by Zoe Chant
Jamie was pinned between Mark’s body and the tree. She stood on tip-toe to reach his lips with her own, feeling his hard cock press against her belly, as full of need as her own body was. Arms around him, she felt the muscles in his back move as he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her.
Jamie wrapped her legs around his hips and pressed herself against the hard rod of his cock. The feeling of it between her legs, so close, made her slick with need.
“Now,” she begged, her breathing ragged. “Please.”
She cried out as he plunged into her, filling her with his whole length in one smooth motion.
“Oh God,” Mark gasped. His mouth worked silently, as though he was trying to find more words, and failing. Jamie laughed and kissed him, running the tip of her tongue across his bottom lip as she shifted her hips. Whatever else he had been about to say was lost in a moan of pleasure.
Jamie gripped Mark’s hips with her knees, pulling herself inch by inch up and down his cock. Her tensed leg muscles made her tight around him, so she could feel every inch of his cock inside her.
Jamie groaned, low in her throat. She pushed herself down on him again, tilting her hips so she could feel him deep within her.
“Take me,” she murmured into Mark’s neck.
He shifted his grip on her body. A thrill of anticipation went up Jamie’s spine as she felt his fingers dig into her, holding her firmly between his body and the tree. Then he started to thrust into her, gently at first, then harder, faster, until all of Jamie’s senses narrowed down to just the bark of the tree against her back, his hands on her body, and his cock inside her.
A tide of pure physical pleasure welled up in her body, threatening to flood over with every thrust. Jamie dug her fingertips into Mark’s back, straining for the final connection that would push her over the edge.
Then her orgasm hit, a brain-shattering explosion of pleasure that rocketed through her entire body, again, and again, as Mark kept thrusting into her, coaxing more and more pleasure from her trembling frame.
Jamie felt as though her body was unraveling, dissolving into a cloud of desire, love, and exquisite happiness. Her mind expanded, floating on the endless ocean of pleasure, and for just a moment she experienced the same strange doubling as before, of feeling her own body and Mark’s at the same time. But this time they were touching—being touched—holding—held—loved and loving—
Fireworks went off in Jamie’s mind as Mark came. Exhausted, she let her body fall against his, and he held her close against him. She looked up into his eyes, full of the same love and amazement she felt.
“That was…” she gasped, panting. “That was. Wow.”
“Wow,” Mark agreed. He sank to the ground, holding Jamie on his lap. They sat there together, getting their breath back, a light wind cooling the sweat on their bodies. Jamie drew a line down the hair on Mark’s chest and saw goosebumps follow her finger. She looked up at him.
“So,” she said innocently. “Ropes?”
*
Later that day—much later—Mark threw the ropes aside, sighing.
“So close!” he cried with mock frustration.
Jamie rolled over to look at him. Her whole body was soft with pleasure, as though she was half in a dream. Mark caught her eye and grimaced guiltily. She laughed.
“Maybe if we try to get all the knots set up before we start anything else?” she asked, collapsing into giggles.
Mark threw himself down beside her. “Didn’t we just try that?”
Jamie glanced sideways at the tangled rope. One solitary knot made a wrist-sized loop at the end of it. That was as far as Mark had gotten before she had wriggled free and pounced on him.
“The problem is,” she said slowly, “I think, sadly, that you probably have to tie me up to stop me from distracting you while you get ready to tie me up.”
Mark groaned and covered his face. “Impossible woman.”
Jamie twisted sideways so that she could rest her head on Mark’s chest. He was still breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling deeply. Jamie let her head slip sideways until she could nuzzle the stubble growing along his jaw.
“Hmm. Bear with me,” she said, and felt Mark’s chest vibrate as he chuckled. “I don’t think this is the only problem we’re going to face in the near future.”
“Is this about the food thing again? Because my plan is just to order takeout for every meal until either of us can get out of bed long enough to cook.”
