Breath of Fresh Air Ch. 02

She gave him an odd look, but complied, rolling to her belly and resting her cheek on her hands. He started at her neck again and slowly worked his way down, digging his thumb into muscles that felt like they'd been tense forever. He slid his hand down the back of her t-shirt trying to reach her shoulders, then tried tugging it up from the bottom, but couldn't quite get to them.

Not one to stand in the way of a good back rub Katie propped herself up and said, "I'll take mine off if you'll take yours off."

In a surprisingly dexterous move, given the small space, Mike had his shirt off before she could blink and was tugging hers over her head. She laid back down and he continued the massage, this time adding the occasional little wet kiss or nibble to her shoulder, then neck, then jaw. By the time his hand made it to her lower back, digging his fingers deliciously into the tender muscles just below the waistband of her pants he was kissing her again, no longer playful, but demanding.

She rolled and he moved over her, hand sliding around to her hip pulling her close, neither of them breaking the kiss. The sudden heat of his chest against her breasts shocked her and she arched into him, wanting to feel his belly against hers. His sudden intake of air told her she'd pressed against more than just his belly. She did it again, this time raking her nails down his back, eliciting a low groan from deep in his throat.

He pulled back and looked at her, making eye contact for a split-second before dropping his head to her breast. Just before she thought he was about to take her nipple into his mouth dipped and kissed the flesh just below it. She felt his hot breath against her skin and then saw, rather than felt him flick the tip of her nipple with his tongue. If she hadn't seen it she might not have known he'd done it until she felt the cool wetness after the fact. In the orange glow of the fire she watched his tongue flicking and darting at the hardening nub, hot moist breath taunting her, lips parted as if at any second he might decide to close the scant distance and suck it deep into his mouth. And then he did.

"Oh, God!" she cried out. Her head fell back and hands came up to tangle in his hair, holding him in place as he rolled her nipple against the roof of his mouth with his tongue then slowly dragged his lips off, releasing it with an inaudible pop.

"It's Mike," she said, looking up at her.

"What?"

"If you're gonna call out someone's name, I want it to be mine. It turns me on."

"Really?" she asked looking down her body at him to see if he was joking. He didn't appear to be. His eyes were locked on hers and there was no trace of a smile on his face.

"Really. Especially when I make you come."

The words sent a tremble through her belly and she actually felt her inner muscles clench in anticipation. "All right...Mike."

He smiled back before lowering his head to her other nipple, trailing his hand down her belly to slide into the waistband of her jeans, teasing the elastic of her underwear with his fingertips. Her pants were snug and he couldn't get his hand in any further, so he pulled it back out and started to undo the button.

Katie put her hand over his and said, "Wait a second." He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow and the dark look in his eyes was enough to make her think twice about what she was about to say.

Before she could change her mind she took a deep breath and said in a rush, "Before this goes any further I need to tell you that I'm not on birth control and I don't have any condoms or anything and I just- I don't know you that well so we probably shouldn't- we can't have sex tonight" She took another deep breath, her gaze raking his bare upper body, and added, "as much as I really, really want to. We should probably just stick with...other things."

"Its okay," he said, shifting himself up so he could kiss lips her again. "If you want to, I mean, its okay. I have some condoms in my bag." He drew back to look her in the eyes to make sure she understood. "But it's totally up to you whether we use them."

He bent to press wet kisses along her jawbone and up to the hollow under her earlobe. At the same time he drew his hand up her side and slowly stroked the underside of her breast with his thumb. She shuddered at the sensation as he ran his tongue up along the edge of her ear.

"Really? You just travel around with condoms in your backpack?"

He chuckled as he gently probed the labrynth of her ear with his tongue, his hand gently squeezing her breast as his stroking thumb maintained a frustrating distance from the sensitive tip. She arched up against him urging him on, but he continued to tease her.

"No, I got them from Caleb this morning," he whispered before simultaneously sliding his tongue gently into her ear and finally clamping his warm fingers around her nipple.

"Oh, Jesus!" she gasped as her body jerked in his arms and her hands locked onto his upper arms. He pressed his body more firmly against her, as if offering her an anchor.

