by Jenny Penn
“Don’t worry, Taylor. It will all work out,” Konor offered him that lame assurance with an equally awkward pat on the shoulder that ended in a gentle shove. “Now, come on, get your goggles on. The tunnels are going to be muddy.”
“But the sheriff—”
“Listen, Taylor,” Konor cut him off, coming to a stop to confront the kid directly. “The only thing that really matters is that your mom’s happy, right?”
“Yeah…I guess.” Taylor finally agreed, giving a final glance back at Heather. “But she doesn’t look very happy, does she?”
Konor cast a quick look down the wall and smiled. “She doesn’t look unhappy. It’s been a long, hard day. She just looks a little flushed.”
Actually she looked a little more than that and she was climbing up the wall fast with Alex literally nipping at her heels. Konor couldn’t blame the kid for being a little worried. Hell, he was a little worried, but Alex and Heater had to sort their problems out themselves.
“Now, come on.” Konor prodded Taylor once again, nodding toward the balloons flying overhead. “I think they’ve managed to get the coordinates on the tunnels locked in. Look at all those water bombs.”
Taylor glanced up into the air as another bloated balloon sailed past, arcing downward onto the arches below. It cracked against the hard edge of the bricks, showering the tunnel with a massive spray of water and lighting Taylor’s face back up with a smile as he shot Konor an eager look.
“I think we’re about to really get wet!”
“I think muddy is the word you meant,” Konor corrected him with a smile, sharing a look with the knight guarding the entrance to the slide. Things were about to get muddy and very, very dirty for them all.
* * * *
Heather grunted as she pulled herself up another rung, intensely aware of the brush of Alex’s arm against her thigh as he climbed alongside of her, matching her motion for motion. She couldn’t escape him. No matter how hard she tried, he was always right there, using every excuse to touch her. Heather tried not to give him any as she scrambled up the cargo net.
The thick ropes cut into her sweaty palms, biting painfully into her hands as she struggled up another rung. The roughly woven fibers scraped against her feet as she tried to find a solid purchase, but her foot slipped. Alex instantly caught her by the knee, helping to bend her leg and settle her foot back into its hold. He didn’t let go, though, but took the opportunity just as he had every other one to slide his fingers all the way up the inside of her thigh, leaving a scorching path that had her cunt swelling in eager anticipation as his touch brushed over the edges of her crotch before disappearing.
“You good?” He asked, amusement tinting his tone and she had no doubt that he already knew the answer to his question, knew just how his touch affected her and how desperately she wished it didn’t.
“I’m fine,” Heather snapped, wishing she could match her biting tone with a more direct putdown, but she didn’t dare, all too aware that there were children present.
Children, but not her son, she realized as she glanced up to find Taylor missing from the edge of the wall. He’d been there just a second ago, watching her with a frown that had begun to mar his features more and more today. Heather blamed Alex for that, because there was no doubt that Taylor was picking up on the tension building between her and her buddy. The only thing keeping that tension from reaching explosive levels was Taylor and Konor’s presence, but they had disappeared.
That revelation set Heather’s heart to fluttering as she dragged herself over the edge of the wall to find herself very much alone as Alex came scrambling up behind her. She didn’t pay him any mind, neither did she wait for him before following the path Taylor and Konor must have taken. After all, there was only one exit, but it was guarded by a knight Heather instantly recognized.
“Mr. Glover.” Heather offered Bill Glover a smile and a greeting that normally would have him reminding her to call him Bill, but not today. Today his grin held a dangerous hint of amusement as his gaze skipped over her shoulder toward Alex, who she could feel still stalking after her.
“Miss Lawson,”
Bill nodded his head politely toward her, not bothering to refer to her by the nickname so many men seemed to have anointed her with. Now only Konor and Alex called her sweetness and, at least for the day, everybody was calling them ‘sir’. Heather told herself not to read too much into the switch in titles, but every time she heard that word a fresh spurt of nervousness fizzled through her.