They both looked across at the empty granola and chocolate bar wrappers that were all they had eaten all day. Jamie’s food stash was dwindling, but still enough to feed them both for another few days.
Mark’s sigh this time was totally genuine. Jamie prodded him in the ribs.
“You’re one to talk, Mr. Didn’t-bring-any-supplies-at-all. OR is it Mr. Maybe-you-should-go-fishing-again-if-you’re-hungry?”
She resettled herself and smiled as Mark raised his hand to stroke her hair.
“I was more thinking about how I’m going to explain heading off on this trip alone, and coming back with a boyfriend. A boyfriend who has mysteriously lost all of his clothes…”
Mark sat bolt upright. “Speaking of clothes…” he began, a guilty expression on his face.
“You don’t have any?” Jamie suggested, openly staring at his naked body.
Mark blushed. “There’s something I need to show you,” he said. “Wait here, just one minute?”
Jamie raised her eyebrows as he ran off into the forest. A few minutes later, he was back, something clutched in his hands. Jamie frowned as whatever it was glittered in the sunlight.
“That’s not…” she began.
Mark opened his hands. “I told you before that I still had your sandal, didn’t I? I’m afraid it hasn’t exactly survived the trip up the mountain…” He paused as Jamie delicately took the sandal from him, and then added, “I’m really sorry, Jamie, it didn’t even cross my mind that it might get damaged from … um … being in the bottom of my pack … for three weeks…”
Jamie examined the sandal. The silver had begun to flake off in some places, and as she turned it over, one of the straps fell off completely. She stifled a giggle and looked up at Mark, who was staring at her with a look of puppy-like apology in his eyes.
“This is terrible,” Jamie said, fighting to keep a straight face. “I mean, it doesn’t match the other one at all, now.”
“What?” Confusion replaced the guilty look on Mark’s face. “I can replace it…”
Jamie stood up. She put one arm around Mark, and tapped him on the chest with the pathetic remains of her sandal. “I can’t wear one mangled sandal and one nice one. Next time we come out here, we’ll have to bring the other one and destroy it, too.”
“Next time?”
“Mm-hmm. And then you can buy me a new pair. Of hiking boots—not dancing shoes. Remember how bad we are at dancing?”
Mark smiled, the sunlight gleaming on the golden skin of his face and torso. “Remind me?”
“Of course.”
Jamie dropped the sandal, dusted off her hands, and kissed him.
“Remember now?”
“Hmm … almost.”
“Let’s do that again, then.”
* * *
EPILOGUE
JAMIE
“There you are! You made it!”
Jamie hardly had time to step down from the truck before Kes swooped in and engulfed her in a hug. She squeezed back, laughing.
“Kes, I’ve been texting you every half-hour to let you know where we were. Did you think we were going to disappear on the last leg of the trip?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Jamie, why would I be worried about you? It’s not like you almost drowned the last time I left you alone.”
A door slammed shut on the other side of the truck, and Mark came around to greet Kes. He stretched his shoulders back, easing out the strain of the long car journey, and Jamie couldn’t help the smile that spread
across her face at the sight of his T-shirt straining against his muscular chest. Kes caught her eye and smirked before giving Mark a peck on the cheek.
“Did I hear you bullying my fiancée about her habit of throwing herself into danger, Kes?”
Jamie groaned. “Oh, don’t you start, too…”
Mark’s eyes glittered. “I’m sorry we’re later than we expected,” he said to Kes, his expression innocent. “I had to stop at every waterfall and clifftop to make sure Jamie wasn’t going to hurl herself off in search of helpless animals—”
“I’ll hurl you off a cliff,” Jamie grumbled, throwing herself at him. He laughed and grabbed her around the waist.
“A-hem,” came Kes’s voice from behind them.
Jamie twisted around in Mark’s grasp so her back was to her chest. She leaned back against him, knowing she was grinning stupidly and unable to do anything about it. Kes raised one eyebrow.
“I thought you told me all that had calmed down?”
Jamie felt Mark’s chuckle reverberate through his chest.
