Instant Temptation (31 page)

Still kissing her, he shoved up her dress and pushed into her, their twin gasps of pleasure filling the room.

As wound up as she was, she came in two thrusts. He was right behind her. Unable to remain upright through his orgasm, he slid down, still holding tightly to her, still embedded deeply within her as his knees hit the floor.

Chests heaving, half dressed, half not, they stayed like that for long moments, her forehead to his shoulder, his face buried in her hair.

“Bed,” he finally murmured, and somehow got them both down the hall.

He set her down in the middle of his room. Pulling back, Harley slid her hands up to the nape of her neck, untied her halter, and let it fall.

The dress slipped to her hips and caught on TJ’s hands. With a flick of his wrists, the material floated to her feet. “Now you,” she said breathlessly, then without waiting for him, shoved his shorts off.

Kicking free of them, he ran a finger over a breast, lightly grazing the hardened tip. “God, you’re beautiful,” he said, turning, nudging her onto the bed. She scooted backwards up the mattress and he followed, pinning her there with his weight. His lips went to her throat, nipping lightly until her nails dug into his shoulders. Shifting downward, he kissed her collarbone, then a breast, while she ground helplessly into him in a desperate attempt to relieve the already building pressure.

“Not fast, not this time,” he murmured, kissing her belly, a hip, her thighs. He pushed them open until his shoulders could fit between, settling her legs where he wanted them.

“TJ, I need…”

“Anything,” he promised.

You, she wanted to say. I need you to love me.

He traced a finger over her center, and she jerked and arched up for more, but he refused to be rushed. Instead, his other hand slid over her belly, holding her down for his ministrations. Bending his head, he kissed an inner thigh. His day-old stubble lightly scraped over her sensitive, quivering flesh, making her cry out. “You like that,” he murmured, and did it again so that she moaned. “Yeah, I like that, too.” He kissed her other thigh. And then in between. “And this,” he said silkily against her. I love this.”

“Oh, God.” She couldn’t put a thought together. Hell, she couldn’t breathe. It was instant and hot and she was already shuddering, her body practically convulsing. “Please.” He was still right there at her core, lightly kissing her damp folds. She felt his breath brush over her, and even that was almost enough to do her in. “Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”

His eyes flashed, something deep and meaningful, but she couldn’t quite grasp it, couldn’t do anything but cry out as he bent his head and sucked her into his mouth at the same time that he slid two fingers into her, rocketing her straight to the shattering climax she’d been begging for. By the time she managed to come back to herself, he was kneeling between her spread legs, eyes hot and fierce. He held her undoubtedly dreamy, enraptured gaze as he entwined their hands together beside her head and drove into her with one fierce thrust, plunging deep. Her hips arched up to meet him, their gazes still connected, their bodies connected, hell, their souls connected as she wrapped her legs around him. He held onto her just as tight, as if she was his lifeline.

He was certainly hers.

No matter what happened, no matter how far apart they ended up, she’d always have that. Needing even more, she pulled him down over her so she could feel his heart pounding, beating in tune to hers.

Eyes dark, he pulled nearly all the way out before thrusting back in to the hilt, making her gasp his name as the need and hunger took over, touching every part of her with every part of him. Their breathing combined, ragged and rough, shutting everything else out.

Nothing else mattered, nothing but the slow pull of their bodies, the unending kiss.

She didn’t want to let him go.

Ever.

Emotion clogging her throat, she closed her eyes rather than give herself away.

“Harley.”

This is just a good-bye, just a simple, easy, casual good-bye.

“Harley, look at me.”

She forced her heavy eyelids open and somehow managed to meet his gaze, knowing by the look in his that yep, she’d given herself away.

Seemed she needed some practice on multitasking orgasms and heartbreak.

Gently, so gently it brought tears to her eyes, he swept her hair back from her face. “I love you,” he said, the words causing her to spiral and shudder as she burst.

And took him with her.

When TJ woke up, he knew even as he reached out that Harley was gone. He almost believed he’d imagined her, except for the bite mark on his shoulder.

And what felt like nail indentations in his ass.

