Alone At Last Read online

  He shrugged. “I thought we could go for a walk in the woods when you’re done.”

  “I don’t know about that,” she said. “I’m not much of a nature person.”

  “I know.”

  “Really?” Hope said, forkful of eggs pausing halfway to her mouth.

  “I believe you once said you’d rather have oral surgery without anesthetic than commune too much with nature.”

  Her cheeks flushed. “That was practically a direct quote.”

  James shrugged. “I remember just about everything you say. I promise it’ll be fun. I won’t let any bears get you, I promise.” He put his forearms on the island and leaned closer. “Come on, Hope.”

  “What if I say no?” she questioned.

  “Then I’ll go for my usual morning run and I’ll ask you again tomorrow.”

  “Fine, I’ll go, but I’m holding you to that bear thing. If I get eaten out there, I’ll haunt your ass forever.”

  “Sounds fair,” he said holding up his hands in surrender.

  “I should have known!” Hope groaned as she grabbed a tree branch to help haul herself up the side of an incline.

  James turned around and laughed. Her hair was coming out of the ponytail and her cheeks were flushed, either from the chill in the September air or the exertion of their walk. He couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what she looked like during sex. He leaned down and held out a hand.

  Hope glared at him, but allowed him to help her up.

  “You should have known what?” James questioned when they were side by side.

  She frowned. “I should have known those formative years you spent on that ranch in Texas were going to come back and bite me eventually.”

  James laughed. “Living on my grandparents’ farm taught me the value of hard work, made me who I am today.”

  Hope rolled her eyes. “Every summer I got letters from Val talking about how much fun she was having, but that was a lie wasn’t it? She was baling hay or mucking stalls or some shit, wasn’t she? Is that why she’s so damned skinny and you’re so damned muscular?”

  James cocked a dark eyebrow. “Muscular?”

  Hope swiped a wisp of hair from her cheek, leaving behind a streak of dirt. “You know you’re in good shape. Between all the marathons you run and sports you play I’m surprised you even have time to run your practice, much less volunteer.” She let out a harsh breath, winded from her rant. “You know what? If this is what being in shape is all about, I want no part of it! I hurt in places I didn’t even know I had!”

  James grabbed her hand that had been on the way back to that errant lock of hair. “I’ll give you a massage when we get back to the cabin,” he all but whispered.

  Hope was shocked into silence. He let go of her hand and used his thumb to brush the dirt from her cheek.

  “Just a few more feet and we’ll be back to the cabin,” James said with a smile.

  Hope nearly jumped out of her towel when James knocked on her bedroom door. She glanced down at the three plush towels she’d spread out on the floor and sighed. Her best friend was a masseuse and had practiced on her many times. She’d had countless massages before.

  “I’m almost ready!” she called out.

  “Cool, lie down, arrange your towel and tell me when I can come inside,” James called through the door.

  “You can come inside anytime,” Hope muttered as she got on her stomach and spread the towel across her midsection. She was freshly showered, but still sore from the walk. “Okay, you can come in!”

  James entered the room slowly; he walked to the window and pulled back the sheer curtain to mute some of the daylight. Hope watched him and swallowed a sigh. He wore only a pair of jeans, well-worn in all the right places. When he stood behind her, she stopped trying to see him, pressed her cheek against a towel and closed her eyes.

  James stood for a moment looking at the vision on the floor before him. Hope was possibly naked under that thick white towel. Her black hair was loose, cascading over her shoulders and pooling on the floor. His eyes traveled over her exposed flesh, and he felt himself harden. Hope was an interesting mixture of heritages. Her father was Samoan, at least that’s what he’d heard and he knew for a fact that her mother was a pale, white woman with fly away red hair and sad gray eyes.

