9. Hypothesizing

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Pagesof my notebook now contained notes and questions, hypotheses and theories, as I planned out the experiments to solve the watery mystery. It took a few days between online ordering with overnight shipments arriving at Joe's house, plus a run to Steele Valley's only hardware store, but I gathered most of the equipment, even a microscope, that I'd need to run experiments on the lake.

I borrowed a canoe and oars from Joe, transporting it in my Jeep, and carried it down to the dock, along with a couple of backpacks filled with the scientific gear. The kids next door eyed me, lugging everything around, while they sat at the fire pit and glanced up long enough from their games to inquire about the canoe.

"Can we use that, too?" The redheaded boy asked. His twin, a girl, sat next to him and stared wide-eyed. When I first arrived here, their skin was pretty pale. After some exposure to the great outdoors, they took on a mild rosy to tan hue, their freckles more prominent or multiplied than before, at least.

Almost two weeks here, and they still walked around with their gaming devices glued to their hands, while their parents relaxed.

"Have you ever been in a canoe before?" I asked.

"No," they said.

"Well, I have plans right now, but ask your mom for permission. I could take you out tomorrow if she agrees." They bobbed their heads, their eyes excited, and I continued on, pleased to see they finally took an interest in something non-electronic.

Intent on packing everything into the canoe, I didn't hear Eve arrive on the dock.

"Are you planning on living out on the lake in that thing? Did you steal the kitchen sink too?" She chortled.

I hadn't seen her around much, like she purposely avoided me after what happened behind the boulder. A few texts went unanswered, and I even walked to her cabin and knocked one evening to ask her to join me at a the fire pit for a drink. She wasn't there. This woman seriously fucked with my head.

I didn't stop loading. "As appealing as living here sounds, no. This is all for some experiments I'm running on the lake water."

"Experiments?"

"My brother, his wife, and their friends all refer to this place as ‘The Lake of Mysterious Waters' because certain things happen to some people while in it. Like with me and you the other day."

I gauged her reaction as she glanced down at her feet and away, guilty. So she did feel something.

"I am of the belief that there's a logical explanation for everything, so I'll get to the bottom of what's really going on," I vowed.

"Hm. I've never been in a canoe. Is it fun?" Her voice held a certain spark to it.

I stopped and leaned an elbow on my knee, took off my cap, and scratched through my hair, taking her in. In similar fashion as yesterday—black bikini top, denim cutoff shorts, and her hair in a bun, with a fancy pair of sunglasses on her head—I came to the conclusion that she must have lived a very sheltered life.

"How long have you lived in Steele Valley?"

She peered at me sideways. "I-I don't know. A while. What does that matter?"

"Nothing. I just don't see how someone can live on a lake without enjoying some form of outdoor activity."

She scoffed and stuck her nose in the air. "I've gone…biking...now and then."

"Great. I love mountain biking. Joe and Molly have a pair we could borrow and take for a ride. But for today, do you want to come along on the lake with me? You can read your book and get some sun while I do my research. I have some bottled water, iced tea, and sandwiches in the cooler, plenty to share."

She tilted her head, giving my pending excursion a once-over. "Actually, that sounds like a great change of pace."

Surprised though I was, I wouldn't mind the intrusion on my work. And she was certainly stunning to look at. I rearranged some things in the canoe, waiting for her to return from putting a sign on her cabin door saying she'd be back that afternoon. Finally, she took some time off, and this gives me a chance to talk with her more.

At first, on the water as we launched from the dock, her knuckles turned white, holding on to the sides of the boat. I chuckled to myself and rowed us out a ways, far from the shore, working up a sweat. I paused the oars and removed my t-shirt, catching her eyeing my abs, although she never let up on her death grip.

"We'll drift here for a while. You can relax, Eve. You're safe with me. Besides, the worst that can happen is you fall into the water. But you know how to swim. And as far as I know, there's never been a report of Lock Ness monster here."

"That's not funny." She rolled her eyes, but carefully removed her hands, reaching in her bag for a book and sunscreen.

With her at one end, me at the other, and two benches between us, I used the one in front of me as a desk. I took out my notebook and thumbed through the pages to the one I wanted, setting it down with a small rock on top as a paperweight.

And that's as far as I got while trying to avoid ogling Eve. She layered sunscreen on her skin until it was shining like she had applied satin. While gazing out across the water absentmindedly, her fingertips played the lotion across her neck, chest, and cleavage. I sweated even more, shifting in my seat to adjust myself.

