by Cathryn Fox
She touched her lips, the kiss he’d given her earlier that morning before he’d left her bed still warming her mouth. But what warmed her the most was that he wanted to be there for her, to hold her and comfort her. Honest to God, he was unlike any other guy she’d ever met.
“Earth to Mel.” Fellow counselor Jamie waved her hand in front of Mel’s face.
Mel blinked. “What?”
“You look like you’re a million miles away.”
“Just thinking about the activities planned for tonight,” she said, but from the look on Jamie’s face, it was obvious she didn’t believe her. Mel turned her attention to the little preteens piling into Beaver Lodge, heavy backpacks slung over their shoulders and smiles plastered on their cute little faces. Their parents kissed them goodbye as Mel looked past their shoulders and out the window, noticing the dark clouds moving in to shade the afternoon sun.
Great. The last thing she wanted was for the skies to open up during their overnight adventure. Not only would that put a damper on the late-day bonfire and hot dog roast planned, she had no doubt a few of these girls would be afraid to spend a night in a cabin in the middle of the woods during a thunderstorm.
She clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, who’s ready for the long hike to Big Bear and dinner over an open fire?”
The girls all started jumping up and down—all except little Sasha, who was tucking her tiny dog into a small pouch on her chest. Shoot. Mel had forgotten that she told her she could take it along. Oh well, there wasn’t much she could do about it now. A promise was a promise.
“Let’s get a move on then.” Mel shouldered her backpack and headed outdoors, Jamie and her group of girls following. Since each bunkhouse housed twenty kids and two camp counselors, Beatrice had paired Mel up with Jamie for the night.
Darkness had settled over them as they pushed their way through the woods and made the trek along the Stone Squaw Trail to the cabins at the top of the mountain. Once they finally reached their destination, they all gathered kindling for a fire. Afterward Mel and Jamie started preparing a bonfire while the girls all ran around excitedly, claiming and making their bunks.
“So you and Ryeland,” Jamie began, laying more kindling on the fire. “I thought you said you didn’t like him.”
Mel shrugged, digging through her backpack for a lighter. “We’re friends.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
Squatting, Mel held the lighter to the wood and watched as it caught fire, recalling the couple who’d caught her and Ryeland kissing in the hot springs. No doubt that news had spread quicker than a brush fire. “You can’t always believe what you hear.”
“Just so you know, Suzette is all over him on the tennis court,” Jamie said, adding a few larger pieces of wood to the fire. “I don’t like that girl.” The concern in Jamie’s voice made Mel wonder if she’d had a run-in with Suzette and if she was warning Mel because when faced with a common enemy she’d decided to side with another townie.
Bethany came bouncing over, putting an end to their conversation. “Can we tell ghost stories?” she asked, her blue eyes bright and eager as she clutched a teddy bear to her chest.
“Only if everyone is in agreement,” Mel said then put her hands over her ears when the girl shrieked to her friends that they were allowed.
Mel laughed at the girls as they all ran around the camp, but the smile quickly fell from her face when a rumble sounded in the distance.
“Shit,” Jamie muttered, poking the fire. “Just what we need.”
“We’d better get the food cooked before the storm hits.”
Thirty minutes later they all sat around the fire, eating hotdogs, s’mores, and telling ghost stories. While Mel wasn’t partial to being scared, especially when she was in the middle of the woods and a storm was brewing overhead, the girls all seemed to enjoy it. The thunder grew closer and Sasha’s tiny dog whimpered inside its pouch. They hung outside as long as possible, and when Mel felt the first drop, she stood and hustled the girls into the cabin. Jamie grabbed the supplies and made it inside just as the sky opened and drenched the campsite.
The storm picked up outside, but the girls took it in stride, dry and cozy as they played board games and cards. It wasn’t long before the trek through the woods caught up with them and the sounds of yawns filled the cabin.
