Off the Record (Off #3)(36)
He immediately holds his hands up to stop me. “Of course. Don’t even worry about it. You should definitely be with your mom on her birthday. I’ll just get you a ticket out of Jackson Hole and you can fly from there straight to North Carolina to be with your mom.”
I heave a sigh of relief that. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
Linc surprises me further when he steps into me, wrapping his arms around my waist. My hands go up to rest on his chest and I can feel his heart beating. I resist the urge to lay my ear against it so I can hear his life force.
“I was thinking we could celebrate our impending vacation with a kiss?”
My lips turn up in agreement at the suggestion. “You do, do you?”
He stares at my lips, waiting on my permission but I’m not going to make him wait. I lean up on my tip toes, seeking his mouth with mine. He bends to meet me and an explosion of passion rocks me when they connect.
Linc lets out a primal sound and crushes me to him, while my arms wrap around his neck to hang on. Without breaking the kiss, his hands move from my back to just below my ass, and the next thing I know, he’s lifting me up. My legs wrap around him, a move that feels so natural that I don’t second guess the wanton nature of it.
He settles me against his erection and I think I just might die it feels so good pressed against me. I silently beg him to walk me into his bedroom but he does nothing more than hold me against him while his mouth molests mine.
He is an amazing kisser. His lips are soft but demanding. His tongue always takes control, and mine can do nothing but helplessly follow along where he leads it. Even the use of his teeth is so erotic, I almost bet I could have an orgasm just from the way he kisses me.
And then all too soon, the kiss is over. Linc pulls away and buries his face in my neck. His breath is harsh, same as mine.
“God...Ever...I’m dying here.”
“Me too,” I assure him.
Reluctantly, he finally lets me down and I slide sinfully against his body, trying to relish the feel of his hardness rubbing me from my crotch up to my belly button.
Linc gives me a last, quick kiss on my lips, and then tells me to shower and pack. I just nod, completely in a daze, and completely delirious in my need for Linc Caldwell.
I take a deep breath and sigh quietly. Wyoming puts me at such peace. In fact, if I didn’t play hockey, I would retire here and live the rest of my days out basking in the beauty of the Teton Mountains.
I glance over at Ever as we drive U.S. 191 into the town of Jackson from the airport. The Tetons are to our right and I can see her mouth hangs slightly open as she ogles their majestic beauty.
“The highest peak there is called Grand Teton,” I tell her as I point.
“It’s amazing,” she says reverently. “It’s so weird to see snow at the top and it’s summer.”
“I think that peak is over 13,000 feet high. It pretty much stays snowy year round.”
“We don’t have anything like this on the East coast.”
“Nope. Everything is larger out West, huh?”
She’s silent, still enraptured with the huge scale of the mountains as we drive across the flat valley.
“Look to the left,” I tell her. “That’s Sheep Mountain but it’s also called the Sleeping Indian.”
She looks and gasps. “Wow! It looks just like an Indian with a headdress, laying on his back.”
I smile. She sounds just like a little kid that has made the most awesome discovery ever.
“Why did you start coming out here to vacation?” she asks.
Fond memories swirl around me. Images of Nix and I playing in the cool waters of the Gros Ventre river, hiking the mountain trails with our parents and getting so excited I almost peed my pants the first time I saw a buffalo.
“My parents didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but they saved for a few years one time to take me and Nix out here for a family vacation. It was the year before my mom died. We drove out in the old mini-van and camped at Yellowstone. We’ll drive up there this week so you can see it—it’s only about an hour from where we are staying. But anyway, it was the best vacation ever. And I never got to come back until after I made it to the NHL. But since then, I’ve come every year. It’s my favorite place in the world.”
I see her head nod up and down in agreement. “I’ve only seen five minutes of it and I think it’s my favorite place in the world, too.”
Something about the tone of her words makes my chest itch. With no control over my actions, I reached across the seat and grab her hand. I pull it to my mouth and place a gentle kiss on the inside of her wrist. Taking my eyes off the road for just a second, I see those luminous eyes go wide and then soft at my action.
Knowing that just my simple touch...nothing more than a sweet gesture affects her so much...
I feel f*cking awesome.
Keeping her hand tucked into mine, I lay it down on my lap and hold it the rest of the drive into Jackson.
We get our errands out of the way, stopping first to pick up keys from the realtor. We then hit the grocery store and finally stop to pick up a cord of firewood at a local general store. The nights still get chilly, even if it is mid-June.
We pull up to the ranch house I rented. I’ve stayed here the past three summers and it is a dream find. I’d buy it if the owner wanted to sell. The house is small by Wyoming standards, just a mere three thousand square feet but it sits on sixteen acres of lush meadowland and horse pastures bordering the Tetons. There’s not another soul in sight.