“It has,” she said definitely. Things had been pretty … busy … for the first week or so since she and Mark found each other again, but Jamie was pretty sure they’d spent all that built-up lust by now. Now it’s just regular lust, she thought happily. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to jump my fiancée in front of you and, um, the whole household…”
She peered over Kes’s shoulder at the huge house Mark had parked in front of. It was like an old log cabin—except you could fit at least ten cabins inside the massive Visser homestead. The outside walls were made of huge, weathered split logs. Blue smoke billowed from a central chimney into the crisp fall air. From what Mark had said, most of the houses this side of the mountain were like this. Built by the Visser clan, for the Visser clan. This particular homestead was the oldest of the Visser homes, and the heart of all their family gatherings.
The front door opened; that was what had caught Jamie’s attention. The door was made of one single length of wood. Jamie remembered Mark telling her it was from an enormous tree that had fallen in a storm when his grandparents first bought the land. Below it, the steps leading down to the hard-packed ground were worn smooth by hundreds of feet.
Tom stood on those steps now, a wriggling bundle in his arms.
“Mark! Jamie!” Tom pulled one hand free and waved, but stayed on the steps.
Jamie saw he was only wearing thick woolen socks on his feet, no shoes. Out here in the forest, it was either take your shoes off at the door or spend your whole life sweeping out mud, she supposed.
“How was the trip?” Tom called across to them.
“Long…” Jamie stretched back against Mark, feeling her spine click. “I am more than ready for this barbeque, let me tell you that.”
Kes ushered them both forward. “It’s a long way from California, that’s for sure. Thank you again for driving my stuff up.”
Jamie shrugged as she followed her to the house. “Well, Mark still had his truck with him from the wedding, and how else were you going to get all your extra gear hauled up here? So—oh, hello-o-o, baby Abbie! Ooh, she’s a lot bigger, isn’t she?”
Abigail had been two months old when Kes and Tom moved to be closer to Tom’s family. Jamie was sure she must have doubled in size in the four weeks since then.
“Only the best and biggest babies here,” Tom boasted, jiggling Abbie up and down. The little girl giggled, staring at the newcomers with shiny brown eyes.
Jamie leaned forward and stuck out her finger for the baby to grab. “Aw, are you a chubby little baby?” she cooed. “So much cuter than bird babies! Yes, you are!”
Abbie frowned at Jamie’s finger, then reached out with both hands to grab it, a look of fierce concentration on her tiny face.
Mark’s hand came to rest on Jamie’s waist, and she felt an indescribable feeling of warm deep inside her as she stood there with her fiancée and their friends.
“Been showing her off to everyone?” Mark asked. Tom snorted.
“Are you kidding? This is the first time I’ve been able to hold her myself all day.” Tom kissed his daughter on the top of her fuzzy head. “You’re going to forget who I am at this rate, aren’t you, Abbie?”
“Bu-bu-buh,” said Abbie, dribbling on Jamie’s finger.
“Come on inside,” said Kes.
Jamie freed her finger, wiped it on her pants and grabbed Kes’s elbow. “Actually, before we go and see everyone else…”
“…Jamie and I have some news,” Mark completed. “And we’d like you to be the first to know.”
Kes’s mouth fell open. Jamie could tell that her friend’s mind had immediately rifled through the possible revelations they were about to disclose and settled on, probably, the correct one. Tom frowned.
“We already know you’re engaged,” he said, confused, and nodded towards the modest band on Jamie’s ring finger. His wife gasped in frustration and elbowed him in the ribs—gently, so as not to disturb Abbie.
“I’m pregnant,” Jamie blurted out, and Tom’s face cleared. Kes squealed.
“Oh, Jamie! Oh, my God,” she added, laughing, “you Visser men! What, none of you can wait until you walk down the aisle?”
