Page 31 of The Office Games

“How do you know that for sure?”

He laughs as if that’s a good enough response.

“How do you know aboutthe bears, James?”

“Just trust me,” he says, rolling over to face me. “You can stop holding the frying pan against your chest. That wouldn’t be much help if we got attacked anyway.”

I nod, but I tighten my grip on the pan’s handle.

He still hasn’t clarified how he knows about the bears…

“You look like you’re on edge,” he says. “Didn’t you ever go camping as a kid?”

“No…Actually, the closest thing was this summer camp where we stayed in cabins in the woods.” I pause, stunned that the memory came through crystal clear. I feel like I’m right back at Lake Ottawa, and none of nature’s beautiful, sky-high pines are enough to make me forget how ugly the experience is.

“I hated every moment of it,” I say, picturing the endless messy lunches. “I couldn’t stop spraying every bug I saw, the counselors encouraged us to pee in the lake instead of ‘wasting time’ by running to the restrooms, and all the boys teased me for being afraid of lightning bugs.”

“I see.” James sounds like he’s on the verge of laughter. “Was there anything about camping you liked?”

“The s’mores.”

“Of course…”

“It would really make me feel a lot better if you could circle back around and explain how you know the bears won’t get us if we fall asleep. I might be able to relax.”

“I doubt that’ll help you at all.” He tosses off his blanket and sits up. “But if you must know, their top food sources are at least a hundred miles away from us, and this is their hibernation season.”

“Yeah.” I shake my head. “That doesn’t really soothe me at all.”

“I’m aware.” He moves closer to me. “Off the record, have you ever thought about me at night?”

“Like, murdering you?”

“Like fucking me…”

“What?” I suck in a breath and feel all the color draining from my face.

“Have you…” he speaks slower, looking directly into my eyes. “Ever thought about fucking me?”

“No…”

“Never?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Okay, Taryn,”he whispers, leaning close enough to kiss me. “Well, I think about fucking you every single day.”

I bite my lip as he presses his mouth against my neck, gently darting his tongue against my skin.

His hand comes up to my stomach and gently pushes my body down so my back is resting on the sleeping bag.

Caught off guard, I remain still as he sweeps soft kisses against my skin.

As he nears the waistband of my sweats, he pauses and looks into my eyes, silently asking for permission before pushing them down and removing them.

He smiles at my lacy pink panties before kissing the soft fabric.

Just when I think he's going to remove them, he doesn't. He pushes them to the side and pushed two fingers deep inside me.

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