When finished, she found a way to stretch out, lodging the cooler between the seats, with our towels laid out, giving her a bed to lounge on. "Do you mind if I take my shorts off?"

I choked. "Uh—no. Go ahead." I grabbed a cold water bottle and swigged it, watching the show. If only my hands were shimmying down her legs instead of the shorts.

Today's black bikini covered her a little more than the string one did, still every bit as sexy. With one leg over the edge, she dipped a toe into the water and read her book, and I held back a growl.

What a sight, and a distraction. On the page where I should be recording experiment results, instead, I sketched her in pencil. With no real artistic ability, and considering most of my sketches are of golf clubs and such, I didn't do a half-bad job.

Just something to remind me of her and this moment, down the road after I left Steele Valley.

I almost hated the thought of leaving my connection to her behind. Yet, I still hardly knew anything about her. Her mother passed away. She read books on coding. And...that was it.

"So, you grow up here? Go to school here?" I asked.

"Um. Yeah." Her clipped answer came without looking up.

"Do you have any siblings?"

That snapped her attention to me, opening and closing her mouth twice before answering. "I had a twin brother who passed away from cancer when we were eight."

She buried her nose back into her book, her forehead scrunched, blinking several times as if keeping tears at bay.

Fuck. Opened my mouth to find out more and had to land on what surely must be a sad and a touchy topic. She lost both her brother and her mother. How horrible for her.

Suddenly, my heart lurched, filled with the most immense pain as if somehow I felt hers. "I've yet to lose anyone close to me. Sorry for your losses, Eve."

"It's fine," she whispered, reflecting sad eyes at me. I stared deep into her blue-green orbs and for a moment I could see her so clearly, hiding behind a five foot thick wall between us. Even a few feet away as we were, it seemed like a struggle taking place there. Like she wanted to tell me things, but couldn't.

If I could just scale her wall once and for all and get to the heart of who this woman was. Since the first day I arrived, the attraction I felt for her was unreal, and I was so sure we'd be having sex by now and getting along while I was here.

Each day that passed, drew me to her more, although getting to know her had been tough. She only let me in so far, skimming the top layer of who Eve was, never showing me any of the layers below.

I was an open book, happy to talk about my life. She's the opposite. This seemed all wrong; I should give up and text Molly to set me on a blind date.

I worked harder at ignoring Eve, finally busying myself, pulling out a few lake samples in glass vials, and labeling them. When held up to the sunlight, the water took on a glow, with tiny bits of glitter.

It caught Eve's eye as well and she watched as I filled a pipette and squirted a drop or two of one sample into my very expensive testing machine I'd purchased.

"I plan to test for many things, from bacteria and chemicals, to conductivity and salinity," I explained, in case she was interested. I flipped the switch on and suddenly the machine went wild on the bench.

Surprised, we both jumped at the noises it made. The box tipped toward the side of the canoe, as if the water was a magnet pulling it that way. I knew that was impossible, but that's what it looked like, and I reached for it. It crashed into the water.

With a jerk, the sudden tilting of the boat sent my journal and her book flying into the air. I tried to catch and save them, but lost balance, and in I went, dunking under. The next thing I knew, she also landed in the water near me.

The canoe tipped over, and out spilled everything I'd brought, sinking into the water too fast for me to dive and catch them. I was able to stabilize the boat and the oars at least. We each held on to the side with one hand.

"What the hell happened? Are you okay?" I checked in with her first, then wiped water out of my eyes. She nodded, her lips shivering, and her hair had come loose, a wet strand of it plastered across her forehead. I reached up and smoothed it back, trying to soothe her.

"Something pulled me into the lake. Like the-the boat had a mind of its own," she cried.

"Like, possessed?" I stared at her, and a second later, we both burst out laughing.

"I know it sounds ridiculous," she snorted.

"We just lost our balance. Canoes can be sensitive that way," I attempted to explain it away with logic.

"You're not mad about your equipment? That stuff must have cost you a lot." She peered down as if there were a way to save any of it from the depths below. "How deep is it here? Can we dive to retrieve these things?"

"Hey," I tilted her chin up with my finger and thumb. "Don't worry about it, Eve. It's only money."

