And here they were, the last night at Camp Clem. Tomorrow morning they’d board the bus back to Langley Park. But Lindsey wasn’t sad. Sure, she was going to miss this magical place, but the magic with Nick didn’t have to end.
This was just the beginning.
She had repeated those five words over and over again like a prayer. The mantra wrapped around her, forming a protective layer. It pieced back together her wounded heart that had been ripped to shreds by her father’s betrayal.
“Linds,” Nick called and met her gaze with a bright smile.
She joined him.
“Now, for this game, Miss Lindsey and I can’t join you on the field. This is all about you guys. This is all about that great teamwork you’ve practiced every day at camp.”
The campers broke out into nervous chatter.
“Hey,” Lindsey said, drawing the group’s attention. “Mr. Nick and I know you can do this. Win or lose, you are all coming out of this game as champions.”
She met his gaze. His eyes said everything. He adored her. He cared for her. He respected her. He was her prickly pear. Her gorgeous, ripped, blond-haired, blue-eyed prickly pear.
The campers giggled. She and Nick had gotten lost in the moment again. Just that day, Nick had tipped a canoe and almost fallen off a horse—and the kids were starting to catch on. Something was happening between Miss Lindsey and Mr. Nick.
“Right,” Nick said and turned back to the campers. “You are all champions in my book. Play hard. Remember: zigzag, stay low, pass off the flag if you’ve got someone coming in hot.”
The camp director rang the cowbell, and the kids sprang into action. Team Langley Park was like a well-oiled machine. The kids sprinted onto the field and took their positions as the defenders ran to hide the flag at the predetermined location. Lindsey and Nick joined the counselors of the opposing team on the sidelines and watched the battle unfold.
Over the week, Rory and Rachel had emerged as the team’s power couple. Rory was good at dodging and weaving, and Rachel was the speed. Barely ten minutes had gone by before Rory emerged from a wooded area, flag in hand. He had three guys on him who were closing in fast when Rachel shot in out of nowhere. Rory held out the flag, and Rachel snapped it out of his hand and sprinted across the field and into Langley Park’s territory.
“We won?” Nick said, disbelief lacing his words.
“We won!” Lindsey echoed back.
The Langley Park campers raced to the sidelines, screaming and clapping, the level of excitement rivaling that of a Super Bowl win.
“Go shake hands with the other team,” Nick said, patting the kids on the back and ruffling heads of sweat soaked hair.
The players met on the field, and the Langley Park kids consoled the losing team, giving them high-fives and hugs.
“They learned that from you, Linds,” Nick said with a wide grin.
“Learned what? You’re the capture the flag mastermind.”
Nick adjusted the sunflower in her hair. Another token left tucked in her window screen. “You taught them kindness. You showed them how to find the best in every situation and in every person, even in a creep like me.”
“You didn’t turn out to be so bad,” she replied with tears in her eyes. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to cup his beautiful face in her hands and memorize every detail.
“Way to go, guys,” came an unfamiliar man’s voice.
Trevor?
Lindsey and Nick turned to see Meg and Trevor beaming at them.
“We really pulled it off, didn’t we Meg?” Trevor said just as the camp director joined their little foursome.
“Meg, Trevor,” the director began, “You’ve shown incredible leadership this summer. You should both be very proud of yourselves. You, too,” she said to Lindsey and Nick like an afterthought.
Lindsey bit back a laugh, and Nick threw her a wink.
“All right, Langley Park!” The director called out. “Gather around! Gather around! We need to take the commemorative picture.”
The director placed a gleaming trophy on the ground, and the children huddled up and formed two tiers, their arms wrapped around each other. Nick and Lindsey took their place and stood behind the group. Shielded by the campers’ bodies, Nick took a step closer to her. Electricity sparked in her fingertips as Nick hooked his pinky finger with hers. Lindsey turned her head a fraction and met Nick’s gaze.
“Three, two, one! Say Camp Clem Champions!”
