Size Matters (3 page)

Collapsing over her, breathing like a freight train, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered, “Name’s Tim. Nice to meet you.”

19

Stephanie Julian

It took Carrie a few minutes to realize what the guy had said.

She was enjoying the afterglow. She’d never come that hard before. Kinda scrambled the brains.

So his name was Tim. Nice. Nice, normal name.

But why had he just introduced himself like she’d never asked his name before?

Had she been that drunk the night before?

Tim rolled to her side and she immediately missed his bulk surrounding her.

Wow, scary. She’d only known the guy… What? A couple of hours?

What the hell had she been drinking last night that—

Wait a minute. She hadn’t gone out last night. She distinctly remembered going home because no one else had felt like going out. Most everyone at the office was sick.

She’d gone home, watched a little TV. She was working her way through the second season of
The X-Files
. Lots of great material in there for inspiration.

This morning, she’d gone to work and Bill had sent her out to get photos. For a Bigfoot spread.

Shaking her head, she sat up, inching away from him, more than a little thankful for the dark so he couldn’t see her.

“Hey, you okay?”

Whoa, that voice sent shivers down her spine, so deep and sexy. But she had no idea why it sounded so familiar to her.

“Where am I?”

He didn’t answer right away and she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, chewing on the soft flesh. Maybe she didn’t want to know.

20

Size Matters

“You’re in my home. You’re safe here, Carrie.”

She felt safe. Still… “And where exactly did we meet?” He sighed and the mattress moved as he rolled to the side of the bed and started to move around the room, opening and closing a drawer.

“I’m going to turn on a light, okay?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s fine.”

Considering how they’d just spent the past however many minutes, she shouldn’t have been worried about her nudity.

And she forgot about it the moment he turned on the lights.

Holy hell, the guy was
big
. And she didn’t just mean tall. He was perfectly proportioned—to be a freaking god.

He stared down at her from the side of the bed, one hand on his hip, not at all embarrassed by his nudity. His other hand held a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts, which she took, with her mouth hanging open.

She’d realized he had long hair but the dark had hidden the gorgeous mass of gold, brown and red waves. The shaggy lengths just reached his shoulders and again… Wow.

Broad and muscled but not overly so, this guy wasn’t some angular long-distance runner or gangly basketball player. His golden skin gleamed in the dim glow of the lamp on the bedside table.

Letting her gaze drop even farther, she eyed his six-pack abs with something close to awe then her mouth went dry when she reached his groin.

She’d already known his sex was tremendous but she hadn’t realized she’d want to immortalize it in stone. Or firm latex.

Sue her.

And his legs. Muscular thighs, shapely calves and huge feet.

Guess that myth was true. The size of a guy’s feet and his, well… Yeah…

21

Stephanie Julian

By the time she’d dragged her gaze back up to meet his eyes, his lips had quirked into a smile.

She glared at him even as she felt that tug of desire deep in her gut. “I didn’t pick you up in a bar last night, did I?”

He shook his head, his expression clearing into something close to a blank slate.

“But I did wrap my car around a tree?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t see you do it, but I heard. I found you passed out in the snow and brought you back here.”

Her mouth opened for a second before she could put words together. “And decided you’d get a little nookie from the unconscious girl?” She pulled the oversized t-shirt over her head, a little freaked out, though she wasn’t sure why. “Who
are
you?” His face twisted in a contrite grimace. “Hey, I didn’t want to take advantage of you.

But you woke up, a little, uh…”

She couldn’t believe he was too much of a gentleman to say she’d woken horny as hell.

“Well, that’s mostly your fault.” She felt inclined to point out. “You were naked and you smelled good and…and you were
hard
.” Surely she couldn’t be held responsible for wanting him under those conditions.

His brows raised and those gorgeous lips kicked into a full-blown smile. Which made her hot for him and pissed off at him at the same time.

“Okay, I’ll cop to all those.”

Damn, the guy was so freaking
hot
. Which probably led him to believe he could get away with anything. Well, not with her. “Who the
hell
are you?”

