My Mountain Man’s Desire (Rock Creek #1)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Griffin

T he knowledge that there’s only a door separating me from a naked and wet Sophie is making me crazy. Just the thought of her wet, soapy body standing under the stream of water has my cock hard and demanding release.

It’s not everyday I have a woman in my house. Hell, besides Ma I couldn’t remember there ever being a woman in the cabin. I’m not an angel, and I certainly don’t live like a monk, but on the very rare occasions I sought out female companionship for an evening, that’s all it was, an evening.

I’ve sworn my life to William and being the best father I could be and that does not involve bringing random women home to meet and confuse him. It was always going to take a very special woman to earn the right to be in my home and meet my son.

Sophie’s a special woman.

I don’t know how I know, but I know. From the moment I’d laid eyes on her at the campfire, I could tell there was something special about her. It’s a feeling that’s only grown stronger with every moment that passes with her and my instincts are rarely wrong.

My body is moving towards the closed bedroom door before I stop myself. “Fuck.” I run my hands through my hair, tugging on the roots. “Pull yourself together, man.”

Because I need to do something to keep my mind off of Sophie’s naked, soapy body, I return to the truck to grab Ma’s cinnamon buns and busy myself with pulling a container of chilli from the freezer. I set it in a pot and turn the stovetop on low.

She must be starving. Those morons she’d been with probably hadn’t packed any real food for their camping trip. Again, I can’t help but wonder who they are to her and why she was with them. Or why she’d left. There are so many questions I want answers to. So much I still want to know about my girl.

The water is still running in the shower so I grab my phone from the counter and walk to the front window that looks out over the valley. In the daylight it’s a stunning view. On a clear night, like tonight, there’s nothing but a blanket of stars. I press the button to call my little brother, Briggs.

“Hey,” I say the moment he answers the phone. “You’re on call tonight, right?”

“You know it.”

Rock Creek Search and Rescue isn’t a big operation, with most of us volunteering as many hours as we can, it’s almost always myself or one of my four brothers on call at any given time.

“Everything okay, Griff?”

“I think so.” I scan the darkness and a flash of something in the distance catches my eye. It could be fire, but it’s too hard to tell. But I can’t ignore the fact that those assholes might have sparked up their bonfire as soon as I’d driven away. “Had to deal with some stupid city kids earlier down by the river,” I tell Briggs. “It’s so dry out there, I worry that they might have ignored my warning.”

If they had, they certainly wouldn’t be smart enough to keep their fire small and controlled the second time around. I know their type a little too well.

Briggs mumbles something to someone before turning his attention back to the phone. “I’ll take care of it, Griff. Don’t worry.”

“You got company?”

“Nah. Nobody important. You know how it is.”

I shake my head and bite back a laugh when I hear a woman who obviously doesn’t like to be referred to as nobody important shout an obscenity at him. Like the rest of us, my little brother is a single man. But unlike me, Briggs fills his nights with what seems like an endless supply of females willing to warm his bed.

“Anyway, make sure you take care of it,” I tell him. “Pa took William to the hunting cabin for a few nights and I don’t need to worry about a forest fire on top of everything else.”

“I’m on it.”

Sophie

By the time I’m finished in the shower and I’ve towel dried my hair, my ankle is throbbing and angry from standing too long. I wrap one of Griffin’s big plushy towels around me and hobble into the bedroom to find something to wear.

I didn’t pack much for the overnight trip and the idea of pulling jeans on with my ankle so sore and swollen doesn’t appeal. Besides, what I’d felt the most comfortable in earlier was Griff’s flannel. Just like him, it made me feel safe, warm and comfortable.

Ignoring my throbbing ankle, I hobble over to the dresser on the far side of the room but before I can open any of the drawers, the framed photos catch my attention.

The first is a family photo. An older couple sat on a log in the centre with five very big men, surrounding them. It was obviously taken a few years ago, but I can pick out a younger Griffin. Instead of a beard, there was only the start of a scruff on his cheeks, but he was just as handsome and even looking at a younger version of him in the photo sends a spark of desire shooting between my legs.

The picture in the next frame causes my breath to catch in my throat. Gently I pick up the frame and stare at an image of Griffin posed with a little boy in his arms. A little boy who is the mirror image of his father.

