“Yeah?” Laura responded, somewhat breathless. The moment stretched on…
“Get out there and get the rest of those dishes. I’ll start washing these,” Rick said, tone changing to a command. His cocky grin gave away the joke, however, and his eyes still screamed his attraction to her.
“Hmmmph.”
Laura flounced away with mock seriousness, hiding the wide smile on her face. Rick’s playful push and pull was charming her socks off.
She quickly returned with the last of the dishes, the picnic blanket folded and held under one arm. In her other hand was a bit of whipped cream that had fallen off a plate on to the blanket. Rick was forearms deep in soapy water, scrubbing and rinsing the dishes with quick, fast movements.
Looking down at the whipped cream in her hand, Laura smiled and quietly approached Rick from behind. With the sound of running water and dishes being cleaned, there was no way that he would hear her coming up behind him. She closed the gap slowly, waiting until she was close enough to strike.
Just as she got within arms reach, Rick turned lightning fast, his hand full of suds from the sink. Quicker than she would have believed such a large man could move, he dodged his head out of the way of her whip cream attack and smeared the suds across her face.
“Bleh!” Laura coughed out indignantly, only one eye opened, the other being hidden behind the offending suds.
Rick stepped closer to her, until there was no space left between. He filled her vision completely, his cocky grin dropped in favor of something more genuine. Something intense. He reached his clean hand up and gently wiped the suds from her face. His touch sent thrills through her entire body.
He rubbed his hand clean on his shirt, then brought the hand back up to her face, cupping it gently. Laura was breathless, every part of her focused on this moment. Rick brought his face in closer, eyes locked on hers, only closing them when their lips met.
The kiss was electric, Laura’s whole body on fire. Their lips entwined, pressing and then retreating, then pressing in again. Laura opened, inviting him in further. Rick’s tongue pressed in, rubbing against hers, sending heat through her chest, then lower. It seemed to go on forever, their lips and tongues exploring each other.
Finally it ended. Laura realized that she had leaned in during the kiss, pressing herself against Rick’s hard body. He seemed dumbstruck, staring at her as if she was the only girl in the whole world. She liked that look in his eyes.
After a moment, Rick spoke. “You ready for that walk? We should get started soon, don’t want to be out in the forest much past dark.” His voice was softer than it had been before.
“Yeah,” Laura said, smiling widely. “Let’s go.”
They left the rest of the dishes where they were and headed for the door. On the way out, Rick picked up a large rucksack that had been sitting there. On him it looked positively puny.
Laura walked out the door first, checking her phone as she did. Shit. Still no word from Craig. It was such a weird mix of emotions she was feeling right now. Her feelings for Rick had blossomed faster than she could explain, but a huge part of her felt guilty for it. She shouldn’t be out here spending time with this sexy beast of a man when Craig was in so much trouble. But being there in New York wouldn’t help him at all, and might actually hurt him. Her thoughts went round and round the problem in her head.
“What’s wrong?” Rick asked as he shut the front door.
“What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong.” Laura said, half turning back towards him. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“When you glanced down at your phone your shoulders tightened up, you got rigid, like you’d just got some bad news.” Concern dominated his voice as he spoke, and his eyes searched hers questioningly.
Laura was surprised how perceptive he was. Nothing but surprises from this guy.
She sighed. “My brother is dealing with a pretty big problem back in New York now. I was hoping he would call me or send me a message to let me know that things had gotten straightened out, but I haven’t heard anything from him yet.” She wanted to tell him everything, but how did you dump something like that on a guy you just met? Still, the aura of soft assurance that Rick had somehow made her think that it would be okay to open up.
Rick led her around the side of the house to the backyard as they continued to speak. The backyard was a similar size as Joyce’s, but with only a couple trees. The grass was smartly trimmed, and the backyard as a whole had the same look of neatness as the inside of Rick’s cabin had.
“This problem your brother’s having, it must be serious if you’re so worried about it,” Rick said, his tone asking her to explain. “It have anything to do with why you came down to stay at Joyce’s place?”
Damn. He really is perceptive.
By this point they had reached the edge of the forest. Rick led them on to a worn path, walking beside Laura.
“How did you guess that?” she asked, still trying to decide if it was okay to talk about her problems with someone she barely knew.
“Well I’ve been here for three years now, and the first time you come down is when your brother’s neck deep in trouble? I believe in coincidences, but not coincidences that big.” He looked over at her as he spoke, a tenderness in his eyes that she hadn’t expected to see.
Laura felt the will to hide this problem slowly fading, so she just gave in. For the next twenty minutes they walked through the woods, Rick listening quietly as Laura talked about the set of events that had led her to a small town in Wisconsin.
Once she finished, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. She knew that the problem hadn’t gone away, but just talking about it had made it seem less insurmountable somehow.
“Well, that is quite a story,” Rick said after a few moments thought. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”
“We?” Laura cut him off, hardly believing that he would choose to get involved in something like this. “You just met me a few hours ago, why would you put yourself in a position to have to deal with my problems?”
Rick stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and turned towards her, those piercing blue eyes seeming to look inside her. “Can’t you tell yet, city girl? I like you, and I take care of the people I like.” There had been a slight, almost awkward pause before the word like came out, as if he had been thinking of saying something else.
