The Sextet - Entanglements [The Sextet Anthology, Volume 4] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (19 page)

Chapter 2

Dusk had started to creep its way across the mountain as Rebecca watched her students settle in for the evening. This first trip up here gave the guide hopefuls a chance to look over the terrain and make notes for the assignment. Over the conversations, a mix of helpful suggestions and hints of jealously guarded discoveries, a whippoorwill sang its syncopated song from a nearby stand of pines.

After assuring herself they had all returned safe, she stuffed a few items into her day pack, hung a coil of rope over one shoulder, and set off to a spot she knew would be perfect for a quick and deliciously private bath. To Rebecca’s way of thinking, there was not much more decadent than being naked outdoors. Plus, it would be away from Cam.

She’d been unable to avoid his company while working with the students since both of them had to write reviews and recommendations prior to the final testing. But he’d kept up attempts at conversation off and on all afternoon, like nothing had ever gone wrong between them. Now tired of being constantly evasive, she’d had enough.

“I’ll be back in less than an hour.”

Cam looked up. “Alone?”

“You betcha.”

He tossed a topographical map in her direction. “You know the rules. Mark where you’re gonna be.”

She hated giving him the information but knew it was for her own safety. Quickly finding the spot, she placed a small red X over it and tossed the map back, not even bothering to fold it back up.

It fluttered in a mess at Cam’s feet. Bending down to pick it up, he said, “One hour, no more. It will be near dark by then. You’re not back in sixty-one minutes and I personally come searching.”

She could almost believe there was more than professional concern firing up his deep blue eyes as she turned and headed toward the tree line.

A bare fifteen minutes later, she’d done a short fifty-foot rappel to end up beside one of the clearest water holes on the mountain. Too small to be called a lake even when, like now, it was being fed by the melting snow pack at higher elevations, Rebecca wasn’t sure it was on most maps of the area. The water would still be chilly during the height of summer, but she didn’t care. Being an instructor had some perks, one of which was knowing where to get a real bath while up on the mountain.

After making sure her climbing rope would stay anchored, Rebecca untied and then pulled off her boots. Giving her toes a satisfying wiggle, she took off her thick socks.

She stood up, enjoying the feel of the tender spring grass under her bare feet and drew in a deep, lung-filling breath. “Nothing better,” she said, not minding there being no one around to listen.

Her sweatshirt, jeans, and underwear were soon folded and stacked on the ground beside her pack. She opened up the day pack and pulled out a small zip bag of simple soap along with a washcloth. Reaching back in, Rebecca tugged out the towel she’d packed just for this purpose. A quick glance around, and she found a tree branch within reach to loop the towel over. With a practiced flip, she sent one end sailing up and over the branch, catching it in her free hand.

“Don’t you dare move. I want to appreciate the view for a moment.”

She stiffened.
How dare he?
“I said an hour.”

“That you did.” Cam’s voice got closer even though she couldn’t hear his approaching footfalls. “I, however, did not promise to wait.”

As much as her rational side longed to take a flying jump into the icy water just to deprive him of the sight of her naked backside, some part she’d long thought dead kept her standing there. Obeying his command. Not quite needing to be on tiptoe, and yet definitely stretched out, arms up over her hand where she gripped the white terrycloth.

“I remember another such day as this one, dear Rebecca.” He had to be standing right behind her. “Except it was no towel looped over the tree branch. Was it?”

“Noooooo…” She felt her body respond to the memory. Nipples that were just half hard now puckered tightly, thinking of that afternoon.

His fingertips brushed down the length of her spine to the cleft between the cheeks of her ass. “And just what was it?”

She felt her face flush. “One of—of your climbing ropes.”

“Yes, it was.” His lips caressed the nape of her neck, nibbling for a moment before his tongue slid up to her ear. “And as I remember,” he whispered, “you begged me to do it.”

Her resolve strengthened. “Begged isn’t exactly right, Cam. We both wanted to play those games.”

He touched with his hand then. Slowly, down her back, then up to reach around and cup one of her breasts. He knew just how hard, how long to make each squeeze.

“Indeed.” His fingers tugged at the puckered nipple. “And you cried out in pleasure when I sucked hard on these while you were restrained.”

The sensation from her nipple zinged right to her clit. Just like it always had with him. Cam knew exactly where her triggers were and had known from the beginning, like some sort of sexual telepathy. She still wasn’t sure which of them had started the talk of bondage play. Just that it turned both of them on.

His hand left her breast and slid farther down her belly, until he reached her pussy. “Spread your thighs for me, Rebecca. I want to see if I still get you wet, even before touching you here.”

She knew she should deny him, should tell him to go to hell. But damn, he made her feel so—

Cam froze. “Get your ass in that water.
Now
.”

The part of her that trusted him here on the mountain didn’t even stop to think. She let loose of the towel, took a running step, and then dove into the crystal water.

Her brain knew the water was probably forty, maybe forty-five degrees tops. But her body didn’t register it until she popped to the surface when her wet face, neck, and shoulders made contact with the cool, dusk air.

She started to blurt out
This better be good,
but Cam brought a finger up to his lips, signaling her to keep quiet. He pointed up toward the top of the rock wall she’d come down and then cupped a hand around his ear.

He’d heard something up there. As he motioned her to stay put, Cam headed over to where the end of her rappel rope dangled free. He gripped it and leaned back to brace himself.

“Yoo-hoo, Rebecca. You down there?”