“Congratulations,” Tom said, clapping Mark on the shoulder and grinning down at Jamie. “Not wasting time, eh? Think you’ll move in here? There’s an empty section next to ours…”
Jamie caught Mark’s eye. They had talked about this, but she still felt a pang of anxiety when she thought about what the future held. She’d only found out that she was pregnant a week ago. It had come as a surprise, given she was still on the pill. But, no birth control was 100 per cent guaranteed—particularly when you were having as much sex as she and Mark were.
It wasn’t a bad surprise, even though it was unexpected. But … Kes and Tom had settled down so quickly. Tom’s parents had even built them a house on a section here on the mountain, where they were living now with their baby daughter. Jamie knew Kes would be loving the security of her own home, and having supportive family so close. But Jamie wasn’t sure it was the right path for her.
She knew as she looked at Mark that he would be able to sense her worry, but there was so much love in his eyes as he met her gaze that she felt weak at the knees. She stepped closer to him, and he slid his arm further around her waist, holding her safe.
“We’re not planning on settling down just yet,” Mark explained. “Jamie’s conservation work is doing so well. We’ve already signed on to do a few months of field work back around the condor nest over winter, to check on the—what was it?—how they re-establish the nest. And after that … who knows?” he said, squeezing Jamie’s waist.
“Who knows,” Jamie repeated. She put her hand on her belly. It was too early for her to be showing at all, but the knowledge of the life growing inside her glowed like the sun. The conservation center was planning to release more birds next year, in the same area as Coco and Louie and their nestling. She thought of the baby bird the last time she had seen it: still small, and fluffy, and ugly, but thriving. She was looking forward to returning to camp over the winter, but after that? By the time the next lot of birds were released, she would have had her baby. Things will have to change, I guess, she thought.
Someone called from inside the house, and Tom ducked his head back behind the door a moment. “I’d better go and start laying the groundwork for your ‘not immediately moving back to the old stomping grounds’ plan,” he said, smiling. “And, I think, help your mother save the pies…”
He handed Abbie to Kes and disappeared inside the house. Kes grinned at them both and followed him, leaving Jamie and Mark alone on the steps.
“Is your family going to be okay about you moving away again, after this trip?” Jamie asked, suddenly nervous.
Mark shrugged. “Sure. This might be our clan mountain, but it’s not like the whole family lives here all the time.” He laughed. “Just so long as we keep Facebook updated with p
hotos of the baby after it’s born, I don’t think we’ll start a family feud.”
“Well, that’s good!” Jamie smiled back at him, but doubt still gnawed at her. From what Tom said, the whole clan had gone gaga over Abbie. Surely they would expect her and Mark to keep their baby close by, too?
Determined not to let her concerns show, Jamie knelt to unlace her boots. Kes had left the door open, and the most delicious smells were floating out of the homestead’s interior.
“I guess I can brave a few disgruntled aunts and uncles if it means getting some of that lunch,” she joked.
She pulled off her boots and stood back up. “Let’s head in—wait. What’s that?”
Mark had pulled a small package out of his pocket while she was taking off her shoes, and was now holding it nervously in front of him.
“I was going to save this for later, but I want to give it to you now, before we go in and meet everyone else,” he said. “Think of it like … a promise. That we’re going to have the sort of life together that I know you want.”
Jamie took the paper-wrapped parcel and slowly unwrapped it. It was light, and smaller than both her fists put together, wrapped in layers of tissue paper. She wondered what it could be.
“Oh,” she said softly as she took away the last layer of tissue and the contents tumbled into her hand. “Oh, Mark!”
Mark shifted from foot to foot. Jamie already knew him well enough to recognize his pleased-but-still-kind-of-embarrassed behavior. She stuffed the tissue paper in her pocket so she could properly look at what he had given her.
A pair of hiking boots—in shiny silver. Even the laces were glittery.
And the perfect size for a toddler.
“I know it’ll be a while before our child can wear them,” Mark admitted quickly. “I just saw them in the store and thought … perfect! And,” he added hurriedly, “I know I still owe you some actual boots, for yourself, because of destroying your other shoes…”