by Rachel Lacey
She tossed her head back and laughed. “You’re terrible at this! Good thing I have you covered.”
He exhaled roughly. “Yeah. Good thing.”
“So who do you usually go camping with?” she asked, sliding her hand into his.
“No one. I camp alone.” He’d gone often as a teenager, needing the space from his family, from the drama at home.
“I like to camp alone too.” She squeezed his hand. “It’s so peaceful. There’s nothing like meditating under the stars with nothing and no one nearby but nature.”
It was a stunning image she’d created. But he didn’t quite like the idea of her out here all alone overnight either. Call it the overprotective deputy in him. He’d seen too many women fall victim to violent crime.
“I come a lot with my friends too,” she said. “My friend Cara and I used to camp together all the time.”
“Used to?”
“She moved to Massachusetts earlier this year. She’s getting married in the spring.” Olivia sounded wistful.
A cold feeling crept through his chest. “You want that? Marriage? Two point five kids and the white picket fence?”
“Maybe. Someday. Probably not the white picket fence though. Not quite my style.”
“Nah. I see you more with a little ranch out in the country. Wide open spaces. No fence.”
“I’d like that.” She squeezed his hand.
He wondered if she was picturing him there with her on that ranch in the country, because he sure as hell was, and he had no idea why. He’d been there, done that. And failed miserably.
“We’re almost there,” she said.
Their trail had followed Swift Creek for a while then meandered up into the pine forest. Beneath the bushy treetops, a bed of pine needles coated the ground.
“This way.” She led him off the path and into the woods.
“You’re sure you know where you’re going?”
“Positive.” She led him through the trees alongside a smaller creek. They crested a hill, and here she stopped in a small clearing. Before them, the world opened in a perfect panoramic view of the valley beyond, with Swift Creek at its base. It was breathtaking.
“Wow” was all he could say.
“I’ve camped here before. It’s pretty much perfection, don’t you think?”
“Yes.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
“Worth the wait?” she asked.
“Hell yeah.” He forced himself to let her go, then shrugged out of his backpack and pitched the tent against the bed of pine needles. After inspecting his work, he unfurled the sleeping bag and laid it across the floor.
Olivia took a blanket out of her backpack and spread it out in front of the tent. She sat on the blanket and took off her hiking boots, then motioned for him to join her.
He took off his boots and sat beside her.
“Hard to feel anything but breathless taking in this view,” she said.
He was breathless, and not entirely from the view. The woman beside him was just as breathtaking. He brushed his fingers through her hair, turning her face to his. She leaned in, and he kissed her, slow and thorough. He kissed her until his chest heaved and his heart hammered against his ribcage. Olivia slid into his lap. Her fingers scraped down his back, igniting the fire inside him from a slow burn to a white-hot blaze.
“I want you so much,” she whispered. Her hips thrust against his.
He held her tight. “This is your dance. You lead.”
Her eyes gleamed wickedly, and he knew he was in for the most delicious kind of torture. She laid him on the blanket so that he was flat on his back, staring up at the sweeping loblolly pines above. The scent of pine needles filled his lungs, mixed with Olivia’s flowery perfume. An intoxicating combination.
“I always thought this would be the most romantic place in the world,” she said, kissing her way down his neck as her fingers roamed over his chest. “It’s kind of been a fantasy of mine to bring a guy here and have my way with him.”
“I like your fantasies.” His voice was gruff because he was so turned on he could barely breathe.
“I fantasized about making love here under the pines.” She straddled his erection.
He gripped her hips, rocking her against him. She wasn’t wrong. The sweeping landscape around them, the whisper of the pines, the distant gurgle of the creek, was almost enough to make him forsake the law and strip her naked right here on this blanket.
“I don’t believe this breaks any laws.” She lifted his shirt over his head. Her hair tickled his chest as she bent over him, kissing her way from his throat to the waistband of his shorts.
He hissed out a breath.
She pressed a light kiss against his zipper, then lay beside him, her body pressed firmly against his, her brown eyes as alive as the forest behind her. And dear God, he’d never seen anything more beautiful.
He ran a hand through her hair, cupping her cheek. “You are so amazing, so beautiful.” So much more than he could ever put into words.
They lay together on her blanket, kissing, touching, teasing, for as long as either of them could bear.
“Sex in a tent is another fantasy of mine,” she whispered against his neck. “I think it could rival sex here beneath the pines.”
“I promise it will be even better.”
She sat up and tugged him with her as she crawled inside the tent. He followed, too weak at the knees to stand if he’d tried.
He zipped the entrance closed behind them, and they fell on each other in a wild scramble to get naked. He tugged on her shirt while she fumbled with his pants until they were panting and giggling like a couple of teenagers in the backseat of a car.
“Olivia,” he pressed her against him, body to body, skin to skin.
“Pete.” She gripped his cock, and he thrust into her hand.
He pulled her down on top of him in a frantic tangle, groping hands and the friction of hot skin. He slid a hand between her legs, feeling her heat, loving that he had this effect on her.
