Crave This! Read online

  She looked up at him with an inquisitive expression.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked her.

  “Nothing,” she said. “Just thinking. I’m glad you can shift. We would have been in real trouble with those wolves.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” he said. “They’re scared and hungry. We might have been okay.”

  “I’m glad we didn’t have to find out,” she smiled.

  “Me too,” he said. “Want some marshmallows?”

  “No way,” she said. “You’ve got marshmallows?”

  “I always have some in my pack,” he said. “You never know when you might have a campfire.”

  She laughed and he enjoyed the musicality of it.

  Sarah seemed so relaxed now that they were out of the office. This was more like last time. Maybe she was like him, happiest outside.

  There were plenty of people who would have been cold, clammy and miserable with nothing but a dark cave and the tiny tarp-covered fire to protect them from the storm.

  He was glad she wasn’t one of them. Especially with what he was about to tell her.

  He slid two marshmallows onto sticks and joined her by the fire again.

  “Awesome, thanks,” she said, taking hers and holding it carefully up over the flames.

  “I’ve got more food in my pack,” he said. “And more tarps. And that’s a good thing because we’re probably going to have to spend the night up here.”

  Sarah bit her lip.

  “It’s not safe to hike during a lightning storm,” Max said. “And the creek is probably swollen over the banks. We won’t be able to cross for a while. I’m so sorry. The forecast said the storm was supposed to miss us.”

  “It’s fine,” she said.

  “Is there anyone you need to call?” he asked.

  She shook her head.

  “I thought you were going back tonight,” he said. “Don’t you want to call your boss?”

  “No, I don’t need to do that,” she said with a wry smile.

  Interesting.

  “I’ll wander down in the morning and check out the creek,” he told her. “With any luck it will go down quickly and we can get across. If not, we’ll hike around the long way.”

  “Sounds good,” she said.

  They toasted their marshmallows in silence for a little longer. It should have been cozy under the tarp with the rain coming down around them.

  But something in the silence felt like anticipation.

  Sarah’s lips were buttoned, as if there were something she was trying not to say.

  “Hey,” she yelped.

  He must have been too busy watching Sarah. He’d inadvertently let his marshmallow get too close to the flames and it had turned into a fireball.

  “Damn,” he said, blowing it out.

  Sarah laughed again.

  “What are you laughing at?” he teased.

  She shook her head, eyes dancing.

  “Are you laughing at my burnt marshmallow?”

  He pulled it off the stick. It was warm and gooey at the center.

  Sarah watched him.

  On a whim he held it out to her.

  Quick as a thought she licked it off his fingers.

  The bear groaned in his head as he watched her clever pink tongue brush his hand and then dart into her mouth.

  “Mmm,” she hummed, closing her eyes in ecstasy.

  “There’s some on your lip,” he whispered.

  “Can you get it for me?” she asked, green eyes open again, watching him like a kitten.

  Anticipation hung in the air like a physical thing.

  Max leaned toward her slowly, so slowly, and licked the bit of sweetness from the corner of her mouth.

  The marshmallow made her breath smell like a breeze wafting out of a candy store and for a moment he felt like a kid with a twenty in his pocket, ready to clean the place out.

  He pulled away slightly, giving her a chance to change her mind.

  But Sarah only gazed up at him, those luminous green eyes hazy with need.

  Max growled in surrender and kissed her with all the pent-up passion of the year he’d spent missing her.

  The moment his lips touched hers felt like coming home. He hoped she could feel it too, this rightness when they touched.

  Sarah kissed him back, her soft lips firm against his, her mouth melting open at his urging.

  He meant to go slowly, but he found his arms going around her, crushing her to him, her shoulder blades under his hands like angel wings.

  The world disappeared - the rain, the fire, the dampness of the cave. There was nothing for Max but Sarah, warm and willing, her heart beating against his chest.

  He lifted her in his arms and brought them into the cave, where he laid on the tarp and pulled her on top of him.

  Sarah froze above him.

  It was too dark to see her expression. He hoped he hadn’t crossed a line. This woman was impossible to read - cold one moment and warm the next, stand-offish then flirtatious.

  Ours, the bear said firmly. Ours.

  Max was glad one of them was sure.

  Sarah lowered her head and brushed his lips with hers, a light, teasing kiss guaranteed to make him lose his mind.

  She repeated it, lingering this time.

  Max wrapped his hands in her hair, holding her close, exploring her sweet mouth.

  Sarah whimpered and pressed herself closer against him. The peaks of her nipples pebbled against his chest.

  He slid his hands down over her shoulders, along her rib cage, thumbs sneaking inward to caress the outer swell of her breasts.

  She pressed her hips to his and he saw stars with the pleasure.

  He flipped them over, cradling her head in his hand to protect her from the hard cave floor under the tarp.

  She reached for him, fingers wrapping around his shoulders.

