dust and thick with the scent of old wood and water. She leaned against the wall
in a dimly lit corner and dragged Dev against her, her hands sliding down to grip
Dev’s ass. “Do you have any idea what you just did to me?”
“I want to make you so hot you’ll come if I just breathe on you.”
“Keep it up and it won’t take that much.” Leslie straddled Dev’s lean thigh. “I’m
so wet already.”
Dev tangled her Þ ngers in Leslie’s hair and kissed her roughly.
Every day for the last month, she’d told herself that Leslie would be here, and
while her mind had believed it, her heart had never been quite sure. Now that
Leslie was this close, all she wanted was to feel that she was real. She sucked
on the tip of Leslie’s tongue and fondled her breasts, her hips pinning Leslie to
the wall. Finally she pulled her mouth away. “I’m not going to fuck you out here.
But God, I want to.”
Leslie dug her Þ ngers into Dev’s tight butt. “You’ll make me come just doing
this.”
“Les,” Dev gasped, kissing her neck hungrily, unable to stop as Leslie rode her
thigh harder. “Someone might walk in.”
“No. There’s no one…” Leslie turned her head and plunged her tongue into
Dev’s mouth.
Groaning, Dev pinched Leslie’s nipple, twisting in time to her pumping hips.
“I’m going to come,” Leslie moaned, her head falling back against the wall. “Oh
Dev, God, I’m really coming.”
Dev felt Leslie’s knees buckle and grabbed her around the waist, holding her up
as she trembled, her face buried against Dev’s shoulder to stiß e her cries. As
Leslie’s orgasm trailed off, Dev cradled Leslie, stroking her hair and her back.
“Okay, baby? You okay?”
“I’m totally humiliated.” Leslie laughed softly. “Talk about no control.”
“You’re so sexy I thought my heart would stop.” Dev nuzzled Leslie’s neck.
“You’re beautiful when you’re like that. When you want me.”
“Oh, Dev.” Leslie lifted her head and kissed Dev softly. “I want you so much I
can’t stand it.” She caressed Dev’s face. “And not just like this, either.”
“We better try to get to the cabin.”
“Are you in a bad way?” Leslie asked teasingly, recognizing the low, husky note
in Dev’s voice.
“I’m afraid something is about to explode.”
“You got to hear me come.” Leslie nipped at Dev’s chin. “Let me watch you.”
Dev sucked in a breath. “Here?”
Leslie stroked Dev’s breasts, then reached down and popped the button on her
ß y. “Yes. It makes me crazy thinking about you making yourself come.”
“You’ve got me so hot, it’s going to take about two seconds,” Dev whispered,
bracing her arm against the wall next to Leslie’s shoulder.
She slid her hand into her jeans and groaned. “Touch me too. Just touch me
somewhere.”
“Whatever you need,” Leslie murmured, caressing Dev’s stomach and thighs as
Dev tensed, her arm vibrating between her legs. “Feel good?”
“Uh-huh,” Dev managed between gritted teeth. The muscles in her neck stood
out and her thighs quivered as Þ re leapt in her belly.
“Oh, Jesus, I’m close.”
Leslie cupped the outside of Dev’s crotch, spreading her Þ ngers over Dev’s
where they circled beneath the denim. “Mmm, I can feel you getting ready to go.
You’re almost there, aren’t you?”
“Close,” Dev muttered, “soon, ah almost, Les.”
“Need help, love?” Leslie crooned, licking Dev’s neck.
“Push down on my Þ ngers.” Dev groaned as Leslie pressed rhythmically.
“Harder, baby. Harder…har…oh, oh yeah.”
Dev sagged against Leslie as her orgasm hit, and Leslie kissed her, swallowing
her cries of release.
“Beautiful,” Leslie sighed, cradling Dev’s face against her shoulder, caressing her
sweat-streaked cheek. “Thank you.”
“Same here,” Dev muttered, struggling to get her legs under her again. She
braced her arms against the wall once more and pushed upright. Grinning, she
kissed Leslie. “I think we’ve established we missed each other.”
“It would seem that way.” Leslie had never felt anything quite so perfect in her
life, and she wasn’t ready to examine what that meant.
She zipped Dev’s ß y and buttoned her jeans. “There. Can you walk?”
“Just about.”
Leslie wrapped her arm around Dev’s waist. “Let’s go to your cabin.”
“No fooling around on the way.” Dev circled Leslie’s shoulders with one arm,
holding her close. “I have a short recovery phase, and I’ll be ready again soon.”
“I remember.” Leslie rubbed her cheek against Dev’s shoulder. “I have a few
favorite memories for use at bedtime too.”
Dev groaned. “See, you’re starting already.”
“Then we’d better hurry.”
When they reached the cabin, Dev went to the refrigerator and extracted two
India Pale Ales. She opened both and passed one bottle to Leslie, who leaned
against the counter nearby. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” Leslie sipped the beer. “Can I ask you something personal?”
