He turned to look at her now and again and every time she caught his gaze, she thought she glimpsed regret or at least concern in his eyes, but he would mask that emotion too quickly for her to be sure. It was another hour before finally, they heard the sound of water. They both stopped and turned in the direction of it and he set the load down and looked to her.
“About a mile in that direction, there’s a waterfall. It will add some time to our journey but if you’d like to see it, swim, and take some rest, we can do that.”
She studied him, wanting to understand the mixed signals he gave. At moments, he was ruthless, a mercenary, treating her like they did at the colony: as a thing. Not human enough. Then, like this morning when she was telling her story, or like now when he asked if she would like to see the waterfall, he seemed almost kind.
“Well?” he asked, raising his eyebrows in anticipation of her answer.
“Yes, I’d like to see it and to take rest.”
He nodded and turned, picking up the handles of the wagon again. It was then she realized he would have to walk an additional mile there and then another one back while dragging the heavy load.
“Can we not leave the wagon here?”
He turned to look at her but kept walking. “No, I won’t take a chance on our supplies being stolen.”
“Can I help carry it?” she asked, looking at the load, knowing she’d not even be able to lift the wagon up off its legs to pull it on the two wheels.
He chuckled and looked her small frame over. “I don’t think that will work, but thank you for offering.”
She nodded and lowered her gaze to her hands but continued to walk the distance next to him rather than behind him.
It wasn’t long before the sound of the fall grew louder and louder, drowning out all else. The area was greener around the water as she expected it to be and she found herself walking faster as she felt the first mist of the fall. When she glimpsed the sparkling water through some trees, she couldn’t help laughing out loud and turned to look back at Silas who still followed some steps behind with the wagon.
He smiled back at her and nodded. “Go ahead.”
She didn’t hesitate. Instead, she ran through to the clearing along the blue-green water’s edge, exhaling as the beauty of the place filled her eyes with tears. She looked up at the fall, at the whitest white of water falling over rocks into the lake below. The fall itself was about two stories high but the lake below was not large. She walked over the soft rocks and slipped off her boots as she approached the water’s edge and just dipped her toes inside it, sucking in a breath with the cold.
She heard Silas behind her and turned to watch him set down the wagon. “Can you swim?” he asked.
“I don’t know, I’ve never tried,” she said, already wading in to her knees, the cool taking her breath away.
“It’s not too deep there, go on. I’ll help you.”
* * *
Silas watched her face, seeing a girlish excitement there for the first time since he had first seen her, and he understood he had unknowingly given her a gift just now. He hadn’t realized it at first, needing the rest and the swim as much as she did, but if he were alone, he would have trudged on to the settlement and not made the additional miles.
She turned her back to him and hesitated, glancing at him over her shoulder, her hands on the hem of her dress as she obviously considered whether or not to strip it off. In the end, she chose to walk in with it still on, which Silas had to grin about. He had seen her naked, he had seen her so completely bared and the white of her dress would be nearly transparent when wet but she held on to this idea of modesty. He watched her for a few moments as she dared to walk deeper and deeper in and as she turned, he noticed how the wet dress already clung to her, outlining her heavy breasts, the dark nipples hard points pressing against the thin fabric. His cock stirred at the look of her, with the knowledge that she was his to have.
He stripped off his shoes and his pants and walked to the water’s edge. When she turned to see him coming into the water completely naked, her eyes went wide, traveling down his torso to his manhood, then back. Her face blushed a furious red and she averted her gaze.
Silas grinned and walked straight toward her, splashing water around him as he did. Once he was deep enough, he dove under, circling around her legs once as she turned to follow his progress then swimming closer to the fall and surfacing just beneath the flow. He shook his head and wiped his eyes, relishing the cool respite, looking at her standing there watching him, the look in her eyes almost envious. He dove forward and swam to her in easy, powerful strides.