Fall Into Love Read online

  If only he’d gotten a beer belly and begun to lose his thick hair. But even if he had, Jenna didn’t think it would have taken away from his appeal. There was too much history between them.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked again.

  “You’ll know when you need to know,” he told her.

  His answer infuriated her. He’d once been sweet. It appeared that part of his appealing personality was long gone.

  “I’m not into games,” she snapped. She was too cold to sit there and spar with him. “Go away.”

  He looked at her, his lips turning up, and her stomach fluttered again. There was possession and certainty in his look. He wasn’t a man to be so easily dismissed.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Jenna.”

  Her mouth fell open at his boldness. “You have no right to be here,” she said.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. Go take a shower and warm up.”

  With that, he strode from the room and went deeper into the house. She had no idea where he was going. She sat there on the couch, curled up into a ball, as she tried to figure out her next move.

  But no matter how long she waited, the shivers wouldn’t quit wracking her body. She didn’t want to obey the man, but she needed to shower. She had to warm up before she faced the outside again so she could go get her fallen wood. She’d never make it through the night if she didn’t have enough heat. And until repairs were done, the only source of fuel she had was wood.

  Slowly, stiffly, she rose from the couch and climbed the massive staircase to her bedroom. The fire was dying in her room, too, and she sighed with something near panic. A quick shower, multiple layers, and then she’d go and get more wood. She would deal with her ex soon enough.

  three

  It had been ten years since Carter Nicholson had been back to Sterling, Montana. He hadn’t thought he’d ever come back. What was the point? He’d lost his parents and brother in a car crash, and he hadn’t dealt too well with it. One day everything had been perfect—loving family, check, excellent community, check, perfect girlfriend, double check.

  He’d gone to sleep a naive, happy young man, and he’d woken up filled with loss. He’d tried to deal with it, but as the days passed, as he’d watched his family lowered into the ground, as he’d watched life continue without them, he’d turned bitter, finding himself hating the world.

  The pain of losing his family had sent him into a spiral that he hadn’t been able to recover from, with memories haunting him everywhere he looked. The town of Sterling held too much pain. He’d had to escape, even if it meant leaving behind the girl he loved. Even she had been a reminder of them. The guilt of feeling happiness with her while his family rested in the ground made him feel so much worse. He’d left it all behind without looking back.

  It had taken Michael Whitman, his best friend since middle school, a full year to get through to him. He was grateful his friend had, though. They’d shared a lot together, and letting go of that friendship would have been a grave mistake. Luckily, Michael hadn’t given up on him. But Carter had told Michael he was never coming back to Sterling. Michael had only smiled that knowing-ass smile of his and not said a word.

  As Carter had driven up the long, untended driveway to the place that had once given him so many good memories, he’d been barraged by flashes of the past.

  The inn had once been a second home. His last experience—oh, that last one hadn’t been good at all, though. He’d been so bitter that day, which had led him to be more cruel to the woman he’d loved than she’d ever deserved.

  They hadn’t spoken since.

  It had been better that way.

  As the blinding snow now poured down on him while he gathered the necessary firewood to keep Jenna’s place warm, a sardonic smile played on his lips. It had been ten years since he’d been home, and it had also been ten years since he’d seen a white Christmas—hell, it had been ten years since he’d celebrated the holiday.

  Not that he wanted to celebrate it this year, but as it was in a couple of weeks, he had no choice but to think of Christmas when he was literally smack-dab in the middle of a winter wonderland.

  Carter moved toward the house, his arms loaded, his body covered in snow. If only he hadn’t found out about the property. If only he hadn’t known instantly that he couldn’t let strangers possess the place where so many of his happiest memories lay. But there he was, pushing in the front door, the fire crackling, the walls whispering.

  It was almost as if the place were alive, as if it knew he was where he belonged.

  Nonsense! Carter dropped the wood by the fire—his third trip inside. That would be enough to get through the night and into the next day. Hopefully the storm would settle down and he could get more done around the place.

  Jenna had inherited it from her aunt, but the debts were massive and the taxes made it vulnerable. Investors were practically licking their lips in anticipation.

  Carter didn’t want the place—not really. But he did have a massive resort project he’d been thinking about for years. He’d buy it, build a dream resort, and then say he’d done a service to Jenna and the community. It was business. That’s all there was to it.

  It had nothing to do with a dark-haired, petite woman who was currently naked in a shower. Just the thought of that had him growing hard, making him shift restlessly on his feet.

  Carter grabbed several pieces of wood and made his trek up the stairs, knowing exactly which bedroom she’d be in, and not wanting her to come out of the shower to a freezing room. He wasn’t hoping to get a peek of her luscious new curves or anything. The two of them were history. He knew that.

  So what if he’d felt a rush of emotion as he’d cradled her in his arms? It meant nothing. It was just some sort of remembered function of his body that he didn’t want to acknowledge—that he couldn’t acknowledge. That was a path neither of them could go down.

