Soul of the Mountain (The Mountain Men of Fox Hollow Book 3) Page 3

  The night has been never-ending, and hours ago, this man who holds me now was a stranger, but as we enter my bedroom, everything seems to change once more.

  Sleep suddenly feels irrelevant. Especially when there are so many more important things I could do.

  Jasper sets me on the floor, and I want to kiss him, hard, and more — but before all that, I need to shower.

  He seems to understand — we keep having these silent conversations that are changing me deep down — at soul level. It is like he sees straight through me. And today — on the undoubtably worst day of my life — that means something.

  “Come on, angel,” he says. “Time for a shower.” He walks into my en suite bathroom and turns on the tap, and I don’t hesitate. I take off my dirty shoes and jeans. I pull the sweater over my head and unhook my bra, ease my panties down. I need a shower the same way I need him — with all that I am. And when Jasper turns to look at me, the ache in his eyes tells me he needs the same damn thing.

  Warm water washing over him and me holding him.

  He stands, running his hands over my bare skin, and my whole body tingles. This is it. The moment of my life, the one I’ve waited forever to find. Jasper found me on the side of the road and literally saved me and now I want to fall into his arms and never be let go.

  “Oh, Juliette,” he whispers, his hands cupping my breasts as he takes me in, head to toe. “You are perfection.”

  “I’m a mess.”

  “A perfect mess.”

  He kisses my nose and my cheeks and my forehead. And somehow, I am smiling as the tears fall down my cheeks. Grant and Laura are gone and the boys are orphans. The truth is a gut punch and a heartbreak and Jasper seems to know. He understands, and he doesn’t seem scared.

  He takes my hand and tells me to step into the shower and he doesn’t ask for more kisses, but God, I want to give them. The steaming water cascades down my naked body and I stare at him. Waiting.

  “What?”’ he asks.

  “Aren’t you joining me?”

  He runs a hand over his beard. “Juliette, I know you’re in pain. I don’t want you to regret this in the morning.”

  My body aches for the sweet relief I know he can give me. The kiss from earlier tonight told me everything I needed to know about Jasper’s ability to satisfy me.

  “The only regret I will have is if I miss this chance with you,” I tell him. “Please.”

  My words seem to have hit his soul because he strips before me, his stomach a ladder of abs I want to crawl up, and my body tingles at the knowledge of what will come next. Him, in me.

  He takes off his jeans and steps into the shower, and I have a fleeting wish that we had a bigger shower to bathe in… but this will have to do. Jasper is stroking his long, thick shaft, his eyes taking in my body head toe. Exactly the same thing I am doing to him.

  He runs a hand over my bare back, cupping my ass, and I lick my lips, wanting this. He leans down and kisses me, the steam of the shower wrapping around us in a cocoon, and I melt against this man who seems to understand me in ways I don’t understand myself.

  “Do you believe in love at first sight?” he asks.

  I pant, nodding. “I didn’t before today.”

  “Fuck girl, I never expected this…”

  “But it’s happening, isn’t it?”

  He nods, kissing me again, and he pushes me gently against the tiles of the shower, making his intentions clear.

  “I’m a virgin,” I whisper as his fingers deftly massage my breasts.

  His eyes lift to mine. “Fuck.”

  “No,” I say quickly. “Well, yes. I mean, I want you. And me. This. Please don’t let my inexperience hold you back.”

  “I just want this to be memorable for you. You know, the no regrets thing?”

  I run my fingers through his cropped hair. “Jasper, this night is unforgettable in a hundred different ways. If there is any salvaging the pain from the evening, let us take it.”

  He takes that as a yes, and the kiss intensifies, his hands running up and down my slick body, between my legs. I let out the slightest moan and he fingers me softly. My pussy is awake — truly awake — for the first time in my life.

  “Fuck, you are beautiful,” he tells me as he drops to his knees and begins to open me up. I lift a leg to the edge of the tub, and he growls, clearly loving what I am offering. I have no idea what to expect… this is all so new, but my body is craving this. It’s as if I need a release I’ve never experienced before.

