Rachel closed her eyes and sighed softly. If only real life mirrored her books.
Rachel watched Sam as he shoveled dirt over the campfire and cleaned up the area. Dinner had been fun for her. Even though she only ate soup and a little bread, she felt full and happy. Sam had kept her entertained with stories of her cousin Roy and himself in high school. She had sore jaws from smiling and laughing so much. It had been a very entertaining dinner.
“Roy’s definitely one of the good guys,” she told Sam, standing to take the plates from the picnic table. “Paulette is the best too. Have you met her?”
Sam straightened and turned to face her, going to her immediately to take the plates from her hands. “I was working my residency when they got married so I didn’t get to meet her until two years ago. Once my residency at the hospital was through, I did get to spend some time with them both every few months.”
“You were that busy?” she asked, astonished.
He looked up at her and smiled. “Some days I didn’t even have time to go home and shower and change. I lived in hospital scrubs and slept in the doctors’ lounge.”
“No wonder you need some time away,” she told him as she slowly made her way up the hill to the camper, holding on to his arm to steady herself.
Sam watched her silently. No one had ever acknowledged that he had needed a break. Allison had encouraged him to work the late hours so that he could establish himself at the hospital and work his way up the promotional ladder. His father had insisted that he work hard to create an impressive reputation that was worthy of his family lineage. No one had understood that he was becoming burned out or that he was unhappy. No one except Rachel.
He followed her into the camper and placed the dirty dishes in the sink. He saw that she had already set some water on the stove to heat so that they could wash the dishes and smiled at her camping efficiency.
“Sit and work on your book while I clean up,” he told her, a little worried at the paleness of her complexion.
She sat down at the table gratefully and leaned back against the frame that housed the second bed. “I
am
a little tired,” she admitted. “Thanks.”
Sam nodded and put the lantern on the table before her, lighting it quickly and illuminating the inside of the camper. He turned to wash the dishes quickly and silently, very aware that Rachel had taken her computer case from the floor and had opened it to remove her laptop.
He watched her covertly from the corner of his eye as he worked and saw her put on her glasses and open the computer to start it up. He wondered what this story was about. He knew it would be another romance with explicit love scenes. He was glad that he was turned away from her when his body hardened at the memories of some of the love scenes that she had written in the novel that Roy had given him to read.
He took a steadying breath as he focused on controlling the racing of his heart and the hardness of his cock, but it was of no use. Remembering how Rachel had touched him during the night, and how he had sucked the juices of her sweet pussy from her fingers, made him desire her beyond reason.
He tried to concentrate on the dishes before him, but found himself remembering the softness of her skin and the delicious feminine curves of her figure as he had cooled her body with the wet cloth. He thought about how she felt within his arms as she lay in his bed. He picked up the wet cloth and wiped at his face in an attempt to calm down. He was doomed.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked, stopping her work and looking up at him.
“I’m fine,” he said quietly, putting down the last dish and turning to pick up his hat and coat, the clipboard, and a flashlight. “I have to check the campground. I shouldn’t be very long.” He left the camper quickly before she could see his discomfort and walked briskly away from the source of his frustration.
Rachel watched the camper door silently for a moment then stood and left the camper to slowly make her way toward the bathrooms. She knew that the walk in the cold night air would help to clear her head. She didn’t like the way that she was feeling or the thoughts that she had been thinking. She had always been close to Sam but it was as if she could sense his thoughts and feelings the more time she spent with him, and it scared her.
She finished up quickly and made her way back to the camper but she didn’t feel refreshed. The night air had felt good, but her head was still clouded with thoughts of Sam, and she didn’t know how to shake them from her mind.
She stepped up into the camper and looked at the table to the open laptop. She decided that working on her book might help so she sat down on the bench seat, settled her sore foot on the pillow that Sam had given her to elevate it, put on her glasses, and started editing once again. When she reached a love scene, she couldn’t help but think about Sam and how he would touch her and love her. She ached to have him hold her and fill her.
“Geez! This is not helping me get my mind off him at all,” she muttered. “If I keep this up, I’ll jump him when he comes back into the camper.”
She laughed softly as she decided that jumping him might not be a bad plan.
* * * *
As he walked around the campground, Sam found himself thinking about Rachel. He wanted to go back to the camper and pull her into his arms to kiss her long and hard. He wanted to remove her clothing and touch every part of her body and love her until she screamed his name in ecstasy. He wanted to be deep inside of her and fill her with his life.
What surprised him the most was the fact that he realized that he wanted his dream of the other night to come true. He wanted her to be waiting for him in their home with open arms, ready to love and support him, with his baby growing inside of her. He wanted to feel his baby’s life moving within her. He wanted the happiness of being a part of a loving, nurturing family that Rachel would be the center of.
The sky opened up and poured down on him just then. The coolness of the rain calmed him a little, but he had to stop walking for a minute to try to breathe normally. His desires were beginning to engulf him. He had to pull back and think rationally.
Inside the camper, Rachel was standing at the door waiting for him. She heard his footsteps and flung open the camper door so that he could step up inside it quickly to get out of the downpour. Their eyes met briefly as he removed his hat and coat and threw them on the bench seat beside him. Rachel found herself stepping back at the raw hunger and pain that she saw there.
“Sam, what’s wrong?” she asked him worriedly, reaching out to touch his arm.
He looked at her silently and smiled. She looked so soft and inviting, and the glow of the lantern made him feel warm and romantic as he looked at her. Before he could stop himself he took a step toward her and reached out to frame her face with his hands.