But the amusement drained quickly, because last night, hot and amazing and heart wrenching as it’d been, had been his good-bye.

Two days later TJ was in Anchorage, preparing to take a charter with Colin into their drop zone when his cell phone rang.

“TJ,” a voice breathed softly in his ear, sounding relieved to get him.

“Harley?”

“Yeah.”

For a moment they did nothing but breathe. He wasn’t sure what to say that hadn’t already been said, but he was happy as hel to hear from her. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

Silence.

Memories.

Longing.

He recovered first, or at least put up the pretense of it. “Where are you?”

“Desolation. And no, not by myself.” She paused. “Nolan and Skye are with me.”

Nolan. TJ pinched the bridge of his nose and took a breath.

“He’s here with Skye. And to protect me, of course.”

“He’s with Skye?”

“They’re beginning a…mutual affection.”

Suddenly he could breathe. Breathing was good. “Any problems?”

“Actually earlier we heard a gunshot.”

Christ. “How close?”

“Couple miles. We called it in. By some miracle, the rangers located two guys exiting out of the east entrance, without a permit of course, and loaded with unregistered shotguns and ammo.”

It could have been worse, he told himself. “Arrested?”

“Yep. I don’t think I’ll be losing any more of my coyotes.”

“Your coyotes?” He felt himself smile in spite of the lingering fear for her. “You’re leaving, remember?”

“Yeah. TJ…any regrets?”

“None,” he said firmly, then paused. “You?”

When she was quiet, he shook his head at himself. Obviously she had regrets, she’d sneaked out in the middle of the night.

“None,” she finally said, then hesitated. “Well, maybe one.” She paused again and just about killed him.

Had his phone died? “Harley? You still there?”

“Yes.” She inhaled deeply. “It’s you, TJ. You’re my regret. I regret not telling you sooner, like years sooner, how I felt about you.”

He heard the click, telling him she was long gone before he found his words and could point out that she stil hadn’t told him.

Twenty-four hours later, TJ and Colin were at 15,500 feet in a tent smack in the middle of a windstorm that was threatening to rip them right off the side of a mountain.

It wouldn’t happen. TJ was pretty sure.

Well, at least 80 percent sure.

Colin lay flat on his back staring up at the ceiling of the tent. “I’m a fucking screwup. I should be in front of the pastor tomorrow, saying ‘I do’ with Lydia at my side. Sex for the rest of my life, guaranteed. Man, what the fuck was I thinking?”

TJ didn’t know. Guaranteed sex sounded pretty darn good. But then again, suddenly so did waking up every day wrapped in the same woman.

Christ. It’d gotten to him, all of it; laughing at karma, watching his brothers fall in love.

Being with Harley.

Falling for Harley.

“You ever screw up?” Colin asked. “I mean really screw up?”

TJ thought about how he’d let Harley think all he wanted was a casual, temporary thing, how he’d said he loved her but without the other words she’d needed to go with that love. “Yeah.”

“How did you fix it?

“Still working on that.”

Colin thought about that, then shook his head. “This is all wrong. I changed my mind. I want to get married tomorrow.” Colin closed his eyes, then opened them again, and they were damp. “How fast can you get me home?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Look, I let her think I love my adventures more than I love her. I have to tell her that’s not true. That I’d rather be with her than on a damn mountain. It’s cold here, man. I should be in my warm bed with my warm almost wife.”

“You could call her.”

“No, we’re going in person and tell her I’m an ass. I want to see if she’ll marry this ass. On Squaw Peak like we planned. Take me home, man.”

TJ let out a breath and pulled out his phone to make the calls necessary to get them out of there. Because home sounded like a damn fine place to be.

CHAPTER 28

Two days later, Skye was mooching breakfast while Harley was still looking at her e-mail, specifically the one asking her to confirm she wanted the job.

She really needed to respond.

She’d actually started to a hundred times, pressing REPLY, then typing “yes, thank you!” but then her finger would hover over the SEND.

And then it’d hit DELETE instead.

But the truth was, there was only one thing she really wanted to type and that was, “I can’t take the job because there’s no TJ Wilder in Colorado!”

