Chapter 10

TEN

Samantha

"Drink if you've ever licked a stone to determine if it was a fossil or a rock!" shouts Dahlia.

We all slam another shot. I wince at the cheap vodka, and Granger points at me, probably remembering the time I'd licked a very dirty rock and ended up spitting and coughing a ton. The gesture sends him and Aydan into a fit of laughter. I want to be mad, but I'm laughing too a second later.

Okay, I'm officially drunk. Time to head to bed.

I set my shot glass back down on the rock, then stand, brushing dirt and grass off my ass. Beside me, Granger and Aydan stand, too. It's funny the way we still work so well together. We don't have to say a word, and we just get each other.

"Come on, you guys aren't calling it a night, are you?" Dahlia teases.

A cute guy next to her wraps his arm possessively around her shoulder, while continuing to talk to a guy on his other side. There are still at least twenty students out here, plus Mr. Handsy. And Dahlia isn't going to miss me, and we both know it. Even back at college, she was never the type that needed me to stay at a club with her. Dahlia is a woman who likes to do her own thing.

"I don't want to be hurling up dinner," I tease.

She shakes her head. "You never get sick and you know it." The guy next to her pulls her a little closer, and she grins at me. "But you are free to go! Get some sleep! Be good!"

I laugh. "Yeah, I'm real good."

Turning, I stumble against Aydan, not realizing how close he was, and nearly lose my footing. His hands are at my waist in an instant. "Careful."

I want to look up into his eyes to see if they're as blue as I remember, but I feel like too many people are staring at us. They'll be able to see how bad I want him, no matter how hard I try. Liquor has a way of making it hard to hide the truth. So, instead, I pull away from him, and we start walking.

"Leaving early isn't bad, I honestly want a little time to journal when I get back," Granger says, swinging his arm.

"About the love of your life?" I tease. He looks oddly freaked out for a minute before I add, "Dr. Duncan. The man. The myth. The legend!"

He smiles, looking relieved. "Actually, yeah, today we spent the day taking readings all over the mountain. I mean, technically, the class is supposed to be about the study of petrology, but he left the other students with his staff, because he said the readings were really important."

"What does that mean?" I ask, stumbling again a little.

Aydan's hand moves to my waist instinctively, but he leaves it there, even when I right myself. I guess he's not just worried about me getting laid. He doesn't even think I can walk properly. Not that I'm making a good case for myself.

"Honestly, I have no idea. It's like nothing I've seen before. The readings aren't quite warning of an earthquake, or of a volcano erupting, it's more like… movement in the earth." He runs his hands through his dark hair, sending the strands standing on end. "I feel like I'm not explaining this right, but it's the mark of something never before seen in science, and I'm here to see it!"

"My class wasn't nearly as exciting," Aydan says, sighing and staring up at the stars. "We basically covered Firefighting 101. My dad taught me this stuff when I was in elementary school: basic first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, fire suppression techniques, and fire and smoke behavior."

"It's day one," I tease, "you're not going to be climbing trees and leaping into fires just yet."

He glances down at me, and his gaze is intense. "You have no idea what's involved when it comes to fighting wildfires, do you?"

He knows I do, but I'm getting under his skin, and I'm not about to stop. "I imagine a lot of pounding your chest and ripping off your shirt?"

Granger and I laugh, and Aydan shakes his head. "Not if you're my dad. Then, it's all about being away from your family as much as possible, banging every woman you see anywhere, and coming home to be an asshole to your wife." His words start out amused and turn dark.

I stare without meaning to. Aydan never talks about his dad. He literally avoids the topic. Over the years, I'd met his dad many times. He seemed to be charming, so charming that everyone who meets him likes him… except his wife and son. That always struck me as strange, and made me not want to be around him, even from an early age.

"Your dad's an asshole because he's an asshole, not because he's a firefighter," Granger says. "You're going to be one of the good ones."

Does he worry about that? "Of course he is! Aydan, you're going to make the best firefighter, and the best husband and father."

He stares down at me, and the pain in his expression steals my breath. "You think so?" And he sounds so damned worried that I have the overwhelming urge to kiss him and tell him that everything will be okay.

"I know so. I mean, look at the way you take care of Granger and me. When you love someone, you love them with your whole heart. That's one of the best things about you." He has to know that, right?

He squeezes my hip, then releases me. "Anyway…"

My phone beeps, and I pull it out to read the text. It's from Will. Want to come over and hang out? Which, of course, is code for a booty call. Not that I'm in the mood for one right now.

"Will wants to know if you want to come over and hang out ?" Granger emphasizes the last two words, laughing, and I regret not realizing just how close he was behind me. "I guess he can't call it Netflix and Chill up here, right? You going?"

