Chapter Twenty-Three
“Can you turn your head to the left, just a touch. Yes. Perfect,” Hachiro
croons, aiming his giant lens. “Fuck, these are going to be hot.”
I say nothing about the pint-sized Japanese photographer’s lack of
professionalism, instead focusing on his subject, a sharp-looking Henry in
the Tom Ford suit and gold tie that I laid out for him, leaning against a stack
of armor stones outside the main lodge. I have to agree with him, though,
and it’s not just because of the man he’s capturing. The entire vista is
dreamlike. Most Americans will never venture this far north to see the
foreign part of their own country.
“It must be something, working so closely with a man like that. He’s
like steel. You can see the power he wields in his steady jaw,” Hachiro
murmurs, glancing over at me, his narrow eyes drifting over my black
leggings and hiking boots. They look decent enough with the vest and
sweater that Henry bought me and, all in all, are the most stylish thing I
own besides jeans. And, being next to Henry, I’m wishing I had an entire
new wardrobe and someone to dress me.
I don’t take the overview personally. I noticed right away that he
assesses everything and everybody within his line of sight. I guess it’s the
photographer in him.
“Yes. He wields a lot of power.” I fight to roll my eyes.
Henry stands tall, calm and collected, seemingly unbothered by the
guests who linger, watching as the handsome billionaire gets photographed.
Nothing like the version I saw only thirty minutes ago, his face
contorted with ecstasy, his hand grasping himself so aggressively, his cries
escaping from a deep and vulnerable place.
I hide my smile behind a sip of water. My intimate memories of him
are mine and mine alone.
“Okay, now give me your back, and slide your hands into your
pockets casually. Look into the distance, but give me your right profile,”
Hachiro directs, nodding emphatically when Henry does as asked. I can
already see this picture as being one I want to stare at for hours.
“When will the magazine be published?” I ask.
“Next month,” he confirms, then in a lower voice, “Hey, so do you
think he’d agree to some nudes?”
I press my lips together to keep from bursting out with laughter. “I’ll
have to get back to you on that one.”
~ ~ ~ ~
“You were fine on the ferry trip over, weren’t you?” Henry peers at me with
worried eyes as he steers the boat. Behind him, Hachiro’s face watches with
a mix of annoyance and disgust. I am taking up valuable time with his
steely muse, after all.
“Yes. But that boat was bigger and it wasn’t so rocky.” As if in
answer, a gust of wind sweeps past, swaying Henry’s boat. And my
stomach.
“We’re going back.” Henry begins turning the wheel.
“No! Don’t. You do what you need to do, and I’m just going to lie
down in the cabin and wait for the Antivert to kick in. I’ll be fine.”
That doesn’t seem to appease Henry, but at least he doesn’t argue with
me, allowing me to duck past him and through the small door to the cabin
below. It’s cramped and yet quaint, reminding me of my aunt May’s small
travel trailer, with a narrow couch on one side, a dinette table on the other,
and a compact kitchen area behind me. Ahead, in the bow of the boat, I see
a bed.
I head for that now, diving onto the wool blanket, inhaling the scent
of Henry’s cologne. When did he lie here last?
Was he alone?
The thought of him with another woman twists my gut in an
unpleasant way. A way that reminds me of catching Jed with that girl. I
don’t think I can survive that again.
I push all of those thoughts aside and close my eyes, focusing on my
breathing, hoping that the medication will work and that I don’t have to use
the plastic bag I stuffed into my purse before boarding.
The sea sickness has almost subsided fifteen minutes later when my
personal phone beeps with a text. I seldom get texts. Really, only one
person texts me.
How is Alaska? I hear you’re working for some rich guy?
I haven’t talked to Jed since March, and this is the first message he
sends me? I’m annoyed, and angry, and yet I can’t stop myself from
responding.
Alaska is incredible. Yup. SUPER rich.
The old me would have responded with a “how are things?” question.
But I let the phone fall to the mattress as I wait for his response, the deeply
hidden vindictive part of me thinking of a hundred other highly
inappropriate, hopefully hurtful things that I could respond with.
Yes, his name is Henry and he made me orgasm with his mouth.
You should see the size of his dick.
Cum is warmer than I expected.
My phone beeps with another incoming text. I’m surprised I’m even
getting them out here.
What do you do for him?
I can’t help it. I burst out laughing.
“Abbi?” I hear Henry holler from outside the cabin. The boat’s engine
has quieted, the motion slowed. I heard some commotion out there a
moment ago. Maybe we’ve anchored.
“I’m fine,” I call back, smiling up at the ceiling. I’m more than fine. A
week in Alaska and I’m doing exactly what I wanted to do: forgetting the
past and encountering things I’ve never experienced before.
