My Kind of Wonderful (12 page)

But this time, with Hudson, felt different. Aaron had always been in careful control and very, very gentle, as if she’d been a fragile flower. So gentle it’d kept her from letting go.

Here, with Hud, there was nothing holding her back. “Hudson,” she whispered, moaning when he bent his head to her bared breasts, using his warm hands and then his even warmer mouth.

Need rolled over her in waves. Desperate, clawing need, and his name tumbled from her lips again, a cry this time. She could feel herself oscillating her hips to his, rubbing his erection against her center. Mindless, she’d twined herself around him, gasping when he slid his hands to her ass.

Her bare ass.

He’d slid off her jeans without her even knowing. The
little bikini panties she wore matched her cami, the one now on the floor somewhere. “Pretty,” he said. And then he dragged them slowly down her legs, sending them flying to land near the cami.

His towel followed.

And then he was back, continuing on with his teasing as her body temperature rose alarmingly. He stretched out beside her, stroking her with his big, warm hands, his fingers dancing over her entire body. When he finally nudged open her thighs, he growled in pleasure as he found a few more places to tease.

But one knowing stroke with those callused fingers and she lost her mind.

Completely. Lost. Her. Mind.

He held her through the shattering orgasm and when she could breathe again, she let out a breathless laugh and stared up at the ceiling.

“Bay? You still with me?”

She blinked. This had already been the best sex she’d ever had and all he’d done was touch her.

He came up on his elbow to look into her eyes. “Yeah,” he said, sounding quite full of himself. “You’re still with me.”

“Show-off,” she managed to say, and quivered again when he bent his head and nibbled her hipbone. She felt his lips curl into a smile as he shifted and sucked a patch of skin into his mouth, making her gasp. When he made as if to move again she dug her fingers into his hair, not wanting him to go.

He merely flashed a grin up at her and easily resisted her. The next thing she felt were his wide shoulders making themselves at home between her thighs and then his tongue, warm and strong and incredibly dexterous.

She cried out and nearly rocked them both off the bed.

He tightened his grip on her and went on with his merry torture, his lips creating a sucking, drawing sensation that left her panting and whimpering in seconds.

But every time her body tightened up, he moved away from her center and rubbed his shadowed jaw against her inner thighs until she swore at him, making him laugh again.

When he wanted her to, she came as shamefully easily as she had the first time. Not that she spent even a nanosecond feeling shameful…

He climbed up her body, staying close, close enough that they were touching from their kissing mouths to their entangled feet, though he carefully held most of his weight off of her. She rubbed against him, touching every inch she could reach.

And then some of those really great inches were covered with a condom and inside her, and her thoughts scattered like the wind, replaced by a feeling that nothing had ever felt as good as this, as him.

Nothing
.

Her legs wrapped around his waist—just in case he had some notion about getting away. The world was a better place with him buried deep inside her.

Much better.

Hud nudged her face up, meeting her gaze with his hot one for a beat before he kissed her again, serious now, very serious, as he began to move within her. Slowly at first, letting her adjust, carefully fueling her hunger, her need. But her favorite part was when he let go of his own control and forgot himself, thrusting hard. She gasped and rocked up into him as her name was ripped from his
lips in a tight, strained voice that flung her right over the edge into a free fall. And this time, she took him along with her.

When they finally staggered out of his room several hours later, loose, sated, starving, there was a cold pizza waiting on the porch for them.

M
idweek found Hud replaying the night wrapped up in Bailey’s hot bod while simultaneously running a training session an hour after the mountain had shut down. He was a most excellent multitasker. It was already dark out and snowing like a mother, and everyone just wanted to get through the damn training, which was made all the more difficult by the weather.

Which, as Hud knew as head of ski patrol, made perfect conditions to practice in. They had to be prepared for anything, always. The winds kicked up even more with the snow coming in sideways now, blowing right in their faces. Hud had the entire rescue team with him on Devil’s Face practicing extractions when he got a call from his mom.

Another FaceTime call. Damn, he should never have taught her how to use that app, but at least she’d figured out how to look into the camera. Her bright, cheery face filled his phone screen. She lifted a Star Wars lunch box. “Honey, you forgot your lunch.”

He managed to conclude the call, though for the rest of the night his team took turns FaceTiming him to ask if he’d cleaned his room and done his homework. He finally deleted the app.

Things were blessedly quiet for a few days and on Friday, his first night off, he brought his mom dinner.

“Missed you this week,” she said, kissing him hello and then looking around him for someone else. “Where’s Jacob? Don’t tell me he’s in detention again. That kid is going to be the death of me. Maybe I should call the principal and tell him that I need him here. Our fence is down again, so I’ll put him on that. It’ll use up some of his energy.”

Guess it’d been a bad week for both of them.

He opened the bag he’d brought with two cupcakes—one with a candle—and hoped that would do.

As for Jacob, he’d heard zip. Nada. Nothing. And although he should be used to this by now, he wasn’t. Through Max, he’d been following Jacob’s unit the best he could, which wasn’t all that well.

