Love Lessons (4 page)

Damned if he didn’t want to show her what else he had that was big, but since now was neither the time nor place, he rolled until she was under him.

“What are you doing?” she asked, sounding more breathless with each passing minute.

“Getting up.” 

“I don’t want to get up,” she said.  “I told you I couldn’t ski.”

“You did fine.”

“You consider me landing on top of you and the two of us barreling down the hill at supersonic speed fine?”

“It was hardly supersonic speed.”

 She pursed her lips.  “You know, this scenario would be great for my article—what not to do on a skiing date.”

He arched a brow.  “But your article is on love, remember?”

She grumbled.  “Did you have to remind me?” 

She wiggled again, and he stiffened—everywhere.

“Shit,” he mumbled.

“What?”

He coughed, but the jarring movement forced his hips forward, and his cock pressed hard against her pelvis.  He quickly rolled off her and sat up.  Taking deep breaths he worked to pull himself together.

“Nate?”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“I think we should get you home…to bed.”

“What?” he asked, his head snapping around.

“You’re doing an awful lot of coughing.  I think you need to go to bed.”

Well, she was right about two things.  He was doing a lot of coughing, and he did need to go to bed.  But neither one of them had anything to do with being sick. 

After turning in her borrowed gear, and Nate stashing his in the locker he kept at the lodge, they left the resort and made their way through the parking lot.  Fresh flakes began to fall as she climbed into the truck beside him.  She cast him a sideways glance and noticed the tightening of his jaw as she reached out to blast the heat. 

“Are you cold?” she asked.

“I’m not sick, Gracie,” he said, his voice coming out a bit hoarse as the muscles in his jaw clenched. 

She narrowed her eyes, and as the dashboard light cast shadows on his face, she looked him over carefully.  “Then what is it?”

He rubbed his throat.  “I just have this…tickle.”

“Tickle?  What kind of tickle.”

“I don’t know.  The kind you get when something is…irritated, I guess.”

“Can you scratch it?”

“No.”

She leaned into him.  “Maybe I can help.  Show me where?”

He coughed into his fist, then gripped the wheel hard.  “Let’s just talk about something else, okay?  Like what movie we’re going to watch when we get home.”

She nodded and started listing off movies as he backed out of the parking space and headed down the hill toward Deerfield.  As they passed the Cave, they could see a huge bonfire going.  Flames licked the sky as music filled the air.  Here in the mountain town, it didn’t matter how cold or how warm it was, people could always be found partying at the Cave. 

Once they agreed on a movie, she fussed with her hat as it slipped over her eyes and turned to him.  “So tell me, what did skiing have to do with teaching me about love?”

“Nothing,” he said as he carefully negotiated the truck down the slippery road.

“Nothing! Then why did we go?

He cast her a wry grin and gave a lazy roll of his shoulder.  “Because I wanted to go skiing.” 

“Nate,” she bit out and whacked him.  “You’re supposed to be helping me.”

He laughed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.  It had everything to do with helping you.  By the end of the week, you’ll see what I mean.”

She eyed him skeptically.  “I’m not so sure about that.”

“You said you trusted me.”

“I do.”

He cast her a quick glance. “Then trust me.”

He pulled up in front of their building and came around to her side.  “Careful, it’s slippery.” His hand curled around her waist, and she leaned into him, loving the way he held her.

Once inside their building, he let her go.  She pulled off her hat, and together, they climbed the two flights of stairs to their floor. 

They reached her door, and with her body still chilled from the cold, she hugged herself and turned around.  She was about to ask if he wanted to watch the movie at her place or his, but her head came back with a start when she found him standing there, staring at her. 

“Nate?” she asked when she caught the way his pupils were dilating.  “Are you okay?”

He walked in to her, backing her up.  When she hit her door, he put his hands on either side of her head and leaned in, caging her against the door and his chest.  Heavy, lidded eyes met hers, and it took all her effort to draw in air. 

“Gracie…” he murmured. 

Good God, he looked like he was in total agony.  “Is the tickle getting worse?” she asked as his scent reached her nostrils and set off a storm inside her.  “You sound so hoarse.”

