Snow Bound Page 2

  I’ve never seen Jase dressed in anything other than suits. I’ve never really gone in for the business-type look on a man, but somehow he makes the suits he wears look pretty damn sexy.

  Every. Single. Time.

  I can’t help but imagine what he’d look like with his tie pulled loose around his neck. With his always-immaculate hair messy for once. Messy because I’m the one grabbing onto it as he’s on top of me. His jacket missing. His shirt open. Muscles flexing as he moves and his warm skin brushes over mine.

  I slide my fingers down my body. I’m covered in bubbles. Thinking about Jase like this isn’t going to help my ridiculous crush on him go away. I have to stop.

  Downing the last of my wine, I pull the plug. The air’s warm around me, but I hurry to grab a big towel. I pad barefoot down the carpeted hallway back to my room. It’s still way earlier than I’d normally go to sleep, but I set my towel on a chair and climb into bed anyway. If I could get the fire going, I’d curl up in front of it. A warm bed is the next best thing.

  At least the cabin’s warming up now. And since I’m not going to do anything tonight, I’ll have to get up early tomorrow and get to work. I deserve a night off.

  There’s a small TV in here. Grabbing the remote, I click through all the options but there’s nothing that catches my eye. I don’t want to read the book I brought along, not now. My thoughts keep drifting back to Jase.

  My hand trails down my body again. God, he’s just so damn sexy. His sparkling blue eyes. His lips.

  Oh, his lips.

  I can picture them easily when I close my eyes. I should have brought a vibrator, but no worries. My hands know what to do.

  It’s so easy to call up a fantasy about him. I’ve tried not to, but I couldn’t help but come up with one or two about him after we first met.

  Maybe three.

  Now they’re all combining together in my mind. He’s already naked, his body gorgeous as he undresses me. He’s touching me, his hands running all over my warm skin. In my mind, Jase knows what he’s doing. Knows a woman’s body and just what to do.

  My breathing’s loud now. I’m not holding back like I do even when I’m at home alone. The walls in my building are as thin as paper. There are certain things that I don’t want my neighbors to hear.

  But not out here. I’m alone and in the middle of nowhere. Completely free, for one night only. I let myself pant and even moan. Chad didn’t like it when I made sounds during sex. I got used to holding back because of him too.

  To hell with that now.

  Jase wouldn’t do that. Try to limit me in any way. Not him. Never.

  Fingers toying on my clit, I speed up my slow rhythm. My heart’s already pounding. My body’s on fire as I imagine Jase’s hand on my body instead of my own. His touch. His kiss. His cock, hard and ready. Replacing his long fingers. Sliding deep inside of me.

  Waves of pleasure crash over me. I catch myself holding back again but somehow I manage to let go. For once I’m as loud as I want to be when I come. I’m thrashing around too, blankets and sheets tangling around me. I push them away as my temperature rises. I’m too hot and I don’t want to be covered up. Not now.

  I ride my orgasm out as long as I can, gasping as the tremors shake me.

  Then I hear it. A sound that’s not coming from me, and I almost choke on my last cry when I open my eyes.

  There’s a man. Leaning in the doorway. Watching me.

  I can’t speak. I can’t move. What the fuck? He’s just standing there. His eyes are still on me. He doesn’t look threatening. In fact, he looks turned on. By me. I have to blink to see if I’m imagining it.

  I’m not.

  The last waves of pleasure are still flowing when I manage to get my limbs working again. Frantically I grab for the covers, pulling them up tightly to my neck.

  He’s still staring.

  I arch my eyebrow at him. “Who the hell are you?”

  Chapter 2

  Linc

  “Me? Who the hell are you?”

  The moment I ask her the question, it comes to me. Christ. It can’t be. But it is.

  The woman who’s getting me all hot and bothered is Mykayla. Annoying Mykayla from the office.

  Since I work remotely, we’ve never met in person. Had a lot of contact over our work chat app though. She looks better than her thumbnail picture shows. Of course, every woman in the world looks sexy when she comes. Not that I ever thought I’d see Mykayla doing that. No way.

