The light that radiated from within her put even the sun to shame, and right then my new mission became helping her let it out more often, giving her more moments like this one. The decision I’d been weighing became solidified.
We made it down to the river, and I let the horses drink before tying them to the trees. Sticky with sweat, I stripped my shirt from my back. It was hotter than hell and I needed a cool down. Emily had the same idea. She already had her shoes off and her toes in the water.
“It’s colder than I expected.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled, “our rivers are filled by the mountain run off, same as yours.” We’d had a lot of snow this past winter, so the rivers were full and not exactly warm around here.
“It feels good.”
“You going to go for a swim?” I toed off my shoes and stripped my socks, bending down to roll my jeans up my calves before I joined her.
“I just might,” she grinned.
We sat on the shore of the river for a while, enjoying the quiet and peacefulness surrounding this spot. No one around for a mile or two, maybe more, except the birds and wildlife. At least it felt that way. That was the nice thing about living up north in Nine Mile Falls. Close enough to the city for all the conveniences, but out here it was like being in your own little world.
We went back and forth, peppering each other with questions – some trivial, just for fun, and others less trivial. The more I go to know her and see inside that beautiful head and heart of hers, the more of myself I lost to her.
She was smart and funny; her wit and sarcasm more than a match for my own. She also had a stubborn streak that ran deep. Just another thing we shared. It would certainly keep things interesting.
“Are you hungry yet?” I asked after a while.
“No, but maybe after we go for that swim.” She stood and the next thing I knew, she was pulling her top over her head.
“I see you came prepared.” I had a hard time pulling my eyes away from the tiny, blue, string-bikini top that barely covered anything.
“You didn’t?” She started peeling off her jeans next, revealing matching bottoms and the lovely, rounded ass I couldn’t get enough of. Things were about to get real uncomfortable in my jeans.
“Guess I never was much of a boy scout.” I grinned and stood, shucking off my pants, leaving me in my boxer briefs. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one enjoying the view.
When she realized she’d been caught staring, she quickly turned and waded out into the water. She stopped when the water reached her knees, and spun around, hugging herself. “I don’t know if I can get in. It’s so cold.”
Grinning wide I took a few steps into the water. “I can help you with that.”
She backed away slowly and held her hand out. “Don’t you dare, Camden. Don’t even think about it.”
My grin stretched even wider. “Oh, it’s too late for that darlin’.”
I charged through the water and she shrieked. “Camden!”
I scooped her up by the waist.
“Camden, set me down right now,” she demanded in her sternest voice.
I wrapped my arms around her back and continued to carry her out to where the water reached above my waist. The shock of the cold on certain parts of my body almost made me drop her. I ignored it and hoped I would adjust to the temperature soon. Her bottom brushed the top of the water and she was trying to climb higher up my body like a cat.
“Camden!”
“You ready?” I laughed.
“NO!”
I didn’t give her any more time to protest. I squeezed her around her middle and let myself fall backward into the water, dragging her down with me. She squirmed as we went under and managed to get free. She jumped up squealing.
I was too busy laughing at her to care about how cold it was. She smacked her hand against the water and then started splashing and trying to dunk me in the river.
The current was calm and very slow moving in this part of the river so I grabbed her arm and dragged her out a bit deeper.
She relaxed, but still wore an angry pout. Chuckling, I brushed her wet hair, which had come loose from her ponytail, out of her face and pulled her in close. “Wet is a good look on you, darlin’.”
She smacked my chest playfully, a hint of a smile tugging at her pouty lips, and left her hand there, resting just over my heart. “It’s not a bad look on you either, but you’re still a jerk.”
I slid my hands down her back, over her firm round ass, to the back of her thighs. I lifted and she hooked her legs around my waist. I returned my hands to her bottom. I carried her out to the point just before the river dropped off. The water reached my chest, the cold lapping at my nipples and hers. The hardened peaks poked at her swimsuit top, and even the frigid temperature couldn’t stop my arousal.
She locked her legs tight around my waist, pressing her core right up against my hardening length.
Well shit, this wasn’t the plan.
I twisted around in the water so my back was to the shore we’d come from. Squeezing her bottom in my hands I leaned in for a quick kiss. I snagged her bottom lip between my teeth, giving it a tug before releasing it. I snaked my lips along her jaw to her ear. She tipped her head back, eyes falling shut.
“You’re so sexy,” I whispered. A little hum escaped her lips. I nibbled at her earlobe and then murmured in her ear again. “You might want to hold your breath.”
Her brow furrowed, and too late her eyes popped open and her head snapped up. “Wait, what?”
The words barely left her lips before I grabbed her waist and tossed her backwards out into the water. It was either that or strip her and fuck in the water. I went with what I thought was best in the moment.
Her hand just grabbed her nose before her head bobbed under. She came up sputtering and glaring again. She swam over to me, where she could stand again and rose out of the water. “I will get you back for that.” She pushed past me and waded back toward the riverbank.