Upon hearing the voice, Cam cocked his head in her direction and nodded.

“Yeah, Gordon, what is it?”

“It’s the radio. Bryce called up to tell us there’s some rain moving in. I, well, I thought you might want to know.” There were a few seconds of silence, and then he called back down. “You want me to storm rope your tent? I already did mine.”

Rebecca buried her face in her hands. Every group had one, and Gordon was it for this class. The suck-up. And it didn’t help matters that he fancied himself quite the ladies’ man. She’d overheard a couple of the other female candidates bemoaning his poor attempts at cool come-ons.

“That’s okay, Gordon. Thank you for the offer, though. Get on back to camp. I’ll be maybe ten minutes behind you.”

“And I couldn’t find Cam to tell him.”

Cam shook his head violently back and forth as his lips formed the word
no
.

“I know where he went. He’s probably even already back at camp.”

“Are you sure? I could stay up here and wait for you. To walk you back.”

She sent Cam a panicked look. Dear gods, now Gordon was coming on to her. She didn’t want to hurt the guy’s feelings, but not even in Gordon’s wildest dreams would she say yes to that.

“What do I do?” She mouthed the words.

Cam had both hands clamped over his mouth in an obvious attempt to keep from laughing. He shook his head and then shrugged his shoulders.

“Head on back, Gordon. I can get the roping done myself when I get back if it looks like I’m gonna need it.”

“Well, okay.”

They waited in silence, giving Gordon a chance to head on back.

Chapter 3

“Hey, stop hoggin’ the salsa.” Rebecca tried her best to aim an angry glare right at Trish.

Trish rolled her eyes. “Look, queso queen. You’ve been clutching that jar of cheese dip for the past thirty minutes. I had to do something.”

The giant, economy-sized bag of tortilla chips they had opened an hour ago sat between them on the bed, barely half full. “We have put a serious hurt on these chips.”

“What can I say?” Trish reached out. “Here trade me.”

Rebecca swapped her jar of the spicy cheddar dip for the chunky homemade salsa Trish brought over to watch TV. “You just wanna imagine him”—Rebecca pointed to the male lead in the movie they were watching—“smeared in cheese dip.”

“I admit, the idea has merit.” Trish scooped up a generous dollop on the corn chip. “You would, too, except I guess your taste is running more to the mountain-climber type.” She paused long enough to chew and swallow. “I thought you were d-o-n-e, done with that man.”

“So did I.” Rebecca fished out another chip and plunged it into the bowl. “I know it sounds incredibly hokey, but no other guy has ever satisfied me as well as Cam.”

Trish looked up from the jar of cheese sauce. “You have umm, come with other guys? Haven’t you?”

“Gimme a little credit there, girl. Of course. But if all I wanted was an orgasm, a vibrator can give me that.”

“I know I’m risking the obvious here, what is it? What makes Cam so damned special?”

That was the question. There had to be something in Cam, something that went deeper than physical attraction that had trumped her feelings of betrayal. Otherwise, how could she have slipped so easily into letting him touch her again? And whatever it was, that something had sent her diving into the cold water of the swimming hole on just his command.

Rebecca shook her head slow and deliberate. “If I knew the answer to that one…”

The light from the television screen flickered as the movie credits began to roll. Trish reached over to the table beside the bed for the lid to the cheese-dip jar. “And on that note, I shall leave you to your thoughts. Eddie’s got me going produce shopping tomorrow morning, so I have to be up at the butt crack of dawn.”

Rebecca found the lid to the plastic storage bowl Trish had used for her salsa. After giving the top a snap into place, she folded the chip bag closed. “Here, you might as well take these, too.”

“I’ll take ’em to work in the morning. The guys love my salsa.” Trish loaded the leftovers into a tote bag. “You still want me to make a big batch for the graduation?”

“Please. Just gimme a bill for whatever you have to buy.”

After she watched Trish pull out of the parking spot and drive away, Rebecca stepped back inside her motel room. A couple of quick clicks and she’d engaged both the bolt and the safety locks. She’d never been afraid, traveling alone, but part of that was making sure not to take unnecessary risks.

Rebecca puttered around the room, brushing her teeth and then laying out clothes for tomorrow. It was to be a classroom day, the first of the candidate’s two written exams. She wouldn’t need her heavy-climb boots. And she knew exactly where the others were. On the floor, behind the driver’s seat of Thing. Grabbing up the key card, she opened the door and stepped outside.

The aging VW had been her dad’s pride and joy while she was growing up. It had more miles on it than should have been possible, but all that TLC had paid off. He’d given her the keys and title as a college graduation gift, saying it needed to be with someone younger again. The safari-looking vehicle had gotten her safely up and down this part of the country for over six years now and showed no signs of stopping.

As she stepped down off of the curb, her train of thought got derailed by a voice from the second floor walkway.

“I’m glad you liked the proposal, Dad.”

Not here, too.
Recognizing Cam’s voice, she stepped back closer to the building. It had been pure hell facing him today after what had happened up on the mountain yesterday.

“Actually, it was Derrick’s idea originally. We both worked on the details.”

He’d given her a saucy wink as he’d walked into the classroom this morning. Between the knots and rigging practice where he’d asked oh so politely if she’d be his demonstration model, and the rappel review this afternoon, she was incredibly aware of him and his effect on her libido. Not to mention her pussy. The man’s presence had kept her wet all day.