  I didn’t expect anyone at all to be here now. Mykayla sure didn’t mention that she was coming up tonight in our last conversation.

  Or coming.

  I didn’t think anything of the other car already parked in the lot. There’s only one main lot for all the cabins around here.

  I decided to drive in tonight so I could get some early skiing in tomorrow. Also to get away from my ex. Living with her until she takes possession of her new place is driving both of us crazy. Plus hanging out at Sam’s cabin, even by myself, is always a good time. It’s a great place, and I don’t get to use it as often as I’d like.

  When I brought my stuff to my favorite room, the last thing I expected was to find it occupied by anyone. Least of all Mykayla enjoying herself like she was.

  She recognizes me too just as I realize it’s her. She tightens her grip on the sheets. “Linc. What the hell are you doing here?”

  I frown. I hate obvious questions. “I’m here for the retreat. Same as you.”

  “But I thought you weren’t coming. Your name’s not on the list.”

  “Yeah, well. Everyone who needs to know, knows. I don’t need to be on the list. Now, what are you doing in my room?”

  “Your room?” Her expression twists as she hugs the covers even closer around her. “Just what exactly makes this your room?”

  “This is where I stay when I use the cabin.” I say it like it’s obvious, even though there’s no way Mykayla could know that.

  “You’ve been here before?” Mykayla’s still staring like she thinks I’m some kind of ghost.

  “Of course. Sam lets me use it whenever I want to.”

  “How’d you swing that?”

  “Because I’m very, very good at my job.” I just barely catch her eyeroll before she turns her head away. “It’s a perk.”

  “That’s nice, Linc. Now will you please get out?”

  “Out of my room?”

  “Not your room. Not this time. It’s mine now. If you wanted it, you should have shown up early enough to claim it. Now please leave.”

  The defiant tilt to her head is actually sexy. Probably not what she’s going for, but it is. I want to stay and tease her a little longer, but it hits me that I should leave. Mykayla’s unexpected little display left me throbbing hard. I don’t think she’s noticed. The last thing I need is her thinking that I’m interested in her in any way at all.

  Because I’m not. In spite of that sexy show she just put on, I’m about as happy to see her as she is to see me. She’s just so irritating over chat. Always got some super cheerful, I’m going to prove myself attitude going on.

  Drives me nuts.

  Of course I never imagined for a second that she had a sexy side to her. A really sexy side. She was enjoying every damn single second of that loud orgasm she was having.

  It was such a hot scene, I couldn’t look away. A hot woman touching herself is hot like nothing else in this world. I could watch that all day. Or all night.

  And my cock hasn’t gone down, even since we’ve been talking. Mykayla’s got a killer body. Part of me’s waiting for her to loosen her tight grip on the blankets, but she’s not giving an inch. No more glimpses for me.

  Not that I didn’t get an eyeful already.

  If I didn’t dislike her so much, I’d be angling for an invitation to join her. But sex with Mykayla? No way. She’d probably want to fill out a report afterwards.

  Or during.

  “Fine.” I give an exaggerated sigh. �
��‘I’ll let you have the room. For now.”

  “For now? What are you, eight years old?”

  I only laugh and turn to leave. But I can’t help glancing back behind me before I close the door. Mykayla’s climbing out of bed. I get another half-decent look at her and I’m about to turn away when she glances over and catches me.

  Just like before. She full-on catches me checking her out. I expect her to tear a strip off of me for sneaking another peak.

  But she doesn’t. Our eyes lock. And I can’t believe it. But I can’t deny it either. A spark of electricity shoots between us.

  Spark? More like a thunderbolt.

  I can feel it just as much as if I was actually hit by lightning. And somehow, I can see that Mykayla feels it too.

  This is wrong. I can’t stand her. That feeling’s mutual, I’m sure.

  “Linc.” Her gaze narrows. The moment disappears.

  Did it really even happen?

  I don’t care. I turn and walk out before she can say anything more.

