Chapter Eighteen

Tanner had no idea how he was supposed to act. Here he thought it would be a fun day out with Zoey, but her mood had turned dark and her cat had gone temporarily insane, which upset her even more. This outing seemed to be a practice in awkwardness. Once they got to the hot springs, maybe he’d take Suki out on a hike and leave Moody Mona to herself.

What was she doing on that phone? Every couple of minutes she’d burst out laughing. He liked her laugh. It was sort of loud and bawdy—the type of laugh you’d hear from a beer wench in a pirate pub.

There must be some way to break the ice or break through the iceberg. Not that he hadn’t already broken the ice, but somehow the thaw had ended and he wasn’t sure how to get back to where they’d been. He sucked at figuring out women. They left him scratching his head half the time. Heaving a sigh, he looked over at Zoey as she tucked her phone back into her purse.

“I’m still wondering,” she said. Finally! Actual words from her mouth. “When you figured out who I was, why didn’t you say anything to me?”

“Because I couldn’t wait to get rid of you. If I had struck up a conversation, it would have ended up an emotional archeological dig for those bones… those rotten, desiccated bones that were buried deep in my psyche. The last thing I wanted was to return to that old graveyard. So I couldn’t wait for you to leave.”

“Is it safe to say you hated me?”

Tanner turned to stare at her. “Hate is an awfully strong word, don’t you think?”

“You hated me, didn’t you?”

“I don’t hate you now. And I didn’t know who you were. I mean I knew who you were, but I didn’t know you. I knew what you’d done, the Rube Goldberg machine you set in motion, the steel ball at the top of the roller coaster, ready to knock down all the dominoes in its wake, oblivious to the chaos it was unleashing.”

“You make me sound so unpleasant.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Tanner said, lifting his hands off the steering wheel in exasperation. “I was trying to convey how I felt.”

“Like I was human hazmat.”

“Why do I get the feeling this conversation is only going to go further off the rails? Look, I thought you were hot. And we’ve had some fun, but let’s be real. This can never go any further. Me? With the girl who made my childhood unbearable?”

He cringed at the thought of all it evoked in his memory.

Zoey was silent.

“We’ll be there in a few minutes. Then you can relax and pretend I’m not there. Suki and I will take a hike, literally, and leave you at peace.”

He turned down a narrow dirt path, barely wide enough to fit his car, and after a couple hundred yards, they came to a clearing. He put his car in park, got out, and came around and opened the door for Zoey and Suki. He gave Zoey his hand to help her down; instead, she held onto the doorframe. Okay, then.

Tanner spread his arms out. “So this is my secret getaway. Warm water, even warmer rocks to lie on, and a view to die for.” He handed her a towel. “You can spread out on this if you don’t want to lie right on the rocks, and all I ask is you wait to swim till I’m back. Fair enough?”

Zoey nodded. No doubt she was more than happy to unwind all by herself with a book and no Tanner.

~*~

Tanner grabbed Suki’s leash and the two of them followed a path where they soon got swallowed up by overgrowth so that Zoey could no longer see where they were. She spread out her towel and slathered lotion onto her back and shoulders and legs as best she could, then lay down, first untying her bikini top to avoid tan lines. She read for a while and even drifted off to sleep. She woke with a start, fumbling for her phone so she could check the time. It had slid down the rock a bit, so she sat up, reaching for it as she heard Suki come charging through the brush, barking and wagging her tail. Topless Zoey grabbed hold of her phone and raced to grab her bikini top, only to see it dangling from Suki’s mouth. Noooo!

“Suki! Come!” she shouted, lowering her voice to sound alpha to no avail. She decided to make a quick break for it, chasing Suki before Tanner emerged from the woods to see her half-naked. Not that he hadn’t already. But she was still smarting from his admissions about her. She was in no mood to expose herself to him either physically or emotionally.

She thought she had Suki and the bikini top cornered near a thicket of nearby trees, but that dog was too fast for her and dove right when she dove left. Dammit. She regained her footing before she went face-first (and it would also have been boob-first) onto a gravelly area of soil. But it left her clumsily running and leaning forward, her tits bouncing happily around like cow’s udders. It would have been terribly embarrassing for Tanner to have seen that.

When she came to a stop, narrowly saving herself from near disaster, she learned too late that Tanner had been watching all this unfold. She was certain he’d orchestrated the whole thing to see her tits bouncing around. He stood before her, arms crossed across his chest, hips shoulder distance apart in a Superman pose, a shit-eating grin pasted across his face, no doubt enjoying the free show.

Zoey stood facing him, impulsively covering each breast with the palm of a hand. As if that was called for at this point.

Tanner lifted his eyebrow and half smiled. The darned dog danced around her feet, dodging Zoey’s attempt to reach down for the top while trying to cover both breasts with her forearm and hand. It was hopeless. Eventually Suki lost interest in Zoey’s clothing and dropped it, most inconveniently at Tanner’s feet.

