Page 8 of Innocent

His lips sink into the space between my collarbone and my neck. The soft scratch of his beard against my skin tickles and wakes me up from the inside. My eyes close and every touch of his big, rough hands against me is like magic. Real, true, aching, dark magic. Magic that stirs parts of me that had been starving for a kind of love, affection, and touch that I didn’t even know existed until now.

I need him.

Huck’s hand wanders down my frame, his gaze never leaving mine. “You know we—”

“Dad?”

Somewhere in my mind, I know the voice belongs to Mark, but I’m frozen against Huck. I can’t move. Even if I could, I’m not sure where I would go. There’s only this small truck, and the frozen tundra. I suppose I could run for a tree, but I’m not sure Mark wouldn’t put everything together sooner or later.

Huck stands, his hand still on my chin, his gaze on me. “I’ll handle this. It’s okay.” He pulls away from my body, his absence leaving cold behind as he takes a step toward Mark.

I can only see him in the rear-view mirror, but I already know he sees me. There’s no denying that from the look on his face. It’s shock, horror, disgust, and something I can’t identify.

“Mark, just hear me out.” Huck tries to talk, but Mark’s backing away slowly, disappearing toward his truck parked behind the trees.

I can’t let Huck do this alone. I suck in a deep breath and stand from the truck with him, staring toward my best friend with more guilt than I’ve ever felt in my life.

“I’m sorry, Mark. I—”

“You what?How long has this been going on?”

“No. Nothing is going on. We were just—”

“Don’t lie to me! You’re up here, after midnight with my father leaned over you humping you like a feral dog.”

I have nothing to say. He’s right. He’s right and something is wrong with me, because I wouldn’t change what just happened between Huck and I for a second. I’ve never felt so good, so warm, so alive. That said, I can’t ruin his relationship with his son. And this is my fault. I’m the one that mentioned coming up here in the first place.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I glance back toward Huck, whose eyes have gone dark with an emotion I don’t want to identify. Mostly because I’m sure it’s embarrassment, or maybe even regret.

God. Someone kill me.I’ll be so empty if he regrets what happened.

“I’m going to walk back down the mountain,” I say.

“No. You’re going to ride with me. It’s after midnight, freezing cold, and there’s God knows what out here. Get in the truck.”

If he were wrong about even one of those things, I’d start walking. But he’s not. It’s about ten degrees and pitch black out. Not only that, but I’ve heard at least three wolves howl and after all those shifter stories, I’m not sure I’d make it the few miles back.

“Nice!” Mark hollers. “Just get in the truck and pretend I didn’t show up. Makes complete sense.”

“Ignore him,” Huck grumbles, hopping into his side, before hollering back to Mark. “We’ll talk at home. It’s not what you think.”

Huck starts the engine of the truck and I look toward him.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cause all this.”

He narrows his brows and looks toward me with an angled gaze that’s more serious than he’d looked at me before. “He’s confused. We’ve shocked him. That’ll wear off. He’ll understand everything with time.”

“Understand what?”

“Whatever’s going on here.” He brushes his thumb against the back of my hand. “He’ll understand after I talk to him.”

I sigh and look out the passenger’s window. I appreciate Huck’s willingness to talk this out with Mark, but I know who Mark is. He’s stubborn, like his father. Except he doesn’t have the wisdom of forty-plus years behind him. He’s not going to understand. I turn back toward Huck, my voice shaking as I say, “I thought I could do this. God, you have no idea how bad I want you. How bad I’ve always wanted you. But now, seeing Mark’s face, I can’t hurt him like this. I can’t get between you two.”

He lets out a heavy, gruff sigh and leans his head against the steering wheel, groaning out with a pain I’m not sure I’ve ever heard from a grown man. “Don’t make any decisions yet. Just let me talk to him.”

I pause for a long moment wondering if there’s a world where Huck and I work… but I know there’s not. He’s my best friend’s dad. He’s twenty years older than me. Whatever this is, it’s not destiny. And the sooner I come to terms with that, the better off we’re all going to be.