There’d been no word. Even worse, all his attempts at communication had been ignored.

Which wasn’t the only thing on his mind. Bailey. He had Bailey on his mind.

All the damn time.

Their night had been… amazing. And seeing as she’d been pretty clear about it also being their only night, it was also messing him up since it’d been the best one he’d had in a long time.

Or ever.

Which meant he was going to have to get over it.

“Hud?” his mom asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about Jacob, Mom. I’ll take care of him.”

She smiled and patted his hand. “You’re such a good boy. You take so much on your shoulders. I know it’s not fair how much I’ve leaned on you. How much we all have.”

He lifted his head and met her eyes. Clear. He stilled. “Mom?” he asked quietly.
Is that you in there?

Her eyes shined brilliantly, with so much sadness. “It’s not your fault, honey.”

“What’s not?”

“That he left.”

He tried to swallow the sudden lump in his throat but couldn’t. She was lucid. Really lucid.

“You’re both so stubborn,” she said. “But sometimes it’s okay to just let go of the past, to wipe the slate clean and start over.” She gave a small smile. “That saying is so outdated now, isn’t it? No one uses a slate chalkboard anymore. I bet kids these days don’t even know what chalk is. They just…” She made a swiping gesture with her finger, like she was swiping a touch pad. “Goodness, how different our lives are today than they used to be.”

Hud slowly set down his sandwich and even more slowly reached for her hand, as if his movement might scare her brain into retreating again. “Mom—”

“And don’t even get me started on this whole texting thing,” she said. “Do you realize that we have now raised an entire generation of people who don’t know how to talk to each other face-to-face? Even you have never known the terror of calling a girl you like and having to ask her dad if she can come to the phone. You probably never even call the girls you like. You probably just text or Snapchat.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You do go to their door to pick them up though, right? You don’t just honk for them? And tell me you open their doors and buy dinner when you take them out. None of this Dutch thing. I’m telling you, romance is dead, but that’s no excuse for bad manners—”

“
Mom
.”

She smiled. “What, baby?”

He didn’t take his eyes off of her. “Stay. Stay right here, right now, okay? Stay with me.”

“Well of course I will. Where else would I be? You going to eat your pickle?”

Stunned, speechless, throat burning, Hud handed over his pickle.

Carrie munched on it, and then they ate their birthday cupcakes. She smiled at him.

He smiled back, feeling his heart lighten and a load come off. “It’s a nice night,” he said. “Do you want to take a walk outside?”

She eyed the clock. “Nice try but it’s past your curfew. Off to bed with you. Go on now.”

Hud let out a long, slow breath and nodded, the pain back in his chest. He got up and leaned over her to kiss her on the cheek. “Sweet dreams.”

She smiled sweetly up at him. “Right back atcha, baby.”

Hud walked out of her room and shut the door. Leaning against the wall, he pulled out his cell phone, called Jacob’s, and left a voicemail. “I don’t know where the fuck you are or what the fuck you’re doing,” he said, “but you’re a complete asshole.” He paused. “And I’m fucking sorry. Okay? I suck as a brother and I’m sorry. Now get over it and get your ass home.”

He shoved his phone in his pocket and walked out of the building. The night was dark and stormy. Winds had died down. The skies were trying to decide between a very light snow and clearing up.

He found a tall, broad shadow leaning against his truck, hood up, head down.

“How is she?” Gray asked.

Hud shook his head.

Gray studied him for a moment and then turned and looked into the night. “Good conditions.”

“Yeah.”

“You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yeah.”

Half an hour later they were at the top of the mountain, skis on. Night skiing was their secret thrill, and they gave in to it in times of high stress. “How did you know where I was?” Hud asked when they stopped to catch their breath.

“Penny.” Gray shrugged. “Like I told you, it’s good to have a woman at your six, man. And not just any woman, but
your
woman.”

Hud looked out into the black night lit by a sliver of a moon. They each wore headlamps so they didn’t do something stupid, like ski into a tree. If Penny discovered where they were now and what they were doing, she’d kill them.

But much as Gray loved her—and Hud had no doubt that Gray would die for her without hesitation—Penny didn’t know about this. But she knew about everything else as it pertained to Gray,
everything
—the good, the bad, the ugly.

“How do you know when it’s time?” Hud asked.

“To let someone in?”

“Yeah.”

When his brother didn’t answer, Hud turned his head and looked at him.

“You’ll know,” Gray said.

“How?”

“Trust me. You’ll just know. Clear?”

Yeah, clear as mud.

Late on Friday night, Bailey drove just ahead of a storm, which followed her up the mountain. It was a little stressful but she liked the idea of being able to wake up and go right to work.

Plus it meant more time in Cedar Ridge.

