(Trust) Falling For You, page 10
He stuffed his hands in his pocket and turned his back to her. “Just don’t get lost on me.”
“Okay,” she said, creeping off the path. The forest floor was littered with dead logs, giving shelter to moss and mushrooms. Thin sapling branches jutted from all directions, scratching her legs as she took hesitant steps forward. One wrong step on an uneven rock or a root and Yolanda could turn an ankle. She was also careful not to touch any of the dense greenery that came to her hips. She couldn’t tell the difference between oak leaves and poison ivy.
A few yards into the forest, she looked over her shoulder for Samuel, who stood in the same spot she left him. Pine branches now obscured her from his vision. At least she hoped. She had wanted to find a nice little spot behind a tall bush, but poking gnarls of vegetation filled all the spacious forest bathrooms. “Team,” she called out.
“Building,” Sam replied in a loud voice.
If she could still hear him, maybe she could go a little deeper into the woods. A couple yards ahead sat a bush that looked promising. She minced toward it, keeping her hands and arms away from the plants she couldn’t identify. “Team!”
“Building,” he shouted.
Yolanda quickly undid her denim shorts and took stock of the surrounding thicket. She didn’t find evidence of snakes or spiders as she kicked at the dirt. She shoved her shorts and underwear down as she squatted, willing her bladder to empty as quickly as possible. While she went, Yolanda fumbled around her fanny-pack for fast food napkins she took with her. Afterwards, she adjusted her clothing and rinsed her hands off with the rest of her water. “Team,” she called out.
“Building.”
Yolanda was about to walk back towards Samuel, but she heard something in the quiet forest. Something aside from the chatter of birds above her. A snuffling noise. She turned around to find the source, and at first, couldn’t see anything in the greenery.
But then she heard it again.
A low grunt or sniff to her right.
Every muscle in her body tensed as she trained her eyes on a thick copse of trees just ahead of her. When a large black mass moved, she let out an involuntary squeak before slapping her hand over her mouth. It ambled slowly, but it eventually revealed itself.
A goddamn bear.
Was she surprised that this was happening to her? Of course not. If anyone was going to have a bear encounter on this trip, it would be the self-proclaimed city girl. While she stood utterly still, the black bear continued moving. It was about thirty feet from her, nosing around on the forest floor. Hopefully looking for nuts and berries. Black bears don’t normally crave human flesh. But it would be just like Yolanda to run into Wisconsin’s only man-eating bear… It appeared to be alone, which might be good? If cute little cubs were involved, the situation might have been bad.
But it was already looking bad.
And it was getting worse.
Just as Yolanda took a step backwards, the most cliche thing happened. She snapped a dead branch with her sneaker, causing the man-eating bear to lift its head. “Oh god, no,” she whispered.
They had locked eyes, she and the bear. She searched her mind for any meaningful wildlife knowledge. Are you supposed to run? Or should you curl into a ball and wait for the bear to roll you about?
“Team!” Samuel called out.
She jumped at the sound, keeping her eyes on the bear, who now seemed interested in their situation. For the first time in a really long time, Yolanda Watson was speechless.
“Yolanda?” Samuel’s voice sounded so far away, but he was her only means of safety.
It was as if the bear knew that, because he shuffled forward, closing the gap between them by about ten feet. At this distance, she understood the full scope of how much trouble she was in. It was slightly bigger than the bears she’d seen in news reports. The cute kind that ended up in backyard swimming pools. She assumed it was a male bear, a loner who hunted unsuspecting Black women.
“Yolanda, are you okay?” Samuel’s voice was getting closer.
“Bear,” she said in a shaky voice. “There’s a bear, Sam.”
Behind her, she could hear his footsteps breaking through the brush. “There’s a what?” he asked.
As if to announce itself, the bear let out a loud grunt as he lifted his head and sniffed the air.
“Oh my god, it can smell us,” Yolanda muttered.
“What are you saying?” Just as Samuel arrived at her side, the bear got more curious and ambled closer to them. “Oh, shit!” He stopped short and flung a protective arm over her chest. “It’s a bear.”
