“It fucking is another world,” he said and laughed a single rough laugh. “At least it’s miles away from the ones that we come from.” He finished his bottle of water and I took a sip from mine. “It’s a hunting lodge. I grew up coming here. Used to practice shooting, hike every day and just get away from the world for a while.”
I smiled, trying to imagine AK here as a youngster. “It sounds as if you had a very different childhood than my own,” I said with a nervous laugh. AK looked directly at me and I saw the humor fade from his face.
“But a not-so-dissimilar adulthood.” He looked away.
I was about to push him, to ask him what he meant by that, when I noticed a tattoo on his arm. I glanced down at the tank that I wore and realized it was the same image. Reaching out, I stroked my fingers over the American flag on his arm. “This emblem,” I said and pointed at the shirt. “They are the same.” AK’s muscles tensed. “What does it mean?”
“Shit to me anymore,” he said harshly. He got to his feet and began to descend down the side of the rock. The muddy path was steep. He glanced over his shoulder. “Come on. It ain’t so bad. I’ll help you.” I didn’t hesitate to take his hand and follow. As we made our way down the path, I realized that I trusted him.
I trusted a male.
I had never doubted he would keep me safe. Not even for a single second.
We arrived at the edge of the pool. AK bent down and refilled his water bottle. He held out his hand for my bottle too. I passed it to him and took a closer look at the waterfall beside us. The crashing fall of the water was loud from this proximity, and it was just as beautiful as it had been from the top of the rock.
“Here.” AK held out my bottle for me to take. Too busy watching the waterfall, I had not realized that the cap of the bottle was not in place. So when AK pulled his hand back and threw the contents of the bottle in my face, I screamed aloud in shock. I jumped as the cold water sprayed my face and body. I stood, motionless, until I looked at AK. And he was laughing. Not just smiling, but laughing heartily, the deep sound causing a lightness to flood my chest.
“AK!” I shrieked and lost my footing. My feet slid into the water and I fell back until I hit the mud, my bottom hitting the earth with a thud. When I lifted my hands they were covered in mud. AK laughed even harder behind me. My entire bottom half was drenched from the water. And I was covered in wet mud.
AK approached me as I rinsed my hands. “I was fucking with you, Phebe. I didn’t expect you to fucking fall in.” I scowled at him as he came closer, still laughing and not apologetic in the slightest. I waited until he held out his hand for me to take, as I knew he would. I scooped up as much water as possible in my hands and threw it in his face.
“Bitch!” AK shouted as he stepped back, the water dripping from his long hair. But there was no malice in his tone. His dark eyes that had been so dull and sad since the night he had cleaned the boots were full of light. Then he was coming at me. I scrambled forward until I was submerged into the water, hoping to escape any retaliation. My chest and arms sank into the cool liquid. But arms wrapped around me from behind and lifted me into the air. “No!” I called out, laughing as he threw me into the air. I landed in the water with a splash and scrambled to stand, brushing the water from my face. “I cannot swim!” I said and thankfully found my footing. I cast my eyes around the water. I could not see AK anywhere. And then he burst from the water right in front of me, and my heart almost swelled out of my chest.
AK’s arms wrapped around my waist. I slapped his bare arm as he smiled. “That’ll teach you to try and fuck with me, Red.”
I shook my head in protest. “Me?” I laughed at the playful look on his face. “You threw the water at me first!”
He shook his head and dropped his laughter. “You looked . . . hot. Thought you needed cooling down.”
I laughed at his smug face, and then slowly, second by second, the smile fell from my lips. My hands on his arms began smoothing over his wet skin. I felt my cheeks flush as AK’s gaze lost its playfulness. He waded us out farther into the pool, so far that my feet no longer felt the bottom. Gasping, panic taking hold of me, I gripped him tighter, and had no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist.
“I cannot stand,” I explained. “We are too far out for my height.”
“That was kinda the point, Red.” He lowered his hands until they were around my behind. I felt him harden against me and felt my own core build with sudden heat.
“AK,” I whispered when he slowly moved his hips against me. One of his hands dipped into the waistband of my shorts. His fingers were slow as they traveled south, gentle as they cupped between my legs and began stroking back and forth along my folds.
I gasped and closed my eyes as he ran his fingertip over my clit. I heard AK’s breathing deepen, felt his hardness against me, and wanted nothing more than to touch him too. Lowering one of my hands from around his neck, I slipped it down his muscled torso, sliding over the deep valleys and ridges until I met the button on his jeans. I unfastened it and unzipped his fly. I pulled out his length and felt AK immediately thrust into my hands.
“Fuck, Red,” he hissed as his hands moved harder and faster at my core. I stroked him up and down as he kept me solidly in his arms, never letting me fall.
I fought the urge to close my eyes. I wanted to watch AK. I wanted to see him, without the potion or the drink. I wanted to watch this man who had brought me to this lodge to help me simply because he wanted to. I had been wanted by many men before, but not for any other reason than sex. I could not be entirely sure, but when AK’s dark gaze watched me, when he offered me his hand, and kissed my cheek when he thought I was sleeping, I did not think it was for only his pleasure.
I was not sure, but . . . but I hoped, and I prayed, that he actually liked me. For me. Not my body. But just . . . me. I did not understand how that could possibly be true, but I desperately wanted it to be.
AK leaned his head forward and took my lips with his own. He kept his hand at my core, slipping back and forth, and then inside me in a slow, rhythmic motion. His tongue sought entrance to my mouth, and our mouths fell into the same rhythm as our hands.