River Rapids - an Au Naturel naughty bit
The sky was overcast, the rushing water was a balmy 58 degress and Lizzy thought she must be an idiot to have accompanied her cousin's youth group on a tubing expedition down a cold mountain stream.
Her first mistake had been in accepting an invitation to North Carolina to visit her friend Charlotte. Char's sister, Mariah, had begged and pleaded Lizzy to go with her, because Lizzy was twenty, home from her third year at the University of Florida, and had her own car. Mariah was sixteen and without wheels. Lizzy had finally relented, although she dreaded spending time with her own cousin, the Rev. Billy Collins, who was Charlotte's husband.
Her second mistake was thinking she could avoid the odious William Darcy, Gainesville businessman, by leaving Florida far behind. No, she had to go to Misty Mountain, N.C., where Darcy's aunt, Mrs. Holier-Than-Thou de Bourgh, called the shots both in the town and at the Misty Mountain Community Church, where Billy was the pastor. And the man who had insulted her the day she had shadowed one of his employees a few months before was here visiting his aunt.
“What rotten luck,” she grumbled as the pre-teens in the youth group piled out of the church bus, life jackets and inner tubes in hand.
“You are going to lose those flip-flops, Lizzy,” one boy whispered as he stood, shivering, by her side. “So hold on to them instead of keeping them on your feet,” he advised. “You'll have them longer.”
She looked down at Jim's feet, firmly clad in water shoes. Char had assured her they were an unnecessary expense, but now Lizzy was not so sure.
Before she could reply, a truck pulled up and out jumped two men. One, William Darcy, to be exact, held a camera and Lizzy turned her back as he aimed it toward her. The nerve of him!
“Smile!” Darcy told Jim, who grinned widely.
“You gonna tube with us, Will?” he asked.
“Nope. I'd freeze my… anyway,” he hastily amended, suddenly aware that ladies were present and this was a church group. “But now that I see who is along for the fun, perhaps I will.”
“Too late,” Rick Fitzwilliam hollered, hoisting a tube out of the truck bed. “Aunt Cathy said one of us had to go with the group and the other had to police the river from the road, in case there was a problem. Will lost the toss.”
Lizzy laughed and watched as Rick threw his tube in the river with a group of giggling girls, and Char. Billy went with the next few, leaving Lizzy to bring up the rear.
“See you on the river,” Will called right before snapping one last picture of her in her t-shirt and cutoff shorts. He climbed into the cab of the truck without a backward glance and was peeling out of the drop-off parking lot before Lizzy and Jim could even get in the water.
“Hmpf!” Lizzy thought Darcy was just too obnoxious for words, but as she and Jim and some of his friends floated downstream, the boys told her how Will had built them a tree house last year, and how he had organized a hayride and cookout on his visit the previous autumn.
Lizzy found herself confronted with a different picture of Darcy, forcing her to change her view of him at least a little. By the time the kids had rounded a bend in the river and floated out of sight, she had admitted to herself that he was an OK person. And that he was a very sexy devil.
One frustrated hour later, having caught up with the youngsters and lost them again (she was the one getting caught on rocks and having the hell bashed out of her tailbone), it started to rain.
“That's it!” she ranted, her pleasant feelings about everything, including Darcy, dissolving in the misty drizzle. “I can't take this any more!” she shouted. Pulling her tube out of the water, she found a large rock for a seat and let tears of frustration wash down her cheeks. Not only was she cold and wet, but she had a steep bank to haul herself up, and she was too tired take that challenge just yet.
“Elizabeth?”
Lizzy lifted her drooping head. Had someone called her name? It was hard to hear over the roar of the rushing water.
“Lizzy?”
The voice was louder now, and there was a rustling sound coming from the trees growing out of the side of the bank, followed by some mild cursing. Darcy's face suddenly peered at her through the tall grass.
“Are you all right?” Concern was written all over his handsome features. (OK, so she was suddenly back to thinking his dark curly hair and brown eyes were sexy.)
“I'm bruised, beaten and battered from the rocks, I've lost my shoes, I've lost the kids and I'm completely soaked. What do you think?”
“Don't worry about the kids. The church bus came by when it started to rain and took everyone home. I said I'd come get you, and Char said there was no hurry.”
