With This Heart (17 page)

“
Want to go scout out the bathrooms?” I asked after he parked in the spot closest to the doors. There were a couple of other cars parked near us. I assumed they were waiting out the rain as well.

“
I guess there’s no point in changing in there since we’ll just get drenched again?” Beck asked, turning toward me with a defeated frown.

“
We can change in here when we get back,” I answered simply.

“
Pfft, so that you can sneak a peek?” He shot me a wink that stole my common sense, and then bolted from the car. I hopped out and ran after him, shielding the rain with my hands and fingers. By the time we reached the rest-stop entrance, my wet underwear was wedged so far up my ass that I didn’t think it would ever come out. Beck held the door open for me and we darted inside to the soundtrack of my howling laughter.

“
What’s so funny?”

“
Nothing,” I said, trying to edge toward the ladies room without turning around. I was sure he’d be able to see my bunched up underwear beneath my soaked dress.

“
Mmhm, I bet. Meet me back out here after you fix your underwear!” Beck grinned and I pinched my eyes closed in embarrassment as I pushed back against the swivel door.

After using the facilities, I checked my appearance in the mirror. I was prepared for the worst, so my wet rat appearance actually wasn’t
that
bad. I ran my fingers through my soaked hair, trying to de-tangle the long strands, but it was hopeless. My jade green eyes looked eerie in the fluorescent lighting and my skin appeared like alabaster marble. I was freaking cold standing in the air conditioned bathroom, so after I washed my hands, I held them underneath the drier for a few minutes, letting the warm air coat my skin.

When I finally walked out, I was greeted by Beck standing in front of a group of vending machines, gathering the various “courses” of our dinner.

“
Oh jeez, I don’t even want to know what you’re getting out of there.”

“
Unless you want s’mores for dinner, you’ll appreciate my vending machine hunt.”

“
At least get a granola bar or something,” I muttered, stepping closer to him.

“
It’s all taken care of,” he answered, shoving the food wrappers under his shirt so they wouldn’t get soaked in the rain. “C’mon!” He motioned for me to follow and then darted for the door.

Once we were back in the car, my body was shaking from head to toe from the cold rain. There was no way in hell I was getting out of the car again before the rain stopped. I was tired of being wet and cold.

“
Do you have a towel or anything?” I asked, rifling through my bag for a change of clothes. I pulled out an oversized t-shirt and a fresh pair of underwear. My sleeping shorts were somewhere in my bag, but I’d look for them when my teeth weren’t about to crack from chattering so hard.

“
No, but you can use one of my shirts,” he offered, and then climbed into the back with me. The space was small, but we could both fit easily. He tossed a t-shirt over and I caught it just before it hit my face. His scent overwhelmed me.

“
Mind if I change, too?” he asked, already working the hem of his shirt up.

“
Ahh,” I muttered awkwardly, trying to think of the correct answer. I didn’t want to seem like a prude, so I shrugged and turned away from him to give us both some privacy.

I heard him digging clothes out of his bag behind me, so I took a deep breath and tried to pretend he wasn’t watching as I crouched onto my knees and peeled my dress over my head. I was in my underwear and bra, but they were both wet and I’m sure completely translucent. Fortunately, the important sections were facing away from Beck.

I kept expecting him to say something or to make a joke, but he stayed silent as I reached for his shirt and dried off my arms, stomach, and back. I sat down and stretched my legs out to dry them off. I could feel his eyes on me, amplifying the goose bumps covering my skin. My ears were focused for any movements in my direction. Sadly, the only thing I heard was the rustle of a new shirt being put on. No hanky panky in the camper for me. I tugged my oversized shirt over my head and then reached under to unsnap my wet bra.

“
Abby,” Beck huffed agitatedly, and I twisted around to look at him. He was bent down onto his knees as well.

“
What’s wrong?”

“
Did you just take your bra off?” he asked.

My brows scrunched together and then I looked down at my lacy size 34-A bra still resting in my palm. It could have fit an American Girl Doll. Was I not supposed to take it off?

“
It was soaked,” I answered with a confused scowl.

He wet his lips and looked up at the roof of the camper for help. His hands rested on his hips and when I inched toward him, his jaw clicked a millimeter tighter.

I tilted my head and gave him a small smile. “Did you want me to leave my bra on, Beck?”

“
No… No, just will you put some pants on?”

I was making the cool, funny Beck uncomfortable in that moment. The second I got a taste of that power, I wanted more.

“
I was going to look for my shorts after I changed my shirt,” I explained. “Were you watching me take off my clothes?”

“
Of course I was,” he answered with a grin and a shrug. He was already collecting himself and I couldn’t let that happen.

I inched closer to him on my knees so that we were only a foot apart. The air in that Camper smelled like summer rain.

“
Because you
like
me?” I asked, tossing my bra onto my bag.

“
Ah, so you did hear me say that?” he asked with amusement in his hazel eyes.

I mashed my lips together before answering, “You kind of screamed it in the ocean.”

He laughed and then narrowed his eyes on me. “I had to be sure you heard it.” The tone in that Camper morphed in that moment. We were being silly, and then suddenly all of the spare oxygen was zapped from the tiny space and we were left floating on unspoken lust and desire.

“
I think everyone in the northern hemisphere heard it,” I murmured, looking up at him from beneath my wet lashes.

I wasn’t sure where we were going to go from there. But, of course, Beck had plans.

“
I’m going to kiss you now, Abby,” he said, bending low and erasing the gap between us.

