Serenity Falls(53)

“What’s wrong?”

My eyes dart up at him and then back to a scowling Leslie, and then back to him. I refuse to let her get to me. Wes and I haven’t really had the chance to be alone in over a week, and I’m not going to let some pissed off, jealous ex ruin our time together. “Nothing.”

“Good.” Wes lifts my hands from around his waist and kisses the backs of each of my knuckles before he secures them to where they previously rested.

My body jolts back on the seat when he takes off, which only causes me to hold on tighter. The stray hairs that have slipped from my ponytail whip against my ears, my face, and my neck— never staying in the same place for long. “Hang on back there, because it’s about to get bumpy here in a second!” Wes shouts at me over his shoulder. The next thing I know, my ass bounces up and down in the seat. My body jostles from left to right as we hit hole after hole and crevice after crevice. Mud flies in the air and coats us after we land harshly in each hole. Our speed increases as Wes lifts his body into a standing position. He hunches over the steering column, leaving me to release my grip from around his waist and to grab onto his hips instead.

As I look around him to see what the hell has made him stand up, I yell, “No. No. No. NO! Hell, no! We are not going through—” but the rest of my words land on deaf ears when a wall of water rains down on us like a waterfall. A dirty, mud-filled waterfall. We come up on the other side of the mud hole that’s the size of the Lake Medina. I slap his ass so hard that my hand stings as I shout, “What the hell, Wes? You could warn me next time.”

“Babe, it’s all a part of muddin’ and ridin’. You didn’t come out here expecting not to get a little dirty, did you?” he asks as he takes another trail and breaks away from the group in front of us.

“No. I knew I was gonna get dirty, but that shit was seriously deep.”

“I wouldn’t have let you drown. I would have saved you. I already told you this. I’ll always save you,” he replies as he comes to a stop. He fiddles with the stick on the side, and pops the clutch into neutral.

“I wasn’t worried about drowning. I can swim. I just didn’t want to have to help you get this thing unstuck.” I smirk.

Wes turns around to face me. His knees touch mine. He lifts my hand to his mouth, and slowly kisses my mud-covered knuckles. “I wouldn’t have asked you.”

My head turns in all directions as I get a good look at where we are. A canopy of trees surrounds us. Leaves, some fresh, some dead, litter the ground below. The rumbles of the four-wheeler engines and screams from the dirt bikes have all disappeared. The sound of birds chirping and the quiet hum of our idling four-wheeler is all that exists around us now. “What are we doing out here?” I ask quietly.

“I thought we could talk.” He gives me a sly smile as he lifts my soaked legs, and pulls them over his to rest on his thighs.

“What are we doing, Kenleigh?” Wes asks as he cups one of my cheeks in his hand.

His thumb moves slowly back and forth, caressing my cheekbone as our eyes lock. “I was gonna ask you the same thing.”

“Okay. How about we start with we both know that we have something going on between us, right?”

I stare into his eyes when I answer, “Yes.”

“All right. And do you like where things are going between us?” he asks, slowly inching his way toward my lips while never breaking eye contact with me.

“I do.” I can’t come up with much else to say because of his woodsy smell, and just him, begins to fog up my senses.

Just before his lips touch mine, he replies. “Me too. But you should know, if we do this, I do not share, and you will be mine. All of you. Every. Last. Inch. I will intoxicate you, and I’ll promise you this, you’ll love every fucking second of it. You’ll beg for it—beg for me.”

I don’t wait for him to finish his conquest; I climb up his body and straddle him as I crash my mouth down onto his. I’m already intoxicated by him. I have been since the first day I saw him get out of his truck. His touch makes my body smolder. His words rush like sweet wine through my veins, relaxing me, making me feel things I’ve never felt before. His kisses are like a drug that leaves me wanting and aching for just one more hit, no matter how big or how small. My lips cover first his top and then his bottom.

With slow and precise movements, I suck his lip into my mouth, and nibble before I reply, “I don’t share, either.”

His eyes turn from a clear blue to a dark cobalt in a matter of seconds. His hands glide up my thighs, painfully, achingly slow, as they make their way to the hem of my shirt. He grasps it in his hands, while looking into my eyes. “Now that we have that out of the way.” He looks from my eyes to his hands and back, silently asking if it’s okay to remove my shirt. The single nod I give him is all the permission he needs. He peels my wet shirt off and tosses it behind me on the rack that rests on the back of the ATV. For a long minute, he sits and stares at my satin leopard print bra. “You are so fucking beautiful.” His head bows as he kisses the swells of my breasts. His hands graze the skin of my stomach, making their way behind my back to unclasp my bra.