I looked back up at him and thought for a moment that he was going to lean forward and kiss me. I was hoping he would. But instead, he shifted and pulled a blue bandana from his back pocket. Then he placed it over the top of the water bottle and turned it over. Once the bottle righted again, he lifted his arm and pressed the bandana to my neck, wiping it down. “Ya had a little grease.”
The coolness of the cloth combined with the sensation of his fingers brushing along my shoulder sent a shudder through me. “Thanks.”
“Mmm.” He made a sound of male appreciation and removed the cloth.
My heart thudded behind my ribs as I tilted my neck to the side. “Is it gone?”
He started to lean closer to me and I felt the heat of his breath fan over the coolness of the damp spot. “I think I need a closer look.”
The next thing I knew his mouth covered the space that he’d just wiped. One hand cradled the back of my neck and the other gripped my hip as he lowered me down to the ground. My pulse raced with anticipation beneath his lips as my entire body surrendered to him.
Any time his hands were on me I felt safe. Protected. Having limited, or no, experience with intimacy, it surprised me every time he inspired those feelings because they were two emotions I’d never imagined I would feel from any sort of sexual activity. I’d expected arousal. Need. Desire. But not safe and protected.
As it turned out, it was actually my favorite part of it.
He trailed kisses up my neck, along my jaw, and finally landed on my mouth. I parted my lips, and his tongue slid inside, meeting mine. His kiss was forceful, yet sweet. Dominating, yet gentle. It was possessive, masterful, and left me feeling even dizzier than I had a few moments before.
As his tongue explored my mouth, a deep ache, a need began to pulse low in my belly. Jimmy shifted so that his body was above me. My legs parted automatically and when he lowered down, I could feel the bulge, the one that was for me, pressing against my throbbing core.
A needy moan rose from my chest, but Jimmy swallowed it with his all-consuming kiss. I was so lost in the sensations that were flowing through me like the rapids, I didn’t hear anyone approaching.
“Hey Comfort, you givin’ that girl mouth to mouth?”
At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, I froze in fear. Jimmy didn’t have the same reaction. He pressed one more kiss to my mouth then lifted his head as if we’d just been playing checkers and someone had interrupted us.
The least I’d expected was for him to move off of me, but he remained where he was.
“Hey, Tanner. Don’t you have somewhere you need to be protecting, or people you need to be serving?”
I peeked up and saw that Tanner wasn’t just a good Samaritan stopping by to give Jimmy a bad time, he was wearing a police uniform. I pushed at Jimmy’s chest, to get him off of me, but he didn’t budge.
“Come on, Comfort. You don’t want to have a repeat of the beach.” Tanner said.
The beach?
I wondered what happened on the beach.
Reluctantly, Jimmy pushed off of me. I tried to stand of my own accord, but I wasn’t fast enough. Jimmy picked me up and steadied me. After quick introductions were made and promises of grabbing drinks between the men had been exchanged, we were back on the road. Thanks to Jimmy I was going to be able to mark one more thing off my list today. And if things kept going like they were, I might be able to put a check mark by number seven. Fall in love. When I wrote it down, I hadn’t realized how scary it would feel. Now, I wasn’t so sure I wanted it on my list.