It took Katie a moment to absorb his words, she was so caught up in the physical sensations he was drawing from her body. But when she did finally realize what he'd said she froze and her eyes flew open in astonishment.

"Wait, what?" she asked, pushing his hands away to avoid distraction. "Why did you get condoms from Caleb?"

"Just in case-"

"Did he give you a high five and tell you good luck, too?"

"What? What are you-"

Suddenly a horrible thought occurred to her, taking instant hold. "Did you have this all planned out? Get me out here in the middle of nowhere and get in my pants?"

"Wait, are you serious?" Mike finally managed to ask, the confusion on his face turning to irritation.

"Divide and conquer, huh? Did you guys come up with it on the drive up?" she asked, finding her shirt and pulling it back on with shaking hands.

"Are you done with your conspiracy theories?"

"Oh, I'm done, alright," Katie said, shooting him a withering glare and turning to crawl out of the tent.

She was halfway out when Mike grabbed her by the hips and hauled her back inside. "Now hold on just a damn minute, you're being ridiculous," he said, flipping her over to look her in the eye.

She gasped and pushed him away, knocking his elbow out from under him. He lost his balance and fell against her and she started swinging at him with balled fists. He rolled away, but had to grab her wrists to keep her from hitting him and when he did; it was like someone flipped a switch. Suddenly she was all writhing movement.

"What the-"

"Let me go!" she shrieked, kicking at him and yanking her hands trying to get away. Mike held tighter, trying to keep her from striking him. He tried to back away, but the tent was so small there was nowhere to go. "Please, let me go!"

Something in her voice got his attention and when he looked at her face he could see nothing but wild-eyed panic. He released her immediately, holding his hands up and palms open in a gesture of surrender, turning his face away to avoid the blows she rained on him before she scrambled out of the tent and ran.

Almost as soon as she was out of the tent Katie realized what had happened. It wasn't the first time she'd reacted this way, but it had been a very long time since she'd allowed it to overwhelm her like this. She'd thought she had it under control, but clearly not. Once again her whole body was shaking and she knew from experience that the tears were going to come soon and she wouldn't be able to stop them.

"Shit, shit, shit..." she muttered to herself, pacing and shaking her hands to rid her body of nervous energy.

A quick glance over her shoulder told her Mike wasn't coming out after her and she was grateful; she didn't want him to see her crying and definitely didn't want to have to explain why. Not that he hadn't probably figured it out; he was a cop after all. She flushed with shame and embarrassment, grabbed her flashlight off the top of her pack, and ran.

Mike rolled onto his belly and watched her pace around the campsite, then stomp off into the woods. He'd been around enough victims to have a good idea of what had just happened and why. A wave of bitter anger swelled in his belly at whoever had hurt her, but even more than that he wanted to kick his own ass.

He should have just let her go, but at first he hadn't believed she really thought he and Caleb had really schemed like that. It didn't matter, he should have let her go, he sure as hell didn't have any right to grab her like that. His head dropped into his hands and he exhaled a heavy breath, cursing himself. He tongued the cut on his lip to check how bad it was, but it wasn't much. No more than he deserved, that's for sure.

He pulled his shirt back on and gave Katie a few minutes head start before following her into the woods to make sure she was alright. He found her at the overlook they'd visited earlier, sitting on the flat rock with her head buried in her arms like she was curled in a little ball. Mike swallowed past the lump in his throat and tamped down the urge to go to her and wrap his arms around her, figuring his comfort wouldn't be welcome. He left her to be alone for a bit and went back to the campsite.

Katie let the tears take over, knowing fighting them was useless. God knew she'd tried enough times over the years to know that. The anger would come next and that was always better than the tears. She almost looked forward to being able to rage and get it out.

She was surprised it took so little to trigger another panic attack. Intellectually she knew that Mike hadn't meant to hurt her, but unfortunately intellect had very little to do with it. When he'd dragged her in the tent she felt the fear start, but had already started to suppress it, force it back into the little hidden place in her brain where she usually kept it locked away. Then he'd grabbed her arms and she'd snapped.

