CHAPTER 21

HIDDEN FRECKLE

 

Charlie

 

 

I was in too good of a mood. We were on our way to our camping trip, and I should have been contemplating ways to get out of it. The stomach bug, pink eye, maybe even a rash, but none of those had even crossed my mind. I was too dang happy to come up with an infectious disease that could get me out of a camping trip.

I hadn’t even considered where these people used the bathroom out in the woods.

Brandon’s fingers moved over mine as he held my hand in his lap, and it felt odd. To be this affectionate with each other. To be this touchy-feely in front of everyone else.

“I thought you were mad at him?” Staci turned in her seat to look back at our joined hands just as we pulled up outside what looked like a forest next to a small river.

“This is where we’re camping?” I pressed my face against the window.

“Yep.” Staci unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door.

“It looks snaky.” I turned to Brandon.

“It’s not snaky.” He shook his head.

“He just wants you to think that,” Staci yelled from outside her door. “Just be careful where you step.”

Mason laughed at his girlfriend as he climbed out of the SUV, but I wasn’t. I wondered if they would make fun of me for sleeping in here.

“Come on.” Brandon tugged on my hand with a small smile on his face. I knew that he was probably laughing internally at my expense, but I didn’t care. I loved that look on his face.

I followed him out of the SUV and helped pull the supplies out of the back hatch. The thing was so packed down that you would have thought we were going to give living in the wilderness a shot, but I guess it was better to be prepared.

“Are you excited?” Livy walked up with a backpack on her back and what looked like a tote full of food in her hands.

“I don’t know if I would say excited.” I pulled out my backpack of clothes and the three flashlights I packed.

She laughed like I was joking. “You’re going to love it.” She looked between Brandon and me. “I brought your tent that I bought you if you still need it.” She grinned.

“Quit being nosy, Livy.” Brandon held out a sleeping bag, and I gripped it in my arms as he loaded his own up.

Livy’s smile was as guilty as a kid who had just stolen a load full of candy. “I was just saying.” She shrugged her shoulders.

I followed Brandon to where he set down the tent, and I set my things on the ground as he started pulling metal poles and fabric out of a small bag.

“Have you ever put up a tent before?” He looked up at me as he pushed one pole into the other to make it even longer.

“I’m going to pretend like I actually need to answer that.” I bent over and threw my hair up in a bun. “No, Brandon. I have never put up a tent. I usually just sleep under the stars when I camp.”

“We could do that.” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“What about the snakes and bears?” I put my hands on my hips.

He rolled his eyes. “You think this little tent is going to keep a bear out.”

Crap. I hadn’t thought of that. Bears could get through trashcans and probably cars. They were definitely going to be able to eat me in my tent.

“Calm down.” Brandon chuckled. “I’m not going to let you get eaten by a bear.”

I searched the woods around us, but I didn’t see any signs of one. Not that I would know a sign if it hit me in the face. There were trees everywhere you looked. One could easily be hiding in one.

“I’ll sacrifice you,” I said seriously.

“What?” He laughed as he picked up the fabric and started feeding the pole through.

“If a bear comes.” I heard a rustling in the trees and I searched for what might have made the sound. “I’m small and only really a snack for a bear. I’m going to have to sacrifice you. I’ll push you down as I run away. You’d be a better meal.”

Brandon stood then and handed me one of the other poles.

“We’ll see about that tonight,” he whispered in my ear.

“What?” I stumbled over the word.

“Who is the better meal.” He gripped my chin in his hand and pressed his lips to mine.

“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. Instead, I pushed my thighs together to stop the feeling that hadn’t let up since he touched me last night.

I was almost embarrassed to admit that being fingered by Brandon last night had been the best sexual experience of my life. I was usually so uncomfortable and shy when it came to sex, but something about last night, something about him, made all of that disappear.

Sure, I woke up this morning freaking out inside, but then I rolled over and looked at him sleeping behind me. His hand was behind his head, and he looked so exhausted. I decided not to wake him up, and instead, I took those few quiet moments to really look at him.

His body was beyond impressive. If I had really gotten the proper time to take it in last night, I probably would have been much more self-conscious about my own.

There were so many different tattoos covering his body that it was hard to take them all in. Some were purely shades of black ink against his tan skin, others were full of color, but they all seemed to tell a story. A story that I was just getting to know.