  When Carter entered her bedroom, he looked around and smiled. Though it had been a long time since he’d been with her, not much had seemed to change. Her favorite color was obviously still red, as she had a thick red comforter on the bed, making the huge antique four-poster seem nice and cozy. Jerking his head away from that temptation, he looked at the curtains hanging from a crooked rod.

  They were also red, with embroidered white flowers, and currently open, with a light shining from the patio showing the snow coming down even thicker than before. There was already two feet of the powder closing them in.

  The scene was so intimate, so damn domestic, with her in the shower, him tending to her fire. He knew he had to get the hell out of that room. Her fire was almost dead, so he swiftly stirred the embers before adding a few logs.

  He pushed things around a bit more until he had a nice blaze going, and then he stood, knowing he had to get back downstairs before he did something stupid like stride over to the bathroom door and yank it open, asking her if she needed someone to wash her back.

  When he turned, he stopped in his tracks.

  Jenna was walking from the bathroom with nothing but a small white towel hugging her generous curves, the tops of her breasts on display and the bottom of the towel skimming her upper thighs. His throat closed as he stared at her.

  He wouldn’t have sworn to it on a Bible, but it seemed a whimper of sound escaped her delicate throat, a sound of hunger, of need. Her eyes were almost frightened, but he knew she wasn’t afraid of him. It was her own feelings she feared. They’d always been excellent in the bedroom—or woods, or the backs of vehicles . . . Even as fumbling teenagers the sex has been-out-of-this-world good.

  She took a step as if she were going to retreat, and that’s when she lost it, tripping over something—hell, with her klutziness it could have been a damn ant. Before he could stop her, she was flailing as she went down in a heap on the hardwood floor, her towel unwrapping the delicious package that seemed just for him.

  His heart pounded as his fingers clenched together. He forgot e
very reason he’d just been mentally spouting about why having sex with this woman wasn’t a good idea.

  Carter took a determined step forward.

  four

  The sight of Carter kneeling by the fireplace in her bedroom had sent butterflies soaring through her stomach. This man—this virile, devastatingly good-looking man—had been the first person to touch her, the first to make her feel pleasure beyond anything she’d ever imagined, and the only one to break her heart into a million pieces.

  And for some reason he was in her house and his eyes weren’t hiding a single thing. She knew she needed to escape, knew she had to retreat. Because if he touched her, she would melt. There was no doubt about it. She’d be nothing more than a puddle at his feet.

  And Jenna wasn’t sure her heart could handle being broken twice.

  He stood and she turned to flee, and that’s when everything went very, very wrong. She had no idea what twisted her up, but she was suddenly on the floor, her towel nowhere to be found.

  Looking up in shock, she didn’t feel even the smallest measure of pain as she watched heat flare to molten levels in Carter’s dark eyes. The look he gave her as he began moving toward her sent heat soaring through her body, her core instantly becoming wet and making her crave something she hadn’t even thought about in years.

  Carter said nothing as he kneeled down, his gaze caressing every square inch of her body. There was a protest somewhere inside of her but she couldn’t seem to utter it. And then she was floating—sort of.

  He’d pulled her into his arms, her naked body pressed against his clothed one, and she was flying through the room before he released her suddenly. Her body bounced on the bed and it took a moment for her mind to catch up with what was going on.

  “If you don’t want this to happen, you need to say so now.”

  Carter’s voice was so gruff and filled with need, Jenna barely recognized it. But the low growl of his tone had her core liquefying and her limbs trembling. She knew this had already gone too far—and yet not even remotely far enough.

  Jenna didn’t have one-night stands—even if she’d slept with the man before. She hadn’t seen him in ten years. What in the world was she doing there laid out before him utterly naked? It was insane. She had to move, had to do something, had to tell him no. But that wasn’t what came out.

  “Yes.” The single word was barely a whisper, but it echoed around them as Carter ripped his T-shirt over his head and then, with a single powerful tug, undid all the buttons on his jeans, leaving her a mouthwatering view of the happy trail that led to a very enticing place.

  He didn’t remove his jeans, as if the separation from her had already been too long. Suddenly her bed shifted under his weight and he was pulling her into his arms, lying there with her, their mouths only millimeters apart.

  “From the moment I saw you standing there against a white backdrop, I knew this would happen again. I just thought I’d have a bit more control,” he said in an accusing tone. “I told myself I could resist.”

  “Please,” she uttered, her body on fire, her skin aching with the need to be touched. He didn’t hesitate any longer before his lips crushed against hers, silencing the last of her doubts as his hands greedily roamed up and down her back, lowering to cup her butt and pull her even closer.

  No more permission was needed as he thrust his tongue inside her mouth, making her groan as she became engulfed in passion that only he had ever been able to invoke. How had she gone ten years without his touch?

  Jenna couldn’t concentrate on that thought. Her mind blanked as his lips slid across hers, his tongue warm and smooth as he slipped in and out of her mouth. She moaned as his hands squeezed the cheeks of her ass before moving down, his fingers sliding between her legs and rubbing the outside of her heated core.