She shook her head and stood up, pacing back and forth across the open space. She didn't want to think about it now, it wouldn't help. Nothing would help, not even time

apparently.

"Goddamn it!" she yelled into space. She picked up a rock sitting near her feet and threw it as hard as she could into the dark abyss, cursing loudly. And then another. And another. There was release in the physical effort of it and by the time she had cleared the entire overlook of small rocks and run through her entire vocabulary of expletives she felt a little bit better.

She sat down with a sigh and rested her chin on her fist, staring out over the valley. The wind was picking up and it was getting pretty chilly out here, but she didn't want to go back yet. Not until she figured out what the hell she was going to say to Mike. That thought brought another sigh. There wasn't anything she could say to fix it. Nobody wanted broken goods. The best she could hope for at this point was to be able to stay out here until he'd gone to bed. If she could do that she'd just have to get through a few awkward hours tomorrow and then she could go home and she'd never have to see him again.

She was just starting to wonder whether it would be safe to go back when she heard a cough from far off and loud tromping through the woods. She couldn't see him yet, but it was obviously Mike making sure she knew he was coming. Probably so she didn't attack him again. Katie groaned to herself and turned back to the overlook to wait for him.

He sat down next to her without a word and handed her a jacket and a warm mug full of what smelled like hot chocolate. This was not what she was expecting at all and as she slid her arms into the jacket she glanced over at him to get an idea of what the hell he was thinking.

"I'm sorry, Katie," he said, catching her eye.

The guilt and concern in his voice almost brought tears to her eyes again, but she bit them back and shook her head. "I overreacted," she said, her voice hoarse from crying and yelling.

"I shouldn't have grabbed you like that."

Katie shrugged and took a sip of the hot chocolate to cover for the fact that she didn't know what to say. It was delicious.

"Thank you," she said lifting the cup to indicate what she meant.

"I thought you might be cold."

"Yeah, it's chilly up here."

She shivered and Mike had to stop himself from putting an arm around her.

"I'm the one who should apologize," she finally said. "About that whole thing, the condoms and flipping out on you and everything. I guess I got embarrassed at the thought of you and Caleb talking about me and then..." she trailed off, again unsure what to say.

"You don't have to explain," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I scared you. And if it makes you feel any better I stole the condoms out of Caleb's bag without asking."

Katie snorted mirthlessly. "I hope you left him a few, those two don't need to procreate."

"What do you mean? That's exactly what the world needs, more irresponsible, over-packing horndogs."

She rewarded him with a half-smile and he smiled back. When she shivered again he held his arm out and she scooted under it, snuggling up next to his warmth. They sat in silence for a while, watching the stars spin slowly overhead while Katie finished the chocolate.

It was cold and she figured he was ready to go to bed, but she didn't want to move out from under the protective circle of his arm. Quite the contrary, his warm body seemed to be calling to her, begging her to wrap her arms around it and nestle in. She wondered at his ability to make her feel comfortable with him again so easily after what had

happened. It could have even been frightening if she didn't feel so calm, so...right.

She shifted a little to fit closer to him and he looked down at her. They stared at each other for a long moment and Katie's heart beat faster in anticipation, but at the last second he sighed and looked away.

"You ready to head back?" he asked, dropping his arm from her shoulders and taking the empty cup from her hand.

"Sure."

They got up and hiked the short distance back to camp in darkness, their eyes long since having adjusted to the starlight. The smell of the campfire drifting on the night air reached them before they got to the clearing, pine smoke with a hint of paper. When they reached its light Katie noticed he'd set her tent up for her.

Conflicting emotions flared in her. On one hand her heart swelled at the thought that he'd made an attempt to give her space and make her comfortable. On the other, she'd been encouraged by him coming to her on the overlook and was half hoping he would just forget what happened earlier, take her in his arms and keep her warm tonight.

"Thanks," she said, gesturing at the tent.

"No problem. Good night." With that he quickly turned and crawled into his tent.