Sitting back, she closed her eyes and let it all wash over her, giving herself permission to listen to her gut instincts, her emotions, the truth…

“Are you meditating?” Skye whispered.

“Shh.”

“You’re supposed to be sitting cross-legged and chanting ‘ohmmmm.’”

“Quiet. I’m listening to myself.”

“Are you asking yourself for guidance about the job, or about how you let the hottest guy on the planet get away?”

“Skye!”

“Sorry.” Skye spooned in another bite. “Carry on.”

Harley closed her eyes again. Turned out her heart did have something to say. It said that she already had her answers, that possibly she’d always had her answers, from way back since that long ago night in the back of TJ’s truck. She stared off into space as she let that terrifying and life-altering realization echo through her.

She wanted him. She needed him.

She loved him.

She always had. Suddenly it wasn’t so confusing after all. Not when she added everything up, including some of the things he’d said to her.

Sometimes you have to take a risk.

There are all kinds of love.

You make me feel alive.

I love you.

She stood up and paced the length of her kitchen.

“You okay?” Skye asked.

“Yeah. I just realized I left something unfinished.”

“One of your reports?”

“Something bigger.”

Much bigger.

Skye stared at her, and then let out a slow smile. “You’re going for it.”

“I’m going for it.” Harley pulled out her phone and tried TJ’s cell. It went directly to voice mail. She wondered what message to leave. I forgot to mention that I don’t need you for just one night, but for all my nights?

She laughed a little softly at herself. “Hey,” she said. “I…ah, hell. I’ve had an epiphany, I guess you’d call it. Painful sucker, too. Call me.”

Now she just had to be patient.

Problem was, she’d never really mastered the act of patience. So she called Stone. “I need a favor.”

“Good,” he said. “So do I.”

Harley’s conversation with Stone rang in her head for the rest of the day. They’d made a deal. She’d take a temporary job with Wilder until she figured out what the hell she wanted to do with her life, but she wanted to start by going to Alaska to meet up with TJ. Unpaid, of course.

Stone had countered her offer. He was hiring, temporary as she insisted, but she would be paid starting immediately, and she had to trust him because there was a quick little trip she had to help him out with first.

She was taking a small group up Squaw Peak for an impromptu sunset wedding. Her job was to get the bride and the pastor there and be the photographer for the happy event. Nick flew them up and landed on Eagle Rock, a gorgeous plateau, then flew off again to go pick up the groom at some undisclosed location.

Harley led Lydia—the bride—and the pastor to a higher, smaller plateau, where watching the sun set would be like sitting on top of the world. There she sat on the five-hundred-foot-high cliff and fiddled with her camera as she absorbed the view.

Behind her, Lydia was sitting, chatting quietly with her pastor. Harley had already taken several nice shots of them. She heard the chopper and knew Nick was back with the groom. It would take them thirty minutes or so to climb up there.

Harley took some shots of God’s glory spread out before her, then slowly lowered the camera as the truth hit her. She’d heard people talk of life-altering decisions before, but until that moment, sitting in the late afternoon sun with the whole world at her feet, she’d never really gotten it.

She belonged there.

She belonged there with TJ.

Even more of a revelation—she was irrevocably, desperately, 100 percent in love with him.

And he hadn’t called her back.

To be fair to him, he was out in the middle of nowhere, literally, no doubt with absolutely zero reception. He probably didn’t even know she’d called him yet. “You are such an idiot,” she said out loud. “A very slow idiot.”

Just then, a set of unbearably familiar battered boots and two long, denim-covered legs appeared in her field of vision. “If I agree, are you going to argue with me?”

With a gasp, she looked up and faced…who else…the only man who’d ever stopped, and then kickstarted, her heart with a single look. “TJ! What are you doing here?”

He squatted in front of her. “Thought I’d drop by, say hi.”

She choked out a shocked laugh. “But your client—”

“He’s the groom. He decided he was crazy not to follow his heart.”

She felt her heart surge. “I know the feeling.”

His eyes warmed. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She drew a deep breath. “I missed you. I’m so sorry I left your cabin like I did. I shouldn’t have done that.”