Ari and Josh quickly walked over to Alison and Grant as I stood there like a frozen statue. How could I be so stupid? How could I have read this so wrong?
Josh grabbed Grant and Ari took a hold of Alison and began walking them over to me. I quickly stepped back and around the corner. Josh pushed Grant back, causing him to stumble.
“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Grant looked confused as his gaze went from Josh to Alison.
“Wait, Alison I thought you said they would be into this?”
Alison shrugged.
“I thought they would. Heather, you said you were switching partners tonight.”
Finally breaking out of my dazed look, I shook my head to clear my thoughts and answered Alison. “I was talking about charades!”
“Dear Lord,” Grant softly spoke.
Ari walked up to Grant and poked him on the chest. “Oh, I think you need to be including the holy ghost, and a few hail Mary’s in on this one, dude. Did you really think you were going to screw a pregnant woman?”
“Well I mean, if you were going to be down with it, I was.”
Snarling her lip, Ari reached up and slapped Grant across the face. “You sick bastard!”
I was starting to feel dizzy. Not to mention sick to my stomach again.
Josh gently pulled Ari back and guided her next to me. He drew in a breath and exhaled. “Grant, Alison, this group is not into that. And honestly, if Jeff or Gunner find out what you had planned, well, honestly I’d be afraid right now, Grant.”
“Very afraid,” Ari added.
Grant reached for Alison’s hand. “I think we’re going to head on back down and continue on by ourselves.”
With a nod, Josh replied, “I think that’s the smart thing to do.”
Alison stopped in front of me and gave me weak smile. “I’m so sorry, Heather. I really liked you. I was so looking forward to our time together, and I’m sorry if I misread things.”
I stood there in a state of utter shock. Ari leaned forward, pointed to my stunned expression, and said, “I think this should pretty much tell you your swinger radar is way off, folks.”
Alison frowned, then turned and headed down the trail with Grant.
“Breathe, Heather,” Josh whispered into my ear. I leaned over, placed my hands on my knees and forced air in and out.
“Holy shit. How did that happen? What just happened?”
Ari giggled. “Wow. That’s one to store away in the ole memory box upstairs.”
Josh laughed as Gunner, Ellie, and Jeff all came around the corner. Ellie looked around and asked, “Where did Grant and Alison go?”
Gus ran up to me and whined as he pawed me. “I’m okay, boy. I think.”
Josh and Ari looked at me. “They um … decided we really weren’t the type of friends they wanted to hang out with.”
Ellie’s head pulled back in shock. “Wow. They didn’t even really know us to make that assessment.”
Ari chuckled. “They knew enough to know we weren’t the type of friends they normally hang with.”
A sense of guilt rushed through my body. “Ells, I’m so sorry for what I said earlier. I really do want to be here, and I’m sorry I invited a strange couple into our group. This was our weekend. I don’t want to spend it with anyone else but y’all.”
I watched as tears filled her eyes. “No, I’m sorry. I acted like a child.”
“No, I did.”
“No, it was me who—”
Ari walked up and stood between us. “Oh, for the love of God! Both of you acted like dicks. Now, can we get on with this hike before I birth this child I’m carrying? The last hour is one I’d like to try and forget please.”
Ellie and I both smiled then wrapped Ari up in a sandwich hug.
Ari sighed then said, “All right, that’s enough sappy shit, let’s get moving. I’ve got pork chops calling my name.”
My stomach growled and everyone started laughing. As we walked off, Jeff reached for my arm and held me back.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“So what really happened?” he asked with one brow arched.
I pulled my lower lip in while taking a deep breath. With a shake of my head, I replied, “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
The look on his face told me he might have already known.
He shook his head and glanced over to the rest of the gang. “I knew they were different.”
My eyes widened as my eyebrows lifted. “They were different all right.”
As we started to walk, Jeff let out a chuckle. “Although, I really would have loved to have seen Gunner’s reaction when Grant put the moves on Ellie. That would have been priceless.”
Looking up at Jeff, I asked, “You knew?”
He laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Dear sweet, Heather. When will you learn? Jeff knows all. He is wise. He is smart, and let’s not forget, he is handsome as hell.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. As much as I didn’t think I wanted to be on this trip, I quickly realized that there was no place I’d rather be.
The fire popped as I held Ellie in my arms while Josh, Ari, and Heather told us how they came to the conclusion that Alison and Grant were swingers.
With a shake of my head, I grunted. “If I had turned around and saw that, I’d probably had killed the bastard. Fucker talking to Ellie like that.”
The vibration of Ellie’s chuckle moved through my body. “I still can’t believe it. I mean, what sick kind of person would want to sleep with pregnant women?”
“Hey!” Ari and Heather said at the same time.
“I take offense to that. I may be pregnant, but I’m still sexy as hell,” Ari said with a wink.
Jeff raised his beer up and said, “I agree with that one hundred and ten percent.”
“I swear, it took everything I had not to punch that guy’s lights out,” Josh stated.
With a tip of my baseball cap, I replied, “You’re a better man than me, Josh Hayes, ‘cause I’d have ripped his throat out.”
Ellie glanced up at me and shook her head. “You’re a lover, not a fighter.”
