by Joy Blood
We walk down the padded trail most likely used by wildlife to reach the water. It twists and turns slightly to get down the steep embankment, leading us out onto a pebble beach-like spot. “This is nice. How come we didn’t come here before and go swimming?” Vera asks, parting from me and heading straight for the water. I chuckle, knowing what she’s about to do. Toeing off her shoes and rolling up her jeans, she steps into the water and promptly lets out a shriek before jumping out.
“Oh my gosh, that is cold!” she gasps.
“That would be why we didn’t come here to swim. You see that mountain up there?” I point toward the range that already, despite it being the end of summer, has a good amount of snow on the top. “This creek feeds directly from that mountain. It’s always cold.”
“Seriously? Is that even possible?”
“Yeah. It’s a natural spring. Good for drinking and fishing. If you look close enough, you might be able to see some trout.” She looks out to the water then goes back to her shoes still smiling as she puts them back on and rights her pants.
“Couldn’t just tell me this before I froze my toes off?”
“Ha. I hardly believe it’s that cold.” Bending down at the edge, I dip in my hand, feeling the cool running water, but not freezing. “That’s hardly cold.”
“That’s your hand. Stick your feet in and you’ll see it’s much colder.”
“I might just have a higher threshold for pain.”
She rolls her eyes. “Puh-lease. If you stepped in there, you would jump back out like I did.”
“Oh, now you’ve thrown down the gauntlet. Your challenge is accepted.”
“What—” I pull the laces free of my boots, then kick them off. Next, I lose the socks, then roll up my jeans as far as they will go.
“How about we make this interesting?” I look over to her, one step away from getting into the water.
“And how would we do that?”
“You kick off those shoes again and get in here with me. First one to jump out loses.” I shoot her a grin when her mouth falls open.
“And risk hypothermia?”
“Like I said, it’s not that cold. But if you don’t think you can handle it…”
“What do I get when I win?”
“When, hmmm?” I like this cocky side of her. She only lets it show now and then, but I lap the moments up like an eager dog.
“Yes. When. So, what do I get?” My hands go wide at my sides, making her laugh. “You?”
I nod. “You get me however you want.”
“However I want, huh?” She laughs, once again toeing off her shoes. “What if I want to sleep in the sleeping bag by myself?” she teases.
“Careful, V. If I win, I’m taking you how I want,” I warn. She walks forward to where she is right next to me.
“Count of three?” she asks, hesitant.
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.” We both step forward into the water, which I will admit to myself, is quite a bit colder than sticking my hand in. She lets out a long breath on a hiss, and I chuckle at her. I can tell she already wants to jump out, but I stay put.
“Ready to call it?”
“Not a chance,” I growl, bringing her closer to me. “What about you?” I wrap her in my arms and tug her face to mine with a promising kiss. Our toes touch in the water, and she brings her feet onto of mine, seeking the warmth she most likely won’t find.
“Nate,” she rasps between breaths.
“Yeah?” Our lips press together once again before she speaks. “I need to get out. I can’t feel my feet.” I laugh into her mouth and lift her body up mine to wrap her legs around me. Stepping from the water, I swing my arms back so my hands can reach her feet and hold them in my grip, giving them the heat through my palms. I don’t pay my feet any mind as I leave the water and walk across the pebbles to a piece of driftwood on the secluded beach.
Reluctantly, I part from her seductive mouth, and place her down onto the log, then bend to rub her feet back to life. “Oh God. That feels good.” She lets out a groan.
“Yeah. The water’s cold,” I admit, laughing when she gives me an “I told you so” look. “I still won, though.”
“And what is it you want to be your prize?”
“You are all the prize I need, baby. Now and forever.” Her eyes widen at my declaration, and I sense the fear she can’t force away. “Just where I stand. I’ll wait as long as it takes for you, V. No rush, baby.” Timidly, she nods, and lets her hands drift to my shoulders, then down to my chest, where she pulls at my shirt to get me closer.
