Page 54 of Styx & Stones

He presses a kiss to my neck, his hot breath sending a shiver down my spine. “We can go as slow as you want.”

“Okay. Then, let’s go to bed.” I climb off his lap and hold my hand out to him.

“Why don’t you go in?” Styx adjusts himself in his seat. “I’m gonna need a minute.”

“Really?” I raise a brow and grin.

“Really.”

“Was it the Pornhub that did it for you?”

“No. Not specifically, but that didn’t help. You should just refrain from using the words ‘bed,’ ‘Pornhub,’ and ‘I want to sleep with you’ from now on.”

I laugh and gather up the remains of our feast.

“And you should definitely avoid bending over in front of me in tight jeans.” He reaches out and grabs my waist, pulling me back down on his lap. I shriek and squirm against him, but his hands pin me tight and his breath in my ear steals the fight from my body. “Really, these jeans should be illegal. So should you wearing my hoodie.” His hands slide under the thick fleece of the sweater and graze my skin. My body is electric.

I grab his hand and guide it up over my bra. He squeezes hard. A cry escapes me. I turn my head, angling my body in his lap. I capture his lips with my own and moan into his mouth as his hands slip into my bra and squeeze my nipple. Heat unfurls in my chest, snaking its way down between my legs. Moisture pools in my panties. The silky fabric sticks to my too-hot flesh.

His fingers glide over my breasts and torso and pause at the waistband of my jeans. I pop the button, lace my fingers with his, and steer him beneath the denim. Our joined hands barely fit, but I don’t want him to stop.

His fingers toy with the edge of my panties. “Are you sure?”

I don’t trust my voice not to waiver, so I nod. I slide his hand lower, over the silk fabric. His erection presses into my back. I want to touch him the way he’s touching me. I want to explore every inch of him, but my heart stutters at the idea, and I can’t move. His hands caress me, driving me mad. My body shakes, my cheeks flush, and just when I begin to feel hot and tingly all over, a gruff voice comes from behind our camp. “You guys okay over here?”

Styx jerks his hand out of my panties and up to my waist, squeezing my body tight beneath his hoodie. I bury my face in his neck to hide my embarrassment.

Styx clears his throat. “Yeah. We’re good. Thanks.”

The man walks around our chair and stands closer to the fire. He’s wearing khaki pants and a puffy jacket with an embroidered logo that readsBig Sur Campground, and thank God, because for a minute there I thought he might have been a serial killer.

“I’m Noah. I help run this place.” He holds out his hand to shake but seems to think better of it.Awkward. “Do you think you guys could keep it down? One of the other campers had a quiet word to me about the noise.”

“Yeah, sure,” I say. “We’re ... er ... going to bed now anyway.”

“Okay, well, don’t forget to put out the fire first,” Noah says. “Can’t have the whole forest burning down.”

“Right,” Styx agrees.

He turns and walks a few feet away. I hold my breath, not sure if I want to laugh or run away in embarrassment, but the man faces us again. “Your parents do know you’re here, right?”

Guilt washes through me, but I smile and say, “Of course. They’re totally cool with it. We’re from Monterey. So, you know, they wouldn’t have to go far to find us.”

He glances at the truck parked by the cabin, probably checking the San Francisco license plates.Nice work, Alaska. He’s going to rat us out for sure. “Monterey, huh?”

“Yep.”

“So you probably go to school with my daughter?”

I swallow hard and shrug. “It’s a big school.”

“It’s not that big.” He looks up at the stars and sighs. “You know there’s an amber alert out for you guys, right?”

“What?” I say.

“That’s not us,” Styx adds.

“Okay, you can cut the shit, because your faces have been plastered all over the national news for the last hour.”