The director took several shots with a Polaroid camera. The sound of the photos emerging from the device purred mechanically as the group held their smiles.
“Here you go,” the director said, passing a photo to Lindsey and then another to Nick.
The Polaroid image came to life. Their twenty campers, red-cheeked and euphoric with Meg and Trevor wedged in on the side, slowly materialized. Her gaze traveled to where she and Nick stood in the back. They were grinning ear to ear, eyes locked on each other.
“Oh, no!” The director said. “You two aren’t looking at the camera. Would you like me to take another one?”
Nick drew his index finger across the photo. “No, it’s perfect just like this.”
Lindsey couldn’t sleep. After capture the flag, the entire camp celebrated with a bonfire next to the lake. They had eaten s’more after s’more, sang silly songs, and huddled together to watch the sunset. Between their campers and the surprising enthusiasm of Meg and Trevor, she’d hardly had any time with Nick at all. But she didn’t mind. They had one more night of patrol, and she wanted to make it special.
Meg had left her trunk open, and Lindsey spotted the small golden packets and pocketed one before she could think twice about what she was doing. She touched the condom tucked into her pocket as if she needed to assure herself it was really there and that she was really going to do this. Nick hadn’t pressed, not one bit. He never even brought up sex. But after the last few nights spent kissing Nick and having his body make her feel things she had never felt before, she knew she wanted to sleep with him. She wanted him to be her first time, and she wanted it to be here at Camp Clem.
“You’re awake,” came Nick’s soft voice at her window.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“Me either. Come on,” he said, pressing his palm against the screen. “I’ve got something I want to show you.”
She tiptoed out of the cabin, untied Nick’s flannel from where it hung around her waist and pulled it over her shoulders.
He took her hand. “It looks good on you, you know.”
“I should probably keep it.”
Nick pressed a kiss to the top of her head as they walked down the path. “Yeah, I think you should.”
They usually walked a lap around the camp, fulfilling patrol duties before finding a place all to themselves. But tonight, Nick led her straight to the waterfront.
“We’re not patrolling?” she asked.
“Not tonight,” he said. “I’ve got something else planned.”
“You do?”
“I do,” he said with the hint of a smile in his voice.
They passed the dining hall, and the boathouse came into view.
“Somebody pulled the tarps down,” Lindsey said, squinting in the darkness. While the boathouse was open on two sides, thick tarps kept rolled up above the entrances were attached to secure the structure during inclement weather.
Nick pulled back the tarp. A small electric lantern hung off a rusty nail and filled the space with a soft, hazy glow. There were sunflowers everywhere. Nick must have taken all the pitchers from the kitchen and used them as vases for the bright, inviting bunches of flowers.
She went over to one of the bouquets and touched a golden petal. “How did you do all this?”
Nick secured the tarp and joined her. “Turns out, Trevor is quite the romantic. He helped me set this up. I guess he and Meg were really pumped Langley Park won the capture the flag championship. It really is a huge deal here. He and Meg each get a b
onus added to their last paycheck.”
“And that?” Lindsey asked, gaze drawn to several sleeping bags spread out on the boathouse floor. “Are you getting lucky tonight?”
Nick’s eyes widened. “Linds, I don’t want you to think that… I’d never ask… That’s not what…”
She pressed a finger to his lips. He quieted. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the condom package.
“Lindsey,” he said, touching the edge of the foil packet.
Her cheeks felt hot, but she pressed on. “Nick, I’ve never done this before. But I want to. I really want to.” Flashes of his lips pressed to her neck as his hand worked her sex sent a delicious shiver through her spine. “And, I want to do it with you.”
He dropped his gaze. “Linds.”
“What is it? Do you not want to?” She thought her heart might break right there in the boathouse.
He cupped her face in his hands, and his gaze burned into her. “Linds, I want that more than anything. I want you more than anything. I’ve never slept with anyone I…”
He broke off. But she wasn’t afraid to say it.
“You’ve never been with someone you’ve loved before?”