His nostrils flared as her body molded against him.  “I told you, I’m fine.”

“Okay,” she said, still not convinced. 

He sucked in a breath, and as he exhaled slowly, his glance moved to her mouth.  “I need to ask you something.”

“You know you can ask me anything.”

“What would you do if I kissed you?”

Her heart stopped, because she certainly hadn’t expected that.  “Why…why would you kiss me? You could be contagious.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, a pained expression on his face, and when he opened them again, his gaze dropped to her mouth, lingered a second, then moved back to her eyes.  “I’m not contagious. I just want to show you what a kiss full of love feels like.  You know, so your Kate will recognize it when she sees it.”

She drew a quick breath to get her heart started again as she stared at him, trying to figure out what was really going on.  Her mind raced, then she narrowed her eyes.  “Wait, to kiss me with love would imply you love me, Nate.  We both know—”

“That I’m in love every other weekend.”  He pressed closer, and his warm, familiar heat curled around her.  “You said so yourself.  So I would know what a kiss full of love feels like, right?” he explained.

She wet her bottom lip, and as a curl of heat licked over her thighs, she tried to remain calm.  But holy hell, Nate was going to kiss her! 

“Oh, right,” she said, trying for casual, but her damn voice came out shakier than her hands.  “Yeah, I suppose we should.”  Still holding her hat, she twisted it around in her hands so he wouldn’t notice them trembling.  “You know, for work purposes.” 

As soon as the words left her mouth, Nate dipped his head.  The second his soft lips touched hers, her pulse took flight, sexual heat flooding her.  Oh, God, he tasted so good—way better than a sweet vanilla latté, whipped cream, or any decadent dessert the lodge served up on a nightly basis. 

Her body flushed hotly as he pressed against her.  He deepened the kiss, the heat of his mouth pushing back the cold inside her.  She moved against him, hungering for so much more from him.  A noise sounded in his throat, something that reminded her of a growl, as his fingers fisted her hair.

His body crushed against hers, and her hat fell from her hands.  With his kiss fueling her need for him, she wrapped her arms around his body, hating that his jacket prevented her from touching his bare skin, from feeling all his hardness beneath her fingers.  His mouth pressed hungrily, his tongue moving against hers.  His kiss evoked a myriad of sinful thoughts, like the two of them taking it inside, to her bedroom, specifically, where they could both strip down and take this love lesson to a whole new level.    

“Jesus,” he murmured into her mouth as his breathing changed, became harsher.

She moved against him, her body responding to the soft warmth in his voice as her hard nipples scraped against her sweater.  Oh, Lord, what she’d do to feel them against his tongue.

“Gracie?”

“Yeah,” she somehow managed to croak out.

“You doing okay?”    

“I’m okay,” she murmured, as her entire body came alive. 

“Good.” 

His knee slipped between her hers, widening them as he sank deeper into the kiss.  Her body went up in flames, because never, ever in her life had she been kissed like this.  Jeez, if this was how couples in love kissed, then she sure as hell wanted to find her soul mate sooner rather than later. 

Nate took off his gloves, his warm hands slipping under her bomber jacket to her waist.  His thumbs brushed gently, sweeping over her skin in a way that had her senses exploding.  Completely rattled, she ached to move against his knee, to quell the deep need between her legs.  But cripes, she didn’t want him to know what his kisses were doing to her—or how much she really wanted him in her bed.  Nate was a player, a guy who’d reached out and touched more women than Hallmark—which, undoubtedly was why he was such a great kisser—and this was simply about teaching her, right?

Her thoughts dissolved as his breathing changed, becoming deeper, and when he adjusted his body, aligning his midriff with hers, his fingers climbed a little higher.  Warm lips left hers and moved to the hollow of her throat, to that sensitive spot that ignited her blood to near boiling.  She bit down on her lip to stifle a whimper, but there was nothing she could do to keep the fire inside her at bay. 

“You taste so good,” he murmured, the heat of his breath firing every nerve inside her.  Her body grew slick, pressure brewing deep inside her, and she was almost certain she was ready to orgasm—just from having his mouth on her body.

