Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (29 page)

Krista wanted to tell them to quit trying to
spare Bob’s feelings, the miserable S.O.B., but she didn’t want
Sean to give her a talking to. He was great at making her feel
small when she acted like a bratty twenty-something year old, which
she had been doing all morning.

But honestly, no cream and sugar? How was she
supposed to feel better about tricking Donald into punching himself
in the face last night without cream and sugar? And who hadn’t
learned that trick when they were freaking ten-years-old?

Finally, Bob gave in and went over how he
would work with Sean. Georgie then chimed in on how he would best
work with their combined weight. Donald chipped in. Krista didn’t
need to—they were wasting time. Too many men working on a
problem—it always took forever.

She waited patiently until they needed her.
When they were ready, they all looked over.

“Geek Girl, you’re up,” Sean said lightly. He
knew she was right, but he still didn’t approve of her attitude.
She didn’t care.

“I need to go vertical, right?” she asked
Sean.

“As close as you can,” he replied looking at
the rope.

“Okay, I’ll wrap my legs around your middle
and you need to hold my hips or stomach so I can reach out. Then
they need to lean you in so we can reach.”

“How long can you stay vertical?” Sean
asked.

“No idea. Probably not all that long. Let’s
give it a go and see. Don’t drop me.” She warned with a finger in
his face. He winked. She scowled.

She was the third from the end of the board,
Sean was first, and Donald was between them. Without asking
permission—poor Donald—she hugged him and stepped around. He was so
startled at the contact, he nearly fell backward.

“Easy fella,” she said as she let go. “No
need to get awkward.”

She continued on to Sean, who grabbed her
around the middle and helped her around him. Neither of them were
put out by it. It’s not like they hadn’t been that close before.
Recently.

“Okay,” Sean said, reaching his arms around
her. She leaned back into him for just a minute, liking his hard
body against her back.
Remembering.

She smiled at his quick intake of breath then
leaned away.

“No need to get awkward,” she said again.
“Grab on. Don’t let go. Not even if I throw up.”

“Why did you drink so much?” Sean whined.

“I needed a new challenge. I am going to get
down like a wheel barrel. You grab my legs and wrap them around,
okay?”

Krista put her palms on the board and felt
his strong hands grab her feet. She backpedaled as he got her legs
spread and positioned around him as best he could.

Oh man
she felt like crap. All the
blood rushing to her head was-not-helping!

“Alright, how is this going to work?” Sean
asked.

“Uh, lift my hips up to your hips. Don’t get
a hard on—that’ll be distracting.”

“I think I can manage,” Sean replied
dryly.

Dean laughed despite himself and Georgie
snorted.

Sean put one large hand on either side of her
hip bones. She felt pressure as he lifted her weight. She felt his
body quiver with the strain of it and felt an answering stir in her
groin. Suddenly she wanted to try this sexual position.
Uncomfortable, but she wondered which places it would hit inside
her. She wanted all his power at max as he slid his girth into the
right places.

“Krista, what are you waiting for?” Sean
asked with his teeth clenched.

Oh yeah.

She strained up so her body was going
straight out from where their groins joined. All the strength
exercises she had done all her life made it easy. All the alcohol
she drank last night, however, made it horrendous.

“Down,” she said, relaxing her body.

Sean lowered her so she had her palms on the
board, but did not unwrap her legs. She felt a hardness pushing up
against her pelvic bone. Apparently he couldn’t manage all that
well after all. She knew how he felt.

“Okay,” Sean said, strain in his voice, and
not from physical exertion. “I am going to walk you forward,
Krista. When you get to the edge, lift up. I will take two more
steps to the end of the platform. Then, Bob, lower me out. We need
to do this quick so Krista and I don’t give up halfway through and
fall.”

Somehow, Sean did as he said, his hardness
more pronounced, pumping Krista’s arousal to match. The rubbing was
having an effect on both of them. Krista was positive the sexual
position would be fantastic! It was all she could think about.
Sean, too. Even when it was “go” time and Krista lifted up, they
both focused on that pressure, that rubbing. After Krista grabbed
the rope and Sean pulled her back in, they lost focus on reality,
and thought only of the other. Of the contact. Of the
need
so long overdue finally being expressed.