  “I want to taste you, all of you,” he tells me, his beard tickling my thighs, and I bite my lip, not wanting to squeal too loudly. I whimper as he breathes hot air over me, my pussy awake and wanting. His tongue runs over me and my knees buckle as he flicks my clit. “Oh, God.”

  “It’s okay, baby. I’ll go nice and slow. Let me take care of you the way you deserve.”

  I close my eyes and let him have his way with me. His tongue twirling around my center, sucking my clit, and I can’t help whimpering in delight.

  “Oh, Jasper, oh, oh, yes,” I moan as my body explodes with pleasure. The shower is hot and steamy and I can’t deny that I love the way he licks me, like I am sweetened, delicious, like he can’t get enough. It makes me happy that I’ve always been a shy girl, saving myself. It makes this moment all the more special.

  When my legs start shaking and I can’t stop panting, Jasper licks up and down vigorously, making me orgasm deep, wildly. In a way I’ve never been able to do myself. I grip his shoulders tight, the sensation of his mouth on me sending waves of pleasure up and down my body.

  I look down at him as he starts kissing my softly, my thighs, my belly, standing he kisses my breasts. “Damn, your tits are sexy,” he growls, as if savoring every single second.

  He runs his hand over my skin, heat radiating off of him.

  “I don’t want tomorrow to come,” I whisper. There will be so many changes… I don’t want to lose the boys, they are my heart. I’m scared of what might happen… what inevitably will. The lawyer said he will come over in the morning to share what the will states, Thankfully, he is handling all the business of contacting people… my only responsibility is the boys.

  “It will be okay,” Jasper promises. “I’ll be here every step of the way.”

  I close her eyes, a single tear falling down my cheek. “This was supposed to be a weekend in the mountains… I never expected…”

  “I know,” he says softly, his cock hard and rigid against my belly as he wraps me in his arms. “I never expected this either.”

  I wash his hair, and he washes mine, and the tender intimacy of it touches my soul. He lathers me up, and the pain of the car accident washes away, for this moment at least.

  “You’re so handsome,” I tell him, facing him. My body is still so hot with want. With a soapy hand, I lather his cock, stroking him, and he groans.

  “Damn, I want you.” He squeezes my ass, and kisses me again.

  “Then let’s rinse off and make that happen.” We have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but we have tonight, and no one is taking that from us.

  Jasper

  I dry her off, then carry her to the bed. The light in the room is low, and the house is quiet.

  “The boys are very sound sleepers.”

  “You taught them that?”

  She nods. “I taught them everything… their parents… were so absent. It breaks my heart. I don’t want to be like that, treat my family as if they are accessories.”

  “Neither do I,” I say, lying in the bed beside her.

  “You want a family?”

  I circle her nipples with my fingers. “I never really thought about it. But now… now I see it in ways I never did before.”

  She holds my gaze, but doesn’t say anything. I run my finger over the hood of her clit, nice slow circles as she opens up for me again. I tasted her in the shower, but it wasn’t nearly enough. I want to send her over the edge again.

  Her pussy begins to drip with pleasure and I dip my mouth to her, sucking on her hot clit.

  “Oh, Jasper,” she moans, need rising within her. I know she needs more, and she is still too tight for my cock. I press a finger to her, flicking her clit until she is writhing on the bed, arching her back, her fists filled with the sheets.

  “That’s so good… so… oh, Jasper…” Her words fade as I ease her knees down and add a second finger to her creamy center.

  “I love getting you so wet, Juliette,” I tell her, still feeling like finding her on the side of the road was a dream. An angel sent from heaven… I don’t want to lose what I’ve just found.

  When the orgasm washes through her, I rest my hand on her sweet pussy, wanting to feel the pulsing need as it finishes winding its way through her lush body. I kiss her belly as she catches her breath.

  I lean over her, kissing her tits, sucking her firm nipples. Her tits are gorgeous, round and full, made for a man’s hand.

