Chapter 11

When Mary heard the news, she was beyond happy. She had heard the story from Sabrina, but she came to my camper to hear my version and thank me in person. It was late and Sabrina was already in bed.

“Thank you, Paul,” she said. “My debt with you keeps growing.”

She hugged me really really tightly and gave me a soft kiss on the lips.

I stood there looking at her, unable to react.

“Sorry.”

“Are you sorry about the kiss? Because I’m not.”

She smiled at me, and my heart went ba-boom

“This all happened thanks to you. You saved Sabrina and me. We are so lucky to have you in our lives. I can’t even fathom how our lives would be without you in them.”

Mary wrapped her arms around my neck and I felt something I haven’t since my divorce ... Love.

Yeah, I had a hard on too.

Mary smiled and rubbed against me. I groaned.

“Look, Paul, I don’t like to beat around the bush, I love you,” Mary whispered, her arms tightening around my neck. “How do you feel about me?”

She bit her lip and looked up at me with hope in her eyes.

I looked down in her eyes, black as coal, and whispered back. “I love you too, Mary.”

From the joy that filled her eyes, you’d think no one else ever had said that to her.

We kissed again, deeply. She slid her tongue between my teeth and pressed her body against mine. I moaned, the sound vibrating against her lips and her chest, creating a whole new sensation. I ran my big hands up her thighs. Goosebumps chased across her skin and she shuddered.

“Mary...” I whispered her name, sliding my palms under her skirt, my thumbs beneath the high cut of her panties.

She lifted my shirt and ran her mouth over every dip and curve of my upper body. She smoothed her hands over my firm chest and stomach, then filled her palms with my biceps.

I guessed she wanted to wrap her legs around my waist and seemed pleasantly surprised when I lifted her, settling her knees over his hips as I pressed tiny kisses across her jaw, then down her neck.

My arms tensed, the muscles bulged as I supported her weight. I swung her body around, settling her on the tiny counter. My fingers drifted down the inside of her bare thighs, urging them wider. She gave herself over to my touch.

I managed to hike her skirt so high it was more of a belt, and I brushed my thumb over her pussy just once. Gasping, she arched against me.

Leaning forward, she tasted the sensitive skin where my collarbone became my shoulder.

My breath stirred her hair as she trailed her tongue lower, licking one flat brown nipple, scoring the tip with her teeth. I muttered her name and tugged her head back, melding our mouths as I cupped her breasts, testing their weight, rolling her hardened nipples under my thumbs.