Set Loose (12 page)

“Is that good, baby?” he crooned, but she was beyond words.

His body covered hers so that they were still skin to skin, heat on heat. Then his hand reached around and found her again, slick and wet. She cried out as his fingers slid over her in time with his thrusts and her thoughts narrowed until all she knew were pleasure and need. Higher and higher he took her until her orgasm rushed up to meet her and she cried out with a release that shook through her. Cutter thrust into her to the hilt, his hands clasping hers as he pulsed inside her.

Together they collapsed onto the bed, and it was many minutes before either of them moved. Finally Emily heaved herself up on an elbow to look at Cutter.

“I think this is going to work out just fine,” she said.

They didn’t have long to indulge themselves, however, as Cutter had a roofing job to finish up before going to the club that night. She was in the middle of unpacking when he came into the room dressed in his jeans, work boots, and a white tee shirt. He pulled her in for a quick kiss.

“I’ll be back by four-thirty so we can drive in together. Will you be all right here?”

“Of course. I still have to practice my dances, plus ransack your drawers for old love letters and sexual paraphernalia.”

Cutter grinned, momentarily stopping her heart.

“Knock yourself out, babe.”

Emily was still smiling when the door closed behind him. He made everything so easy. Unlike with other men she’d dated, she could be herself and let down her guard. Nothing seemed to faze him.

She’d never lived with a man before, not romantically anyway, but the way her past relationships had gone, she’d assumed it would be awkward, with an initial period where they worked out rules and set limits. She soon realized it wouldn’t be like that at all with him. Of course, she no longer had a grueling career that made ridiculous demands on her, but it was a pleasant surprise to discover that she wasn’t so bad at being with someone, even if he was a temporary someone.

Whereas before she always felt pulled between what her boyfriends wanted and what she wanted, now she found the two things most often being the same. Not that Cutter was her boyfriend, as she sometimes had to remind herself. Still, she wanted to make him happy, and went out of her way to cook meals around his crazy schedule. She wanted to make his days easier when he came home tired from his first job and had to go to the second one. There was no doubt he appreciated all her efforts, but he wasn’t taking it for granted.

This became crystal clear when he called her at four o’clock in the afternoon, a week after she’d moved in, to tell her his truck had broken down.

“You head to the club without me. The tow won’t be here for another forty-five minutes, and then I’ll still need to get a ride home. If I’m lucky I’ll only be an hour late to work.”

Emily could hear the sounds of traffic on his end.

“Where are you?”

“About a half hour north of Vegas. It looks like it’s the radiator, so I’m not going anywhere.”

“In other words, you’re stranded on the side of the highway, sweating your balls off,” Emily said.

Cutter laughed. “That about sums it up.”

“Then I’m coming to get you. Tell me where you are.”

“You don’t need to do that. You’ll be late and it’s way out of your way.”

“Would you let me bake in the desert sun if it was me stuck out there?” she asked, somewhat irritated now. It was actually kind of a bummer that he expected so little of her.

There was a hesitation. “Uh, no. Of course I’d come get you.”

“Exactly. So tell me where you are.”

By the time she pulled into the breakdown lane behind his truck he looked pretty wilted. Wearily, he climbed into the car and they sat in the cool of her air conditioning, waiting for the tow truck to come.

“You must be exhausted,” she said, taking in his dusty work pants and sweat soaked hair. “Maybe someone can fill in for you tonight so you can go home and rest.”

“Nah, it’s too last-minute. Besides, I could use the money.”

This depressed them both and they were silent for a minute.

“Good thing you’re not a stark white cracker like me,” she said, trying to inject some humor. “I’d have burnt to a crisp out there.”

Cutter cackled and pulled her to him, planting a solid kiss on her mouth.

“You’re not just any cracker, sweetheart. You’re a high-class table wafer, the kind people eat with caviar.”

“Oh, speaking of food, I brought dinner. If we eat in the car we won’t be quite so late.”

She pulled a little cooler from the back seat and set it between them.

