by Lindsey Hart
“Hey.” Raiden appears all casual like he didn’t just follow me here.
“Um. Hi. I’m going for a walk…”
“I see that. Can I join you?”
“No. Obviously not.”
“Can I trail behind you, pretending like I’m not following you while, of course, you know I’m there the whole time?”
“No!”
“I’ll just walk in front of you then. I won’t bother you. You won’t even see me if you give me a five-minute head start.”
“No!”
“You don’t own the woods.” He waves at me, so obnoxious that I want to scream. I’m pretty sure this breaks every single kind of rule about not being a huge meathead douchebag, but he’s right. There isn’t anything I can do to stop him. “But this is the start of all the trails. Don’t worry. It branches off. We probably won’t even see each other along the way.”
“Great. Go ahead of me. Maybe the cougars and bears will eat you and not me then.”
Raiden grins, nonplussed by the daunting wildlife probably camping out in there.
“Spiders and snakes too,” I add.
“I’ll be sure to scream if I see anything so you can run for it. That way, if they get me, you can tell the whole world how I thoughtfully and selflessly sacrificed myself for you.”
“Ugh. Do you ever shut up?” I rock back on my heels. I’m wearing runners that I purchased just for this trip. I was ready to do some serious walking and thinking, and now Raiden’s messed all that up. Kind of like how he’s been messing with my mind since the takeover.
Every time I think I’m prepared to encounter him, he proves me wrong.
Kind of like now. My palms are soaking wet, my heart is about to slam its way out of my chest and go running down the trail I’m debating about not even taking, and my va-jay is more enthusiastic than she has been in years. Or maybe ever. I’m starting to think parts of me are broken, meaning the lady parts, my hormonal parts. And whatever parts in my brain responsible for getting my wires crossed and awakening some very unwanted sensations that I can’t seem to control or stop.
I think going to the cabin, plugging my headphones into my phone, and putting on some classical music would help me relax, and that way, I wouldn’t have to deal with Raiden. I could lock him out of the cabin.
But I can’t lock him out of my head.
Freaking potato.
“There’s a team-building exercise in two days.”
“I know,” I snap too quickly. My voice is so shrill that it scares a black-looking bird out of a tree further up the trail.
“They’re doing a fishing derby.”
“I know.”
“You’re going to be paired up with me.”
“Great!” I stomp my foot to work out some of my building frustration—frustration that’s all bad but not all anger based. Now I’m thinking about all the ways I could be paired up with Raiden, and some are pretty imaginative. So yes, it makes me very frustrated. I’m also getting pissed because I just want to go for a walk without him.
Or maybe I don’t want that at all—not really—which is also very frustrating.
Maybe it would be easier to say that everything to do with Raiden is just extremely aggravating.
“I’ll prepare myself to lose. If I were paired up with someone other than you, I think I’d have a chance.”
“Ouch.” Raiden slams his hand over his chest. “Right here, Zoey Zo Zo. You got me right here.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“The guides will do all the work. They’ll teach us everything we need to know and put us right on the fish, and they’ll also supply all the gear.”
“Maybe I won’t give them my information for the fishing clearance tomorrow. Then I don’t have to take part.”
“You can still come on the boat ride either way.”
“You know, I’m really starting to dislike you.”
“That’s too bad. I’m having a great time.”
“Ha! You couldn’t go without technology for a day!”
“Oh, really?” Raiden pulls his phone from his back pocket. Before I have a chance to say anything, he arches his arm back and throws it as hard as he can—and Raiden is seriously still very athletic—into the trees along the trail.
“Why would you do that!” I gasp. “You…you’re…that was seriously stupid! That doesn’t prove anything other than you have no regard for money because you make so much of it now, you don’t even have to work to earn it.”
I don’t wait for a response. I’m sure Raiden would love to remind me that he grew up with nothing, the same as me, and made it big. It’s the typical rags to riches, American Dream kind of story everyone loves to hear. Everyone but me. Right now, I just want to get on with my walk. I take off, leaving Raiden behind me. I tell myself that I hope he’s not following me, but I know it’s a lie.
