by A. J. Wynter
“I know,” he said as he kept kissing her. “This is a bad idea.” He slipped his calloused hand down the front of her pajama pants and finding her wetness, his thick fingers were quick to finish off the job. Serena gripped the plaid comforter and screamed out as the orgasm came crashing through her body, leaving her trembling in its wake.
She gasped and released the sheets, wrinkled from her sweaty grip, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, her heart still racing.
“Oh, my god...” she managed to croak. “That was, I mean... wow, that was, I’ve never...” she gulped, seemingly unable to form a complete sentence. She trembled as she propped herself up on her elbow to look at Freddie and trailed her fingertips down his washboard abs. If he could make her feel like that just with his fingers, what could those lips, or more insanely, what could that magnificent cock do to her?
She cupped his package in her hand and leaned in to kiss him. His lips were soft as they traveled all over her face. She started to inch her way down his body. She wanted to make him feel the way he had just made her feel, but he gripped her biceps and pulled her up, kissing her hard again.
“This is a bad idea,” he whispered. “You seemed sad, I just wanted to make you feel better.”
Serena paused. Nothing about what he had done felt dutiful to her. She thought his kisses had emotion behind them and Freddie moved sensually, like he was making love, not fucking. She thought that there had been a connection but clearly, she was wrong. Freddie was just very talented in bed. He was someone who knew how to make a woman feel like she was the most special woman in the world.
She pressed her hands into Freddie’s chest and rolled away from him.
“Thanks for making me feel better. But don’t get any ideas about this happening again,” she said. She reached down to the floor, picked up the two pillows and jammed them in between them.
Chapter 17
FREDDIE PRESSED HIS hands into the shower tiles and let the water pour over his head. He hadn’t gotten much sleep with Serena beside him. He had lied to her. He did feel something for her, but it was something that couldn’t happen. He needed to build a wall between them, one that couldn’t be torn down by the glint in her eyes when she smiled. It had taken all of his will power not to make love to her last night, but theirs was a business relationship. Or, at least that’s what he kept telling himself. If sex got mixed into the equation, one or both of them was going to get hurt. Serena has enough heartache in her life right now, he thought to himself, trying to convince himself that her heart was the one that needed protecting – not his.
He stepped out of the shower and wrapped one of his beach towels around his waist. He lathered up his shaving cream and patted it onto the stubble on his face. His brother Logan rocked a mountain man beard, and as much as Freddie wanted one of his own, his was too blonde, too patchy, and instead of making him look grizzled and older, his made him look like a pubescent boy who hadn’t learned to shave yet.
He heard a light tap on the door and turned off the water.
“Yes?”
“Are you going to be much longer?” Serena asked from the other side of the door.
“Just a few minutes,” he replied and turned on the faucet.
She tapped on the door again, “I have to pee.”
He shut off the water and wiped his hands on the towel wrapped around his waist. He opened up the door and met her eyes.
“Sorry,” she said, shifting back and forth on the balls of her feet – a pee dance.
“It’s okay, I’ll finish in the kitchen,” he said and held up the razor. After he finished shaving in the kitchen sink, he reached for the tea towel to dry off his face but realized that even for a bachelor like him, using a tea towel was really uncouth. He pulled up the corner of his towel to pat off his face, then practically jumped out of his skin as Serena’s voice rang out.
“Freddie, do you have dental floss?”
Was she a ninja? He hadn’t even heard her come out of the bathroom. He turned to face her while continuing to dry off his face. “There should be some in the medicine cabinet,” he said.
Her eyes went wide as saucers and she whipped around to face the bedroom. That’s when Freddie realized that his manhood was exposed in its full, fresh out of cold-water glory. He dropped the damp towel and it fell heavily back in place over his junk. Serena flew into the bathroom, unable to look at him.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to... um, it was an accident,” he said through the closed bathroom door. When she didn’t respond, he continued, “I’m going to make breakfast, what do you like?” he asked.
