I Saw Her Standing There (38 page)

“One of my favorite scents. Second only to the scent of Lucy, which is my all-time favorite.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but a smile tugged at her lips. He considered that a small victory.

“This one will do,” he said, sizing up a huge pine tree that was bare on the bottom with branches beginning about ten feet above them.

Lucy looked at it with apprehension. “How will it do?”

“My sisters swear by the tree trunk strategy of outdoor peeing. You drop your shorts, lean your back against the tree, keeping your feet and clothes in front of you and out of harm’s way, and let her rip.”

“Seriously?”

“Your other choice is to squat, but I’d recommend against actually sitting anywhere. You never know what’s on the ground, and that cute butt wouldn’t be so cute with poison ivy or sumac all over it.” He scratched his own rear to make the point.

She took the paper and bag from him and turned her hand in a circle, telling him to look away.

“I’ll be right over here taking care of my own business if you happen to see any bobcats or bears.”

“It’s not fair that you can just whip that thing out and go, and I have to lean against a freaking tree. I’m coming back in my next life as a man.”

Laughing at her way with words, he said, “Don’t do that. You’d ruin my next life if you come back as a man.” He kissed her cute, sunburned nose and left her to do her business while he did his, all the while listening closely for any signs of trouble.

“H
ow ya doing?” he called to her when he was finished.

“Fine.” She came out from behind the tree a minute later, carrying the roll of paper and the bag. “Now what do I do with this?”

“I’ve got a garbage bag in the canoe.”

“This whole thing is kinda gross.”

“The first time or two, but after a while you get used to it and it’s just routine. We can’t leave the paper out here. That would be littering.”

“God forbid.”

“Indeed.”

Back at the beach, Colton produced the garbage bag and then opened the cooler. “Hungry?”

“Starving.”

“How does turkey on rye with lettuce, tomato, cheese, mayo and pickles sound?”

“You made my favorite turkey sandwich from the deli in the city?”

“Yep.”

“Oh my God, I think I might love you again.”

“So wait,” he said, withholding the sandwich, “you actually didn’t love me?”

“It was only for a minute. Maybe two. Right around the time the mosquito stung me on the butt. There was a little bit of nonlove at that moment. But it passed and now I’m all the way back in love again.”

“You wound me, Luce.” He rested his free hand on his heart. “Right where I live.”

She went to him and kissed him, wincing when her lips connected with the stubble he’d let go without shaving.

“What?”

“My lips are sunburned, too.”

“I’ll shave later so you can kiss me without pain.”

She kissed him again. “It doesn’t hurt that bad, and your kisses are worth the sacrifice.”

He hooked his arm around her waist and drew her in close to him. “I know this isn’t your thing, but I love having you out here with me. All I ask is that you roll with it and let me show you how fun it can be, okay?”

“I’m sorry if I’ve been a poor sport. I’m trying.”

“You’re not a poor sport. You’re adorable, and I love you.”

“I love you, too, but I’ll love you even more when you hand over that sandwich.”

Smiling, Colton kissed her again and then gave her the sandwich along with a canister of lemon-scented wet wipes. He pulled a blanket from the canoe, spread it out on the sand and then went back for his own sandwich and a couple of sodas for them.

Lucy shook her head when he offered the drink to her. “I’ll just have to pee again.”

“I’ll find you another tree. You have to stay hydrated out here.”

“Fine.” She took the soda, popped it open and took a delicate sip. “Are you happy?”

“Never been happier.”

Surrounded as they were by majestic trees, birds of all kinds, wildflowers of every imaginable color, blue sky and bluer water, there was plenty to look at. But Colton’s gaze was drawn again and again to her as she ate her sandwich and took in her surroundings. He’d give just about anything to know what she was thinking.

“It sure is pretty here,” she finally said.

Her appreciation of the scenery went a long way toward relieving some of the stress he felt about dragging her along on a trip he knew she didn’t want to take.

“Wait until you see it at night. The stars are unlike anything you’ve ever seen.”

“I’m kind of scared to be out here at night.”

“Why would you be scared, honey? Do you think I’d ever, ever,
ever
let anything happen to you?”

“No, but still . . . I’ve never slept outside before.”