“Exactly,” she breathed. “What do we do?”
“Uh…” Samuel’s face was whiter and sweatier than usual as he stared the bear down. The distance between them and it had narrowed to about ten feet. “We’ve gotta make ourselves appear large and threatening. Starting waving your arms and shouting.”
“When can we run?” Yolanda asked.
“You can’t outrun a bear,” he said, waving his arms.
She quickly followed his lead. “Get!” she shouted in her loud professor voice. “Get going, bear! We don’t want you! Can’t you see we don’t want you here!”
“Haarrgh! Shoo now! Get!”
Between the two of them shouting, the beast looked confused. It took a tentative step forward, but paused when Yolanda started jumping up and down. “Get away, bear!”
Samuel stood taller than she, and probably made a more intimidating meal, but the bear still focused on her. “Go’n and get now,” he snarled, taking a brave step towards the animal. “Get out of here!”
The predator stopped in his tracks, which was great… but when it tipped its body back to stand on its hind-legs, Yolanda screamed. The bear was much taller than she expected. “When do we run?” she asked again.
“WE DON’T!”
I don’t want to die like this. I don’t want to die like this. I don’t want to—
“Keep waving your arms,” Samuel reminded her.
Yolanda went back to waving her arms like a loon and shouted: “I don’t want to die in Wisconsin! Don’t kill me during a team-building retreat! I have a life in Chicagoooo…”
Her admission seemed to sway the bear’s murderous intent. It dropped on all fours and gave a disgusted snuffle. They continued shouting at it until the animal flipped its head in a strangely irritated manner. As though they were taking up too much of the bear’s time. Finally, it turned tail and wandered away, leaving them frightened and relieved.
For a few minutes of painful silence, they watched the bear disappear into the forest. Yolanda’s heart rate was shattered and she could barely keep her breathing under control. Her hands shook like leaves in the wind as they hung by her sides.
Sam made the first sound, his shoes crunching against branches. He turned to her and said in a quiet voice, “Now we run.”
That was all Yolanda needed to hear as she tore off in the opposite direction. Sam was hot on her heels as they traversed the woods. Within minutes, her feet landed on the soft springy pine needles of a narrow trail, hopefully leading to safety.
But she didn’t stop there.
Adrenaline pushed her forward, faster than she’d ever ran in her life. And she hated running. She heard Sam’s panting behind her and only checked once to see if he was near. He was. Yolanda didn’t stop running until she saw the clearing for Redstone Retreat in the near-distance. When she skidded to a stop, she doubled over at the waist and planted her hands on her knees.
“Oh, lord,” she muttered as blood rushed to her head. “Oh, lord…”
Sam laid a hand on her back, making her jump with a yelp. “I’m sorry,” he panted. “But we gotta keep going. We’re almost there.”
Together, they hurried towards the retreat, towards safety, and Yolanda was thankful for the firm hand resting against her sweating back.
Chapter Ten
Samuel was damn near ready to collapse when they made it back to the main lodge. The professors were standing around outside, not paying attention to the exhausted buddies who approached. “We’re back,” he croaked as they stumbled towards the crowd. Julia was the first to notice them.
“Where the hell have you two been?” she demanded. “And why does it look like Yolanda’s been running? She never runs.”
“There… was… a bear,” Yolanda said through shallow pants.
And that was the last thing she said, because she promptly fell against Sam. He caught her before she hit the ground, but the awkward catch sent them both to the dirt.
Julia and Peter both ran up to them; Craig was not too far behind, and Joanne huffed towards the small circle forming around them. “Oh my god, what happened to her?” Julia shouted.
Samuel tried to cradle her upper body, but her dead weight made it difficult to get a grip on her. “We ran into a black bear, off-trail,” he said. “But we scared it off.”
“We were about to send a search party for you two,” Craig said, assisting Samuel and Peter in picking Yolanda up. Once the men got her on her feet, Samuel hoisted her up in his arms. “Do we need to take her to the medical center?”
Samuel shook his head. “I’m taking her back to the cabin.”
