"You're right," he said. "I never should have let things escalate. I just didn't trust myself around you. I felt … powerless. That's not a feeling I am used to, and it scared me. But I love you, and I'm going to be the stepfather you deserve."
"I wanted more than a stepdad," I said. "Now, I don't know what I want. Just do your fishing or whatever and leave me alone."
V.
James stood up and dusted himself off. When he turned to walk away, his cell phone rang. My eyes cut to James, and I saw the muscles of his hard little butt shifting as he dug in his pocket for the phone.
"Hello? Oh, hey, Bill. Where are you?" James was silent for a moment. "I understand. No, that's fine. Sure. We'll try again next week."
James put his phone back in his pocket. "Paw Paw isn't coming," he said. "Something to do with his mutual funds."
"Great," I muttered.
James went inside the cabin and emerged a few minutes later with his fly rod and tackle. I pretended not to notice when he walked past, heading toward the river. I watched him saunter down the trail through the woods. Even out here in the woods, he carried himself like a military man, with his broad shoulders thrown back. Usually I loved watching James' confident body language, but now it just made me even angrier.
I kept fuming, even after he was out of sight. My brain was racing with furious thoughts of James down there by the river. Eventually, I couldn't stand it anymore. I shimmied out of the hammock and grabbed my own fishing pole from the cabin, then set off down the trail to do some fishing of my own. I definitely did not want to see James right now. But if our paths happened to cross, well, I would not hesitate to give him a piece of my mind.
The river was babbling, but when I reached the bank James was nowhere to be found. Screw him, I thought. I hooked a plastic worm like Paw Paw had taught me and cast into the swift water. I cast again. It was incredibly boring, but I knew James would come by sooner or later.
I cast my line toward the opposite river bank, next to a little twig that was sticking out of the water. A fish took the lure. My mind was wandering and the fish nearly pulled the rod and reel out of my hands. I staggered, trying to reel it in, but the fish was practically pulling me into the water. I took a couple of steps into the stream, feeling the fast, cold water against my calves. The fish was too big. I wished it would just snap my line and swim on its merry way.
///
I yanked my fishing pole back, but I stepped on a slippery rock and fell sideways with a splash. I tried to breath but gulped down a watery mouthful instead. My head went under. When I came up I realized I was being swept downstream, and I screamed, trying to claw my way back to the bank. I reached for a fallen tree and grabbed hold of a limb, but it snapped in my fingers and sent me rolling. I was gasping for breath and paddling frantically, but the current was too strong.
"Ellie!"
I turned and caught a glimpse of James shortly before the water took me under again. The water was so clear that I could see James running alongside the river, scrambling over boulders and around trees. Then he tossed off his T-shirt and dove into the water, his strong arms paddling toward me. I grabbed him and clung to his neck, accidentally pushing his head underwater. He came up and drew in a quick breath. We were swiftly approaching a log that had fallen all the way across the river, forming a natural bridge several feet above the water's surface.
James thrust his head back out of the water. "Hold on to me!" he growled.
I was not about to let go. I clung to his neck, my body riding his back. Suddenly he plummeted down beneath the water, then rocketed upward. He grabbed the log in his arms, his legs fighting the current that threatened to sweep us away.
"You have to crawl over me, Ellie," he said.
"I can't."
"Yes, you can."
He didn't even give me a chance to protest. Keeping his grip on the log, he hoisted me over his back with his other hand. In his hands, I was light as a feather. I lay on the log, my arms and legs hugging it tightly, as James swung himself up behind me. James crawled onto his feet, careful not to rock the log or lose his balance. He picked me up and carried me to the end of the log. My arms were wrapped around his neck, and he held me like a sleeping baby. Instead of setting me down on the bank, he carried me that way all the way through the woods and back to the cabin as night began to fall all around us.
VI.
I didn't want James to ever let me go. But once we were inside the cabin, he set me down on a wooden chair. He had rescued me, and my heart was filled with gratitude toward him. Despite swallowing a few gulps of river water, I was not hurt in any way, but my body was wet and a shiver ran up my spine.
"You need to get out of those wet clothes," James said.
"Then undress me."
James stood before me, still shirtless. His strong, swollen chest rose with every heavy breath he took.
"You don't know what you're saying, baby girl," he said.
But I did know. I knew exactly what I wanted. I stood up and took one step toward James. When he didn't move, I stopped and smiled, then peeled off my wet blouse, letting it fall to the floor. Then I took another step forward. Still, he didn't budge. He just watched me, trying to stifle the lust building inside him.
My all-powerful stepfather. The decorated war veteran. I wanted him to ambush me from behind, attack my cunt and invade my body with his rigid cock. I toyed with the button of my shorts, then flicked it open and unzipped, swaying my hips as the shorts tumbled down my legs. James' body remained perfectly still, but his eyes raked up and down my body, standing before him in nothing but my bra and panties.
James nodded his head. I could see the hunger in his eyes, and I stepped closer to him. Now we were practically touching. My long, wet hair felt cold and heavy against the bare skin of my back.
His body was taut and trembling like a longbow about to release its arrow. Drawn to him, I reached up to touch his chest, wanting to feel his firm, smooth skin beneath my fingertips. The instant my fingers touched his skin, he snapped. He grabbed me in his rough hands and snatched my body toward his. With a hand behind my head he pulled our faces together, pressing his mouth against mine so ardently it almost hurt. He dipped his tongue into my mouth and I tasted him, smelled him, all of my senses consumed by him as his hands ran all over my body, groping for every inch of me.
James bit my earlobe and kissed my neck as I threw my head back and moaned out loud. I gasped when he grabbed my tits and tore off my bra, liberating them. He grabbed them roughly, crushing them in his hands, and he threw me down to the floor. I landed on the rug and James landed on top of me, pinning me beneath his weight as his lips found mine and we kissed more deeply this time, his hands searching from my hard little nipples, down my tummy, lower still, finding my panties and the mound between my legs. He rubbed me greedily, the firmness of his hands dominating my pussy. I was dripping wet, and my entire body was aching to be filled by his cock. He kissed my neck as he slid his fingers into my panties and teased open my pussy, his fingers searching me, toying with the hard little bump of my clit. My body writhed as he dominated me with his fingers. My head was spinning. My muscles tightened and every ounce of sexual energy flowing toward my pulsating cunt.
///
James pushed two fingers deep inside me and curled them, stroking the walls of my pussy, and I exploded in orgasm. My body quivered as I moaned with pleasure.
"Get up!" James suddenly shouted. He pulled me onto my feet. "Go to the bedroom. March!"
I turned toward the room and he smacked my ass, hard. It surprised me so much I jumped in the air. I scurried down the hallway, eager to obey, as James followed step by step with that slow, confident swagger of his. I was sitting on the edge of the bed when he entered the room and dropped his shorts.
"Oh my god," I gasped.
His cock was long and meaty, growing before my eyes. I was salivating, I wanted it so badly. I fell to my knees, submitting to James, taking his rigid shaft in my hands as I guided the swollen tip between my lips. James' cock was so thick it completely filled my mouth, and I was afraid I might choke on it. I took as much of him as I could inside my mouth, running my lips up and down his length, letting him dominate my mouth.