“There’s pasta salad with artichoke hearts, chipotle chicken wings and brownies. Oh, and a seltzer water for you.”

She looked up to find Cutter staring at her.

“What’s wrong? Are you not hungry? You don’t have to eat now if you don’t want to. I just figured…”

Cutter shook his head, looking for a second as if he were too overcome to speak. He cleared his throat.

“This is amazing, that’s all. You’re amazing. And I’m starving.”

They drove home from the club that night without saying much, both of them tired. But it felt like they were in it together, whatever “it” was. Life, maybe?

As exhausted as he was, Cutter still turned to her in bed, taking her with a sleepy enthusiasm she couldn’t help but match. No matter how tired she was, she never tired of him.

***

Cutter didn’t know what to expect after Emily moved in. Mostly he’d thought about how good it would be to have her with him every night and know he’d never go long without seeing her.

He figured it would be the same as before, just more fun, more Emily. But he’d under-estimated the effect she’d have on his life, how her laughter and soft curses, her distant humming and close murmuring would fill every corner.

Nor did he expect the incredible meals that started appearing regularly. The day after she moved in he came home from a carpentry job, tired and hungry and wishing he didn’t have to work at the club that night, and was greeted by the sight of Emily in shorts and a tank top, her hair in a messy knot on her head as she peered down at a cookbook while simultaneously cutting vegetables.

She looked up at him and grinned sheepishly.

“Hey, I hope you don’t mind me taking over your kitchen. I’m just so excited to have a real kitchen. I figured we could have a nice meal before work.”

“Mind? This is incredible. But you know you don’t have to cook for me, right? There are no strings attached to this deal.”

“But I want to cook for you. And I’ll be enjoying it to, don’t you worry.”

He came up behind her and put his hands at her waist as he nuzzled her neck. “What can I do to help?”

“I’ve got it all under control. Just relax. You must be exhausted.”

At first he felt bad, like he was taking advantage, but she really did seem to enjoy it. Freed from her hotel room with a big kitchen and someone to cook for, she poured over his cookbooks and browsed cooking websites. She quizzed him on his favorite foods and seemed to take pleasure in surprising him as well.

Meals had never been a particular pleasure when he was growing up. There hadn’t been any food to spare at his mom’s, and he’d been raised to think of food as fuel to get through the day, nothing more. And his dad was no gourmet. They’d eaten like bachelors, though at least he’d never gone hungry there. Even he and Amy used to eat out all the time, or else heat up soup and eat it while sitting in front of the TV.

Living with Emily made him realize what he’d been missing. Not just in the way of food, but in affection and fun. From the first day she lived there his house became a home, a fact that thrilled and terrified him in equal measure.

Chapter Eight

“Have you thought about looking into one of the ballet companies here? Maybe you really could get a job with one of them.”

Emily had just returned from practicing at the club and was still in her leotard and filmy skirt, her damp hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was standing at the counter drinking water, but now she coughed and sputtered.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not? Why not look into it and see if they have anything that suits you?” he asked.

“Because I already know they wouldn’t.” She sighed, hating that he was making her say things that would only made them both feel bad. “I know it may not make sense to you, but I worked my whole life to be in the top companies. The ones here are second rate at best. I just…I’d feel so defeated if I ended up with a company like that, and in a city that doesn’t especially value it.”

Cutter’s expression had closed down, shuttering his reaction.

“Right, I get it. I just thought…never mind.”

Turning around he opened the refrigerator door, but she could tell he wasn’t really looking at anything. His back was tense, his shoulders rigid.

It was the Thursday of their second week together. She’d been in Las Vegas four weeks and was figuring on staying another two or three more. That was already way longer than she’d initially planned. Hopefully Cutter wouldn’t bring this up again. Maybe it was a little weird for both of them that she would be leaving before too long, but it was worse to try to change it.

They were both stiff with each other until he went to work and she was asleep when he came home, but by Friday morning it was like nothing had happened.

“Want to go swimming?” he asked.

