52. Bull

52

Bull

Lily sat there looking around in amazement as Caliope slowed to a halt. “It’s beautiful,” she said at last.

The spot I’d picked out was next to a lake, nestled between three low grassy hills. The lake was crystal clear, fed by a river that wound down out of the distant mountains. And the finishing touch was that the river dropped into the lake over a waterfall. The place was goddamn perfect. It would have been easy to bring some of the local girls out here and let it work its magic on them—a guaranteed panty-dropper. Yet I’d never wanted to share it—I’d wanted to keep it as my own private getaway. Until now.

“This is Gold Lake,” I told her. “This is where the town got its name.”

“ Gold Lake?”

“You’ll see.” I tied the horses to a tree and set up camp—which consisted of unrolling the bedrolls.

Lily tilted her head to one side. “I don’t get it,” she said, squeezing the bags I’d packed. “Where’s the tent? Does it fold up really small?”

I just grinned at her.

“We’re sleeping outside?” she asked, sounding appalled.

“Remember the stars when we went horse riding? That was still pretty close to town. Light pollution. Here, with the hills around us and no lights...trust me.”

She nodded, still looking uncertain. But, bless her, she was willing to give it a go. I loved that about her. She was doing a hell of a lot better out here than I’d probably do in New York, trying to figure out which fork to eat my sushi with.

“So what now?” she asked, looking around.

I grinned and started to strip off my shirt.

“Oh!” She flushed. “Just like that? You expect me to just...I mean, no warm up or anything?”

I laughed. “Hold your horses, city girl.” I tossed down my shirt and tipped my hat back on my head. “I was heading in for a dip.” And I nodded my head at the lake.

“Oh!” Then her eyes widened. “Shit! I didn’t bring a bathing suit. I didn’t know we were going swimming!”

“Who needs a bathing suit?” I asked. And pulled off my boots. And jeans. And boxers. And finally my hat.

She stood there staring at my naked body. “Out here?!” she squeaked.

“Well, I’ve already seen all of you. And the horses were with us in the stable that time, so they’ve seen it too, and there ain’t no one else for miles.”

She glanced around her, arms wrapped around her for protection. “Umm… ”

“What?”

“I’m just not...you know.”

I put my hands on my hips. “What?”

“I’m not comfortable...naked, okay?”

I frowned. “You’ve been buck naked in front of me plenty of times. In the stables. And in the barn. And in the tub at my place.”

“But not outdoors!” She looked around. “Not in broad daylight!” She looked at me standing there. “How are you so relaxed about it?”

I looked down at myself. “I guess I never thought much about it,” I said. And I realized I hadn’t. “It’s just a body, you know.”

“Easy for you to say,” she muttered.

I frowned again. “What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

She flushed more. “You know.”

“Lily, I swear I don’t.”

She waved her hand at me. “You’re all big and muscled and... rippling. How a man should be. You’re goddamn perfect, okay?”

I looked down at myself again. Okay, true. But so what?

When she saw my bemused expression, she got even more frustrated. “I’m... not. Okay?”

I finally got it. I walked slowly towards her, my cock bouncing against my leg. “Lily…” I started. As I got closer, she turned her face away from me, red-cheeked and ashamed, and I saw that her eyes were moist. She’d held back the tears, but only just. “Lily,” I said again, my voice softer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…” I shook my head. “I didn’t know. I guess it plain didn’t occur to me that you’d be...shy.”

She gave me a frustrated glare. “You can’t see what’s in front of you?” She waved her hands at her body.

I frowned. “I can see what’s in front of me,” I told her. “That’s why it makes no sense to me, because you’re goddamn perfect.”

She blinked back tears, twisting her head around to look out at the lake, still avoiding my eyes. “You really mean that?” she whispered after a second.

My stomach was knotting. It killed me to see her in this much pain. “Of course,” I said. “Look at you!” I gently put my hands on her shoulders, then ran them slowly down her front. “You got the best ti— breasts I’ve ever seen. You’ve got this gorgeous curve that drives me wild”—I traced it with my hands—”right here, allll the way down here and then out again.” Her hips moved against my palms as she wriggled. I slowly crouched down and continued. “Your legs—sexy and gorgeous with so many great lines I don’t know how to even describe them, so I’ll just show you.” I swept my hands down her thighs and spiraled around her calves, then worked my way up again. “And your ass. I’ve been staring at your ass all afternoon and I could keep right on staring at it all night. Full and ripe and so perfectly round.”

“It’s enormous—” she whispered.

“It’s exactly the right goddamn size, is what it is,” I said firmly. “Hell, why would anyone want one of those skinny-ass asses that ain’t even there? How the hell are you supposed to squeeze one of those?” And I gave her ass a hard squeeze to show her. She wriggled and, at last, a tiny smile appeared.

I stood and looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry.” I nodded at the lake. “I shouldn’t have just sprung this on you. It’s just...you never...I mean, you never seemed self-conscious when we were...you know.”

She reddened and looked at her feet. “I was distracted, those times. Or it was dark.” She looked around. “This is different. I’m all...exposed.”

“Your perfect body, out of the shadows, so I can see every inch? I can’t think of anything better. Hell, that’s why I got you up here.” I’d been thinking about skinny dipping with her ever since she suggested getting out of town.

“Really?”

“How about I show you what your body does to me?”