He couldn’t give her two point five kids and a ranch in the country, but he could show his feelings the only way he knew how. He thrust two fingers inside her, and she cried out.
His own need was overpowering, but first, he wanted to see her come. He bent his head and kissed her, devouring her with his mouth while his fingers stroked, slow and steady.
“Please—” she whispered. A shiver rippled through her body, and his balls tightened. Goddamn. “Now, Pete.”
“Right now’s all about you, babe. Take your time.”
Her hips bucked against his hand, and a needy whimper escaped her lips. He slid his free hand beneath her, drawing her closer so that he felt each movement of her body on his, letting it fuel the need already pulsing hot and heavy in his dick.
Olivia squeezed her eyes shut, gripping him with trembling legs as she panted his name. “I can’t—”
“Go ahead, baby. Let go.” He circled his thumb over her clit, and she screamed as she came, writhing against him, eyes closed and so beautiful.
So fucking beautiful.
“Wow.” She went limp in his arms, glowing with pleasure.
He gave her a moment to catch her breath, then he drew her closer, his cock straining against her belly. “I need to be inside you. Now.”
She reached behind them and handed him a foil packet. Hands shaking slightly, he sheathed himself in the condom. Olivia kissed him, then rolled him to his back and sank onto him with a soft moan. A desperate breath hissed from his lungs.
She surrounded him, hot and wet, gripping him and taking him right out of his mind as she began to move. He gripped her ass and gritted his teeth as she rocked, each movement of her hips taking him deeper. She gyrated in his lap with a needy gasp, and his control snapped. He flipped her beneath him, thrusting hard and fast inside her until she screamed again.
“Oh, my God, Pete!” Her body clenched around his, and he was l
ost. The orgasm took him hard until his whole body shuddered, and he collapsed against the sleeping bag in a boneless heap.
“Fuck.” He flung an arm around her and pulled her against his chest.
“I seem to have that effect on you.”
Yeah, she did. She’d taken him right outside himself, and he was awfully afraid his world would never be right again without her.
Fuck. He was so screwed.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Olivia lay on her back on the blue and yellow checked blanket she’d had since college, her fingers entwined with Pete’s, staring up at the majestic pines overhead. Everything about the moment was perfect. Her nostrils filled with the scent of fresh pine. The wind rushed through the trees with a steady whisper, while in the distance a hawk called.
Peace. If she could take a picture to illustrate the word, this was it.
She looked over at Pete. He lay with his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm. He was a part of her peace. He calmed the part of her that had been restless and reckless.
She’d fallen in love with him. And for however long they lay together on this blanket, she was going to revel in it. For these moments were separated from the real world, and she could enjoy the rush, the thrill, the joy of loving him.
She rolled onto her side and pressed her face against his neck. No cinnamon smell today. Nor had she seen him bake, but then again he hadn’t seemed to have any trouble sleeping either. His arm came around her, drawing her even closer.
“Did you have a nice nap?” she asked.
“Mm hmm. I sleep a lot around you.” His voice rumbled up through her.
She thought of how tired he’d looked when they met. “Maybe that’s a good thing.”
“Maybe. What time is it?”
She looked down at her watch. “Just past two.”
After their romp in the tent, they’d dressed and come outside to eat the picnic she’d packed: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples, and chips. Neither of them kept their pantries particularly well stocked so it was the best she’d been able to come up with on the spur of the moment. After eating, they’d stretched out to enjoy the view.
“That means we have time for this—” He tugged her on top of him. “Before we head back.”
She bent her head and kissed him. “You are insatiable.”
“I always wake up hungry.”
They crawled back inside the tent and made love to the rhythms of the forest around them. It was magic. No matter where things went from here, this was a memory she would keep and cherish.
She hoped he would too.
It was pushing four o’clock by the time they made it back to his car. They were both in pretty serious need of a shower but decided to stop at the vet to check on Timber first.
It was a harsh reality check after their magical afternoon.
One of the vet techs took them back. Olivia knelt in front of Timber’s crate, and the dog looked up at her, letting out a high-pitched whine. Pete crouched beside her, and Timber’s tail wagged harder, whacking against the metal bars of his crate. The IV was gone now although the feeding tube remained, barely visible behind a fold of vet wrap stretched around Timber’s abdomen.
“He’s probably ready for a walk if you guys want to take him out for a few minutes,” the tech said.
“You bet,” Pete answered.
He clipped a leash on his dog, and they walked outside together. Timber raised his leg on a sign, then walked about aimlessly for a minute and whined.
“Your throat hurts, huh?” She crouched next to him. Timber thrust his head into her lap and whined some more.
They spent about ten minutes outside with Timber then brought him back inside and said good night. Hopefully they’d be bringing him home in the next day or two. And then what? How long was she going to play house with Pete?
* * *
Pete walked upstairs. Hallie sat in the middle of his bed, staring at him like a queen from her throne. “Don’t get too comfortable,” he told her. “You’re not staying.”
