Travis

It only took moments to change. I hadn’t brought a swimsuit to the B&B, but I’d brought some running shorts that would work just fine. I grabbed a towel and headed back outside to wait on the shore.

The kayaker was still out in the lake, slightly closer than he or she had been before, but still too distant to determine anything specific about who it might be. The breeze was slight, gentle, and the water was still but for the soft lapping of the shore. The sun had burned away into early evening, and the trees to the left of the dock shaded the small portion of private beach so that it felt cool and intimate. The house was far enough away that it was barely visible. A quiet, refreshing reprieve from the noise and heat of the day.

I spread my towel out on a rock and took the few steps toward the sandy shore, staring out at the lake.

“It feels so incredibly peaceful here,” Haven said as she approached.

I turned, swallowing as I took her in. She was wearing a black bikini, a pair of jean shorts over the bottoms, and her gaze was trained on the water. It gave me an opportunity to drink her in without her watching me stare.

Her breasts were small-ish, but high and round, her nipples pebbled under the thin material of the swimsuit as though the slight breeze off the lake had chilled her. She’d taken out her braid and piled her hair on top of her head. And her skin. I already knew her skin was smooth and olive toned, but there was so much of it. Her arms, her shoulders, and her curved waist. And those legs. Long and slim, darker than that of her flat, bared stomach.  

“You don’t swim, but you have a swimsuit,” I said inanely, mostly to unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth.

She smiled. “I like to sit at the edge of water, I just don’t usually go in.”

“It’ll feel nice,” I said, again inanely.

Her gaze lingered on me. “Yes. It will.”

There was a slightly awkward pause, broken by Haven stepping to the rock where I’d dropped my towel and depositing hers in the same spot. Her hands moved to the button of her shorts and I took in a shallow breath, turning toward the lake to give her a moment of privacy while she undressed.

I waded into the cool water, listening for her approach behind me, my heart thrumming with anticipation. The moment felt . . . new somehow, in a way I couldn’t articulate, as if swimming with a pretty girl in a bikini was something I’d never done, when in actuality, that was far from the truth.

The water was especially clear here, and I could see my feet on the sandy bottom as I moved deeper into the lake, until the water touched my thighs. I turned at the soft splashing sounds of Haven stepping into the lake behind me, and oh God, she was beautiful. With her shorts off, I could see the entire shape of her body, and I visualized what was beneath the small triangles of material, my body growing hot.

“God, this feels nice,” she said, walking in farther and using her hands to swish the water at her sides. I smiled, squinting at her as she joined me.

For a moment we stood together, looking at the lake, Haven’s hands continuing to move serenely. “What a dream this place is,” she sighed.

“Not always,” I said.

She turned her eyes to me, tilting her head at whatever she’d heard in my tone. What a dream. She’d said something similar at the festival about the town, about being lucky to live here, and I’d agreed with her. It was idyllic, the people were warm and friendly. And living beside a lake was picturesque, among other things. But all of that could be deceiving. Who knew that better than the Hale family?

But I didn’t want to talk about that. Not now. Not when the setting sun was beginning to make the water around us shimmer like gold. Not when it had been such a good day, barring the incident with the scam-artist known as Clarice. Not when Haven was beside me wearing practically nothing. “I just mean, no town is perfect.”

She paused in thought before looking away. “No. I don’t imagine it is. People live here after all. But whatever imperfect events take place, a setting like this sure must soften the blow,” she said, attempting lightness. I smiled. True enough.

I took Haven’s trailing hand in mine, stepping deeper into the water. She offered a small amount of resistance. “Not too far,” she said on a breathy laugh.

“I’m with you,” I said. “I won’t let you drown.”

She paused only a moment and then took the next several steps with me, until the water was lapping at her waist.

“See?” I said. “You can still see your feet on the bottom.”

She nodded. “Yes. The water’s so clear.” She brought some of the water up with the hand not holding mine, running it over her arms and shoulders. “Ah, that feels nice,” she murmured.

I tugged her a little farther and she laughed. “This is far enough.”

“Just a few more steps. Here I’ll help you.” I let go of her hand and moved in quickly, slipping my arms around her waist and pulling her to me as I stepped forward, off the small drop-off that had been just ahead. She laughed, pushing at my chest, but then quickly wrapped her arms around my neck when she realized that she could only touch the bottom with her tippy-toes.

Her face registered surprise then a brief flare of fear, her arms bringing her even closer as she held on. “You tricked me, Travis Hale.”

