by Kit Tunstall
Rafe groaned, his hips pushing upward, his breath matching the ever-increasing speed of his hand. His balls, full and taut, drew closer to his body. His cock began to swell ever larger, pulsing within the confines of his pumping fist as he came, the pleasure of his orgasm imploding in his gut and bursting free in hot, creamy spumes of male seed. A low, deep groan was torn from his throat as he came.
Slowly and with decreasing strength, the waves of pleasure subsided and he lay relaxed and sated, his breath slowly returning to normal. His hand settled on his midsection and slowly spread the white cream over his heated skin. Head coming up from the pillow, he looked down the length of his body and smiled a rather smug male smile, that of a man proud of the evidence of his manhood.
Knowing he’d regret it if he didn’t clean up, he tilted himself out of bed and entered the bathroom for a quick wash. Returning to bed, he flopped down with a contented sigh and this time was easily lulled to sleep by the familiar whisper of the pine needles as they stirred in the cool night air.
*
Determined not to let Rafe get the upper hand or to leave her behind, Lindy was up and ready to go when the sun made its appearance on the horizon. Despite the restless night she’d spent clutching her childhood friend, Humphrey, she’d forced her bleary-eyed self into the shower and was now reasonably awake and aware. As she packed, her mind kept supplying short vignettes of the dreams that had disturbed her sleep. Some left her with feelings of unease—almost as though something inevitable and inescapable was coming—and some left her just plain horny.
Rafe had figured prominently in those dreams, and she snickered to herself, thinking that he had a real future awaiting him in porn flicks should he ever decide to change careers. Sobering, she took a final look at the contents of her backpack, deciding it would do.
The pack contained an extra pair of jeans, shorts, two tshirts, and enough changes of underwear and socks for several days. In addition, she had a rolled-up tent, a sleeping bag, first aid kit, canteen, her lip balm and unscented sunscreen. As per instructions, she carried no deodorants or perfumes. Where there was a possibility of contact with bears, it was smart to smell as “human” as possible. A bear catching the scent of a human would be more likely to vacate the area than to engage in a confrontation.
Dressed in her jeans, Henley and hiking boots, she was also wearing a fairly warm flannel shirt as a jacket she could take off as it grew warmer. Nancy told her that Rafe would bring the necessary foodstuffs, but Lindy had also stuffed some granola trail mix and energy bars in her pack as well.
As promised, with the soft morning light filling the sky, there was a sharp rap at her door, and upon opening it she was greeted by Rafe’s familiar scowl.
“Ready to go?” he asked curtly.
“Yes,” she replied just as briefly and turned to grab her pack.
Just as she’d ogled him the day before, Rafe’s gaze wandered down her back to the nicely rounded mounds of her bottom. His eyes widened and his fingers twitched as he forced himself to look away. His redirected gaze landed on a large, worn teddy bear that sat in solitary state on the pillows on her bed.
“Who’s your friend?” he asked softly, restraining the involuntary smile that pulled at his lips. The bear was obviously important to her, as well-worn as it seemed to be.
Unaware of Rafe’s previous perusal of her backside, Lindy shouldered her pack and turned with surprise at his gentle question. Given his previous attitude she was somewhat confused as to why he didn’t take this opportunity to mock her for having a teddy bear.
“That’s Humphrey. He belonged to my grandmother, and when I was seven, she gave him to me. I take him with me whenever I’m away from home… Now that they’re not here, he keeps me close to my family, reminds me that I’m loved and that I’m never really alone,” she explained candidly, wondering what Rafe’s reaction would be.
He nodded with understanding and pulled a necklace from under his shirt. Strung on a leather thong, accompanied by incised beads of turquoise and jet, was a miniature bear, perfectly and intricately carved from ebony stone.
Lindy stepped closer. “That’s beautiful,” she commented softly. “It’s so realistic you almost expect it to move.” She looked up, her open gaze meeting Rafe’s.
Their eyes locked for a moment and he nodded. “It belonged to my mother.” A fleeting moment of mutual understanding passed between them.
Lindy also saw a brief flash of pain in the depths of his—for once—unguarded eyes before he again withdrew. “Time to go,” he said briskly and tucked the necklace back under his shirt. She sighed, nodding her acquiescence, and without any further exchanges they set out.
The rising sun shimmered brightly, the sky clear with the promise of a beautiful day. The morning air was pleasantly cool and refreshing and Lindy took deep breaths of the heady stuff.
“Getting winded already?” Rafe threw the question over his shoulder.
“No,” she replied tolerantly. “The air is so fresh and clean, it just feels good to breathe.”
A noncommittal grunt was her answer. They tramped on for some time and Lindy’s gaze wandered everywhere taking in the pleasing sights the forest had to offer. Overhead, birds sang and squirrels jumped from limb to limb chasing each other and occasionally stopping to chatter indecipherably. Sunshine filtered down through the green canopy overhead, dotting the landscape with pools of bright light.
