Serenity Falls

by Aleman, Tiffany

  Last night, I was beat and ready to go to bed. As I came up the stairs, Wes caught me in the hallway. He said Brantley mentioned how he and some of his old friends were going to ride tomorrow. Everyone was going to have their ATVs and dirt bikes out, riding the trails. Brantley asked if we would come. Wes thought it would be a fun way to unwind and relax since we’ve all been with the kids this past week. With my last riding experience with Wes on the back of a four-wheeler still fresh in my mind, I said hell, yeah.

  I’m on the edge of my bed, pulling on my rain boots. The early morning light barely shines into my room. I’m reaching behind my head to gather my hair into a low ponytail when a light knock sounds on my door. Right as I’m about to say come in, the door squeaks open, and there stands my man. Wes. My eyes slowly drink him in as they rake up and down his worn jeans, his fitted, grey, long-sleeved T-shirt, and laced-up riding boots. His blond tresses stand up in that I-just-want-to-yank-it-while-I-do-dirty-things-to-you look. My thighs squeeze shut as I try to contain the sudden urge to do those things to him here and now.

  “You look like you have something dirty on your mind?” He wiggles his eyebrows as a devilish smile forms on his face.

  “Nope. Not at all,” I answer with a smile of my own.

  “Maybe I can change that.” Quietly, Wes enters my room and shuts the door behind him.

  “Oh, yeah? And how might you do that?” I ask as he approaches me, like a lion on the prowl, just waiting for the best opportunity to pounce.

  His body leans over mine and pushes me into the fluffy mattress. “Like this,” he replies with that deep husky voice. When his soft plump lips connect with my jaw, I turn my head to give him better access to my neck. “Is this working?” The vibration of his voice against me is turning my skin into an inferno.

  “Not really. Seems you need to work harder,” I reply breathlessly, as my eyes drift closed.

  With that, he thrusts his hips into me and connects with a spot that aches for him. Again and again, he plows forward until I’m panting so hard I can hardly breathe. “What about now? Do you think I still need some work?” he murmurs against the sensitive skin of my neck.

  I can’t think. Hell, I can’t even catch my breath. My body’s coiled so tight. I’m on the verge of combustion. “Oh… I… think… you’ve… got it just right.”

  And just like that, my body is left feverish with want and a need so strong that I’m ready to scream for him to take me now, but it’s also left cold with the disappearance of his body heat. “Good, then my work here is done.” His arrogant smirk and his arms crossed over his chest makes me want to slap him for starting something he has no intentions of finishing.

  My eyes roll back in my head as I quietly mumble, “Tease.”

  “No, Babe. Not a tease. I’m just prepping you, so when the time comes, you won’t be able to contain yourself.” He lifts my hands and pulls me off the bed into his arms.

  As I wrap my arms around his neck, I whisper against his lips, “Promises. Promises.”

  “I’ll show you promises.” Wes kisses me back and slaps my ass playfully.

  A giggle escapes me when I ask, “Is that all you have? You know for a man your size; I would have thought you’d have more oomph behind that slap.”

  “You want more oomph?” As he draws his arm back, I drop mine from around his neck and make a break for it. I swing the door open, and as quietly as possible, I race down the stairs, through the living room and kitchen, and out the door onto the back porch. Wes is hot on my heels when I look back over my shoulder at him. “You can run, but you can’t hide,” he says from behind me.

  I stop dead in my tracks, spin on my heel, and face him. “I don’t want to hide. Maybe for once, I wanna be caught. Have you ever thought of that?”

  He comes to a stop in front of me and grabs my hands. With a slight tug, he leads me to his truck with the four-wheeler already loaded in the bed. “I’m glad, because I want to be the one who catches you,” he says as he gives me chaste kiss before helping me into the truck.

  The truck comes to a stop in front of a tree line that leads into the woods where the trails are. A shit ton of people, who I assume are friends of Wes and Brantley, are jumping out of their trucks and Jeeps. Some unload four-wheelers while others offload their dirt bikes. “You ready?” Wes pulls my attention back to him as he, looks over at me, and turns off the truck.