His eyes went glassy, and he nodded. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. And I know, it hasn’t even been a week, but this is the real thing. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life.”
She blinked back tears. “This is just the beginning.”
“Just the beginning,” he echoed back as his lips crashed against hers.
His hands slid into her hair. He kissed her, and she was home. She was with Nick, flying high above the clouds, safe beyond the horizon, and he loved her. She ran her hands down the hard plane of his stomach, letting her fingers trace the defined V that pointed straight to his cock. She hadn’t touched him there, hadn’t touched any boy there. But her love for him edged out any trepidation. Her fingers followed the lines of muscle, and she palmed him through his cargo shorts. Nick’s body tensed like a coil on the verge of release.
“God, Linds, that feels so good.”
She liked setting him on fire. She stroked his length at a slow, leisurely pace, but she wanted to feel him, the real him.
“I want to touch you,” she said, breaking their kiss.
“Okay.” His chest heaved in short, punctuated breaths.
Nick unfastened his shorts and pulled off his boxers, t-shirt, and shoes. “Now you, Linds.”
She didn’t even hesitate. She stripped and threw her clothes next to Nick’s in a pile on the ground.
They gazed at each other. Lindsey licked her lips. She’d seen him in swim trunks, but this was completely different. She stared at his erect cock and his heavy testicles. She couldn’t stop looking. He was glorious, all tan and muscled. A living work of art.
Nick took a step forward and traced a finger around her nipple. It tightened into a sharp peak. He pressed the pads of his thumbs over each peak and massaged her breasts. She arched into him, her body wanting more, and let her hands glide over his cock. She was gentle at first, moving her fingertips over the shaft and tracing the tip. Nick’s sighs and deep groans fed her excitement. She grasped his cock firmly, stroking up and down, her pace quickening.
“Maybe we should sit down,” Nick said, his voice hoarse.
He led her to the pile of sleeping bags, and she sank down next to him onto the silky surface. Her eyes were drawn to a slim length of rope on the ground. She reached over and pulled the smooth cord through her fingers. The memory of the night she had twisted her wrists into the tangled rope as Nick rocked his hand against her most sensitive place flashed through her mind.
She met Nick’s gaze. His eyes were hooded and filled with desire. He was thinking about that night, too. He opened the golden packet and rolled the condom onto his erect penis. She had always thought this would be such a strange thing to witness, but with Nick, it was utterly fascinating.
She laid back on the blankets and extended her hands above her head still holding the rope. Nick’s eyes danced over her body and rested on her wrists.
She fingered the edge of the rope. “Can you help me with this?”
Nick slid up her body, his hard, sheathed cock coming to rest at the entrance of her sex. Face to face, Nick pressed up onto his elbows and positioned her arms above her head. He slipped the rope around her wrists and weaved the cord around and around. Lindsey bit down on her lip and released a wanton moan.
“Too tight?” he asked.
She shook her head. She liked this. She liked relinquishing control to Nick. She’d never trusted anyone like this before. Her body tightened with anticipation, and his cock nudged at her entrance.
“Linds,” he said, passing his thumb over her bottom lip. They were pressed together, bodies so close. “Are you sure you want to?”
“I’m sure. I love you.”
He lowered his head and kissed her. His lips alone made her head spin.
“I love you,” he whispered against her cheek as he kissed the corner of her mouth. “I love you so much sometimes I think my chest is going to explode. You’re everything to me, Linds. Whatever it takes, I’m never going to lose you. I don’t care how far apart we are. We’ll always find each other.”
She thrust her hips. “This is just the beginning.”
Nick let out a low moan as his body tightened. Lindsey could tell he was doing everything he could to hold himself back
“I’m going to go slowly. I don’t want to hurt you.”
She nodded and relaxed her thighs. Nick positioned himself at her entrance and pushed past her delicate folds. She closed her eyes and opened to him. It wasn’t that it didn’t hurt, but it was the kind of ache she knew wasn’t going to last long. Lindsey concentrated on her breathing as Nick filled her inch by delicious inch.