Krista heard instructions about hanging on to
the rope, but all she could think of was the waves of pleasure
heating her up from Sean’s hardness against her groin. All she
could do with any certainty was gyrate her hips, rubbing her right
spot on his.

He answered by clutching her hips with his
hands, rubbing his thumbs along her hip bones, pulling, straining
his hips into her, keeping still with every ounce of control he
possessed so as not to let on what they were doing, but still
allowing her to move against him, pushing him on; his cock
screaming, his balls constricting. Krista moving faster. A muffled
moan escaping, then…an explosion.

“Sean?” Donald’s voice.

“What’s that?” Sean asked in a sweat—and not
from lifting.

Krista shuddered under his fingertips.

“Pass the rope back and put Krista down.”

“Got it,” Sean said, allowing Krista to arch
to pass back the rope, squeezing out one more jolt of pleasure.

“I’m going to lower your legs, Krista,” Sean
said in a husky voice.

“It’s your rodeo,” Krista answered in a
relaxed sort of way.

“Great job you guys!” Dean said from behind.
“Who swings across first?”

“Well, Sean, Krista, and Bob should stay in
case we lose the rope again,” Donald said.

“Then I’ll go.” Dean inched up.

Dean made it to the front. Sean, who was
bending over at the waist a bit more than normal, helped him around
Krista. She stopped herself from smirking. It was erotic what they
did in front of a bunch of co-workers without them knowing. Not as
good as in an office, but still good. She wanted more.

Dean swung across without effort and was
about to swing the rope back when Donald said, “Wait, let Sean
catch it. He’s got the longest arms.”

Sean’s hands were on Krista again. This time
they slid around her butt and moved her to face him so he could get
by. As he moved across, his hands crushed her into him, forcing her
to grab his arms. He wasn’t balanced, though, he was leaning too
far in. They both nearly lost their balance and pitched over the
edge of the board.

“Sean!” She yelled, looking behind in case
she fell.

They felt a moment of teetering before Bob
grabbed Sean and steadied them. It wasn’t the place for foreplay.
Krista pinched Sean to get that across.

His almond shaped eyes bored into hers,
intense, but also playful. He smiled briefly before he was headed
for the rope.

One by one they all swung over. They were
careful to always catch the rope, and had a scare when Bob came
barreling at them, a giant wrecking ball against a few bowling
pins. Thankfully, he was strong enough to hang on, but with that
much mass traveling directly for you at high speeds, Krista would
later freely admit she hid behind Sean. So would Donald.

After Bob made it across and was stopped by a
brave Sean and Georgie, and after Krista laughed so hard she nearly
wet herself (everyone else was trying to keep from laughing, except
Bob who was really mad), they moved off to the next challenge.

As they walked, Georgie and Donald were
Krista’s shadows. It wasn’t friendly. Something was a bit off; they
acted more like bodyguards. She got the distinct impression there
was a faction in the small group, and Krista was the cause of
it.

Luckily, Krista didn’t much care at that
moment. She had bigger issues. Like her returning headache.

“Okay,” the ref said, stopping in front of a
vertical, disarrayed spider web. There were two erect posts.
Between those posts were strands of rope. There was no decoration
or pattern, just a criss-cross of ropes strung between two wooden
poles.

“The goal of this is similar to the last. Get
from one side to the other.”

Easy. Climb the rope strands, go over the
top, drop down. No brainer.

“The rules to this one are simple,” the ref
continued. “You can only go through each hole once, and you can’t
touch the rope.”

Krista looked harder. There were big gaps in
the ropes at the bottom. One at ground level, one a little higher
up. The holes got smaller as they went in the air. The top hole was
about seven feet up, and guess who would be crawling through that
one?…

Krista suddenly decided she didn’t need that
$500 all that much.

“Alright, suggestions?” Sean asked as he
looked around.

“I’m a good anchor. I’ll go through the
bottom one.” Bob spoke up immediately.

“Sean, you should probably go through the
next biggest one,” Dean said.