“My name’s Tim Sattazahn.” He gestured around him, still looking a little sheepish, a little guilty. “This is my home. I own Outdoor Enterprises, a camping and wilderness business. I’m closed for the winter, though.”

22

Size Matters

Okay, that didn’t sound too bad. It sounded normal. But if the guy was a serial killer, of course he wouldn’t say, “I’m a serial killer. Let me get out my chainsaw.” Her eyes narrowed and she tried on her most fierce expression. “Why’d you take off my clothes?”

Again, he looked abashed as he held out his hands, palms up. “They were wet and you were cold. It was the easiest way to warm you.” Okay, that sounded kind of rational, too. She felt her mouth purse into a thin little line as she thought about that.

“So,” he asked, “what were
you
doing out here in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm?”

Well, shit. How should she answer that one?

Most people, when she told them where she was employed, laughed in her face then asked what she really did. She’d grown a thick skin over the years but she didn’t want this man to laugh at her.

Not that she was ashamed of her job, not in the least. Still…

Her chin tilted up. “I’m a writer.”

He lifted one eyebrow at her. “Which doesn’t explain why you were out here in the middle of a snowstorm.”

She stuck her nose in the air, practically daring him to make some crack about women drivers and snow. “I’m out here for a story.” Now a wary look came into his eyes. “A story?”

“I work for a newspaper.”

His gaze definitely went a little frosty on her and her reporter antenna pinged.

Usually only people who had something to hide didn’t like reporters. “So what story’s so important to make you come out in a snowstorm for it?” Good question. What would he say if she told him she was here to photograph Bigfoot?

23

Stephanie Julian

Speaking of big feet…

She looked down. Damn, this man certainly proved that old chestnut about the size of a guy’s feet indicating the size of his cock.

They had to be at least a fourteen or a fifteen, if not bigger.

Could he be the reason she’d been sent out here? Had someone gotten a quick look at him and thought…

No, that was just stupid. Yeah, the guy was tall but really, that was stupid.

Maybe she’d hit her head harder than she’d thought.

“Carrie?”

“Wait, how do you know my name?”

“I checked your driver’s license.” He held up a hand, for some reason drawing her gaze back to his exposed groin. The man was built
not
to wear clothes. “And before you complain, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t have any medical conditions I needed to know about.”

“I don’t. I’m perfectly healthy.” And so was he, if his physique and stamina were any indication. Speaking of stamina—

Jeez, she had to get him into clothing so she could think clearly. Obviously she should be angrier about him taking advantage of her.

Okay, maybe saying he’d taken advantage was a little harsh. He
had
tried to get her to stop at least twice.

Thank God she hadn’t listened.

She held up her hand in classic stop position, though she didn’t know why. “Look, could you put some clothes on? Please? Your nudity is making me nervous.” His smile lit his eyes. “Nervous, huh? Well, we certainly don’t want that.” He turned and walked back to the chest of drawers against the far wall and she considered begging him to ignore her previous request and walk around naked all day.

The man had
the
most perfect ass. Lean and firm and rounded and—

24

Size Matters

She swallowed. Yeah.

Before she could completely embarrass herself and put her hands on that ass, he’d grabbed a pair of jeans out of a drawer and pulled them up those long legs.

He didn’t bother with a t-shirt, though, and for that she again thanked that elusive Goddess of Hot Guys.

“So,” he turned back to her, “since you’re not going anywhere for a while because of the storm, you want something to eat?”

Come to think of it, she was kind of hungry. “It’s still snowing?” He nodded. “Hasn’t stopped.”

“Got any chocolate?”

* * * * *

Watching Carrie drink hot chocolate gave Tim a hard-on guaranteed to drive nails.

She didn’t actually drink it. She licked at the marshmallows then lapped at the chocolate, her pink tongue mesmerizing him with thoughts of what she could do with it.

“This is really good.” She practically purred, her eyes closed, hands wrapped around the mug. “I don’t think I’ve ever had hot chocolate made from real chocolate bars. Where’d you learn to do that?”

