by Anna Katmore
A dragged out whine escapes her, causing my eyes to snap up to her torn face. “Ohh…my God.”
That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Continuing the tender torture, I enjoy every little tremor of her thighs. Then, with her taste still on my tongue, I stand up with a smirk and rub the back of my hand over my mouth before I kiss her. Again, her fingers find my belt, and this time, I let her unbuckle it while I reach into the drawer near her for my wallet and blindly retrieve the condom I always keep there. Chloe opens the button of my shorts and unzips the fly, her fingers gently brushing against my sensitive skin as she frees me, giving me shivers. Then she takes the foil from me, rips it open and, with what seems like deliberated slowness, slips the condom over my hard-on. Damn, she’s trying to kill me, I know.
My open shorts still hang over my butt, damp and heavy. I don’t care to shake them off or have her shove them down, because if I don’t get inside of her right now, I may very well explode.
As I enter her warmth, her fingers move away so I can slide all the way home. Goodness gracious, to be there again. Eyes closed and motionless, I take a deep breath, savoring every ounce of sensation of Chloe’s body squeezing me tight. Only when her smoking-hot legs wrap around my hips and pull me against her with eager expectation do I start a gentle rocking.
Reveling in our joining, she dips her head back, exposing her delicate neck to me. I swirl my tongue over her skin, kissing every inch of it. God, I love the little soft moan that escapes her.
She lifts her head again and finds my mouth for another burning kiss, but the next instant, someone bumps into the locked door, and we snap apart in shock. The person rattles the handle. A sharp volley of knocks follows. “Justin? Are you there?” Damn, it’s Greyson, and he sounds all but out of his mind. “The door’s jammed.”
Scrunching my face, I give Chloe an apologetic look. Then I shout, “This is really bad timing, Grey.”
“Screw the timing. We have a problem!”
“Screw the timing?” I mouth to Chloe with amused wonder, and she giggles underneath me.
“Chloe’s gone missing!”
Oh. That’s a problem indeed.
Without a moment to take a breath, he goes on, “Julie said all her things are gone from the cabin. The girls found her suitcase outside and—oh!” A short pause. When he speaks next, puzzlement is clear in his voice. “Aren’t these her shoes?”
This can’t be happening. Biting back a sheepish grin, I lean my forehead against Chloe’s, informing my roomie, “She’s fine, Grey. Tell Julie to calm down. Chloe will be back in the morning.”
“How can you say that?” He rattles the door again. “And what the hell are you doing in there?”
“Believe me”—locking intense gazes with Chloe, I end the conversation with Greyson—“you don’t want to know.”
On a cheeky note, Chloe adds then, “Good night, Grey!”
“Good night, Ch—” He breaks off, his voice dropping with shock. “Oh, fuck.”
Exactly.
Ignoring what’s happening outside, I shove my shorts down and then lift her from the desk. She cuddles against me, arms around my neck, as I carry her across the room and gently lay her down on my bed. Kissing a trail that starts at her toes, then up her body, ending on her mouth, I lower on top of her and continue what my roommate so rudely interrupted two minutes ago.
Ready and waiting, Chloe welcomes me. Her back arches slightly off the bed, her chest and stomach pressing against me. I slip one hand underneath her and snap her bra open, then slowly slide it off her shoulders and discard it on the floor.
Tangled in the sheets, we work up a sweat together. She’s building up fast, and so am I. But I intend to make this night last forever, so I switch positions with her every time she comes too close.
“Justin Andrews, you’re a sadist,” she pants in frustration when I roll over and pull her on top of me. But the tiny, wicked smile on her lips tells me she’s enjoying every switch as much as the buildup.
Her hair fans out around my face when she leans down to nibble my lip. The stinging bite that follows is probably for revenge. Thrusting my fingers into her silky strands, I pull her head closer and kiss her hard.
Her nostrils flare with her quick breaths, her movements faster now. If I let her continue, she’ll be done within a minute. And probably me, too. “Not yet, baby.” I flip her onto her back, pinning her hands to the mattress above her head, our fingers intertwined.
