Freed by Fire (15 page)

Caid smirked and walked around the front of the truck, ignoring the guy. He didn’t say anything to me as he opened his door and climbed in. I passed him a bottle of water and he twisted the cap to take a drink. When he set the plastic bottle into the holder in the console he lifted his t-shirt and wiped his face and mouth with it.

My breath hitched as I took in his body again. He was so freaking perfect in every single way. The sweat trickled down his chest and made his tanned abdomen glisten. I wanted to lean over and lick the salty trail from his body. But as Caid leaned in to start the truck, I knew that it was going to have to wait…until later.

***

Saturday, July 13
— 4:30 pm

We made it to Rockford in silence. Caid kept his eyes on the road and his hands on the steering wheel. I passed the time by texting Maggie.

Me:
How’s Indiana?

Maggie:
Ho
t
How’s Caid?

Me:
Ho
t


Maggie:
That’s not obvious…but you should

see the CEO of this place. He’s…borderline

Christian Grey. The things I would let this

man do to me…

Me:
Maggie! Wow…well, be careful. Don’t

get too caught up and move to Indiana on me.

Maggie:
Never. Sisters before Misters…

what are you up to today?

Me:
Caid’s taking me camping.

Maggie:
Really? That sounds…fun. Please

don’t get eaten by a bear. I need someone to

tell the cops where I am if I get trapped in

this guy’s “Red Room of Pain”.

I laughed out loud. Caid looked over and smiled.

Me:
OMG Maggie. I love you. Be safe.

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

Maggie:
Which would be what as of late?

Me:
Not much.

Maggie:
Ding, ding, ding! Have fun.

I gotta go. Another damn meeting. Tell

Caid I said hello.

I tucked my phone back into my pocket and smiled over at Caid as we pulled into a camp ground. “Maggie says hello.”

Caid smiled and pulled up in front of the building marked OFFICE. He shifted into park and unbuckled his seat belt. “Come here, please.”

I took my belt off and without hesitation climbed over the console and right onto his lap. “Are you mad at me? You’ve been so quiet.”

“Em…I’m—I’m trying so hard here.” He took his shades off and ran his fingers through my hair. “You’re making it difficult for me to breathe…to think…fuck. All I want to do is bury myself deep in you and stay there. You’re so beautiful, you’re amazing and perfect. No one has ever made me feel the way you do.”

I leaned my head into the palm of his hand as he caressed my face.

“It’s not even just about the sex…which, is fucking insane. It’s so much more. It’s the way you look at me. Sometimes I can’t take it.”

I frowned. What did that mean?

“Caid, what are you trying to say?”

“I don’t know. I just feel things. And it scares the fuck outta me.” He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. “Don’t hurt us, Em.”

Butterflies thrashed in my stomach as I lifted his face and leaned right in to touch my forehead against his. “I would never hurt you.”

He shook his head slowly and mumbled under his breath. After a pause he resumed his regular breathing and gave me a kiss before telling me he had to go in and register for our campsite.

Caid skipped down the wooden steps of the building with a piece of paper in his hand and jumped back into the cab of his truck. “Ready?”

I nodded. “Ready.”

He backed out of the space and drove down a dirt path that was barely wide enough for his Dodge. A few bumps and sharp turns later we arrived to an open area for overnight parking. Once again he selected a space far from other vehicles and threw it into park. Before shutting off the engine, he grabbed a few things from the glove compartment and rolled up the windows.

“We’re down there,” he said, pointing to a trail marked 18-A West.

“So I just realized I didn’t bring any clothes. All I have is what I’ve got on.” I frowned. I didn’t even have a toothbrush or deodorant.

“Who said you need clothing?” Caid grinned and raised his eyebrow menacingly. “After you, love.” He heaved the large plastic tote from the back of the truck, closed and locked his tailgate.

“Can I carry anything?” I asked, holding only my purse.

“Nope, I got it. Now move that sweet arse.”

I turned and smiled as I walked ahead of him down the trail. A little extra swing added in each step. I felt his eyes burning through my shorts and I loved every second of it.

Site #14 was all ours. An empty space secluded from anyone else with a clearly worn down pad on the ground where many other tents had been placed over the years. A fire pit was a few feet away, near a picnic table. Behind the sprinkling of trees was a lake. In the late afternoon sky, the water was glistening and shining like it was full of diamonds instead of water.

Caid dropped the box and pulled his shirt off to wipe his face and chest. He was drenched with sweat and it made everything inside of my body scream. How was it possible for him to look like a god, so soaked in sweat—but for a woman? We looked ridiculous. I’m sure I did at that moment. My hair was stuck to my neck, I bet I had dripped all of my makeup off by now, and I knew the damp line between my shoulders must have looked all kinds of gross. I wanted to run into the water and immerse myself in it.

“Can we swim later?” I asked, turning around as Caid moved toward me.

“There’s one rule about swimming in that lake I need you to know about.”

“What’s that?” I had a feeling it was
his
rule and not that of the campground.

“Clothing is not option. It’s definitely,” he said as he pulled damp hair from my shoulder, “not allowed.”

“I was hoping you would say that.” I snaked my arms around his neck and pulled him in, crushing his mouth against mine. His sweat-soaked torso made my chest damp and my t-shirt cling to my body.

Half an hour later Caid and I had successfully raised the tent. Pretty good for my first time, I must say. Caid pulled a box out of the bigger tote and pulled out an air mattress.

“I thought we were
really
camping? What’s with that?” I asked, smirking at the mattress.