  He smiled down at her in the darkness and smoothed a hand down her body, tracing the curve of her ribs, waist and hip. He wished he could see her better. But his other senses seemed to be surging to make up for his lack of sight. He closed his eyes as the bear catalogued her warmth, her delicate scent.

  He leaned down to nuzzle her neck.

  She gasped as he nipped lightly, then licked and sucked where his teeth had been.

  She arched her back and he wrapped a hand around her hip, kissing her tender skin fervently to stop himself from ripping the clothes from her body, taking her fiercely.

  She needed him - he knew it, as much as he needed her, maybe more.

  But he had frightened her away once.

  This time he would be more careful.

  13

  Sarah

  Sarah writhed in Max’s arms. The cave didn’t matter. The year apart didn’t matter. And in the darkness she felt no shyness about her figure or the stretch marks on her hips and belly.

  There was only this man, and the path of his mouth and hands on her body.

  He lowered his head to trail kisses down her chest, sliding a finger between them to pop open the flannel one button at a time, his mouth following in its wake.

  She moaned as his rough jaw abraded the swell of her breast.

  Then he was taking a stiff nipple into his warm mouth, sucking and licking at the same time until her belly began to ache with need.

  She slid her hands into his hair.

  But Max eased away from her, abandoning her breasts to unbutton the shirt all the way as he kissed her, maddening her with the scrape of his stubble and the sweetness of his lips.

  “Lift your hips,” he whispered.

  She obeyed, and felt him unfasten her jeans and slide them down to her ankles.

  Then his hands were on her thighs, easing them apart.

  “You don’t have to…” she whispered.

  “Mine,” he growled.

  He was kissing her thighs, his warm breath caressing her, before she had time to wonder at his claim.

  Slowly, so slowly he kissed hi
s way to her opening.

  Sarah was trembling, fighting not to lift her hips greedily to his mouth.

  At the first touch of his tongue she lost herself to the pleasure.

  Max groaned against her as he licked and suckled hungrily.

  The agony of need only strengthened the sense of utter rightness that flooded her under his touch.

  Hold onto this, remember it, the voice in her head implored her.

  But she was already frantic, clawing at the tarp and angling her hips up, moaning and panting in despair. Sarah had never been this way, so wildly assertive.

  Max locked her hips down with one arm, then eased his hand to her, sliding one finger against her, then two, pressing slowly into her throbbing opening as he lapped at her clitoris.

  Sarah cried out and nearly wept with the force of her climax. Stars burst behind her eyelids and the warmth spread through her chest, sending lightning bolts of ecstasy all the way out to the ends of her hair and the tips of her toes.

  She felt Max’s smile against her thigh, could imagine the cocky expression on his face. He had a pirate’s smile in bed, she remembered from last time.

  She reached for him, eager to reciprocate.

  But Max slid her jeans back up, and lay beside her, pulling her into his arms.

  His chest was so warm, and he smelled so good.

  “Rest, baby,” he whispered into her hair.

  “Don’t you want me to…”

  “Hush, love,” he said, holding her closer. “I just want to hold you.”

  Peace washed over her.

  Whatever their differences might be, this man was kind and gentle and made her feel like home.

  He was also Orson’s father. And he deserved to know.

  “I need to tell you something—” she began.

  “Tomorrow,” he murmured. “Tell me tomorrow.”

  Sarah hesitated.

  She had no idea how he would react to her news.

  For one night, for now, couldn’t she just enjoy this feeling of belonging?

  His intoxicating warmth seeped into her and she decided to rest her eyes, just for a minute.

  14

  Sarah

  Sarah awoke to utter silence and the vague sensation of being in a sleeping bag at overnight camp. Warmth enveloped her back and hips as a light breeze buffeted her face.

  She opened her eyes to see the golden trees swaying outside, framed by the walls of the cave.

  It was Max who surrounded her in warmth - Max whose breath tickled the back of her neck.

  She felt surprisingly great considering she’d spent the night on the floor of a cave.

  With a sense of regret, but a deeper sense of needing to relieve herself, Sarah slipped out of Max’s embrace.

  He moaned a little but relaxed again when she stroked his hair.

  Then she stepped out of the cave and into the grove of trees. When she was finished she stopped for a moment to admire the view.

  Birds sang in the trees, and the sky over the valley was a brilliant blue.

  The landscape below was a brilliant wash of scarlet and flame and gold, the sapphire creek curving lazily out of sight behind the next ridge.

  The air tasted clean and crisp, thanks to last night’s storm. Every touch of her boots sent up the scent of pine needles and rich soil.

  This was heaven.

  She only wished Orson were here to wonder at it with her. She missed his sweet weight in her arms, the chubby little hand wrapped in her hair.

  A wild fantasy sprang into her mind, herself and Orson and Max, building a cabin up here, looking out over the trees.

  Maybe they could be bears together out here where no one would know.

  She pictured Orson with fur and a snout and for the first time it didn’t make her panicky.

  Maybe they wouldn’t want to harvest those trees in twenty years. Maybe their family forest would just be getting started.