No, you tricked me. How and why and when, I wasn’t exactly sure. But I felt bamboozled, as though she’d done something on purpose to make things, me, everything, seem one way when they were really another. I couldn’t even make sense of my own thoughts.

“I did, but only because I wanted you to feel the water all over you. I wanted you to experience what it’s like to float. I won’t let you go, I promise. I’ve got you.”

She gave me an exasperated stare, but the fear seemed to have faded and after a moment, she leaned her head back, letting the water lap around her shoulders as we bobbed together in the water.

My gaze dropped to her breasts, her slight round cleavage just showing above the water, her stomach pressed to mine. God, it felt good. She was warm and soft and slippery, and it was taking everything in me not to lower my head and kiss that sweet dip between her breasts, to drag my tongue over the swells, to trail my lips along her collarbone. I throbbed, growing harder. My blood coursing hotter.

Haven brought her head forward, her eyes meeting mine. Her face was so close, the way it’d been when we first kissed. Only that had been in dim lighting and so sudden that I hadn’t had the chance to look at her up close, to notice the details of her face . . . the almost invisible, fine hairs that made her skin look like velvet, the dark striations in her coffee-colored eyes, the perfect dip of her cupid’s bow, and the small beauty mark on her left cheek, barely as large as the tip of a pen.

My breath came shorter, body reacting to the soft press of her skin and the way she clung to me. A curl sprung free and hit me in the eye, making me squint and laugh in sudden surprise. “This hair,” I said, bringing one hand up and attempting unsuccessfully to tuck it behind her ear, “is a wonder.”

“It’s a curse,” she murmured. I attempted another ear tuck, the curl obeying this time, but likely not for long. I allowed my fingers to caress the side of her silken cheek. Her eyes flared, and I saw the same heat in hers that must be in my own. I could feel her heart beating against my chest and I noticed when her breath hitched. “It came from my dad I suppose because my mom’s hair was as straight as could be,” she said, glancing away, “though that could have been any number of men. My mom never really did pin it down.”

My hand paused briefly in its journey down her cheek, the statement catching me off guard. She was watching me closely as though waiting for my reaction. When I met her stare without flinching, she released a breath, shook her head, and lowered her eyes. “Sorry,” she said, “I’m a little nervous out here.”

“Don’t be. I’m not going to let you go.”

Her shoulders dropped and she relaxed completely in my arms, her body becoming pliant. She trusts me. It felt like a deep and sacred honor. Amazing. Undeserved even when trust was part of my daily life. This town trusted me. But Haven’s trust was different altogether. For a few moments we were quiet, her breath evening, my arms holding her steadily as we both looked toward the setting sun. The world felt beautiful and peaceful. All the worries, all the questions with no answers, all the complications, and the potential pain of the world, none of it existed in this watery refuge under the dipping sun with this beautiful girl in my arms. Nothing could touch us out here. It was only us.

This time the kiss began slowly, Haven’s eyes meeting mine, our mouths touching gently, the barest brush of our lips. It wasn’t clear who’d initiated it, maybe me, maybe her. But it seemed more likely that we’d both moved together simultaneously. For long moments I gloried in the feel of her body against mine, the cool undulations of the current drawing her away and then pressing her near. It was breathless, and it was sweet. I felt a shift. Me. The world. The order of things I could not name, or maybe had misunderstood in the first place. Assumptions long held all suddenly proven wrong.

I drew in a shuddery breath as I moved my tongue languidly over the seam of her lips and she opened for me. The kiss went deeper, yet the pace remained the same. Leisurely. Dreamy. As though to rush things would dishonor this moment.

The kiss was as natural as the lift and fall of the water around us, as essential as the sky above, as searing as the fiery sun.

Our tongues tangled, danced, parried slowly, her mouth angled over mine so that I could taste every inch of her sweetness.

Our breath mingled, and Haven brought her hands from around my neck, holding my face as her legs circled my waist. I gasped out a ragged moan as her core pressed against my erection and for a moment, I thought I might come in my shorts like a teenage boy feeling a female body for the very first time. She fit so perfectly against me. I used one arm to hold her steadily around the waist, and the other dipped, first to the round curve of her ass, down to the silky smoothness of the back of her thigh, pulling her closer yet, torturing myself.

“What are we doing, Travis?” she breathed, slowing the kiss once more, her lips trailing over mine, her hands weaving into my hair, even as she drew her body away from mine so very slightly.