As much as she admired the magnificence of the great outdoors, there was another sight that kept attracting her admiring regard, the compelling male figure that walked ahead of her. Rafe moved with a smooth, confident gait. Like her, he carried a backpack, one she was sure probably weighed twice what hers did, yet it seemed to have little, if any, impact on his endurance. He walked with an untiring rhythm that never faltered and she bit her lip at the swooping sensation that assaulted her insides when her eyes settled on the taut mounds that moved under the seat of his jeans.
“Oh, man,” she mouthed silently, remembering a line she’d once read in a romance novel, something about the hero’s churning backside as he thrust repeatedly between the heroine’s willing and widespread thighs. There was no denying it; the man had one fine backside.
Amused at her repeated trips into sexual fantasy, Lindy smothered a grin and admitted to herself that Rafe was stirring her libido from its near dormant state. A heady awareness of male presence, this male’s presence, was bringing her body back to an awareness of its own sexuality. Things were stirring inside, heat and yearning, the need to touch, to mate.
Wondering at her reaction to Rafe and disconcerted by her near primitive thoughts, she failed to note that he had halted on the trail in front of her until she came near to colliding with him. Sidestepping to avoid running into him, her hiking boot caught on the exposed roots of a young tree and unceremoniously knocked her off balance. Just as she was about to land face-first in a patch of poison ivy, strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her back from the edge of disaster.
Lindy was stunned at the ease with which Rafe rescued her. She stood unmoving in his arms, arms that were wrapped around her waist and pressed firmly against the lower curve of her breasts. She felt a fleeting disappointment that her backpack kept their bodies from meeting more fully, and was stunned at the thought.
When did I go into heat? she thought irreverently.
“What are you doing?” Rafe inquired with mild exasperation.
“I tripped.”
“I noticed. Can’t walk and chew gum at the same time?”
“For your information I was trying to keep from running into you! I…wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t notice you’d stopped.”
“Just a suggestion? Save the daydreams for when you’re sitting down. I don’t want to have to carry you back to camp.”
To Lindy’s weight-sensitive mindset, this was a dig at her size, and she began struggling against his hold as familiar pain and helpless anger dug its claws into her.
�
�Don’t worry, I’d rather crawl back than have you carry me.”
Unaware that Rafe had detected the hurt in her voice, she increased her struggles until she was panting with the effort and desperate to get away from him. The thought that he found her size disgusting was hard enough to handle without him touching her.
“Let me go!”
Rafe gave her a squeeze that caused her ribs to creak. “Stop struggling! I didn’t mean that the way it sounded!”
Lindy froze in horror. Here she stood, held in the arms of the most maddening and attractive man she’d ever met and, after having known him less than twenty-four hours, her biggest insecurity had just been hauled out of its deep, dark closet to be exposed to the pitiless and oh-so revealing light of day.
Her first instinct was to cringe in embarrassment, but years of running her own business and fighting to build her self-confidence came to the fore. She lifted her chin, forced herself to relax, and this time calmly requested that Rafe release his hold.
He did and she stepped away, not looking at him as she silently straightened her clothing and readjusted her backpack. “I’m ready to go on, if you are,” she told him neutrally.
Rafe nodded. “A couple more miles and we’ll stop for lunch.” He turned his back and began to walk. A few feet away, he threw a soft comment over his shoulder. “You’re a very beautiful woman, Lindy.”
Preparing to take her first step forward, Lindy again found herself frozen, this time with shock. She watched Rafe’s retreating form with disbelief. Had he just said what she thought he said? A quick flood of tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back. At that moment she realized that Rafe’s beauty was more than skin-deep. He was turning out to be a genuinely nice man, not to mention intuitive. How many other men would have noticed her hurt and divined the reason for it? That, along with his looks, was a decidedly deadly combination.
She frowned as a small frisson of nervousness twisted her stomach. “I will not fall for this guy,” she whispered softly, knowing that it was already too late—she was already beginning to slip.
“Are you coming?” Rafe yelled back at her.
“I wish,” she murmured, then yelled out, “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”
*
“I wish you were coming,” Rafe muttered. “In my arms, with your legs wrapped around my waist.”
He cursed softly to himself as his cock thickened even more. It was a process that had begun when he’d saved Lindy from her fall. Having her in his arms had sent an unexpected explosion of feeling throughout his body. Her scent had swept over him in a wave that created an undeniable awareness of her. It was beginning to drive him crazy. And now, having felt her soft curves pressed against him, his imagination was coming alive with the possibilities.
There was a subtle tension beginning to build between them, and Rafe wasn’t sure how long he was going to be able to deny the desire to take her. He took a few deep breaths, dismayed at the swiftness of the building need.
“I am not an animal,” he whispered softly to himself, repeating the steadying mantra in his head.
Hearing her catch up to him, he increased the pace, determined to get a grip on his unfamiliar feelings. With that in mind, he again concentrated on the trail and the signs being transmitted by the birds and other wildlife. Although they seemed to prefer the areas closer to the river, occasionally one of the bears would venture into this part of the forest. So far there’d been no sign of one.
Lost in his contemplation of the surroundings, he was startled to hear a subtle growling noise and instantly halted, scanning the wood for its source. Finding nothing, he frowned, then grinned when he realized it was Lindy’s stomach.
“I take it you didn’t have breakfast?” he asked, turning to face her, finding her standing with her hand lying against her stomach.
