by Linda Conrad
*
They’d hardly been on the road for more than a few hours when Josh pulled their big rig into a park by a river designed especially for RVs to stop overnight. By that time the sun had completely disappeared and the evening stars began appearing in the cobalt-blue sky. Nina thought she’d spotted a few other recreational vehicles dotting the landscape in the park but none parked close enough to be a problem.
She was just glad to be off the highway and feeling somewhat safer. Before they’d stopped, they’d gone to a grocery store for supplies. Despite Josh’s boasting, parking this rig in a lot made for pickups and cars had not been easy.
“I thought we were supposed to travel all night. But we quit early.” She was talking to his back as he paced off the kinks from driving. “Did you have a special reason?”
“A couple.” He went to a kitchen drawer and pulled out a few small tools. “This is the first place we’ve been where the air isn’t yellow with smoke. Did you notice? It’ll be a good spot for you to begin exercising. Plus, we’re not that far away if we want to talk to one of those county sheriffs.”
“I guess. But it seems really isolated. And kinda creepy being so alone. What if someone sneaks up on us? How would we defend ourselves?”
Josh came to stand beside her. “I’ve done everything I could think of to make sure no one followed us. We’ll call a sheriff first thing in the morning.”
When she started to fidget again, he added, “Why don’t you take a walk down by the river? I have to hook up the utilities so we can cook and shower, but it shouldn’t take too long. After we eat, we’ll begin your training. You’ll feel a lot more confident once you get your strength built up.”
He didn’t have to ask her twice. She flew out the door and began moving. It wasn’t exactly running. Not yet. But at least she could feel her calf muscles strain to do her bidding.
The park seemed dark and quiet. Cottonwoods and willows dotted the landscape, especially nearer to the river. As she walked, moon shadows cast by the trees’ branches seemed to reach out as though to grab her.
It could’ve felt scary, being alone here. But by the time she’d nearly reached the river, she felt better somehow.
It was second nature for her to breathe deeply as she walked, and when she had, the lovely scents of sage and pine had filled her nostrils. The river seemed rather low, but the sounds of katydids and the tinkling water noises had combined to soothe her nerves.
She stood still for a moment, soaking in the peace, and then began stretching out her muscles. From somewhere off in the distance, she caught the soft noises of cattle settling down for the night. Surprisingly enough, this part of Texas didn’t seem too bad to her.
“Hello.”
Spinning at the sound of a male voice she didnt know, Nina felt her heart pound double time. She wasn’t sure whether to run or scream, so she froze.
“Whoa. We didn’t mean to scare you.” This came from a female voice. “You must be from the new RV that just pulled in.”
As the man and woman came close enough to see them better, Nina realized they were an older couple and not particularly frightening. She quit holding her breath.
“We’ve been here in the park for a week,” the man said. “I guess that makes us the welcoming committee.”
“I…” Her voice sounded weak and she tried clearing her throat.
Josh suddenly appeared at her side from out of the darkness. “You all right?” He turned to the couple and held out a hand. “Hi. The name’s Josh and this is…uh…my wife, Cami.”
The older man shook his hand and introduced himself and his wife. He appeared nice enough as he said their names were Jim and Carol Reimer. And all Nina could think of was getting away from them and back to the safety of their RV.
It took a while for them to break free, because the couple was exceedingly chatty. They claimed to be “full-timers,” people who had no homes but lived full-time in their motor homes. And they stood ready to give all kinds of advice.
Finally, Josh said, “We need to get back. Cami hasn’t been well and needs her rest.”
“Oh, dear,” Carol began as she took Nina’s hand in both of hers. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know. I’m a retired RN.”
“Thank you.” Nina tugged on her hand to free it and then intertwined her fingers to keep the older woman from noticing how badly her hands trembled.
Carol gave her a funny look. “Jim’s a retired Dallas cop. No need to be afraid while you’re staying here at the park. He can protect you.”
Josh broke in. “That’s very nice of you to offer. But it’s not dangerous here.”
Nina swallowed hard but managed a smile when the older woman smiled at her. Josh bid the couple good-night and the two of them walked toward their RV.
“Do you believe those people are for real?” she asked when they got back. She’d almost managed to calm her nerves and to still her quaking knees.
“Yeah, I think they were. Didn’t seem to me like they were hiding anything.” He let them inside the RV and went straight toward the kitchen.
“Then why’d you tell them I was your wife and that my name’s Cami?”
Josh turned back to where she continued standing just inside the door. “Because it might be smart to hedge our bets with strangers. At least until we can check them out. Besides, your name is Cami, right?”
When she stayed silent, he added, “I’ll do a little searching on the internet after we eat. Which should be anytime now. The eating part, that is. I’m starved.”
Nina wanted to believe the couple was as nice as they’d seemed. It was entirely possible she and Josh might need help before they left this park, and an ex-cop would be good to know.
Still, she wasn’t sure she should trust anyone.
Josh laid a hand on her arm. “You’re awfully quiet. I could use some help with the cooking.”
“Fine.” She turned toward the kitchen, but he grabbed her hand and tugged her to his chest.