I ran my fingers over a particularly bright tattoo that took up most of his chest. There was a bird that appeared to be in full flight in the center of his chest and it was surrounded by abstract flowers and flowing lines. He shifted under my touch as I traced them.

Then there were his nipple rings. I didn’t know why I was so shocked by them, but when he first took his shirt off last night, I couldn’t take my eyes off them. I had never been with a man who had nipple rings before. I had never even let myself imagine what it would be like, but when I saw his, I couldn’t stop thinking about them.

I wanted to know how they felt when I touched them. I wanted to know what he would feel.

“Take that pole and feed it through the top of the tent.” Brandon’s voice pulled me back to the present.

“Okay.” I did as he said, then I pushed the ends of the pole in a small little hook like he showed me. It only took a few more movements before he had the thing actually looking like a tent.

“I just need to secure it into the ground, and it will be all set.” He nodded his head in the direction of Livy and Staci. “Why don’t you go see what the girls are up to?”

I was dreading that like the plague, and he knew it. We both knew they would have a million and one questions about how Brandon and I went from where we were yesterday to where we were today. But I knew I couldn’t avoid them forever.

“Okay.” I looked over at them organizing things on a doling table that Parker had set up only moments before.

“They won’t bite.” Brandon chuckled when he saw me hesitate.

I lifted an eyebrow at him but took a step in their direction. “Have you met Staci?”

“That’s true.” He chuckled as he lifted a mallet and started hammering a metal stake into the ground.

As soon as I was close to the girls, Livy grabbed my hand and pulled me as close to her and Staci as we could physically get.

“Spill,” she whispered.

“What do you want to know?” I looked from her to Staci.

“What happened? What didn’t happen? Are you two dating? Is Brandon officially no longer the fifth wheel?” Her questions came out in rapid fire.

“I don’t know.” I looked to Staci for help, but she was looking at me expectantly waiting on my answers.

“We made up.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Are you two dating?” Livy whisper-yelled, and I grabbed her hand and pulled her farther away from Brandon.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.

“You all looked awfully lovey-dovey on the way up here.” Staci picked up a stick and started breaking it in half. “I’ve never seen Brandon like that with anyone.”

“Really?” I didn’t know why her words affected me so much, but they did. There was a part of me that was still worried about how experienced Brandon was, about how I could just be any other girl to him.

“Really.” She nodded her head. “And I’ve known that asshole a long time.”

Livy agreed with her. “This makes me so excited.” She practically squealed.

“Oh my God, Livy.” I looked over my shoulder to make sure Brandon couldn’t hear us. “This whole thing just started last night. Please do not ruin it before I even know what we are.”

Staci laughed, but Livy rolled her eyes. “You should have seen her when I was dating/not dating her brother. That was hard to reel in. You just have to ignore her sometimes.”

“I’m standing right here, you know?” Livy crossed her arms.

“Just enjoy the weekend with Brandon. Don’t worry about what you are or aren’t. Just have fun.”

“Have fun.” I looked at her. “I can do that.”

“I was going to give you the same exact advice you know,” Livy scoffed.

“Or you were going to tell her to tie him to a tree until he admitted that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Either one.” Staci looked at Livy like she was crazy then shivered dramatically.

Livy started stomping off toward the fire Parker was currently building. “I hate you,” she called out behind her.

“At least we know where we stand,” Staci yelled back then winked at me.

 

 

By the time the sun went down, we had camp completely set up and I was jumping every time I heard a sound. Everyone else seemed to think it was the funniest thing they had ever seen.

“Weren’t you raised in Tennessee?” Parker asked as he roasted a hot dog over the fire.

“Yes.” I looked behind me. “But we still lived in a house. My parents never went camping.”

Brandon laughed beside me. “Have you ever eaten a s’more?”

“If over a stove counts then yes.”

“It doesn’t.” Mason pulled his own hot dog off a stick and put it on a bun.

“You can experience a real s’more this weekend.” Staci rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, and I decided that I was starting to like Staci more and more.

It was interesting to watch the dynamic between the five of them. They had been so close for so long, and it was hard not to feel like an outsider. But they did everything in their power not to make me feel that way.