“Okay, time for bed,” Mel announced and grabbed her backpack. She pulled out her cell and tucked it in to her back pocket, hoping to catch a moment alone to send Ryeland a text when the girls were all tucked in.
A tug on her T-shirt had her turning around and she nearly jumped out of her skin when a bolt of lightning shook the walls of the cabin.
“Fluffy needs to go potty,” Sasha said. “Will you come with us? There could be a ghost out there.” She blinked anxiously up at Mel, and Mel briefly closed her eyes. Dammit, why the hell had she agreed to let Fluffy come in the first place? Now she had to take her outside, in the middle of a downpour, so she could do her nightly business before bed. She certainly couldn’t let Sasha do it, or come along. Not only was it dark and stormy, the ghost stories had obviously scared her.
She turned to Jamie who gave her an it wasn’t me who invited the dog along look when she saw a whimpering Fluffy peeking out from the pouch, obviously in need of a grassy spot to relieve herself.
With a sigh of resolution, Mel reached for her hoodie and pulled it on. “I’ll be right back. Fluffy needs to go,” Mel muttered under her breath.
Another loud clap of thunder jarred the cabin, causing all the girls to squeal and the lights to dim. Jamie gave a mock shiver. “Better you than me,” she said. “I’ll just hang here with the girls.”
Fluffy whimpered louder as the girls all jumped in their beds, trying to scare each other as they came up with clever ideas on what—or who—was really causing all the noise outside.
Mel grabbed a flashlight and inched opened the door. She stuck her head out and glanced around, hoping like hell she wasn’t about to encounter freaky Jason Voorhees. She left the door open slightly, letting a sliver of light spill outside, and was about to put Fluffy on the ground when lighting zigzagged across the sky and the dog bolted from her hands. The little ball of fur disappeared into the night, her yelps growing fainter and fainter as she darted into the woods. Mel waved the flashlight around and peered into the dark but lost sight of her as she ran through the underbrush.
Bloody hell!
Rain poured down her face as she blinked rapidly. She pulled the front of the hood over her face and swiped at her eyes as she glanced around, trying to figure out what to do next.
“Everything okay?” Jamie asked, sticking her head outside.
“The damn dog ran off,” she whispered, hopping back up on the porch.
“Fuck no.” Jamie stepped out, lowering her voice to match Mel’s.
“I have to go find her, but don’t tell Sasha. Make something up to buy me some time.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Tell her Fluffy wanted to go for a walk to find the perfect spot or something.”
“Okay, hurry back.”
Mel took off into the woods, following the direction Fluffy had gone. “Fluffy,” she called out and glanced around, trying not to let the nighttime noises scare the beejesus out of her. She hurried forward, waving her light around and listening for the dog’s whimpers. Well off the beaten path, she pushed wet leaves and heavy branches out of her way, but missed the fallen log and stumbled forward. She grasped at a low-hanging branch in an attempt to balance herself but it slipped from her wet hands and she face-planted in the mud.
“Jesus!” she cursed. So this is what she got for being nice and letting Sasha bring her dog along. She wiped her face and cold moved into her bones as the rain fell harder, dripping off the heavy leaves and plastering her hoodie and clothes to her body. She sat still for a moment, trying to catch her breath when she heard the whimpering sound. “Fluffy,” she called o
ut softly, and pulled herself to her feet. “Here, girl. It’s okay. I’ll bring you back to Sasha.”
Her light fanned out and she caught a flash of white, but when she made a move to walk she snapped a branch and Fluffy took off again. She ran after her, her light bobbing as she hurried, and the next thing she knew she fell and was sliding down a big, muddy hill. She screamed out for help, but that proved futile, considering she was alone in the woods in the middle of a storm. She slid down the embankment, picking up momentum, and she grasped for something solid to grip on to. Her fingers clawed at the mud with no leverage to be found.