  I press my face between her breasts as she whispers my name. She loves it. I feel the smile on her face, her legs wrapping around my waist as I squeeze her breasts together, loving how full and round they are.

  Her hands run through my hair as I tease her nipples, but my rod is still aching to be touched. As if reading my mind, Juliette repeats my name.

  “Jasper,” she moans. “I need you in me.” I move against her, my cock so damn hard. On the bed, naked and still wet from the shower, she looks like a goddess.

  “Are you nervous?” I ask her. Her sweet virgin hole so slick, so ready.

  “No,” she pants. “I’m just so ready. Ready for you.”

  Her legs wrap around me as I slowly enter her. She’s tight and she needs me to go nice and slow, her innocence dripping from her folds.

  “You’re so damn tight, baby,” I groan as I fill her up. She closes her eyes, squeezing them shut, and I pause. Not wanting to hurt this sweet thing who has been through hell. Who hasn’t gotten through it yet. “Oh, yeah,” I moan, filling her up, our bodies connecting in a way we never have before.

  She moans in pleasure, relaxing as my cock fills her fully. Her eyes lock with mine and they are filled with a deep and primal longing for more. For everything. Hell, I know exactly what she’s thinking because I’m thinking it too. I would move heaven and earth to keep her in my arms. Always.

  I run my hands over her ass, our bodies beginning to grind together in a desperate way.

  We need this.

  “Jasper,” she whimpers, her thighs slick with desire as I move against her. Our fingers lace together and I pin her hands over her head, moving against her, each thrust taking us closer to the edge. To the place we need to go.

  Our souls are connected, our hearts are too. She is mine.

  “I love you, Jasper,” she whispers.

  “I love you, too, Juliette,” I growl in her ear, pulling her to my chest, needing my sweet angel tight in my arms as we inch nearer to the edge.

  She runs her hands over my chest as we dive deep into an intimacy that I never expected to find when I woke up this morning. I planned on buying an auto shop, not falling I love.

  “I don’t want this to end,” she moans as we move as one.

  “It doesn’t have to.”

  But I don’t know if she means our night together, or the future. There are so many questions, so much is unknown.

  “Ohh,” she purrs in my ear. “That feels… that is so… Ohhhh.” And she is coming, hard, like she’s never come before, and I kiss her through it, loving the way she has opened her body to me. I know it’s a goddamn treasure, I do not hold it lightly.

  “I’m so close, baby,” I growl, holding her tight as her orgasm washes over her. She looks so damn beautiful, with the tension of the day fading as pleasure overtakes all her senses.

  We come hard, with a crash. A force to be reckoned with. My cock is a throbbing rod as I release deep inside her swollen pussy. She is the only one I want, the only one I need.

  She moans in delight, my seed filling her up, and I smile, loving the way I have given her everything she needs in this moment.

  I pull her to me, kissing her lips, loving the way she feels in my arms. She belongs here with me.

  We make love twice more, and by the time we are through, she needs another shower. We haven’t slept a wink, and when she comes out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, there is a cry from the nursery. The baby is awake.

  “It’s okay,” she says. “I’m usually here in this house alone when the parent are gone, and I manage fine. You shower, and I’ll get Aaron a bottle.”

  “You sure you got this?”

  She nods, kissing me on the forehead. It’s like we have skipped over a hundred steps in this relationship — I feel so close to her already. And yet I’m terrified I might just lose it all.

  Juliette

  The night passes in a delicious blur, helping me avoid what would have been a tortuous night filled with nightmares.

  In the morning, I make a large pot of coffee, and Jasper makes Charlie pancakes. “My famous recipe,” he says, impressing me. Charlie is extra excited when Jasper adds plenty of syrup on his short stack.

  The lawyer already texted, saying he was going to be coming over in an hour to share the details of the will with me.

  “What do you think it will say?” Jasper asks, handing me my coffee, doctored the way I like it.

  I have Aaron in a swing, and the music stops, so I crank it back on while sipping my coffee, thinking.

