Alla Kar - Stroke Of Fear

   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.”

Aubrey

   Someone must have taken over my body. I just basically begged Tanner to take me back to his cabin so we could have sex. I have no idea why I’m not digging a hole in the ground and burying myself in it right now.

   But I’m amped up. My blood is flowing. He spent the day with me, helping me get used to the water. Not that I actually got in it, but I was on it, and totally forgot about it. I did have a nice distraction, but it’s all the same. We’re here to help one another.

   Tanner looks relaxed driving us back to camp, but his fingers tap against the opened window. His left leg is jiggling, too.

   We barely talk on the way back. I’m scared if I say anything it’ll come out in an incoherent babble. When we pull up, and we’re both out of the truck in two seconds. Tanner’s arm wraps around me, and he nearly drags me toward his cabin.

   But, of course, we slow down once we see Mrs. Jones standing on the porch. Shit. What in the hell did we do this time?

   She’s frowning, a worry wrinkle on her forehead. Tanner cusses underneath his breath. “Hi, Mrs. Jones. What’s goin’ on?”

   “It’s Austin. He got caught”—she clears her throat—“sneaking out of a girl’s cabin late this morning. I’m afraid there was inappropriate behavior going on. I called his mother, and she said you were to take care of it.”

   “I will, Mrs. Jones. Where is he?”

   “I restricted him to his room.”

   “Okay. I’ll take care of it.” Mrs. Jones walks down the path toward her cabin. We wait until she disappears before we say anything. Tanner groans and presses his forehead toward mine. “Well, I guess I have to go take care of him. Rain check?”

   Fuck, no. I want him now. “Sure.” I frown.

   “Don’t pout, darlin’. I’ll take care of you later.” He bites my lip before stepping onto his porch. “See you in a bit.”

* * *

   Cassie is lying on her bed when I get home, reading a magazine. “Where have you been?” she asks without looking up.