Page 36

SOUNDTRACK: New Bad Habit by Adam Jensen

~ brIDGET ~

As the court case drew closer we both knew we’d be under a lot more scrutiny. Which meant not taking any risks. Even the few we’d been taking.

It made Sam sad. It made me feel like my skin was too tight.

In the second week of January, less than a month from the first trial date, I knew the time that we could risk seeing each other was drawing short, so one night while we were on the phone when it sounded like he was building up to saying we needed to commit to staying apart until it was done, I panicked.

“I have a proposal for you,” I said quickly, my heel bouncing on the ground as I bit a fingernail on the hand that wasn’t holding the phone.

Sam’s brows rose. “Oh?”

I nodded. “I know we have to be careful. And… and I’m committed.” God, I felt sick thinking about it though. “But I’m thinking there’s one way we haven’t talked about and… maybe we should get together soon. And maybe… maybe we can do it once closer to the trial. Something to look forward to.”

His lips pressed thin. He hated being apart as much as I did. But after having whole weekends and more-than-overnights at that cabin over Christmas and New Years, I was having withdrawals. Sam was coping with the separation better than me.

“Okaaaaay,” he said cautiously. “What are you thinking?”

I swallowed. “I’m thinking, the State Park is huge. And it has entrances that are in different counties. I’m not saying there’s no risk. But… but I mean, you’re always saying I need more sun.”

“In January?”

“Hush. If I happened to decide to have a picnic on one side of the park on the same day you decided to hike… I mean… our individual trails don’t look so suspicious if anyone’s not watching closely. We can both leave our phones at home so it’s even less likely they’ll pick it up. And… well… I mean, you’d have to find me.”

I waited, nervous, while he stared without reacting.

When he didn’t speak after a second, I huffed. “Come on, Sam! There must be a way we can do this that’s low risk. We’d take different highways. We wouldn’t bring our phones. We’ll have a… a sign in case one of us is followed we can warn the other. And—”

“Bridget—”

“Please don’t say no—just think about it! I’ll let you pick the day—”

“I’m not saying no.”

“—I want… wait. What?”

He smiled the most delicious smile. “I said, I’m not saying no. Do you still have your black athletic gear?”

I beamed. “Yeah.”

“And your kit?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded. “Good girl,” he purred.

~ SAM ~

Different places. Different schedules. Different plans .

I wasn’t taking any risks with this little field trip. But my heart pounded with anticipation and it was fucking hard to wait.

She thought I was arriving later than her, to give her time to hike deeper into the park so none of our activities would occur near the public parking or picnic areas, though I doubted many families were taking picnics in the mountains in January. Still… she underestimated me.

I’d arrived hours before she planned to. Parked on the opposite border than where she’d park and hiked all the way through—three hours or more—to be waiting for her when she got out of her car.

Not that she’d know it. I smiled to myself and hitched my bag higher on my shoulders, tightening the straps. I’d brought my gear, but I wouldn’t use the tech unless I lost her.

Watching her car pull up and her get out with those black clothes on, a baseball cap, and tossing the backpack over one shoulder as she looked in every direction, was a kick.

In the few hours we were together I always drank in the sight of her. This was my first chance in a long time to get a visual on her when she didn’t know I had it. And it kicked my instincts into gear.

Heart pounding in my ears, skin thrumming, breath shallow, I hid well behind where she’d enter the walking paths and waited to follow her, smiling.

My beautiful wife didn’t waste any time—she was looking for watchers, but the parking lot was empty except for one old Corolla sedan, and I’d been watching it for an hour before she got here. There was definitely no one in it.

My smile broadened as she trotted across the parking lot and into the trees. I followed much more slowly, knowing she’d be on high alert for these first few minutes. Much harder to surprise. I would let her sweat a little before I proved to her that I was always three steps ahead of her and her restless little spirit.

I kept following her, letting her wander until her pace slowed and steadied, and she stopped looking over her shoulder every few seconds.

Then I let her keep walking. But now, when she stopped next to a tree to take a drink of water, I took a picture of her. And when she found that clearing that she liked—I could tell because of the way she smiled—I got clever and took a selfie that showed half my face… and her walking away from me, bathed in the thin winter sun in the clearing between the trees.

I didn’t send her the picture right away. She was hiking a straight line to where I was parked. That had been the agreement—that I’d find her somewhere on that line. But I also knew, because I’d hiked it hours earlier, that she would pass through several clearings on the way, and I had one in particular where I wanted to time my catch.

