The Haunting of the Mountain (Mountain Men of Whispering Winds #9)

7. Kyla

Chapter 7

Kyla

Oh. My god.

Stone thinks I’m cute. He thinks— wait . Do I want him to think I’m cute? Cute is what you call a kitten. Two puppies wrestling around in the dirt. A pygmy hippo. Cute leads to adorable. Gentle pats on the head. It leads in the opposite direction of where I want to go with Stone.

Sexy? Hell yeah.

Gorgeous? Yes, please.

Cute? Ugh.

I thought I was pulling out all the stops during that car ride. I made sure my sweater was hanging a bit lower. I could feel Stone’s eyes on me. I saw him looking. And I relished how my body would react each time his gaze would linger on my skin. Warmth and tightness and tingling. Everything was electric. It still is.

“Storm might make things a little difficult,” Stone says as we leave his truck and head for his cabin. “Might have to pack a few more supplies for the trek over to the mill.”

I’d forgotten all about it. And if I’m honest, I don’t care if we can’t make it there. All I care about is getting down to the bottom of what’s going on between me and Stone.

“Another one coming?” I ask pausing to take a look around. It looks like it’s dusk but it’s too early in the day. The wind’s picked up. A flock of birds navigates the cloudy sky overhead, chirping and chittering as they change course faster than my emotions.

“Afraid so,” Stone says, placing his hand on my lower back as we head up the front porch stairs.

My body reacts immediately, and all of my worries begin to melt away. I need to stop overthinking a single word. I need to remind myself how Stone makes me feel.

I need— “WHAT THE OHMYGOD!” I scream as I walk through the cabin door and Stone scrambles to see what’s wrong.

What’s wrong is that . The corn doll that Stone said he buried. It’s sitting on the rocking chair, covered in dirt with even more dirt across the floor as though it climbed out of its grave and dragged itself back inside.

“Nope, nope, nope,” I mutter to myself, leaving the cabin and walking around in circles, trying to dissipate my nerves. I didn’t believe in curses or possessions or hauntings but after what happened at the library and then this? I’m reconsidering everything.

I sigh, relaxing as Stone wraps me up in his arms. I fold against him, breathing in his soothing scent.

“Kyla,” Stone says, his hand stroking the back of my head. “I…” He pauses for a few moments, the same faltering he had back at the library.

“It was a bad joke,” he says, scrubbing his beard with a thick hand.

I pull back, and Stone looks like he’s the one who saw a ghost.

“So that’s the last-minute thing you needed to do before we left.”

He nods. “I thought you were going to leave if you found out this place wasn’t really haunted. I wasn’t thinking straight. And after your run-in at the library.” He shakes his head. “I’m sorry.”

It takes me a moment to respond, as I skate along a wide spectrum of emotions. Everything that I’ve been feeling for Stone isn’t lopsided. I’m not mad. Not annoyed. A different emotion is bubbling up in my chest and throat.

“You want me here?”

“More than anything.”

Tingles radiate across my skin as he cups my cheek and brushes his thumb against my skin. With his eyes on mine, it feels like the rest of the world dissipates around us. The birdsong recedes into the background and I no longer feel the cold breeze. It’s like he’s flipped a switch and my body’s lit up as every intense emotion I’ve felt for Stone crashes into me at once. If Stone wasn’t holding me, I’d likely crumble under the weight of it.

“Why?” My voice is so soft, hardly above a whisper as it leaves my lips.

“Kyla,” Stone rasps, sliding his free hand to my neck as I slip my hands beneath his jacket, digging my fingers into his firm back.

“Because I’ve never felt anything like this before. I’ve spent decades alone on this mountain. I figured I would spend the rest of my life that way. Never minded it. Never questioned it. It wasn’t until I met you that I questioned everything.”

His thumb brushes my lips and I can hardly breathe, hanging on to every word that leaves his lips. My body feels weightless. My head’s up in the clouds. None of this feels real. It’s like I’m watching someone else’s life play out because a part of me still believes that none of this could happen to me. But I can’t deny it for long. Not with Stone’s warm, callused hands against my skin. His breath dancing across my lips. His words ringing in my ears so loud but all I want to do is crank the dial up higher.