Like sex with a gorgeous, powerful man.
The cabin door pops open and Henry’s massive body squeezes
through. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, except please tell me that Hachiro isn’t driving the boat.”
He chuckles, sliding into bed next to me. This is the first time we’ve
lain together like this and the small, cramped space makes it all the more
cozy in here with him. “Hell, no. I wanted to give you a chance to get better
so I docked us. He’s up taking some pictures of my grandparents’ old place
and finding a shoot location. I told him I’d be up soon.” He sighs. “The
guy’s a little bit weird.”
I smile. “Yes, he is.”
“What were you laughing about?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” He waits for me with a raised brow,
and I know he’s not going to let it go. “Jed texted me. I mentioned my new
job to an old friend in an e-mail a few days ago and I guess it got back to
him. You know, small town.”
“What’d he say?” His tone is less than amused, and I expected as
much. He has never hidden how he feels about Jed.
I pull up the text and show it to him. When he scrolls through and
reads the last line, he starts to chuckle. “What are you going to tell him?”
I shrug.
“May I?” His fingers start tapping out an answer before I can respond.
“What are you doing?”
He hands the phone back to me and I watch in horror as the green
message lights up, having been received. “Oh my God! I would never say
this!” I cry, reading over the entire thing.
I wash his dirty clothes, scrub his toilets, and tie his ties. I’m his
personal Cinderella. TBH, the guy’s a fucking prick. But at least
he’s something to look at and, I swear, I keep catching him staring
at my breasts.
“Maybe you’ve changed.”
“Not that much.” I laugh, picturing the confused look on Jed’s face as
he reads that. Will it worry him, to have some rich, hot “prick” eying me
like this?
I don’t know if I even care anymore. Henry said that I’m doing this to
get over him and for a while, it was easy to accept that. But I actually like
Henry. I like being around him, and talking to him. I like taking care of him,
even if he’s paying me to do it.
He pushes a strand of hair off my face. “How are you feeling? You’re
still pale.”
“But not green, right?”
“No. Not green.”
“That’s good, because my hair doesn’t suit green.” I smile. “Give me
another few minutes and I’ll be fine. And thanks for docking. That was nice
of you.” I don’t know why I’m surprised that he’d be that considerate, but I
am.
His hand slips beneath my shoulder to begin prodding me. “Roll
over.” I do as asked and am pleasantly surprised when his strong fingers run
down the length of my back, testing grooves and muscles with a touch of
pressure, before circling back and doing it again. He’s giving me a back
rub. It’s a very non-boss, non-fuck-buddy, boyfriend-y thing to do. But I
push that thought out of my head and moan with appreciation.
“I wouldn’t be making noises like that, if I were you,” he warns, his
voice turning gravelly.
“I can’t help it. This feels so nice.” I sigh and turn my head to face
him, appreciating the way the crew-neck sweater that I picked settles
around his thick, sinewy neck. “Black looks good on you.”
“Is that what color I’m wearing?” he asks mockingly, but then smiles.
“Hachiro seemed to like the casual woodsman look.”
“Yeah, he asked me if he could get a picture of me cutting firewood
after this.”
I snort, and then giggle. “He asked me if you’d consider posing
nude.”
“What?” Henry shakes his head, but he’s smiling. “What’d you say?”
“That you’d definitely be into that.” I keep a straight face for all of
three seconds before I start to laugh and the gig is up.
“What a ballsy little guy.”
“You should do it. I’d buy that magazine.”
His hand makes its way down my back, only this time it keeps going,
caressing the soft mounds of my ass, first one cheek, then the other. “You
don’t work out, do you?”
“No, I’ve never felt that I needed to. Why?” An inkling of trepidation
stirs. Is this his way of telling me that I should be sweating on a treadmill?
“Because my farm girl has one hell of a nice ass.” His fingers grip
tightly—almost to the point of pain, but not quite. Enough to stir desire in
me, to feel the telltale start of what will be soaked panties. Again.
But his words strike a chord within me. My farm girl. I’m his.
“I thought you were a boob guy,” I murmur, as his finger runs down
my center, along my crack, and farther down.
He probes between my legs. “You’re warm here. And wet.”
“I don’t think I ever dried out.”
“Are you sore?”
“Yes,” I admit shyly. “But it’s a good sore.”
Easing up off his elbow, Henry disappears from view, but I can sense
him there, behind me, his knees sinking into the bed on either side of my
thighs. His fingers curl around the elastic of my leggings and he begins
pulling them down.