He stilled. “Linds, are you okay?”
She opened her eyes. She was okay. She was better than okay. She moved her hips, feeling Nick’s cock tight inside of her.
Now it was his turn to close his eyes. “Lindsey, you feel so good.”
He opened his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes, blue like the summer sky, gazed upon her with pure adoration.
She moved her wrists against the rope, and Nick’s gaze flicked to her hands. He reached up and tightened his grip around her bound wrists. Lindsey’s core squeezed around his cock. She liked being tied up, and her body responded to her excitement as she moved her pelvis, feeling the slide of Nick’s cock.
With Lindsey grinding into him, Nick wasn’t able to hold back. Worry and trepidation drained from his expression and was replaced with unbridled desire. He kept his grip on her wrists and gained leverage with his other arm. He angled his body so that each steady thrust rubbed against her most sensitive parts. The friction, building a wave of pleasure, made her body writhe and pulse until she was flying over the edge, crying out his name in a tangle of breath and moans.
Her body was warm and sated as she watched Nick follow her over the edge and reach orgasm. His body moved over her like a machine, pumping and grinding. His arms flexed and pulsed in a heady beat that had her core tightening with excitement. He tucked his head into the crook of her neck and rode out his pleasure, gasping her name with heated breath. After a beat, he untied the rope and kissed each of her wrists.
Lindsey threaded her fingers into Nick’s hair and brushed back a blond curl. “This is just the beginning,” she whispered through a lazy grin.
“This is our beginning,” he echoed and pressed feather-soft kisses to her smiling lips.
Nick surveyed the cabin. The plan was to pack up, eat breakfast, and then head back to Langley Park. But after last night, his mind was hardly on camp protocol. He had slept with Lindsey. No, he’d made love to her. All his previous experiences paled in comparison. He had fucked other girls, but he’d only ever loved one.
His mind was whirling with ideas. He would get his pilot’s license. Then he could just fly and go visit her. Th
ey each had two more years of high school, but they could choose to go to the same college. The world was bright and shining and glowing with possibilities.
This is just the beginning.
That was their mantra. Those five words protected them from the distance that would soon be between them. They’d get back to Langley Park on Friday. His mother wasn’t scheduled to be in Langley Park to pick him up until Monday afternoon. Lindsey wasn’t scheduled to fly back to Maine until Monday night. They had the entire weekend together. That gave them plenty of time to make a plan and schedule visits.
This is just the beginning.
He just had to keep telling himself that.
The door to the cabin opened, and a terrified Rory met his gaze. “Mr. Nick, I need some help. Rachel fell.”
“What do you mean Rachel fell?”
Before Rory could answer, Lindsey was standing outside Sawyer Cabin. “Rory where’s Rachel? I thought you guys were just going for a quick walk after breakfast.”
“She fell, Miss Lindsey. We were jumping rock to rock, and she landed wrong.” The kid looked like he was about to cry.
“It’s all right, Rory,” Lindsey said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Just take us to her.”
Rory led them to the rock near the bluff. Rachel was still on the ground holding her ankle.
“I’m sorry Mr. Nick and Miss Lindsey. Rory tried to help me, but I just can’t put any weight on my ankle,” Rachel said, her voice shaky as she wiped away tears.
“Nobody’s in any trouble,” Lindsey said. “We just want to get you to the clinic.”
I’m going to pick you up, Rachel,” Nick said, bending over and carefully lifting her into his arms.
They made their way through the forest and over to the clinic. The director was out on the front lawn and came running over.
She ushered them inside. “What happened?”
Nick set Rachel on a cot. “Rachel hurt her ankle. She can’t put any weight on it.”
The camp nurse rushed over and assessed Rachel’s injury. The woman looked up, met the director’s gaze, and gave a quick shake of her head. The director motioned for Nick and Lindsey to join her outside the exam room.
The Complete Langley Park Series (Books 1-5) Page 56