“Good girl, Suk,” he said, pulling a cookie from his pocket and making her sit before handing it to her. He picked up the bikini top and pretended to inspect it while Zoey stood there, her hands still trying to do business as a makeshift bikini top.

“I don’t suppose there’s any point in my politely asking you to hand me that, is there?”

Tanner scratched his head. “What’s it worth to you?”

“Huh. What’s my dignity worth to me?”

“No need to be so bashful, Zo. You know I’ve seen them before.”

She gave him her best “no duh” look, complete with snarled lip.

Tanner started to slowly pace back and forth, his gaze fixed on hers. “For that matter, I’ve sucked on those pert nipples before.”

She rolled her eyes. As if she didn’t already remember how amazing that felt.

“In fact, I had the distinct pleasure of watching you play with those nipples yourself. Do you remember?”

Listening to him talk dirty to her like this was making her wet. She had no idea she loved to hear a guy recount what he’d done to her sexually and decided to tuck that information away for future encounters.

“So what say we make a little deal,” Tanner said as he pulled his shirt over his head. “And I’ll even things up so you don’t feel like you’re the only topless one here.”

Zoey stared at his muscular chest, his cut abs, that crazy sexy “V” where his shorts slung low on his hips, a giant man-billboard advertising what awaited the next lucky girl to follow the yellow brick road. It was the guy equivalent of a titty bar sign’s flashing lights that read “Girls! Girls! Girls!” Zoey knew what lurked right beneath that one little snap and zipper. And she knew it could easily become her happy place. She crossed her legs against the throbbing she felt as her clit engorged with blood. Jesus, this guy made her react in all sorts of out-of-character ways. Like in any other universe, she’d be screaming for her bikini top, demanding that he give it back. But she loved the way she could feel him undressing her with his eyes. Even though she was already mostly undressed, but for a skimpy bikini bottom.

“I want you to squeeze those nipples between your thumb and forefinger, Zoey,” he said, fixing her with an intensely sexual stare. “I want—I need to watch you play with yourself. You know how much that turned me on to see you doing that this morning?”

She nodded, somehow suddenly held captive beneath his erotic spell.

“Will you do that for me, Zo?”

She slid her palms down, leaving only her thumbs and pointer fingers at her breasts. And slowly she grazed her fingers over the tips, around the areola, even the slightest touch shooting straight to her clit, which made her cross and uncross her legs as she tried to satiate the need to touch there too.

“It’s okay, Zo. You can put your fingers there too.” Tanner nodded his head as he looked at her crotch. “Can you see how hard I am watching you pleasure yourself?”

She glanced down to see he was indeed hard, the outline of his erection pressing against his shorts.

“In fact, I’ll make a deal with you.” His hands reached to the button of his shorts and he easily unfastened it, then began to slide the zipper down. Before she knew it, his shorts were at his ankles, followed by his boxer briefs, and before her stood the most glorious cock she’d ever had the pleasure of meeting: right there, clearly pleased with Zoey’s pleasuring herself. Tanner wrapped his fingers around his cock, ever so slowly fisting his hand up and down, making the tip of it swell even more and turn a deep red.

“Go on, Zo,” he said, pointing to her bikini bottoms. “Just slide your fingers beneath that waistband.”

Keeping one hand on a nipple, Zoey complied. At last, she could satisfy the growing need to slick her fingers through her wet lips, swirling them around her swollen clit, doing what she could to bring her to that peak she needed so desperately.

“That’s it, Zoey,” he said, locking eyes with her as his strokes grew more intense and he spread his legs enough to reach down to grab his balls too. “It feels good, doesn’t it, babe?”

She nodded, her breathing now at a staccato pace, her breasts heaving as she too spread her legs to make it easier to trace her fingers along her highly sensitized labia, then slide her fingers inside her. She moaned out loud.

“Come for me, Zoey,” he said. “And keep your eyes on mine.”

It was like he was some sort of sexual Svengali; she was unable to not do as he said. Nor would she want to defy him. It felt far too good. The climax took hold, an electric bolt of pleasure that began in her clit, or was it right where she’d squeezed her nipple hard? Or was it deep down in her pelvis, or maybe when she slid a third finger up inside of her? It all splintered everywhere at once, a crescendo of lightning zapping through her body as her legs grew weak from the effort, tremors turned to convulsions, and finally shudders as her heartbeat slowed. Even as she came, she’d kept her eyes fixed on Tanner’s, but now she looked down to see his cock an angry, swollen red, and she knew the one thing it needed. She crooked her finger and Tanner cocked an eyebrow as she nodded in assent. She padded toward a rock, peeled off her bikini bottoms, spread her legs, and bent forward, leaning her hands against the rock for support.

Zoey turned around and looked over her shoulder at him.

“Well? What are you waiting for?”