First Degree Burns

by S. L. Kassidy

  Danny grinned at the suggestion. “Like that.”

  “Good, because by the time we go on another camping trip, you’ll be ready to catch us dinner.”

  “Speaking of dinner, cornbread and chili? Never thought those two things went together.”

  Nicole smiled. “When camping, you learn new things. I’m surprised she didn’t make cornbread and beans, though. That’s usually her favorite camp meal.”

  Danny shrugged. “Guess that makes sense.” She let loose a moan, as Nicole hit a nerve underneath her knee. She threw her head back and moaned once more.

  “Hey, behave.” Nicole frowned at her. She gave Danny a gentle pinch as punishment, which didn’t seem to register to Danny in the slightest.

  “Can’t help it,” Danny purred. “Feels so good.” A relaxed, almost lascivious grin slowly seeped onto her face.

  “Well, then I guess I should stop.”

  “Please don’t, angel. Please don’t,” Danny begged, sounding somewhat serious, but not completely.

  Nicole chortled and kissed the inside of Danny’s knee. Danny purred again and fell back, keeping herself up on her elbows. There was another chuckle and a kiss to the knee, before Nicole continued on with the massage.

  “Do you know, I enjoy doing this as much as you do?” Nicole asked.

  “You couldn’t possibly.”

  Nicole chuckled. “That’s where you’re wrong. As you well know, I enjoy making you feel good, but there’s something beyond words in knowing that with a simple kneading from my fingers, you melt.”

  Nicole gave Danny a little dose of what she meant and watched as Danny seriously melted. Her elbows gave out and she dropped to the mattress, moaning in ways that’d make most people blush. Nicole got her to cease the noise by giving her a real pinch and withholding her touch briefly. Danny whined as she sat up, giving Nicole puppy eyes that promised she’d behave, if only for a while.

  “So, come on, tell me more about what you thought of today beyond wanting to know more about fishing,” Nicole said.

  “Well, I finally believe you that your dad likes me…somewhat. I learned today that a double standard works in my favor.”

  Nicole arched an eyebrow. “A double standard?”

  “Your dad said if I was a guy, he’d kind of consider me a deadbeat, but he accepts that I’m pretty much your housewife, because I’m a woman.”

  Nicole gasped, utterly scandalized. “He did not say that!”

  A small, amused smile tugged at Danny’s bronze face. “Well, maybe not those exact words, but he also said he’s happy that I make you happy.”

  “You do.” Nicole moved to give Danny a kiss on the lips. Of course, Danny tried to deepen it as she tried to pull away. She gave Danny another swat, and Danny laughed as she pulled back.

  “What?” Danny had the nerve to ask with an innocuous smile, as Nicole glared at her.

  “You don’t seem to realize my dad is less than fifteen feet away from us and there are no walls between us, only a thin tent and another thin tent.”

  Grey eyes went wide, almost comically so. Danny bit her lip, as Nicole pressed on her knee in a way that would’ve turned Danny into an oozy puddle at home. The groan she tried to block still escaped, joining the rustling leaves to echo through the night. Danny glowered at her, knowing she was doing it on purpose. Nicole gave her an innocent smile right back.

  “You’re horrible,” Danny whimpered. Her face tensed, as she clearly tried to hold in more sounds, but they needed to get out.

  “You think so? I could stop.”

  “Don’t you freaking dare.”

  Nicole chuckled at the mock swear word and the growl in her beloved’s voice. She continued the massage, but decided against asking more about Danny’s day. That could wait, so Danny could focus on blocking out all the moaning. Not that she seemed to be trying to stop making those noises, even as the massage became less intense. Nicole wondered if they’d be in for a lot of teasing from her cousins in the morning. She hoped her father was already asleep and didn’t hear anything going on.

  She massaged Danny’s knee and leg until it seemed like Danny was about to fall asleep. Wiping off her hands, Nicole turned off the lantern and eased into the sleeping bag, next to Danny. Strong, warm arms wrapped around her immediately.

  “Don’t you dare go to sleep on me,” Nicole softly chided Danny, as she snuggled in close.

