I Saw Her Standing There (39 page)

“You’re a dead man,” she said as the young voices faded in the distance.

“What a great story to tell our kids someday.”

“We can’t tell them that! You’re crazy!”

With his head resting on her shoulder he laughed and laughed and laughed.

Lucy couldn’t keep a small smile from occupying her lips as she listened to him. He had such a great, lusty laugh. Speaking of lusty . . . As he laughed, he continued to throb inside her. “Get that thing out of me and find my hanging underwear.”

“As long as he’s back for round two, it’d be such a shame to waste him.”

“Only you could get a hard-on over being caught having sex by a bunch of kids.”

“They didn’t see a thing, and it was all you, babe.”

“None of this is my fault.” She pushed on his shoulders and managed to finally dislodge him.

He sat back in a squat, his hard cock standing at attention between them. Colton glanced down, clucking with disapproval. “You’re really going to leave him in this condition for hours and hours? Is that what kind of wife you’re going to be?”

Lucy sat up, holding the blanket snug against her chest. “Find. My. Clothes. Now.”

“Fine. Be that way.”

He gathered her shorts, T-shirt and bra and handed them to her. “Oh look at that,” he said of her panties, which were, in fact, hanging from a bush. “I bet I couldn’t do that again if I tried.”

“You won’t get another chance.”

With his own clothes in hand, he sat next to her on the blanket, leaned in close to her and nibbled playfully on her shoulder. “Come on, Luce. You have to admit that was funny.”

“It was mortifying!”

“But funny.
Come on
 . . . Admit it . . .”

“If I say it was even kind of funny that’ll encourage you, and I can’t do that. You’re already totally out of control.” She gestured to his still-erect penis. “And so is he.”

“On behalf of both of us, I’m hurt.”

“Go take a dunk in the freezing river. That’ll take care of him.”

“Great idea.” He stood up, still bare-ass naked, and walked toward the water.

“Colton! Put a bathing suit on or something!”

“Why? There’s no one around.”

“Where have I heard that before?” She pulled on her clothes while he took a dip in the freezing water.

“Holy shit, that’s cold!”

“Maybe it’ll chill you out for a few hours.”

“Won’t last that long.”

“Then I’ll dip you again.”

Even though she was truly mortified that a group of Boy Scouts had nearly caught them having sex, she couldn’t help but think about what she’d be doing on a summer Saturday in New York if she’d never met him. Probably hanging out at her apartment, doing laundry, perhaps seeing her sister and niece at some point. That life had been satisfying and filled with people who loved her. But this life . . . Her life with him was one adventure after another, and she loved every minute she got to spend with him—even when he was embarrassing the hell out of her.

Like now as he walked out of the water in all his glory, hands on his hips as he strolled toward her like a sexy panther on the prowl. And he was still hard!

Lucy scrambled to her feet, pulling her shirt over her head as she backpedaled away from him.

He rushed toward her and hooked an arm around her waist, stopping her from going any farther. “Don’t move. There’s poison ivy right behind you.” Lifting her like she was a feather rather than a fully grown woman, he deposited her gently on the blanket.

She looked over her shoulder at the shiny green leaves on the bush behind her and shuddered when she realized how close she’d come to stepping right into it. “Thanks,” she said with a kiss for her rescuer. “My hero.”

“So I’m forgiven for the Boy Scouts?” he asked as he pulled on his clothes.

“Not hardly.”

“Crap. I thought I had just gotten myself a get-out-of-jail-free card with the poison ivy rescue.”

“No such luck.”

“You’ll forgive me before the day is out. I’ll make it my mission in life.”

“Have at it.”

She helped him gather up their trash and fold the blanket that she would never look at the same way again. Thank God there’d been a blanket.

He took it from her and headed back to the canoe. “Hang on for one sec.” Returning to where she stood on the beach, he withdrew a tube of sunscreen from his cargo shorts. “Time to reapply. We can’t have that beautiful skin burning.”

She held out a hand for the tube. “I can do it.”

“Oh please. Allow me.”

“You’re shameless, Abbott.”

“Call me what you will, but my hands on your skin is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world.”

“Is it better than outdoor, middle-of-the-day sex?”