Rachel held her breath as he cradled her face so gently between his strong hands. It seemed an eternity before he leaned toward her and captured her mouth with his own. Her mouth opened slightly to accept his, and she found herself lost in an achingly tender kiss. She could feel the need in him and worried that she would disappoint him. His arms encircled her, and she gave in to her need to hold him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and caressed his back lightly as the kiss continued. All caution escaped her. She knew only that she wanted to kiss him, hold him, and she wanted him to do the same to her.
His body felt strong and hard against hers and she wanted so desperately to be as close as possible to him, but she was also afraid. It would destroy her to have been so close to such tenderness only to have it disappear at the end of the summer.
His lips left hers and he looked down at her silently, his eyes clouded with passion and need. Rachel could feel the hunger in him.
“You’d better take off your clothes,” she told him softly, breaking the silence and reluctantly pulling away from him.
“I will if you will,” he whispered against her lips, smiling and kissing her lightly once more.
She looked up into the soft blueness of his eyes and knew that behind his teasing, he was serious. “You’re making me nervous,” she whispered, unable to speak any louder.
He looked at her tenderly and smiled then stepped closer to rest his forehead against hers. He waited silently until she leaned into him, relaxing against him. He drew back from her slightly then quickly kissed her lips once more.
“I know,” he whispered. “Turn around.”
“Why?”
He removed his flannel shirt and T-shirt, and she found herself staring at his naked chest. He watched her silently as he began to unfasten his pants and chuckled when she gasped in realization that he was taking off his clothes. She spun around quickly, her heart beating furiously at the intimacy of the moment.
She heard wet clothes being dropped into the sink and felt his hand on her shoulder as he steadied himself to remove his boots and socks then quickly pulled off his completely soaked jeans and boxer briefs. He toweled himself dry quickly, then threw the damp towel over her head and pulled on a pair of brown sweatpants.
He heard her laugh as the towel landed on her head and couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, I’m decent,” he told her as he lifted the heavy gray sweatshirt from the end of the bed and pulled it over his head.
Rachel turned around, threw the towel into the sink and placed her hands on his chest to push him toward the bed. “Into bed right now,” she insisted.
“Only if you’ll join me,” he said quietly, covering her hands where they touched his chest.
“Very funny,” she told him sternly, not letting him fluster her again. “You’re not the doctor now. I am. Get yourself into that bed and get warm so you don’t get sick like I did. Are you going to follow orders or not?”
She looked at him so seriously, he couldn’t help but be touched by her concern. As much as he knew she was right, he didn’t want to let her go and get into the bed alone. He had only slept with her one night, but he was already addicted to having her sleep in his arms.
“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed, reluctantly letting go of her hands to climb across the bench seats of the table to settle himself on the bed.
He allowed her to cover him with the warm blanket that was at the foot of the bed and found that he liked being pampered. When he was settled against the pillows, she sat at the table, replaced her glasses, and opened her laptop. Sam watched her silently for a moment then reached over to lift the medical text from the bench seat below him. He turned onto his right side to face the center of the camper and opened the thick book to begin reading.
Rachel looked up and saw Sam engrossed in the thick textbook. Goodness, but he made her heart race and her body need. Her childhood crush had morphed into something much greater. She had always known that Sam was a kind and caring friend. She had always been attracted to him.
But it was more than a physical thing for her. Yeah, he was pretty freaking sexy. He was handsome, physically strong, and every woman’s dream of what a virile man should be, but it was much more than that for her. He was a good friend who understood her, listened to her, helped her, and looked out for her. He truly cared about what she had to say. He gave her honest attention and was open to all of her thoughts and opinions. The way he enjoyed her was so important. He honestly valued every moment he spent with her. He made her feel that every time he was with her, it was exactly where he wanted to be. And the way he made her laugh was priceless. She experienced so much joy with him.
She wanted to climb up onto the mattress and cover his body with hers. She wanted to kiss him and show him just how much she desired him. She wanted to rip his clothes from his body and love on him until he shouted with pleasure. Oh, the wicked things she wanted to do to him and have him do to her. She wanted to make love to him until they were both exhausted and knew that they would only find that pleasure with each other—for the rest of their lives.
Hell! I’ve got to stop thinking like this!
Taking a calming breath, she did her best to push her sexy thoughts aside. She concentrated on thinking about the career path that Sam had chosen. She found herself smiling as she watched him and wondered about his life as a doctor.
“Do you miss being a doctor?” she asked him suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence.
Sam looked up at her, surprised. “I’m still a doctor, Rachel,” he corrected her. “I’m just not working at the hospital right now.”
“Where do you want to work?”
Sam leaned back and rested his head on his pillow. “I want to join a practice around here,” he said, looking up at the ceiling of the camper.
“Why don’t you?” she asked, confused.
“Because the woman I was engaged to didn’t want to be the wife of a mountain doctor.”
“Then you chose the wrong woman to be engaged to,” Rachel told him matter-of-factly. She returned her attention to her laptop. “I think you dodged a bullet on that one, Sam. I know it was difficult when you and Allison broke up, and I’m sorry that you hurt because of it, but why would you want to marry a woman who doesn’t want to be the wife of a mountain doctor if what you want to be is a mountain doctor?” she asked quietly, shaking her head in confusion as she looked down at her work.
Sam watched her silently for a while, amused by her logical answer. He had come to that very same conclusion at the beginning of the summer. Allison had become enraged by his decision and had refused to accept the end of their engagement. She had told him that he should go off and play in the mountains and come back to her at the end of the summer when he had gotten his crazy ideas out of his system and had come back to his senses.