  “Heck, yeah!” I shout through a smile and leap out of the truck. I jog around to the back and clutch the handle to the tailgate. With little force, I lift up and pull the heavy metal door down. I’m itching to get back on the ATV and to wrap my arms around Wes again. Even though I know I can do it anytime, it will be nice to feel like we don’t have to hide our affections from other people. I climb into the bed of the truck and start handing Wes the ramps to set up against the tailgate so we can unload the four-wheeler.

  As we set up the ramp, he tosses me the key and says, “Go ahead and back it out.”

  Adrenaline rushes through my veins as I climb onto the four-wheeler and start it up. I look behind me and slowly start to inch it backwards. Wes waves his hand back as he offers his encouragement. “You got it. Give it a little more gas. Great. Just like that. Now, ease it back a little further.”

  When the wheels make contact with the soft mud below, I throw it in drive and gun it. Mud sprays everywhere. I look back over my shoulder to see what everyone is laughing about, and I see Wes wipe mud away from his eyes. Mud covers him from head to toe, and I can’t help but laugh. “Something funny?” He wears a mischievous smile, and that’s when I know I’m done for. He has a plan to get me back, and I only wish I knew what it was so I could be prepared. .

  I nod while I bite my lip to keep myself from laughing harder. With a shake of his head, mud flies from his hair like a dog who’s just played in a rain puddle. Biting my lip becomes futile because I can no longer contain the boisterous laugh that bursts through me. I’m doubled over the handle bars with my head resting on my arm as tears roll down my face, when without warning, I’m lifted in the air and tossed over someone’s shoulder. My laughter only increases when I see it is Wes carrying me. I try to look and see where we’re going, but it’s useless. “Put me down,” I plead through my laughter.

  “Nope.”

  “Come on. I’m sorry. It’s not funny.” I squirm to get out of his hold.

  “See, Babe, we no longer match. So, I’m gonna have to fix that.” He laughs and slaps my ass with more oomph than he did earlier.

  “Ow… What do you mean—” My question’s cut short when my body is swallowed by a pool of water.

  I rise from the murky water that comes up to my waist, gasping for air. I’m soaked from head to toe, and loose leaves and twigs are tangled in my brown locks. My clothes cling to my body like a second skin. My feet feel as if they weigh a ton. My boots are filled with water, and stick deep down in the mud. It’s deathly quiet around me. I’m sure everyone is waiting to see how I will react to Wes’ little stunt. I fake being pissed as I cross my arms over my chest, dip my eyebrows down, and jut out my hip as much as possible. I point what I hope is a glare in Wes’ direction. I want him to think I’m pissed. I may have covered him in mud, but I’m soaked, and he will be, too, if I have anything to say about it. “She looks pissed, dude!” Someone shouts from behind me.

  Wes’ humorous expression slowly slips off his face. I can tell he’s really starting to think I’m pissed. He inches closer to the water’s edge cautiously. “I’m sorry. I thought it would be funny. Are you really pissed?”

  “Do I look like I’m pissed?” I ask incredulously while I subtly work my boots free from the mud. “I’m fucking stuck here. My boots are filled with water, and they feel like they’re stuck at least ten inches deep in the mud.” I throw my arms up in the air.

  In no time, Wes races to my rescue. He jumps in the water and runs awkwardly toward me. He doesn’t know what I have planned, but soon, he will find out. As soon as he’s wi
thin reach, I leap out of water and onto him, and pull us backwards into the dreary depths.

  Large, strong hands grasp onto my waist as I’m lifted out of the murky water. “Hahaha…. I so got you,” I say, spitting dirty water from my mouth and laughing. People laugh and yell obscenities while I wipe my drenched hair away from my face. I blink the water out of my eyes as I lean into Wes’ hold.

  His arms tighten around my waist as he says in that deep gruff timbre that sets me on fire, “We’re one for one, now.”

  A shiver races up my spine and tingles descend to the apex of my thighs. “I guess we are.”