“Not when it comes to you, Ells.”
Her smile lit up her face. “I love you,” she said as she reached up for a kiss.
I twisted my cap around and gently kissed her lips. “I love you more, sweetheart.”
“Well, as much as I would love to sit around this fire and talk, this is the last night I have with my wife before we head back home. I’m getting me some sex.”
Ari laughed as she slapped Jeff on the chest. “You still stink! There is no way I’m letting you near me.”
Jeff cupped Ari’s face within his hands. “Baby, no amount of stink can keep you away.”
Scrunching her nose, Ari said, “There is … trust me, baby. There is.”
“Gunner?”
The sound of Ellie’s voice filled my dream.
“Gunner! Wake up!”
I wrapped my arms around her tighter. “Mmm, baby you feel so good.”
“That’s the pillow you’re holding, now wake up!”
My eyes opened and I sat up. “What’s wrong?”
Ellie went to talk, but a loud crash outside our tent had both of us jumping.
“That! There’s something outside the tent. You need to go see what it is.”
With a half-hearted chuckle, I shook my head. “Hell no. I’m not getting skunked like Jeff did.”
She tilted her head and gave me a look my mother or Grams would give me. “Really, Gunner?”
Another crash, this one louder.
“Get dressed and see what it is! Please!” Ellie pleaded.
I let out a frustrated groan. “Fine. But if I get skunked, I’m grabbing your ass and rubbing all over you.”
Her teeth sunk into her lip. “I like the sound of that.”
My dick jumped. “Damn, Ellie. Now I’m turned on.”
“You started it!”
/> After pulling on jeans, my boots, and a shirt, I slowly unzipped the tent. Ellie was right on my tail. At least if I got sprayed, she was going down with me.
I was slowly inching out when I heard the small ice chest start to open. I pushed Ellie back into the tent when I saw the shadow of a person. I jumped out and went to grab them, but I kicked whatever it was that had fallen, causing them to spin around and shine their flashlight in my eyes. The next thing I felt was something sharp hitting my jaw.
Dropping to the ground, I swore I saw stars.
“Gunner!” Ellie screamed as she rushed over to me.
“Damn it! Gunner, I’m so sorry, but you scared me!”
I tried to focus my eyes on the person now leaning over me.
“Ari, what are you thinking sneaking over here like that?”
“I was thirsty and we didn’t have any bottles of water.”
I rubbed my jaw and said, “Jesus, why were you making all that noise?”
She shined the flashlight in my eyes, causing me to look away.
“The light, Ari!”
“Shit, sorry!” she said as she shined it out the other way.
“I wasn’t making any noise. I literally just walked up a second ago.”
My jaw was throbbing as I slowly sat up with Ellie’s help. “Then who was making all that nose?”
A noise came from our right. The three of us all turned to face it.
“Ari, can you shine your light over at the picnic table?” I asked.
When she did, we all gasped at once.
“Don’t anyone move,” I whispered.
Ari’s hand must have started shaking because the light was moving all over the place.
“This camping trip is cursed, I tell you,” Ari whispered.
Ellie grabbed onto my arm and tried to whisper, but her voice shook with fear. “Is … is that a mountain … mountain li … um …”
I stood slowly and pushed both girls behind me.
“Lion. Yes, it’s a mountain lion. Slowly get into the tent, both of you.”
“Gunner, no! You can’t stay out here alone,” Ellie pleaded.
I could hear Ari getting into the tent.
“Ells, baby, I can’t take my eyes off of her; I need you to get into the tent slowly. Please.”
“O-okay. I love you.”
My heart was pounding so loudly I could hardly hear her speak. “I love you too.”
Moving slowly, Ellie finally got into the tent.
I lifted my hands above my head and shouted, “Go on! Get the hell out of here!”
“Well hell dude, I’m only trying to see what is taking Ari so long.”
My head jerked to the right as I watched Jeff come walking up, a flashlight shining directly on me.
“Jeff, stop!”
He instantly stopped. “What’s wrong?”
I lifted the flashlight more to show him the mountain lion.
“Holy fuck!” he shouted as he jumped back. “There’s a mountain lion on the table.”
“No shit. I’m trying to get her to leave, but she’s just sitting there. Staring at me.”
“How do you know it’s a she?”
I rolled my eyes and let out a small sigh. “I don’t, Jeff. I’m just saying she.”
“What makes you say she though?”
I groaned. “I don’t know for fuck’s sake.”
“Lift your hands over your head and yell at her … or him.”
I choose to ignore Jeff as I attempted to intimidate the big cat again. “Go on! Get out of here! Ha!”
From the left side, I heard someone walking up. “What in the name of everything good in this world are you doing yelling out here, Gunner? Can we get one night of decent sleep?”
It was then the mountain lion decided she’d had enough.
“Josh, dude you better stop walking, there’s a mountain lion making her way over to you.”
The flashlight was still shining on the cat as she made her way over to Josh. I was stunned that he didn’t seem the least bit scared. He started jumping up and down on the one leg that wasn’t hurt, making some weird noise as he lifted his hands over his head. Josh made a quick jerking motion forward, causing the cat to stop. When he did it again, she turned around and quickly started to trot off. Jeff and I both looked at each other with stunned looks. We walked up to Josh, flashlights shining directly on him.