I don’t know. I have no idea. “Enjoying ourselves,” I murmured, trailing my lips down her throat as she leaned her head back to give me better access. I darted my tongue out, licking the spot where her pulse fluttered under my mouth. I felt an odd feeling just under the intense arousal, and I could only call it fear. But of what? I knew how to do this. I was an expert at this.

“Why?” She raked her fingernails through my hair and I moaned again at the pure pleasure assaulting every part of me. But I also heard the barest hint of panic in her tone as though her mind was searching for reasons to resist, even if her body was not. Why what? I’d lost the thread of the conversation, and I had to force myself back the same way I sometimes pulled myself from sleep when an emergency call came through in the middle of the night.

When had I ever wanted to be lost like this? When had I wanted to lose control?

“Because it feels nice,” I answered. It felt better than nice. It felt amazing. Incredibly erotic. Right.

“That’s all?” She drew back slightly and looked me in the eyes, searching, giving me a moment to get control of the runaway lust pumping through my veins. Was she looking for a reason to stop? A justification to continue?

“Of course,” I answered. “You have . . . feelings for Gage, remember?”

Her gaze went a little hazy. “Right,” she said. “Oh. Yes. I do. I’d like to . . . keep myself available just in case.”

Available. The words felt wrong, as if the ones we were using were conveying something different entirely.

“Just in case,” I repeated, leaning back in and running my nose along her jaw, inhaling the sun-drenched scent of her skin.

“And you’re . . . you’re on the rebound,” she reminded me.

“I know,” I said. Something sparked in her eyes, her brows lowering even as she nodded.

“But there’s no reason we can’t enjoy each other in the meantime,” she said.

My heart soared and I felt a moment of victory, despite that she’d just re-established the very temporary nature of our . . . friendship.

I was going to make the most of temporary. And I was going to be a very good friend.

“Keep our skills honed and all that,” I added.

“Exactly. It doesn’t have to be complicated,” she said.

“No. Simple. Very simple.” Lord, but it felt simple. So simple I could hardly think.

She ran a finger down my stomach and I sucked in another breath, my cock jumping, a flush of heat infusing my limbs. I desperately wanted to pull her swimsuit bottoms aside, push into her tight heat, thrust gently at first, and then harder, faster, the water splashing around us as I sought the sweet relief that only her silken body could bring.

That couldn’t happen. Not here. But I could give her relief and despite my own raw need, I’d never wanted anything more than to pleasure her, to watch her face as she fell apart, to know that I had been the one to do it. I removed my hand from the back of her thigh and moved it between our bodies, drawing back so I could slip it lower, into the waistband of her bikini bottoms, my finger sliding over her hot, swollen flesh.

“Oh, oh God,” she moaned, her head going back, her hands falling from my head and gripping my shoulders. “Travis, yes . . .”

My hand went lower, my thumb trailing that hard bundle of nerves, even as my finger dipped into her wet heat. Oh God was right. She was slick and hot, snug around my finger. My cock throbbed with frustrating intensity, a primitive ache so deep it made me dizzy. Haven’s head came forward, her cheeks flushed, eyes half shut as she melded her mouth with mine once again.

I circled and slid and in only moments she was moving with me, riding my hand, the kiss growing erotically sloppy as she made a deep sound of primal pleasure in the back of her throat.

“Oh God, oh God, you’re good at this,” she said, breaking away from my mouth. “Don’t stop.”

I had no intention of stopping.

I lifted her higher and bent my head, closing my mouth over the thin fabric that covered one hardened nipple, and tugging on it lightly as she cried out, bucking gently, my finger going deeper as a frantic-sounding groan emerged from her throat. Her hands came away from my shoulders momentarily as she reached behind her, untying the strings of her bikini top, the fabric dropping.

My mind went blank, eyes feasting on perfect round breasts, her nipples tight, rosy points. Apparently, I didn’t need my brain to figure out what to do because before a lucid thought had formed, my mouth was wrapped around one bare nipple, tongue lapping at it slowly as she let out a long moan of pleasure, hands finding my shoulders once again and grasping.

I moved to the other nipple and was rewarded with more quickened gasps. I sucked and licked, my thumb continuing to circle as she rode my finger.  