  Chapter 3

  Jase

  I never thought I’d be so happy to get to the woods. I’m pretty into all kinds of outdoors stuff, but staying in a cabin isn’t really how I like to spend time out in the wilderness. I’ll take a ten hour day hike over a work retreat with a bunch of people I only ever see once or twice a year. I don’t totally get the logic behind getting to know people that only ever work remotely. People that I won’t ever see, except once a year at the retreat. Makes no sense to me.

  But I’m on my way. This event isn’t optional. I don’t really mind that much anyway. Beats sitting around at a desk for the next three weeks, and I’m sure I can get up early enough to get in a few exploratory hikes before the daily schedule kicks in. That’s the main reason I’m driving up so crazy early this morning. I can get one in today, since we don’t have anything on the coworker bonding program until this evening. That’s when everyone else will be arriving, coming up after they get off work today. The official schedule doesn’t even kick in until Saturday morning, so I can get away with a quick appearance tonight too. Unless I can spend most of the time hanging out with Mykayla.

  And at least her being there will inject some fun into the situation. I always like to see her whenever I have to put in an appearance in the office. It’ll be great to spend so much time with her. Really get to know her better. Maybe even ask her out.

  I haven’t told her yet. Or anyone, really. But I’m recently single again. And now that I’m ready to get back out there and start dating, the one woman who keeps coming to mind is Mykayla. I’ve tried the online thing, but I gave up on that pretty quickly. Not really into the bar scene, either. And why should I even look elsewhere, when a great woman is right here in front of my face. Sure, we work together. But not that much. I’m mostly remote. I can’t see it causing any problems.

  After being with one man for so long, I’m more than ready and willing to be with a woman.

  The drive up has been pretty dicey since I started, and it’s only gotten worse. By the time I pull into the parking lot, there’s a huge amount of snow covering the ground.

  It’s still snowing now, but it’s not so heavy that a quick hike is out of the question.

  I’m not even going to bother dropping my stuff off at the cabin. I’ll come back for it after I have a good tour around the area. I’ve already mapped out a few routes I want to explore. If this snow lasts and it keeps going, it’s going to be impossible for me to do the hikes I planned for at least a few days.

  I’ve never been to this part of the state before. It’s beautiful up here, and the snow only adds to that. Makes it more of a challenge to walk in, but that just means I get the trails to myself. Usually I like that and I do about half my hikes alone. But today would be even more perfect if Mykayla was here with me. Beautiful trails, beautiful woman. Yeah. That’s what I want.

  I’ll ask her along next time, after I’ve checked it all out. When it’s cleared up more and not snowing in our faces. Because right now, it’s not even that easy to find the path I want. Tree branches heavy with new snow brush up against me as I head into the forest.

  A couple hours go by and I’m feeling the burn. The piles of snow are making it slow going to navigate, and the snow hasn’t let up at all. In fact, visibility is getting to be a concern. I stop to take a few pictures in the next clearing I find, then turn around to head back.

  By the time I reach the cabin after a quick stop at my car, visibility’s close to zero and the snow’s coming down hard. It’s getting to be almost to storm levels, and I can barely make out the path to the cabin.

  I’m completely covered in snow by the time I reach the door. I brush myself off as best as I can and head on inside.

  “Jase!”

  I’m still closing the door behind me when Mykayla comes flying over. Arms open wide, she gives me a hug. That’s a surprise. Not that I mind at all. But it’s not the kind of thing she and I ever do. The unexpected shock of it wears off in about two seconds and I’m enjoying this more than most hugs.

  She feels really good, pressed up against my body the way she is. Without thinking, I start to reach up to stroke her hair. I catch myself just in time. The two of us stand with arms wrapped around each other, until she pulls back suddenly.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” The cutest shade of red is climbing up into her cheeks.

  “Don’t be. I’m happy to see you too.” I set my bag down. “So, lots of people here already?”

  “No. You’re the first one actually. I mean, the first one to get here today.” Mykayla’s lip curls up in distaste. “Linc came in last night.”