“Aw, where are you going?” I laughed.
“I think I’m going to lay out in the sun a bit and work on my tan,” she tossed over her shoulder. I waded in a little farther and watched as she went to the saddle bag and retrieved the blanket we’d packed for our picnic. She bent over and spread it out over the grass and dirt, wiggling her little ass at me.
She really didn’t know what she was doing. I was this close . . .
Once the blanket was laid out, she turned to me with a mischievous little grin plastered on her face. Her hands went behind her back and she started pulling at the strings there.
“What are you doing woman?”
“I really hate tan lines.” The tie in the back came loose and then she pulled at the one around her neck.
“You are asking for trouble.”
“I just want to soak up a little bit of sun,” she said innocently, even though what she was doing was anything but.
Her top hit the ground with a wet little smack and I squeezed my eyes shut. When I re-opened them, she was still standing there, one hand on her hip, biting her bottom lip. She gave a little head tilt. “Something the matter, Cam?”
Instead of answering her, I pushed through the water toward her.
She shifted, both hands on her hips, and tried to give me a warning look, but all I could see was sexy, wet, naked Wonder Woman.
“Cam, I’m serious, I’m going to work on my tan.”
I ignored her and stepped out of the water and advanced on her. She shifted again, and took a half step backward onto the blanket. “Camden Shaw, stop it.”
“This is your fault sweetheart, you wanted to play, so now we’re going to play.”
Her serious face cracked just enough that I knew she wanted this as much as I did. When I reached her, she held her hand out and pressed it against my chest to stop me. Whatever she started to say, I cut her off when I hooked her around the back and crushed her to me, silencing all her protests with my mouth on hers.
My hands roamed down her back and to her hips where tiny strings held her bottoms in place. I took care of those swiftly and the stretchy, wet material hit the ground like her top had. I kicked it off the blanket and then took the globes of her ass in my hands.
She groaned into my mouth and I took her down to the blanket, spreading her out on her back.
Any protests she might have had, quickly evaporated. The only sounds after that were ones of pleasure.
***
They thought they were alone, fucking out here like animals on the other side of the river. Camden Shaw and his hot blonde bitch. How wrong they were.
It was truly unfortunate she survived the Northwest Strangler, only to get mixed up with the Shaws. Her detective boyfriend wouldn’t be able to protect her.
Camden wasn’t nearly as good as he thought he was. It was almost disappointing. How easy it would be to raise my rifle and have them in the crosshairs. They wouldn’t even see it coming, but where was the fun in that? No, I’d decided I would play with them a bit more. I wanted him to know that I was in control. I wanted him to feel powerless. In the end, they would die all the same. He would watch everyone he loved die, and then it would be his turn.
Soon enough.
Twenty-One
Emily
I lay across Camden’s chest, both of us naked and enjoying the warmth of the sun’s rays on our skin. “Should we get dressed? Could someone come down here and see us?”
“You’re worried about that now?” He laughed.
I pushed up, bracing myself over him with my hands on the blanket, and scowled at him.
He laughed again. “It’s not likely anyone will come down here.” His arm around my middle pulled me back down to him. “Not many houses out here and this isn’t one of the real popular swimming holes or fishing spots, since it’s not the easiest to get down here without a horse. We should be good.”
It was a secluded spot, thankfully, trees all around on both sides of the river. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift, the sound of Camden’s heartbeat in my ear, steady and relaxing. His thumb traced soft circles on my hip. I might have fallen asleep; I was close to it, when his voice broke through the quiet.
“Are you looking forward to going back home?”
I thought about it a moment. “I don’t know. My life has felt like it’s been on pause this last week, but at the same time, I think I’ve really been stuck in the same spot for the past year, and I’m just now moving forward. It’s a bit like waking up from a dream, or maybe this is the dream. I haven’t quite figured it out yet, but whatever this is, I know I’m not ready for it to end.”
“Maybe it doesn’t have to,” he said softly, stroking his hand up my back.
I pushed up so that I could see his face. “I know I said I wanted to do this, give us a chance, and I do, but we also have to be realistic. It’s going to be hard to make it work when I go back home. I think we both got so caught up in the possibility of what this could be, that we ignored some of the reality of what is.”
“Are you saying you’ve changed your mind?” A deep frown twisted his features and he sat up on his elbows.
“No, not exactly. I just think we both need to be realistic and prepared for the eventuality that it may not work once I go back to Bellingham.” I ducked my eyes. I didn’t like it either. I hoped we could make it work, but I just didn’t see how with hundreds of miles and a mountain range between us.
“And what if I came with you?”
My eyes shot up to his face. He couldn’t be serious, but his expression was dead serious. “You mean like for a visit?”
“No, I mean like move there.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Why?”
I sat up all the way, wishing now that I had my clothes on. “Because, as intense and amazing as this is between us, we’ve still only just met. You can’t pack up and move your whole life for me.”