Even though I was itching to have my hands on her, there was something wonderful about watching over her when she didn’t know I was there. And I had a fantastic view of her ass in those leggings.

My groin tightened and I had to take my eyes off her for a few seconds to calm down. I didn’t want to blue-ball myself when there were still miles to hike. But I was starting to question if I had the control to wait until she reached the clearing I’d chosen.

Luckily my beautiful wife was also an impatient child. She picked up the pace soon. I even heard her mutter to herself a couple times about not needing the workout.

This would be fun.

~ brIDGET ~

When the burner phone pinged, my heart leaped into my chest.

My fingers trembled as I pulled it out of the pocket on the leggings and opened the notification.

And stopped dead.

He’d sent me a picture.

The first thing I saw was his smiling face, though only half of it. Then I realized why he’d put himself at the side of the frame. In the background, kind of blurry was… Me. My mouth dropped open. It had to have been taken half an hour earlier when I was walking through the big clearing and thinking about ho w it would be beautiful there in spring because I was pretty sure there was enough sun for wildflowers. I’d been imagining meeting him there for a hunt again and going to that spot and hiding, praying he’d find me and…

And he’d already been there.

“Sam?!” I gasped, then snapped my head up to look around. If he’d been following me that long… I turned quickly, then again, eyes darting. “Where are y—”

The only warning was the rustle of a bush about twenty feet to my right. Even as I snapped my head to look, I was already moving because I knew what I’d find.

My heart leaped again, because sure enough, as I took off, I caught a glimpse of him tearing out of the bushes, his hood up—though no mask, thank God—and body pumping, sprinting towards me.

“No fair!” I shrieked, laughing as I bolted away from him. “No fair—you were supposed to find me—”

“Shut up and run,” he growled.

I laughed breathlessly, I couldn’t help it. But I sprinted too. I wasn’t going to give in easily, especially if he’d cheated and come early and been following me.

“Sneaky bastard,” I gasped as I juke-stepped between a couple trees and changed my line, trying to keep my head down below the level of the bushes and undergrowth that slowed my pace, but also gave me more cover off the trail.

My heart slammed in my chest, adrenaline flooding my system, giving my feet wings.

But the one thing I hadn’t anticipated was that we were hunting in daylight. And there were a lot fewer trees here. He could see me with every step—and I could hear him gaining.

I felt a swipe claw at my back and squeaked, darting to the left and over a tree stump.

Either Sam tripped on it, or something went wrong, because I heard him curse and his steps fall back. I laughed.

“You’re losing your touch, Sam!” I called back over my shoulder, turning to look for his snarling face, but I couldn’t see him at all.

Wait.

Had he hurt himself ?

I stopped running, still looking left and right, catching my breath as my head spun. Was it a trick, or was he hurt?

“Sam?”

He didn’t answer. I leaned right to peer past one of the larger trees that I knew was close to that fallen trunk, but I still couldn’t see anything.

Then the hair on the back of my neck rose.

Someone was watching me.

Shit. Was it Sam or was there someone else out here? Had we been followed?

“Uh… who’s out there?” I said, turning a slow circle, but darting my head left and right at random times to try and catch sight of any movement.

Nerves tingled in my belly alongside the anticipation. I wasn’t afraid yet, but there might be reason to not be excited right now.

I took a few, hesitant steps back the way I’d come. I’d find that fallen tree and see if he was hurt. And if he wasn’t, then I’d know this was a trick and start running again.

I nodded my head once. Good plan.

Then my neck prickled again. As I sucked in a breath, a deep, ragged growl rumbled in my ear.

“Gotcha.”

I shrieked, half-laughing, half- pissed because I’d fallen for his trick, and whipped around, yanking my arms back and away because I felt him at my back.

“Sam!” I gasped, but he was too quick, one hand snaking out to grab the sleeve of my high-necked jacket, the other whipping around my waist.

I twisted, struggled, tucked my elbow into my side and snapped my wrist out to break his grip, then turned to run—but my second step was on air because he’d grabbed me around the waist and lifted me off the fucking ground.

“No fair!” I hissed through my teeth, kicking and twisting, fighting his grip, but struggling because I had no leverage with my feet peddling in the air.

Sam chuckled and that warm sound in my ear raised goosebumps that rippled all the way down that side of my body.

I gasped. Sam grunted. We wrestled—me wriggling and writhing to keep him from getting a steady grip on me, him squeezing the air out of my lungs with his iron grip around my middle.

Then the whole world spun and I squeaked as my stomach flipped, and a second later I was landing on the ground—a crooked arm cradling the back of my skull, but his weight squeezing the air out of me when we landed.