“Justin…please!” she starts whining, her face torn with longing and pleasure. “I can’t…”
She can’t what? Bear it any longer? Damn, I love when she begs me for her release. Letting go of her hands but keeping her in place with my body flush to hers, I give her what she’s asking for.
Fingers clawed, her nails bite into the skin between my shoulder blades. If they go any deeper, she’ll draw blood, but not even that would stop me now. Eventually, that final, sharp breath hisses through her teeth, and her thighs clamp around me. It’s a delight to watch her writhe underneath me. So beautiful. I let her ride out the climax until all her adorable quivers stop. Only when she lies completely still and breathless do I brush her dampened hair off of her forehead with one gentle finger and then plant a soft kiss on her brow.
“You look spent,” I tease her in a whisper.
She skims her soft hand through my hair, her eyes content and big when she smiles. “You don’t.”
Yet. Expelling a breath, I lean down for another kiss and resume a gentle rocking. It doesn’t take long until I follow her, and the world goes dark around me for a short, tender moment.
*
She’s so pretty when she sleeps. Dawn is breaking, and I’ve been watching Chloe for almost an hour. Sprawled on her front, her hair fanning out on the pillow, her rib cage lifts and falls in slow, even breaths. I’d love to keep lying here with her all day, our limbs entangled, just skimming my hand through her hair. But we’ve got a camp to run and a wild horde of kids to entertain. If I’m still lying here when she opens her eyes, odds are all of that will slip into oblivion.
Cautiously, so as not to wake her, I pull my arm out from under her head. She stirs a little and a meow-like sigh escapes her, but I manage to get out of bed without disturbing her and walk into the bathroom. A ten-minute rain of hot water washes away the scent of our lovemaking. It fills me with a twinge of melancholy. How long until it’ll linger on me again? What happened on the other side of this door could have been a one-time thing only. Who knows what’s going on in Chloe’s stubborn little head? She might have given in to a moment of passion last night, but today the distance could be back.
Well, not if I can help it. Turning off the warm water, I step out of the stall and towel myself dry then slip into fresh boxers and yesterday’s khaki shorts, which have dried during the night. When I sneak out of the bathroom, Chloe’s lying on her back with one arm above her head on the pillow, fast asleep. From the wardrobe, I fetch a white muscle shirt and pull it over my head.
“Good morning.” The sound of her soft voice slithers like a silk scarf down my back.
Tugging the shirt down, I slide a glance over my shoulder. She hasn’t moved an inch, only her eyes are wide open and warm now. “Hi there.” From the top shelf, I grab a blue-checkered, short-sleeved shirt and put it on over the muscle shirt on the way over to her. Ducking under the top bunk, I lower to the edge of the mattress and lean in to kiss her, now fully awake.
“You’re up early,” she says.
“I’m not used to sharing my bed with someone…so possessive.” I waggle my brows at how she’s sprawled out over the entire mattress.
It coaxes a snicker from her. Then she rolls to the side, clutching the covers tightly to her chest. “I’m not used to sharing, either.” A smile, then her tongue darts out briefly to mock me. I should catch it with my teeth… But, like I said, we have other things to do.
“Breakfast is in an hour. You should get out of bed and get dressed before Grey
son shows up.” I’m not sure if he spent the night in one of the boys’ cabins or in Julie’s, but when he comes back, I’d rather have the cabin cleaned and free of any evidence of last night’s events.
“Do you mind if I take a shower before I go back?”
“Not at all. The blue towels are mine. You can use them. I’m going to wait outside.” I kiss her on the forehead, then stand up and walk out onto the porch.
The air is still a little chilly at this time of the day, and everything’s dipped in grayish morning light. Clouds are shrouding the sun, giving a lame promise of rain before noon. No sounds drift from the boys’ cabins yet. The porch swing creaks when I sit down, and a deep breath fills my lungs, expanding my chest. I haven’t felt this happy in…well, in a very long time.
