He dragged her protesting body around the corner of the fence surrounding the house, but the mud was slicker there and Daniel’s feet went out from underneath him. He still had a tight grip on Sam’s hand and took her crashing to the ground next to him. She hit the mud with a splat.
Sam lay on the soggy ground catching her breath. After a moment, she pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked over at Daniel lying supine in the sludge. Sam sat up and pulled her hands from the brown goop, shaking them out to the sides like she was flinging off something noxious.
“Eeeww,” she groaned as she looked down at her clothes. “I’m covered in mud.”
Daniel lifted his head and looked over at her. His eyes raked over her body before he dropped his head back and started laughing.
“It is not funny,” she chastised as his laughter increased in intensity.
Sam got on all fours and crawled over to where he was now sitting up in the mud, still laughing at her. “If you think it’s so funny,” she said with glee as she picked up a sloshy handful of mud, “take that.”
Her aim was true. The gooey missile collided with his chest making a wonderful sound. Bits of mud splashed up and hit him in the face. Sam fell into a fit of giggles.
He stopped laughing. The jovial expression he wore being replaced with a look that screamed ‘oh, really?’ He started to stand up with a menacing look creeping into his eyes.
Uh-oh, Sam thought. That’s not good.
As Daniel got to his knees, he reached down, picked up two handfuls of mud, never once taking his eyes from his adversary.
“Don’t you dare!” Sam squealed, eyes wide as she tried to turn over and get out of his way. The comprehension of what he was about to do firing her into action.
Too late. He pulled the collar of her shirt out and poured the mud down her neck, then patted her on the back. Sam’s back arched as she felt the slimy consistency sliding down her spine.
“Oh, you did not just do that.” She turned around, glaring at him with her best ‘you’ve done it now’.
Picking up another couple of handfuls of mud, she grabbed the front of his shirt before he had a chance to move and poured the mud down his front.
Within minutes, they were having a fully-fledged mud fight. Slipping and sliding while they wrestled about on the ground like a couple of kids. Every inch of their bodies was covered in the stuff. When they finally wore themselves out, they fell back, panting. Sam was flat out, spread-eagled on her back.
“Truce!” she cried.
“Do you submit?” Daniel chuckled.
“Yes, yes. Anything you say. Just stop with the mud.”
He leaned over, his head above Sam’s with a smug expression on his face. He pushed her matted hair to either side of her face.
“I never lose at mud fights,” he said with a grin.
“Make a habit of them, do you?”
“No. This was my first. That’s why I am the undefeated champion.”
“Really? Well, we’ll have to see about that,” Sam said, moving over to grab another handful of mud.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Daniel said grabbing her hands and pinning them above her head. “I’ve had enough mud, for the time being.” He lowered his head and planted a kiss on her lips, pulling away with an odd look on his face.
“You taste of dirt.”
“No shit, Sherlock. I’m covered in the stuff, what did you expect?” She gave him her best smirk as a shiver wracked her soggy body. “I’m also freezing. Can we go inside now?”
“Come on,” he said getting up and offering Sam his hand. He pulled her up off the ground.
“Crikey, look at us,” Sam gasped. “We’re dripping mud. We can’t go in the house like this.”
Daniel looked them up and down and nodded in agreement. It was still hammering down with rain.
“We could stand out here for a moment and let the rain wash off the worst of it,” he suggested.
Sam didn’t want to stand out there any more than she wanted a hole in the head, but she realized they couldn’t go in the house as they were. The thought of having to mop the floors wasn’t that appealing either. “I guess,” she conceded.
Daniel kept hold of Sam’s hands as they walked up to the house, making every effort not to slip over again. By the time they reached the entrance, the rain had washed the worst of the mud from their saturated bodies.
Daniel opened the door for her and they stepped onto the covered deck.
By this time, Sam’s jaw had taken on a mind of its own and was completely beyond her control. Her mouth felt like someone had just put one of those wind up chattering teeth toys in it. Her teeth clattered against each other as she stepped from one foot to the other wrapping her arms around her shivering body in an effort to get warm.