  “Now, how about that ride?” Ahh… the innuendo behind that phrase. I don’t want him to think it means more than just the ride on the four-wheeler. But the way things have been going between us these past few days, I know better.

  “Sure.” Wes places one arm under my knees and the other behind my back, and lifts me out of the water. My arms find their way around his neck. “What are you doing?” I ask quietly when I notice the curious stares coming from everyone else around us.

  “I’d hate for you to get stuck again.” And just like that, everyone else around us fades as I laugh.

  “Good point,” I reply with a smile and a nod of my head.

  When we reach the four-wheeler, Wes deposits me on the seat. I scoot back when he grips the handlebars and throws one leg over the seat. Just as he sits down, I bind my arms around his incredibly toned waist when Brantley comes running over to us. “Hey man.” He claps him on the shoulder. “Kenleigh.” He nods his head toward me.

  “Hey, Brantley,” I reply.

  “First, I just wanted to say that the other day I was out of line. I shouldn’t have said anything,” He looks at Wes with regret in his eyes.

  “It’s cool. I get it.”

  “We’re good, then?” Brantley asks Wes skeptically.

  “Yeah, man, we’re good.”

  “Alright then. You remember the pond we all used to go to?” Brantley asks as he looks at Wes who nods. “That’s where we’re going. And Jackie said she’ll meet us there before the fire tonight.”

  The muscles in Wes’ stomach tense under my hold at the mention of Jackie’s name. A chuckle escapes me as I think about how much her name alone irks him. I don’t know why I find it funny, but I do. I mean, I know she can talk a lot, but she’s not that bad. Maybe, it’s because I always found it funny when a girl hit on a guy that I dated. I mean, Jarred got hit on all the time, and it never bothered me. I’m not really the jealous type. I am a woman and have my insecurities, but as long as my man comes home with me, and boundaries aren’t crossed, I could care less who hits on my boyfriend. Dating? Is that what we’re doing? “Okay, we’ll follow behind everyone,” Wes answers.

  I rest my cheek against his back, a smile of contentment on my face, as he and Brantley continue to talk. But my smile soon fades when I see daggers shooting at me from across the way by Leslie. Wes’ strong, warm hands cover mine as he looks back over his shoulder at me. “You ready to go?”

  I nod my head against his back. The cotton shirt, stiff from air-drying, moves up and down with my movement. “Yep. Whenever you are.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  My eyes dart up at him and then back to a scowling Leslie, and then back to him. I refuse to let her get to me. Wes and I haven’t really had the chance to be alone in over a week, and I’m not going to let some pissed off, jealous ex ruin our time together. “Nothing.”

  “Good.” Wes lifts my hands from around his waist and kisses the backs of each of my knuckles before he secures them to where they previously rested.

  My body jolts back on the seat when he takes off, which only causes me to hold on tighter. The stray hairs that have slipped from my ponytail whip against my ears, my face, and my neck— never staying in the same place for long. “Hang on back there, because it’s about to get bumpy here in a second!” Wes shouts at me over his shoulder. The next thing I know, my ass bounces up and down in the seat. My body jostles from left to right as we hit hole after hole and crevice after crevice. Mud flies in the air and coats us after we land harshly in each hole. Our speed increases as Wes lifts his body into a standing position. He hunches over the steering column, leaving me to release my grip from around his waist and to grab onto his hips instead.

  As I look around him to see what the hell has made him stand up, I yell, “No. No. No. NO! Hell, no! We are not going through—” but the rest of my words land on deaf ears when a wall of water rains down on us like a waterfall. A dirty, mud-filled waterfall. We come up on the other side of the mud hole that’s the size of the Lake Medina. I slap his ass so hard that my hand stings as I shout, “What the hell, Wes? You could warn me next time.”

  “Babe, it’s all a part of muddin’ and ridin’. You didn’t come out here expecting not to get a little dirty, did you?” he asks as he takes another trail and breaks away from the group in front of us.

  “No. I knew I was gonna get dirty, but that shit was seriously deep.”