  “I know the Martindales don’t have family, at least none that they are close with. It is why they relied on me so much with the boys.” I lick my lips, nervous. “I’m just grateful they had a will. The idea of the boys going into foster care would be so hard.”

  “You could always become a foster parent, take them in.”

  I shake my head. “Without a house, or a job, I have nothing to offer them.”

  “Besides you undying love, you mean?” Jasper clarifies.

  “Touché. But is love enough? Not when the state steps in.”

  I try to eat a pancake, but it’s hard to swallow. Not because it isn’t delicious, but I am so scared of losing these two precious boys. “I should have never gotten so attached to them,” I say, tears filling my eyes. Jasper pulls me into a hug and Charlie starts crying too. “It’s okay, sweet thing,” I say, pulling him to my chest. Jasper holds us both and I let him. Because right now, he is a solid thing I can hold onto. And I need that.

  “Do you need to get home?” I ask, shaking my head. “I mean, I don’t even know what you do for a living, Jasper… I don’t know anything about you.”

  “Except that I love you,” he says, repeating the words we said last night. When I woke, I wondered if they were said, on his part, in the heat of the moment or if they meant more.

  I want to believe they did.

  “I own the only two mechanic shops in Fox Hollow. I bought the second one yesterday, which is why I was out last night.” He drinks his coffee. “And I have guys working the shops today — for as long as I need, really. Perk to being your own boss.”

  “That’s impressive,” I say. “I haven’t accomplished anything in my twenty-three years.”

  “Except making Charlie and Aaron feel safe and secure. That means everything, Juliette.”

  “And yet… it could all be taken away.”

  When the lawyer arrives, I feel like a basket of nerves. Charlie is watching a cartoon, and I have Aaron in my arms. Jasper had run out to the store for some groceries after we both agreed it would be best if I met with the lawyer privately.

  He kissed me before he left, and he said he loved me… but just like this situation with the boys… love might not be enough.

  “Juliette.” The lawyer, Martin Daly, shakes my hand warmly, the same way he did last night at the hospital. “I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s been a long night, but Grant’s office knows what has happened, and his associate is handling the funeral.”

  “Oh, thank goodness,” I say, leading him to the living room. It’s so formal here, all white and polished wood. Nothing about it is cozy — not like Jasper’s cabin, with the soft wool blankets and roaring fireplace.

  “It was urgent I see you because the will stipulates some remarkable things that will change everything for you.”

  Tears spill down my cheeks. “What’s going to happen to the boys?”

  “Don’t cry, it’s okay. I know the Martindales thought the world of you.”

  “They did?” I ask. “They always seemed annoyed with me.”

  Martin gives me a tense smile. “I think, off the record, it was more intimidation that was the issue.”

  I shake my head. “Well, I certainly was intimidated by their death.”

  Martin frowns. “No, I mean they were intimidated by you.”

  “By me?” I repeat. “What are you talking about?”

  He looks at me like I am clueless — which I absolutely am. “Juliette, you are everything Laura wasn’t. Domestic, good with the kids, warmhearted — she seemed to know that because she and Grant named you the legal guardian of both the boys, and the heir to their entire estate.”

  My jaw drops open, shocked — stunned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, unless you relinquish your rights, you are now entitled to everything that was theirs. Their home in Maui, this house of course, not to mention their stocks, bonds, life insurance policies — everything.”

  “But the boys — I really don’t have to leave them?” I press a hand to my mouth, this revelation so shocking, I never once considered it. “But why? Why would they give them to me?”

  “They came in after Aaron was born. Laura told me she had made a decision, that her aunt in Tulsa was her only living relative, and that she couldn’t imagine her boys going to live with strangers. She had me change the will and put you in it. Grant said if they both died, that he wanted to boys completely cared for, and so he gave you everything.”

  “But they never even acknowledged me, or their sons, for that matter.”

  Martin opens his briefcase, pulling out a stack of papers. “Whether or not they acknowledged you while they were alive, they have certainly acknowledged you in death. And more than that, they seemed to understand the boys need you.”