“I-I’m fr-freezing.” Sam stammered.
Daniel was shivering, too.
“Come on,” he said with an urgent tone to his voice. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the bathroom. “We need to get warm fast and I know just the thing.”
Sam creased her brow as Daniel pulled her into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
“In you get,” he said, gesturing towards the steaming spray of water. “Clothes and all.”
Sam shot him a look that shouted ‘are you mad?’. Then her eyebrows shot up to her forehead as she watched him pull off his boots and socks and step under the cascading warm water.
“Oh, this feels so good.” he murmured as the steaming water flowed over his fully clothed body.
Sam took a step back towards the door.
“Sam, come on,” Daniel said as he watched her still shivering by the bathroom door. “You’ll catch your death if you don’t warm up quickly.”
She pulled in a deep breath and exhaled it through a mouth that wouldn’t stop chattering. Crazy as she thought he was, and with nerves that were tying knots in her stomach, she couldn’t get away from the thought that it did look good. After a moment’s more hesitation, she decided if you can’t beat them, join them. Sam pulled off her muddy boots and socks and accepted the hand Daniel was holding out for her. It enclosed around hers, safe and sure. She stepped into the shower.
Daniel pulled the shower curtain closed and wrapped his arms around her shivering body so that they were both standing under the stream of wonderful hot water. He was right, it did feel good. They stood for a few minutes, allowing their bodies to warm up. She could feel the warmth seeping into her muscles again. Before long, her teeth stopped chattering and the shivering abated.
Daniel’s warm breath fanned over her ear. “Shower with me,” he whispered.
Chills shot through Sam’s body, and, so help her, she couldn’t stop the shivers from coming back.
Daniel lifted her chin gently between thumb and forefinger until she met his intense gaze, which sent shivers of a different kind hurtling down her back.
“You said you were most at ease in the shower,” he continued softly. “Give me the chance to love you. To prove how good it feels.”
“You remembered that?” Sam asked.
“I remember everything you tell me.” He smiled, his eyes shining with anticipation.
Sam swallowed a lump the size of the Tasmania, the implications of what he was asking flooding her brain.
“I-I don’t think I can,” she stuttered, feeling deflated and heavy-hearted. Her body ached to be touched by him, it was crying out to be. But the fear of seeing anything but approval in his eyes when she was standing naked and vulnerable before him was terrifying her.
“Sam, I want to help you get over this fear you have. To make you feel as beautiful as I see you. I figure the best way to start is somewhere you feel most comfortable.” Daniel’s voice was thick with emotion, his eyes filled with care and kindness. “I promise I’ll stop if anything I do makes you uncomfortable,” he added.
“Promise?” Sam asked nervously.
“Of course.”
Daniel wasn’t like her ex she t
old herself. There was no comparison. This was the leap of faith she needed to take and she knew it. If she couldn’t get past this all-encompassing fear, she never stood a chance at experiencing real love, the kind where you could trust your heart and soul to someone who you knew without doubt would never see harm come to it. Could she really deny herself that chance? Was her ex worth ruining any possibility she may have of finding happiness, of feeling the kindness and security a ‘real’ man could give her? No, he wasn’t. Her mind whirled with emotion and fear. She looked into the eyes of the man who promised this to her. She could see it in those sparkling pools filled with nothing but kindness. She decided at that moment she was willing to take the risk. Daniel had done nothing but try to make her feel good. Had shown her nothing but kindness. Why would he change now?
Sam’s mouth had gone very dry when she tried to utter the word. It came out like she had just swallowed sandpaper.
“Okay.”
Chapter Twenty
The warm water continued to cascade over their bodies, keeping them warm.
“I guess we need to get out of these wet clothes, then.” Sam stated, her words shaky, her nerves on edge. She was still not one hundred percent sure she was ready to go through with it, but a part of her had to know what it felt like to be loved, to be cherished. Wasn’t that something that everyone deserved?
