by Green, A. S.
Luke nods and picks out a few simple chords. Then, with his eyes back on me, he starts singing: “I put my finger in the woodpecker’s hole, and the woodpecker said ‘God bless my soul...’”
His voice. So smooth. Good lord, have camp songs always been so erotic? Those who know the song join in while my whole body burns. It has nothing to do with my proximity to the fire.
I wonder if I’d find anything Luke sang erotic. Probably. “My hat it has three corners...” Fuck, yeah. “Head and shoulders, knees and toes...” Keep going, baby. “Old Mrs. Leary put the lantern in the shed?” Oh, yes. Yes, please.
It goes on like this all night. Luke singing. His eyes searching mine. Me trying to cover my racing libido with idle chitchat, tickling little kids, or helping someone whose overly gooey marshmallow is falling off their stick.
But I can’t sustain the distractions for more than a minute. I always come back to Luke and every time I do, his eyes are on me again. I’m sure he’s had his moments of looking elsewhere—he wouldn’t want to make it obvious how intense things are between us—but I know it’s only because he’s faking his lack of interest as much as I am.
The last song wraps, and Mrs. Marsden puts her hands on the heads of the two little kids yawning next to her. “Time for bed, everyone. Counselors? Lead your campers out, please.”
There are some complaints from the older campers, but also more yawns. Mrs. Marsden asks me to stay behind to help clean up. I hope Luke will hang back with me. Maybe we can share another moment. Even a quick kiss will be enough to get me through to morning.
I’m not disappointed. Luke takes his time packing up and, as people file out of the woods and down the narrow path, we’re all but alone at the back of the line.
He is behind me. The heat of his body runs along the back of mine. Then he bends down and his mouth is right at my ear. “What happened between us, Tess...that was hot. I’m not going to lie. It wasn’t nothing. I’ll remember it always. But it’s going to have to end there.”
My body jerks infinitesimally. Then I nod, even though tears prick at my eyes. This wasn’t what I was expecting. He’s brushing me off, and now I’ve got to work all summer by his side. Fuck. Is it too late to get switched to badminton?
I pick up my pace—I’ve got to get away—but his fingers curl into my hip and slow me down. The person ahead of me has about ten feet on us now.
“I don’t say that to hurt your feelings,” Luke whispers while we keep walking. “I want more of you.”
God help me, his lips nip at the side of my neck. How can he say two entirely different things that both sound like the truth?
“But I like this job too much. There aren’t many things in my life that I can’t risk losing, and this is one of them. Do you get me?”
“I get you,” I whisper.
He lets out a long disappointed sounding sigh, and I can tell he’s straightened to his full height because his breath is no longer at my neck.
That sigh, though. It means everything. I cling to it. Because it means he’s no happier about this than I am. And that, at least, counts for something.
“I’ll see you at six tomorrow morning,” he says, this time louder.
I sniff and clear my throat. What I don’t do is look around to face him when I ask, “Why so early?”
“It’s going to take all morning to get the tack organized and the horses ready for the campers’ afternoon orientations.”
A part of me—that unreasonably hopeful part of me—wonders if that’s really the reason for the early start. Maybe, even subconsciously, he wants to see me as soon as possible and before there’s a chance we’d be interrupted.
Then again, maybe not.
Chapter Seven
Luke
Tess shows at six o’clock, just as I instructed and as though she’s already been up for hours. If that’s true, it makes two of us. The minute she arrives, I slide the stable doors shut behind us, closing out the outside world. All night I’ve coached myself on keeping it professional, platonic. Hands to yourself, big guy.
“Good morning, Tess.”
I set the laundry basket of clean towels and horse blankets by the door, and try to focus my attention there. Last night, when I was alone in my camper, I imagined it would be easy to ignore the lure of her body. Having her standing in front of me in the stable, back at the scene of the crime, as you will...
“Mornin’, Cowboy.”
I flinch at the nickname she’s given me. It’s sweet. It makes me want to reach for her.
The morning is fortunately dewy and cool, so she’s ditched the T-shirt and yoga shorts for a long-sleeved cotton shirt and a pair of jeans. Unfortunately, those jeans fit her body like they’ve been painted on.
“Sleep good?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Good enough considering it was my first night in a new bed and...all other things considered.”
I know what she means. I slept like crap, too. “Well, I slept in a familiar bed and still had a rough time of it. I think I pinched something in my neck.”
She moves around behind me and says, “Here. Let me.” She puts her hands on my neck. They’re small, but warm and strong.
“Tess,” I say, warning her.
“Don’t panic,” she says. “It’s just a neck rub. I’m told I have very talented hands.”
Seriously? She’s going to say that to me? But what comes out of my mouth is, “Who told you that?” My tone sounds unintentionally proprietary.
It makes her laugh. “Does it matter?”
Yes. Actually. It does. Why? I have no fucking idea. I turn in her arms and my hands slide down over her ass. Shit, this is not going according to plan.
“Change of heart?” she asks, widening those already wide eyes of her even more, like she’s some kind of innocent.
I snort. As if this wasn’t her plan all along. Fine. I give. So sue me, I’m weak.