She had just opened her eyes and there was Cutter standing by the bed, already up and dressed, bright-eyed and ready for the day.

“If I say yes, will I have to get up this second?”

He laughed. “No, you can take your time. It’ll be hot whenever we get there, but the water will feel great.”

The thought of diving into cool, clear water had her out of bed within minutes. Digging through her bags she finally came up with a bikini, which she put on under a pair of shorts and a tank top. When she entered the kitchen a few minutes later it was to the sight of Cutter making sandwiches, a small cooler at his feet.

“Wow, you didn’t say anything about a picnic,” she said, peering over his shoulder. “This is serious.”

“Hell, yeah, baby, this is the real deal.”

“Can I do anything?”

“Nope, I’ve got it under control. Plus you already made the brownies I’m throwing in here.”

“Mm. I can’t wait.” Standing on her tiptoes she kissed him on the cheek. “You rock.”

“That’s right. Don’t forget it,” he said. He was smiling, but there was an unexpected seriousness to how he looked at her that caught her off guard, and again she was reminded that he wanted her to stay.

She ate a quick bowl of oatmeal, poured her coffee into a travel mug and together they headed to the truck. Lake Mead was about an hour’s drive east of Las Vegas, the terrain they drove through scorched looking, but the days were actually a lot cooler now than they had been when she arrived, the hottest part of the day rising only into the mid-eighties.

The mountains surrounding the lake were as stark as the rest of the landscape, but beautiful in their own way, and the lake itself looked cool and inviting. They parked and made their way to Cutter’s favorite cove, a little lagoon that was deserted when they got there.

They swam and splashed around for an hour or so before getting out. Emily spread the old blanket Cutter had brought while admiring him as he unpacked the cooler. Even though she had her hands on him every day and night, she still wasn’t used to how straight-up beautiful he was.

They sat for a little while after they ate, admiring the view.

“Want to go for a quick hike while we’re still wet?”

“Sure. Lead the way.”

“Hang on a second,” he said, grabbing the tube of sun block from the blanket. “You’re starting to burn.”

Squeezing lotion onto his fingers, he rubbed it into her back before coming round in front of her to smooth it gently over her face. He gave her a quick smile and kissed her on the nose.

There was something so tender about it, so friendly and caring, that it threw her off guard for a minute. This went beyond sexual attraction to something more profound. She was a lot more comfortable with the lascivious grin he’d given her when she stripped down to her bikini.

“Ready?” he asked, holding a hand out to her, and together they headed back to the car where they stored the cooler before heading up a nearby trail.

At first glance the surroundings seemed barren, but then Cutter began pointing out lizards darting over rocks and different varieties of vegetation, and she saw there was more going on than she realized. Even so, she was mostly on the lookout for rattlesnakes. They’d passed a sign warning of them, and she couldn’t help thinking that one was about to dart out and strike at any moment.

“Have you ever seen a rattlesnake?” she asked oh-so-casually as they wound their way along.

“Yeah, once. And I’ll admit I was pretty unnerved, but nothing happened. In fact it was kind of amazing. I was walking along through some sagebrush when I heard the rattle. I stopped and looked around, and there was the snake, a couple of feet in front of me. I veered way around it and kept going and that was that.”

“Seriously? You didn’t pee your pants and decide never to walk in sagebrush again? That’s what I’d do.”

Cutter laughed. “Actually, I found it reassuring. If it had wanted to attack, it wouldn’t have warned me. But they want us to stay away from them. If you’re careful and you pay attention, you’ll be fine.”

So she was paying attention.
Really, really
paying attention, scanning the ground so methodically Cutter had to keep stopping and waiting for her. Of course, he probably thought she was just admiring the native plant and animal life, not being a total neurotic.

They were circling back toward the car when she heard something, something that sounded like a rattle, and then saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Too scared to even make a sound, she ran backward, stumbling over her own feet, in the process stepping down into an empty streambed. She came down hard on her bad foot and let out a yelp of pain as she collapsed on the ground.