Griffin has a child?

Does that mean he has a wife, too? And if so, where is she? And where is his?—

“That’s William.”

I spin around so quickly at the sound of his voice, I forget about my sore ankle until a shot of pain shoots up my leg.

“Ouch.” Before I can collapse to the floor, I catch myself with my free hand on the dresser. Griffin’s there in a flash. He puts his arm around me, and instinctively I lean into him.

“You shouldn’t be on your?—”

“He’s your?—”

Griffin stills for a moment before reaching to take the photo from my hand. Without releasing his hold on me, he says, “His name is William. He’s six and my whole world.”

Something about the sweet way he speaks about his son makes my heart swell and I for a second I forget about the prospect of the little boy’s mother.

Griffin reaches past me to put the frame back on the dresser before turning me in in his arms. His eyes dip to my cleavage. I’m only wearing a towel and water is still dripping from my hair between my breasts.

“You really shouldn’t be on that foot.”

Before I can protest, Griff bends and scoops me up easily into his arms. A gasp slips from my lips and my arms wrap around his neck for the short walk to the bed.

Instead of putting me down, Griff sits with me still in his arms and doesn’t relax his grip on me.

“Sophie.” He clears his throat loudly. “You should know?—”

“It’s okay.” My heart sinks which was ridiculous because I’ve just met this man. It doesn’t matter that he has a wife and son. I’m just some stupid girl he’s being kind to after almost hitting with his truck. “You don’t owe me anything, Griff.” I try to twist out of his arms. As much as I love the way he holds me, it isn’t right if he has a family. No matter how natural it feels to be with him. “I shouldn’t be here. Your wife or girl?—”

“Sweetheart.” His deep voice and the way he speaks the pet name he’s given me so easily, stills me in his arms. “There is no wife. No girlfriend.”

My mouth falls open and I look up into his eyes. “William’s mother?”

Griffin

The last thing I want to discuss with my girl while she’s wearing only a towel, a soft warm weight on my lap, is my son’s mother.

But I can see the confusion in her eyes, and I cannot stand her thinking that she’s anything less than the single most important woman in my life at this very moment.

With one finger, I lift her chin until I can look into her big, beautiful eyes. “There’s no wife,” I say slowly. “No girlfriend.” I see the realization in her eyes as she understands that I’m telling her I’m a single father. “He’s with my dad for a few nights on a camping trip,” I add before she can ask.

The worry slips from her face and she relaxes into my arms. My large hand cups her cheek while my thumb slowly rubs circles on her soft skin. “There’s only you, sweetheart.”

It’s probably too much and I risk scaring her off with my bold words, but I don’t regret saying them. How could I? It’s what I feel in my heart. In my soul.

She sucks in a small breath and swallows hard, but doesn’t look away.

“Too much?”

Sophie shakes her head a little. “No.”

“I’m going to kiss you now, Sophie.” It’s not a question, but she nods anyway.

Through sheer force of will, I hold myself back from devouring her with my mouth. Instead, I move impossibly slowly and press my lips gently to hers.

She’s sweet and her soft lips yield to me.

It only takes one taste of her for my cock to thicken. Sophie shifts on my lap, but doesn’t pull away.“You do that to me, sweetheart. I’ve never wanted someone the way I want you.”

Again, it’s probably too much, and if I’m not careful I’ll scare her away, but I couldn’t stop myself from telling her exactly how I feel. She’s special. Like she was made especially for me and put in the road like that for me to find so we could be together.

I deepen the kiss and she groans as her opens to give my tongue passage. With one hand still wrapped firmly around my girl, the other moves to unwrap the towel from her body. She hesitates a little when my fingers slip beneath the fabric.

“Sweetheart?” I pull back to look in her eyes. As much as I want her, I won’t do anything she doesn’t want me to. I’d never hurt her. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No.” She bites her bottom lip, sucking it between her teeth. “Don’t stop.”

I kiss her until she’s moaning against my lips and squirming so her ass is rubbing up against my already painfully hard dick.

This time when my fingers dips beneath the plush fabric, she groans and presses her tits out into my waiting hand. A perfect handful.

But I need more. I need to see?—

The ear splitting shriek of the smoke alarm fills the air and we jerk apart.