Wild With You

2. Graham

Chapter Two

Graham

I was honestly relieved to pet Wilbur. I needed some kind of distraction. Madison, this woman who seemed to have been dropped from the sky into Alaska, had a straight line to my libido. And, frankly, my libido was like a car left in the garage for over a decade. This engine hadn’t turned over in a while, and now it was revving like mad.

I had some manners, though, so after greeting her ecstatically friendly dog, I straightened. “Nice to meet you and Wilbur. Moose can be cranky, especially this time of year. Might wanna be careful.”

Madison blinked at me. That was a relief too, if only for a second. Her eyes were startlingly beautiful—a rich, clear green. A second passed when her lashes lifted again. She was so out of place here, I wasn’t sure what to think. I knew the best thing for me was to let this be nothing more than this—a passing interaction at a gas station.

“Okay,” she finally said.

Being near her had derailed my thoughts, and I’d actually forgotten what I said. The look on my face must’ve given it away because she added, “I’ll be careful about moose if I see any again.”

The next thing I knew, I was asking a question. I didn’t need to be asking this woman questions. “Are you taking a trip by yourself?”

She blinked at me again, her eyes guarded. “Yeah,” she said.

I knew her nonchalance was feigned, but this really was none of my business. She had glossy dark brown hair, twisted into something resembling a bun with a pen stuck through it on top of her head. She was about medium height with plenty of curves. I didn’t want to admit it, but my eyes lingered on the way her T-shirt stretched across her breasts and the way her hips filled out her jeans.

Madison shivered and tugged her jacket closed in front as she stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Well, thanks for helping me. I’ll just be on my way.”

“Sure thing. Wilbur was probably more help than me. Take care and safe travels,” I managed as I stepped back.

She let Wilbur into the passenger seat and climbed into her car. I watched as they drove away. I’d already filled my truck with gas, but I crossed the parking area and went to the back of the building to use the restroom. I could be a man and just take a piss in the field, but it was completely visible from the road, and I didn’t want to be that kind of an asshole.

Only minutes later, I was back on the highway, heading to Willow Brook. Much as I wanted not to think about Madison Glen, my brain was mulling over that encounter. She didn’t fit the profile for someone traveling alone in Alaska. I didn’t know what she was doing, but I was more curious than I should be about her.

The sunset was showy tonight, leaving a last burst of orange and red and gold behind the mountains as the sun slipped out of view. I wondered if my daughter, Allie, was driving my parents crazy tonight. Probably not. Most of the time, she was a good kid, and she usually only got cranky with me.

A chuckle rustled in my throat. My daughter was a spitfire. She was two years into being a teenager, and I knew the next four years weren’t going to be particularly easy. I loved her to pieces, though, and I’d do anything for her. She was staying with my parents for the weekend. If I pushed it on the drive, I could get home tonight, but by that point, she’d be sound asleep. I decided I might as well stop at a hotel.

My options were limited. When I saw the lights of a lodge glittering in the distance, I made the call to see if they had any rooms left. If this was at the height of summer, during the crush of tourist season, I wouldn’t have any luck. But I could probably snag a room tonight.

I’d taken a trip up north to do some training. I’d just taken a job as the superintendent for an expansion hotshot firefighter crew in the Willow Brook area. I had some equipment to pick up in Fairbanks, and it was more affordable for me to make the drive than to fly and sort out shipping.

Not much later, after a friendly elderly couple assured me they had several rooms available, I was walking down the hallway to my room when I felt a prickle on the back of my neck. Reflexively, I glanced over my shoulder to see none other than Madison Glen walking down the hall.

Her eyes were on the floor as she walked along, and once again, my mouth got ahead of my brain. “Wow, I didn’t expect to run into you again.”

Madison’s head whipped up, and it felt as if sparks shimmered in the air between us when her eyes met mine from a few feet away. “Oh! Hi. What are you doing here?”

“Getting a room,” I offered. “I presume you’re doing the same. That’s what most people do at a place like this.”

Madison actually pursed her lips and lifted her chin. I saw the fire flash in her eyes. Once again, my body sat up and took notice as a jolt of l**t sizzled through me. I didn’t know what it was about this woman, but she got to me. Big time. I honestly struggled to remember the last time I’d paid much attention to a woman. I was no monk, but I barely had time for a rushed breakfast these days. Being a single father didn’t allow for much free time, nor did being a hotshot firefighter. Throw in the reality that I was a cynical man, and it all added up to zero time for romance.