“I’m coming with you,” Julia said as she followed Samuel.
“You’re a good TB Buddy, Sam,” Joanna said in a trembling voice. “I’m so thankful that Yolanda had you out there.”
He was also thankful to be with her. There was no telling what would have happened, but he knew that they both needed to scare the bear off. Together. As they trudged away from the murmuring crowd, Julia asked in a soft voice, “Is she going to be okay?”
The look of concern in her dark eyes almost made Samuel falter because he imagined it looked quite similar to his own. Julia loved her friend dearly, and he was grateful to bring Yolanda back to the retreat in one piece. “She’ll be fine,” he assured. “She had the fright of her life and then ran like hell to get away. She’s in shock and exhausted. But when she wakes up, she’ll be happy to see your face.”
Julia rummaged around Yolanda’s fanny pack for the cabin keys and let them in. Inside, Samuel laid her on her bed. He kneeled beside the bed and gazed down on her. Julia sat beside her and smoothed frizzy curls out of Yolanda’s face. “I know my city girl freaked the fuck out,” Julia chuckled softly.
Samuel laid the back of his hand on her sweaty forehead. She was a little warm, but that wasn’t alarming. “Honestly, we both did. My brain stopped working for a second before we started screaming at it.”
“Was it huge?”
“I’d say it was a full-grown male.”
“It was a massive… man-eater,” Yolanda murmured with her eyes still closed.
Julia leaned down to cup her friend’s cheek. “Hey girl, are you feeling okay?”
Yolanda cracked her eyes. “Tell Craig that if he sends me into the woods again, I’ll quit. Fuck tenure and the job market.”
Julia glanced at Samuel with a wobbly smile. “She’s good.”
Yolanda’s gaze slid to Samuel as well. “Thank you for saving me,” she whispered.
Without thinking, he took her hand and brought it to his lips. “I wasn’t going to let you fight a bear by yourself,” he said, kissing her knuckles.
Yolanda froze, casting a nervous glance at Julia, who now regarded them with a curious expression. “Okay, Sam… Yolanda. What’s going on here?”
Samuel was hesitant to release her hand. If there was anyone who might understand this newfound relationship, it might be the woman who was secretly making eyes at Peter Leonard. “Yolanda has been teaching me how to loosen up,” he said carefully.
Julia’s mouth quirked. “Loosen up?” she asked.
“Jules,” Yolanda started.
“No, I get it,” her friend chuckled as she stared at Yolanda. “When were you going to say something?”
With their hands still joined, Yolanda looked bashful. “I just wanted to talk about how you were feeling last night.”
“Girl, please… You were being shady.”
“Do you forgive me?”
“Of course I do,” Julia looked at their joined hands. “So this is a thing? My Sam and my Yolanda, sitting in a tree?”
“Not today,” Sam quipped. “Bears climb trees really well.”
His remark earned him eye rolls from both women.
“But yes,” he added. “If Yolanda doesn’t mind me taking my loose version back to Chicago, I’d like for this to continue being a thing.”
Yolanda was quiet for a moment, which was a feat for her. He held his breath because being vulnerable in front of her and her best friend was a nightmare. This level of transparency was new and quite uncomfortable. Finally, she smiled brightly. It was that smile he was getting used to; the kind that made her eyes squint with joy. “I’d like this to be a thing too.”
“Oh, the romantic overtures,” Julia said sarcastically. “Shakespeare would be so proud of you guys.”
Yolanda pulled herself up in bed, resting her back against the headboard. “Okay, you got jokes? Have you talked to Peter about your thing?”
Her friend pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “Things were discussed on the trail.”
“Maybe you oughta find him and discuss more things. I’d like to talk to Sam a little more.”
Julia threw up her hands and stood from the bed. “Right, right, I know when I’ve overstayed my welcome,” she said moving towards the door. “I’ll tell the rest of the gang you’re okay… and that you’re not suing Franklin U?”
Yolanda shook her head. “I haven’t decided just yet.”
“Fair enough,” Julia replied as she closed the door behind her.