“It’ll be okay, you know. You’ll be okay.” He bent his head and tenderly kissed her temple. “I swear. Nothing will happen to you with me around.”
*
After they finished eating and cleaning up, Nina took a shower and changed into a T-shirt and sweats. Afterward, she felt too restless to sit, so she paced the length of the motor home.
Was she being hunted or not? If she thought about her situation for very long, she would never be able to sleep tonight. Sure that Josh understood how vulnerable she felt. She wondered why he seemed so quiet tonight.
He’d been using the laptop, but then he suddenly closed the lid and looked up. “I have an idea. Let’s do a few special deep-breathing exercises. That should help prepare your lungs for when we start jogging in the morning.”
“We’re jogging in the morning?” Oh, thank God.
“Your body’s ready to begin doing more. We just need to work on lung capacity and staying power. After the workout and breakfast we’ll call one of the sheriffs. Come on.” He pulled her toward the bedroom. “Sit on the edge of the bed. Back straight.”
The first exercise he taught her produced not much more than noisy breathing through her nose, but she was thrilled to feel her diaphragm engaging for the first time since the fire tornado. It was exciting. Stimulating.
Her whole body tingled.
Exercises two and three felt more awkward, involving the tip of her tongue against the roof of her mouth. But having that much air flowing through her lungs invigorated her.
“Change of exercise,” Josh said at last. “Lie flat on your back and raise your knees.”
She pulled her hair free of its usual ponytail and did as he directed. But when she looked up and found him looming over her, staring down at her torso over her knees, suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed.
Josh made no overt sensual moves. Nothing that felt particularly intimate. His voice retained the soft but strong quality it had had all along. But there was somethin
g different in his eyes, a darkening masculinity that made the blood through her veins heat and pulse.
“Now what?” she asked. Her voice sounded a little shaky. She had to clear her throat.
“Place both your hands on your lower belly, palms flat.” She was surprised when his voice came out as rough as hers.
She tried to do as he’d asked, but apparently put her hands in the wrong spots.
“No, not that way.” He inched closer, moved her hands and covered both of hers with his own. “Like this.”
She gasped as the heat from his palms went right through her hands and arrowed straight to her core. A drop of sweat trickled down the valley between her breasts. And wetness developed between her legs.
“Deep breaths,” he urged, but his voice had become a husky whisper. “Feel the movement of your breath all the way down your body until it lands beneath your hands.”
She wasn’t feeling much of anything except hot.
“You’re much too tense,” he murmured. “This exercise is supposed to be relaxing.”
“Um…”
Removing his hands from her belly, he licked his lips. “How about a massage? Maybe that will help your muscles relax.”
“I don’t—”
Taking one leg in both his hands, he began kneading her muscles. His strong fingers tightened and then loosened, stroking each inch with exquisite care.
In a few moments he said, “This would work a lot better if you took off the sweatpants.”
Without waiting for her to make the first move, he jerked at the thick material. “Lift your hips.”
She did and within seconds the sweats were in a heap on the floor, leaving her in only a T-shirt and panties. Not breathing at all anymore, she stilled and waited. But his intentions seemed clear enough.
She’d wanted him for months, but had always been hesitant to make the first move. The kiss they’d shared the other day had stirred something in her that she wanted to further explore.
She shouldn’t do this. She should sit up and stop the action right here. Never before had a man gotten this close, or made her feel so much.
Then she looked at him again and couldn’t think of a reason why not. They were two consenting adults, and boy was she consenting right now. She’d hungered to find out if the sparks between them would ignite in much bigger fireworks than with their one kiss.
Josh took the decision-making chores in hand as he spread her legs and began crawling up her body. “I want you, Nina.”
He nipped at her bottom lip. “And I want both of us naked.”
“Oh, okay.” That was the most she could say because she couldn’t manage anything else.
A chuckle came from deep in his throat. Then he kissed her until her whole body began to flame and she felt like she was sitting on the verge of an explosion.
“We’re both wearing too much.” He leaned away but she wrapped her arms around his back to hold him close.
He couldn’t leave her now.
Laughing, he gave her tiny, heated kisses on his way down her neck and chest. “Looks like you borrowed one of my Tshirts,” he whispered against the rounded collar.
Her mouth suddenly went dry as his mouth covered one of her breasts. He suckled the tip right through the material. It was mind-blowing. Erotic. She arched her back while a scream threatened to erupt from her throat.
Sitting up before she could object, he ripped his own shirt up and over his head. “For months, I’ve wondered how it would be between us.”
With one or two tugs his jeans disappeared into the same heap as hers. “Please don’t tell me no now.”
If her mouth had been capable of uttering a single coherent word while she stared at the startling perfection of him naked, “no” would have been the last thing she would’ve said. As she reached out for him, another word reverberated through her mind instead.
Yes. Yes. And yes!
Chapter 7
Josh fought with his desires. He shouldn’t do this, not here and not now. He would much rather wait until they became more comfortable with each other as lovers. After lots more of those fantastic kisses. And maybe after having a real date. At the very least, they should wait until no one wanted her dead.
