This time, she didn’t go over early, just kept rising higher and higher. Then, without warning, he twisted her around. After he bent her legs so they were up against her shoulders, cowboy boots and all, he slammed into her wet folds. It put him in deeper and at a different angle, and the moans of pleasure burst from her.
Slanting her legs to one side, he leaned over and bit at her nipple, sucking and nipping through the cloth of her T-shirt and bra, even as he started pistoning his hips into hers.
“Karla,” he groaned. “Karla.”
Her clit felt as large as his cock, and every time he stroked in, his body hit against it. Her hips arched, and she cried out as her orgasm sped through her at the same time he let go of her nipple and screamed his own release.
Chapter Nine
I acted the caveman. But something, some primeval gene ran loose and erupted all over her. Finally, in the midst of all the turmoil, I had Karla in the shadow of my beloved mountain. I couldn’t get enough of her, my emotions, wild and turbulent.
I could have resisted, if she’d shown any sign of being unwilling. But on the contrary, her slick heat was ready and waiting, those little sounds she made pouring through me, driving me harder and harder.
Maybe it was the madness of the moment, the sense of imminent danger just around the corner. Maybe it was two years in the making. More likely, it was all of it. It pulsed through me, driving out all thought but her. Finally. For a short and precious time, it was just me and her. Something to treasure against the horrors we were about to witness.
Sebastian
Sebastian’s release rolled through him as strongly as the first one. Her body fit around and with him as if made for it. Everywhere he touched, she responded. When he’d slid into her, the sensation of coming home sluiced through him. And it only got better from there.
That sexy thong was irresistible, but now they had to get back. It was with great regret that he separated himself from her. “Karla,” he began and waited until she looked at him. “You’re mine now. I don’t share.”
Her intake of breath told him she’d been turned on by his statement. “And I don’t share well, either,” she said. “You’re just as much mine now.”
The impact of her words slammed him hard in the gut. It rocked him, and lust rose again, along with the love he’d been holding back.
“Oh no,” she said. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m already going to have trouble getting on—and riding—that horse.”
He made no move toward her, but watched her get dressed as he put his own clothes on. She snaked the jeans up her thighs and hips, then fixed them over her boots. Boots. He’d humped her without taking off her boots.
Twice.
She must think him an animal. “One day, I’ll make love to you in a proper bed,” he vowed.
Her impish smile played on his heart strings. “Not for a week at least, I hope. I want as much time away from that office as we can get. Apparently, it holds you back.”
“Deal.” He grinned.
That grin faded as he thought of why they’d come up there in the first place. Should he or shouldn’t he worry? They mounted their horses, Karla making a moaning sound which nearly caused him to rip her off the saddle and take her again. It was like all the years of polite lovemaking and holding back in all aspects had finally taken their toll. He had no self-control. In fact… He stared down at his hand on her thigh. When had he walked over to her? His body moved toward her without his permission. However, the only control he wanted was over her delectable body.
“Sebastian,” she said quietly. “You keep looking at me like that, and I’m going to jump you, right here and now.”
He nearly called her on it. From what he could see, she wasn’t bluffing. But Jack and Rachel were stuck at camp until he and Karla returned. That brightened his mood. Maybe he’d have Karla in the back of the Bronco where he’d made his bed while the teens ran off doing their own thing.
With a short nudge, he led the way as they started back down. About twenty minutes later, they heard a vehicle. The horses sidestepped uneasily, and he felt just as spooked. Why? Probably just other campers. Still, he motioned for Karla to follow him, and they moved up into the trees and dismounted.
Karla got her horses to lie down. He’d have to have her teach him how to do that. When the camouflage Jeep drove by, they were well-hidden. And holy fuck was he glad. He’d taken the binoculars Karla handed to him—did she have one of those bottomless bags?—and watched the driver.