The truth is, I’m kind of scared to walk alone. I mouthed off so much about the wild animals and bugs and everything that I’m now afraid of seeing a bear or getting bitten by a snake or something. Knowing Raiden is back there, far enough that I can’t see him and can barely hear him, makes me feel oddly and stupidly comforted even though he wouldn’t be able to protect me from a bear or a snake, and the best he could do is carry my lifeless body back to camp. It’s not exactly a comforting thought.
But still. I just feel… Way more okay than I should.
And way more excited than I should be. My heart rate has only increased, and now all of me is getting damp because I’m setting a pace fast enough to power walk my hips right off my body. I take a few turns when the path twists and veers off. It does the same thing far more frequently, and I twist and turn with it. I’ve got my head metaphorically so far up my butthole that I don’t even stop to think about how I’m lost until I stop dead in the middle of the trail.
It washes over me—the inescapable fact that I wasn’t even paying attention to all those turns I just took—like a tidal wave of frigid water.
Now my heart is pulsing wildly, and I’m drenched in sweat because I’m scared shitless. Yes, this calls for some swears. Fuck-a-luck, stick shits, damn it, bitchin, frickin, frackin, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! How could I get myself lost?
This is a new level of pathetic—a horrible low.
Of course, it only takes about two seconds for the panic to get its talons embedded deeply into me.
I’m going to die out here. Oh my god, they might never even find my body. If they do find me, it could take days. Are there really bears and cougars and stuff around here? My god, I don’t even know what stuff is. Stuff could be anything. I’ll probably get eaten alive by giant mosquitoes, ticks, and those weird sounding pine sawyers they warned us about at dinner the first night, all before help ever comes. This is humiliating.
The last thought sobers me up, and I spin in a slow circle, trying to get my bearings. Everything looks the same. Just…trees, trees, and more trees.
I try telling myself to calm down and think rationally, but I know it’s hopeless. I paid no attention at all to the path I was walking.
I’m so wound up that it doesn’t even cross my mind to think of calling out for Raiden in hopes that maybe he didn’t lose me in all those twists and turns I took. Yes, I’d stoop that low right about now. Instead of calming down and forcing myself to think of a game plan, I walk up and down the path, pacing in agitation and muttering under my breath.
Suddenly, a branch snaps a few feet back. I freeze. Oh god, this is it. This is how I meet my demise.
I turn slowly, bracing myself to meet whatever grisly end is coming for me in the form of something wild and toothy and scary.
When I spot Raiden coming around the bend in the path, my relief is so great that my lungs deflate, my whole body instantly comes mushy jelly, and the waterworks turn on. Big time. In short, I become a very unattractive, sobbing, blubbering, and snotting mess.
CHAPTER 11
Raiden
As soon as Zoe sees m
e, her face changes. I turned the bend in the path and found her standing there with her face red, her eyes big and scared. She looks like she might have just seen an angry mother bear, but a quick check tells me there aren’t any bears around. It’s silent in the small clearing. Just Zoe and yours truly.
Before I can even gather what the ever-living heck is going on, Zoe’s eyes get even bigger, and then they’re swimming with tears. Some of those tears drip down her cheek, and she sniffles loudly like she’s not even making an effort to contain it. Her face contracts and I realize she’s about to ugly cry. Not that Zoe could ever be ugly. She’s always beautiful. But I’m unprepared for the sudden extreme run Zoe does across the clearing. She comes at me, and I’m a big guy, and Zoe really isn’t big at all, but she knocks me back a step when her body collides with mine. She hits me like the force of a ten-ton truck. I’m astounded, to say the least.
Her arms go around my neck, and she clings to me while she tries to climb me like I’m one of the trees in the forest, and she’s—god, I don’t know. A squirrel, maybe? No, I think they’re more adept at climbing. Maybe a really bottom-heavy bear?