“Henry! What about Hachiro!” I hiss, straining to turn my body and
look out the cabin door, half-expecting to find a giant black lens aimed at
my backside.
“Don’t worry, I locked it. And we’ll hear him if he jumps on. But he
won’t, trust me. He wanted nothing to do with a seasick woman. He’s in
heaven up there.” He adds in a low murmur, “And I’m in heaven down
here.”
“This is...” I bite my lip nervously as the cool air skates over my bare
backside, now exposed to him.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle. And you won’t take long.” He speaks so
confidently as he slides my leggings all the way down past my knees. Then
again, he’s probably right. I’m already panting for this man in anticipation
of what he’s going to do. When he seizes me by the pelvis and hoists me to
my knees, I let out a shaky laugh.
“Relax.”
I try to, closing my eyes and focusing on the feel of his warm, large
hands as they seize either side of my ass, massaging each meaty cheek with
skilled hands. And not on the fact that he has an unobstructed view of my
entire behind, and stretching my body like that lets him see the part of me
that only one other person has seen—Katie.
It’s almost exactly the same view that I had of Rachel that night, and
so I know firsthand exactly how explicit that view is. My breathing grows
ragged as his thumbs reach closer to my core, stretching out my folds to
expose me. His mouth lands on the soft pink flesh moments later and I gasp
as he begins probing me with his tongue, plunging it in and out, taking long
swipes of my clit.
He’s right. I won’t take long at all.
“In answer to your question about being a boob man...”
His warm breath skates across that most private spot and I clench
instinctively, but I can’t hide it from him. He’s hooked his arms around my
thighs, holding my hips tightly and my legs spread, keeping me from
squirming away.
I gasp as his wet tongue slides over my puckered skin.
“Relax,” he says again, his voice soft. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t
enjoy it. And this ass of yours...” His finger traces around the rim in a
circle. “I can’t wait to fuck it.”
My mouth drops open. I don’t know how I feel about that idea. Or
this, right now. I’m still getting used to having this man’s face between my
legs, let alone back there. But there's just no saying no to him, not that I’d
want to. He doesn’t seem to hesitate, taking what he wants.
And he wants me. Every square inch of me, it would seem.
His hands smooth over my cheeks, and then he presses his erection
against my hip. The tiny cabin fills with the sound of his heavy, heady
pants. “I wish I had brought a condom,” he whispers.
He wants sex. Again. My body responds instantly.
“We need to get you on birth control.”
“I’m on it,” I blurt without thinking.
Dead silence. “You are?”
“Yes.”
“For your cycles,” he murmurs, as if suddenly understanding. He
exhales, and I can feel it deep inside my chest. His hands grip either side of
my hips. “I need in you. Now.” He pushes first one finger, then another,
then a third one into me. I’m sore but wet, and the intrusion is welcome.
“Let me come inside you.”
It sounds like a demand but I know it’s a question.
“I know you’re clean, and I’m clean—”
“Are you sure? I mean, when were you last with someone?” Am I
allowed to ask that?
“I’m clean, I promise you.” He sounds so confident, so resolute.
And I want him inside me again. I want him to come inside me.
His hand must be waiting on his zipper because the second I say,
“Okay,” I hear it unfasten. “Put your face in that pillow. This is going to be
hard and fast and you can’t cry out,” he warns, positioning himself behind
me.
I do as asked, his words alone making my pussy clench with
anticipation.
His hands push against the inside of my thighs, guiding my legs
farther apart, and then he presses his cock against me, into me. “Oh fuck,
you feel like heaven.”
I’m sore, but I ignore the ache because I have Henry inside me again.
This angle feels different than being on my back. Less intimate, dirtier,
sexier.
He reaches around to touch my clit with two fingers, rubbing in
circles while he pulls his cock in and out several times, letting my body get
accustomed to him.
“We don’t have a lot of time. Are you ready?” Both of his hands grip
my hips again, so tightly that I’m afraid I’ll have bruises there.
“Yes.”
This time when he pulls out, he slams back into me. I muffle my cry
with the pillow.
“That’s it, baby. Take it.” He slams into me again, his pelvis hitting
my ass.
And then his thrusts come hard and fast and punishing until, ten
thrusts later, he’s gritting his teeth as his cock pulses inside me.
As he fills me with his seed.
“I’m sorry you didn’t come,” he whispers, pulling out. A trail of wet
drips out and down my thigh. His cum, spilling out of my pleasantly abused
pussy. “Hold on a sec.” Grabbing a tissue from a nearby box, he cleans me
up and then slides my leggings back over my hips. “Feeling better now?” he
asks, leaving a kiss on each ass check before climbing off the bed and
opening a door to a tiny restroom. A tap turns on and I listen to him wash
his hands.