The male’s head lay to his left shoulder. His mouth hung open. The upper teeth protruded unnaturally far from the gums, and the tongue hung thick. It drove slowly, and the movements were alternately jerky and careful. But the worst part was the skin. Gray and pale with a greenish tinge. He held his breath, afraid to do anything to attract attention. He’d be goddamned if he didn’t just see a functioning zombie.
As soon as the Jeep drove out of sight, he and Karla seemed to be of the same mind. They both hopped on their horses and rode down the hill as fast as they dared. When they hit the road, they went into a full gallop to their campsite, neither speaking.
They slowed as they neared Mini Meadows and changed the horses’ pace to a trot. His eyes started scanning the camp long before he could technically see anything, but he couldn’t be stopped. He had to see Jack with his own eyes.
With relief, he saw the two teens with their heads together near the table. Perhaps planning their next meal. Whatever they were doing, he was simply relieved they were okay and doing it. He slowed the horse to a walk and took a deep breath.
How long before he quit worrying about his son every time something struck him as odd or dangerous? Did it ever end? How did parents ever let their children leave the nest?
As he dropped down, Karla took his hand and linked their fingers. Right. Immediately, he felt better and was able to go to Jack with only a knuckle rub on the head instead of the full-fledged death-grip hug he’d intended.
“So, you two, what’s for lunch?”
Chapter Ten
I never did get completely calm again after that incident. The vision of the gray-skinned man driving that camouflage Jeep never left me. It culled a sinkhole into my recently found tranquility. Something sinister lay around the corner. Every instinct I have screamed at me to get to safety, but where was that? The hills? Maybe. Town? I’m afraid to find out.
We pulled the horses in closer to camp and parked our cars to hide our tents and fire from the road. I tried to do it nonchalantly, but Jack isn’t stupid. He came over to help without my asking, and arranged our camp to be better hidden. We changed our minds about the tents and took them down. The kids slept in one car, Karla and I in the other.
I managed to make it through to the night without freaking everyone out with my intuition that things were very wrong. The problem with my intuition is that it hasn’t been wrong yet, and I almost never know what it is that brings it on. Sure, the guy in the Jeep was freaky-looking, but honestly, couldn’t he just be ugly? No, something told me he wasn’t just ugly.
Even though we had shifts to watch for trouble, I couldn’t sleep. I held Karla close, wishing I hadn’t waited so long to make love to her. That we hadn’t wasted those precious months on what society might think or other inadequacies. Whatever was happening in our neck of the woods...so to speak...I’m glad I had Jack and Karla with me. I don’t think I could have borne it if they’d been away from me.
The question I couldn’t answer to myself was whether we were better off in the mountains, or going down to the city and seeing what was up. I worried about people like young Trisha. On the other hand, I had a responsibility to my own kid. Round and round, my mind went.
Although their nerves were shot the next morning, Sebastian made breakfast. Bacon, sausage, eggs, and bread toasted on the fire with butter and honey. They added fresh cantaloupe, which rounded out their meal nicely. With the daylight and a full belly, he had cause to wonder, again, if they�
��d overreacted.
The teens were cleaning the dishes down by the river with sand and water when they heard a car. Everyone froze and waited to see if the car would pass. But it didn’t. It came down into the camp area and pulled in right next to his Bronco.
“At least it’s not a camouflage Jeep,” he muttered.
“It’s you! It’s really you!” A high-pitched feminine scream came from the vicinity of the little sports car, which held two people. One, a male, face hard to distinguish, and the other a female who jumped out of the vehicle.
He peered around to see who she meant but didn’t have long to wonder as a teenage girl flew by him in a blur to Rachel and hugged the girl while talking and crying. He tried to hear what they said over Ruff, who’d started growling at the car. He tied the dog up with a quick half-hitch.
“Trisha?”
“Oh God, Rachel. I’m so glad I found you. Everyone in town is acting so weird. Then I remembered you said you were camping, and I convinced Trevor to bring me up here and look.”
“Trevor?”
“Yeah. Remember that senior I told you about? The one who looks so good in his leather jacket?”