On graduation day one year ago, I was sure I’d never see this girl again. And frankly, throughout senior year, I’d been waiting for that moment to come. My attraction to Chloe had never completely ceased over the years after she dumped me. Even though we never spoke to each other, she still haunted my dreams. It had gotten easier, once everyone went to college and Chloe was entirely wiped from my everyday life.
But now she’s here. At camp. Once again being the girl I’d fallen in love with at sixteen years old. Strange, how two weeks of summer can change everything.
In a few weeks, she’s heading off to Europe. Shame, when we’re only now getting a chance to really get to know each other. I don’t want her to slip out of my life as suddenly as she skittered back in.
According to her words last night, emotional ties don’t work with her term abroad. I can see that, especially with a few thousand miles of water between us. It sure doesn’t sound nice. But she’ll be gone for a year, not forever. Many people have long-distance relationships. It seems to work for them, so why not us, too?
My head dips back onto the wooden backrest, my gaze leisurely sweeping the area. A tiny smile stretches my lips. The way I see it, I’ve got three weeks to pitch the idea of a boyfriend to her.
“Justin?” Chloe’s voice drifts from the inside shortly before she appears in the doorway. Dressed in yesterday’s clothes, her cheeks are rosy and her forehead creases with worry lines. “I can’t find my panties.”
Of course she can’t. They’re in a safe place. Curling my finger, I beckon her closer. Although she tilts her head skeptically, she comes over anyway. My palm slides up the backside of her thigh. “If you couldn’t find them, I wonder what you’re wearing under your skirt right now.”
“Knock it off!” Giggling like a little girl, she smacks my hand away before it can disappear beneath her skirt. “Do you know where they are or not?”
With a wicked smirk, I reach into my pocket and pull out the black lace, dangling it from my finger.
“You—” She charges forward to catch her panties, scolding me with a devilish look. “Why?” But then she lifts her hands, one of them wrapped around her underwear, stopping me before I can form a word. “No, wait! I don’t think I even want to know.”
She spins back for the door, but I catch her hand and pull her into my lap. A gentle nuzzle of her neck makes her hair tickle my nose. “You don’t just drop pretty things, you keep them. That’s why,” I drawl into her ear.
A dimple appears in her cheek. Wiggling a little, she pulls her panties on and then slides off my lap to sit in the empty space next to me on the swing. My arm stays wrapped around her shoulders. Her legs tucked under her butt, the skirt is just long enough to cover her knees. She leans against my chest and nestles her head under my chin, while I get us moving at a gentle rock.
“There’s something you should know,” I say after some silent minutes of deliberating. Last night, when Chloe told me about Lesley’s dare, it would probably have been the right time to mention this, but I had to stomach a lot myself and just didn’t want to bring it up. “I don’t think Lesley picked me for your initiation rite because you didn’t tell her about us.”
“No?” Her cheek rubs against my chest as she curiously tilts her head up to look at my face. “Then why?”
A little uncomfortable now, I clear my throat. “Did you know she was crushing on me in ninth grade?”
Instantly, Chloe stiffens with shock, then she straightens and frowns at me, kneeling on the swing. “Are you serious?”
My arm drops from her shoulders to the bench. “Yeah.” With compressed lips, I draw in a breath through my nose. “I wasn’t interested, though, and I told her so when her continuous sneaking around started to get on my nerves.”
“Oh my God.” Her chin smacks her chest. “Les never said a word about it.”
“She didn’t take being rejected very well. Unfortunately, I also chose the worst possible moment to do it—with too many witnesses around.” The memory of her flaming-red face and the lethal scowl she speared me with is still vivid in my mind. “It grated quite a bit on her ego.”
Chloe’s eyes grow wide with unadulterated fascination. “No doubt.” A moment later, however, she shakes her head as if she can’t believe what I just told her. “Did she still chase you afterward?”
A laugh escapes me. “No. She called me batshit crazy in front of everyone, for assuming she’d be interested in a loser like me. And to prove her point, she changed from clingy to arrogant within the hour.” With a remorseful sigh, I stroke Chloe’s back up and down. “That’s also when she started hassling me and playing her occasional, not-so-funny pranks.” My hand shapes against her cheek. “You were part of one, I guess.”