The sound of footsteps racing up the stairs jostled her back to the present.  “Nate,” she said, pushing at him.  She cursed silently, because dammit, she really did want to see if he could bring her to climax. 

He stepped back and just stood there, staring at her.  His nostrils flared and his chest heaved as he pulled in deep, gulping breaths. He shoved his hands through his hair. They came away shaking. Wow, she’d never seen him look so rattled, so intense before.  Had that kiss affected him the same way it had her?  The possibility weakened her already wobbly knees.  She leaned against the door for support, otherwise, she was sure she was about to slide to the floor. 

Someone cleared their throat, and they both turned. 

Nate’s second youngest brother, Sam, stood there.  He took a small step back when they both zeroed in on him.  “Ah, if I’m interrupting—”

“What are you doing here, Sam?” Nate asked, then turned his gaze back to Grace.

“Ummm…” Sam started, blue eyes that mirrored Nate’s darting between the two of them, a bemused expression on his handsome face.

“Don’t worry, you’re not interrupting anything,” Grace said quickly as she rummaged through her pockets, her heart hammering in her ears as she worked to cover up the kiss.  “We just got back from skiing, and I was looking for my key.  Nate was helping me.”

Sam paused for a moment, then grinned. “Did you swallow it?”

“Sam,” Nate warned. 

“I mean the last time someone went searching in my mouth, I’m pretty certain it was for my tongue.”

“Shut the hell up, little brother.”

Sam turned to Nate, and still grinning, Sam scrubbed a gloved hand over the stubble on his face and said, “Whatever you say, big bro.”

“Why are you here?” Nate asked.

“Oh, right.  Mason just got in last night, and we’re all heading to the cottage for a snowmobile run.  You weren’t at Grizzly’s, so I thought I might find you here.”

Nate cast her a questioning glance.  She faked a yawn and said, “You should go, sounds like fun.  Besides, you haven’t seen Mason in a while.”  Grace had met his two other brothers, Sam and Josh, but Mason was away at university, and the two had yet to cross paths.

Nate drove his hands into his pockets and shifted himself.  “I thought you wanted to watch a movie.”

“I’m tired.”  She stretched her arms to prove her point.  “I think I’ll do a bit of work and then call it an early night.  All that fresh air wore me out.”

Nate stared at her for longer than was comfortable, then he asked, “You sure?”

“Positive.”  She shooed him away.  “Go have some fun with your brothers.”

With that non-negotiable piece of advice, he nodded and left with Sam.  Grace let herself into her apartment, her body still feeling the effects of the kiss as she stripped off her winter clothes and walked to her small drafting table.  She plunked herself down, her fingers going to lips that still tingled as she thought about the events of the night.

She grabbed her pencil and started doodling without giving it too much consideration.  A while later, after she finished, she looked over her work, taking in the picture of the man shucking oysters for his girlfriend.  At least it was a start.  Upon closer inspection, it occurred to her that the man she’d drawn looked an awful lot like Nate.  She dropped her pencil and jumped from her chair, her libido obviously still in an uproar from that unexpected turn of events at her door earlier. 

Deciding to hit the bed early, she brushed her teeth and climbed between her flannel sheets.  While she was tired, her mind went back to Nate, to that hot kiss.  She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, and she could still taste the warm flavor of his mouth.  His kiss had been so needy, so passionate, it almost made her think it was something he’d wanted to do for a long time.  Her body warmed as she relived those few glorious seconds, and the needy juncture between her legs moistened, clamoring for attention.  She bit her lips and wondered what would have happened if Sam hadn’t interrupted them.  Would they have made it to her bed, or his, so Nate could show her what sex full of love felt like?   She gulped and shifted on her bed, willing her mind to shut down.  Either that, or she was going to have to grab her trusty toy from her nightstand and finish what Nate had started. 

She tossed restlessly, and even though he’d kissed her with hunger and heat and had her wondering if there was something more behind it, she decided it was best if she didn’t read too much into it.  She hated to get her hopes up, think there could be more between them, when in fact, it was just Nate being a friend and helping her.  She fluffed her pillow and rolled to her side, and after pushing the kiss to the back of her mind, she finally fell into a fitful sleep.