“Even if it’s what I want?”
“How can you be sure it is what you want? Maybe you should think this through when you’re not coming down from the best sex of your life,” I sputtered, exasperated.
He grinned and chuckled and took my hands in his. “This isn’t something I just decided, or I mean, I did just decide, but I’ve been thinking about it since yesterday at the hospital.”
I shook my head, pulling my hands from his. “But your life is here. Your home is here. Your career is here.”
“I’ve been thinking about changing careers. I’ve been thinking about changing a lot of things. What I do, it isn’t exactly conducive to a lasting relationship or building a family, both things I want someday.”
“Yes, someday!”
“Well I’m not going to wait for someday to get here. Maybe I want it to be right now. And I can sell my house and buy another one. Spencer has offered for me to help him to get the Seattle office up and running and work on expanding Teller’s business.”
“And you want to do that?”
“At first I wasn’t sure. I’ve loved being a cop, but the things I love about what I do, protecting and serving and helping people, I can still do that.”
“So, this is about a job?” I relaxed a bit.
“It’s about a job and it’s about you, because I don’t want it to be one or the other. I want you to be in my future; this way, that happens.”
“I still don’t think you should be making this decision based on two and half weeks of knowing each other.”
“That’s exactly what makes it such an easy decision for me. The fact that I feel this strongly after only two weeks, I’d be crazier to let you go. I’m not completely stupid. I know that there’s still a lot we need to get to know about each other and that what I want and see for us will only come with time, but the point is that I want that. For the first time in my life I’m looking ahead and not just seeing promotions and where I’ll be in my career. I see you. There are a lot of things I’m not sure about, but you I am sure of. I want to spend the next several weeks and months and, God I hope, years learning everything about you.”
I started to point out that we could still do that, get to know each other with him here, without him having to give up everything he’d built and worked for. It wouldn’t be easy, but if we were both willing to try . . . He silenced me with a finger to my lips before I could say any of that.
“I know you’re worried about it not working out, and it might not. Even if that happens, this isn’t a decision I’m going to regret, but I know that if I let you leave and it doesn’t work out because the time apart and distance gets in the way, I will regret that.”
“So then, just like that?” He was really going to do it. I couldn’t say my heart didn’t leap a little.
“Not just like that. It will take some time to close out this last case and settle my house, and find a new one, and work out the details with Spencer and Teller.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “It’s stressful just thinking about it all, and I may have to go back and forth quite a bit for a while, but I’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out.”
“I still think you’re crazy,” I told him, but this time it was with a smile.
“What can I say?” He grabbed me and dragged me into his lap. “When I know what I want, I don’t hesitate. Comes from being the youngest – Mama always said I was a bit impulsive.”
“A bit?” I teased.
“Okay, maybe a lot impulsive.”
There was still so much to talk about, but it could wait. I just wanted to enjoy how I felt right now and not worry about later.
Eventually, we pulled our clothes back on and ate the lunch we’d packed. He gave the horses a snack and let them go down to the water again and then came back to sit beside me on the blanket.
“How are you feeling about being done with this case?” He seemed less tense than he had last night.
“Honestly, I’m trying not to think about it. My captain chewed me a new one for going in last night when I shouldn’t have. I have
to trust that the team knows what they’re doing. They’ll bring them down tonight and it will be over.”
“It’s going down tonight? Are you still upset that you’re not a part of the bust?”
“I don’t know. It’s not the first time I’ve been pulled out before the arrests were made. It’s better for me this way. Less chance of anyone coming after me for some payback or whatever, but something about this case really got to me. I want to be there to see these guys go down for good and be a part of it.”
“I get that, but you are a part of it. I mean, without you, would they even be able to make the bust?”
“I guess you’re right, but can we talk about something else to keep my mind off it? Or we could do something else?” He suggested with a salacious grin.
I gave his shoulder a shove. “Seriously?”
He shrugged and laughed. “Can’t help it. I find you irresistible.”
I rolled my eyes, but that didn’t stop him from cupping his hand behind my neck and dragging my lips to his.
We sat there a little while longer, both of us reluctant to head back. Eventually, we had to, though. We packed up the horses and made the trek back to the Fields’ place. No one appeared to be around, so we settled all three horses back into the barn, taking the time to brush them and give them treats before we walked back to Cam’s.
Spencer and Nora were still out. After a quick text to his brother, Camden informed me it would be just the two of us for dinner tonight.
“Want to stay in or go out?”
“I kind of want to just stay here and relax. I’m a bit exhausted,” I admitted.
“Then we’ll stay in. I’ll even cook. For now, just kick back. I have to make a few calls.” He disappeared to his den for a little while. My guess was now that we were back, he was thinking about the case and the bust that would be happening in a few hours. I was sure that’s what his calls were about. I understood why he wanted to be there, and how vested he was in this case, but the selfish part of my heart was glad he would be here with me instead.
Tears of Blue (Shades of Death Book 2) Page 18