  James rolled his shoulders and mentally willed his erection away. What the hell was wrong with him? Hot moms paraded through his office on a daily basis, bringing their children in for sniffles and bruises wearing low cut tops, high cut skirts, and barely there shorts. Married or not, they’d flirt shamelessly, leaning over too far or crossing their legs too slowly. His body never reacted to their measures, not like this. Maybe a massage wasn’t such a good idea, he hadn’t even touched her and his dick was rock hard.

  “Are you there?” she asked opening her eyes but not turning to look at him.

  “Uh—yeah, I’m just getting ready.” He shook the bottle of massage oil in his hand and kneeled beside her. The massage oil had been for personal use, he’d known when he packed that he’d need some extra carnal attention just from being around Hope. Now, he was about use it to touch her. His gaze focused on the highest point of her body, her ass. Covered with the towel, he could still see the outline of it, full, lush, and round. His erection seemed to strain toward her bottom, as if his soldier knew that mountain was in easy reach, waiting to be claimed.

  “How much do you know about giving a massage?” Hope asked, suddenly cutting through the silence.

  “I only know what Val has taught me.”

  “She taught you some stuff?” Hope asked surprise evident in her voice.

  “Yeah, a few years back I wanted to surprise my girlfriend for Valentine’s Day and asked her for some pointers.” Before he realized, James was rubbing her right calf, her slight moan of pleasure made his hard-on throb.

  “She must have loved it,” Hope muttered.

  “Well, not really,” he confessed. “She was expecting something else.”

  “What was she expecting?”

  “An engagement ring,” he mumbled making slow circles with the pads of his thumb on her thigh. “When I didn’t propose, she broke up with me.”

  “Oh,” Hope said as realization dawned, “you’re talking about Diane, aren’t you?”

  And just like that, his dick went soft…much to his relief. “Yeah. She was a real piece of work.”

  Diane had been one of the few girls he’d dated for more than five weeks. She’d had lily-white skin, ink-black hair, and ice blue eyes. When they’d met at a benefit dinner, he’d told her she was so beautiful she must have descended from Russian royalty…and he’d meant it. Her features were delicate and her body was lithe and lean.

  “She was looking for something I wasn’t willing to give,” James said as he moved to her left calf. “She wanted to marry a wealthy man and have his kids as a security measure. I figured that out when we’d been dating for two months and she was already picking out baby names.”

  Hope giggled.

  “Then, one day, I walked into my apartment and she was on my couch. She must have stolen my key and made a copy for herself because I never gave her one. Anyway, I walk in and she’s spread eagle on my leather couch watching some soap opera. She barely acknowledged my arrival, much less explain how in the hell she got into my apartment in the first place.”

  James abandoned Hope’s right thigh, flipped down the top of the towel to just above her ass and began work on her lower back. “When she started dropping hints about how romantic a Valentine’s Day proposal would be, I knew it was over. I was about to dump her, but I didn’t want to be that guy. You know; the one that dumped her right before Valentine’s Day so he wouldn’t have to buy her a gift. I got her some chocolates, gave her a candlelight massage, and waited. When I didn’t produce a ring that night, she gave me an ultimatum. I showed her the door and changed the locks.”

  James had been lost in the memory until Hope moaned, long and low. />
  “That feels so good,” she hissed.

  And just like that, the blood was rushing to his crotch again.

  He stilled his hands on her bare back and sighed. Placing one hand on the towel beside her, he swept the mass of black curls to the side to reveal her shoulders. He was about to massage them when he noticed his hands tremble ever so slightly. He took a moment to gather his wits; it didn’t help when he noticed that she still had her summer tan. Her skin would go from pale olive to honey-hued in the summer sun. At that moment he could see the pale outline, left by her bikini top, across her back.

  Before he could stop himself, he was leaning forward, his hands planted on either side of her shoulders. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered before pressing his nose into her fragrant hair.

  Hope’s eyes flew open. She must have heard wrong. When his tongue teased her earlobe, she panicked. “Oh no,” she gasped. She grabbed the towel around her waist and pulled it up, at the same time, she rolled over onto her back, sat up, and scooted backward on her butt. Thank goodness she was wearing underwear, or she would have gotten a wicked carpet burn, she moved so fast.

