Stroke Of Fear

Chapter Eleven

Tanner

“We have soccer today.”

Blinking through heavy eyes, I glance up at Eric. I sigh. Wait. What’s that beside me? Glancing down, I see Aubrey curled into a tight ball against me. Fuck, that’s why my dick’s hard.

“Christ,” I snap through gritted teeth. “Why are you here?”

“Like I said, we have soccer today.”

“It’s Monday already?” I jump up and grab my boots. Aubrey grumbles underneath her breath. “Get up, darlin’.” I shake her until she flutters her eyes opened. “We have to get ready for work.”

She bounces up in the bed. Her hair crazy wild over her head, her lips plump—kissable, fuckable—and her T-shirt fitting tightly to her tits. “I’m up.” She disappears into her bathroom.

Eric is smiling down at me when I turn back to my boots. “What?” I growl.

“Country has some game. Sleeping over already? Isn’t there a southern rule about that?”

Standing up, I knock the sideways cap off his head.

Aubrey’s hair blows in the wind as she leans her head back against the passenger side door. Her long, tanned legs rest in my lap. Her shorts don’t leave much to the imagination, and I’m glad. This is the best view I’ve ever had in my truck.

She reaches her arms over her head. “Do you ever just wish you could drive forever? The weather just like this, the radio up.”

“All the time. Riding in a truck with the windows down, radio up is one of the most relaxing things ever.”

She smiles, closing her eyes. “Swimming used to do that for me. I would swim and swim. Never thinking twice, just diving in the darkness, the feel of it sliding over me, swallowing me into its depth. I used to love that. Now, I can’t make myself want it anymore.” She sits up to face me. “It’s right in front of my face. It taunts me. I think I want it deep down, but I’m too scared to take it again. Because, what if I’m right? What if it was him last night?” Her eyes shine with possible tears. “Then he could do the same thing—catch me off guard. And if I’m thinking about that, I feel like I’m drowning when I dive in, just like before. I felt like I was being dragged back to that night.”

Reaching over, I grab her chin with my fingers. “I won’t let that happen to you. You understand?”

She smiles and turns to nip my fingers. She had been so scared last night. I pictured the evening going a little differently. I hadn’t thought I’d be staying up to make sure we were safe. But, I had to. I knew she wouldn’t sleep. I wouldn’t either.

I press hard on the gas and mud starts to sling all over the road toward the lake. Aubrey yells and roots me on until we get free of the mud. When we pull up, Aubrey gets quieter, her fingers interlaced and shaking.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Aubrey.”

“I want to.”

I pull into the grass near the lake. It’s still early. The sun won’t be setting for a couple of more hours. The pink string of her bikini is sticking out of T-shirt. I wonder what she’s going to look like in it. I imagine it’s going to make it difficult for me to concentrate.

We wade our way through the weeds and toward the pond. We’re not actually getting in the water today. We’re going to take a small fishing boat out in the middle. This way she can get used to the water again bit by bit.

When we get there Aubrey stays several feet back from the water. I fist my shirt and tug it over my head. She’s checking me out. And goddamn if I don’t want her to ever stop. Tugging on her lip, she strips out of her shirt. Christ. She’s so much more composed than me. I’m sure it’s showing all over my face. And my shorts.

The pink strings come down to perfect triangles, which barely cover her breasts. Tanned. Round. A flat stomach. My dick moves in my pants. Christ, this is going to be a long day.

She tugs on her jeans shorts and kicks them out of the way. I cough; it’s the only thing I can think to do. If not, I’m going to rip every shred of clothing off her body and take her in the damned woods.

“Ready?” she asks, a smile on her lips. She’s doing this on purpose. If my cheeks are red, I’m going to kick myself in the ass.

Clearing my throat, I gesture for her to follow me. The fishing boat is tied to the dock. I tug on it till it’s close enough to get in.

I glance back and offer my hand out to Aubrey. “Comin’?”

She twists her hands together in front of her. “I—I’m not sure…”

“It’s better to put one foot forward than to jump in all at once. Come on, darlin’. Trust me.”

She slowly walks toward me. She’s staring into the water. She’s scared.

Wrapping her shaky hand around mine, she steps into the swaying boat. Her knees tremble, but she finally sits on one of the seats. I get in after her, being sure not to sway the boat too much.

“You okay?” I ask, unwinding the rope from the dock. She nods and glances around. It takes me a minute before I realize what she’s looking at. The woods. She’s really scared about last night. I don’t blame her. I am, too. If no one knows about it, I’m not sure who would have done it. Maybe it was an accident. But, it’s almost too coincidental.

Sitting down in the boat, I grab the paddle on each side. They’re old wood; I’m surprised they’re still usable. I push us from the dock, and Aubrey’s fingers close around the sides of the boat. Her chest starts to move faster, her lips part taking deep breaths.

“Look at me, Aubrey,” I say.

Her long lashes flutter up and through watery eyes she glances at me. I hate to see her like this. But it’ll help. I know it will. “Keep your eyes on me, darlin’. You’re fine. I promise. If we fall out, which we won’t, you could probably stand up in the pond.”

“Okay,” she whispers.

Keeping my eyes on her, I stop us in the middle of the water. Her shoulders are still rigid, but a little tension has left. We sway in the evening wind.

“You know you’re a lot braver than you think you are.”

She locks her jaw. “Don’t be a smartass, Tanner,” she spits out, her hands gripping the seat beneath her.

“I’m not. I’m serious. For you to get out here is a great step forward, Aubrey. I’m proud of you.”

Pink rises to her cheeks. “Thanks,” she mumbles, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She keeps glancing over the side, then snapping back to her seat.

“Come here,” I say.

