But when he reached for her, she sighed and whispered his name. It had been such a long time, Sam wondered how he'd be able to take it slow. His body ached with the need for release, yet he didn't want to rush. He craved the sweet torture that came with losing himself deep inside a woman.
He drew a breath and then smoothed his hand over her naked belly. Her skin was like silk, so warm and soft beneath his callused fingers. He gently turned her in his arms, finding her lips and kissing her softly. She responded immediately, opening to his gentle assault.
The kiss was intoxicating, like a glass of warmed brandy on a cold night. That warmth seeped though his bloodstream, propelled by the slow, even pulse of his heart. He didn't know who she was or where she'd come from, but he wanted her all the same.
"Touch me," he murmured, guiding her hand to his body. Her fingers danced over his skin, teasing at the hair on his belly before dropping lower. He held his breath, waiting for the rush of heat when she wrapped her fingers around him and began to stroke his shaft.
A low moan rumbled in his throat as he gave himself over to the intense sensations coursing through his body. He was close, his release just a heartbeat away. Still, he held back. But as red-hot desire swirled within him, he felt himself losing the battle for control.
And then, suddenly, she stopped. "What's wrong?" he whispered, his question laced with desperation.
"Is there a donut shop on the corner or will I have to go to the airport?"
Slowly, Sam found his way back from the brink and opened his eyes. He still couldn't see her, but he knew she'd never been there at all. Gulping in a deep breath, he sat up and glanced around the dimly lit interior of the cabin. "Donut shop?" he murmured, raking his fingers through his hair. "What the hell?"
Embers still glowed in the fireplace and as his vision cleared, he realized he'd been dreaming again. He cursed at the bizarre and decidedly unsatisfying end to his dream, then flopped back on the bed, his skin slick with sweat.
"It's time to get out of here," he murmured, wincing at the unresolved ache in his groin.
Light filtered through the small windows, telling him it was well past dawn. He'd tidy up the cabin, pack his things, and in a few hours, hike back to the civilized world. And once he'd reached Sutter Gap, he'd find a warm and willing woman, one who wouldn't evaporate before he had a chance to come.
Sam crawled off the bed and walked to the rough plank door. He threw it open and let the cold air hit his naked body, blasting away the last traces of his dream. The sky above the leafless trees was clear and blue, forecasting good weather for his trip.
Spring had come to his little corner of the Appalachian wilderness two weeks ago, the rising temperatures melting the dense cover of snow in the higher elevations of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He'd thought about making the hike out a few days before, but a driving rain had changed his mind. In good weather, it took a long day's walk to reach the little town of Sutter Gap, but if he had to slog through swollen streams and ankle-deep mud, the hike could take two.
Sam went back inside the cabin and tossed another log on the fire, poking at the embers. He'd run out of coffee last month and had been existing on the last of the beans and rice for the past week. The thought of a thick, juicy steak and a baked potato made his mouth water.
Strange how a man's needs could be reduced to just two things - sex and red meat. And a hot shower, maybe. If he could find a way to enjoy all three at the same time, then he wouldn't have to choose which to pursue first.
He'd lived a monkish life for the past six months, a simple existence in a rough log cabin, perched on a mountainside among the thick forests of western North Carolina. Over the past three years, the cabin had become home.
Sam smiled as he remembered his first winter living in the woods. He'd craved sex and Snickers candy bars. And when he'd returned to civilization, he'd eaten twenty candy bars in two days and spent a week in bed with a pretty bartender from a road-house outside of Asheville.
During his second winter it was sex and the music of Linkin Park. After he'd gotten back, he'd driven around for over a week with their latest CD in his disc player and spent his nights with a sexy nature guide from Smokey Mountains National Park.
Sam wondered just what kind of woman would share his bed this time around. It was always a bit tricky, explaining his situation and his particular needs to a potential bedmate. Most single women were interested in a romantic relationship, one that might result in marriage. Sam's only interest was in a wildly exciting, no-strings attached sexual encounter lasting approximately one week.
To his surprise, he'd found quite a few women who required nothing more than unbridled passion with a skilled and eager partner. After a week together, there was nothing more to experience and both parties went away well satisfied.
Sam grabbed a pair of faded jeans from the hook on the wall and tugged them on. He'd first walked into the mountains a few months after the death of his best friend, Jeff Warren. They'd climbed Mt. McKinley together and on the way down, Jeff had been swept away in an avalanche, gone in an instant, buried deep beneath the snow.
Adventure had become almost an obsession for the two of them. Every extra dime they'd made from their jobs on Wall Street had been spent searching for bigger and better thrills. And when Sam had suggested a climb up McKinley, Jeff had barely been able to contain his enthusiasm. It had all been good, the crazy thrill of standing on top of one of the world's seven summits. And then it had suddenly turned so bad. In a heartbeat, Jeff was dead and Sam had been left to rue the day he'd ever mentioned Mt. McKinley.
The first book Sam had read after the funeral had been Thoreau's Walden Pond and he'd gotten from it the idea of living a quieter, simpler life, what he hoped would be a remedy for his chaotic emotions. So he'd quit his job and set out on his most challenging adventure - to spend a winter in the wilderness, completely alone.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Warm & Willing by Kate Hoffmann Copyright © 2005 by Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.. Excerpted by permission.
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