Her fingernails dug into my skin and I hoped she was marking me. I wanted to look at those red half-moons in the mirror tomorrow and be brought back to this moment. She was going to come, I could feel it in the vibrations of her body, hear it in the frenzied nature of her pants, and the clutch of her hands. I wanted to watch it as it happened. Needed to. I lifted my head from her breasts, nipples gleaming wet from my mouth, and the sight of that alone made my cock throb mercilessly. Her eyes were closed, cheeks flushed with arousal, mouth parted, and more beautiful than anything I’d ever looked upon in my entire life. Her body stiffened and she let out a strangled cry as she came, eyes flying open to meet my gaze right before her forehead touched mine, gasping as she attempted to catch her breath. We both breathed together, her heart slamming against my chest as she fought for breath.

I slipped my finger from her body, pulling her swimsuit bottoms up and wrapping my arm around her again, holding her in the water as our breathing evened, though my raging erection throbbed with both pleasure and pain.

I kissed her temple. She sighed sweetly as she reached up and retied her top. Her eyes met mine, expression open and vulnerable and there was something so incredibly hopeful in her gaze. She stared at me for a moment, blinking as though catching herself revealing what she had not meant to. A flash of fear raced across her face right before her features smoothed.

What did you hope for just now? I wondered. And why did it scare you?

She leaned back, her expression hesitant, slightly shy. I took a few steps back toward the shore, stepping up the drop-off and placing her on her feet. She teetered slightly, laughing at herself. The sun had set, leaving only a stripe of red far away on the horizon, but providing enough light that I could still see clearly. Overhead, the first stars were appearing in the deepening sky. “You must be tired,” I said.

She nodded uncertainly. “You must be . . .” She glanced downward.

I laughed shortly. “I’m fine.” I wasn’t fine, but I would live, at least until I made it to the privacy of my shower. Then I’d picture the way her face looked as she fell apart, the way her body squeezed and pulsated around my finger, the way her nipples had tasted on my tongue. One stroke and I’d be done.

She turned away and then turned back quickly. “It . . . I mean, I know we said no complications. But . . . that felt sort of complicated.”

Was she saying we shouldn’t do that again? Touch each other? My chest suddenly felt tight. Everything felt tight. I studied her for a moment. I wasn’t sure how to read her expression . . . confused, uneasy. It wasn’t how I wanted her to feel. I’d never seen confusion or any form of regret on a woman’s face after physical intimacy. I was in uncharted territory here. “I’ll leave it up to you, Haven. Whatever you feel comfortable with.”

Her gaze moved over my face, and then she nodded once, her lips pressing together momentarily before she nodded again as though confirming the first nod. “I . . . that was , , , I mean. You’re very skilled. Obviously, I enjoyed that. Very much.” Her cheeks colored the way they had right before she’d come. She laid her hand on my arm and then just as quickly removed it. “I don’t regret it at all. It was . . . wow. Very, very wow. I just . . . you know, it sort of muddies the water and all.”

“It does,” I agreed. “Muddy waters.” So why was I suddenly very willing to wade in muddy waters? To swim in them. Hell, I’d be willing to drink them right at the moment.

“And I . . . well, today was . . . special to me. I would hate to do anything to jeopardize more times like that. Me, you, the crew.” The words faded into a small, uncomfortable laugh. She gave me a smile, part hopeful, part puzzled.

The crew. I was part of the crew.

And though she was very obviously attracted to me, the friendly part of our relationship was more valuable to her. If I was reading the situation correctly.

I opened my mouth to say something and then closed it. Her eyes were tired. It had been a long day. And though I was incredibly attracted to her, I also wanted her to have other days like today. Uncomplicated. Easy. Friendly. I took her hand in mine and pulled her to the shore where we both picked up our towels and dried off, Haven sliding her shorts back over her swimsuit and slipping her flip-flops on once she was dry.

We walked in silence to the house, the quiet of the night and the gentle lapping of the water making it seem almost unreal, as if what had just happened had been nothing more than a fevered dream.

There were voices and laughter coming from the back porch of the house, but we didn’t move in that direction, instead walking silently to the bottom of the stairs and then climbing them together.

We both paused at the top landing. Haven’s expression was peaceful, though her eyes remained uncertain. Her hair was windblown and in complete disarray, and the corner of my lip tugged in a smile. She bit at her lip. Cleared her throat. “Goodnight,” she said. “Thank you again for . . . today.”

“My pleasure,” I said and her eyes flew to mine, widening slightly. I smiled, saying nothing. I hated that we were suddenly so awkward. It was strange. And sort of amusing in a disappointing way. And frustrating. And I was still semi hard. That shower was calling. Loudly. “Goodnight, Haven. Sleep well.”

She nodded, her gaze lingering on mine for a moment. I swore she held her breath as she moved around me, heading for her room.