But when Nina’s slender fingers raked down his chest as he rose over her, any guilt and resolve he might still harbor disappeared in a wave of heat so strong it took him by surprise. Without any more hesitating, he helped her out of the T-shirt and then sat back admiring one of the most perfect specimens of the female form he had ever seen.
He’d known that the heavy uniform shirts and sweats had been covering a rounded and womanly body. That much had seemed clear. But no one would ever have expected this lush goddess to be hiding under all that gear.
Reaching out for him, Nina signaled that she wanted to take her time in exploring his body. And he wanted to let her. Though, holding in his needs at this point might take some real determination. His body was already knife hard and too ready.
He closed his eyes and tried dredging up images from med school. Then from firefights in Afghanistan. Anything to stop imagining thrusting inside her and taking what he wanted most of all.
After what seemed like endless moments, her stroking fingers were replaced with a brush of wet heat against one of his nipples. Opening his eyes, he watched as she licked circles around his puckering tip. The pleasure written clearly on her beautiful face instantly brought back the flames.
When he couldn’t hold in a gasp, her head rose and darkened gray-blue eyes met his with sheer passion and heat.
“Is this okay?” she asked breathlessly.
“I am at your mercy. Do what you will.”
An almost playful smile appeared on her face and nearly broke him. This strong, serious Hotshot had a much softer side she’d never showed. He suddenly wanted to give her tenderness instead of the fever pitch he’d been dreaming of. Giving her long arms a light stroke, his hands found silk masquerading as skin.
He moved slowly, to keep from taking her out of the moment, sliding his palms around her ribs and lifting her breasts. The weight of them felt heavy and ripe for tasting in his hands.
“Wait.” She sat back, pushed at his hands and frowned. “First, there’s lots more I want to touch—to taste.”
Something in the back of his brain flickered to life. Wasn’t she dragging out this one-sided sexual exploration game a little too far? Most women he’d known would’ve been desperate to be touched, fondled and stirred into frenzy long before now.
She came up to a kneeling position, leaned her palms against his inner thighs, much too close to his throbbing erection, and he completely forgot to pay attention to the little voice in his head telling him things with her didn’t quite add up.
Looking contemplative instead of out-of-her-mind with the heat, she blinked once then calmly wrapped her slender fingers around his erection. His blood pressure spiked, but he bit down on the inside of his cheek and managed to remain frozen.
“Like steel,” she murmured, eyes locked on her target. “And like satin at the same time.” She stayed that way, staring and still, for much too long.
After hauling in a deep breath, he managed to utter a hoarse word. “Harder.”
When her eyes rose to his, he saw confusion, but he refused to allow the meaning of that to register.
“Like this.” He wrapped his hand around hers and squeezed. “Men’s bodies need more pressure to feel good. See?”
As her eyes lit with a new kind of fire, he shuddered and removed his hand.
She drew lazy circles around the tip of his erection with her finger until a few drops of liquid appeared. “Oh, yes.” Bending her head, she licked at the wetness.
A groan erupted unbidden from deep within his gut. “What are you doing to me?”
“Tasting,” she answered but didn’t lift her head from the task.
All of a sudden, he was filled with apprehension. Nina wasn’t like any of the women he’d ever known
intimately. She was different, girlish. Still, her strange innocent act wasn’t turning him off. It was turning him into a desperate man.
Digging his hands through her thick, loose hair, he held her to him. He clenched his hands on her scalp and guided her until she took him fully into her mouth.
And once again, he muttered, “Harder.”
Nothing fazed her, it seemed. She held on to his thighs and sucked, moving her head up and down his jutting length. Making him crazy. Giving him more pleasure than he could’ve imagined. He tried not to shift his hips and push himself farther inside, but he was nearly lost in the intense sexual passion of the moment.
Close. Too close.
“Hold on.” He gently pulled her head back. “My turn.”
When she tried to focus on his face but could only grin like a naughty little girl, he knew he’d been right to halt the action. Just long enough to change their positions.
Before she could react, he’d flipped her over on her back and whipped the cotton panties she wore down her hips. The strong musky scent of sex coming from her was intoxicating. It was all he could do to keep from plunging deep into her wet center.
But his slow, lust-addled brain had at last begun to catch up. She didn’t react like the others because she hadn’t done any of this before. Sure, she’d been standoffish with the team, but he’d never suspected she would be this naive.
For one blazing instant, as he gazed down on her full, naked body, he considered calling it quits. He’d never been anyone’s first. But then she raised her arms to him, silently pleading for him to show her more, and he knew it was much too late to stop.
Panting hard, he found he needed a short halt in the action for long enough to grapple with his own control. Remember: go slow. Easy.
Using his fingers, he flicked at one of her breasts until the tip stood up hard and erect. With the other hand, he cupped her, leaning his palm hard on her lower belly while allowing his fingers to gently glide through the soft hair below.
She moaned and pushed against his hand, showing him that she liked what he was doing. Her growing desperation made him crazy with need. He stopped being tender and found her center, wet and swollen before he’d even touched her.