“You won’t be outside. You’ll be in a tent with me. I promise you’ll be perfectly safe and very comfortable.” He leaned over to kiss her, resting his forehead against hers. “Have a little faith in me?”

“I have all the faith in the world in you. Why do you think I’m here?”

*   *   *

Lucy curled her hand around his neck to keep him close enough to kiss again. He was so adorable and sweet and wanted so badly to show her a good time that Lucy decided to let go of all her worries and fears as well as her irrational need for all the creature comforts of home. She was alone with Colton, one of her favorite places to be. What did it matter where they were?

While she was perfectly content to kiss him, apparently he had other needs that became apparent to her when he lifted her T-shirt to gain access to her belly. “What’re you doing?”

“This,” he said, placing kisses on her belly that made her squirm under him. Pushing her shirt up as he went, he kissed the slopes of her breast and then tongued her nipples through her bra. “And this.”

“Um, Colton?”

“Hmm?”

“Not here.”

“Yes, here. Right here.” He released the front clasp on her bra and was devouring her right nipple before she caught up and realized his intentions.

Lucy began to squirm more intently, determined to end this before it got any further out of control. However, since she was no match for his formidable strength, she decided to fight like a girl and pulled his hair.

“Ow,” he said while continuing to stroke her nipple with his tongue.

“We need to stop! I can’t do this here.”

“Yes, you can.”

“No, I can’t!”

He looked up at her, slaying her with those eyes that never looked at her with anything other than love. “Yes,” he said softly, “you can. We’re completely alone here. No one around for miles.”

“Will and Cam are around.”

“They went the other way, and he knows I wanted to be alone with you. They won’t be back.”

“How can you know that for sure?”

“Because I know my brother, and he knows me. Relax, Luce. Let me love you.”

“We can do this later. When it’s dark.”

“We’ll do it then, too.” He drew her nipple into his mouth, sucking hard enough to ensure there wasn’t room for any other thoughts in her head than the divine pleasure she always found in his arms. Then he was tugging at the button to her shorts, unzipping them and pushing them down her legs. His hand slid inside her panties where he discovered at least one part of her was fully on board with his plan for outdoor, middle-of-the-day, broad-daylight sex on a riverbank.

“Ahh, God,” he whispered as he kissed his way down the front of her. “That’s so hot.”

“Come back up here.” Her heart beat frantically at the thought of what he obviously planned to do.

“In a minute.”

“Colton . . .”

“I love the sound of my name coming from you.”

“Please come up here.”

“I will as soon as I make you come. So the faster you come, the faster I’ll be back to protect you from the prying eyes of the wildlife.” This was said between kisses to her belly and nibbles to her hip bones that made her squirm with interest rather than retreat.

Her panties slid down her legs and were discarded over his shoulder.

“Don’t lose them!”

“I’ll find them for you. Don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry. Right.”

“Relax, honey,” he said as he kissed his way from her knee up her inner thigh and then back down the other side, skipping over all the places that mattered most. Clearly, he was in no particular hurry as he propped her legs on his broad shoulders.

She really ought to seriously call a halt to this. That was her last cognizant thought before he used his thumbs to open her to his tongue. Staring up at the bright blue, cloudless sky, Lucy gave in to the overwhelming desire he aroused in her so easily. All he had to do was look at her in that certain way, and she was a goner. But when he did this, when he made love to her with his mouth and fingers, she became a blathering idiot, incapable of anything other than holding on to his thick hair for dear life as he took her on the wildest of rides.

Outside, in the bright light of day, the effect seemed to be intensified by the fear of getting caught. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and not from the sun. Her legs trembled violently and her sex clenched around his tongue, but the orgasm she needed to move things along was elusive and out of reach.

Moaning, she buried her fingers in his hair.

He sucked hard on her clitoris, making her see stars as he sent his fingers plunging into her. With his free hand, he squeezed her ass, which tripped her over the edge, screaming from the incredible pleasure that ripped through her body.

Moving quickly, he managed to push his shorts down over his hips and align his cock with her still-clenching channel, surging into her and triggering another release.