Trees flew by in a whir and when she finally stopped falling she blinked her eyes open to find herself near the lake. Heart pounding like mad against her chest, she glanced around, trying to orient herself. God, she was so lost. She choked back tears and struggled to think. Okay, if she followed the lake it would eventually lead her somewhere, right? Her body began shaking harder, from the cold as well as the stress of losing the dog. Not to mention being alone and lost in the woods.
She pushed to her feet and when she heard a faint bark, she wondered if Fluffy had taken a nosedive down the hill too. “Fluffy,” she called out, working hard to keep the panic at bay. The trees thinned and she heard the dog again as she came to a clearing. She was about to call out again when a large, hooded figure dressed in a raincoat stepped in front of her. She gasped, her hands going to her chest as she stumbled backward, every scary story told earlier that night coming back to haunt her.
Before she knew what was happening, a set of strong hands circled her back to balance her.
“Melody, it’s me,” Ryeland said, pushing his hood off so she could see his face.
“Rye,” she choked out breathlessly, nearly sobbing at the sight of him. “You scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“What are you doing out here?” she asked and that’s when she heard Fluffy whimper.
He held the little dog out in his hand. “The same thing you are, I take it?”
“What?” she asked, completely confused and trying to make sense of things. “How did you know she was lost?”
“I was inside studying when I heard barking and came out to see what was going on.”
She glanced around, and when lighting lit the sky she caught sight of his family’s chalet in the distance. “Oh my God. I got lost but had no idea I’d wandered into the resort housing area.”
“Come on, we need to get you inside.”
She pushed her hair from her face and shook her head. “I need to get back with Fluffy.”
“Not yet you don’t,” he said, holding both her and the dog close.
Before she could protest, he led her to the boathouse nestled on the lake. They climbed the stairs and he ushered her into the gorgeous upstairs loft overlooking the water, a loft that doubled as a guesthouse.
She stood there dripping wet as he wrapped Fluffy in a blanket and settled her onto the sofa. The little dog curled into a ball and burrowed inside the blanket as Ryeland walked back to Mel.
“Look at you,” he said, his smile so adorable as he brushed mud from her cheeks. “We need to get you cleaned up.”
“First I need to text Jamie to let her know I found Fluffy.” She grabbed her phone from her back pocket, thankful that the counselors had all exchanged numbers a few weeks back, and swiped her finger over the screen. She shot off a text to Jamie, telling her to let Sasha know she’d taken Fluffy to play and everything was fine. After hearing back from Jamie, she powered down her phone, and glanced up to see Ryeland grinning at her.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?”
She wiped her face on her shoulder but only managed to smear the mud. “I’m soaking wet and covered in mud. I’m hardly gorgeous,” she countered, but from the hungry way he was looking at her, she couldn’t deny that she did feel beautiful, desired by him.
“Come here,” he said, his voice deeper than it was only moments before.
He opened his arms and she stepped in them. “But I’m going to get you all dirty,” she said.
“I don’t care,” he murmured and the next thing she knew his lips were closing over hers. He kissed her deeply, his warmth surrounding her as their tongues tangled. His hands wrapped around her waist and he rubbed her back, creating heat with friction. His touch was warm, strong…protective. She sagged against him and a low growl sounded in his throat as their bodies grew needy for one another.
“Melody,” he whispered into her mouth, a new, never-before-heard strain in his voice. He shifted his stance and that’s when she felt how much he wanted her.
“Yeah?”
He ran his thumb over the wet strings on her mud-coated hoodie. “You need to get out of these clothes.”
She inched back and looked into his pewter eyes. The way he looked at her told her how much he ached for her, but it also told her he wanted her out of her clothes not to have sex, but because he cared about her well-being. Except she wanted out of her clothes because she needed to get naked—to have sex with him—more than she needed anything in her entire life. In fact, she wanted him so much it scared her.
He took off his raincoat, peeled his shirt off, and gestured toward a closed door as he held it out to her. “You might want to wash up first.” He fisted his hair, a look of agony on his face as he took a measured step back. “I can run up to the house and grab you some sweat clothes. They’ll be big, but they should work for now.”