“Smoothie,” he heard her voice call out from the shower.
Freddie pulled on a pair of boxer briefs, hiking pants, a merino t-shirt, and a flannel button up. He opened up his pantry and scratched his head as glanced around for anything that would blend. He pulled out his cell phone and texted Charlotte. How do you make a smoothie?
His phone chimed back almost immediately. Her message read, LOL. Go to the café.
While Serena showered, Freddie made up some sandwiches, filled up two big water bottles, and tossed them, along with a handful of energy bars into a backpack. It wasn’t the most practical backpack he had ever put together, but he didn’t anticipate making it very far along the trail. He figured that they would stop at the first photo-worthy location, snap a few photos, and then be back in time for dinner. His stomach growled as he checked the time. How long could it possibly take her to get ready?
An hour later, he had his answer. She stepped out of the bathroom with a full face of makeup and her hair perfectly straight, wearing yoga pants and a plaid shirt. In other words, she looked hot as hell, but Freddie didn’t care. He was starving and he thought that she looked prettier before she stepped into the bathroom.
“Come on, we should get going before it gets too hot,” he said. “I’ve packed us some snacks and a lunch, but I’m out of green things to put in a smoothie.”
“Okay,” she said. “What do I need to bring?”
“It’s a short hike to the lake, and I’ve got everything in here,” he patted the bag sitting on the couch beside him. “Just bring your camera, or whatever you need.”
The wind ruffled the leaves on the trees as they walked from Freddie’s house to Main Street. Freddie glanced up to the blue sky and saw some mare’s tails clouds on the horizon. They usually meant rain was coming, but he wasn’t too concerned as they were going to be back well before any weather could set in.
One quick visit to the Sugar Peaks Café later, they emerged armed with two green smoothies and two coffees. They hopped into his truck and headed to the trailhead.
After taking the requisite seventy-five million photos of their coffee, smoothies, and their profiles against the mountain vistas as they drank their coffees, the two of them set off marching down the trail.
“Oh, here you go,” Freddie pulled out a can of bear spray from his pack and clipped it to her belt loop.
“What’s this?” she asked, examining the canister. “Bear spray? Do we really have to worry about bears here?”
Freddie stopped and turned to face Serena. “Sweetheart, you saw a bear with your own two eyes yesterday.”
“But this is a trail, where people go.”
“Bears can’t read and don’t worry, there hasn’t been a bear attack on this trail in oh...” he rubbed his chin, “about three weeks or so...”
“What?” Serena’s mouth gaped open and she stopped dead on the tracks. “I’m going back.”
“Easy now,” Freddie grabbed onto the crook of her arm. “I was kidding, there’s never been a bear attack on this trail. The bears will hear us coming,” he reached out and jingled the bell that was attached to his backpack, “They’ll give us space. I’ve never had to use bear spray, I just thought that it would make you feel safer.” As he felt her body soften, he let go of her arm. “Cougars though, they’re the ones I’d be worried about.”
Serena playfully smacked Freddie on the bicep and continued walking up the trail. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he wasn’t joking. The only thing that scared him out on the trails were the big cats.
The bear bell jingled as Freddie and Serena made their way along the rocky path. It took about an hour longer to reach High Lake because of all the photo stops. Although Freddie found the pace relaxing, the toughest part was keeping his eyes off of Serena’s round ass in her yoga pants. The feeling from the night before hadn’t been lost on him, and there were times that he wanted to reach out to her and hold her hand as they walked.
A stream trickled beside the path, the cold glacier water cooling the hot summer air as they trudged up and up. They rounded the last switchback and as High Lake came into view, Serena stopped dead in her tracks. She turned to face Freddie. “Are you kidding me?” She turned to face the lake and then back to Freddie. “This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”
High Lake was Caribbean blue. Its far edge abutted the base of a mountain and was home to a year-round glacier; chunks of ice floated by in the water, ignoring the message that it was July.