“Kiss me,” she whispers, and I’m all too happy to oblige knowing damn well I always will be. Now and forever. Even if she decides otherwise.
Forty-Three
We stay down by the creek making out like two teenagers until the sun starts to drop from the sky. Then Nate pulls me up from the log and we walk back to the campground. Parties are in full swing as we pass through, paying them no mind. I have a feeling Nate is on a mission—a mission to get me back to our tent. I’m not wrong in that assessment, but instead of going inside, he detours over to the truck and opens the passenger side door. “What are you doing?” He still has ahold of my hand, almost like he’s afraid to let it go.
“Gotta grab something,” he tells me, opening the glove box to grab out a small bag. I don’t ask what’s inside, only nod and follow him to the tent where he unzips the door and lets me in before following. The rasp of the zipper behind me lets me know he shut the door, and now it’s just us. Maybe not completely closed off from everyone else, but behind closed doors so to speak. It all hits me at once, and I feel as if I’m going to be with this man for the first time—not the third.
“Easy, baby. Breathe. Nothin’ gonna happen you don’t want, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I echo.
“Shit.” He looks up at the ceiling that isn’t much of a ceiling, given his head touches it in even the highest part. “Be right back.” He goes back outside, and I don’t have to wait long before I find out what his mission is. The top cover of the tent slides off, and the mesh netting is left behind, showing off the starry night. Smiling, I get comfortable, then look up at the night sky.
“It’s beautiful,” I tell him when he comes back inside and flicks off the small battery lantern that barely gives off much light anyway.
“Yeah. Sure is,” he says, not once taking his eyes from me.
“Are you going to stand there and stare all night?” I let out my inner sass, loving the chuckle I get from him.
“Damn, I love that mouth of yours.” He descends onto the sleeping bag bed we’ve created. “So many things I want to do to it,” he declares, sending a surge of heat through me.
“You did win,” I remind him, reaching out for his t-shirt. I pull him toward me, only instead of kissing him, I lead him with a push down onto the blankets, then follow.
“V—”
“Shhh. Only what I want to happen, right?”
He nods. “Yeah, baby. Always.”
I smile and tug at his shirt. “We’ve got to lose this.” He helps me pull his shirt from his toned body, and I spend my time taking him in. From the ink, to the cut planes of his stomach. I drag my nails along the ridges, earning a hiss from him that zings straight to my core. No wonder he likes to tease so much; it’s just as pleasurable. I want to taste every inch of him. Before I do, though, I pull my hair from the messy bun that took me forever to perfect and let it drape over his stomach.
“You are going to kill me, woman,” he groans, reaching up to run his fingers through my hair. “Damn this hair.” I close my eyes as he strokes at my scalp, then bring my mouth down onto his skin, giving him kisses and nips all the way down to where I’m working myself up to touch. He might have been inside me twice, but coming face to face with his cock is something I feel I might need to prepare myself for.
My shaky fingers find the button of his jeans and flip it open while my lips ex
plore him. “This isn’t something I have been all too good at,” I warn. He tugs on my hair, forcing me to look up at him. He has propped himself up slightly on his elbow and is looking down at me.
“One, you could never—and I mean never—be bad at this. And two, fuck whoever said you weren’t, baby. Just having you here is enough for me,” he declares, making that little girl inside me jump up and down with a wistful expression on her face. And for right now, I let her. Tonight, I’m going to let her take the wheel and feel all he’s giving me, maybe even let myself believe it.
I pull down his zipper, finding his long, thick cock straining through the cotton of his boxer briefs. Deep breath, I tell myself, then push his jeans and shorts down with his help to free him from the restraints. I glance up his way, maybe looking for encouragement, and find glazed-over eyes so far gone, and I haven’t even touched him yet. Confidence filled to the brim, I bring my index finger to his shaft and run it along the length, tracing each and every visible vein.