I sigh with a smile. “Yes, I’m feeling better.”
He smirks. “I’ll meet you out on the dock.
I watch him leave, wondering for the thousandth time what I did to
deserve that man’s affections.
My phone dings with an incoming text from Jed. I take a quick
glance.
I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately.
Sure you have. I toss my phone back into my purse and leave it there.
Unanswered.
~ ~ ~ ~
“This place is...” My words trail off as I stare in awe at the giant log beams
that run the length of the ceiling in awe.
“Rustic?”
“Yes,” I agree, inhaling the scent of stale air and old cedar, pungent
from lack of air circulation. “But stunning. I guess, because of the gold
mines, I expected your grandparents to have something more like Wolf
Cove.”
“It’s ironic, isn’t it? My grandfather started a luxury hotel chain and
yet he preferred the simple life. He built this himself, nearly sixty years
ago.” Henry palms the front of a massive stone fireplace that stretches two
stories. “He built this whole place by himself.”
It’s not a huge, complicated cabin. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s about
two thousand square feet, with a great room overlooking the water, a loft
with three small bedrooms, and a kitchen and dining area in the back.
Everything is made of cedar and hemlock, from the cupboards down to the
floors.
“This is where you spent your summers?”
Henry nods, pointing toward the antique kitchen stove. “My
grandmother loved to bake and cook. She’d be in there every afternoon,
making something for my brother and me.” His hand runs across the rough
wood mantel and a nostalgic smile touches his lips as he checks his hand
for the thick layer of dust. “Some of the best days of my life were up here.”
“Where are your grandparents now?”
“They both passed. Now this place sits here, like a tomb of my
childhood memories.” His gaze reaches the rafters. “I stayed here once, a
few years ago. It wasn’t the same.”
“You need to make new memories here.”
He seems to ponder that for a moment. “Yeah, maybe.”
Hachiro pokes his head in from the porch. “Okay, I have the perfect
setup. Can I get you out here?” He glances at me. “You look a lot better.
More color in your cheeks.”
“Yes. A lot rosier. Those drugs you have work well.” Henry says
mockingly.
I hide my embarrassed blush behind his broad back as I trail him out,
giving him a playful jab in the side. “Yes, they definitely help.”
“Okay, I want something casual and hip, but manly. Take the coat off
for this one and throw that beanie on. Yeah, yeah... perfect,” Hachiro
murmurs, as Henry follows directions. I can almost feel the eye roll he’s
stifling. “Okay, now lean over the railing. Wait.” He grabs the deck rail and
shakes it. “This isn’t going to break is it? I don’t want you plummeting to
your death.”
“I’ll be fine.” Henry smirks, resting his forearms over the wood, his
eyes catching mine for a brief second—flashing amusement—before
refocusing on the camera. Hachiro has already started snapping.
I find my spot behind the spunky little photographer, mimicking
Henry with my pose. The view of the cove here is much more quiet and
peaceful. I can’t even see the hotel from here, hidden by trees.
Below is a rocky shoreline. I picture a young, brown-haired Henry
standing on the edge with a fishing rod, or splashing in the water. What
must he have been like growing up? And what was his childhood like? So
different from mine, I have to assume. Were his parents here with him? Did
he get along with his brother as a boy?
I would love to spend time up here, just us. No Mr. Wolf and
assistant. No worries of inappropriateness. Not that we’ve been acting at all
worried. Maybe we should be more cautious. For a guy who could lose so
much, he sure seems driven by his dick lately. Maybe the threat from his
father is empty. Wolf Cove is doing exceptionally well, after all. How can
his father begrudge him that?
If the last few days tell me anything, it’s that a weekend alone here
would be all-consuming lust. All Henry.
He is a surprisingly soft and passionate man.
But how long can this last?
And what will it be like to say good-bye to him at the end of summer?
These aren’t thoughts I want to or should be having right now. We
just only started this thing. And I just ended a lifelong relationship; I
shouldn’t be in a rush to find another one. I need to take step back and relax
and enjoy him. Thrive on what he’s giving me, which is incredible sex.
I don’t even realize that Hachiro has turned the camera to point at me
until I catch the lens from the corner of my eye. “What are you doing?”
He shrugs. “I saw a moment, and had to capture it. I’m a
photographer, that’s what I do. Okay, Mr. Wolf, one more of these and then
we’re golden.”
My tall, beautiful man resumes his pose.
“Eyes over here.”
He turns to look at Hachiro. Past Hachiro, locking gazes with me. In
them is something unreadable.