“Sir.”
“Glover.” The rough rumble of Alex’s tone assured Heather that Bill was not on his favorite-people list. “You gonna let us through?”
“You got to wait until the gong sounds.” Bill nodded blindly over his shoulder in the general direction of the end of the brick maze that was laid out below. “Only one set of contestants allowed into the tunnels at a time.”
That explained where Taylor and Konor had gone, but didn’t relax the sudden sense of unease that gripped her. Bill’s smile was too big. Alex was pressing too close. Heather felt cornered and on the verge of some precipice that she feared falling off of. The need to flee was riding her strong, making her anxious and more pushy than she normally would have been.
“Taylor is my son,” she reminded Bill, blatantly using the mommy card. That’s because it normally worked, but not today. Today Bill just blinked and clearly waited for her to continue her explanation, which Heather did—slowly and with obvious irritation. “We’re running the course together.”
“Then I’m sure he’ll be waiting for you at the end of the maze,” Bill retorted, unimpressed by her reasoning. “If you’re really in a rush, you might want to go ahead and get your goggles on, because it is muddy down there.”
Heather wasn’t worried about the mud and wouldn’t admit to being vain enough to concern herself with how stupid she looked in the oversized goggles she’d removed whenever she got a chance. Hell, she needed to.
She needed to keep two good eyes on Alex, because she could sense him trying to corner her at every turn, and she knew what he wanted. After all, Alex didn’t put much effort into disguising his intentions. So, her goggles had hung from her neck for most of the course, lifting with every heaving breath as she struggled futilely to outpace Alex.
Now, of course, they rested against the upper swell of her breasts, not shifting an inch as Heather went still with the shocking feel of Alex’s fingers running along their plastic edge in all too intimate touch.
“Here let me,” Alex offered allowing his fingers to brush over her breasts as he lifted the goggles upward, sliding the strap over her ears.
Heather stood stock-still for a shocked second as her senses reeled with the electrifying feel of his touch. Instantly her breasts swelled, her nipples peaking as her body flooded with Alex’s warm, musky scent. He pressed in close behind her, reaching over Heather’s shoulders as he adjusted her goggles for her. The hard planes of his chest brushed against her back, making her feel surrounded, enveloped by both his heat and his strength.
In the next second, the air exploded as a balloon clipped the edge of the wall and sent a cool spray of water splashing over all three of them. Instantly Heather jerked, snapped out of the intoxicating spell Alex seemed to wrap around her every time she hesitated for more than a second. She needed to go, to keep moving. Without thought or concern for Bill’s objection, Heather dove for the entrance to the slide, crashing down onto the plastic even as he hollered at her not to go face first.
That was probably a reasonable suggestion but it was too late. The mud coating the bottom of the slide acted like a greasy lubricant, sending Heather swooshing downward. Her momentum gaining with every second and there was absolutely no controlling her speed as she plummeted face first into a thick, sludgy pile of mud. Thankfully she had her goggles on.
Unfortunately she hadn’t been gagged. Heather hit the mud face-first with her mouth open and came up sputtering and spitting, temporar
ily distracted from her primary goal of fleeing. As usual, when she hesitated, she got caught.
Not a second later Alex crashed into her, apparently having chosen to go down the slide face first as well. Only his position was to his advantage. Instead of eating a face full of dirt, he slid to a stop right over her heels and then immediately proceeded to climb over her, pinning Heather beneath him as her whole body seized with a rush of panic that gripped her muscles tight and held her tense as he finally came to a stop with his nose brushing against hers.
“You seem to be in a rush, sweetness. Is something wrong?” Smugly amused, Alex’s lips twitched with the humor that did not quite reach his eyes.
“Yeah, something is wrong. You’re heavy. Now get the hell off of me,” Heather ordered sharply as she fought the heated thrill that filled her at the solid feel of his body fitting so perfectly against hers. He was hard, hard all over, and she was soft—soft and wet.