  “I’d never.” Danny gasped, feigning shock, even though she let loose a yawn right after.

  “You say that now. In five minutes, you’ll be out, thanks to the leg rubdown.”

  Danny chuckled. “You make it sound like you know me so well.”

  “Because I do. I want to know about how you liked the day. I also want to know what my knucklehead cousins said to you when they were supposed to come get you for lunch. And what you did with Beth while you were alone.”

  “You want to know a lot.”

  Nicole grinned, looking into deep grey eyes. She could get lost in those dark pools and be happy for all eternity, never trying to find her way out. Danny smiled softly at her and reached up to caress her cheek.

  “I just want to know you had a good time. Tell me the truth. Don’t humor me or sugar coat anything. And, if my moron cousins did anything to upset you, tell me. I will go put a snake in their tent right now,” Nicole said with all seriousness.

  That got a laugh out of Danny. “You don’t need to do that. I’ve been having a good time. Yeah, your cousins are being jerks, but they’re not going to make or break my day. I like seeing you have fun with them. Told you, this side of you is cute.” She rubbed Nicole’s hip.

  “I wish they were better to you.”

  A tender caress from Danny accompanied a gentle smile. “Don’t worry about it, Chem. At least I’m not stressing myself out over trying to get them to like me, and you should enjoy their company. They seem like good guys, in their own idiotic way. They’re trying to look out for you. I don’t agree with their approach, but I am happy they love you enough to say something.”

  Nicole smiled and gave her lover a sweet kiss. “You are so incredible, baby.”

  “Well, not gonna argue…” Danny grinned.

  “But, I’m happy you’re giving my cousins credit without letting the fact that they’re being asses get in the way. I wish I could stop them from being idiots.”

  “Don’t worry about them. It’s okay. I don’t expect you to have control over them, so it’s not your fault they’re acting that way.”

  “Fine, I won’t think about them. How about I brag that I was right, and my dad likes you?” Nicole smirked and pinched Danny’s side.

  Danny giggled and pretended to try to push her hands away. “Cut it out or you’ll regret it.”

  “I doubt it. Now, I believe you have something to tell me about you and Beth, or do I have to start tickling you?”

  “Tickling me?” Danny gasped and then turned the tables on Nicole, who was very much the ticklish one of the pair.

  Nicole squealed in spite herself. Danny was merciless for only a few seconds, pinning Nicole beneath her, as her fingers worked along Nicole’s sides. Suddenly, the onslaught ceased and Danny leaned down to kiss Nicole’s slightly open mouth. Nicole returned the sweet touch and, all too soon, Danny retreated. Nicole whimpered in disappointment.

  “We need to do this alone sometime,” Danny said, glancing around the tent, but undoubtedly thinking about outside.

  “And why is that?” Nicole wondered aloud, even though she was all too aware of the answer to that question. The humming of her body, more specifically the throbbing of her lower anatomy, answered the question.

  “Because making you scream in the middle of the woods is a new fantasy of mine,” Danny replied with an impish smile, and Nicole moaned slightly at the words.

  Nicole allowed the fantasy to play in her mind for a moment. A picture flashed through her mind of the night sky, sparkling with bright stars; the warm air on her overheated, nud
e body; with Danny, equally nude, panting above her. The brief snapshot made her whimper. She wanted that almost desperately, but not now.

  Nicole reached up and caressed Danny’s soft, somewhat chubby cheek. “You are so bad.”

  “Like me this way?”

  “I certainly do. In fact, I love you this way and all the other ways you are. We can do a weekend sometime soon. Maybe in the summer. I’ll have to see when work is slow.”

  “That sounds good.”

  Nicole grinned, because this proved Danny truly did like camping. Screw you, Junior and Spider! We do have stuff in common. Of course, she knew that before the camping trip, but still, she felt like rubbing it in her cousins’ faces, not that she would. That was too immature. Besides, she didn’t need to prove her relationship to them. They were the asses, after all.

