that she was straddling his lap, his big, callused hands sliding down her thighs, caressing, then back up again, unbuttoning her shorts, pulling down the zipper, the rasp of the metal nearly as loud as their labored breathing. She wriggled her hips, giving him room to work. Under the shorts were her bikini bottoms, which his fingers had no problem slipping beneath.

When he touched her, the air left her lungs in a whoosh. She spread her thighs farther so that she could feel his hard sex cradled beneath her, and pressed her face into his throat. She could smell the soap he’d just used, and the man himself, and when his fingers parted her, she weaved her hands into his hair for an anchor and opened her mouth on his throat.

“God, Harley. You’re wet.”

At his touch, his words, she tightened her grip on his hair, biting the tendon where his neck met his shoulder without even realizing it until she heard his hiss of breath and felt him rock his hips hard into hers.

As his fingers teased her, she moaned, her mouth still on him, hips helplessly moving. She was so ready that she began whispering her plea. “Please. Please, now, TJ…”

Abruptly he stood her up, ripped off her shorts and bathing suit bottoms. Even before they hit the ground, his fingers slid deep inside her, his other hand cupping a breast, his thumb rubbing over her nipple in a rhythm that matched.

She lost her mind. Completely lost it. As she panted and begged softly, he met her gaze. “I know you want a quick fuck, just like we had back all those years ago, but not again. Not with what’s between us now. This is more than that, Harley.”

She didn’t care what he called it, as long as he pulled her out of that frenzied state and filled her. Now. “TJ.”

“Right here,” he promised. “Harley. Look at me.”

It took her a minute to calm down enough to open her eyes and meet his gaze.

“More,” he said with that quiet intensity, and then he tugged her onto his lap, his lips taking hers hard, his tongue gliding in and out of her mouth in the same rhythm his fingers slid in and out of her body. When his thumb brushed over her very center, she threw back her head and gripped his shoulders, riding his hand, unable to hold back. She cried out his name as she burst, and he stayed with her until the last of the shudders shook her.

It wasn’t enough. She reached between them to unbutton his jeans, but he stopped her. “Harley.” He closed his eyes, his mouth grim. “I don’t have a condom.”

She pulled one out of the pocket of her shorts and held it up sheepishly. “I was a Girl Scout.” she said to his soft, grateful laugh. “But for future reference, I’m squeaky clean and on the pill…”

“Me too. The squeaky clean part,” he murmured as she slid her hands inside his jeans, caressing his hard length.

Still not enough. “Help me,” she whispered, and again he lifted her, this time so she could free him and put the condom to good use. Soon as she did, she immediately sank down on him, inch by thick, delicious inch.

“Jesus, Harley,” he breathed, gripping her thighs, spreading them open further, pulling her hard against him. Breathing raggedly, he held her there, giving her a minute to get used to him.

When she shifted, he growled and tightened his grip. “Christ, don’t move.”

Unable to help it, she rocked her hips and he swore, holding her still. “Not a muscle,” he said roughly, and pressed his forehead to hers, gulping in air like a dying man. “I’m going to lose it.”

Yes, but that’s what she wanted, and she nipped his bottom lip, her breasts brushing his chest.

A shudder racked through him, and then went through her as well. “Please,” she whispered again, and oscillated her hips.

With a groan, he brushed a kiss across her mouth, and eyes still locked on hers, he began to move. Just like on the river, he was in charge, letting her rock on him, but only as much as he allowed. He started off with glorious, agonizingly slow thrusts, but neither of them could hold to that for long, not while finally joined in the most intimate way possible. She’d never felt anything like it, and closed her eyes to savor the pleasure of having him fill her so completely.

When he said her name, she managed to open her eyes. His head was tipped down, watching as he thrust up hard into her. Then he looked up, and she was immediately lost in the dark pool of desire staring back at her. She felt like she was drowning in him, in the feel of him. She was reaching for something, needing…Sinking her hands in his hair, she kissed him, long and deep. With a groan, he ground his hips against hers, then stroked a thumb over where they were joined, murmuring hot, sexy things in her ear as he touched her. She burst and took him with her.

Spent, they collapsed to the ground in a pile of tangled, sweaty limbs. Either five minutes or five hours later, Harley sighed. “Okay, that was sooo much better than fine.”

By the soft light of the moon, TJ smiled and leaned over her, kissing her jaw, each eyelid, the tip of her nose, her mouth…Finally, he let out a long breath and lay flat on his back. “Christ, I’m done in.”

“Yes. That’s what happens when you turn into a sex fiend by night.”

He grinned. “It’s not my fault. You keep looking at me with the eyes.”

“The eyes?”

“The ‘please do me’ eyes. They’re very distracting.”

“So I should wear dark glasses, or better yet, keep my eyes closed?”

“It’s possible another part of your body would call to me.”

“Like?”

“Like your ass. You have a great ass, Harley.”

“My ass calls to you?”

“You have no idea.”

“What if I wore-”

“Let me save you some time. All of your parts call to me.” His voice lowered, and his smile went from teasing to something far more devastating. “Everything about you calls to me.”

Her heart pretty much turned over and exposed its underbelly. And that’s when she knew she was in big trouble.

As in unless he did something fast, it’d be too late to save herself.