My cheeks are burning when I go to answer, but Aydan answers for me, "Of course she's not going to go."

"Aydan." His name comes out harsh. "I told you to stop doing that."

His earlier mood has vanished. He's angry now. "You don't even know what kind of guy he is! What if he hurts you?"

I'm pissed. "You think a guy has never hurt me? Newsflash, Aydan, I'm a twenty-one-year-old woman. I have perverts shouting at me all the time. I've had assholes follow me to my car when I go to get groceries. I've had guys trying to slip crap in my drinks every time I turn around. And I have guys who I dated, who hurt me. Where sex is painful. Or they make me feel like shit about myself." I hold up my hand to stop him interrupting. "No, I didn't stay with them, but my point is that if you're trying to protect me from the world, you can't. It's a brutal place for a woman. I've had to learn to protect myself, and trust my own instincts. So, I'm not worried about fucking Will ."

"Sam," Granger whispers my name into the silence. "That's really what your life is like?"

He can't really be surprised, can he? Men can't really just live their lives with their heads in the clouds when it comes to what we women endure, right?

"That's what most women's lives are like," I tell him, daring him to question me.

He shakes his head. "I never knew. I'm so sorry. I guess I took for granted just being able to live my life without being harassed."

Now, I feel bad. "I'm not saying guys don't deal with shit too. It's just different sometimes."

"Yeah, I've dated some girls that must make a sport of collecting broken hearts, but it's nothing like you've been through." He gives me a quick hug, then releases me, and we look at Aydan.

I'm startled by how angry he looks, and I try to wrack my drunken brain for what I exactly said that pissed him off so badly. I touch his arm, and he startles, turning to me like he forgot I was there. His gaze lands on me and grows even fiercer.

"If you know how dangerous the world can be for a girl like you, then maybe listen to me. Tell that asshole to shove it and let me walk you home."

This man has the thickest skull I've ever seen. "Actually," I draw out the word, "I think I'll go visit Will. I'll see you two later." Then, like a lady, I flip him off.

Not wanting to argue, I head down the path, taking the further one that leads to Cabin 10, Will's cabin. A place he was sure I knew about when we exchanged numbers at lunch. The night is chilly, and my breath puffs out in front of me as I listen to the sounds of my footsteps stomping on the ground.

But as time passes, I start to slow. Do I really even want to hang out with Will? No. But I do want to make a point.

"You made your point."

I whirl around and see Aydan right behind me. It must have been the liquor that dulled my senses. Normally, I'm pretty sharp. His arms are crossed over his chest, like he's daring me to argue with him, and I hate that he knew exactly what I was doing.

"What's my point exactly?" Let's see if the Neanderthal has figured it out yet.

"You're a woman. You have boobs. You can fuck whoever you want. I got it."

I'm debating the wiseness of smacking him when I see some students stumbling along a path in the distance. Marching up to him, I haul him into the shadows beneath one of the administration buildings, and try to pick my words with care. Words that should smack him without me having to.

"If you've figured out my point, go back to your cabin, right now."

He laughs, but the sound is angry. "Yeah, I'm going to leave you alone and drunk out in the woods while some predator tries to get his hands on you."

"You realize I'm not prey." Fuck, it's hard not to shout. "And that your words right there prove that you've learned nothing. You don't think I can make my own decisions."

He paces a step away and then back. "That's not what I said."

"Then walk away." I stand, waiting.

It takes him a long minute, but then he shakes his head. "Can't."

His words infuriate me for reasons I don't understand. This damn man has grown up with me. He knows I'm a woman, just like he's a man, but all he sees when he looks at me is a child, one he has to protect, and I just can't do it any longer. I can't spend a summer watching him fuck a bunch of girls while I'm expected to stand on the sidelines and watch like some virgin maiden.

I can't do it. I thought I could, but being around him and not being with him is hell enough on its own.

I stand up on my tiptoes, so close that it'd take nothing at all for him to lean down and kiss me, not that he would. "Aydan, since you can't treat me… like an equal, like an adult, I'm not going to have anything to do with you. Do you understand me? Don't look at me again. Don't talk to me. Don't call me or text me. Our friendship is over."

Done? I'd just told him I was done? I need to go, before I lose my nerve and tell him it was all a joke, or worse, cry.

I turn to go, and he grabs me, pulling me against him. "No."

Angry, I shove him. "Don't touch me!"

Something in his face snaps. Breaks. And I know I've done something that can't be undone.

He pulls me back against him, leans down, and crushes his mouth on mine. For a second, I want to shove him away. Slap him. But his warm lips awaken terrible things inside of me, and it hits me for the first time that Aydan is kissing me.

Kissing. Me.