  The couple settled in once more, Nicole’s head on Danny’s shoulder, as peace settled into her very bones. The antics had passed and they managed to fall asleep within minutes. I hope that, somehow, tomorrow, the guys see how great Danny actually is. But, even as she was drifting off to unconsciousness, Nicole knew that wish wasn’t likely to be granted.

  ***

  In the morning, Dane knew something was wrong and she could only guess it was her fault. Everyone seemed to be glaring at her. Nicole didn’t see because she was still in the tent, getting dressed. Before Dane could figure out what she had done worth shunning, Junior and Spider were in her face. They grabbed her by the arms and dragged her into the woods. She wondered if they were planning to kill her. Have they had time to dig a hole? From the furious looks on their faces, she was leaning toward probably. They walked for a few minutes, so they were probably far away enough where no one would hear Dane scream if they did try to kill her. Hope they don’t think it’ll be an easy task.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Junior flung Dane away as if she were useless trash. Dane stumbled a bit, having trouble catching her balance. Thankfully, she didn’t fall on her face, as she had a feeling they wouldn’t have allowed her to get up.

  “According to you guys or others or my own opinion?” Dane arched an eyebrow. She had no clue what the hell they were so hot and bothered about.

  “Don’t be a fucking smartass!” Spider pointed at her with a harsh, tense expression tugging at his features. “We will fuck you up right here and let you drag your gimp ass back to Nikki, just so she can see how fucking lame you are.”

  “Clever,” Dane deadpanned, knowing he thought he was being oh, so smart with his use of the word lame.

  Spider growled and grabbed a fistful of Dane’s shirt, shoving her back into a thick tree. “I’ll just kick your ass then.”

  “How about before you do that you tell me what the fuck the problem is. Can I have a fucking clue as to why you’re so interested in kicking my ass before breakfast? I just got up. What the hell could I have done to piss you off this much?” Dane inquired calmly, completely and utterly unimpressed with their posturing.

  “Don’t act so fucking innocent!” Junior barked, getting in her face to growl like an angry mutt. His eyes blazed with fury that put the vermillion of the rising sun to shame.

  “Then tell me what the hell happened. Catch me up,” she huffed, glaring at them for assuming she understood why they were so pissed.

  “You know what happened. In all of the years of camping and meeting Nikki’s asshole significant others, we’ve never actually had someone that fucking did some shit like this right in camp, you fucking bitch.” Spider shook Dane by her shirt, knocking her into the tree several times. It wasn’t enough to hurt, but it was beginning to wear on her nerves.

  “What the hell did I do?” Dane inquired once more. “Unless you’re trying to kill time to make some shit up.” She wouldn’t put it past them now. Before, they were being overprotective, which she could let slide, but now they were doing something beyond that. She wouldn’t allow them to tarnish her name or her relationship with bullshit.

  Spider snarled at her and slammed her into the tree once more. She turned her attention fully to him, staring him down to let him know that was the last time she’d allow him to manhandle her. His gaze seemed to dare her to try something, but before they could go at it, Junior was back in her face.

  “We don’t have to make anything up! You fucking brainwashed Nikki and actually managed to get her to have sex with you with her father ten feet away, and with us within a stone’s throw of you! How fucking disrespectful can you be? Wanted to show us the power you have over Nikki? Fuck you! We won’t stand for that sort of bullshit, especially you disrespecting our cousin like that,” Junior roared, jabbing her in the shoulder with his thick index finger.

  Dane blinked. She had talked Nicole into having sex last night? Why the hell wasn’t I there when this happened then?

  “Did you two hit your heads or something? Probably together?” Dane felt her brow wrinkling as her eyebrows knitted together.

  “Hey, I said stop being a smartass!” Spider snarled, tugging on her shirt, but not knocking her against the tree.

  “You think I had sex with Nick with her entire family flanking us? Even if I were that bold, Nick would never in her life do some shit like that. Do you two really think so little of her?” Dane inquired with an arched eyebrow.

  “We think she has a habit of trying to appease worthless bastards like you,” Junior growled.