He made a move to go and Mel touched his shoulder to stop him. She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly when he turned back to her. Their eyes met, every feeling she had for him rising to the surface as his hand tangled with hers.
“Melody?” he asked, his gaze gliding over her face, questioning, assessing.
Instead of answering she lifted her arms.
“Oh, God, Melody,” he murmured, understanding moving into his eyes. “Are you sure?”
She gave him a smile that was slow, inviting. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’m positive.”
His hands went to the hem of her hoodie and his nostrils flared as he gripped it. Her heart raced, and as he peeled the wet cotton over her head, taking her T-shirt with it, she wondered if he could hear the rapid beat against her chest. As he stood back to look at her, her gaze moved over his bare chest, taking pleasure in how toned his body was. She quivered under his inspection, and the next thing she knew he was guiding her to one of the closed doors.
She found herself inside the bathroom, and she stood near the sink as Ryeland reached behind the shower curtain to turn on the spray. Water gushed behind him as he lowered himself to the edge of the tub. With a crook of his finger he gestured her closer. She moved toward him and he widened his legs, pulling her in between them. His mouth moved to her stomach and he buried his face into her flesh, his tongue doing delicious things to her bellybutton.
She gripped his hair, running her fingers through it, and he glanced up at her. The raw need in his eyes excited her all the more. His fingers went to the button on her shorts and lingered there for a moment.
“Tell me you want this, Melody. Tell me you want me. I need to hear it, because I want you so much that once we start this, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop,” she whispered.
One hand slipped behind her head, and he dragged her mouth to his. Their lips joined and he kissed her with such hunger and intensity it left her shaken. When he pulled back, they both stood there breathless. His hands went back to her shorts. He released the button and the hiss of her zipper cut through the quiet of the room as he pulled it down. Her shorts fell to her ankles as he gripped her panties and slowly tugged them from her hips. He dropped to his knees and unlaced her hiking boots, then tapped her legs. She lifted them one at a time as he took off her boots and removed her shorts and panties.
“I’ve been dying to taste you again, baby,” he murmured i
nto her stomach. “It’s all I’ve been able to think about.”
Her toes curled into the bath mat beneath her feet as his fingers slipped between her thighs, and when he lightly brushed her sex, her trembling hands went to his shoulders for support.
With his one hand between her legs, the other reached around her back and unhooked her bra. It fell away, leaving her complexly bare, completely exposed, completely vulnerable. But she didn’t feel afraid. Not with him.
“But first let’s get this mud off you,” he said, standing up.
As steam filled the room, Ryeland made short work of his clothes. Lacking any sort of modesty, he stood before her, and her breath caught at his beautiful nakedness. He stepped into the shower and pulled her in with him. The hot needle-like spray felt like heaven, but not as good as his soap-lathered hands moving over her body. He touched her gently, taking care to scrub the forest from her skin. God, she loved the way he touched her, wanted her. Her body burned with need as his fingers raced over her eagerly, and unable to help herself, she took the soap from him and lathered him in return. He threw his head back, one hand gripping the metal shower rod as she raced her hands over him, wanting to touch every inch of him. And from the way his body was swelling with need, it was clear he had many inches.
She closed one hand over his hard cock and he growled. “Jesus, Melody.” A thrill moved through her and she took pleasure in teasing him, seeing how crazy she could make him with a simple touch.
She gripped him with both hands and stroked lightly. His body shook. Almost violently.
“Fuck,” he murmured and moved his hips, pushing into her hands. His soft growls sliced the air and she could feel his veins fill with blood as she squeezed harder.
“Melody,” he murmured after a long while and grabbed her hands. He placed them at her sides and leaned into her, his breath warm on her face. He took deep, gulping breaths as they exchanged a long, heated look. “Keep that up and I’ll be finished before I start. And there are so many things I need to do to you.”