“Vaguely. How’d you find me?” Rachel asked.
“We—” Trisha began and pointed to a male stepping out of the car wearing the aforementioned leather jacket and expensive jeans made to look tattered, “—checked every road until we got here. I sort of remembered the way. My family camps here sometimes. And when I remembered Jack had the ATVs, I thought for sure you’d come here.”
The dog had about gone insane yelping, and barking, and trying to get free. “I’m with you, Ruff. I don’t like Trevor either.” Sebastian became more worried by the second. But it was Jack who addressed the issue, speaking louder over Ruff’s barks.
“Wait a minute. Things in town are so crazy that you spent hours looking for us? Why us? Why Rachel?” he said, his voice lowering at the end.
To Sebastian’s ear, it sounded like the real question his son wanted answered.
“Because everyone else is being mean and won’t tell me what’s going on. No one is running the schools, or the stores. I had to walk to school because no bus came. Then I arrived there all tired and hot, and the few teachers there were acting weird too. Some had dirt and blood on their clothes and weren’t even cleaning up, or going to the nurse, or anything.”
“Have you been hurt? And what was your name again?”
“Sorry, Mr.—Sebastian,” Rachel said. “This is Trisha.” Her eyes made meaningful contact with his, but he remembered her name already. He’d wanted to make sure he’d heard right. At least he didn’t have to choose whom to help now.
“Nice to meet you, Trisha. As I asked earlier, are you hurt? And where are your parents?” To his dismay, Trisha burst into tears and loud screechy sobs. “My parents are evil. I’m always having to clean the dishes or wash the floor, or change my little brother, or clean up his messes. It’s not fair. So I decided to run away. I thought, I’ll show them. I’m not a child anymore. I’m my own boss.”
Her words did not convey to him what she likely wanted them to. He didn’t hear put-upon teen; he heard spoiled brat. But he let her keep talking.
“Anyway, after I’d left for an appropriate amount of time, I came back so they could apologize, and I would, of course, graciously forgive them. I’m a good person, and you must forgive others when you are like me. But they had to learn,” she continued with the toss of her blonde-covered head.
“And did they learn?” Sebastian asked.
That sent the petite teenager into another sobbing wail which he couldn’t comprehend. Rachel hugged her and patted her back until the crying subsided. “Now,” she soothed. “We understand you were upset with your parents. But what happened in town—without crying,” she added when Trisha appeared ready to start the waterworks again.
Trisha sniffed indignantly. “Okay. I’ll try. I came back with my boyfriend, Harvey. You remember Harvey, right guys?” she asked the teens.
They mumbled agreement, and she continued. “Well, he took me to the tri-cities, and we camped overnight in his car next to the Columbia River. It was so romantic,” she said dreamily.
“Skip to the part when you got back,” Rachel said dryly.
“What? Fine.”
Apparently, she didn’t like having her fifteen minutes of fame shortened. Sebastian became very glad that Jack’s girlfriend was not like this one. Harsh thought, maybe, but Trisha didn’t exactly inspire confidence, and her maturity left much to be desired.
“We got back, and the animals were playing in the fire hydrants, and the garden hoses, and filling up all the pools. It was disgusting.” Her nose wrinkled as she spoke.
“I told Harvey to hurry up and take me home. But when I got there, they weren’t there. I couldn’t believe it. They showed up late the next night, and I let them have it! Let me tell you. Worrying me like that, and leaving me alone, and making the whole town act so strange.”
The waterworks threatened again, and Jack quickly spoke up. “Why do you think your parents did it, and how do you mean strange? I thought your Facebook page just said they looked bad. Pale faces?”
“Gray faces,” she corrected angrily. “They were gray, and green, and some had blood. And some were, were dead. It’s not right.” She stomped her foot as she said right and looked around at all of them. “They were supposed to learn their lesson, not go off and have fun and hold a masquerade party all over town. And worse, scare me like that. The whole town has always been against me. I can’t believe my parents did that to me just for running away.”