They gave me plenty of crap, which they were for sure giving each other, and I knew that if whatever this thing that Brandon and I were doing didn’t work out, I would be sad about more than just him.

“Don’t forget we’re going hiking first thing in the morning.” Livy looked from her husband, to her brother, to Brandon. “I don’t want to hear any bellyaching when it’s time to rise and shine.”

“Does that mean it’s bedtime, Mom?” Mason joked before stuffing his mouth with his hot dog. I didn’t know how they were eating so much. We had already gorged ourselves on hot dogs and chips and chili only a couple hours earlier.

“If you’re going to be an asshole in the morning because you didn’t get enough sleep then yes.” She stood and pushed her brother on his shoulder.

“You ready for bed?” Brandon asked quietly, just for me.

I was, without a doubt, but I was also nervous. I didn’t know what was going to happen in that tent tonight. I didn’t know what Brandon was expecting.

“Yeah.” I bit down on my lip, and his eyes watched the movement until I released it.

“We’re going to head to bed too,” Brandon announced without taking his eyes off me.

“Okayyyy,” Livy sounded out the word, and I knew they could probably see my blush by the firelight alone.

“Come on.” Brandon easily brushed her off and reached for my hand.

I followed him into the tent where he had laid out our sleeping bags to make one large pallet for the both of us. I kicked off my shoes at the door and crawled into the small space. Brandon quickly removed his t-shirt and laid back against the pillow. He patted his chest, and I leaned down and rested my head there as I listened to the sound of nature around us.

The fire was still crackling, the cicadas sound like they were in full-blown mating season, and I could hear the trickle of the river from behind us.

“How many tattoos do you have?” I asked after a few moments.

“Man, I don’t even know.” He laughed, and my head bounced gently on his chest. “They are all starting to run together these days.”

“I can tell.” I ran my hand down his chest.

“Do you think you’ll ever want to get one?” He ran his fingers gently through my hair.

“Yeah. I just don’t know what I would get. I can barely decide on what items to buy at the dollar section of Target. I don’t know how I’d pick a tattoo.”

“You could just let me pick.”

I pushed up on my hand and looked at him. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

“No.” He shook his head. “But it’s not like I’m some toddler with a crayon. You can look at some of my work, tell me what you like and don’t like, and go from there.”

His idea sounded crazy, but there was some little spark inside of me that also thought it sounded amazing.

“We’ll see.” I shrugged my shoulders and his eyes widened.

“Seriously?”

I ran my hand back over his chest. “I guess it depends on how nice you are between now and then.”

I wasn’t expecting it when he quickly moved out from under me and pushed me on my back against the sleeping bags. He pressed against me, his body settling between my thighs, and I stared up at him through the darkness of the tent.

“I’ll show you just how nice I can be.” His voice started a wake of goosebumps on my skin, his hands made sure they weren’t going anywhere any time soon.

He gripped my thighs in his hands before he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the strip of my stomach that had become visible when he flipped me over.

“Brandon.” I reached out for him, but he was taking his time. He slowly worked his way up my body, his lips touching any exposed skin his could find. My hip, my hand, the sensitive area right inside my elbow. By the time his lips finally reached mine, I couldn’t hold myself back.

I kissed him, hard and needy, and I lifted my body to press against his. He rested his elbow beside my head and settled in as he devoured my mouth, but I wasn’t having it. I need more. I wanted him.

I pulled my shirt up my torso, and Brandon’s eyes dropped to my chest as I interrupted our kissing to pull it over my head. They didn’t stray as I quickly unhooked my bra and threw it somewhere across the tent.

Normally, I wouldn’t have done it. I would have waited until he slowly pulled my shirt over my head, and I would have wanted to cover my breasts under his gaze, but not with Brandon.

I felt comfortable with him. For some odd reason, I felt confident. If anything, I should have felt the most nervous around him. He was by far the hottest man I had ever laid eyes on. But there was something about him that made me feel the same. He made me feel like I was beautiful.

He only took in my breasts for a moment before his mouth moved to taste them. He went from one to the other, his tongue tasting, his teeth grazing, and I had never in my life been so turned on from my breast alone.

“Please, Brandon,” I whispered as I held his head in place against me.

“Tell me what you want.” His voice was gruff against my skin.