“I need you, Kyla.”

Air leaves my lungs in a single, long puff.

“I want you.”

He threads his fingers in my hair, gripping—tugging me lightly, but hard enough that my head tips back and my mouth parts, waiting agonizingly long for his lips to finally brush against mine.

“I’ve known it from the moment I laid eyes on you.”

The flames in Stone’s eyes flicker, apprehension rising slowly in his features.

“But if you don’t feel the same…” He swallows. “If I’ve ruined it…”

My stomach twists. A jolt in my belly. My chest is tight. My throat’s welling and all I can do is shake my head.

“Just kiss me already,” I finally mutter.

The dim flames in Stone’s eyes ignite, engulfing him as an animalistic growl rumbles in his chest and reverberates through my body. Every nerve ending in my body is sizzling under his touch, his gaze, and when his lips finally touch mine, everything releases. Unclenches. An explosive chain reaction that begins in the tips of my toes and bursts out of the crown of my head. Thunder crashes and lightning lights up the sky but neither compare to the explosive power of Stone’s lips against mine. I’ve never been kissed like this before.

“So fucking, sweet,” he growls against my lips before diving back in for more. He rivets me in place with a single hand around my skull, fingers threaded in my hair, while the other roams freely across my body. Down my side. Along my ass, gripping and pulling. Against my breast, molding his hand around me—a perfect fit.

I moan as his tongue swirls against mine hungrily. My nails dig into his back and he rears his head and growls. When his penetrating gaze lands on mine, I swear I’m no longer looking at a man. I’m looking at a beast. Sasquatch has nothing on him.

“More,” he demands. “Mark me, Kyla. Fucking need you to mark me.”

And I comply willingly, digging my nails down the length of his back as he groans against my mouth. I leap up, wrapping my legs around his waist as he holds me against his body. There was never any question about Stone’s strength. The man’s enormous, with muscles I’m sure no one’s ever seen before. But feeling them is on a whole different level.

“Need you inside,” he rasps as rain falls. “Don’t want you wet and cold out here.”

“Too late for the former,” I mutter into his ear, biting his earlobe before licking the side of his neck. “And I don’t think a blizzard could cool me down after what your mouth’s done to me.”

He grips my hair and then I feel his beard scrape against my neck. “My mouth isn’t finished with you yet.” His lips sear against my skin before he takes his turn, dragging his tongue across my throat. “There won’t be an inch of your skin I won’t taste before the night’s over.”

Before I can respond, Stone turns around abruptly and rushes us back toward the cabin. But who am I kidding? Anything I’d say would be incoherent mush. All I can do is hold on to Stone as he gallops across the yard toward the cabin like a wild animal. He bounds up the front porch, damn near taking all the steps in a single stride.

Good lord, I love how powerful he is as he carries me inside. How big and strong he is. I feel small in his arms but I’ve never felt safer. He sets me down on the couch but I refuse to let go. I need this man on top of me right now.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Stone rasps into my ear.

“Not with my legs wrapped around you.”

He kisses my neck and I squirm, locking my ankles together behind his back.

“I love you wrapped around me, sweet girl but we need some light,” he breathes against my skin. “Need to see your gorgeous face. That sexy body. Need to see you squirm when I make you come.”

My eyes flare, and he wraps his hand around my throat and jaw, pressing me into the soft cushion as his lips crash against mine once again with even more passion. I moan as his tongue slips against mine. I can hardly breathe or think as his mouth turns my body and mind into mush.

But before I know it, his lips are off of mine and my legs hang off the couch as I lay slumped against the cushions.

“Stone,” I beg as I watch him move through the cabin, flipping switches and pulling chains.

“Power’s out,” he says as lightning illuminates the room, and I see him looming a few feet away, shirtless.

When did he take off his shirt? And then I laugh when I see that black nose and whiskers.

“What?” Stone asks, stepping forward, each step reverberating in my chest.

“I think you might be the sexiest kitty cat I’ve ever seen.”

He swipes at his face absently and then glances at his fingers before letting out a deep, rumbling laugh.