“Seriously, can you lower your lights, guys?”
I dropped mine some and came to a stop in front of him. “How in the hell did you spook her?” Jeff asked.
Josh laughed as he hit us both on the side of the arm. “No fear, gentlemen. I have no fear.”
Turning, he started to walk back over to his campsite.
“Yeah right, Hayes. It’s called luck!” Jeff called out.
Josh lifted his hand and waved off Jeff as he called out, “Josh the Magnificent, one. Mountain lion, zero.”
Jeff let out a chuckle and said, “Great. I wonder how many years we’re gonna hear about this?”
Gunner’s hands moved gently over me, sending an instant warmth through my body.
“Hmm, you feel so good.”
With a smile, I rolled over to face him. “We almost died last night.”
He chuckled lightly. “Hardly. But she was a big cat.”
“She was a lion! Not a cat!”
Gunner drew me in closer to his body. “That was something to tell our kids someday.”
My finger moved lazily over his chest. “This is our last day here.”
“Have you had fun?”
“I have,” I said with a wide grin. “I could have done without Josh almost cracking his head open, the bad art project, the skunk, the lion, and not to mention the almost orgy yesterday.”
Gunner let out a laugh. “Yeah, that was … different. Heather felt really bad.”
“She should! It makes my skin crawl thinking about it. Blah.”
“Well, Josh came to the rescue on that one as well.”
A small chuckle escaped from my lips. “You know he is never going to let you and Jeff forget how he scared that mountain lion away.”
Groaning, Gunner moved over me, causing me to lay flat on my back. “Tell me about it. The way he walked off like he was king of the world was only the beginning.” He leaned down and rubbed his nose against mine as he pushed his hard length on me. “What concerns me more is how your damn dog slept through the whole thing.”
We both turned and looked at Gus. He was asleep on his bed, all four paws up and snoring.
I shook my head as I gazed back up at Gunner.
He pushed into me again. “I really don’t want to talk about Josh or the crazy folks we met yesterday, or even that damn dog.”
My teeth captured my lip and I wiggled my brows. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Nothing. I want to make love to my wife before the air leaks out of this mattress.”
“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”
His finger traced along my jaw. “I’m willing to take the risk if you are.”
My stomach dipped. I loved this man so much and I each time we were together, I swore it felt like the first time.
“For the sake of the air in the mattress, I think we should skip brushing our teeth.”
We both chuckled before our eyes met and that familiar feeling we shared with each other filled the tent.
“Drew,” I whispered before he pressed his lips to mine. He slowly pushed inside of me, then retreated a bit, before pushing in further. It was a heavenly torture.
“More,” I gasped while pulling him in more with my legs.
His lips moved softly across my neck. “Greedy little thing.”
“When it comes to you, I am. I never can seem to get enough.”
We were face to face again. Blue eyes staring back at one another. The magic in the air was undeniable. Gunner pushed completely in and remained still. I could feel him pulsing inside of me. Lifting my hips, I silentl
y begged him to move.
“I love you so much, sweetheart. Each morning I wake and look at you sleeping so peacefully. I’m taken by how much my heart grows more with your love.”
His whispered words had my body already trembling and he hadn’t even moved yet. My fingers slipped through his hair with ease, urging him to kiss me. When his lips touched mine, we quickly got lost in one another. Gunner moved slowly at first. Our hands exploring each other softly, our kiss growing with urgency.
“Ellie,” Gunner said as he moved faster. Harder. Driving my orgasm to the surface.
“So close,” I whispered as the feeling grew more. “Drew, I’m going to come.”
He pushed in deeper as he spoke against my neck. “Ellie, feels so good. Baby, I’m coming.”
With each thrust forward, Gunner’s body trembled. A low growl as he finally released himself into me.
When he finally stopped moving, he stayed inside of me. Cupping my face with his hands, he peppered me with kisses while my fingers traced over his arms.
“Let’s stay like this all day,” I said.
His warm breath tickled my ear. “Should I blow up the sinking mattress?”
It was then I realized how fast we were slipping toward the floor. “Oh, my gosh what happened?”
With a chuckle, Gunner replied, “I might have gotten a little crazy toward the end.”
Gus jumped up and barked, causing both of us to let out a small yelp.
“Who’s up and ready for breakfast?”
My eyes widened in shock while Gunner dropped his head and shook it. He slowly pulled out of me and got up.
“Knock knock, love birds. Are we up?”
“Yes, Ari! We’re up!” I shouted.
“Jeff’s got breakfast going. This is our last morning so rise and shine! Y’all have plenty of time to bump uglies later. Off to wake up Josh and Heather now! Chop chop!”
Gunner groaned while he slipped on a pair of sweats. “She’s so lucky she didn’t show up three minutes earlier.”
I let out a giggle and quickly cleaned up before getting dressed.
After I washed up and brushed my teeth, I threw my hair in a ponytail and met Gunner outside the bathrooms.
“Ready?” he asked with that dimpled smile of his.
“Yes! Today is starting out to be a wonderful day.”