“It’s a very close second to that.” He set about applying the sunscreen with intense concentration and attention to detail.

“How is it that you can make the application of sunscreen into a sensual massage?”

“Is that what I’m doing?”

She elbowed his ribs playfully. “Like you don’t know.”

“I’m completely innocent.”

Snorting with laughter, she tugged on his hair. “You weren’t completely innocent the day you were born.”

“Ahh, Luce, you know me so well. It’s not my fault I was born with a hint of the devil in me. But you love me, devil and all.”

“It seems I do.”

When he’d applied the sunscreen stick to her face and nose, he leaned in to kiss her. “Now do your lips. I need them nice and soft later.”

She hooked an arm around his neck to keep him from getting away.

He raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“I just want you to know . . .”

His arms encircled her waist. “What do you want me to know, babe?”

“That even when I’m dying of embarrassment, which is often when you’re around, I love every minute we spend together.”

His eyes went soft with love and his smile lit up his handsome face. “Does that mean I’m forgiven for the Boy Scouts?”

She stole a kiss since he was so close, and his lips were always so appealing. “Not even kinda.” Lucy released him and headed for the canoe, smiling at the deep groan that followed her.

L
ucy would never admit it, out of fear of having to go camping again, perhaps frequently, but the rest of their day was extremely enjoyable. When she and Colton caught up with Will and Cameron, they’d already found a place to camp and had set up their tent.

While Will helped Colton unload the canoe and pitch their tent, Lucy and Cameron enjoyed glasses of wine and watched the men work.

“I feel sort of decadent letting them do all the work,” Cameron said.

“I don’t,” Lucy replied. “This was their big idea. We’re just the guests.”

“True.” Cameron glanced over to where the brothers were arguing about the best nozzle to use on the battery-powered air pump they’d brought to inflate the mattresses. “Boys, don’t fight. You’re ruining our cocktail hour.”

“Well, we can’t have that, now can we?” Will asked with a droll smile for his girlfriend.

“They’re like a couple of little kids sometimes,” Lucy said.

“
All
the time. So where did you guys disappear to earlier?”

“Speaking of little kids,” Lucy said, feeling her face heat with embarrassment all over again.

“Oh do tell! It must be good if your face lights up like that.”

“It’s good all right.” She relayed the story of their outdoor sexcapade and how they’d almost been caught by a Boy Scout troop.

Cameron nearly peed her pants laughing, especially at the part about Lucy’s underwear hanging from a bush. “Oh my God, stop it,” Cameron said, panting and wiping tears. “Panties on a bush. Isn’t that perfect?”

“It was positively magical.”

“Will, you’ve got to hear this!”

“Cameron! Don’t tell him!”

“I have to. We tell each other everything.”

“Not this.”

“Oh yes, especially this.”

The guys joined them, and Cameron regaled Will with the tale of the riverbank and the Boy Scouts. By the time she was finished, Will was bent in half with laughter. “That’s so awesome.
Why aren’t they camping in a tent?
” He lost it laughing again.

“My favorite part is the panties in the bush,” Cameron said with a wink for Lucy.

“We’re glad to be able to entertain you two,” Colton said as he refilled Lucy’s wineglass. “Drink, honey.”

“He’s trying to butter me up so he can get lucky again later. He’s shameless that way.”

Cameron wiped the tears from her eyes. “Thanks for the best laugh I’ve had in ages.”

“Happy to be of service,” Colton said, filling her glass, too.

“Now isn’t this fun, ladies?” Will asked.

“It doesn’t totally suck,” Lucy said.

Will raised his beer bottle in a toast to Colton. “Victory!”

“It’s a little early to declare victory,” Lucy said. “Anything could still happen.”

“We’ll take the points where we can get them,” Colton said, squatting beside her chair for a kiss.

*   *   *

The brothers cooked burgers over the open fire and produced a salad one of them had made before they left home.

“They’re pulling out all the stops,” Cameron said to Lucy. “This might be the best burger I’ve ever had.”

“It is good,” Lucy said.

“And the salad,” Will said. “Nice touch, right?”

“Very nice, honey,” Cameron said with a pat on his head.

“We know what you girls like,” Colton said. “Wait till you see what’s for dessert.”