When they were alone, her attention settled on to him and he drank it in. Seeing her dark eyes flutter at him was his reward for scaring off a bear. Samuel gripped her hand tighter and admitted, “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
“Me neither,” she said. Yolanda pulled him towards her and cupped his cheek. “I think after a near-death experience, we deserve to know what happens to us now.”
“These high-stress situations aren’t good for relationships. Look at Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves,” he joked. “He didn’t even make it to Speed 2.”
She smiled. “I don’t want to sound arrogant, but maybe it could work for us?”
He drew closer to her face, focused on her lush lips. “Yes, it could,” he whispered. “We could be different.”
She took him by the neck and pulled him the rest of the way. When their lips met, Samuel felt the thrill of a thousand missed kisses pent up and longing to be released. Their tongues met and mingled, doing a dance that was familiar, yet seeking new heights of pleasure. He groaned against her mouth and she answered by nipping at his bottom lip. As their kiss deepened, he climbed on to her bed, on top of her, caging her body beneath his. He stroked her hair away from her sweaty temple before tracing a path of kisses down her neck. Samuel needed to pick up where he left off last night, before Julia interrupted them. He needed to feel all of her.
As his hands slipped under her t-shirt, she arched away from the bed. Quick to meet his touch. When she broke away, she let out a harsh breath. “Please, Sam. Can we do something more?”
“Of course,” he said, setting a familiar trail of kisses down her neck. “We can do whatever you want.”
“Touch me.”
He could do that. He started by pulling her shirt up over her chest, revealing her light-pink bra. She assisted by reaching around and pulling the straps down and unhooking the back, letting her breasts free. He was met with beautiful brown mounds of soft flesh, tempting him to squeeze and caress. Her dark brown nipples were already stiff, ready for licking. Samuel took a deep breath and fanned his fingers across one, marveling at Yolanda’s response to his touch. She let out a satisfied moan and sank against her pillows.
It wasn’t fair for her to be the only one topless, so he quickly pulled his polo over his head and flung it on the floor; messy floor be damned. “You’re so beautiful, Yolanda,” he breathed against her skin, before latching onto her nipple. He sucked deep, feeling her writhe beneath him. As he swirled his tongue around her, he clutched her hips and tried undoing her shorts. Again, his TB Buddy was enthusiastic in assisting him with her undressing. Yolanda did most of the work, shoving her shorts and panties down her thighs and onto the floor. “Do you mind?” he asked as his hand trailed down her belly towards her pussy.
“God, no,” she said in a harsh breath and widened her legs.
When he released one nipple, he stroked and teased until his mouth found the other. Yolanda’s fingers were in his hair, guiding and holding him in place. This was where he belonged. As his other hands brushed the soft curls of her mound, her breath quickened and her hips bucked under his gentle exploration. She was already damp and hot under his palm, his fingers sliding easily through her folds. The silken flesh lit a fire in him and burned brighter as he stroked with one finger and then two. Samuel released her breasts to watch her reaction while he touched everything but her clit.
Yolanda’s lips pressed together in a thin line as she arched her back and widened her thighs. A blush that started at her chest had drifted up her neck and settled into her cheeks, creating a beautiful wanton vixen he’d never seen. She could be sly and coy, or she could be charming and mischievous, but Samuel had never seen her completely undone and wanting more.
He wanted to give her more.
Samuel had set his mind to pleasing her, giving her what she needed, and like all worthwhile goals: he wanted to do this perfectly. He wanted his touch to be the only touch Yolanda would need. And if he couldn’t do it right the first time, he wanted to try again until he got it right. He could be her perfect Virgo.
“Sam,” she panted. “More.”
He slid his fingers up and down, coating them in her juices, before finally touching her clit. It was as though a bolt of lightning struck her by the way her hips bucked against the mattress. Soon she rode against him, reaching for his next stroke. Samuel stared down at her face while she watched his hand work steadily against her pussy. She moaned and thrashed her head against her pillow until she gripped his wrist and breathed hard, “Inside me.”