“Why don’t we try this?” Daniel suggested, sensing Sam’s sheer terror at the feat that lay before her. “You take a piece of my clothing off, and then I’ll take a piece of yours. You have more on than I do, so I’ll be undressed first.”
That sounded fair. He was trying so hard to make her feel at ease, and she appreciated it more than he knew. Sam looked up at his handsome face and gave him a weak smile.
“Um, well, I guess I’ll take your shirt off first,” she mumbled.
Daniel took a step back and opened his arms, giving her full access to his clothing. She undid the uppermost button, hesitated and looked up. Daniel’s eyes silently encouraged her to go on. She knew she could stop at any time. Daniel had promised her that control over the situation. Sam undid the rest of his buttons in quick succession and pulled his shirt open revealing the chiseled muscles of his chest and stomach that was hiding below the sopping wet cotton.
A sigh of admiration escaped as she gazed at the personification of beauty standing in front of her. Her fingers flexed of their own accord. She had wanted to touch his chest that day by the pool, and now she had full permission to do just that. She ran her fingers upwards from the waistband of his jeans. Daniel sucked in a gulp of air at her touch, she watched as his stomach muscles rippled beneath the pads of her fingertips.
Her fingers worked their way slowly upwards not wanting to miss a single, perfectly formed muscle. Sam looked up to take in Daniel’s reaction to her touch. He had let his head drop back and his eyes were closed. A look of sheer pleasure plastered across his face. She smiled before returning to the task at hand. She took her bottom lip between her teeth as she ran her hands over his chest, her palms grazing his nipples as she carried on upwards pushing his shirt up and over his shoulders.
Sam leaned forward as she pulled the material that clung to his skin, down his back and off his arms. His chest was right in front of her mouth, a hair’s breadth away. It was too irresistible not to lean in a few millimeters closer and lay a row of feather light kisses up from between his nipples to the hollow of his throat. Daniel let out a slow carnal growl that seemed to come from within the very depths of him. Sam smiled again, enjoying her newly acquired power. Had she ever felt this much in control? No, she had not.
Daniel ran his fingers through her hair. His eyes were deep pools of desire now, a deep velvet blue. It was almost as if they had changed color with his heightened emotion. Sam was flattered that just taking off his shirt had caused this reaction in him.
He leaned forwards covering her mouth with his, passion pouring out of him. Sam moaned, as her body went up in flames. The water from the shower was doing nothing to extinguish them. When Daniel pulled back from his passionate embrace, Sam carried on with the mission in hand and tugged his shirt free, throwing it to the back of the bathtub where it landed with a splat.
“My turn,” Daniel whispered hoarsely. Leaning towards Sam, his fingers explored under her shirt until he found the button on her jeans. She instantly felt uneasy and took a few deep calming breaths. He looked up into anxious eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly. “Do you want to go on?”
Sam nodded that she was. His fingers continued at her waist as he unbuttoned her jeans and slowly pulled the zipper down.
He moved in closer, never taking his eyes off hers. Watching for any signs from her to ask him to stop. Not seeing any, he continued. Daniel slid his hands inside her jeans and cupped her hips. It was Sam’s turn to suck in a gulp of air as he moved closer still and worked his hands around until they were flat against the outside of her thighs.
He pushed his hands downwards, taking her jeans with them. His hands slid down the length of her legs. Sam’s heart hammered in her chest, the sound of blood was pounding in her ears like a big bass drum. His touch was causing little volts of electricity to run up the inside of her thighs and pool in the very familiar part of her that had been feeling these sensations ever since she had been around him. He proceeded downwards until her jeans were pooled at her ankles.
Daniel kneeled in front of her and picked up one foot, moving the wet material out of the way before putting it down again. He repeated the same routine with her other foot; casting the saturated mass of denim to the pile of clothes now building at the end of the bathtub. Daniel started his ascent slowly. This time, running his fingers softly up the sides of her legs. Sam felt them turn to jelly, the muscles in her legs contracted at his touch, and it was all she could do to keep her balance. She placed her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.