The corner of Dev’s mouth rose. “I think we’ve reached that point.”
Unexpectedly uncertain, Leslie studied her beer bottle. “Are you seeing anyone
else?”
Immediately, Dev put her bottle on the counter and cupped
Leslie’s chin. She lifted her face and looked directly into her eyes. “No.
I haven’t been with anyone except you for over a year.” She waited, studying
Leslie’s face. “Natalie and I are friends.”
“I had to ask,” Leslie said quietly. “Because if I think about you with anyone
else it makes me…pretty much insane.”
“I like that.” Dev kissed Leslie softly. “I like that a lot.”
“And I…”
Dev stopped her with another kiss, then eased away and retrieved her beer. Still
watching Leslie, she sipped. “When I was younger, I tortured myself thinking
about you with Mike. Last month, when I thought about you with Rachel, it hurt
so much I couldn’t even let myself get that far. I guess that’s some kind of
progress.”
“There’s no one, Dev. No one I want to touch me except you.”
“I love you, you know,” Dev said softly.
“I love you too. Madly. Do you have any idea what we’re going to do?”
“No,” Dev replied, her expression suddenly unsure.
“Tell you what,” Leslie said, grasping Dev’s hand. “Let’s have dinner with my
parents, because they’ll want to see me and we’ll need to eat if we’re going to
do what I plan on doing for the rest of the night.”
Dev grinned.
“And tomorrow, we’ll talk.”
“That means no touching, then.”
Leslie sighed. “I hope it doesn’t rain, because the only way I can promise that is
if we’re sitting outside in full view of my mother and everyone else in the lodge.”
And considering that just seeing Dev was enough to make her mind melt, she
wasn’t even sure an audience would be enough deterrent.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Do you think my mother will notice if I only show up for meals?” Leslie laced
her Þ ngers through Dev’s as they walked through the woods toward the lodge
for breakfast. “Considering that we disappeared right after dinner last night?”
Dev tugged her to a stop at the edge of the clearing. “If we walk in together
again, and you still have that look on your face, your mother is going to know
what we’ve been doing all night.”
“What look?”
“That ‘I’ve just been fu—’”
“I do not have that look,” Leslie feigned indignation.
Dev dragged her off the trail and pinned her against a tree with the weight of her
body, her forearms on either side of Leslie’s shoulders.
“You do. Your eyes are soft and dreamy,” she kissed Leslie’s eyelids,
“and your lips are a little bit bruised,” she skimmed her tongue over Leslie’s
lower lip, “and it takes you a lonnng time to make sentences.”
She cupped Leslie’s breast and kissed her more seriously. “And you keep
sending me signals that keep me hard all the time.”
“Maybe I want you hard and hungry all the time,” Leslie murmured.
She returned the kiss vigorously, then abruptly pushed Dev away and snuck out
from underneath her arm. She was breathing hard and she was wet again, and
she was almost afraid to let Dev know how much she wanted her every single
second. “But I happen to be hungry for pancakes.”
“Then try to behave while we’re in there,” Dev threatened, seizing Leslie’s hand
once more. “Because you’re driving me crazy.”
“Oh good.”
“Have a heart. I don’t want your mother to see me whimpering and drooling.”
“Why not? She knows we’ve got something going on.”
“She does?” Dev asked in surprise.
“Well, she knows I’ve got the major hots for you.”
“How?”
“Because I told her.”
Dev stopped again. “You did? When?”
Leslie dipped her head, suddenly shy. “More or less all summer. I think she
knew before I did how serious it was.”
“Serious, huh?” Dev circled Leslie’s waist and pulled her close.
She brushed her cheek against Leslie’s, then murmured in her ear,
“How serious?”
“Very.” Leslie wrapped her arms around Dev’s shoulders and leaned her head
on Dev’s shoulder as she watched the mist rise off the lake and burn away in the
early morning sunshine. “We’re never going to make it to the lodge if you keep
grabbing me.”
“Can’t help myself.” Dev stroked Leslie’s hair. “I’ve got a lot of time to make
up for.”
“Could take a while.”
“I know.”
“I’m hungry.”
Dev laughed. “I love you.”
“I love you. Give me a cup of coffee and something to eat and I’ll show you just
how much.”
“Last night you promised to help your father down at the boathouse this
morning.”
Leslie frowned. “I did? That must have been when I was fantasizing about silk
scarves and tying you—”
“Oh yeah. Sounds good.” Dev kissed her quickly. “But we don’t have to do it
all today. We’ve got time.”
“Do we?” Leslie asked softly.
“Remember our deal,” Dev said softly. “Food Þ rst, then go help your father.
We’ll talk this afternoon before we go back to the cabin.”
Leslie nodded seriously, wishing they could pretend just a little while longer that
this magic time would never end. “All right.”
“It will be okay, Les,” Dev said, but her eyes were troubled.
“I know,” Leslie said, wanting fervently to believe.