That started everyone picking holes. When
they were all done deciding, Sean telling Krista she got the top
one, of course, they got into position. That was when she decided
to throw a stick in their spokes.

“Sean should go through the second highest
one, like Donald said.” Krista crossed her arms. Her power position
was ruined when she then leaned against the nearest tree.

“We already decided,” Bob retorted.

“That you were going through the biggest
hole, I know. You get going while the grown-ups talk,” Krista
muttered.

“You aren’t acting like a grown up, Krista,”
Sean returned quietly.

“I am P.M.S.’ing, then. Or I have women’s
disease of a small brain. Regardless, I agree with what Donald has
been saying. Sean is the strongest of us. But he is not the
heaviest. Besides me, he is probably the only one who can torque
his body enough to get to that top one. And he surfs—he’s got
excellent balance.”

“I didn’t know he surfed. That does help my
cause.” Donald stepped a fraction closer to Krista.

“I’m not convinced,” Sean said. “Dean is
smaller and lighter. He’d be easier to get up there.” Sean scanned
the holes at the top.

“Okay, how about this,” Krista said, looking
at that daunting top hole, “Sean, you stay on this side. Bob, on
that side. Those are two big bases. Let’s get Georgie through. I’ll
go and we can see how hard it will be to get me through. Then we’ll
have an idea of the fitness and strength required. If Dean has it,
awesome. If not, Sean goes. That work?”

“What makes you think you have the strength?”
Bob spat.

“Robert, did you not notice me holding my
body straight with my stomach muscles? Well, my whole body is that
strong. Plus, no one else is small enough, so I have no
choice.”

Bob muttered as he got in position to get
through his hole. The hole was plenty big, but he was a big ox of a
man. He breathed heavy as he crawled through, his butt in the air
and his legs doing a poor job of supporting his weight. When he was
finally on the other side, they got Georgie through next. He got a
smaller hole about three feet up to the side and made it through
easily. He had a few extra pounds, but he was an athlete once,
which was obvious.

Krista’s turn.

Sean made sure everyone was in position. He
judged the height, and then the man-power. It was a dangerous stunt
with the people they had to execute it. Sean didn’t want any
accidents. Everyone waited for him to say
go
—except Krista
who was waiting to throw up.

“Okay,” Sean said, motioning Krista over.

Krista walked toward the ropes, not really
worried—she was too poisoned. Sean and Donald filed in next to her,
ready to figure out how to go about the obstacle. Donald was wary
about touching her.

“I would like to make an announcement,”
Krista said suddenly, Donald’s nervousness infiltrating her brain.
“If anyone touches me inappropriately,” she looked hard at Bob,
“then I reserve the right to sucker punch you in your ball
sack.”

“Yikes…” Georgie said with a smile. He
thought Krista was nothing but funny these days. She seemed like a
serious bitch when you first met her, but if you spent any time
with her, you realized everything was coated with a thin layer of
irony. Underlying everything that didn’t directly have to do with
the job, there was a joke waiting to blossom.

“I might need to grab your butt,” Sean said
while he eyed the top hole. When it came to Krista, he was picking
which comments to scowl at and which to ignore. That one landed in
the “I didn’t hear anything” bucket. He didn’t want anyone
“accidentally” grabbing a boob, either.

“Hands to yourself, McAdams,” Krista said,
stepping closer to the rope as she looked up at her gap.

Georgie snorted.

“No, seriously. I might need to grab your
butt ice skater style.” Sean looked at her, his eyes like a
beautiful, still green pond.

“Well…okay, but you only. Not Donald. No
offense, Donald.”

“My wife would divorce me,” Donald said
seriously. Georgie and Dean both laughed.

Sean bent down to Krista and navigated her
onto his shoulders. He went into a squat as Dean and Donald helped
her get to a kneeling position. When she was firm, Sean
straightened up slowly, holding her hands to brace her.

“Krista, you need to go on a diet,” Sean said
as his legs labored to get out of the squat.

“I think you need to do more squats,” she
replied. She was breathing heavy already and she hadn’t even gotten
to the hard part yet.