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to articulate all the things I was dying for him to do to me. So, I simply said, “Everything.”

His hands moved down my legs and he quickly jerked my yoga pants and panties down my thighs. I took a deep breath and pressed my own hand against the outside of his sweatpants. I could feel every inch of him through the thin material, and as I gripped him in my hand, his hands pulling down my pants faltered and he hissed through his teeth.

I pulled my hand away, back up to his abs, and I traced the edges of the muscles that laid there. His abs rippled under my touch. I leaned up on an elbow eager to taste him, and I flicked the small ring through his nipple at the same time that I slid my hand beneath the elastic of his pants.

He was both hard and smooth at the same time. His nipple in my mouth and his cock in my hand. I moved my hand back and forth, gently at first, as I tested his jewelry with my teeth.

He moaned, the sound driving me wild, and I pushed his sweatpants down his hips to get better access. I wanted to taste him, to lick every inch of his skin, and it shocked me. I had never been the girl who was into giving blow jobs. I did it, but out of obligation. Never in my life had my mouth watered just at the thought.

I moved my other hand down to push Brandon’s pants farther out of the way, but he had different plans. He quickly sat up, removing my pants the rest of the way off my legs, then he rolled me over until I laid on my stomach.

There was something about him behind me. I couldn’t see him, but God, I could feel him. I could feel his breath as he moved over my body. I could feel the almost phantom touch of his skin. I could feel it all as my own anticipation flooded the tent.

Slowly, so dang slowly, he moved his way down my body, his mouth kissing along each inch of my spine as he went. His hands didn’t touch me although I was waiting for them. I didn’t know his next move. I couldn’t see his plan of attack in his eyes. But just as his mouth reached the very base of my spine, his hands quickly gripped my hips and he lifted me to my knees.

I was fully exposed in front of him, not an inch of me hidden, but he didn’t give me a single moment to freak out. Instead, I felt his warm breath between my thighs and my legs began to quiver.

“Did you know?” He ran his nose along the bottom of my ass. “That you have a freckle right here?” He pressed his lips right where my ass and my pussy met, but he didn’t give me any time to answer his question. Instead, he dove into me like a man starved. His tongue lapped at my skin with an expertise that I didn’t know was possible, and I buried my head into the pillow to keep myself from waking up everything in the whole dang woods.

He didn’t ease me into the pleasure slowly. He stole it from me. One minute I was anticipating his touch, the next I was falling over the edge so quickly that it was unimaginable. I couldn’t even get myself off that quickly, and I thought I knew what I liked.

I rode out my orgasm against his face as he ate me from behind, but Brandon was far from done with me. He moved around in front of me, pressing a quick kiss to my lips that tasted of me before he laid on his back and moved me over his face.

I opened my mouth to object, but his tongue began moving slowly against my oversensitive clit and the feeling of a second orgasm building inside me made every objection disappear. Instead, I reached forward and gripped his cock in my hand as I began to grind my hips against his face. I leaned forward swirling my tongue along the head of his penis, and he surged forward into my touch.

It fueled me and my orgasm.

I took him into my mouth. Slowly, inch by inch until my lips hit the base. His cock was much bigger than anyone I had ever been with before, and I had to quickly pull back as I felt myself begin to gag on his size.

He sucked my clit into his mouth, and I moaned around him. His cock jerked, and I dug my fingers into his hips as I began to fuck him with my mouth.

He set the pace and I followed. I found myself quickly falling apart under his tongue, and when I could barely think, let alone function, Brandon surged his hips forward and fucked my mouth as I came against his face. It was only moments later, as I moaned around him, that he hit the back of my throat followed by his release.

My body felt like a dead weight on top of him, but I couldn’t manage to make an effort beyond laying my head on his thigh. His chest rose and fell beneath me as we both tried to come down off our high.

“Charlie,” he said my name so quietly, so sated.

“Yeah?” My cheek was smooshed against his thigh, but I didn’t lift my head.

“Have I told you lately how much I love your freckles?” His hand moved over my butt cheek, and he gripped it gently in his hand as I laughed.

I laughed while he lifted me off of him, and I giggled as he moved to my side and pulled me into him. Then in the middle of the woods, I fell asleep deliriously happy and without a single thought of getting eaten by a bear.