My pulse spiked, “Normally you don’t warn m…”

His lips cut me off and I was no longer in the back of an old VW Camper; I was wrapped up in Beck’s touch, his mouth, his taste. He must have chewed a mint since the flea market because his mouth tasted like cool peppermint. His lips were soft and cold from the rain. My tongue traced across the seam of his mouth, and in an instant, his mouth opened for me and we were devouring one another, taking the kiss closer and closer into dangerous territory. I felt his hands glide up the sides of my legs, past my long shirt, and I welcomed it. I felt like I was inching toward bliss with every millimeter his finger crawled over my skin.

He’d pulled me up onto his lap so that his warm skin was pressed against mine beneath my shirt.

Our kiss never broke as his fingers reached slowly up my thigh. I wanted him. Oh, I wanted him so badly, so I inched my knees farther apart and pressed our bodies closer together. I didn’t know how far Beck would take it.

I loved kissing him; I loved when he wrapped his fingers into my tangled, damp hair. But I wanted more. I needed to feel him between my legs; I wanted to know what his fingers would feel like there.

Beck broke our kiss and pressed his forehead to mine.
Please don’t end this, please don’t say that we can’t take it any further,
I pleaded in my head. Maybe he saw the desperation written across my eyes because he didn’t cut me off. He pressed his palm to the center of my chest, above my beating heart, and pushed me gently down onto my back.

“
Lay down,” he instructed.

I had so many conflicting emotions in that moment. The good, prudish role I’d been shoved into my whole life was fighting to surface. But the part of me that had never experienced such a powerfully sexy experience told my conscience to shut up and enjoy the ride.

My eyes were locked with Beck’s hazel irises as his hand pushed me down further. My elbows caught my upper body and then I slowly lowered myself back so that my head fell on top of my bag. There were clothes and unrolled sleeping bags shoved beneath me, but if you had asked me in that moment, I would have said I was lying on a bed of clouds. Every bit of my senses concentrated on the sinfully sexy look written across Beck’s features. He looked like he was about to eat me for dinner and that thought sent a shiver from the base of my neck down to the tip of my spine.

“
Lay down and relax,” Beck whispered again with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

A nervous laugh escaped my lips. How the hell did he expect me to relax? I needed to know what was coming next; I had to prepare my body for his touch.

Little did I know there was
no
preparing for Beck’s touch. His palms encircled my ankles and I arched my back in response, trying in vain to find an outlet for the delicious tingles spreading up my inner thighs. The tips of his thumbs rested over the veins of my inner ankles. I could feel my erratic pulse pressing against his hand. He knew how much he was affecting me.

As Beck’s hand inched higher up my legs, I couldn’t meet his eyes anymore. My gaze flitted toward the camper’s ceiling, and I tried to concentrate on the rain beating down onto the metal roof. But nothing could distract me from his searing touch.

My hips twisted in need, and the action tugged my shirt up higher so that my underwear was completely exposed. The same pair of wet underwear that I had yet to change, which meant they were practically see-through. I pinched my eyes together, telling myself to calm down. That he would have seen all
of me eventually.

His hands drifted higher and he pressed his palms to my inner thighs, pushing them apart and exposing me to him even more. Adrenaline spiked my blood like a shot of tequila. What was he thinking? Did I look like the other girls he’d been with? Did he want to keep going or was he only doing it because I wanted to?

“
Beck, this is really intense,” I finally admitted with an exasperated breath. I needed him to know how many whacko thoughts were drifting through my brain. His hands immediately stopped their gentle massaging of my skin.

“
Do you want me to stop?”

I hopped up onto my elbows and exclaimed, “No! No. Please keep going. I might want you to stop…later, but please don’t stop now.”

His hazel eyes held such earnest conviction that I wanted to tell him I loved him, just to see what he would say. I, of course, didn’t
love
him. That’s crazy and dumb. But his eyes were just so pretty and his hands felt like my only connection to earth.

“
It’s just that I feel like I can’t relax because I don’t know what you’re going to do next. I don’t know if you like what you’re feeling or if you think my thighs look weird.” Who thought thighs looked weird? I didn’t know. I just wanted him to appreciate the whiteness of my skin and not think that I looked like a pale ghost.

Beck leaned forward and propped his chin on my bent knee. His teeth bit down on his lower lip and both of his dimples made an appearance. If I had a camera, I would have snapped a picture of him sitting in that pose. He looked so fucking silly and sexy; I wanted to pounce on him.

“
What if I told you what I was doing or thinking before I did it?”

What? My eyes opened wide. “As in
say
the dirty things out loud?”

He laughed a dark, throaty laugh that made my panties feel wet for different reasons than before. But then he pushed himself forward and stole my nerves with a sinful kiss that lingered until we were crazy for each other. His body pressed into mine, our hips rocking together. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him to me even more. His hands found my hair and he tugged gently as his tongue swept over mine. He groaned into my mouth and I shuddered at the sexy sound.

Just when I thought I’d completely lost myself in the kiss, he broke it off and pulled back with a sinister smile.

“
I’m going to kiss down the inside of your thigh,” he offered, right before his lips made contact with the skin just inside my knee.

“
Ho…ly!” My spine arched and I had to clasp a hand over my mouth. “Wo…w.”

Two more kisses toward my underwear. “You have the most beautiful skin; it’s creamy and soft.”

He could have told me that my skin resembled a crocodile’s at that point and I would have run with it. His lips were seducing my every cell, drawing me further away from reality.

His hand pressed down on the base of my stomach, keeping me from moving my hips, and each time his finger gently dug into my flesh, it sent a new wave of delicious shivers through me.

“
Your underwear is still damp from the rain.”
And other things
, I thought, but didn’t dare add.

“
Mhm,” I mumbled in a high-pitched tone, finally collapsing down onto my back once again. His finger skimmed over the cotton material covering me. It was feather-light, but it was enough to split my world in two. How had I gone so long without this feeling?