Page 35 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
"Haveyou or any of your cousins come here yet for the summer?" she asked,catching a peek of the crystal turquoise water as they rounded the boulders.
“Yeah,a few weeks ago before you got here. It's kind of a tradition amongst thekids,” he informed her. “The girls go on one day and then the guys."
Sanapursed her lips to keep from frowning. For some irrational reason, it botheredher knowing other people besides her and Zach knew about this place.
Lettinggo of her hand, Zach scaled the large flat rocks with easy bounding steps untilhe stood at the top of the highest boulder surveying the area. Sticking tosafe, flat ground, Sana walked around the rock formation until she stood at theedge of the crystal waters. Just looking at the beautiful clear water and theneat striations of rock along the inner wall of the deep pond evaporated anylingering tension from her body, allowing her shoulders to ease comfortably.
Grabbingthe end of his shirt, Zach pulled off the dark green t-shirt he wore and tossedit somewhere behind him on the flat rock he stood on. "Come on, let's getin," he called down to her with a grin.
Sanablinked, and all the tension returned to her body in a flash. Bigger and tallerthan he was last year, Zach's exposed body made her mouth suddenly very dry.The corded muscles from his forearms she already perfectly mapped in her mindled to muscular upper arms that appeased her on a very primal level. He wasgorgeous.
Usingthe wide flat rock for its newly nature-given purpose, Zach dived gracefullyinto the crystal clear depths. Using the opportunity, Sana quickly shimmied outof her shorts and t-shirt leaving her clad in her one-piece swimsuit, the sameone she wore last summer. The reminder of the first time she wore the swimsuithere brought back memories of the gangly wolf she saw sitting on the very samerock. Looking away from Zach's slow swimming ascent to the surface, her eyesscanned the forest around them. Was the wolf still around these parts ofDruther's forest, or did it migrate elsewhere, maybe even finding another packof wolves to join? The thought made her smile.
"Whatare you smiling at?" Surfacing to her right near the rocky ledge, Zachgripped the jagged surface with one hand. His long fingers securing himselfeasily to the side, making it so that he did not have to tread water. Pushinghis wet, midnight locks out of his face, his golden eyes scanned her up anddown, slowly starting from her feet, taking in every detail of her exposed bodyinch-by-inch. Sana felt her skin heat from the blatant inspection.
Lookingaway while doing her best not to appear affected by his stare, she found thelittle break in the rocks where the water lapped at the sandy dirt. Stickingone foot into the clear water, Sana hopped back with a tiny yelp. The water wasfreezing!
"That'swhy you need to jump in completely," Zach chuckled. He had one of his armsfolded along the edge of the quarry pool while one arm propped up his head asif he were sitting at a desk looking bored and not in a quarry pond in themiddle of the forest. "Doing it slow like that is just going to feel liketorture."
Steppingaway from the pool completely, she threw him a scowl as she walked the edge ofthe pool, considering her options. "Well," she began thoughtfully."I'm not going to jump in from that rock ledge because one, I don't thinkI could get up there without help and my shoes, and two, I'm not a very strongswimmer." Just imagining herself dunking into the cold, deep water madeher panic a little.
Unfoldinghis arms, Zach pushed himself up with ease on the rocky ledge. Like magnets,her eyes gravitated towards his bare arms and chest as his muscles responded tothe action. Again, she found her mouth suddenly dry as she watched as a rippleof strength moved over his taut brown skin. Working in beautiful harmony, thebulging knot of muscles in his biceps stretched while his shoulders and chestcontracted into a dense wall of sculpted flesh. Lifting himself high, like agymnast lifting himself on the pommel horse, Zach pulled himself withpreternatural grace from the water. Doing her best to ignore the water thatsluiced hypnotically down his defined abs, Sana waited as he came to stand nextto her. Grabbing her hand in his, his fingers tightened over hers until theirhands made one combined fist.