“Not as sexy as you,” he rasps.

Check that one off and scratch cutie out.

“I can wipe it off,” Stone says, taking a few steps toward me. He reaches for a box of matches, swiping one of them against the side. It sizzles and then lights up.

“No,” I say as I watch him lighting the candles I’d set out last night. “I don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?” Stone asks after lighting the last candle.

He walks over to me, carrying it in front of him before setting it down on the coffee table.

“Yes,” I mutter, leaning back as Stone squares his body to me as he kneels. I spread my legs, inviting him on top of me. I want to feel his weight on me. Feel the wide planes of his back as he kisses me again.

“Because I plan on wiping it off between your thighs.”

I swallow hard as my entire body reacts all over again.

“I think I’ve come around to your point of view.”

“And it won’t be the last thing you come around, sweet girl.” He slides his palms along my inner thighs as he slips between my legs. Warmth fills my core as he grips my bare skin above my jeans, pulling me closer to him as he readjusts me on the couch. “I’m making you mine tonight.”

He rubs his face against my legs, dragging himself lower and lower until I feel him against my sex as I pulse with need. Anticipation. I’ve never felt so riled up. I want to scream. I want him to pull down my pants and feel his lips against me. That warmth. That tongue.

“Then make me yours,” I rasp, threading my fingers into his hair.

He lets out a throaty growl against my pussy as he continues rubbing his face against me, marking me with his scent. His deft fingers move, making quick work of my jeans as he slips them off my legs in a single flourish.

“Jesus,” Stone mutters, his hands resting on my bent knees.

“What?” My breath’s shaky. My body’s shivering as though I’m cold but it’s anticipation. It’s the tension I feel coiling in my belly, twisting and tightening as Stone skims his hands down my thighs slowly. He’s enjoying this. Savoring it. And I love that he’s taking his time.

“You’re a damn miracle,” he finally gusts, his breath warm and ragged against my skin. “A dream.” He kisses my leg. Licks and nibbles as his mouth moves closer and closer to my throbbing center. “So gorgeous and perfect that I swear I’m hallucinating.”

“I could say the same thing about you.”

The eerie glow from the candlelight makes everything seem dreamlike. But I know I’m not dreaming. I’m feeling every touch and every word as Stone kisses me softly, so tender compared to the power I know he possesses in that body of his.

His hands slide to my waist. I swear they’re big enough to wrap around me completely. I squirm beneath his grasp, my hips bucking uselessly against him as I try to relieve some tension.

“Even with kitty face paint?”

I laugh, some of the tension is finally released.

“Especially with the kitty face paint.”

“Maybe I should wear it more often.”

“Well… maybe not.”

“Guess it’s time to take it off. And this too, sweet girl. Need to see all of you.”

He grabs the bottom of my sweater and pulls it over my head. A throaty growl lodges in his throat as he stares at my chest, and I can’t help but smile. I love it when he stares because I love doing it too. I can’t get enough of those muscles. The way they flex as he moves. Abs that I want to drag my tongue across, tasting every crook and crevice.

“Bra too,” he says gruffly.

My already hard nipples tighten as I pull off my bra and I see the look on Stone’s face. He’s looking at me like I’m a precious gift. Something to be cherished. Desired. No man has ever looked at me this way. And I don’t want anyone else but him to look at me like this.

“Gorgeous,” he rasps.

Check and check. Looks like I’m more than the Cryptid Cutie to Stone.

My foot brushes against his cock and he shudders, grabbing my ankle. He brings it to his mouth, kisses my sole and the rest of my leg.

“I’m afraid I might be down here a while,” Stone rasps as he lowers himself back down.

He slips his fingers beneath the band of my underwear, lifting my legs as he slides them off of me.

“Black paint isn’t easy to remove.”

“Mhmm,” I moan. “Take as much time as you need.”

“I’ll be thorough. I’ll be…”

I can feel his breath against my slick folds. His fingertips dig into my fleshy thighs and as I glance down at him between my legs, I see that animalistic hunger he’d shown me earlier. I see the beast taking over. I…

Oh fuck.