“You seem capable of breathing easily enough,” Alex dismissed her comments and her command as he shifted above her.
Settling even more weight down around her in a tantalizing motion, he had Heather fighting back a whimper as she felt the long, heavy length of his erection pressing against the quivering swell of her tummy. Deliciously hard and thick, Alex’s dick actually jerked against her, thumping hard against the soft layers of cotton separating them.
Those layers couldn’t hold back the heat, though. The feel of him seared through her, leaving Heather’s cunt clenching in agony on nothing but the air and the velvety, smooth drawl of his words.
“And I think I mentioned I wanted to have a few words with you.”
“Are you going to forgive me again?” Heather shot back. “Or are you finally going to ask for it?”
“No.” Alex smiled over that answer, seeming to enjoy denying her. “Actually, I was just going to tell you that I have spent the last thirteen years regretting not doing you when I had the chance.”
Heather blinked, not sure what the hell she was supposed to say to that outrageous statement. That she did, too? That she had dreamed of him more times than she could count? And what did it even matter? The past was the past and dreams were not real. Life was.
A gong echoed in the distance, reminding her of the precariousness of their situation. This was neither the time nor the place to have this conversation. That’s just what she told him.
“That sounds like a personal problem, Sheriff, one you should probably take up with a shrink but not here with me in the middle of a muddy obstacle course. Now get off,” Heather snapped, grunting as she attempted to wiggle out from under him.
“I am trying to,” Alex shot back with a lecherous purr thickening in his tone. “But you’re not wiggling hard enough. Here, let me show you how it’s done.”
“No! Wait—”
But he didn’t. Alex ground down into her, allowing Heather to feel every hard inch of his erection and leaving her in no doubt that he wasn’t fooling around here. He really was making a play, and she really was on the verge of falling for it. As it was she couldn’t control her body’s instinctive response as her hips arched and cupped the thick ridge of his boner against the aching mound of her cunt.
“I know you’re wet,” Alex whispered, his chin dipping until his lips brushed up against the sensitive shell of her ear. “But don’t worry, sweetness, I’ll lick you clean right after I make you come so many damn times you’re begging me for mercy.”
Heather’s heart seized as her sheath pulsed with a need that brought a whimper to her lips. She was that close to giving in and probably would have done something stupid if Bill hadn’t hollered down for them to get a move on it. They were holding up the line.
The sound of his voice cut through the fog of lust threatening to consume her and sent a bolt of panic racing up her spine at the realization of the mistake she was on the verge of making. Jerking hard with her shock, Heather’s leg reared up between his to slam into the soft sacks of his balls.
Alex gasped, falling to the side with a whine as he went pale. Heather barely paid him any mind as she escaped, pausing only long enough to toss a warning back at him.
“That’s what you deserve. Really when a woman says to let her go, sheriff, you should let her go.”
The brilliant glitter of Alex’s gaze sparkled in the shadows, darkening dangerously on her in a look that had the butterflies filling Heather’s stomach taking off in a massive rush that sent a thrill through her even as she began scrambling backward in a blind panic.
It was time to run...or crawl as the case may be.
* * * *
Alex watched Heather scurry off through the mud as she darted down the center tunnel. He took a moment, though, before giving chase, allowing the pain scorching through him to dull into an agonizing throb. That had hurt, but he really should have seen it coming.
He’d be better prepared next time. Making that vow, he finally rolled back onto his knees and began to hunt Heather down. He could hear her moving through the tunnels and plotted a course to cut her off.
“You know that it was GD who bet me that I could seduce you, right?” Alex spoke up, his voice echoing through the arches with a deep tenor that blended well with the shadows.
“I am all too aware of the details of your stupid bet,” Heather shot back, though he knew she wasn’t.
