Since my eyes were shut, I didn’t see her come back with the pine branches. Or the two logs, on what must have been her second trip. I did sit up and try and help while she put together a lean-to, but I wasn’t much use. In the meantime, the rain didn’t let up at all so when we were done, we were sprawled on wet plastic under wet branches in wet clothes.
Sandra lay there a moment, then groaned. “Oh, great, I managed to forget to check your ankle.” She started to wiggle out but stopped when I put my hand on her arm.
“Let’s just let it wait until it stops raining. It’s already swollen.” I tried to smile but wasn’t too successful, judging from her expression.
It was around this time that it finally dawned on me that she was pressed up against me, her uniform clinging wetly to both of us. Those kissable lips were inches away. Did I dare? But maybe this wasn’t the time. My ankle throbbed and my clothes were sticking to the plastic. A few drops of rain trickled down through the branches into my eye. I shut both of them and tried to think pure thoughts. I ended up thinking about deforestation again, and another tear ran down my cheek before I could wipe it away.
Sandra sighed. “All right, so I get it about the trees. But do you really think that sitting in a platform in the biggest tree in this forest until you fall out is really going to do anything?”
“As opposed to doing the lumber company’s dirty work and forcing us out?” I snorted and stopped crying. “Yes, of course we can accomplish something: it gets press and attention and then people find out what’s going on. These are old-growth trees. Don’t you care? I thought that’s what being a ranger was all about.” That and the babes. But I didn’t say that part out loud. I also didn’t mention how much I used to dream about being a ranger when I grew up, back when I was a kid. More of a kid.
Sandra tucked her arm under her head and studied me like I was a new species of beetle or something. Her expression was thoughtful and managed to be distant, even though we were all of six inches apart. “Not exactly. It’s about educating people about nature and protecting the animals. Looking out for forest fires. And working for the Park Service, which is part of the federal government, also means following its rules and regulations, including the ones that cover timber sales on public land.”
I shivered. Then shivered again. Maybe it was getting colder. Or maybe I was just wet and sore and tired. And disappointed. This was as close as I’d ever gotten to a real ranger, and I wanted her to understand. I wanted it very badly. I wrapped my arms around as much of myself as I could reach and tried to think warm thoughts.
There was a flash overhead and I jumped. Then, I was being pulled close and held. Ranger Sandra had reached out and touched someone, namely me. I was pressed up against her warm, wet cotton shirt, her full breasts smushed into mine. I scooted in closer, letting my hips and legs rest against hers. I buried my face in her shoulder, my heart racing. What if this didn’t mean what I hoped it meant?
We lay like that for a while, letting our bodies settle into each other. I could feel her heartbeat and the rhythm of her breathing. The pressure of her body against mine was making me ache, but in a good way. I wanted to take the next step, let my hands wander, let my mouth find hers. But I was too chicken. So instead, I just lay there and imagined what it would be like.
Apparently she was wondering too. Her hand slid carefully around my shoulders and slowly down my back, leaving a trail of gooseflesh as it went. I could feel her face turn and her lips brush the skin of my neck. “Nice tat.” Her voice took on a husky growl that went straight through me, melting my bones and everything else on the way. Soon I wasn’t just wet from the rain. I turned my face toward hers and she kissed me.
I kissed back, letting my lips part under hers, welcoming her tongue into my mouth. I twined mine in hers, savoring her fruity, rich taste. We shifted and she broke off the kiss. I gasped as she trailed her tongue over the damp skin of my neck, exploring the vine tattoo that ran down my neck and over my shoulder.
I moved my fingers up to the buttons on her shirt and began to unbutton them, trying not to make an idiot of myself. I was getting to touch an actual park ranger, and not just any ranger but the hottest one ever. I stopped unbuttoning so I could caress the fabric of her shirt. The wet cloth rolled between my fingers, softer and tougher than anything I’d ever caressed before.
Sandra bit my breast through my shirt, pulling a moan up from somewhere around my toes, which in turn made me move my ankle. “Ow!” I pulled away, reached down and banged my head on one of the lean-to branches. Perfect. “Smooth” was my middle name today.
“Oh, crap, I forgot.” Sandra wiggled away, leaving a big aching empty space in her wake. I whimpered. Then I yelped as she started unlacing my boot. “All right. This is going to hurt.” I started to brace myself, but it was too late. She yanked and the boot came off in her hand. At the same time, she slipped in the mud and landed in a puddle out in the downpour hammering the woods around us.
We stared at each other and she threw her head back and started to laugh. She had a rich, hearty laugh that shook her whole body. The rain poured into her mouth and down her face and through her hair, transforming her from ranger to nature goddess. I stared at her, wondering if I could crawl out to her, lick the drops off her skin, bury my face between her legs and drink her in until we floated away in the rain.
She tilted her head back up and grinned at me. Then she moved over to check my ankle. She grabbed something out of her pack that made my heart sing: namely, a first-aid kit. Of course. I might just be in love.
A few moments of bone-jarring pain later, and my ankle had been sprayed down with something cool and numbing and tightly wrapped. I reached out and grabbed her hand just as she finished up. “Beautiful and competent, does it get any better than that?” She raised an eyebrow and I buried my face in my hands. “Oh, god, that was sooo cheeseball!”
She unlaced my other boot then turned them both upside down so they wouldn’t fill up with water. She did the same with hers before she crawled back in. We stared at each other for a moment. “Thanks,” I said, finally.
Then she was in my arms, and we were kissing and biting each other’s lips, tearing off our clothes with no time to savor the feel of fabric—or to think about fantasies coming true. Our bodies slid together, slick with desire and mud and the rain that showed no signs of letting up. I gripped her thigh between mine, riding her muscles so that her skin and my clit ground into a spicy mix that sent shocks through the rest of my body.
Sandra bent her head to take my nipple into her mouth, and the suction of her lips pulled every nerve ending I had up with it. My back arched as I buried my fingers in her hair, marveling at how soft it was. She tongued my nipple against her teeth and I grabbed for her breast, desperate to make her feel what I felt.
She caught my hand and pushed it back to pin it over my head. Then I could feel her free hand on my thigh, stroking my skin on its way to where I nearly begged her to touch me. A few seconds more, and I knew I would be pleading with her. I ached inside so much that it felt like nothing was ever going to fill me up. That thought hit me at the same time that she released my wrist and slid lower on me.
I watched—well, gasped for breath really—as she positioned herself between my legs, her naked butt exposed to the rain. Then she swiped her tongue up and over the general vicinity of my clit and suddenly I was on fire. Her tongue circled and I bucked against her mouth as her fingers found their way inside me. Her tongue swirled and caressed while her hand thrust into me until I surrendered completely to the wave of sensation. I came against her hungry mouth, my muscles convulsing so hard, I nearly brought the lean-to down on our heads.