“Gonna make me come like a damn teenager,” he groans, flexing his hips as I grip him into my hand. The drop of liquid coming from the tip grows and starts to stream down, but I catch it with my tongue before it hits my hand. “Fuck,” he hisses through clenched teeth, making me smile and do it again. “I promise never to tease you again, baby. Damn it.”
“Not so much fun reversed, is it?” He doesn’t answer, only lets out the sexiest moan I have ever heard as I engulf the head in my mouth. I pull back to the very tip and bring my mouth farther down to where my hand is seated. I do this a few more times, until one of his hands finds mine and helps me, gliding it up and down. “With your mouth, baby. Shit.” His other hand is back twisting the strands of my hair through his fingers. He pulls slightly, making that heat inside me flame hotter than ever. My thighs rub together, searching for something more. I straddle one of his legs, bringing my needy parts some relief at the contact.
“That’s it. Get yourself off on me. Damn it, you are sexy as fuck.” I let my free hand drop down to cup his balls, and another sexy groan falls from his lips. His hips punch forward, the tip of his shaft pushing into my throat. I gag slightly, but breathe through it, letting him do it twice more before he tries to pull away.
“Vera, baby, I’m gonna come,” he warns. I don’t listen, though. My mouth and hand keep working until spurts of hot saltiness hit my tongue. My first instinct is to pull away, but I force myself through it all, loving the way he growls and swears, until his hips come to a stop and his hand falls away from my hair.
“I think you sucked the life right out of me.” I laugh at him and fall to his side, curling up next to him, only he doesn’t stay put for very long. He is up and over me in a second, kicking off his jeans the rest of the way, until he is completely naked and I’m still fully clothed.
“What are you doing?”
“You didn’t come. And you are wearing more clothes than me.”
“It’s not a competition.”
“Oh, but it is.” He starts working the buttons on my jeans. There are three in all, no zipper. He has them off in seconds, along with my panties, then my shirt and bra. I’m naked beneath him, beneath the night sky and bright stars overhead. “Damn, you are even more beautiful in the moonlight.” He hovers over me, giving me a penetrating kiss before drifting down my body where he settles between my thighs, right where I need him.
It’s all so much, his mouth on me, his tongue doing sinful things to my clit. My body trembles with orgasm after orgasm. I can’t take much more, I’m too over stimulated. “Nate…please. Stop. Please, I can’t take anymore. Ah!” I succeed in pushing his head away, and he gets up on his knees to look down at me.
“I think I might be ahead now.”
“I don’t think I can come one more time,” I pant out, and he chuckles.
“You keep throwing down these challenges, baby. Haven’t you learned yet I’m a competitive man?”
I shake my head as he reaches over to the bag he pulled from the truck. He produces a small box and retrieves a foil packet from inside. He catches me watching him, but only smiles and tosses the box and bag away, ripping open the packet with his teeth.
“Thank you, Nate,” I tell him, doing my best to hold back the tears that threaten to spill.
“I got you, baby. Always.” He rolls the latex down his length and settles his body over mine, bringing his mouth down onto me. I give him all I can through the kiss, moaning in pleasure when he presses inside and starts a steady pace. “After this, I’m going to have you ride me. Then I’ll take you from behind. Then, after you pass out from coming over and over again, I’m going to wake you up with my cock inside you again.”
“Oh God, Nate,” I pant, wanting to tell him I’m going to pass out after this round, but he keeps going, bringing me to the brink of bliss and letting me fall from the edge along with him.
He might not have followed through with all those promises, but I did wake in the morning with him between my legs— again.
Forty-Four
After Nate woke me up with a quick session of way-to-early-morning sex, he left the tent. The sun was just starting to show itself, but I couldn’t bring myself to wake up. So I didn’t. I fell back asleep, only to wake and find the cover back over the tent and the sun out full force, beating down on the tent once again, heating it like an oven. “Guess now I know how a Thanksgiving turkey feels,” I grumble to myself, and get out of the tangled sleeping bags, smiling at the soreness of my body. Probably the best sore I have felt in my life. With a bounce to my step, I gather up my things and head for the showers knowing Nate is most likely busy with his brothers since he isn’t around the campsite.
