Step Stalker

What would anyone say?

Maybe I won’t have to worry about it? Maybe it was a one-time thing?

When I ponder that possibility, my chest aches even worse.

Determined to enjoy the beautiful day, I look around on the off chance someone else is hiking through. Then I unfasten my jean shorts and drop them down to my ankles, groaning in delight over the warmth of sunshine on the backs of my thighs, my butt. Wanting to experience the heat everywhere, my tank top comes next. My bra. I’m in nothing but a pair of black bikini-cut panties now and I turn to the sun, raising my arms up so its rays can reach out and touch me. I focus on my breathing, inhaling the splendor of nature and releasing gratitude slowly—

A twig snaps.

My arms drop abruptly to cover my breasts, alarm prickling at the nape of my neck.

“Santana?” I call. “Jess?”

There’s no response.

It’s not totally unusual to hear twigs and branches and leaves falling from the trees. The forest floor is littered with debris from above, so it’s a common occurrence.

But the sudden electricity racing up my skin is not common.

I narrow my eyes and scan the trees, my gaze lingering on the shadows.

There is no one watching you. Don’t be paranoid.

Taking a deep breath, I wade into the stream toward the waterfall, concentrating on the water licking at my thighs, then eventually my panties. How the cool, crisp quality of it climbs my belly and refreshes my senses. When I reach the waterfall, I don’t hesitate to position myself beneath it, letting the water cascade down the front of my body, down my breasts, back, legs. My hair is gloriously drenched in seconds, the dull roar of falling water drowning out the forest sounds, leaving only my heartbeat—

And memories of Vale in the shower.

How water pooled in the valleys of his collarbone, how his hair sagged low on his forehead, dripping. How his harsh breathing echoed in the shower stall, mingling with mine.

I don’t realize my fingers have dipped into my panties until the pad of my middle one grazes my clit and I shudder, my moan absorbed by the waterfall’s rush. My toes curl into the smooth pebble floor of the stream, the waterfall caressing me everywhere—my nipples, the sensitive insides of my arms, my neck. But it’s not the waterfall I’m picturing in my head as I rub myself faster, using my middle and ring finger now. I’m thinking of my stepbrother in sweatpants trying to hide his erection from our parents.

There’s a slight chance of Santana and Jess following me here and I really don’t want to get caught masturbating. Although they would probably high five me and inquire about my technique. Truthfully, I don’t have one. I’ve never felt the pressing need for release until meeting Vale. Now my body is on edge. Sensitive and starved. And I have to appease it.

In the interest of privacy, I duck beneath the waterfall and walk on my knees to the center of the hidden grassy knoll, flopping down on my back. Letting out a long, low moan, knowing I’m the only one that can hear it. And that freedom makes me twice as hot, makes me tease the ring of my entrance and press a finger inside of me, my heels digging into the earth, hips lifting, my gasp loud in my ears—

There’s a break in the sound of water hitting the stream and my eyes fly open.

I see the outline of a man and terror grips me.

I open my mouth to scream, but I never get the chance.

He moves like lightning, springing forward, through the waterfall, landing heavily on top of me, his big hand covering my mouth, catching the sound before it escapes. I buck and twist, my instinct to fight kicking in immediately. But it becomes obvious right away that there is no point. His arms are made of steel and there’s a precision to his movements that tells me I’m not the first person he’s had to silence in a cave. Oh God oh God—

“Lula, it’s Vale. You’re safe,” he rasps in my ear. “You’re safe, princess.”

Shock renders me motionless beneath his muscled body, my breath racing in and out of my nose. There is still a scream lodged in my throat, my claws out, ready to scrape. But now…now I’m just confused. Vale is here? How? I’m a hundred miles from home.

What is going on?

Keeping his hand sealed over my mouth, he looks down at me with glittering eyes—and I feel it. His hard shaft against my inner thigh. He was watching me. He was watching and being turned on by me. That was him snapping a twig out in the forest. Wasn’t it?

I know one thing for sure.

I shouldn’t be feeling relief right now because this man is Vale and not a stranger.