Beckett
Ah, hell. I shouldn’t have done that.
Feeling Elouise’s hand in mine is more than I’d expected. It’s such an innocent act. Hardly even touching. But it feels incredibly intimate. Like foreplay.
Her palm looks so small against my larger one. And without thinking, my fingers close tighter around hers. My subconscious desire to consume her is breaking through the surface and manifesting itself into action.
Gently, I pull her towards me, and she takes a step closer.
“Like this,” I tell her, my voice sounding deeper to my own ears.
I place my other hand on her elbow, holding it still while I use my hold on her hand to lower and turn it outward, exposing her forearm to the campers.
The campers that are watching our every move, I remind myself.
But even knowing we have an audience; I can’t tear my gaze away from Lou’s face. Her cheeks have been a pretty shade of pink most of the day, and it’s fucking adorable.
There’s just something about her, about this, that feels like home.
My chest expands.
It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. Over a decade. But the moment I saw her, I knew who she was. Just like how I knew she had a crush on me when we were kids.
She was always a nice girl, friendly and kind. I didn’t see any harm in her little childhood infatuation. It was cute. But the age difference between us back then meant I only looked at her as a kid. We were both so young.
But now? Fuck. Now I want to throw her soft little body over my shoulder and show her just what I’m capable of doing in these woods.
My fingers flex against the warm skin just below her elbow and I feel the slight shiver that rolls up her arm. A shiver that travels straight up my own arm, down my chest to my-
Shit.
Gritting my teeth, I force my thoughts back to wound care, because popping a boner in front of a group of children is a sure-fire way to kill any chance I might have with this woman.
“Hold still,” I command, and she listens.
Lifting the marker to my mouth, I bite down on the cap and pull it free, then let it drop into my palm. The movement draws her gaze, and my tongue swipes across my bottom lip on impulse.
She shifts on her feet and I swallow a growl.
I project my voice for the crowd as I look down at Elouise’s bared arm, “I’m going to simulate a large cut.”
Pressing the cool tip of the marker to her skin, I draw a bright purple line from the middle of her forearm down to her wrist.
One boy gasps comically and Elouise grins, “Didn’t hurt one bit.”
She’s so good with these kids. Even when she was avoiding me, she was present for the students. She clearly respects them, and they respect her in turn.
A smile pulls at one side of my mouth.
Elouise may have grown up, but she didn’t lose who she was. She’s still that generous, sweet human. Only now she’s all curves, blushing cheeks, and veiled sass.
And goddamn, I want to get her alone so I strip her down and sink my teeth into every soft bit she has.
Fucking Focus, Beckett!
I pull out the different first aid items, demonstrating how to clean and wrap a wound, and I’m brought back to memories of summers in The Boundary Waters.
When I left Minnesota to go to college in Chicago, I didn’t expect to spend my summers back in my home state, all the way up at the Canadian border, to work as a camping guide. But I had a friend who had a friend and I found myself making the 9 hour drive every June.