Then something came over us. Our bodies were pulled together by some unknown force, and the canoe slipped away. My hands cupped her face, and her ankles crossed behind my back. Our lips locked, kissing and tearing my heart out, as if all the sexual tension we'd held back from previous encounters had let loose.

"Fuck, there's no other sweet taste on earth that compares to the taste of your lips." Somehow, words slipped out of my mouth, but my lips never left hers.

Our hands were all over each other, mine, reaching down, pushing aside her bikini, finding her seam and splitting it. The warmth of her wet fire there tempted my fingers deeper.

Her hand groped in my shorts and found my cock. A growl emitted from my chest at the feel of her fingers investigating my length. My fingers pumped faster into her. A minute ago, I contemplated not continuing to pursue her. Now she's the only fucking thing that mattered.

"Wyoming!" Her nails dug into my shoulder blades, holding on tight. "I want you inside of me. Don't waste another second. I have an IUD. Please. I need you."

"Fuck, yes, baby."

She helped shove my shorts down and free my cock. Grasping tight to my shoulders, she planted herself on me. The water held our bodies together with a whirling energy rippling around us. Her tight walls sucked me in, inch by inch, and when fully seated, we stayed there a moment in a knot of limbs, panting.

My mind raced. How was this all possible? It's like she and I in the water accelerated feelings and longing between us.

A golden glow caught my eye, and I peeked down over her shoulder, hitching my breath at the sight of it growing beneath us. The science guy in me wanted to observe, calculate, and journal every detail. But the Heaven I found between her legs turned my brain off.

Eve's back arched, and her legs tightened around me, gyrating her hips. My cock and her pussy became my only focus. I moved, pulsing deep inside of her first, then speared her with longer lengths.

"Mm. Feels so right with you inside of me," she moaned, hypnotically, closing her eyes. I couldn't agree more, but it should not be possible to do this in the water, fucking so good with nothing to anchor me, no headboard to hold on to, or a mattress under her, but somehow it worked.

Our movements created bubbles that swirled and danced around us. Eve's legs shook with pleasure, and we both abandoned ourselves and all sensibility to the sensation of floating and fucking in this mystical water.

I couldn't hold on much longer. "Come with me now, Eve," I growled through clenched teeth, my voice strained. Every muscle in my body tensed until I released everything I had into her in a powerful wave.

"Yes, Wyoming!" She screamed my name, reaching her climax with a burst of bubbles erupting from beneath us, caressing our skin, and sending a geyser of water shooting high into the air.

I held on to her, unable to let go even as the sensations subsided, wrapping my head around it all. We remained like that forever, until finally, slowly, we came back down. Our breathing slowed and the water stilled around us. A gentle breeze brushed by, like a sweet kiss from the great outdoors.

"I don't know what just happened, but you felt all that, right?" I asked her.

"The bubbles and the tingling in the water? Yes, but I can't describe what I felt, really. It was like, um?—"

"Magnetic," we said together.

"Yes, exactly." She laid her head on my shoulder and relaxed her legs.

I slid out of her and I tread water in our embrace, keeping us afloat. Perhaps there was a mysterious power in the water, but I refused to accept that, yet.

"As a scientist, this seriously rattles me, Eve. I don't understand how this water can make us feel like we're being magnetically pulled together. And fuck, baby, I've never come that hard in my life. Have you?"

"No, that was definitely different." She grinned.

"And how is this possible? It's just a lake. There's no such thing as magic. There's a logical explanation for everything."

"But is there really? Why do we need to know everything about everything? This universe is vast and there are bound to be things we aren't meant to figure out, right? Certain things that have to remain a secret for so many reasons. Maybe this is one of them," she suggested, eyeing me carefully.

I leaned back out of our embrace. I didn't want to ruin this moment by insisting on logical explanations.

"Perhaps. I won't give up, though. And if, by the end of the summer, with no answers, I'll concede, and give the lake the win."

"Then we definitely need more experiments." She coyly bit her lip.

"Oh yeah? Want to help me?"

She nodded. "We could run tests at different lengths away from the shore. Or?—"

"But is it just us together, causing this reaction in the lake?" I teased. "Or could either of us do it with another partner and get the same or different outcome—" A face full of water she splashed into me stopped my hypothesizing.

"Asshole!" She swam off toward the canoe, which had floated several yards away.

I laughed. "Come on. I'm joking." Although for the most accurate tests, it would be necessary to try with other people. But somehow, I couldn't imagine being in the lake with anyone else but Eve.