He’d only gotten his upper body over me, so I flipped over immediately, scrambling to get my knees under me before he could bring his weight to bear and pin me. And I almost did it. My ass was in the air and he lost his grip on my wrist when I flipped. My heart leaped and I braced to push to my feet and hopefully tip him off my back, when he did some stupid, strong-boy move that whipped my elbows out from under me and caught my weight before my chin hit the ground.

I struggled and cursed, but when he was done, I was on my stomach, both my wrists pinned in his hand and his weight on my lower spine as he chuckled and buried his nose in my hair.

“It’s good to see you, wife,” he growled in my ear and my entire bloodstream went up in flames.

“I wish I could see you,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to keep my face off the ground, but struggling because he’d stretched my arms straight up, and his arms were longer than mine. So even though his knuckles were probably getting a grinding on the dirt and twigs of the forest floor, I was virtually immobile, unable to lift my upper body, and his weight keeping my hips on the ground so I couldn’t do more than scrape my toes in the dirt.

“God, you’re so fucking strong!”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he rumbled. But instead of diving for my neck, or groping me, he sat back on my ass and the fucker was taking a beat to catch his breath!

“You can’t be serious right now?” I gasped. “Have you been skipping the gym, Sam?”

He laughed again, but it was a little breathless. “Be careful or that smart mouth is going to get you in trouble.”

“I’m counting on it.”

I turned my head as much as I could to look up at him behind me from the corner of my eye, and for a second he did stare down at me, smiling. He even traced the line of my jaw with his free hand .

When he leaned down, I thought he’d kiss me, maybe grope me. But instead he nuzzled my hair and when he whispered, his breath thundered in my ear.

“No matter how good it is to see you, I’m never going to let you win, Bridget,” he rasped.

“Such a gentleman.”

“Oh no, I’m a lot of things. But not a gentleman,” he grunted. Before I could quip back, all his weight went on my back, forcing the air out of me in a whoosh, until he shifted his weight and slipped an arm under my belly, then yanked my hips up.

I wobbled and shrieked, my hands still pinned high over my head on the ground, but somehow he’d twisted to give himself room, and while he was still braced over me, now my ass was in the air again, and he knelt behind me.

One arm over my shoulder to pin my wrists, the other looped around my hips, Sam pressed his nose against my neck and panted on my skin.

“So, you have a choice,” he growled.

“Wh-what’s that?”

“You can submit, and take it like a good girl… or you can fight, and take it anyway.”

I snorted, then struggled as hard as I was capable—so hard, lights sparked behind my eyes and my heart pattered against my ribs far too fast. But even though Sam grunted, he never lost the upper hand.

Or the under hand, either.

He wore gloves and took the time to bite each finger and tug it until he got his free hand bare. Then I swore and slumped as I felt his fingers run along the seam between my thighs.

“Prick,” I panted.

“If that’s what you want,” he rumbled. But the warmth of humor was fading from his tone, while it gained the heat of need.

“I submit, Sam,” I said, throwing my head back so my hair would get off my face and my temples would stop aching. “Tell me what to do. I’ll do it.”

“Like a good girl?” he snorted.

I turned my head to give him a look, and found him right there, his eyes nearly black because his pupils were so dilated.

“Why don’t you try whatever you’re going to try, and see? ”

The bastard ran his fingers between my legs, over the leggings, but hard so my body jangled, halfway between pleasure and pain, and my breath caught.

“That’s not submission, Bridget,” he growled.

“Not a surprise, since I’m not a sub,” I gasped. “Apparently you’re out of shape. Why should I give up when I might win?”

“Oh, you’ll win,” he rumbled. “Either way, you win, Bridget. Every time.”

Suddenly my wrists were free and his weight shifted again. But before I could claw into the dirt and run, he had grasped my leggings at both hips and yanked them down, baring my ass to the air.

Sam cursed at finding me bare underneath and I smiled. But then he ripped off the other glove too, and slipped his hands under the waistband and shoved them all the way down to my knees, dragging his fingers back up the insides of my thighs to tease me.

I caught my breath and considered running anyway, but then he slipped fingers where I wanted his touch and my body jolted and melted in the same breath.

“Already fucking hot for me…”

There was a low grunt and he fumbled for a second. I was about to turn when I felt him, thick and hard, right at my core.

His hand fisted the back of my hair and he jerked my head back, his stubbled jaw scraping my ear as he rasped, “ God, I love you, Bridget.”

Then entered me so hard I saw stars again.