  That wasn’t the reaction James had expected. Granted, he wasn’t exactly sure how she’d react, but the general air of panic and fear was a bit disconcerting. He watched as Hope clamored to her feet, grasping the towel to her and shaking her head.

  “She told you! I can’t believe she told you!”

  “Who told me what?” he asked getting to his feet and moving toward her. He stopped when she held out a shaky hand like a crossing guard.

  “Val told you that I have a crush on you, didn’t she?”

  James shook his head, but Hope didn’t see because she was looking at the door.

  “I can’t believe this. She told you my secret and set us up in this cabin. I thought she was my friend!” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I’m so embarrassed.”

  “You have nothing to be embarrassed about!” James bellowed.

  Hope shook her head again. “You don’t have to give me a mercy fuck, okay. I’m not that desperate. In fact, I just need to be alone right now!” She hurried out the door, ducking his grip when he tried to stop her.

  James stood alone in the room after the door slammed. “Shit,” he whispered as his brain processed everything that had just happened and been said. Hope had a crush on him, and his sister knew about it? He pitched his hands through his hair and sighed. What the hell had just happened?

  He was surprised, but relieved when the door opened. Hope came back into the room, still clutching her towel to her body. “This is my room,” she muttered. “It’s probably best I be alone in here, with my clothes.”

  “Of course,” he said quietly. “I think we should talk about what just happened, though.”

  “Okay, okay. Just let me get dressed…please.”

  He nodded and walked past her out of the room. On the other side of the door he paused, shook his head and went downstairs to fix himself a stiff drink.

  Chapter Four

  James heard Hope’s footfalls on the staircase after he’d finished his second shot of whiskey. He set the glass down with a little more force than necessary and hoped he hadn’t cracked it. He left the kitchen to meet her in the living room. She was dressed in a charcoal gray fitted t-shirt and twill beige pants. James immediately noticed that the bottom of the shirt came nowhere near the waist of the pants leaving inches of flesh for his eyes. He didn’t realize he’d been staring until her voice cut the silence.

  “She didn’t tell you, did she?” Hope’s voice was tight, as if the words didn’t want to leave her throat.

  “No.”

  “Damn it,” she swore crossing her arms across her chest and dropping her gaze to the lacquered wood floor. The thick curtain of hair fell forward, hiding her face. “I’m such an idiot.”

  James cupped her face in his hands and brought her gaze to his. “No, you’re not. I shouldn’t have come on to you like that. You were vulnerable and I just didn’t think.”

  Hope stared up at him, uncertainty still evident in her big brown eyes.

  “Why didn’t you say something before?” James asked.

  Hope retreated, heading for the couch. He followed close, not willing to give up the conversation.

  “How could you not know that I have such huge a crush on you?” Hope asked as she sunk onto the couch. She tucked her legs under her and stared at her lap.

  “I don’t know. You were my little sister’s friend.” The answer seemed logical. Hope was always around. He’d noticed her. What heterosexual guy wouldn’t? There was no indication she had feelings for him, though. Whenever he snuck a glance at her, she wasn’t looking back. She was reading, or watching television, or talking to Val. She never flirted with him; she was friendly, not affectionate whenever they were in close quarters. He’d assumed that he was the only one being tortured.

  “Well, James, I’m not little and I’m not your sister.”

  “I know that.” His voice changed from conversational to a gentle hum. It made her breath catch. James leaned forward, lips merely inches from hers. “Trust me, I know.”

  “Don’t do me any favors, James. Just because I admitted to this stupid crush doesn’t mean you have to humor me.”

  His dark brown eyes narrowed. “I’m not doing you a favor; I’m doing myself a favor.”

  “What do you mean?” Hope questioned, her eyes perfectly round.