It’s not Cedar Ridge you rushed up here for
…

Laughing at herself, she dropped off her bag at the efficiency apartment and walked in the dark to the village. Past the tiny coffee hut, closed now, but she could still smell the faint scent of the caffeine and sugar that were mainlined there every morning. The rental shop was shut up tight as well, for once utterly devoid of the hundreds of skiers and boarders that passed through the place every morning seeking equipment. The beauty salon was closed, too, but there was a light on and within she caught sight of Aidan’s girlfriend Lily hunched over a laptop. She waved.

Other than that, there was no one else around. The mountain had closed to skiers and boarders several hours ago. The only thing open now was the cafeteria, and that was getting ready to close too.

The path had been cleared and rock salt laid down to keep it from icing up. They’d had a bunch of snow this week, she thought, a little surprised at the berms built
high on either side of the trail. The wind had died a little bit and the snow fell silently in thick lines, each snowflake the size of a big white dinner plate.

It never failed to awe her as she stopped and just took it all in: the glorious view of the mountain backdropped against the black night, the eerie, calm quiet echoing around her.

She stared up at the mural—protected from the elements by two walls of the lodge and the huge overhanging patio roof. The beautiful tree was the centerpiece, stretched across the top and bottom of the wall, framing in the highlights on the family tree as they moved in chronological order from left to right. She’d started with Gray, since he was the oldest. The leader. The glue.

Well actually, Penny was the glue, Bailey corrected with a smile. She loved them both already, adored their relationship, and knew that the others did as well.

In any case, she could now see what the entire tapestry would look like and for a moment she felt an overwhelming surge of emotion.

Pride.

Because she was really doing it. Surviving and living and doing something with her life, something she’d never expected to get to do.

From the corner of her eye, she caught a profile of a man in the shadows. Hudson. Her heart skipped a beat and she smiled at him.

He smiled back, much more muted than she expected. Then he stepped closer and she realized her mistake. Not Hudson at all.

Aidan.

He looked up at the mural and smiled. “So it turns out that you
can
paint.”

She went brows up. “Lucky for you.”

He laughed. “I had a feeling.”

She stared at him. “You hired me on a feeling?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Well you did come at a good price.” He flashed her a smile that was so close to Hud’s her heart skipped another beat. “And as a bonus—you get Hud.”

“That’s a bonus?” she asked.

He laughed. “Hell yeah.”

She cocked her head at the echo of what sounded like a couple of guys whooping it up. Turning to the mountain, lit only by the glow of the night, she saw them.

Two skiers, careening down the run at breakneck speed. “Ohmigod,” she whispered. “Is that—”

“Yeah.” Aidan let out a low laugh as he acknowledged two of his brothers doing the unthinkable—skiing in the dark, in a storm. “It’s how they let off steam.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off the two figures attacking the mountain with that incredible speed, and yet each movement they made was sheer, unchoreographed grace. “Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Living is dangerous,” Aidan said.

“I’m serious! They can’t have very good depth perception.”

“Actually,” he said, “with the lighting the way it is right now with the snow and the reflection from the clouds, it’s pretty awesome. It’s not too cold, the wind died down, and they have the entire mountain to themselves. It’s not dangerous for two guys who know this mountain inside and out as they do.”

“So why aren’t you up there then?” she asked.

The smile widened. “I kicked Gray out of his office because he works too hard. And I don’t think Hud’s taken
a day off in… I have no idea. Between running all of ski patrol and working shifts at the cop shop several times a week, I don’t even know how he’s still on his feet. With all he’s got on his plate, I’m glad he’s taking a break.”

The moment was interrupted by low voices carrying across the night air.

The skiers returning.

Gray waved. Hud met Bailey’s eyes but didn’t wave. They vanished into the thick woods.

“They’re climbing back to the top for round three,” Aidan said. “Or maybe it’s four.”

“That’s as crazy as skiing in the dark!”

“It’s part of the adventure,” Aidan said on a low laugh. “It’s what we Kincaids do.”

“And what’s that? Dare death at every turn?”

He smiled. “Live. Live
hard
. Confront life at every turn. We’re tough, and that’s because we’ve had to be.”

Okay, she was starting to get that. If there was a problem, Hud faced it head-on, dangerous or not. He faced everything that way, without flinching.

He thought
she
was the tough one, but she wasn’t. All her life she’d just gone along with the tide, letting the ride take her where it would.

That wasn’t Hudson’s style. In fact, given all that she knew about him—how he’d grown up and the way he watched out for his family at any cost—
he
was one of the toughest people she’d ever met. She said so out loud.

Aidan nodded at that, his eyes solemn now. “Yeah, he is.” His warm hand touched her cold face, a brief caress. “So the question is, are you tough enough to take him on? How brave are you feeling, Bailey?”

“I’m not—” She swallowed at Aidan’s steady gaze.
Hud thought she was brave and she’d loved knowing that. Maybe it was time she owned it. “It’s not what you think.”

“What I think is that my brother is one of the best guys I know, and he deserves a hell of a lot more than the hand he’s been dealt. If you’re not willing to push hard to get to the finish line with him, then you should think about dropping out of the race now before anyone gets hurt.”

“We’re not… There’s no race.” But she was talking to the night air because Aidan was gone.