Trust by Viola Rivard

thought maybe she’d run into a bear, but quickly realized it was just a pelt. Heaving a sigh of relief, she glanced up, only to be startled all over again.
    Alder was staring at her, his eyes glowing in the lamplight. He was lying in a bed of furs so large that it stretched out into the darkness. One dark fur had been thrown over his hips, leaving his broad chest on full display.
    Hands behind his head, he gave her a lazy smile. “What are you doing down here?”
    “Lark had to go do stuff,” she said, fully aware that it was a lame answer.
    He tilted his head to the right. “Come lie with me.”
    Not needing to be told twice, she set the lamp down on the floor and tried not to seem too eager as she crawled into the pallet beside him. Alder lifted the fur so that it covered her bare legs.
    “Thanks,” she said. “This room is kind of cold.”
    “It’s the coolest room in the den, and the quietest,” he said in a sleep-roughened voice. “It’s a good place to go when you don’t want to be disturbed.”
    “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
    “I’m glad you’re here.” He smiled again, and this time it did funny things to her stomach. “How was your day?”
    “It was great.” I missed you the whole time. “Lark was great, the cabin was great. Everything was great.”
    With a hand on her arm, he pulled her down onto the furs. She settled into the crook of his arm, unable to stop herself from blushing as he leaned over her. Stubble lined his jaw, making him look more masculine, if that was even possible.
    “You smell incredible,” he said.
    Taylor raised a brow. “You like the smell of sweat?”
    His smile turned mischievous. “I like the smell of a hot, wet female.”
    Whoa .
    Heat blossomed throughout her body, starting in her face and creeping down her neck and then over her breasts. While she was still grasping for something to say in response, Alder leaned down and nipped at her ear.
    “Why haven’t you been with a man?”
    “Um…” She bit her lip as Alder ran his tongue along the shell of her ear. “A lot of reasons, I suppose. Mainly I think I’ve just never felt comfortable enough with anyone.”
    It wasn’t the sex that scared her. It was everything that came after. What if they had sex and she didn’t feel the same way about him afterwards? Or worse, she felt more for him, but he felt less for her? These were the types of thoughts that had always kept her from intimacy in the past.
    “Do you feel comfortable with me?” he asked.
    “No.”
    Alder pulled back to look her in the eyes. “Why not?”
    Taylor braced herself up on her elbows. “I guess I just can’t figure out why you’re into me.”
    She thought that her deliberate stalling would annoy him, but instead he looked thoughtful.
    Slowly, as if he was still trying to make sense of it himself, he said, “When I first met you, I liked that you didn’t know anything about me. You treated me like I wasn’t any different than any other man, and that was interesting to me.”
    “I see,” she said, sitting up a little more. “But I know you now, at least a little.”
    “I think I like that even more,” he said, rubbing his chin. “You know who I am, what I am, and you still want me.”
    She crinkled her nose. “How do you know I still want you?”
    Giving her a wolfish grin, Alder sat up and leaned over her. He insinuated one thick leg between hers, and she could feel that he was very much naked. Without consulting her, the region between her thighs began to throb.
    His nostrils flared. “I can smell it.”
    Alder brought his head down to kiss her. His lips were warm and she couldn’t resist kissing him back. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she wasn’t afraid. Nervous, maybe. Excited, definitely. But not afraid.
    He ran his tongue over her bottom lip and she parted for him, letting him delve into her mouth. As he explored her depths, she ran the tip of her tongue up and down his in a slow, intimate