I’m pretty sure I didn’t speak out loud, so I’m a little astounded when Zoe pulls back an inch to sock me in the shoulder with her fist. She does it again, all while sobbing these crazy, huge, wracking sobs that are tearing her small frame apart.
“You! You! You’ve m–m–messed everything up!” She wails. “Everything! I used to be a normal person before I met you. For the second time. Again. Whatever. I used to be okay. I used to be…I used to be someone who doesn’t assault another person in the woods, now look at me! I’m out of control. I can’t make myself be in control. I don’t know what’s happening, and I want to say I want it to stop, but the truth is, I know I d–d–don’t!”
“I’m good with assault, as long as it’s coming from you.” When more tears spill down Zoe’s cheeks, I realize what a shitty joke that was.
“No! No, don’t say that! This is bad! This is wrong!”
I capture Zoe’s hands gently in both of mine. As soon as I do, she melts against me, her sobs picking up steam until her whole body is shaking. I’ve always hated it when people cry. My mom used to do this weekly—cry like this. She had a hard run of it. Having zero luck with men, she worked a few different jobs and nearly killed herself trying to make ends meet. I’d see her crying about bills, about collectors calling, about the new guy who stood her up, and about how she was going to be able to afford to feed us for the week. Sometimes, I didn’t even know what she was crying about, but I always hated it. It made me feel helpless and powerless.
This is slightly different because Zoe isn’t my mom. She’s not my parent, and she’s not embarrassed because she’s the one who is supposed to be taking care of me.
“I was lost,” Zoe sobs. “I might still be lost if you’re lost, but at least you’re here. Y–you’re b–b–better than n–n–n–nothing.”
“Thanks.”
“I d–d–didn’t mean it like that.” Zoe pulls back, and I immediately miss the heat radiating off her body. Her face is flushed, her eyelashes are stuck together in wet clumps, and her eyes are red-rimmed. Her nostrils are still flaring wildly, and when she swipes a hand over her cheeks, she smears a little bit of snot with it.
Despite all that, she’s still gorgeous, and it’s tugging at something other than my balls to see her like this. It feels like my chest is getting stomped on by a pissed off llama. I don’t know exactly what that would look like, but I imagine it’s not pretty. They’d probably take a good chunk out of you. Or, you know, stomp on you just to prove a point.
“I know. And I’m not lost. I know exactly how to get back.” I hope that’s true. I have a pretty good sense of direction, and I did pay attention to the path while I was trying to catch up to Zoe.
“Ugh.” Zoe swipes at her cheeks again. She’s wearing a plain black tank and a set of jeans cut-offs that are ridiculously sexy. She chooses her tank to wipe her hands on. “You must think I’m a crazy person.”
“What you said before,” I start cautiously, “about not being in control and about you not knowing if you even wanted to be in control…”
Zoe’s cheeks turn an even deeper shade of scarlet. “Oh. That…never mind.”
“I can’t never mind. I heard you say it. That you didn’t know what was happening, but you weren’t sure you wanted to stop it.”
“I—”
“I feel the same way.” I swallow hard. Now I’m the one who isn’t sure what’s happening. I might get a roundhouse kick straight to the dick right away. Or maybe that’s more of a sliding kick. An uppercut? A straight-up punch? Clearly, I don’t know my karate, but I’m fully aware any of those options would fucking hurt.
“You…you…”
“I can’t just erase you. I did think about you—all the time—but ever since I saw you in that boardroom, I can’t stop. I can’t sleep, and I can’t think properly anymore. All I think about is you.”
“Gross! Does it include thinking of me in the shower or…”
“Yes.” Grinning at her is easier than trying to profess my feelings here. Feelings I’ve never felt for anyone. Feelings I’m not even sure how to describe because it’s been like all of two seconds since we met again.
“So, what you’re trying to say is you’re attracted to me. And it’s weird. Because of who we used to be.”
“I guess so.”