"WouldI let anything happen to you?" There was a startling depth to his questionthat pulled her attention to his, forcing her to look directly into thosepiercing golden eyes.
Tinyblack pupils set in pools of never-ending gold, his stare made Sana shudder.There was something primal about his stare that made her feel exposed andcornered all at once. It was as if he could see past her defenses and straightto her secrets.
Unableto withstand the pressure of his eyes, Sana averted her gaze and looked down attheir laced hands. "No…it's just that…" Her words trailed off, shewasn't sure what to say. What could she say that he probably couldn't alreadyfigure out himself? She was scared, just like she was scared and cautious ofeverything, something her mother made sure to instill in her, and not for thefirst time, the realization of that character flaw within her disappointedSana.
"Come,"he urged her, tugging lightly on her hand.
Leadingher around the quarry until they were near the deep end, just below the largediving rock, Zach positioned her at the edge next to him.
"Onthree," he smiled at her, and Sana felt her chest tighten with nervousexcitement.
Noddingin reply, she kept her eyes on his as he began to count.
"One.Two…Three!"
Asone, they jumped into the freezing water sinking below the surface. The shockof the cold would have stolen her breath if she hadn’t sealed her lipspainfully close. Opening her eyes, Sana blinked at the surreal image aroundher. Warbling silence filled her ears as the turquoise world around hershimmered to life around her. Still holding her hand, Zach kept her close asthey sank a little deeper. His black hair floated like a black ink cloud aroundhis face making her wonder what her own hair was doing. Despite the lack ofair, Zach gave her a beaming grin that told her without words he was proud ofher. Excitement bubbled through her, and she smiled back. Tugging her closeruntil his forehead touched hers, she felt the pressure of his lips skim herclosed mouth. Without the need for communication, they both began to kick atthe water and pushed themselves back to the top, surfacing with gasping breathsand laughs.
Fornearly half an hour, Zach swam with her hand and hand, tugging her down to thebottom of the pool and back to the top. By the time Zach led her from the pooland guided her to the large flat, diving rock Sana was exhausted. Making thetrip back down the rocky ledge Zach gathered both of their things and broughtthem back up. With their towels spread along the hard surface, they laid sideby side in languid silence, watching the clouds through the canopy of leavesabove.
Spreadingout her hair above her like a fan, Sana savored the feel of the heat from therock beneath her. Yet, it was the smooth press of firm flesh touching her armthat dominated her attention. Closing her eyes, Sana breathed deeply and waitedas Zach began to stir next to her. Instinctively, she knew she wouldn't have towait long for his touch to come. In silent agony, she waited in the darkness.Her breathing evening out into a steady calm rhythm while the nerves in herbody lit up in anxious suspense.
Thekiss landed on her collarbone, and Sana couldn't stop the small sound of needthat escaped her throat.
Alow growl rumbled above her snapping her eyes open in alarm, but the feeling offear quickly transformed into wild heat as she felt Zach's mouth cover thepulse at her throat. His warm mouth suckled at her flesh before teasing hissharp teeth across the tender skin.
"Zach,"she breathed desperately as her body shuddered.
"Don'tworry, I won't mark you," he growled into her neck as his hand skimmedalong the edge of her wet swimsuit. "Though, everything in me wantsto."
Sanatried to push at his chest above her, but it was useless, it was like trying topush a brick wall. "You can't," she protested. "If my mothersaw-"
Herwords were cut off with his lips. Sinking into the warmth of her mouth, Zachdelved his tongue against hers as his hand settled gently on her breast. Thelight feathery touch of his hand versus the strong dominating movements of hismouth on hers acted as fuel for her body as it ignited beneath his. Theconsuming heat he caused within her core traveled to her breasts, making themheavy and tender while her mouth became pliant and willing beneath his.
"Jesus,"Zach pulled away with a harsh whisper, his eyes positively glowing in thelight. "You're driving me crazy."