“My mom. She’s good in the kitchen.” Which was a gross understatement. His mom was a wizard with chocolate, which was really saying something in his community. The Citeka loved their chocolate.

“Well, your mom knows her stuff.” She gave the chocolate another lap and his cock twitched in his pants. The damn zipper was going to be imprinted on his flesh for sure.

He wanted her back in his bed. Wondered how long before he could make a move without her thinking he was taking advantage.

But he also wanted to know more about her.

25

Stephanie Julian

“So, what paper do you work for?”

She looked him straight in the eyes. “The
Weekly News Journal
.” Oh
shit
. Oh, no
fucking
shit. The fates wouldn’t be that unfair, would they?

He tried to school his features into polite interest, instead of abject horror. “Um, not sure I’m familiar with that one,” he lied.

Carrie didn’t drop her gaze. “We cover news the other papers don’t.” God damn, he
had
heard her right. He wanted to throw back his head and bellow.

Damn it to hell and back again. Which deity had he pissed off lately?

It just wasn’t fucking fair that the red-haired goddess wearing his shirt and nothing else was one of
those
.

Squashing a sigh, he prepared to have his hopes of doing her again crushed. “And what kind of news is that?”

Her chin lifted just a little bit higher, as if she were daring him to laugh. “Crop circles, UFO sightings, ghosts, out-of-the-ordinary stories.” He didn’t laugh, couldn’t find it in him to muster the strength. “Huh.

That’s…interesting.”

She stiffened and set her mug on the counter. Very gently. “It
is
interesting. There’s so much in the world we don’t understand, so much that can’t be explained by science.” Then she shrugged and picked up her mug again. “But mainly, I’m in the entertainment field.”

He blinked. Okay, not exactly what he’d expected to hear. “Entertainment?”

“Sure.” Her slow smile had his blood chugging through his veins. “There’s very real evidence for the existence of ghosts. UFOs? Not so much. I mean, I’m not arrogant enough to believe Earth is the only inhabited planet in the entire galaxy. But do I think people from other planets visit ours and kidnap people to probe them with steel rods?” She shrugged. “Not likely. Crop circles make good pictures but I’ve never come across 26

Size Matters

one that couldn’t be explained by a couple of kids and a little alcohol. Cryptozoology, now, that has some merits.”

More than she knew
. “How so?”

“The earth is a huge place. Scientists are finding new species every day. Of course there are going to be animals in the world we don’t know about.”

“So, you go around trying to take photos of the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot?” She grimaced a little. “I’ve never been to Loch Ness. Do I think a dinosaur lives there? Not really. Would I love to go and be proved wrong? Hell yes. Do I think there’s a huge man-ape running around the North American forests? No. I don’t believe in Bigfoot. At least, not in some freak-of-nature missing link.”
Well, thank God for small favors.

“But,” she continued, “did you know that a race of red-haired giants once lived in the western part of the country?”

His heart sank farther toward his stomach with each word. “Uh…”

“There are several documented cases of seven- and eight-foot-tall skeletons found in caves in the West and… I’m boring you to tears, aren’t I?” No, unfortunately she wasn’t. But what the hell could he say? “Not at all. I’ve never really given that kind of stuff much thought, though.” Christ, if he lied any more, his nose would start growing.

“Sorry. I get carried away with work sometimes.” She let her gaze drift as she shook her head. “I enjoy it. I used to work for my dad. He’s the managing editor of the
Harrisburg Daily
. My dad loves his politics. I think it’s deadly dull and sucks out your soul after a while. We had a difference of opinion about that. Actually, we had several differences of opinion. So I left.”

He knew how hard it was to leave your family and strike out on your own. “And decided you were really going to piss off your dad and work for the
Weekly News
Journal
.”

27

Stephanie Julian

There was that smile again. The one that made him want to pick her up and throw her on his bed. If she didn’t stop smiling, he was definitely going to have blue balls.