I lift her up, and she wraps her legs around me, grinding her softest part to my hardest.
“I’m glad we’re not wasting time,” she says. Then she bites my bottom lip, giving it a tug.
“Well, we really do have a lot of work to do this morning.”
Without losing my grip on her ass, I bend and pull a clean horse blanket from the laundry basket then head for an empty stall that’s thickly bedded with bright clean straw...and far from the stable entrance.
I keep hold of her, tasting her lips, balancing her in one arm while letting my free hand roam over her body, for the first time really taking the time to feel all of her curves. I cup her breast and pinch one of the hard little buds that teased me yesterday.
It doesn’t take much of this for my body to crave more. I loosen my grip and her feet sink through the straw.
“Here?” she asks, looking around.
“Only because I can’t throw you over my shoulder and run you back to my bed.”
“People might talk,” she says, her words more air than voice.
“I told you. I could lose my job.”
“I could get sent home.”
I make a little hmph sound at the thought of either possibility. Right now I don’t give a fuck and neither does she.
I lay out the blanket then look at her hard. She’s not the girl from the magazine anymore. She’s so much more. She’s Tess—the girl who’s as sweet and tender with horses and little kids as she is wild and daring with me. I must be the luckiest man alive.
“Undress, Tess.”
She swallows and blinks once.
“Please,” I add, just a second later.
This time, she doesn’t hesitate. She kicks off her shoes then pulls her shirt up an inch, slowly, teasing, giving me only a sliver of skin around her midriff, then ribs, the underside of a blue lace bra, then the fully rounded cups, collar bone, chin...
T
he shirt lands at her feet and she unhooks her bra, letting it fall forward and exposing her perfect breasts. The last remnants of the magazine girl fade from my mind. All those fantasies were empty and pale compared to what Tess is making me feel.
I bend down and lift one of her breasts, pulling the nipple into my mouth, swirling and sucking it deep. Her fingers lace through my hair, until I let her go with a pop.
She moves on to her jeans and matching panties, giving them a yank then swaying her hips in this super sexy way until the jeans finally get over her ass. When they fall to her ankles, she steps out of the puddle of fabric and stands in front of me like a goddess.
“Now you,” she says. “Undress for me.”
“Not yet. Lie down.”
There’s a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but she obliges me. She doesn’t cover herself, or keep her knees pressed together, but bends them up and lets them fall open as if she could read my mind.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
“Not yet,” she says, using my own words against me. My eyes jump to hers, accepting her teasing challenge.
I drop to my knees in front of her and slide my hands under her ass to yank her closer. The blanket bunches behind her back, and I lift her hips so high into the air that I barely have to bend down. Her pink folds are already so shiny and slick with her arousal that even before I pull her against my mouth, I know how wet she’s going to be.
I let out a groan at the taste of her. She’s hesitant at first, as if she doesn’t know what to do, but then nature takes over and she rocks against my mouth in perfect synchronicity.
She swivels her hips, taking what she wants from me, until her juices are dripping down my chin. I’m vaguely aware of her hands clawing at the straw as I suck and lave, fucking her with my tongue, then finding her clit and sucking hard.
“More,” she says.
“Greedy,” I say, growling into her, but I want nothing more than to reward that greed. “Let’s see what you’re capable of.”
I lower her hips to the blanket and lean over her, bracing myself on one arm. When I insert a finger into her tight, wet goodness, she makes a semi-strangled sound then moans with pleasure.
When I think she’s stretched enough, I insert another finger and crook them both to work the rougher spot on her upper wall, first slowly to get her panting, then picking up the pace until she’s squirming and getting that panicky feel that tells me I’m on the right track.
“Stop,” she says, swatting at my arm. “Stop, stop, stop. I think I’m going to pee.”
I chuckle. That’s just my sign to go faster, and I go at that spot even harder.
“Luke!”
I lean down and kiss her lips without letting up the pressure. “Don’t worry. You’re not going to pee; you’re going to squirt. You’re so close.”
“What?”
Fuck, she doesn’t even know. “You’ll see.”
My arm is getting tired, but there’s no way I’m letting up. I’m rubbing the spot as fast as I can now. She grabs my bicep, so I know she’s freaked and close. I kick my arm and fingers into the last gear they’ve got. I’ve only got another thirty seconds before I keel over from exhaustion, but that’s when her hips jerk and—with a long moan—she shoots sweet, clear liquids all over my hand and the blanket. The girl’s got distance. Perfection.
She lifts her head and blinks at me. “What the fuck just happened?”
“Tess, you just leveled up.” I take pride in being the first to get her there but, more than that, I am completely turned on by her response. She’s made me so hard I could cut diamonds. So I have to move gingerly when I unbutton my fly and ease my Levi’s and boxer briefs down over my straining cock.
I crawl over her body until I’m over her face and turned around backward toward her lower half. “Take my dick.”
I curl my body over hers so I can reclaim her with my mouth while sliding myself between her lips. She gags a little on my size, so I pull back quick.
“I won’t thrust,” I tell her. “Just hold me there until I make you come.”
She relaxes, and I get back to business, but the more I work her toward orgasm, the tighter her mouth gets around me. A second later, instinct forces her to start sucking, massaging me with her tongue. There’s no way I’m going to last.