  Dane felt a small ping in her gut because of those words. No, Junior didn’t know he had repeated words she had heard all her life, but they made her anger flare at him. She ripped herself away from Spider and tried to assess the situation in case she needed to fight them off. Even with their size, she doubted she could out run either of them with her bum leg. Honestly, she didn’t care. She might never walk out of these woods again, but she would be damned if she’d allow them to act like Nicole was so easily controlled or that she was the real problem.

  “You know what, fuck both of you. Even if I did manage to get Nicole to sleep with me with you bozos right in front of us, it’s none of your fucking business. And, the overprotective act was cute yesterday, but now it’s tiring. You’re not protecting Nick, you’re being assholes,” Dane said.

  “Oh, says the asshole!” Junior snorted while Spider seemed a bit shocked, staring down at his empty hands with an open mouth. He either wasn’t expecting Dane to break free of his hold or curse them both out. She didn’t care which.

  “Like I said, fuck you. You two obviously need to deal with your own shit that you don’t wanna acknowledge, but is fucking there.” Again, she seemed to have stunned Spider, who blinked so hard she thought she heard it.

  Junior growled again. “Don’t try to pin this shit on us because you’re the fucking ass, forcing Nikki to do shit for you, trying to hurt her because you’re a bastard.”

  “What the fuck do you know about me, anyway? You wanna throw shit at me for what her past lovers have done, go right ahead, but don’t you ever fucking accuse me of not respecting Nicole. You don’t know a Goddamn thing about our relationship. And for the record, what you nosy asses heard last night was Nick rubbing down my knee and me tickling her. Get your fucking minds out of the gutters, disgusting bitches.” Dane turned to leave.

  “Hey, we’re not done.” Junior reached out and grabbed her. She pulled her arm back.

  “Don’t you fucking touch me.” Dane snarled and pointed at him. “I’m not taking this shit anymore, from either of you. You keep your fucking comments to yourself and you don’t touch me. You think you’re looking out for Nicole, but all you’re really doing is being bullies and trying to cover for the fact that you’re fucking homophobic. Well, I’m not taking it anymore. So, fuck you.” She spat at his feet, practically daring him to make a move on her.

  “We’re not homophobic,” Spider managed to say, while Junior was frozen in place. She snorted and turned to leave.

  “Keep telling yourselves that, champ,” she replied, sticking up her middle finger.

 
; Honestly, she felt like she lucked out when Junior didn’t move. While she’d had brawls in her day, she doubted she could’ve taken the brothers on if they really wanted to fight. Besides, while she didn’t think Nicole would mind her cursing the pair out and calling them on their real problem, she’d probably get a little huffy if they all ended up in a fight.

  Dane managed to make it back to the campsite on her own, only to be immediately reminded that she was currently the worst human being on the planet as far as the family went. It didn’t help her when she noticed Raymond glaring at her. Oh, great, he thinks I fucked Nick with him right there, too. Fuck this shit.

  Yes, she knew she’d have to deal with this crap eventually, but she didn’t feel like doing it now. Too much had already happened. She took a turn and headed toward the river. The river was nice. She could remember yesterday when Raymond liked her and Beth was semicool. Maybe she’d stop feeling like she wanted to hit those two morons with a baseball bat and then go home.

  “The crazy thing is, I want to do this again. Of course, without everybody else, though,” she sighed as the roaring sound of the river reached her ears. Soon, drops of cool water touched her face and she felt calm, at peace. Separate the feeling from everything else; that’s what she enjoyed about the trip. This was what she wanted to do again.

  ***

  Nicole exited the tent thinking breakfast would be ready, even though she didn’t smell anything cooking. She was surprised Danny was up before her, but that was far from unheard of. The real shocker was to come out and see her family sort of puttering around the campsite. Danny was nowhere to be seen. Junior and Spider were also missing in action. If they did anything to Danny.

  “Good morning, everybody,” Nicole said, putting on her brightest smile and most chipper tone. She didn’t want them to know their expressions alarmed her.

  No one moved as they watched her. There was no breakfast going and the mood of the camp seemed dead, despite the warmth of the morning and the beauty of the day. She knew she’d have to ask, as much as the idea of doing so bothered her.