Zoe angles away. She glances towards the clearing, this time like she might be hoping for an angry mother bear to come charging out at us, just to save her. “I…that is…you’re not…I’m not…this isn’t…it’s not…err…I…”
I step closer so I can brush my hand down her arm. Zoe nearly jumps out of her skin, but then she just stands there, shaking on the spot, her red-rimmed eyes darkening and her pupils getting huge.
“I messed up last time. Honestly, I’d take it as a compliment, but I promise it won’t happen again.”
“It won’t because it shouldn’t. It…it…just isn’t…”
“What? Right, because our parents were married for a couple of years? Because we used to be friends? Friends turn into lovers all the time.”
“Which usually ruins the friendship,” Zoe gasps.
“Which is fine because you profess to hate me, so I’d say we’re no longer friends, and there isn’t anything to ruin in that arena.”
Zoe’s eyes get a little bigger. So does my cock. It’s taking up a ton of room in these shorts, and my balls are so blue, they’d rival the sky above us at the moment. The thought of Zoe doing this, anything, even just looking at me, makes them want to blow again. It actually hurts to stay upright because the pressure building down below is so great.
“I want to make you feel good, Zoe…” Out of all the things I could have said, that one is sure to get me a dick kick.
She doesn’t look pissed, though. If anything, she looks stunned. Then her lips part and her pupils dilate completely, and I can tell she’s thinking about the ways I could make it happen, and now my dick is rivaling the trees around us for hardness and size.
“But things like this…there are…things…uh…what the ever-living fudge am I trying to say?” Zoe growls.
“That there are strings. Consequences. Technically, I’m kind of your boss. Technically, we have a past.”
“Don’t remind me of that!” Zoe growls.
My hand is still on her arm, but she doesn’t jerk away even though her eyes are literally shooting laser beams at me. It should not be this hot imagining Zoe as a vengeful, laser beam shooting, destructive robot.
“Of what? Our past?”
“No. The fact that you’re kind of my boss, which I can fix. Because I’m going to give my notice.”
“That’s right. I forgot.”
“I’m going to do it.” Zoe tilts her chin up.
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Even if you beat me at rock, paper, scissors.”
&nb
sp; “Can I rock, paper, scissors you for the right to make you scream down these woods?”
“You’re disgusting.” The expression on her face says she means the idea is somewhat worth consideration. I can practically smell the steam coming from the wheels churning inside her head as she runs through the different scenarios.
“You’re not. I’d very much like to taste you.” I remove my hand from her arm and clench it into a tight fist. “So, what’s it going to be? Are we going to play?”
Zoe’s eyes lock on my face, her lips part, and her breathing gets all wild and frantic. I look over my shoulder because I’m worried there’s something coming for me—a murderous panther or a rabid squirrel or something. But there’s nothing. Just the dense trees and the forest floor of moss, pine needles, leaves, sticks, and the occasional rock, peeking through.
“What—”
As soon as I swivel back around, Zoe steps forward and grips my face in both her hands. Her nails bite into my cheeks as she drags my face down to hers. There’s nothing tentative about the way our lips meet, and if you’ve heard the expression about the fury of a thousand suns, that saying has nothing on us. Our eager lips, our warring tongues, and the wild moans escaping from both of us put the expression to shame a thousand times over.
CHAPTER 12
Zoe
“Get my shorts off,” I hear myself pant frantically into Raiden’s warm, amazing mouth. Dear god, he’s talented with his lips and his tongue. He said he could make me scream. I might be losing my mind. Maybe I did get bitten by something rabid along the way, and this is the fallout—the whole not being in my right mind thing. I can just hear my inner voice, or maybe it’s the spirit of my lady bits, screaming the words, challenge accepted.
Raiden drops to his knees right there on the path. I realize anyone could come along and see us, but unfortunately, the part of my brain responsible for rational thought only works to tell me that we’re so deep into the woods, and I took so many turns to lead us here, that chances of someone coming across us are probably slim to none.