Sebastian sighed. “Did they hurt you?” he asked, enunciating every word carefully, and barely controlling his temper. This girl needed to be grounded forever or something. Or maybe slapped for hysteria. Her parents sure had their hands full.
“Well, no. I never saw my little brother. Who knows what they did with him without me to care for him. I’m his main caretaker. I have to change his diaper every night. Why should I have to? It’s their kid. Then, do my parents even acknowledge me? No. They ignored me. And that’s worse. They were just into each other. But then, then—” Trisha’s lower lip trembled. “Then they did something really gross this morning. I still don’t know how they pulled it off, but it’s sick and child abuse to expose me to that!”
“Expose you to what?” Karla chimed in.
“Well, it was all fine at breakfast. I was eating my favorite cereal when I heard them sort of grunting and laughing. They came into the kitchen and again ignored me. I gave them the silent treatment.”
“If only,” Sebastian muttered under his breath. Karla gave his arm a smack. “Sorry,” he whispered.
“They started kissing and stuff. They know I hate their PDAs. It’s so embarrassing. Why can’t they fight and divorce like everyone else’s parents?” She stopped and looked at Jack for a moment as if just realizing he only had one parent, before going on with her tale.
“Anyway. So they like kiss and stuff, then I hear fabric ripping. I look over, and my dad’s ripping Mom’s shirt off, and she’s just laughing.” Trisha rolled her eyes, sinking herself into the telling of her tale. “I’m like, ‘Mom. That’s not funny. I’m trying to eat here.’ and do you think they listen? No. They keep right on ripping and kissing. I turn up my music and put on my earphones. They’d never taken clothes off in the kitchen before. And I didn’t want to hear their kisses.”
“And then,” Sebastian asked when she looked like she’d stand there and pout instead of finish.
“Isn’t that disgusting enough?” she said with a little stamp of her foot. Then she sighed, and or the first time since starting her story, her voice wobbles. “But as it happens, it does get worse. I go to put my bowl in the sink and pass them. Mom’s head is, is—” Trisha swallowed, and some of the color in her face drained as she spoke. “She’s looking at the ceiling and smiling, blood on her mouth and dripping down, big droplets on her floor. Why did she let
that happen? She hates dirty floors. But she didn’t stop it, and she’s sucking and swallowing something. And Dad, he’s got a big hole in his shoulder, but he’s just laughing and grunting. Then as I look at him, he goes and takes a big bite from my mom’s bo-ob.”
This time Karla rushed to the girl to help comfort her. The three girls stood together, and the guys just looked back and forth.
“So how’d you get roped into this, Trevor?” Sebastian asked. The boy bothered him on a parental level.
“Ya know. She called me. Told me her parents were on the fritz, and she needed a ride to the mountains. I’m always game for the mountains with a pretty girl, if you know what I mean.”
Sebastian had to grit his teeth again. He knew too well what the boy meant, and he very much doubted it was the mountains the sport-car-driving teen played at. “How old are you, Trevor?”
“I’ll be eighteen in August.”
“It’s only April. Thank your lucky stars it’s not August.” Because, his daughter or not, he’d punch the guy for taking advantage of the obviously distraught teen.
“Okay, dude. Whatever you say.”
Seb took a step forward to lecture the teen on manners when he felt a hand on his arm.
“Dad,” Jack said and pulled him aside. “Look at his color.”
“What?”
“Look. At. His. Color.”
Trevor shuffled over toward the girls, and that’s when Sebastian saw the dried blood on the kid’s collar. Took note of the ashen-gray look to his skin.
“Karla, girls, come here, please.” He kept his voice level, stamping down the panic wanting to crash through him.
Karla and Rachel let go of the crying girl and both moved toward Sebastian. Trisha yanked on Rachel’s arm and jerked her back. “What? You’re not our dad. You can’t tell us what to do.”
Slow Fever Page 5