  “I wouldn’t have let you drown. I would have saved you. I already told you this. I’ll always save you,” he replies as he comes to a stop. He fiddles with the stick on the side, and pops the clutch into neutral.

  “I wasn’t worried about drowning. I can swim. I just didn’t want to have to help you get this thing unstuck.” I smirk.

  Wes turns around to face me. His knees touch mine. He lifts my hand to his mouth, and slowly kisses my mud-covered knuckles. “I wouldn’t have asked you.”

  My head turns in all directions as I get a good look at where we are. A canopy of trees surrounds us. Leaves, some fresh, some dead, litter the ground below. The rumbles of the four-wheeler engines and screams from the dirt bikes have all disappeared. The sound of birds chirping and the quiet hum of our idling four-wheeler is all that exists around us now. “What are we doing out here?” I ask quietly.

  “I thought we could talk.” He gives me a sly smile as he lifts my soaked legs, and pulls them over his to rest on his thighs.

  “What are we doing, Kenleigh?” Wes asks as he cups one of my cheeks in his hand.

  His thumb moves slowly back and forth, caressing my cheekbone as our eyes lock. “I was gonna ask you the same thing.”

  “Okay. How about we start with we both know that we have something going on between us, right?”

  I stare into his eyes when I answer, “Yes.”

  “All right. And do you like where things are going between us?” he asks, slowly inching his way toward my lips while never breaking eye contact with me.

  “I do.” I can’t come up with much else to say because of his woodsy smell, and just him, begins to fog up my senses.

  Just before his lips touch mine, he replies. “Me too. But you should know, if we do this, I do not share, and you will be mine. All of you. Every. Last. Inch. I will intoxicate you, and I’ll promise you this, you’ll love every fucking second of it. You’ll beg for it—beg for me.”

  I don’t wait for him to finish his conquest; I climb up his body and straddle him as I crash my mouth down onto his. I’m already intoxicated by him. I have been since the first day I saw him get out of his truck. His touch makes my body smolder. His words rush like sweet wine through my veins, relaxing me, making me feel things I’ve never felt before. His kisses are like a drug that leaves me wanting and aching for just one more hit, no matter how big or how small. My lips cover first his top and then his bottom.

  With slow and precise movements, I suck his lip into my mouth, and nibble before I reply, “I don’t share, either.”

  His eyes turn from a clear blue to a dark cobalt in a matter of seconds. His hands glide up my thighs, painfully, achingly slow, as they make their way to the hem of my shirt. He grasps it in his hands, while looking into my eyes. “Now that we have that out of the way.” He looks from my eyes to his hands and back, silently asking if it’s okay to remove my shirt. The single nod I give him is all the permission he needs. He peel
s my wet shirt off and tosses it behind me on the rack that rests on the back of the ATV. For a long minute, he sits and stares at my satin leopard print bra. “You are so fucking beautiful.” His head bows as he kisses the swells of my breasts. His hands graze the skin of my stomach, making their way behind my back to unclasp my bra.

  I lean away from him. Unhurriedly, I slide the smooth, soft, satin straps of my bra over my shoulders and down my arms, tossing it somewhere behind us. The want and need that had taken over his eyes only seconds ago is replaced by desire and passion. My hands reach up and cup his strong jaw in the palms of my hands. I tilt his head up so that he can look at me. “You’ve already made me yours, but now I’m about to make you mine,” I whisper as I entwine my fingers in his hair and close the distance between us.

  Our tongues collide. They twist and lap against each other, filling each other’s mouths as if we are trying to commit each other’s taste to memory. Our breaths come out harsh and fast. His hands cover my full, achy breasts as he squeezes and kneads them. He rolls the tips of my nipples between his calloused fingers while I rock my hips against his. As his mouth breaks away from mine, he nibbles and sucks his way down my neck, across my collarbone, and finally sucks one of my puckered nipples into his mouth. A wild fire shoots through my veins making me blind with lust. My head tosses back, and I pull him closer as a loud moan escapes me. “Fuck, Wes,” I breathe out.