His lips soften over mine, and I tilt my head, relaxing against him. The movement makes his kiss grow more intense. Hard. Demanding. My lips feel like they're being punished in the best possible way, and my hands slide up and down his chest restlessly.

His hands on my hips pull me against him harder, and I feel the evidence of his arousal. Heat blossoms between my thighs, and I grind myself against him. His groan is my reward, and when I smile, his tongue dips inside my mouth.

I dig my hands into his shirt as my head spins. Our tongues tangle together, battling for control, and I feel like I have to hold on or risk falling.

He shifts us, and my back hits the side of the building. His arms move above my head, and his kissing becomes more and more eager. Tasting me. Teasing me. Until his lips break from my mouth and start to move down my neck.

I slide my hands from his chest into his hair. Using his hair, I guide him and his kisses turn into sucking down my neck.

"Fuck," I groan.

He sucks harder, and I swear I'm dripping wet. I need more than his kiss. I need his touch

As if reading my mind, one of his hands drops, slipping beneath my shirt. It's his turn to swear as hand closes around my breast. He cups my breast, then begins to rub my nipple through my bra. My breathing is labored when he pulls down my bra, and his thumb circles my nipple, then pinches it.

"Aydan," I moan his name, rubbing myself against him. I don't about anything else except that he keeps touching me.

I feel like I'm going crazy when I slip my hands between us and undo his jeans. He stiffens when I slip my hand inside and take hold of him. And, oh, fucking hell. He's big. Thick. Glorious. I wrap my hand around him and start pumping.

"Shit, Sam!" He pants my name against my neck, and then moves his lips back to mine and continues his punishing kisses.

I slip him out of his boxers, and then we're skin-to-skin. His kiss pauses against my lips, and then our eyes are locked as I pump him slowly. Once. Twice. A third time.

He doesn't break eye contact as he undoes my pants and slips his hand right into my underwear. I spread my legs for him, giving him more access, and then his fingers are dancing in my folds. He's gentle, exploratory, like I'm the first woman he's ever touched. But it doesn't last long. His fingers press in deeper, sliding around, awakening my nerves in a way that sends my muscles jumping.

I pump him harder and harder. When I feel his precum coating his big shaft, I run my fingers through it, then lift it to my mouth, and taste him.

His eyes are wild as I suck my fingers, and then I reach back down, pumping him harder and harder as he begins to pant my name like a prayer. He shifts closer against me, his lips near my ear as he presses a finger inside of me. I cry out his name as he uses his thumb to tease my clit and uses his finger to thrust in and out of me.

"I-I'm going to come," I cry.

"Then come," he growls in my ear, adding another finger inside of me.

I whimper. "I want– I want you inside me."

"Fuck," he groans, and then he starts to pull down my pants.

"It's a problem."

We both freeze at the sound of a man's voice. From around the side of the building, Dr. Duncan and Dr. Williams appear. They're walking at a brisk pace, but right past us. If they so much as turn, they're going to see us, and it's pretty damn clear what we're doing. No doubt the head of the program won't have any problem kicking us out of the institute for public fornication.

How the hell did this happen?

"So, what do you want to do?" Dr. Duncan asks, and he sounds concerned.

Aydan shifts his hand inside of me, and I have to bite down on a whimper of pleasure.

"Do?" Dr. Williams asks. "We do nothing. We continue researching, knowing that we're probably coming closer to our answer."

"But isn't it… too dangerous?" Dr. Duncan sounds sincerely confused.

Dr. Williams freezes, and we're both just staring at them, hoping that whatever they're talking about, they do it a hell of a lot further from us. "Our benefactors are extremely generous, Henry, knowing that our work is dangerous and skirts lines that the government hasn't even created. They are not generous because they want us to go running the second our research gets a tad bit dangerous. Do we understand each other?"

The other man hesitates.

"Henry?" Dr. Williams sounds pissed. "I wouldn't want you to do anything that might make you uncomfortable. I'm sure I can find someone to replace you." His words might be right, but they sound more like a threat.

"No, sir, I've got this. I just wanted to make sure we're on the right page."

The two keep walking, and we hold as still as possible until their voices are no more than a whisper on the wind and they are out of sight. Then we're staring at each other, my hand wrapped around his cock, his hand in my pants.

"We should…" I drop his cock. Go to a cabin. Find a private place to finish this.

He pulls his hand out of my pants and starts to fix his own. "Right. You're right. This was… liquor. A mistake. We need to get to our cabins and sleep this off."

I feel like I've been slapped in the face. Numbly, I fix my top and my pants, and then walk as quickly as I can back to my cabin. His long strides easily keep up with mine with each step, but he stops when he reaches my porch.

"Goodnight," he says, and his face is impossible to read.

"Goodnight." I hurry into my cabin, then take a long shower, where I cry harder than I've cried in a long time.