“Oh. Thanks.” She felt suddenly deflated.
Darcy sat down at her feet, heedless of his nice Dockers shorts, and she noticed that the rain had plastered his shirt to his chest.
“You're cold!”
“I-I-I-I'm not…” Lizzy denied, her teeth chattering. A glance down revealed that her nipples were broadcasting the same message as her teeth and she hastily crossed her arms over such a telltale sign.
“If you say so… Be right back.”
There was more rustling and cursing as Darcy went up the steep bank and down again, this time with a waterproof bag.
“I have a dry shirt or two in here,” he said, handing her the bag. “You really should get out of those wet clothes.” At least the rain had stopped.
“Here?” She looked down to see that her nipples were betraying her once again, this time due to impure thoughts concerning one William Darcy. Traitors!
“I won't look, unless you let me.”
“Why, Darcy! I didn't know you cared!” Her tone was sarcastic, but he took it in stride. In fact, the look he gave her in reply could have created hot springs in a tidal pool. Her own tidal pool suddenly overflowed.
“You can watch,” she said. “Watch for anyone who might see me.”
Darcy groaned, but he only agreed and suggested they move into the tall grass up next to the bank, a natural screen against motorists, hikers, fishermen and tubers.
“You really want to watch?” she asked just as she was about to pull her shirt off over her head.
“I've been wanting to do more than watch since we've met.” They relocated to the grassy area and she stripped off her shirt. He busied himself searching for dry clothes while she shucked off her shorts and one-piece swimsuit, but paused when he realized she was naked, the grass swaying about her in the after-rain breeze.
“You are cold,” he said stripping off his own shirt. “I wish I had thought to bring matches for a fire - but I'll be damned if I'm going up that bank yet again. Come here. What you need is a good toweling.”
He produced the necessary terrycloth and began to rub it up and down her arms in a brisk manner.
“Hmmm…” She felt hot already, and she was sure it had nothing to do with her damp (very damp in some places) body.
“Warmer? I think you need some body heat.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Better?”
“Not quite.” Lizzy boldly tilted her face up to his in blatant invitation and heat flared when their mouths met.
Fusing their lips together, however, wasn't quite enough for either of them - the rest of their bodies felt neglected, and, in Darcy's case, he was still wearing wet shorts. He put a hand between them and unbuttoned that offending article of clothing and Lizzy obligingly pulled them and a pair of small, now-tight, low-cut briefs off all at once.
In unspoken consent, the towel was spread out in the grass and Lizzy was laid out gently on top of it.
She ignored the rounded river rocks underneath as Darcy's hand covered one of her breasts, and the incessant buzzing of insects became an accompaniment to her moans of pleasure as his lips captured one of her traitorous nipples.
The sun made a brief appearance as they joined together, warming Darcy's backside and the tops of Lizzy's hands as she did some exploration of her own. And when they reached the top of a mountain of desire together, the roar of the rapids swallowed their cries.
Her mind as hazy as the mist that now covered the banks, Lizzy forgot all about the cold, the rocks, and the insects as she traced his jawline with one finger. She had just made love to William Darcy in broad daylight alongside a river and the feeling was fine.
“You OK?” Darcy murmured, taking his weight off her by rolling over into the grass, stretching her on top of him.
“Never better,” she said dreamily. “Gives a whole new meaning to tubing, doesn't it?” She heard a few shouts of laughter and looked over to see a group of people floating by.
He chuckled and held her head to his chest while he stroked her hair and whispered how long he had been waiting for this moment. She had never felt so wanted.
A while later, when the wind felt cold on her bottom, he helped her dress in a dry shirt and pair of shorts. They were too big, but she managed to hold them in place while he dressed and they got her tube, the bag and themselves up the steep embankment and into the truck.
“Lizzy… will you go out with me tonight?” he wondered as he pulled out onto the road. “We need to talk.”
“About this?”
“Yes, this. And a whole lot more. Didn't you ever wonder why I'm here the same time you are?”
“No. I thought you always came up this time of year.”
“I wasn't supposed to be here for another twenty-one days, but your sister Jane told me you were here, so I made arrangements back home to take the week off at the last minute.” He paused. “I came just to be with you.”