When his hands eventually reached the top of her thighs, he moved them around to her stomach pulling up her shirt so he could lay feather light kisses around her belly button. Sam jerked in surprise at her stomach’s reaction to his touch, feeling her muscles ripple beneath his lips.
Daniel straightened and smiled. “Your turn.” His whisper was hoarse, and heavy.
“Right, then.” Sam said, interlocking her fingers, turning her palms outwards and stretching her arms out in a gesture that suggested she was about to perform a complex maneuver.
Daniel smiled, recognizing now that Sam was adding humor to the proceedings, she had obviously relaxed a bit and was starting to enjoy herself. He was right.
Sam ran her fingers down his midriff again until they settled on the waistband of his jeans. Again, Daniel sucked in a gulp of air. Sam couldn’t hide how smug she felt with the smile that lit up her face at his reaction. She had to admit she was starting to enjoy the way his body reacted to her touch. It was the most flattering thing she had experienced, and she found it strangely erotic.
Sam could see Daniel’s arousal bulging beneath the zip of his jeans. Her smugness increased. She undid the top button and slowly pulled down his zipper. She jumped back in surprise when he sprang out unexpectedly in her hand as soon as she had pulled his zipper down.
“You’re not wearing any underwear!” Sam exclaimed.
“No.” Daniel squeaked, hardly able get the hoarse whisper out. “No, I’m not. It just gets twisted when I’m riding the motorbike, so I don’t bother with any.”
“Oh, um, okay then,” Sam mumbled, not quite sure what to do with the offending item in question. She decided to leave it be for now and carried on with her mission.
She followed Daniel’s example of a good way to extract a human from a pair of wet jeans and moved her hands around to rest on his hips. She slid them down, moving her head to one side to avoid being hit in the face. Daniel’s thighs felt like they had been chiseled out of solid marble. Sam ran her hands down them, making sure to explore every line of his long lean legs on her way dow
n, and taking his jeans along for the journey as they descended.
Once they were pooled around his ankles, she did the same as he, first pulling one foot free and then the other, tossing the wet garment onto the ever-increasing pile of clothes.
“Wow, you’re naked already,” Sam blurted when she stood up and looked at her handiwork. She stood still for a moment, admiring the sleek lines of his body. He was a work of art and, what’s more, he was not embarrassed at all about being naked in front of her. How she wished she could be that comfortable in her skin. She puffed out a sigh.
“You will be,” Daniel whispered. “I’ll make sure of that.”
Sam looked at him, startled. “I just said that out loud again, didn’t I?” she asked, mortified.
His smile spoke volumes.
“I’m going to have to stop doing that...” Sam gasped as he undid the buttons on her shirt, revealing the simple white cotton bra and knickers that lay beneath. She didn’t really go in for lace and frills, but she could see his look of approval at the uncomplicated line her underwear created. Her stomach did cartwheels.
Daniel’s fingers worked their way up from her panty line, tracing intricate circles on her skin as they did. Her skin alighted. Her muscles danced a merry jig at his touch, never before having had that much attention paid to them. Sam was in awe at how her body felt so alive under his fingers.
His hands moved to her collarbone. She could tell he was deliberately avoiding her breasts, not wanting to frighten her and spoil this extremely sensual moment. His hands slid under the wet material of her shirt and moved over her shoulders taking the garment with them.
Continuing this momentum, Daniel’s face was directly above Sam’s for a moment. His lips grazed hers for only a split second, but it was enough to send spirals of desire down her neck. He continued on down, pulling her shirt until it fell loose from her arms. He threw it back to join the discarded clothes pile.
On his way back up her torso, his lips skirted over her pale skin in the most delicious manner. She felt his hands on her behind as they moved slowly upwards. His fingers circling more intricate patterns on their journey. They came to a stop just below her bra strap and rested there for a moment.
Summer Down Under Page 19