  She was scorching hot as she wiggled against him, her arms rising as she clung to the back of his head and tugged on his thick dark hair. He groaned against her before ripping his lips away, making her whimper at the loss. But the next sound escaping was a sigh when he trailed his mouth along her neck, sucking on the skin before slowly moving down, obviously on a mission.

  He kissed the tops of her breasts before circling his lips around her hardened peaks. He took too long to take one of her aching buds into his mouth and she growled at him as her fingers tightened in his hair and she pulled him in the direction she needed him most.

  His hot breath caressed her nipple first, and then she felt the sweet swipe of his tongue as he licked the sensitive bud. Her back arched off the bed in unabashed need. He didn’t make her wait any longer as he fastened his lips around her nipple and sucked hard, making her cry out as her core tightened painfully.

  She was about to come and he hadn’t even slipped inside her. A lot had changed in ten years. Her body was more mature, knew what it wanted, and in her passion she wasn’t afraid to demand it.

  “I want you inside me,” she groaned as he sucked her other nipple while his leg spread hers wide open. The feel of his rough denim on her thighs was another sensation that just added to her pleasure—though she’d rather he was naked.

  “Soon,” he promised.

  Then he trailed his mouth down her stomach and it clenched as he made his way to her throbbing center. He knew what he was doing—a little too well. But that was to her benefit, she decided, as his lips trailed the edge of her slick entrance.

  She whimpered when he slid his tongue slow and steady up her folds and then clasped his lips around her swollen bud before sucking it hard into his mouth. She flew off the edge of the cliff she’d barely been hanging on to as a scream escaped her, her body shaking as spasm after spasm of pleasure overtook her.

  He didn’t release her, though, as the last of her tremors shook through her. She pushed against him, but he continued sucking on her flesh as he pushed two fingers deep inside her and began pumping. For just the barest of moments, it was painful, her flesh was so sensitive, but then to her surprise and utter joy she began to tingle again, began to feel the buildup of even more pleasure to come.

  Her head twisted on the bed as he added another finger, expertly moving them in and out and up to that spot deep inside her that sent sparks of electricity soaring through her system. He sucked on her swollen flesh and swiped his tongue up and down her folds, making her cry out over and over again as he skillfully played her body and turned her into nothing but a quivering mass.

  Jenna exploded again, and while she was still soaring, he lifted from her for only a few moments as she heard the ripping of foil, and then she felt him lying atop her, no more clothing in their way.

  Opening her eyes the tiniest bit took momentous effort, but it was worth it. His expression was primal as he gazed down at her, his dark eyes beastly as he looked at her with such possession she felt owned.

  He could own her for this moment. It was well worth it to give herself entirely over to him. She’d never been so hungry in her life.

  He reached down and lifted her leg, easily settling between her shaking thighs. She felt the tip of his large manhood poised at her entrance and she wiggled, letting him know she was more than ready for him to slip inside.

  But he paused, making her eyes narrow.

  “I want you inside me,” she demanded. The words didn’t come out with nearly the force she’d been hoping for. They were too breathy and weak from the pleasure he’d already bestowed on her.

  He smiled as he lifted her ass off the bed while surging forward, his entire length buried within her in half a second. She whimpered as a tiny spear of pain coursed through her while her body tried to adjust to him. But then he pulled back a few inches before pressing forward again and her body tightened to hold him perfectly, as if they were made only for each other.

  He buried himself deep before pulling out to the tip of his thickness and thrusting forward again. The pleasure that was building this time was so much more intense.

  It wasn’t just focused in her core, but radiated out
ward to every inch of her body. This orgasm would explode through her, possibly be too much for her to handle. She didn’t care. She craved it more than she craved breathing.

  Carter’s speed picked up and she closed her eyes as she flung her head back and moaned, her body contorting as she held on to him like an anchor in a storm. It was all she was able to do. His lips sucked on her throat before his teeth clamped to her shoulder as if he, too, were trying to hold himself down in the middle of the tempest.

  Pleasure, pain, it was all the same. It all led her to where she needed to be. With a renewed urgency, he pumped harder, deeper, and faster, his sweat-slicked skin sliding against hers, his teeth and lips devouring her.

  She surged with him on a final hard thrust and they cried out together as she let go, her body coming undone as she exploded, every piece of her skin trembling and shaking, her sex clenching him tightly as he pumped hard with his own release.

  Jenna was sure she blacked out, because even though it felt only like a blink, when she opened her eyes again he’d pulled out of her. She felt a tremendous loss as he climbed from her bed and stood, his body still hard and damp. He removed the condom she was grateful he’d thought enough to wear, even if she was on birth control, and she licked her lips as she gazed at his magnificent erection.

  That had just been inside her, she thought with pure pleasure. And even though she’d come several times, she felt arousal stir within her again as she gazed at him. It had been the same when they were young. She’d never been able to get enough of him. But this time was different. She’d never before had an orgasm that reverberated through her entire system. She didn’t understand how she could still want more.