“Can we go in?” Serena asked.
“Are you crazy? It’s practically a slushy.” He reached his hand into the icy water and shivered, but Serena had already started peeling off her boots and socks.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Freddie smiled and helped her up from the rock. “Come with me.” He held out his hand and Serena grasped it, holding her hiking boots in her other hand. She hopped from rock to rock as Freddie guided her along the shoreline. He hadn’t been to High Lake in a few years, but the little cabin was exactly where he remembered it, along with the red canoe. “They filmed a movie up here,” he said as he pointed to the cabin. “They had to fly everything in with helicopters and when it was finished, they left all this stuff here.” Freddie pushed open the door to the cabin and re-emerged with two paddles. “You should be able to get some great photos from the middle of the lake.”
“I don’t know, Freddie, I have never been in one of those boats before.” She didn’t follow him to the water’s edge.
“It’s called a canoe, and they’re known for being stable,” Freddie lied. The canoe was an old, heavy sucker though, so unless she stood up and did something really stupid, he had enough paddling experience to make sure they wouldn’t tip over.
“Really?” Serena’s arms were crossed as she watched Freddie slide the front of the canoe into the lake.
“Your chariot awaits. Here, leave your boots on shore, take this paddle and set it down on the gunwales.” He demonstrated by setting the paddle down crossways across the canoe on the wooden rails than ran along the top. “Then slide the paddle for stability as you walk to the seat.” 030
Serena gripped the paddle so hard her knuckles turned white. Freddie held the rear of the canoe as she followed his instructions to take her seat in the bow. Freddie pushed off from the shore and expertly stepped in, taking his seat in the stern. Serena was still holding either side of the canoe in a death grip, the paddle between her legs.
“Should I paddle?” she asked as she turned to face him, but when the boat rocked, she panicked and whipped her head around to face forward.
“Why don’t you just relax and take some pictures. When you get used to the way the canoe moves, you can do some paddling.”
The water dripping off the end of Freddie’s paddle was the only sound as they glided to the middle of the lake, with the drips being amplified by the acoustics of the surrounding mountains. He paddled a few strokes and then let the canoe drift as Serena took pictures. She held the phone up in front of her, “Get in here, Freddie,” she smiled as she tried to get them both into the frame.
After taking several photos, Serena tucked her phone into the pocket on her leggings. “Wait, let me take a photo of you,” Freddie said and reached out his hand for her phone. Serena turned and stretched to pass him the device, but she was too far. “Noooooo,” Freddie yelled out as she stood up. He felt the canoe tip to his right and then to his left and then back to his right again as Serena compensated for the wobbles. The canoe tipped to the left again, hard this time, and Serena’s calf hit the side of the canoe. She screamed and while she was in mid-air, she chucked the phone at Freddie before disappearing below the icy water.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Freddie said as Serena re-emerged. He set down his paddle, tucked Serena’s phone into his pants pocket and knelt on the side of the canoe. His first instinct had been to jump in after her, but he knew that it was going to be tough enough to get one person back into the boat, let alone two.
Serena’s mouth was open and she seemed to be gasping for air or trying to scream – but no sound was coming out. The temperature of the water had shocked her and her body trying to figure out what was happening to it. Freddie needed to get her out of that water – and fast.
He leaned over the side of the canoe. “Serena, you’re going to be okay. You hear me?” The last thing he needed was for her to panic and pull him in as well. She nodded her head, her teeth chattering as she gripped the edge of the canoe. “This is going to be tricky, but I’m going to pull you up. You need to stay as low as possible and kick like you’re swimming, then barrel roll into the canoe. No standing, got it?” He started to pull and the canoe danced from side to side as he tried to counterbalance Serena’s weight. “Stop trying so hard,” Freddie said. Serena let her body go limp and as he dragged her into the canoe like a seal while the edge of the canoe kissed the surface of the water, but thankfully didn’t dip under. She huddled up into a ball on the bottom of the boat, her hair was soaked and her teeth were chattering, but Freddie knew that she’d be fine. The whole ordeal had happened in slow motion for both of them, but in reality, the polar bear plunge and subsequent rescue had taken place within the space of one minute.