“Well I like you too Mr. Lumberjack,” Laura said, looking up at him shyly.
Rick leaned in to her, one hand going to her hip, the other coming up to her face. He rubbed his hand across her cheek, then through her hair, pulling her head forward until her lips met his.
Laura’s toes curled in her shoes as the kiss went on, deep and long. Warmth spread from her lips out through her whole body, wetness pooling between her legs. Her feelings towards Rick seemed beyond attraction somehow, more primal than that.
She could have continued kissing him for hours, but he pulled back. He looked into her eyes, that same tenderness there in his gaze.
“So here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to take out that phone and call your brother right now,” he said, one side of his mouth quirked into a smile, one eyebrow raised. His expression teased her, as if he couldn’t believe she hadn’t come up with this already. It wasn’t rude, however, coming across as gentle ribbing between… what? Something more than friends, maybe. “And if he doesn’t answer, we’ll give him the rest of the day and night. Then, if we can’t get a hold of him by morning we pile in to my truck and drive straight to New York to pull his ass out of the fire.”
Laura guffawed before she could stop herself. “I don’t know how we’re going to do that though. I’m hardly tough, and you may be big as a bear,” she said, noticing a slight tension grip him at the phrasing. “But this is a group of guys we’re talking about here, serious people. Muscles or no muscles, you’re not a one man army.”
Rick’s smirk deepened. “I think you’d be surprised. But
regardless, if you don’t go back you’ll regret it, especially if something happens to him.”
Laura knew he was right, but it was still hard to let Rick put himself in this position. As if sensing her thoughts, he raised one finger, pressing it against her lips.
“Call him now. Who knows, maybe everything’s sorted already.”
She pulled her phone out of her pocket, pressed a few buttons and raised it to her ear. Craig had had his ring changed to some obscure Motown song, so instead of listening to a ring she heard some throaty starlet sing about the man who had saved her. It seemed oddly appropriate.
She let it go on for much longer than she usually would have before she gave up. As she hit the end call button, Rick’s hands came up and took hers.
“If we can’t get a hold of him by tonight, we go in the morning. Now, I’m gonna teach you how to catch fish with your bare hands.”
Laura laughed again. She felt as if all the pressure had disappeared from her shoulders. She knew that Craig was probably still in trouble, but just knowing that she would soon be on her way back to help in whatever way she could had brought a huge amount of relief.
She was still amazed at meeting Rick. What are the chances that she would run away from a problem only a run straight into someone who wanted to help her with it? Zero, that’s what the chances are. This whole day has been like something out of the movies. And yet here he was.
Just then she finally processed what he had said last. “Wait, what? We’re going to catch fish with our hands? I don’t even think I could catch a fish with a net!”
That trademarked smirk of his was back. “Don’t worry, we’ll make a country girl out of you yet,” he claimed, stepping back from her and adjusting the too-small rucksack he was wearing. She immediately missed his nearness.
He turned back the way they had been heading and started off again, gesturing with his head for her to follow. She smiled and got moving. Seemed like the surprises weren’t over yet, although Rick might be in for the next one when he saw the extent of her outdoorsy skills.
She breathed in the fresh air as they walked. The forest was beautiful, full of old trees and birds chirping. Sunlight poked little holes in the cover above them, rogue beams falling on them as they passed. This was such a different world than her life in New York, but she felt it pulling on her. She had known that she had always enjoyed summers out here, but hadn’t realized how much she had given up to live in the big city.
They talked as they walked, the conversation drifting all over the place. Laura talked about her summers with Joyce, and all the mischief she and Craig had gotten up to. Rick talked a bit about his past in Canada, where he had worked as a logger. He was a bit fuzzy about what had brought him to Wisconsin, but she didn’t press him. He would tell her about it when and if he wanted to.
After walking for a while, Laura heard a new sound through the trees ahead of them. Running water. They must be close to the river that passed near Blackendale. Apparently Rick hadn’t been joking when he said he was going to teach her to fish.
The sound continued to grow as they walked, until it was more than just background noise. All at once the trees surrounding them disappeared, and they were on the bank of a fair sized river. The scene was picturesque, a slow moving lazy river running through such a beautiful forest. It felt almost as surreal as the rest of the day had.
Rick led her down to the edge of the river, eyes scanning the surface. He took her a short ways upstream before he found what he was looking for, a small section along the bank where the water pooled off into a small eddy.
“Alright so this is how we’re gonna do it,” Rick said, gesturing with his head towards the water. “We’re going to stand in the water here. It’s not too deep, probably up to your thighs.” His gaze drifted down her body as he spoke, that infuriatingly cute grin back on his face. “Once we’re settled in, we’ll have to stay perfectly still. Salmon swimming up river will sometimes take a rest in patches of water like this. If you can stay steady enough they’ll get close enough that you can just reach in and grab ‘em with both hands.”
“Just like that huh?” Laura asked. “I feel like there’s probably a little bit more to it.”
She had a sudden mental image of herself waist deep in water, rapidly pulling out fish after fish. The absurdity of it pulled laughter out of her belly.