“So then you know that I bet him I couldn’t seduce you.” That clarification was greeted with a long pause of silence that Alex broke as he pressed Heather for an answer. “Did you know that, sweetness? It was your best friend who set you up. Not me. Hell, I didn’t even expect you to give me the time of day...but you did, didn’t you?”
“Oh, just shut up!” Heather snapped, her irritation straining in her tone as she grunted with her exertion.
Alex could hear her picking up speed and knew she was as flustered as she sounded. That’s just how he wanted her. He always had found Heather sexy whenever she got huffy.
“But I finally figured it out. You were being nice to me because you are trying to get close to Konor, weren’t you? He’s the one you really had a crush on.”
“Please, don’t be ridiculous,” Heather spat. “I never even noticed Konor back in high school.”
“Yeah, right.” Alex snorted over that lie, wondering why she even bothered with it. “I’m sure you never even saw him, what with his locker being right next to yours.”
“Was it?” Heather managed to sound surprised even if she didn’t sound sincere. “And here I thought you just lingered around my locker because you are so desperately in love with me, which is the only reason I ever agree to go out with you because GD begged me to.”
“Is that right?” Now that Alex believed. GD was just the type to try and rig a bet. Then again so was he. “And did GD tell you to crawl up into my lap just to win the bet?”
“How could he when he hadn’t told me about the damn bet in the first place?”
“Then you just crawled into my lap because you liked it there, huh?”
Too late, Heather seemed to figure out that she’d revealed too much. Now she didn’t have a good argument to hide behind. That didn’t mean she conceded to defeat. Instead she cursed and pointedly dismissed the matter.
“Oh, just shut the fuck up! Nobody cares about ancient history.”
“I do.” Alex contradicted her instantly, smiling in delight as they both reached the same intersection at the same time. “Especially when it’s unfinished ancient history. You ready to admit defeat now, sweetness?”
That had Heather’s gaze narrowing as she snarled over her words. “Don’t screw with me, Sheriff, you won’t like the outcome.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I kind of think I will,” Alex assured her with a wink. “And for the record, sweetness, I’m not screwing with you. I plan on simply screwing you.”
Heather’s face flamed bright red in the dappled shadows of the brick arches mere inches from their head. “Never!”
“Give me five minu
tes to change your mind,” Alex suggested, earning him another dark glare from Heather before she turned and started crawling back down the tunnel she’d popped out of. “I take it that’s a no?”
She didn’t answer and he didn’t expect her to. What he hadn’t expected was to be having so much fun. Not bothering to smoother his laughter, Alex took off down the parallel tunnel with every intention of blocking her at the next intersection. He stayed silent this time, managing to startle a gasp right out of her. Alex ignored her heavy panting to pick up the conversation where it had left off.
“Because I heard a rumor that GD is standing you up this year,” Alex needled her. “And I’d certainly like to audition for the position.”
“You and every other Cattleman,” Heather shot back. “I’m sure you noticed all the men vying to replace him filling up my bakery every day.”
“Oh, yeah, I’ve noticed all the puppies lingering around. Don’t tell me that you’re going to try to fill a man’s shoes with those boys.”
“Why? You think I’ll need two of them to get the job done? Hell, maybe I’ll celebrate and go for three.”
“You could take four for a ride, sweetness, and still come up hungry for more...hungry for me, because we both know that’s just what you are.”
“Please,” Heather snorted. “I am not even curious.”
“Then prove it,” Alex taunted her with enough snicker in his tone to assure she took as much offense as possible. “Slide on over here and pucker up, sweetness, and let’s see how resistible you really do find me.”
“Nice try, but I’m not even close to being that desperate.”
But she was that scared. She was damn near frantic and trying hard to hide the panic. Alex could sense it, and knew what she feared, what truth she was trying to hide but there wasn’t room for anymore secrets.
“Nice try but you were once more than that,” Alex whispered, allowing his smile to fade along with the laughter as he pinned her with a pointed look and took the biggest risk of his life. “You were actually falling for me.”