For a quiet moment, she closes her eyes and just leans into my palm. Her cheek feels so tender and soft, and I’d really like to kiss her now. The next thing I know, her head jerks up, and her eyes snap open again. “Wait!” An angry sharpness creeps into her voice. “Are you suggesting she didn’t even know that we’d been seeing each other that summer, and the prank was all because of something that happened between the two of you?”
“That’s my guess,” I admit sadly. “It was also the reason I wanted our thing to be secret after I found out you were hanging out with Lesley and Kirsten.”
“You didn’t trust me?”
“I didn’t know you.”
“Maybe not at the beginning, but you knew me pretty well after a while. Why didn’t you say something then?”
A shrug rolls off my shoulders, followed by a sigh. “I was afraid that Lesley would make you choose a side.”
“Which she did, in the end,” Chloe snarls. “But had she known I really liked you, she might not have.”
Keeping my head facing straight ahead, I move only my eyes to watch her. “Do you really think she would have let it go?”
“Yes. I can understand how you’re seeing her through different eyes, but Lesley is, after all, a really good friend.”
“Is that so?” I can’t help the sulking edge in my voice now. “Then why didn’t you tell her about us when she came up with that stupid dare?”
“Because…”
When she breaks off and looks at me with suddenly sad eyes, I finish the sentence for her in a softer voice, “Because you were afraid she’d make you choose sides.”
An angry muscle ticks in her jaw. Slipping her legs out from underneath her, she hugs her knees to her chest, rests her chin on them, and starts biting the nail of her thumb. I draw her fingers away from her mouth and cover them with both my hands. “Are we really fighting over something so far in the past?”
Fixing me with a stare from under her lashes, it takes an endless amount of time until the corners of her mouth twitch up into a tiny smile. “Yeah, it’s rather stupid. Nothing about it can be changed, anyway.”
“Right.” Gently, I start to skim my thumb over the inside of her wrist. “But we can make the best of what we have now.” I lean forward, touching my brow to hers. “Three more weeks at camp. No friends to ruin anything.” With the tip of my nose, I brush over her cheekbone in a soft caress, whispering, “I’d really like to get you back in the cabin now and find out if t
he bed’s still warm.”
“I’d like that, too.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
She squeezes her eyes shut and presses her lips together. There’s suddenly a slight tremble to them. Not quite the reaction I was hoping for. Unsettled, I inch back and lift her chin with my finger. “What’s wrong, tiger?”
Chloe expels a long breath. Then her brown eyes open slowly and find mine. “Justin… There’s something I need to tell you.”
Oh, shit. What the hell is coming now?
Chapter 20
Chloe
What Justin told me a few minutes ago about one of my best friends is a tough bite to swallow. Lesley can be sure that we’re going to have a serious conversation about it when we meet later. But right now she’s not my biggest problem.
I get up from the swing and shuffle barefoot to the banister. Hands braced on it, my gaze wanders out across the space between the cabins. I draw in a deep breath. Not even two weeks ago, Justin carried me here and tied me up to the pole on this very porch. The determined look on all the girls’ faces as they demanded I become their drama teacher is still pasted in my memory like it happened only yesterday. It was a night and a decision that changed so much for me.
It was also here that Justin dressed me up for paintball. And where all the girls shot him later that day. How come I remember all of this with such a painful sting in my heart?
The swing creaks behind me, followed by Justin’s footsteps sounding on the floorboards as he walks forward, joining me by the banister. “For heaven’s sake, what is it, Chloe? You’re starting to scare me.”
Turning my head, I meet his alarmed gaze. But what are the right words to say now? After making love to this man, running away seems like such a cowardly move.
I step back, leaning against the pole next to the stairs, and reach behind me for support. “Last night with you was amazing.” My voice shakes at every syllable. “So please don’t think that what I’m about to tell you now has anything to do with it.” I sniff and swallow. “Or with you and me. I made this decision long before I came here, and everything’s arranged.”