“I don’t want you laying on the hard ground. If you’re going to be sore in the morning, it won’t be from that.” Caid licked his bottom lip and unfolded the vinyl bed. It blew itself up with an internal device after Caid set it inside of the tent. He placed a large duvet down and tossed in some pillows. I could get used to this type of camping.

My stomach rumbled—loudly. I was starving. Cursing myself for not getting anything except water from the gas station I rubbed my hand over my belly as if it would soothe the groaning organ.

“This took a little longer than I expected. Sorry, Em. I’m gonna head back to the main building to get some things. Need anything?”

“A toothbrush.”

Caid smiled and stepped over to me. “You’ll be okay while I’m gone?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll be five minutes, love.” Caid threw on his wet t-shirt while walking down the path and out of sight. I sighed. Saddened to be alone. I had been with him for over twenty-four hours straight. It felt good. Too good. I didn’t know what was going to happen when the fun was over and we had to return to reality on Monday morning.

I drained the rest of my water and plunked down on the wooden bench of the picnic table. Caid’s phone started to ring. He forgot to take it with him. It sat on the table, inches from my hand. The name on the screen flashed. Leeanna. Who was Leeanna?

I touched the phone, but I didn’t answer it. It stopped ringing and a few beats later an alert of a voicemail was flashing on the screen. Ten seconds later a text message popped up.

Leeanna:
We need to talk. Answer your phone.

I pushed the phone away and got up from the table as Caid made his way down the path with a paper bag in his hand and a panty-dropping smile on his face.

“Hope you like hotdogs, it’s all they had left.”

“I love them.”

“Good.” He smiled and set the bag on the table next to his phone. “I meant to pick up all the stuff before we got here, but someone decided to break down and needed to be rescued.” Caid swiftly kissed me. “I’ll get the fire going. I picked up some water and soda too.”

I opened the bag and pulled everything out. Setting the food on the table away from the cellphone that I itched to touch. Caid took the empty paper bag, crumpled it, and added it to the pyre he had created. His phone rang again.

“It rang while you were gone. I forget to tell you,” I lied.

He picked it up and flared his nostrils. “Fuck,” he rumbled quietly. “Hello?” he answered and turned to walk away from me. “No, I didn’t get your message. What do you want?”

I don’t know who Leeanna was, but it didn’t sound like she was someone Caid wanted to speak with. He stepped farther away from me, and my body implored my feet to move with him, but I didn’t. It wasn’t any of my business.

Caid ran his hand through his hair and left it gripping the back of his neck as he spoke. I could tell from this distance that he was tense at whatever the conversation was regarding. With his lifted arm, his shirt was raised. The fire-breathing dragon peaked out from the spread of clothing and my thighs clenched together as I remembered the first time I saw it.

“Everything okay?” I asked as Caid began to walk to me. I held out my hands and he enveloped right into my body. I inhaled him deeply. His sweat, the delicious musk of his natural scent, and the fruitiness of the gum he was still chewing.

“It is now.” A chaste kiss on my lips was all I got before he let me go and picked up the package of hotdogs.

Caid pulled a long wire rod with a handle out of the box and stuck hotdogs over the prongs. I smiled thinking of him planning and packing for this weekend. Insane, considering how short of a time we’ve known one another. What would he have done instead if I had said no to his offer?

We ate the hotdogs, without buns, in the quiet of the evening. As the sun began to set, the blue and white twinkling of the lake turned to a deep red with pink hues and it was breathtaking.

“Did you divorce him because he cheated?” Caid asked, pulling my eyes from the lake and right onto his.

I nodded. “Among other reasons, which I didn’t really see until they were right in front of my face.” I wasn’t sure how deep this conversation was going to go, and I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to have it in the first place. Matt was a dark place for me. I didn’t like the dark. “Who is Leeanna?”

Caid looked down at his hands. “Caleb’s mother.”

“Oh.” My voice was low. I looked at my hands too, unsure of why I even asked the question. “Do you want to go swimming yet?” I tried to change the tone of the space.

“I’m not ready to talk about her, Emery. Please know it’s not you…it’s really me. I will, someday, just not today.”

I forced a small smile. I didn’t want to make him talk about anything he didn’t want to, and just as I didn’t want to delve into my life with Matt, I wasn’t going to expect Caid to open up about Leeanna. Maybe sometime in the future—not tonight. Not when we’re still so new.

Caid dumped a bucket of water over the fire, dousing it to a
smoldering pile. “You have five seconds to get into that water, before I throw you in.” His playful tone was back, and he regarded me with a wicked grin. “Five, four, three…”

I sat up and ran for the lake before he got to two. I skipped through the trees and laughed as my feet hit the warm sand. There were other people in the water and on the beach. Not close, but within the proximity that I wasn’t going to strip without being seen.

With one swift movement, Caid swooped me off my feet and threw me over his strong shoulder. I wailed and kicked my feet. “Caid! No!”

“I told you this was happening.” He slapped my ass.

“No! These are the only clothes I have with me, don’t throw me—” I flew through the air and hit the water. A cool feeling ran over me as my feet pushed off the bottom and sent me back up into the warm air. “You jerk!”

“You were warned, love.”

I leaned my head back into the water as I stood with my shoulders just above the water. It felt so good, especially after how gross and sweaty I had become. Caid pulled his shirt off as he got closer and tossed it up onto the beach. He stayed in his shorts as he moved to me and let his body slip under the water.