  I snort as I shrug my jacket off. “He’s not a friend of yours?”

  “No.”

  She doesn’t say anything more, although I get the sense there’s something she’s not telling me. I’m not a fan of Linc either. He’s had it in for me ever since I got a promotion that he thought he deserved. Ever since then, he’s acted like a total asshole. I shrugged it off at first, but he’s relentless enough to be hard to ignore.

  “I’m not surprised there’s no-one else here yet. It’s coming down pretty hard out there now. Even worse than when I got here.”

  “You got here earlier?”

  “Yeah, I went out for a short hike. If I’d known you’d be here, I’d have invited you to come along. It’s gorgeous out there.”

  She gives a short, uncomfortable laugh. “I’ve been busy getting everything set up and ready. But the caterer’s not here yet either, so there’s nothing ready for dinner. I hope he gets here soon.” Mykayla tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “And I don’t know who’s going to bring the firewood. The heat’s on, but it’s not that warm in here today. The fireplace would make a big difference.”

  “I’ll go get some.”

  “From where?”

  I grab my jacket back off the hook. “There’s a shed out back. If there’s nothing there, I’ll go cut some for us.”

  Her eyes widen. “You know how to do that?”

  I grin at her surprise. “Sure. As long as there’s an axe I can use, it’s no problem.”

  “You’re so much more handy than I thought.”

  “I’m full of surprises. I’ll be back soon.”

  I head back out to find that the snow’s gotten even worse in the last few minutes. It’s a struggle just to get to the shed, which isn’t that far away. Fortunately there’s some wood to be had. Not much, but enough to get through today and tonight. Surely the snowstorm will subside by tomorrow.

  Collecting it all, I make my way back. It’s almost impossible to see even a few feet in front of my face. Once I make it to the cabin, I leave most of the logs outside on the porch and carry in a few big pieces.

  I’m getting the fire going when Mykayla comes into the living room. “Oh, you found some. Great.”

  “It’s really coming down out there now. I don’t know if anyone else is going to make up today.”r />
  “What? Really? But the first event’s tonight.” Mykayla strides over to the window. “Yikes. I’ve been so busy, I didn’t even notice. What’s going to happen to the retreat?”

  I shrug. “Guess we’ll start a day or two late. Or you and I and Linc can run our own sessions. Since we’re snowed in here too.”

  Mykayla makes a face. “Yeah, right. I’m sure Linc’ll love to spend time with me.”

  “Maybe not. But I would.”

  “Really?” Her expression changes but I can’t read what’s there.

  “Sure. You and I can have a meeting of our own, right here in front of the fireplace. After we get some food. I’m starving.”

  “I was just checking out our options for dinner. Looks like they delivered some of the food in advance, although not everything. How’s pasta sound to you?”

  “Great. Let’s get it going.”

  “You cook too? So you’re an outdoorsman and a chef?”

  “Very, very far from being a chef. But I know my way around a kitchen.”

  She smiles at me. “Is there anything you can’t do, Jase?”

  Christ, she’s beautiful. “There might be a couple things.”

  A couple things like fling you over my shoulder and carry you off to one of the bedrooms right this minute.

  But I hope to change that soon enough.

  “Jason. You made it.”

  Linc breaks into my lewd thoughts about what I’d like to be doing with Mykayla. I turn my head to face him.

  “Hello, Linc.” We shake hands briefly.

  “Where is everyone?” He looks around like he expects the room to be full of people. Granted, it was supposed to be by now.

  “Didn’t you notice the snow storm going on outside? I can’t see anyone being able to get in or out of here for awhile. So it’s just the three of us for now.”

  He barely glances out of the nearest window. “Huh. I’ve been doing some work, so no. I didn’t notice.”

  Mykayla’s lips purse into a thin line. “I’m starting dinner, Linc. It’ll be ready soon enough.”

  “Okay.” He flops down onto the sofa. Mykayla’s annoyed that he’s not offering to help, but I’m good with being alone with her. I speak up before she can say something to him.