“Mmm,” Cameron said. “There’s dessert?”

“Duh,” Will said. “You can’t camp without s’mores.”

“S’mores.”
Lucy moaned with pleasure. “My favorite.”

“Don’t moan like that,” Colton said. “It gives me ideas.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “
Everything
gives you ideas.”

Cameron laughed. “His brother suffers from the same ailment!”

Will puffed out his chest. “It’s in the genes, ladies.”

“He means j-e-a-n-s,” Cam said to laughter from the others.

By the time they began to toast the marshmallows for the s’mores, the sun had set and darkness had rapidly descended. By darkness, Lucy meant
darkness
like she’d never seen in her life, except perhaps on Colton’s mountain. But it was different knowing they’d be sleeping outside with only a thin canvas tent between them and anything that might want to get to them. The thought made her shiver.

“Are you cold, honey?” Colton asked, tuned in to her as always.

“No.”

“Then why the shiver?”

“What if there’s a bear or bobcat that wants to eat us while we’re sleeping?”

In the glow of the fire, she could see him trying to hold back a laugh. “They won’t bother us.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because, for the most part they’re more afraid of us than we are of them.”

“Right . . . A big grizzly is really afraid of us.”

“It’s pretty safe,” Will assured her, “or we never would’ve brought you here.”

“That’s right.” Colton put his arm around Lucy and kissed her temple. “You girls are far too precious to us to ever risk you to bears or bobcats. Don’t be scared, okay?”

Surrounded by his muscular body and warmed by his assurances, Lucy relaxed against him, still trying to be a good sport for his sake even if the thought of wildlife visiting in the night scared the hell out of her.

With the darkness came mosquitoes in swarms. Colton produced the can of bug spray that they all took turns applying yet again.

On the other side of the fire, Cameron sat on Will’s lap, whispering and kissing.

“Let’s take a walk,” Colton said.

“A walk? Where?”

“Not far. I want to show you something.”

“Is that a pickup line?”

“I’d be suspicious, Lucy,” Will said.

“I
am
suspicious.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Colton said, chuckling. “But it’s not a line, and I really do want to show you something.”

She had no desire to leave the relative safety of the campsite, but she didn’t want him to think she didn’t trust him. So she took his outstretched hand and let him help her up.

“We’re going to hit the hay,” Will said. “We’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“Sleep tight,” Colton said to his brother.

“If we’re not back by morning, send help,” Lucy said.

Cam laughed at her distress. “We will.”

With a flashlight in hand, Colton led her to a well-worn path that led into a densely forested area.

“You’re sure this is safe?” Lucy asked.

“Positive.” He squeezed her hand in reassurance. “It’s not far. Just up a short hill.”

His idea of a “short” hill was her idea of a mini-mountain, and by the time they emerged from the trees at the top, she was winded and sweaty. Then he turned off the flashlight, and she gasped at the astonishing view of the stars that seemed close enough to touch. “Oh, wow,” she said with a sigh.

“I wanted you to see that, and it’s so much better up here.”

“It’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Colton stood behind her, his arms looped around her and his lips nuzzling her neck. Against her ear, he hummed the chorus to “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

Thrilled to be sharing such a moment with him, she smiled and took hold of his hands.

“Any time I hear that song from now on I’ll think of the first time I took you camping.”

“So will I. Thank you for bringing me here, for showing me that new things aren’t always bad things.”

“
Now
I’m forgiven for earlier. All it took was a few million stars.”

“Not forgiven yet.”

His laughter made his body shake behind her. “Does this mean you might let me take you camping again?”

“Don’t press your luck. All I’ll say is maybe. I have to admit you and Will did a great job anticipating our every need, right down to the wine, the bug spray, the sunscreen and the salad.”

“Don’t forget the toilet paper.”

“Don’t you always bring that?”

“Nah, we’re
men
. That’s for sissies.”

“I’m not even going to ask . . .”

“It’s better if you don’t.” He rubbed his hard cock back and forth over her bottom.

She pushed back against him, making him groan. “Ahh, there he is. I was wondering where he’d gotten off to the last few hours.”

“He’s been there all along, sad and lonely, hoping you might notice him.”

“Poor baby. He’s so neglected.”

