Page 117 of The Illicit Play

He kept me safe, and we crouched behind a boulder, watching the bear lumber along. I whispered how I’d give anything for a decent camera, and once it was safe to keep moving, we spent the next few hours talking about photography and the posters on his bedroom wall. He tells me about all the national parks he’s visited, and I pine for the same.

I pine for a lot of things as we hike these woods, desperately trying to ignore the growing warning in the back of my brain.

It’s nearly over.

Reality will be on you tomorrow, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

I try to ignore the thought, but those three words keep ringing in my brain on repeat.

It’s nearly over. It’s nearly over.

Paradise is about to come to an end, and I’d give anything to just stay out here in the wild…

Just a bee and a bear—the perfect pair.

CHAPTER 39

GRADY

It’s nearly over, and I’m trying to hide how gutted that makes me feel.

This is our last night, and I don’t want to waste a second of it.

Closing my eyes, I try to absorb every touch, taste, and feel of this moment.

We’re lying naked in my hammock, Blake tucked by my side, her bare body stretched out against mine as we lightly swing between two trees.

Yeah, this is heaven.

If this were a movie, a montage would be playing about now, showing off our last three days in all its splendor—laughter, wonder, sex… so much sex. We’ve skinny-dipped in lakes and swimming holes, we’ve played chess by the fire (she’s beaten me three times, and we’re now tied with an even number of wins—fuck, I love how smart she is). Blake has taken a million photos of nature; she can’t get enough of it, and watching her awe at the simplest things is a thing of beauty. We’ve laughed, we’ve talked for hours. Set free from outside pressure, we’ve been able to talk about anything and everything. And she’s easy to talk to. She’s funny and smart. She has a wicked sense of humor, and she gets my sarcastic little quips and one-liners. She doesn’t mind me talking about my love of the forest and what I want to do with my future. She walked beside me whenever the track was wide enough, asking me questions about my engineering degree and actually listening to the answers, encouraging me to pursue what I want rather than sticking to the safest bet.

She then told me how much she’s always loved photography but could never pursue it because it wasn’t academic enough.

“It’s a hobby, and I was only allowed to fit it in when I had the time, which was never because I’ve been so busy doing all the other shit that only smart people do.” She rolled her eyes over that one.

And now she’s rolling her eyes again at me, her cute smile coming into play. Damn, I can’t get enough of that smile.

Gently brushing my finger down her cheek, I grin. “You know, you’ve got this barely there dimple right here.” I brush the spot again. “It only shows when you’re doing your ‘I want to be unimpressed, but I secretly think you’re cute’ smile.”

She laughs. “That’s a very specific smile.”

“It’s one of my favorites.”

She beams up at me, biting her bottom lip and filling my chest to overflowing. It’s hard to breathe around her sometimes… yet I’ve never felt more relaxed.

Splaying her hand over my pec, she nestles her head back on my shoulder, and we continue to swing as the world grows dark around us. We had an early dinner because we were hungry after our dip in the lake… and the sex that followed. We took each other on the shoreline—her beneath me on the edge of the water, her legs wrapped around my body as I plunged into her, sending us over the edge. I didn’t want it over too fast and tried to slow things down, but it’s hard with her. She’s addictive and sweet, and I love her body so fucking much.

She came while I was inside her, spasming around my cock and making me follow quickly after. Her cries are still ringing in my ear, and I want to take her all over again, but I need to let her rest too. I don’t want to hurt her sweet pussy. We’ve been doing it every chance we can get, like we know the clock is ticking on this thing and we don’t want to waste a second of our time.

“I could stay out here forever,” she murmurs, her lips tickling my skin as she talks against me.

“I know, right?” I glide my finger over her shoulder, painting circles on her soft, smooth skin.

Her leg inches up my thigh, her pussy pressing into me. I love lying naked with her. She fits so perfectly against me.

Shit… I don’t know how I’m gonna let her go tomorrow.

“Hey, look, the first star.” I try to distract myself from that melancholy feeling, not wanting to think about the fact that we’ll be hiking out of here in the morning.