“I can’t eat that early, it makes me sick.”
“Can you hold on for about twenty more minutes? We’re almost there.”
Lindy nodded and Rafe continued on, eventually leading them to a clearing through which a small stream ran. It emerged from a shallow, rocky grotto sunk into the hillside, the water trickling merrily over stones worn smooth by years of erosion.
“This is natural spring water, it comes from deep underground.”
“Is it safe to drink?”
“Sure.”
Lindy carefully negotiated her way over the smooth stones and dipped her fingers into the water where it burbled from between the rocks and formed a natural fountain. She found it quite cold and, cupping her hands, brought the water to her lips and drank.
“Mmmm, that’s good,” she commented and turned back to Rafe.
He stood watching her, mesmerized by her wet lips and the water dripping down her chin. Taken by the sudden impulse to cross the clearing and lick those sweet drops off her face, he realized that he was standing there with his mouth open. He quickly slammed it shut and bent down to his open pack, removing several packets of food.
“Nancy insisted that I bring a good variety so you’d find something you like. Take a look at these,” he offered, keeping his eyes on the food packets.
Lindy crossed to his side and knelt down. “Wow, potato corn chowder, chili, beef stroganoff—I didn’t know they made stuff like this for camping.”
“It beats hauling a bag of flour and a slab of bacon, or existing on oatmeal, although I have to say the oatmeal with cinnamon, raisins and almonds is pretty good.”
“Is this any good?” she asked, picking up the chowder.
“I think so,” he answered, and took a small pot out of his pack along with a couple of metal bowls and spoons. “Have a seat while I heat it up.”
Lindy took the folded blanket Rafe offered and spread it on the ground, settling herself cross-legged on it. She watched him as he started a fire and prepared the chowder.
Lindy accepted the bowl he offered and dug in, taking a tentative taste. Her brows lifted and she looked at Rafe. “This is really good.”
Rafe nodded, saying nothing as his mouth was full, but silently offered her some crackers, which she accepted. They finished their meal in a not-uncomfortable silence as they simply enjoyed the food and the setting.
Finishing her bowl, Lindy sighed with contentment. Rafe offered her more, but she declined. He easily polished off the rest and after cleaning up, repacked everything.
Lindy had gone back to the stream for a final drink and Rafe was watching her appreciatively when he noticed the sudden hush that had fallen over the woods. The birds had stopped singing. He began scanning the area and quickly found the reason for the silence. Across the stream, mostly hidden by the dense brush, stood a bear, one he instantly recognized as a very large male that occasionally had a tendency toward aggression.
“Lindy, don’t move.” He spoke the words with commanding calm.
Lindy instantly froze.
Careful not to make eye contact with the bear, Rafe walked slowly to Lindy’s side. Upon reaching her, he took her hand and squeezed it, then began to slowly back away, silently urging her to move with him. Just as slowly, the bear began to move forward out of the underbrush. It was huge. Fully eight feet long from the tip of its nose to its rump, the reddish-brown grizzly easily weighed in excess of nine hundred pounds. His feet were enormous and tipped with black, scimitar-like curved claws.
Lindy, who up until this time had not spotted the bear, took in a sharp breath.
“Easy,” Rafe encouraged, then began a soft litany of words and sounds that made no sense to Lindy.
To the bear, however, the words seemed to mean something. He stopped his advance, his ears flicking at the sound, his eyes focusing on Rafe as he listened to the rhythmic cadence of the words. Lindy flinched as the bear huffed what seemed like a response and turned its back to them, melting back into the trees. They stood quietly, unmoving, until the birds again took up their song.
Rafe released a deep breath and again squeezed her hand. “Are you all right?” he question
ed, noting the increased pallor of her complexion.
“Sure, fine,” she replied weakly. “That was a bear,” she added in a dazed voice.
“Yes, it was,” Rafe replied gently and led her back to the blanket. “Sit down a minute,” he ordered softly and sat across from her, their bent knees touching.
“That was a really big bear,” she told him, eyes wide with shock.
“Yes, I know,” he told her patiently. “Lindy, look at me.”
“Okay,” she agreed, sounding like a lost child. She met his warm, steady gaze.
Rafe reached out and took both of her hands in his. They were chilled and curled around his as though seeking a lifeline. “You’re all right,” he reassured her.
She bit her lip and nodded in agreement.
“The bear’s gone.”
Again she nodded, mesmerized by the deep, rich brown of Rafe’s eyes and the smooth, gentle tone of his voice, a tone that offered safety and comfort.
“You did very well in your first encounter with a bear. Thank you for not moving as I asked.”
“I had to stand still, my legs wouldn’t move.”
“But you didn’t see the bear at first.”
“I know.”
“Why did you listen to me?”
Lindy opened her mouth to reply, paused for a moment, then admitted softly, “I trust you.” The words held a kind of wonder, as though she was just discovering how true they were.
Rafe was at first startled, then gratified by her admission. A wave of warmth swept over him. She trusted him even though he’d given her little reason to, considering the way he’d treated her when she first arrived. He couldn’t help but admire her honesty when she could have very well given some inane excuse, rather than make an admission that bolstered his ego.