“I’m not being a perv, Serena. But you need to get out of those clothes.”
“I-i-i-i-it’s ooooookkkkkkay,” she chattered.
“No, it’s not. You need to get out of those wet clothes and warm up. Here.” Freddie unbuttoned his flannel shirt and held it out for her. “I won’t look, I promise,” he said softly, flapping the shirt.
She gripped the sides of the canoe and gingerly sat up, releasing one hand to snatch the shirt from his hand. “Turn your head,” she said.
Freddie obeyed. “Just, for the love of God, don’t stand up again,” he said.
“That should’ve been rule number one in your canoe lesson, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t think you’d stand up,” Freddie said. “Everybody knows that you’re not supposed to stand up in a canoe.”
“I’m not everyone,” Serena snapped.
Freddie smiled. She was right. With the return of her sassiness, he knew that she was going to be just fine. Ripples spread across the glass calm lake as Serena shimmied out of her wet clothes. “Is it safe to turn?” he asked.
“Yes,” Serena replied.
Freddie turned to face Serena. She was still sitting on the bottom of the canoe, her small body swimming in the fabric of his shirt. Black lines of eye makeup ran straight from her blue eyes down her cheeks. Circles of wetness were forming on his flannel where her wet strands of hair dripped just above her breasts. She pulled her knees into her chest and rested her chin on her knees.
He had never seen anyone so beautiful in his life.
“Serena, do you trust me?” he asked.
She scoffed, “Are you joking? After telling me that these boats are stable?”
“Yeah, I shouldn’t have done that. They’re tippy as hell.” He was trying to play it off, but he knew that he had been an idiot. If she had hit her head, or if the whole canoe had tipped and if they couldn’t self-rescue, they both could have gotten hypothermia and drowned. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m a moron. You have every right to hate me.”
She looked up at him through her raccoon eyes. “I don’t hate you, Freddie. And you kno
w what the weird thing is? I actually DO trust you.”
He was surprised and pulled out Serena’s phone. “Let me take a picture of you.”
“No.” She reached out to grab the phone from him, but in the process threw the balance of the canoe out of whack and she rolled to the side.
“Serena, please. Let me show you what I see right now.” Freddie said. He reached out his hand and helped to right her.
“Fine, but I reserve the right to delete it,” she said and crossed her arms.
He smiled and snapped a few pictures of her. But it wasn’t until he moved to put the phone away that he saw it, without the screen in front of her, she relaxed and the reflection of the snowy peaks glinted in the pupils of her eyes. He whipped the phone back out and snapped the shot before she registered what was happening.
“Done,” he said and handed her the phone. He picked up the paddle and returned the canoe to shore. When he felt the bow of the canoe scrape the patch of gravel at the shore, he hopped out and the cold water almost took his breath away. Serena was truly, very lucky. He pulled the canoe halfway up on the shore and reached to help her out.
“Can I stand up now?” she asked and smiled wryly, her chipped toothed smile making an appearance.
“Yes ma’am,” he replied and held out both of his hands for her. She shook with trepidation as she stood and stepped out of the canoe and onto dry land. He rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs and the two of them paused. He knew that he should let go, but didn’t want to.
She looked down at their clasped hands and tilted her head to look up at Freddie. “Last night, you said... I mean, the reason that we um, you know...”
“I didn’t mean it,” he interrupted. She was either nervous or still cold. Either way, she was having a hard time forming a sentence. “I said I kissed you and touched you to make you feel better. That is the truth, but only part of it. He leaned in close to her ear, “You have no idea what I wanted to do to you last night.” He saw the crimson spreading along her jawline and down into the neckline of his shirt. “That was just the tip of the iceberg.”