I grab the shower stall on the far end, and flick on the water, quickly undressing, then getting under the spray. As far as hot showers go, this one isn’t too bad, but I don’t take for granted the heat will last long, so I try to be quick about washing up. It isn’t until I’m rinsing off that I think I hear footsteps. My heartbeat speeds up as my hands swipe away the water droplets from my eyes so I can at least see who it may be. The showers are one by one with only a concrete wall high enough to hide the body, but not the head, so when I take a glance around, I expect to see someone else who has come to use the showers, but see no one.
A cool tingle forms at the base of my spine, and goosebumps rise on my arms, despite the warm water. I force myself to shake it off, blaming the fact that being alone in a strange place is causing my paranoia is bubble up. I will be fine. I will be fine, I chant in my head as I go back to rinsing myself. There is no one there. I will be—
My body jolts forward, smacking alongside the wet concrete in a sickening thud as a hard body presses up against my back. The water is suddenly shielded by the weight of the person to my back. My mouth opens to scream the loudest shriek known to man, but it dies in my throat when a thick, heavy palm crushes over my open mouth.
“Quiet, sweetheart.” The voice sends chills deep down into my bones, and a face rubs along my cheek, then up to my ear, where he pauses to speak. “I’m just checking to make sure you’ve been a good girl and are keeping your mouth shut.” I try to nod, say yes I have, but it only comes out as a muffled whimper. “That’s good. Because I won’t be too happy if you start talkin’ about me to your boyfriend. I would hate to have to kill him too. All because you couldn’t keep your lips sealed.”
His hand pulls away slightly, and he drags his thumb along the seam of my lips before forcing it inside. Fear grips at me, clutching onto my chest, seizing the air in my lungs. I can’t breathe.
“Please,” I try to say, but it comes out all garbles as his digit presses along my tongue.
“Damn, he has himself a prize. You filled out nice. Might just have to take a sample of the goods.” His thumb pulls away, and I relax only slightly before realizing where that hand is going now. I want him to put it back where it was when he reaches the apex of my thighs and starts to stroke along the seam of my other lips.
&nb
sp; I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. Icantbreathe.
Helphelphelp.
Voices start to echo throughout the building, causing him to back away. “Remember to keep your mouth shut. Would hate for something to happen to that boy if Premo weren’t around to protect him.” He chuckles, and the heat from his body is gone, leaving the water beating down on my shaking body. It’s cold, but it doesn’t register. My body shakes uncontrollably, and I’m unable to stop it, unable to even hear the voices that come closer and closer, until they are right above me. I think things are yelled. Someone calls out for help, but it’s all a blur. All up until Nate’s face comes into my line of sight. His calming words are a balm to my very soul as he reaches down and plucks me from the wet cement floor.
“I got you, V. I got you, baby. All’s good now.” His palm cradles my head to his chest. I’m engulfed in the soothing scent of motor oil and leather doing its best to bring me back from the black hole my panicked mind is forcing me into.
Forty-Five
She’s curled up in my arms inside the tent on the rumpled sleeping bags. I don’t even know who came to get me. All I heard was Vera needs help, and I was gone. It felt like it took me ages to reach her, but when I did, the sight of her twisted in on herself broke me. So much worse than when I have found her before. I wrapped her in my sweatshirt and brought her away from prying eyes. They were only trying to see if she was okay, but the thought of them looking at her in this state sent red hot fury flooding through me. No one gets to see my woman at her breaking point.
She slept for hours in my arms, until I decided it was time for us to leave. There’s only one more day left of the rally, and with the show over, the clubs are starting to trickle out anyway. Gently, I try to rouse her, but she only grips me tighter. Fuck.
“Pres?” Wick’s voice on the outside of the tent pulls my attention.