Katie stood looking after him for a moment, plagued by guilt and regret. Well that was that, she'd actually liked him and now she'd run him off. As much as you could run off someone who was stuck in the woods with you. Not that she could blame him, she'd probably scared him to death with her histrionics. Why on earth would he want to risk a repeat of that scene?

She sighed and went to her tent where she smiled to see that Mike had even gone so far as to roll out her sleeping bag for her. Normally something like that would bug the crap out of her; she could set up her own damn tent thankyouverymuch. But coming from him it didn't seem condescending, it just seemed, well, sweet.

She crawled in and changed into her tank top and sweat pants, wishing she'd brought a spare long sleeved t-shirt since her other one had gotten so grubby. After digging fruitlessly in her bag for something warm and comfortable to wear her eyes fell on the fleece Mike had brought her earlier. She wrapped it around herself and lay down, closing her eyes as the smell of him surrounded her, making her feel safe.

Damn, she was in trouble. This guy had definitely gotten under her skin and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to just go home and forget about him. She fantasized for a moment about just walking over there, crawling into his tent, and screwing his brains out. He probably wouldn't kick her out of his bed and it might get him out of her system. Slowly the fantasy morphed into possibility. After all, tomorrow was going to be awkward regardless and she could still just go home and never see him again.

She peeked out to see if she could get a glimpse of him, but the fire had burned down to ashy embers and it was too dark. All she could see was the bottom of his sleeping bag hanging out of the opening of his tent. Maybe he was cold. Maybe he wanted his jacket back. Before she could think too much about what she was doing, she was out of her tent and halfway to his. Kneeling in the door she looked inside, barely making out the outline of his head looking up at her.

"I brought your jacket back."

He lifted up on one elbow and looked at her for a moment before reaching out a hand toward her. For a split second she thought he wanted her to hand him the jacket and go, but then he spoke.

"Come here."

His voice, low and soft, sent shivers down her spine. She crawled inside and his hand came up, wrapping around her neck and drawing her gently down to him as he lay back. Their lips met in a silent collision, knocking the breath from both of them. Mike held her loosely, hands wandering her back and neck in little tickling caresses.

She ran her tongue along his bottom lip and Mike flinched as Katie recognized a faint metallic taste. Blood. She pulled back and looked down at him, noticing for the first time the small swollen spot in the corner of his mouth where his lip was busted.

"Oh my God, did I-"

"It's okay," he said, smiling awkwardly. "You know, you've got a hell of a right hook. For a girl."

"I'm so sorry." Katie dropped her forehead to his shoulder, mortified, but his hands came up, lifting her face and forcing her to look at him. He didn't say anything, just smiled and kissed her again, gingerly avoiding the cut.

She tried to put her hands on him, but he was still in his sleeping bag. Without breaking the kiss she pulled the top back, the zipper hissing as she shoved the thick material away. Like a child opening a present her hands reached inside and found him warm and waiting. Her hands roamed his broad chest, teasing the tight hairs and tracing the hard curves of his muscles. Her fingertips found one pointed nipple and circled it a few times before rolling it between her fingers.

Mike jumped and nipped at her lower lip in response. He tightened his arms around her and pulled her on top of his body, kicking the sleeping bag off his feet. Katie settled against him, one leg sliding up between his where his erection was growing hard to ignore. She wiggled her hips against him and smiled at his low groan, but then his hands

came up to her hips, stilling her movements and shifting her to the side.

"Listen," he said, hesitantly.

Katie's heart fell and her smile disappeared. Oh God, he wanted to talk about it. She really really did not want to talk about it. Before he could continue she slid her hand down and slowly stroked his erection through his sweat pants, hoping to distract him. It worked, briefly. He made a noise in his throat and tightened his grip on her hips almost painfully as she circled his shaft with her hand and squeezed.

"Katie, wait," he said, breathlessly, pushing her hand away gently. "Just listen to me for a minute. I'm not gonna ask you to explain things or tell me anything you don't want to tell me."

"Okay," she whispered, relief flooding through her.

"But you were right earlier, I think we should just stick with messing around tonight. No sex."

"Look, I promise I'm not really crazy. Or at any rate I promise I'm not gonna freak out and cut your dick off or anything."