Hero (Alpha Mountain 1)

Her tits.

They were covered—completely covered—but her nipples still poked through the thin material. They were stiff and erect under her Sparks Outdoor Adventure company t-shirt. Even after all this time, I remembered how pink those tips were, how they were upturned and… fuck, lickable. Even though I hadn’t gotten close enough to do any licking.

They were like that now, probably from the cold. Or the rain. Except, wouldn’t I have noticed them right away? No, it seemed like they’d gotten stiff talking to me, which, unfortunately, made me harder.

Buck’s sister, I reminded myself. She was Buck’s sister. Fuck.

“Jesus, I’m not just Buck’s little sister.” She raised her hands and made air quotes to go along with the sass. “I’m my own woman, Ford. I was then. I am now. How did you even know I was in here?” She turned the convo back to me.

I’d been out of the military and back in Montana for less than a year. One of the first things I'd done to the place when I returned was to set up top-notch security. I didn’t fucking trust anyone. Especially not the US government who was supposed to have my back. The only people I trusted were my grandparents—and Gramps had been gone for two years now—and my team.

I’d called in Kennedy, Alpha Team 5 expert data analyst, who’d left the service right after I had. After the shit that went down, he’d chosen not to reup. Instead, he’d showed up in a fucking snowstorm and gotten to work, putting up sensors to let us know of anything over four feet tall—keeping the alarms from pinging with every wild animal—crossed onto the land or was moving about. Every inch of the Ledger land was monitored. The compound the men and I were building was like a fortress with impenetrable, invisible walls.

Gram had welcomed me back with open arms, regardless of the military’s reason for kicking me out. She’d also welcomed Kennedy, Hayes and Taft. Said it had been boring around here and was having fun watching us set up my new venture: Alpha Mountain Security.

“I knew the second you stepped over my fence,” I said.

She tossed her hands up and shook her head. “You know what? This isn’t worth it. If you’re going to be an asshole about me getting out of the weather and wave your freaking gun around then—”

“Why were you out in it in the first place?” I hadn’t been waving a gun. Jesus. Either way, I wasn’t going to correct her about that. She didn’t know about my post-SEAL mercenary work. How I took jobs needing my military-trained skill sets that paid a shit-ton more than a Master Chief.

If she thought I was an asshole mountain man, all the better.

“It wasn’t raining when I headed out, you idiot,” she snapped.

“You should be better prepared.”

Her mouth fell open, and I had a feeling if smoke could come out of her ears, it would be now. “Prepared? I had everything I needed, and I found shelter, more than others out hiking today probably did.”

“No one else ended up here.” I raised my hand indicating not just the greenhouse but my property.

“You sure? Maybe I’m to pull your attention one way while my team of tourist hikers overrun your house.”

That sass. Holy shit, she needed her ass spanked for that sass.

“And part of that plan was to take off your pants? I didn’t think you teased people that way… any longer.”

The second I said that, I knew it had been a mistake. A low blow. A true asshole move. I bit my tongue, but I couldn’t take it back. While I’d been pissed she’d been in my bed and offered herself all those years ago, I always appreciated that she recognized her sexual needs, even at eighteen. She hadn’t been shy about them. No, she’d fucking owned her sexuality, and I’d snubbed it. And her.

The biggest thing I’d thought of since then? She’d come to me. To my bed. Offered that gorgeous pussy and sweet cherry to me. Me.

Now? Fuck… I was a dick.

She flushed then glared daggers. “I’d rather be out in the storm than do this with you.” She tried to breeze past me, but I caught her elbow.

What a mistake. Total. Fucking. Mistake. Now I knew how soft and smooth her skin was. Caught her rain and cucumber scent. She was close enough that I wanted to touch other parts of her, too. Lift her up, so she’d wrap those bare legs around my waist, press her against the glass and have my way with her. Lay her over the weight bench and push those thighs nice and wide. Have her bend over the weight rack and take her from behind. Get deep inside that sweet pussy I’d craved for years.

Yeah, thoughts of her forbidden body had gotten me through some of the worst fucking hellholes.