“God,” he whispered in her ear, his hot breath giving her goose bumps. “You are so hot, Luce. You make me crazy with wanting you.”

“Obviously, you make me crazy, too, if I’m actually having sex outside in the middle of the day.”

“Isn’t it fun?”

“It’s scary, so hurry up.” She raised her hips, trying to move things along so they could get their clothes back on as soon as possible. Of course, her desire for haste only had him slowing down, his pace languid and unhurried as he moved above her.

“I could do this all day,” he said before he captured her lips in a deep, erotic kiss.

Lucy turned away from the kiss. “We can’t do this all day. We have to hurry up.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“You ask me that when you’re overpowering me in every possible way,” she said with a nervous laugh.

Poised on top of her, he smoothed her hair back from her face and compelled her to meet his gaze while he continued to throb inside her. “I love you,” he said, kissing her softly.

“I love you, too.”

“Then trust me to take care of you and to keep you safe.”

“I do trust you.”

“Let go of your worries and just feel the pleasure.” He grasped her hands and raised them over her head as he picked up the pace again. “Close your eyes and don’t think. Just feel.”

Since there wasn’t much else she could do while completely overtaken by him, she did as he directed and closed her eyes, relaxing into the now-familiar rhythm they always found together.

“That’s it,” he said, bending over her to suck on her nipple. “Ahhh, I love that full-body blush.”

Lucy hated that her skin gave away her every emotion, but she’d learned not to tell him that every time he said how much he loved it.

He released her hands so he could slide his under her. Gripping her ass, he went for broke. “Touch yourself, Luce,” he said in a harsh whisper that told her he was close.

Before him, she would’ve been mortified by such a demand from one of the few lovers she’d had in the past. Now she slid her hand down to where they were joined without hesitation, anticipating the sublime pleasure they found together.

“
Yes
,” he said in the same gravelly tone. “Just like that. So hot. So incredible.”

His words were every bit as powerful as the deep thrusts of his cock.

“Lucy . . .”

She opened her eyes to find his closed, his jaw throbbing from the effort to hold back and wait for her.

He surged into her, and the combination of that and the press of her fingers against her clit had her forgetting everything that didn’t involve him and the way he made her feel every time they made love. With a protracted groan, he came with her and then rested on top of her, his head nestled between her neck and shoulder.

Lucy ran her hand over his back, which was damp with sweat. “There’s definitely something to be said for outside, middle-of-the-day sex.”

“Told ya.” His lips curved against her neck as he kissed his way to her lips. “There’s something to be said for sex with you no matter where we have it.”

“This isn’t going to be a regular thing.”

“You said yourself it was amazing, and—” He stopped himself midsentence and cocked his head, listening to something.

“What?”

“Is that . . . singing?”

“Did I make you hear music?”

Grunting out a laugh, he pushed himself up on his arms to peer above the row of low-cut bushes that hid them from the river. “Oh, shit.” Colton moved quickly, grabbing the blanket and rolling them without withdrawing from her.

“What the hell?”

“Shhh.”

“What is it?”

“If I’m not mistaken, it’s a Boy Scout troop.”

“
Are you freaking kidding me?
” she whispered in an angry hiss.

“Shhh, be quiet. Maybe they won’t notice us.”

She was going to punch him the second she could do it without fear of being caught—
naked and having sex
—by a bunch of kids! And was he . . .
getting hard
again? Lucy began to struggle against his tight hold. “Don’t even think about it,” she said through gritted teeth.

He shook with silent laughter that only made her madder.

“I’m going to kill you for this.”

Nuzzling her ear, he bit down gently on her earlobe. “No, you won’t.”

“Yes, I will!”

“Shhh. Maybe they won’t see us.”

“What are they doing, Mr. Carson?” a young voice asked.

“Ummm, camping,” the adult replied in a terse, annoyed tone.

“They forgot their tent.”

“Apparently so. Let’s continue on down the river and find another place to stop for lunch.”

“Why is there underwear hanging from that bush?”

“Paddle, boys. Right now.”

“Why would someone hang their underwear from a bush? A bear might take it.”

“You’re paddling. Not talking.”

By now, Colton was laughing so hard he had tears rolling down his face that fell against her neck and shoulder.