“I can’t move.”

Scooting to the bottom of the boat, I offer for her to do the same. She slides until her ass hits the bottom. She’s sitting facing me, her body relaxing. I can see the tension leave her shoulders. “Better?”

Sighing, she leans her head back against the seat. “Way better. It’s almost…nice.”

Smiling, I reach over and offer her my hands.

She eyes my hand. “What?”

“Come sit with me.”

She shakes her head slowly and bites her lip. I poke my lip out and she bursts out laughing. It rings through the woods.

“Well, you’re adorable. It may just get me to get up.”

I lift an eyebrow. “I can motivate you, if need be.”

She tilts her head and smiles. She gestures for me to motivate her. Smiling, I slide my jeans off my legs and toss them to the side until they’re just a puddle of fabric in the back of the boat. Licking my lips, I curl my finger for her ass over here now. She bites her lip and gazes over me. Her face is red, and I fucking love it.

Gripping my thigh, she gets to her knees and crawls to me. The boat sways, but she keeps her eyes locked on mine until she’s sitting inside my thighs, her back against my chest. “See you made it.”

She squeezes my leg. “You helped. If you knew how sexy you are, you’d crawl to you, too.”

Smiling into her hair, I run my fingers down to her collarbone. She inhales and relaxes more into my chest. “Quit movin’, Aubrey. It’s makin’ it hard to not take your clothes off,” I whisper against her ear.

She moans. Oh, Jesus, she moans and twists again. She wants me to want her. She wants me to touch her. “You’re treading in dangerous waters, no pun intended, Aubrey.”

She laughs and turns her face until her mouth is close to mine. “You started it, partner. You saved me. I’ve been putty in your hands ever since.”

“You hated me,” I bark out with a laugh. “I swear I saw flames in your eyes when I said you could swim.”

She bites the side of my jaw, and I squeeze my eyes close. It won’t be long before I have her pressed against the bottom of the fucking boat. “I liked it. No one else had ever seen inside me before. Even Jake. He never noticed. It scared me so I kept guarded for a while. Until the campfire. I just fell against you, not even realizing I had. You felt too right. So perfect against me. That was when I knew deep down that Jake was never meant for me. You were.”

Adrenaline rushes through me. She’s right. As sorry as I am to say this, everything happens for a reason. Even if they’re shitty, it happens for a reason. “We’re meant to heal each other,” I whisper against her lips. She turns so she’s kneeling in front of me.

“I know. You’re mine, Tanner. Whether or not you want to be.”

“Oh, I want to be.”

She gives me a devilish smile. “Why don’t you show me?”

I’ll fucking show her. Grabbing her around her waist, I pull her until she is face-to-face with me. “You sure you can handle me, darlin’? I may talk slow, but I’m not lacking the intelligence—or need—to make you scream my name.”

Her eyes widen, and she pushes her mouth against mine. It’s warm, her lips soft. I span my palm over the back of her neck and pull her closer. She has one hand on my chest and the other wrapped around my neck. I’m sure she can feel my dick pressed against her stomach. But, she doesn’t recoil back, she pushes deeper against me.

“Aubrey,” I warn. Her chest is pressed against me, her hips grinding against my own. “Darlin’,” I mumble again.

She shakes her head and grips the bottom of my shirt. “Don’t ask me to stop, Tanner. Please.”

Her eyes are pleading. She’s biting at my jaw. I laugh and pull her back to look in her eyes again. “You have no idea how bad I want to take you here…but look around. We’re in a boat in the middle of the woods. I told you I wanted all of you. I want to be able to really take care of you.”

She bites her lip. “Damn it, Tanner.” She sits up and stares at me. “What does a girl have to do to get some loving?”

A bark out laughter releases from my throat. “Oh, darlin’. You really have no idea how much I want you. You’ll never have to beg me to take you, Aubrey. But, I won’t take you in some place I don’t think you deserve.”

“Wow, you really are a smooth talker.”

I smirk. “Now”—I glance down at her chest—“get your breasts off me before I come to my senses and take you out here.”

She giggles; it’s the fucking sexiest sound I’ve ever heard. She sits up and her eyes widen. “Wait?” She looks around at the pond around her.

“You forgot all about the water?”

“You’re a sly dog.”

“I try.” Sitting up, I grab the paddles. “I think we should go back to my cabin. Watch a movie.”

Lifting a brow, she sits up on her seat facing me. “Watch a movie?”

I don’t miss the sarcasm in her voice. “Watch a movie,” I say, giving her no indication that I mean anything different. She narrows her eyes and keeps her smile at bay.

We get the boat tied up and Aubrey is jumping with excitement. We get to my truck and she stops dead in her tracks.

“What?” I’m frantically searching around, trying to find someone standing in the bushes.

“A fucking snake. By your foot. Right there.” She’s whispering, like it may hear us. I try not to laugh. Snakes were everywhere around my house. My grandparents had a farm so chicken snakes where always trying to eat our chicken eggs.

The snake is about ten feet. It looks like a copperhead. “Stay still. I’ll be back.” She gapes at me, watching as I ease around it toward my truck. I keep a hatchet underneath the seat. So I pull it out. Aubrey is wide-eyed and hasn’t moved one inch.

Swinging the hatchet, I kill it in one swift movement. “There,” I say.

Aubrey exhales and glances up at me. “We need to hurry.”

“Why?”

“Because, you look ridiculously hot slinging that hatchet around. And I want to get back to your cabin.” She’s so serious, telling me exactly what she wants. Tugging on my shirt, I try to hold back my smile. In Arkansas the girls aren’t as forward. Some, but mostly not. It’s refreshing. Hot.

“Well, I always give my lady what she wants. Let’s go.”