  James thought about the first time he’d noticed her as something other than his sister’s friend. It was their prom night and he was driving them both to the hall since neither had dates. He and Val had shown up to Hope’s house around six, it was late May so it was still light out. Val had gone to the door and his breathing had hitched when he saw Hope join his sister on the front porch. Her black hair hung around her shoulders in large, soft curls. She wore a red satin gown with a plunging neck line. A round silver broach was perched between her perfect breasts. The silver orb gathered the material so the hem was slightly shorter in the front and with every step he caught a peek of her strappy silver heels and red toenail polish.

  He stared until Val asked him if he was going to open the back door for them or continue using it to flatten what little ass he had left. That comment had made Hope laugh. The effect drew his attention back to those perfectly formed breasts. They were just as tan as her arms. Val had told him that the two of them had been laying out for weeks to get a natural tan in time for the prom, but from the view of Hope’s cleavage, she had been topless. The thought made his head swim as he moved to open the back door.

  Val got in first and he put a hand on Hope’s arm before she leaned into the car. “You look amazing,” he muttered.

  She gave him a shy smile and a polite thank you before getting in the back seat of his Acura Integra. He had given himself a speech as he got in the driver’s seat…something about her being only seventeen and he’d be in prison already if the cops could see what he was thinking.

  “You’ve been in the DO NOT TOUCH box for ten years. I’ve seen you in everything from itty-bitty pajamas to a prom gown that should have been against the law. I’ve woken up to you in the kitchen more times than I can remember. The entire time I couldn’t do anything about it because you were off limits.”

  “Why?” she breathed. “Why was I off limits?”

  James smiled, showing the tiny vertical slashes in his cheeks that were the cutest dimples Hope had ever seen on an adult. “Well, you were jail bait when I met you; fifteen years old and having sleepovers with Val.”

  “What about after that…when I was older?”

  James shrugged. “You never gave any indication that you were interested; polite, but always distant. You only dated black guys. I just never thought—”

  “You’re the only white guy I’ve ever been attracted to,” Hope confessed.

  James brought a thumb to her plump bottom lip and teased it. Countless times he’d wanted to kiss her and now he knew
that she’d wanted it too. He leaned forward, capturing her lips and tracing their lush landscape with his tongue. His intention was to be gentle; he didn’t want to frighten her by letting the beast out too soon…so to speak. However, she responded to his kiss with so much passion that in no time, he was holding on by a thread. When she moaned, his entire body went stiff; he put a hand on her waist to pull her against him. First mistake, he thought when her soft breasts pressed against his bare chest and in no time he could feel her nipples through her top.

  In a beat, Hope found herself straddling his lap. Her tongue stroked his, savoring his wonderful flavor. A feral growl rumbled through his chest, shaking her to the core. Her pussy wept for joy when his erection pressed against the back of her thigh.

  Her short fingernails dug into his broad shoulders as he gripped her waist and rubbed her back and forth across his jean-covered cock.

  Second mistake, his mind screamed. The heat of her cunt against his lap was enough to drive him insane, but he went and added the friction of her luscious ass rubbing against his dick. His restraint was fading by the nanosecond.

  Hope broke their kiss and tugged at the button on his jeans. His hands came off her hips and clenched her slender wrists in a vice grip.

  “Wait,” James rasped.

  Startled, Hope brought her eyes up from his lap to his eyes. “What’s wrong?” she gasped. “I thought you wanted…”

  “I do, I do. If you had any idea how badly I want you—you’d be running out the front door right now.”

  “I’m not scared,” she whispered grinding her hips, tucking his erection closer to her core.

  James groaned. “I just want you to be sure. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

  It was Hope’s turn to groan. “I’m not fifteen anymore. I know what I’m doing.” She pressed her body even closer to his.

  “Damn, Hope…you’re killing me. I’m trying to be a gentleman here.” His grip on her hands loosened and she used the opportunity to go back to undoing his jeans.