She pounced, grabbed his sneakers, and held on, biting and kicking. Kind of like the woman downstairs. She’d leaped right into his life and gotten all tangled up. She couldn’t stay either. But damned if he wanted her to go.
Olivia came into the bedroom behind him. They showered, then sat at the kitchen table together and ate some kind of Asian noodle dish she’d ordered from Mikoto’s. It was nothing he would have ever chosen for himself, but not half bad.
After they’d eaten, they watched TV together for a little while. Then Olivia turned to him. “I want you to show me how to bake.”
“Excuse me?” He’d come to expect the unexpected where she was concerned, but even so, this caught him off guard.
She leaned closer. “You don’t smell like cinnamon anymore. I miss it.”
He pulled back. He’d never baked with a woman he was dating, not with anyone since he was a kid helping his grandma in the kitchen. Baking muffins and cookies with her was one of his few truly happy childhood memories. She’d died when he was twelve, but he’d never forgotten the time they spent together, the way she’d helped him escape the pain at home. And so when he couldn’t sleep, when his mind buzzed with things he’d rather not think about, he baked.
Olivia was looking at him now, brow wrinkled, those warm eyes focused on his. Something told him she knew exactly what she was asking for. She understood things about him he didn’t even fully understand himself. And she wanted to do this. She wanted to bake with him.
“Okay,” he said.
She smiled, a simple smile that did funny things to his chest so that it was hard to draw breath. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips, then took his hand and led him into the kitchen.
“So what do you want to make?” she asked. “What’s your specialty?”
“I bake a lot of muffins.”
She slapped his arm. “And you made fun of me for eating a muffin just this morning.”
“I don’t eat them.” He wanted to take the words back as soon as they’d left his mouth.
Her eyes widened. “Why not?”
He shrugged. “I don’t really care for them. It’s just something I do when I can’t sleep.”
“So what do you do, throw them all away?”
“I give them to the women’s shelter.”
“Oh.” Her brain was spinning so fast on that tidbit he could practically hear it. “So what kind of baked good do you like to eat?”
“Well I do like chocolate chip cookies.”
“Then let’s make those.”
“I don’t have chocolate chips.”
She propped her hands on her hips. “And why not? When’s the last time you baked chocolate chip cookies?”
He squeezed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. A couple of years?”
She looked like she had plenty to say about that, things he probably—definitely—didn’t want to hear, but instead she said, “Then let’s go down the street to Walgreens and get some.”
So they did. They bought chocolate chips, and they baked cookies together in his kitchen. And it was one of the most intimate experiences he’d ever had with a woman.
And he probably—definitely—didn’t want to think too hard about that.
* * *
Olivia watched him dress for work from the safe haven of his bed. For once, she hadn’t dragged him out to MacArthur Park to watch the sunrise. They’d both slept until his alarm had gone off, and truth be told, she was in no great hurry this morning.
So she lay there, watching as he layered up in all his protective gear, the vest, the crisp uniform, the belt. His gun. And she still didn’t like that part. But she respected what he did, respected pretty much everything about him.
“Here.” He held out a silver house key. “I should be home around four.”
“Thank you.” She took it, wishing it meant more than it did.
“See you later.” He bent
to give her a kiss, and then he was gone.
She lay in his bed, and since she had no job of her own to get to, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep. When she woke, Hallie was tangled in her hair, scurrying around like a frantic little mouse.
“You’re a freak, you know that?” She disentangled the kitten and set her on her chest. Hallie pressed her forehead against Olivia’s chin and purred. “A lovable freak, though.”
She put Hallie on the bed and went into the bathroom. She showered and dressed in a purple sweater and jeans, feeling somewhat out of sorts here in Pete’s house without him. It was Sunday, which limited her options as far as job hunting.
Tomorrow she’d go to the courthouse to pick up the paperwork for her community service. Now was as good a time as any to get started fulfilling her community service hours while she was between jobs.
She was tempted to text Pete and tell him she’d eaten chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, but stopped herself when she remembered what he’d said about his work phone being public. His personal phone lay forgotten on the nightstand. And anyway, it felt a little too familiar, when she and Pete were…well, she wasn’t sure what she and Pete were.
But they sure as hell weren’t a couple living together, no matter how it felt right now. He was just being overprotective after what had happened at her house, but once the culprit was caught, he’d expect her to go.
Which left her with a limited window of time to break through his barriers. She wanted more than just a fling with Pete Sampson. Yeah, she’d agreed to a casual relationship, but surely even he knew that ship had sailed. They’d shared things that went far past casual, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
She wasn’t giving up without a fight, and she was damned good at fighting for what she wanted.
* * *
Pete walked out of the station at four fifteen. He couldn’t wait to get home to Olivia. He’d been thinking about her all day, imagining her lying in his bed or baking in his kitchen. For tonight at least, she was his, and he intended to take full advantage of that fact. He was pulling into the driveway when his cell phone rang.
“Hi, Maggie,” he answered.