Madison’s lips curled into a smile. “Excellent point, Graham. I am here for the night.”

“I’m glad you’re not trying to drive in the darkness. It can dip below freezing at night now even though it’s only August.”

Jesus. Now, I sounded just like my daughter said—lecturey.

“I appreciate your concern. Nice to see you again,” she offered politely. She opened the door to the room beside mine.

I didn’t realize I was still staring until she lifted her hand in a little wave before she slipped into the room, and the door clicked shut.

After I let myself into my room and tossed my bag on the dresser, I decided to head down to the restaurant. There might be actual humans there. There were, but it was pretty quiet. I had a beer and a burger with fries at the bar and was headed back to my room when I saw Madison. Again.

She stopped in the hallway as I approached. She turned, and I felt as if she were assessing me when I came to a stop a few feet away. She c****d her head to the side, and for a second, just a flash, I thought I saw vulnerability flickering there. Then she bit her lip.

Fuck me. This girl and her perfectly straight teeth denting the plump cushion of her bottom lip sent fire sizzling through me. She took a step closer, and I could feel the voltage vibrating across the short distance separating us. “I have a question, Graham.”

“Yes?” I prompted, my voice laced with a ragged edge.

None of this made sense, but I couldn’t have walked away from her if my life depended on it.

“Can I kiss you?” She had a Southern drawl, and it slid over me like warm honey.

Okay, then. I didn’t know what I’d expected her to ask, but it wasn’t that. No matter how insane it seemed, I decided that kissing her was exactly what I should do. Because I would never see this woman again. Maybe desire had no place in my life, but I could kiss an absolutely gorgeous girl and walk away with a memory.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’ll kiss you,” I murmured, taking one stride and lifting a hand.

When my palm cupped her cheek, I could feel the heat simmering under my touch. I felt caught in a mist of fire. There was chemistry, and then there was this. We were fire in a bottle.

I slid my palm down, letting my thumb trail over the wild beat of her pulse. I was gratified to feel it, to sense that perhaps her reaction to me was as powerful and primitive as mine to her. I slipped my hand into the spill of her silky dark hair, cupping her nape as I watched the clear green of her eyes darken like a forest in the shade.

I took an incremental step closer and felt the soft curves of her against my chest. I was a hard man, and she was all warmth and lush heat.

She opened her mouth to say something—hell if I knew what—and I said, “Shh. You wanted a kiss.”

At that, her lashes brushed against her cheeks as she took in a shaky breath. I watched those lashes lift once more and saw the flash of fire in her green eyes. She tilted her head upward and closed the distance between our mouths.

When her lips brushed mine, that voltage sizzled, firing out sparks that spun into the need tightening every cell in my body. With a low growl, I fit my mouth over hers. I didn’t take it too fast, not just yet. This was just a kiss, but I intended to make it one she would never forget. Maybe I was cynical, maybe there hadn’t been much room for desire in my life, and maybe it had been too long since I’d really wanted anyone, but I loved kissing. It was the prelude to everything, yet entirely its own act.

The plush give of her lips underneath mine was intoxicating. The audible hitch of her breath in her throat and the just barely-there gasp when I teased the seam of her lips with my tongue nearly undid me.

Time slowed, and I felt suspended in that fiery mist where nothing else mattered, nothing but a girl who I knew hardly anything about. I knew her name and that she was from Texas, but that didn’t matter. I wanted her fiercely. When her tongue glided against mine like tender silk, I knew she kissed like a dream.

I didn’t know how fast it happened, but somewhere along the way, I turned Madison against the wall as I devoured her mouth. One palm was pressed against the wall as I learned her—the way she flexed against me, and the way she made these little sounds in her throat that drove me f*****g wild, each one the lash of a whip against my desire, driving it forward.

By the time we broke apart, I was desperate for air and gulping in ragged breaths, just as she did. When I brought my eyes to hers again, we stared at each other. I saw my shock reflected in hers. I didn’t know what it was between us, but it was like nothing I’d ever felt. I couldn’t even hide my fear because, holy hell, what was this?

It took every ounce of restraint and discipline I possessed to move away from the imprint of her soft curves against me. I released my palm where I cupped her nape, my fingers sliding through the silky locks as my hand fell away.

She blinked, giving her head a visible shake as she straightened. “Well, I asked for a kiss, and you delivered,” she finally said, her tone almost wondering.

“Why did you ask me for a kiss?”