“I’m glad you feel for his plight.”

“What do you say we make it an early night? I heard that air mattress you brought is ultra deluxe.”

“Only the best for my girl.”

She took one more look at the incredible sight above, committing it to memory. “Lead the way.”

He helped her down the steep incline, keeping her from tumbling a couple of times as they worked their way back to the path that led to the campsite.

“How long do you think it’ll be before I can walk down a steep Vermont hill without your assistance?”

“A few more months. It takes a while to get acclimated to mountain life. You shouldn’t be expected to figure it all out overnight. You’re doing great so far.”

“Am I? Really? I sort of feel like I must be a drag because you’re so good at it.”

He stopped walking and turned to her. “You could never be a drag to me, Luce. I get us around in the mountains. You get us around in the city. It all comes out in the wash.”

“Yes, I suppose it does.”

“I love that you’ve never done any of this before. I love that I get to share these experiences with you and introduce you to things I enjoy doing. And I love you—no matter what we’re doing.”

“I love you, too.” She reached up to place both her hands on his face and tugged him close enough to kiss. “In fact, I might be prepared to show you just how much I love you.”

“Tent. Now.” He moved swiftly through the trees until they emerged into the campsite where Will and Cameron’s tent was aglow from the lantern they’d lit inside.

“Oh shit,” Colton whispered as their silhouettes came into focus, showing exactly what was going on inside the tent. “Someone please remove my corneas.”

Cameron was bent over Will, making all his camping fantasies come true.

“Turn off the light, Romeo,” Colton called to them. “Your tent is see-through.”

Cameron let out a scream. “Will! Oh my God! They can see us!”

“How’s this my fault? I didn’t know it was see-through. I’ve never had sex in this tent before.”

Lucy was crippled with laughter as Will begged Cameron to continue what she’d been doing before they were so rudely interrupted.

Colton nudged her toward their tent. “I believe certain promises were made,” Colton reminded her as he unzipped the mosquito screen.

“I need to pee and brush my teeth.”

“I can assist with both those things.”

After they’d attended to business, Colton was more than happy to help her out of her clothes and into the sleeping bags he’d zipped together earlier to make one big bed for them.

The soft flannel felt incredible against her bare skin but not as good as he felt when he joined her.

“Shut the light off. I’ve been on display enough today.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He flipped the switch on the lantern and plunged them into darkness.

“Wow, that’s dark.”

“Uh-huh.” He nuzzled her neck. “No one will see a thing.” With his lips and tongue and teeth, he set her on fire.

Something about the cocoon of the tent, the sleeping bag, the pervasive darkness and the nearness of the man she loved had all her inhibitions melting away as she gave herself to him with the kind of abandon she’d rarely experienced.

“Jesus, Lucy,” he whispered at one point. “I need to take you camping more often.”

She laughed and threw her arms over her head, giving him free rein to take whatever he wanted. Her obvious capitulation seemed to make him a little crazy, and they went at it like they hadn’t had sex in a year . . . Until a loud pop followed by a hiss stopped them cold.

“What the hell was that?” she asked as he froze above her.

Colton lost it laughing as the air mattress below them rapidly deflated. “You broke the bed, babe.”

“
I
broke the bed?”

“Yep, it’s all your fault. You went all wilderness vixen on me. And besides, I was told I had to provide the hottest sex of your life to get you to go camping again. I was just doing as directed.”

Laughing at the term
wilderness vixen
, she said, “I thought this air mattress was super ultra deluxe?”

“It is, but it’s no match for Lucy when she lets loose.”

She smiled and reached for him, kissing him with abandon. “If you finish me off in spectacular style, I might forgive you for
all
of this.”

He pushed into her, apparently up for the challenge. “Ohhh, really? You’re on.”

“So, wilderness vixen?”

“You like that, huh?” he asked, sounding more breathless by the second.

“I love it.”

“I love you, my wilderness vixen.”

She put her arms around him and held on tight as he finished her off in very spectacular style. “I love you, too.”

“Told you tent sex was the hottest sex you’d ever have in your life.”

She squeezed his lips shut. “Stop talking before you ruin it.”

He nibbled his way free of her fingers. “Yes, dear.”