Dev leaned back on her elbows on the grassy slope, enjoying the sunshine, the
breeze off the lake, and the view. The best part of the view was Leslie, cleaning
and stowing gear under her father’s direction down on the dock. She’d dressed
for dirty work in cut-off blue jeans, a faded T-shirt, and old sneakers. Dev
hadn’t seen her look so casual, or so relaxed, since their last summer in high
school. Leslie was all woman now, but her light laughter ß oating up the hill
reminded Dev of when they were kids and the summer seemed endless. For the
Þ rst time, the memories didn’t hurt.
As Leslie walked up the hill, she studied Dev with a quizzical expression. “What
are you thinking of?”
“You.”
To her surprise, Leslie felt herself blushing. They’d spent nearly every minute
since she’d arrived making love, and there hadn’t been a place on her body Dev
hadn’t touched. But the tender way she spoke as she gazed at her—as if Leslie
were the most beautiful woman in the world—struck a chord far deeper than
even the intense physical passion they had shared. Leslie dropped down next to
Dev and kissed her on the cheek. “What about me?”
“I was just thinking that being with you now has given me back some of the
most important moments of my life.” Dev covered Leslie’s hand with hers. “I
feel like I’ve spent my whole life loving you.” She met Leslie’s gaze. “And it’s all
good, now.”
Leslie’s lips parted as her eyes quickly misted over. “Oh, Dev. I don’t think I
can stand not to be with you.”
With a sigh, Dev sat up and folded her arms on her bent knees.
“I’ve been offered a research position at the Freshwater Institute.”
“In Bolton?” Leslie said, picturing the lab only twenty minutes away from her
parents’ house. Three hours from Manhattan.
“Yes.”
“Is that what you want, though?” Leslie asked, Þ nding it hard to believe that
Dev would be happy working inside in a lab all the time.
“I wouldn’t take it unless they let me make my own schedule, including time
away for Þ eldwork.” Dev met Leslie’s gaze. “I’d be a lot closer to you, then,
most of the time.”
“But is it what you want?”
“What I want, Leslie, is you.”
“What about…what I do?” Leslie asked softly. “You must hate it.”
Dev shrugged, smiling slightly. “I’ve spent enough time as an expert witness to
know that the environmental protection laws aren’t perfect. On some level, I
understand what bothers you about them. And why you defend people accused
of breaking them.” She gazed out at the lake, thinking about the schools of Þ sh
that had been driven out by pollution and misuse of the waterways. “But they’re
the best we have, so I have to work with them. I have to do what I can while
there’s still time.”
“And you don’t think that would eventually come between—”
“Greetings!” Natalie called, striding across the lawn toward them.
She was in uniform, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and tucked
beneath a green cap with the forest service emblem on the front. “Hi, Leslie.
Dev said you were coming up, but I thought it was tonight.”
“I came up a day early, as it happens.”
Natalie’s eyes ß ickered to Dev, and Leslie saw her expression change to one
of speculation. “Really. So how are you doing?”
“Fine. Great, actual
ly,” Leslie said, leaning back slightly to look up as Natalie
stopped beside her. “How about you?”
Natalie squatted down with a shake of her head. “Ask me at the end of this
crazy weekend. It’s the last big rush until leaf season.
Everybody’s trying to catch the last little bit of summer.”
“I feel the same way, even if the lake is already too cold to swim.”
Leslie realized she wasn’t jealous, even though Natalie had probably expected
to Þ nd Dev alone. Dev was by her side, had awakened in her bed, had called
her name in the night. “I hope things stay quiet for you.”
“They might,” Natalie said with a sigh, her eyes narrowing as she stared down to
the water. “If people would stop doing idiotic things like that.”
Leslie followed her gaze. A tour boat, one of the broad, ß at-bottomed
sightseeing craft Þ lled with rows of deck chairs for people to sit in while the
boat made a slow circuit along the shoreline, lumbered into view. It was packed
with people, standing and sitting. More people than Leslie could ever remember
seeing in one of those boats.
“I can’t imagine that’s very much fun,” Leslie said, “being crammed together like
sard—oh my God!”
“Jesus Christ!” Dev shouted, jumping up.
The boat tilted to one side and, in a fraction of a second, capsized.
Leslie, Dev, and Natalie raced toward the water as the panicked shouts of the
people who had been thrown into the lake seventy feet from shore Þ lled the air.
“We need rescue boats in Bolton Landing by the Lakeview,”
Natalie shouted into her radio. “And paramedics. We’ve got people in the
water. At least two dozen.”
While Natalie was organizing the rescue, Leslie and Dev kicked off their shoes
and dove into the lake. Some people were already straggling to shore but others
were clearly in trouble, ß ailing in the water and screaming. Leslie, her strokes
hard and clean, swam past the people who were close enough to make it to
safety on their own. She saw at least three people go under and not come up
again. Dev was close by, slightly behind her. Dev had never been as fast as
Leslie in the water.
Leslie reached the Þ rst ß oundering victim in less than a minute.