  “Sarah?” Max’s hoarse voice ripped her out of the dream.

  “I’m here,” she called back.

  Something crashed toward her through the underbrush and she froze in place, her heart suddenly in her mouth.

  But it was only Max who exploded out of the thicket ahead of her.

  “Where were you?” he demanded, brown eye flashing amber.

  “I, um, I had to pee,” she admitted.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want to wake you.”

  “You can’t do that,” he stormed. “You can’t just wander away.”

  “Like hell I can’t,” she retorted. “These are my woods.”

  He opened his mouth and closed it again.

  Then he turned and headed back to the cave without a word.

  Sarah bit her lip and followed him.

  She hadn’t meant to put him in his place exactly that way, but damn it, he couldn’t keep being so condescending. She wasn’t a child. As a matter of fact, she was an experienced hiker.

  But Max was already disappearing into the trees ahead. He clearly didn’t want to hear about it.

  Somehow, the birdsong was suddenly off-key to her ear and the sunlight merely intensified the headache she realized she was getting.

  She was good and disillusioned by the time she got back to the cave.

  Max was already packing up his bag, so she pulled down the tarp that had covered the fire and folded it neatly before cleaning up the ashes from the fire itself.

  She looked up to find Max watching her.

  “I was a Girl Scout. I know what I’m doing,” she said.

  He nodded and offered her a hand up.

  She didn’t take it.

  He scowled at her and threw his pack on his back.

  They headed down the ridge together a moment later.

  This is it. This is your chance to talk to him. Make up your silly spat and talk to him, the voice in her heart told her.

  But the voice in her head was not so sure.

  Orson was Sarah’s whole world. There were so many ways in which telling Max could impact that. What if he tried to take Orson away? What if he was angry?

  If she were looking at this from an investment standpoint, she had to admit that the risks might outweigh the benefits.

  Maybe she’d had the right idea from the beginning. She shouldn’t complicate things. She was perfectly capable of ensuring that Orson had plenty of love and support in his life.

  She had just made her final decision as they approached the banks of the creek.

  “Looks like we can cross,” Max said, his deep voice calm again.

  “Good,” she said.

  “Listen, I’m sorry I got upset,” he told her. “I was worried about you. Those wolves last night gave me a scare.”

  “It’s fine,” she shrugged.

  “Was there something you wanted to tell me?” he asked.

  “Oh,” she said. “No, I guess I don’t remember.”

  He gazed at her searchingly, the amber flash gone from his eyes which were now a deep, soulful brown.

  “Okay,” he said at last. “Well, do me a favor and let me help you down the bank.”

  “You don’t even have shoes,” she pointed out.

  He laughed. “That’s true, but I practically live in these woods, so humor me, will you?”

  She took his proffered hand, and they half-slid down the muddy bank together.

  The river was deeper than yesterday, but a few stones still jutted from the surface of the murky brown water. They leapt across as before and Sarah allowed him to take her hand as they navigated the bank on the other side.

  “Don’t ever do that if you’re alone,” he cautioned her. “The water is quick, and it can be deeper than you think.”

  “You shouldn’t do it either,” she said.

  “Yes, but I can turn into a giant bear,” he explained.

  She nodded, thinking about it. He wasn’t wrong. The bear would likely be fine even in a deep creek.

  “Do you
want to rest or keep going to the car?” he asked.

  “Let’s keep going,” she said.

  He hadn’t let go of her hand.

  Sarah felt a tug on her heartstrings, as if she were pulled in two directions, toward Max and away from him at once.

  Orson comes first.

  She let go of Max’s hand and marched a little faster.

  The sooner they got to the car, the sooner she’d get on a plane and back home.

  She only hoped it happened before she could do anything she would regret.

  15

  Max

  Max walked on. It took all his restraint to hold back the bear.

  It raged in his chest, insisting that he claim his mate, make things right.

  But Max had enough experience with relationships to know when it was time to fight and when it was time to let go.

  He had no claim over Sarah, not yet.

  And maybe that was for the best. The feisty little thing blew hot and cold so fast he could hardly keep up.

  And she was blowing cold as hell right now.

  Fix it, the bear insisted.

  But Max wasn’t so sure. She was clearly attracted to him. But plenty of women were attracted to him.

  She couldn’t feel about him the way he felt about her and walk away like this. Hell, he’d thought he would die this morning when he’d woken to find her missing. He’d barely slept all night, the need to protect her overwhelming him.

  And if all she wanted was his body and his expertise…

  The bear chuffed in his head.

  Not that kind of expertise, horn dog, he chided it.

  If all she wanted was his forestry experience and a good time, he was done.

  He couldn’t force himself on her. He was going to have to find a way to get over her this time.

  But it didn’t take the bear to tell him he might be kidding himself when it came to getting over her.

  They reached the car and he jogged around to open the door for her.

  Sarah looked both pleased and embarrassed.

  Funny, maybe Glacier City guys didn’t have any manners.

  She got in and he caught a whiff of her enticing scent.