“Takes a bit of practice, but you’ll do fine,” Rick told her, stripping off his boots. “Now off with your shoes, it’s time to catch dinner.”
Laura sat down and pulled off her shoes and socks. It looked like there was no getting out of this, so she figured she might as well dive in. It was nice to have him taking charge of the afternoon. Laura hadn’t dated too much in the past few years, but when she had the guys had often been a bit waffling, asking her where she wanted to go, what she wanted to do. That was nice up to a point, but it was refreshing to be with a man wasn’t afraid to take the lead.
She followed Rick into the water. It was surprisingly cold, but the day was so warm that it was refreshing rather than being uncomfortable. The riverbed fell away very quickly, and by a few steps in they had reached the thigh deep level that Rick had suggested. Well thigh deep on Laura. The water went just past Rick’s knees. The stones under the water were small and smooth, and her feet had sunk a bit as she settled into position. She stood close to him, his sheer presence filling her senses full.
They stood in the water quietly for a few minutes, waiting for any sign of the fish Rick had been talking about. Laura caught herself sneaking glances at him out of the corner of her eye, admiring his physique. Damn he was sexy.
Rick caught her looking and smiled back at her. He looked away, but one hand reached up and gave Laura a firm nudge on the shoulder. The force of it sent ripples of water radiating away from her legs as she caught her balance.
“Jeez, you’re scaring all the fish away,” he said with mock seriousness, frowning down at her. “We’re going to go hungry tonight at this rate!” Even a frown couldn’t hide his handsomeness.
She splashed water up at his chest in protest, droplets falling across his tight black tee. He grinned at her and motioned her to be still.
“Patience city girl,” he said teasingly. “They’ll be here any minute now.”
Sure enough, after another few minutes she could see a couple of fish swim in to the eddy and stop, as if they were resting. One had stopped close to where Rick and Laura were.
“We reach in together, pull him out, and toss him on the bank,” he whispered, bending at the waist, hands ready just about the water.
Laura leaned forward with him, preparing herself. She had the hand eye coordination of a five year old, but damned if she wasn’t going to try.
“Five, four, three,” Rick whispered, body tensed and grin having taken on a conspiratorial quality. “two, one…”
Their arms lunged into the water, diving for the startled fish. Laura felt her hands close on its wriggling body and jerked upwards. The fish came cleanly out of the water, thrashing back and forth in her grip. Rick had a firm grip on the fish’s tail, while she was holding it near its head. They raised it, and just as they were about to throw it to the shore Rick let go of the tail.
The fish thrashed even harder now that there were only two hands holding it. Laura let out a startled shriek, the sudden extra force causing her to drop the fish back into the river, where they quickly lost sight of it.
“What did you do that for?” Laura demanded, hands on her hips. The glare she was directing at him seemed to have remarkably little effect.
“Just wanted to see what you would do,” replied Rick calmly, a twinkle in his eye. “Scream and drop it probably would’ve been my second guess.” He laughed deeply, taking any sting that might have been in his words clean away.
“I didn’t scream, I gasped in surprise,” Laura stated, lips pursed in a fake pout. She couldn’t hold it, however, and her face soon split in a wide grin. “We almost had it didn’
t we?”
“Sure did,” he answered. “Think you can get the next one like that?”
“If you don’t abandon me this time!” she replied, trying to hold the sternness in her voice. She wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
“I won’t, I won’t. A guy like me doesn’t do well without dinner.” With that he motioned her to stillness again, both of them scanning the water, waiting for some fish to return.
The next couple tries they both missed cleanly when reaching in to the water. Laura was having difficulty adjusting to the way the light falling in the water distorted her view of where the fish was. Rick stayed patient and playful, however, seemingly in no rush to end this moment.
Finally they caught one, pulling a large salmon out of the water and throwing it on to the shore together. Laura actually felt sad for a moment as the fish thrashed on the ground. Still, she knew in the back of her mind that this was infinitely more humane than any meat that had come from factory farming.
“You see?” asked Rick. “I told you I’d make a country girl out of you yet.”
“Oh, I think you’ve got a ways to go before anyone would call me that,” she replied with a laugh. She stood facing him, water lapping gently around their legs.
The moment stretched on as he leaned towards her, those piercing blue eyes seeming to stare right into her soul. She moved forward, tilting her head back as his lips sought hers. The kiss was just as passionate as before, lighting a fire through her whole body. Her lips opened, inviting him in, and their tongues twined around each other sensually. Her hands roamed up his body as they kissed, feeling across the hard muscles of his abdomen and chest, then going around to his back.
Finally he pulled back, leaving his forehead touching hers, noses brushing each other. “You’re beautiful Laura, and even though it was bad circumstances that brought you here, I’m glad to have met you.”
Laura broke his gaze, looking down into the water. She could feel herself coloring a bit, both from the naked desire she’d felt in his kiss and from his praise. She had never been overly comfortable with men praising her beauty, having always been a bit self-conscious. Pressed against Rick, waist deep in what seemed like a fairytale, she could nearly believe his words.
The Bear's Embrace: Clanless: A Shifter Romance Series, Book 1 Page 3