I pull her slick folds apart and dart my tongue inside. She bobs her head once, taking me deeper, which would be amazing if I wasn’t already hanging on by a thread.
She lifts her hips and rocks against my mouth. My ass cheeks tighten as lightning shoots up my spine.
“Oh, God. Oh, Jesus. Tess, I—”
It’s no use. It’s like trying to stop a runaway cement truck that’s rolling downhill. Before I can do anything more than call out her name, her hands wrap around the backs of my thighs and I come down her throat.
Fuck! I didn’t mean for this to end so quickly. Before I have a chance to apologize, she has turned her head to the side and is laughing so hard her whole body shakes under me.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell her, turning around to face her. I cup my hand over her mound. “I thought I had better control than that.”
“Don’t be sorry,” she says, smiling like a temptress. And that’s exactly what she is.
“You like that I lost control?” I blink once. I can’t fucking believe this girl.
“I like that I made you lose control.”
So it’s like that, is it? She plans to push me as much as I push her? I give her a wicked grin and use my shirttail to wipe her swollen pussy clean.
“Get dressed, Tess.” My mind is already looking forward to our next time together. “I’ve got more to show you.”
“There’s more?” she asks, her eyebrows rising.
“There’s a hell of a lot more,” I say suggestively, “and then there’s the matter of the horses.”
Chapter Eight
Tess
I get dressed while Luke watches. I try to be graceful about it but end up hopping around and bashing my hip against the wall. He laughs as he tucks his damp shirt back into his jeans. I’m about to make some comment about how he’s going to smell like me all day when a voice calls out, “Luke? Are you in here?”
Luke’s eyes go wide with alarm. He grabs a pitchfork that’s leaning against the wall and shoves it into my hands. Then he bends down and buries our blanket under the straw.
“Back here, Mrs. Marsden. I’m showing Tess how to clean stalls.”
“Oh, good.” Footsteps clip on the concrete floor while Luke wipes the last of my glaze from his chin. I pull a long piece of straw out of my hair while I shove my feet halfway into my shoes.
“Ah, there you are.” Mrs. Marsden’s smiling face appears in the doorway. “You see, Tess? I told you you’d get the hang of it.”
“Um. Yeah,” I say and shoot Luke a panicked look. He’s perfectly at ease, at least on the outside.
“You were right,” Luke says, looking Mrs. Marsden straight in the eye as if we have nothing to hide. “I was worried she was too small to be up to the task, but I’m sure she’ll be a perfect fit.”
My poor, greedy vagina convulses at Luke’s double meaning.
“Wonderful,” Mrs. Marsden says. “Maybe this afternoon, before you have to deal with the campers, you should take Tess for a ride.”
Luke glances at me, assessing. He smiles then says, “That could be arranged.”
Chapter Nine
Tess
A few hours later, while the other CITs throw grapes across the lunch table into each others’ mouths, I remember Luke Aspen’s long blond hair tickling the inside of my thighs, his tongue splitting me open and licking me hole-to-clit, and the shock over learning what my body is capable of.
The whole thing was perfect. More than I had hoped for, even after an entire summer of flirting.
But my cowboy does...not...play. He is just as impatient as I am, and thank God for that.
All I can do now is look forward to my afternoon ride. And, lord, I hope that it’s rough.
When Luke leaves the dining hall with a dark-haired staff member, Beth points him out to me as the lifeguard our cabin mate, Seline, has been going on and on about. Luke never looks my way. The lifeguard is talking animatedly. Luke seems grumpy. That’s okay. I know how to cheer him up.
I can still hear the insinuation in his voice when Mrs. Marsden suggested he give me a “ride.” That could be arranged, he said. Just the rough timbre of his voice sent shock waves down the backs of my thighs and the memory of his words made it nearly impossible to eat my lunch.
Doesn’t matter. I’m only hungry for one thing.
When I get to the paddock outside the stable, I am gratified to find Luke waiting for me. He has Juliet bridled and saddled beside him. It would almost make me jealous of a horse, except that Luke’s eyes are electric—practically sparking with what I can only assume are his memories from this morning.
What will the rest of the day bring? I imagine us being all business until we take the trail and lose sight of camp. Maybe we’ll find some private spot deep in the woods, and he’ll teach me a few new tricks.
My nipples harden at the thought. I saw a picture in one of my brother’s magazines once; it was of a girl in stilettos, bent over with her hands on the hood of a car, ass in the air and some guy taking her from behind. Maybe we could try that. I’m suddenly feeling overly warm and wishing I’d opted for short sleeves.
“I’m back,” I say, informing him of the obvious.
“Yes, you are.” The spark of anticipation I thought I saw in Luke’s eyes is gone. He looks at the ground, then over toward the stable doors.
“Did you want me to get my own horse ready?” I ask, confused by the change in his expression and slightly nervous about the proposition of bridling my own horse.
“No.” He looks back at his boots.
“You’re going to do it for me?” I ask.
“Uh, no.” He still won’t make eye contact. Something is wrong. What could possibly have gone wrong since this morning?