Chapter Fourteen #2
Mo didn’t let her finish, instead bolting toward her pack.
Aspen watched as she pulled out a lightweight backpacking towel, tossing it haphazardly in the direction of the water.
Then, without much forethought, Mo began stripping off her clothes.
Aspen stood in shock, watching as Mo expertly removed her hiking shirt, leaving only a crisscrossed black sports bra in its wake.
Then Mo walked a few feet toward the water, unbuttoning her hiking pants as she moved before stopping to slide the fabric down over her small but round butt and lanky legs.
Something dropped out of Mo’s pocket as the pants hit the ground, but Aspen was too distracted by all the skin on display to let her know.
Aspen’s eyes zeroed in on her butt, accentuated perfectly by her tight black boxer briefs.
She couldn’t stop her eyes from moving up Mo’s lean back, letting her mind wander to thoughts of scraping her nails up and down the length of her.
Mo turned in her direction, but instead of listening to whatever the woman was saying, Aspen let her eyes wander over Mo’s small but round breasts and down her lean stomach.
She wondered what it would feel like to run her fingers underneath the band of Mo’s boxer briefs, how Mo’s muscles might react to her touch.
The thought of it all was arousing Aspen in an almost painful way, causing her to squirm where she stood.
“Aspen?” Mo’s worried voice finally caught her attention.
“Yeah?” Aspen croaked back, looking up to meet Mo’s eyes.
“Are you coming in fully clothed?” Mo asked, a disappointed look behind her cheeky smile.
“No.” Aspen laughed softly, reaching her hands down to grab the tight fabric at her waist.
She pulled up easily, awkwardly removing her hiking shirt.
Aspen had been ashamed of her body in her teenage years but found herself more comfortable in it as she aged.
Her ex-husband had never had qualms with her weight, instead being very vocal about how much he loved her butt.
But after her divorce, she had a few fleeting moments of wondering if she should be trying to slim down.
The first woman she had slept with had washed away all that worry, kissing every inch of her with a reverence that Aspen had never experienced, allowing her to finally fully love the way she was.
Fat and all.
“Do you mind if I take off my bra?” Mo asked, her fingers under the band in the front.
“Not at all,” Aspen assured, licking and biting her lip in anticipation. “If you don’t mind—”
“No, no! Please do.” Mo had read her mind, pulling her bra off and tossing it back toward her pack before moving toward the water.
Aspen didn’t want to be left behind, so she stripped off her pants before reaching around to unclip her own sports bra, letting it drop where she stood. She then followed Mo into the water, shivering as soon as the coolness reached her midthigh. “It’s just like I thought. So fucking cold!”
“Nah.” Mo leaned down so only her head was above water. “I think it feels good. Especially after all that hiking.”
“Hot springs water would feel good, this is…” Aspen moved forward slowly. She looked up and saw Mo watching her intently, the woman’s eyes fully on her chest. She could feel herself blushing under the attention. “This is just cold.”
“You are…” Mo began, her eyes still on Aspen as she reached where she was kneeling. “Absolutely stunning.”
“Thank you,” Aspen responded, kneeling down next to Mo as her body slowly acclimated to the water. Mo grinned wide, just staring happily at Aspen in the afternoon sun.
Aspen giggled, feeling beyond comfortable just wading next to her at this moment. “God, you are so cute.”
“We should have brought soap. Wait, can we even use soap?”
“Not directly in the water, no,” Aspen said, shifting slightly closer to Mo. “I have some biodegradable stuff we can use to freshen up or clean the dishes, but we use that outside of the creek. I can show you how to leave the least amount of impact on the environment.”
“Ooh, talk nerdy to me.”
Aspen threw her head back in laughter.
“All joking aside,” Mo said, moving even closer to Aspen, only inches between them. “I am thankful you’re here.”
“Even if you tried to scare me away?” Aspen asked, a tad breathless, moving so that she was fully facing Mo, their bodies now touching ever so slightly.
“I’m sorry about that.”
Mo’s breath was on Aspen’s face as she slowly swallowed her nerves, her heart beating rapidly at how close they were now. Under the water her thighs were touching Mo’s, so she slowly moved her arms to hover over her shoulders before asking, “Can I?”
“Please,” Mo murmured, allowing Aspen to hang her wrists over Mo’s shoulders and against her neck.
This pulled their torsos together, and Aspen let out a tiny moan at the feeling of being pressed against Mo fully, the warmth of her body staving off the coolness she had just been complaining about.
Mo’s hands snaked comfortably onto Aspen’s hips, just above the band of her boy-shorts.
She looked up, curious to see what Mo’s reaction was.
The attraction Aspen found in the taller woman’s eyes was intensely alluring, and her focus trailed down to Mo’s lips, soft and inviting.
They stayed like this for a few long moments, both of them obviously enjoying the closeness.
Her hands moved to feel down her neck to her shoulders, then back up again, stalling around Mo’s jawline, where her fingers lightly played with the short hairs behind Mo’s ears.
Mo closed her eyes, her breathing beginning to quicken.
“Can I—” was all Aspen could get out before Mo leaned forward, ending her question with a light kiss.
Aspen deepened the contact, moaning at just how good Mo’s soft lips felt against her own.
Like they belonged together. She couldn’t get enough, working diligently to deepen the kiss, loving that Mo was already moving her hands up and down Aspen’s back, leaving a trail of goose bumps in their wake.
Just as much as Aspen’s body pushed her to continue the kissing, hoping desperately that it would lead to something more, her mind was telling her to slow down.
To check in verbally with Mo about what this meant.
About how this changed things.
Their mouths parted naturally, and Mo leaned in close, allowing Aspen to feel her smile against her neck. “That was…”
“Good,” Aspen finished for her, languidly trailing her fingertips along Mo’s neck.
“Better than good,” Mo corrected, pulling back to look into Aspen’s eyes. “But I gotta tell you something.”
That phrase had Aspen’s nerves rapidly coiling in her chest, so she nodded nervously.
“You were right, it is fucking cold.” Mo chuckled before tilting her head toward shore. “Do you mind if we stop and get warm? Maybe start dinner?”
Aspen was both relieved and disappointed. “I told you so!”
Then she leaned in and gave Mo a chaste kiss before reaching down to grab her hands and tug her toward the shore.
* * *
Dinner was pretty uneventful, which was fine by Aspen, as it allowed her a bit of breathing room from their kiss in the creek.
Aspen knew it was inevitable. The two of them had enormous amounts of chemistry, held back by their individual willpower.
What she hadn’t known was that she was going to love it this much.
Or that Mo, a woman wounded so deeply by the death of her wife, was going to be this blasé about it.
Mo acted like this was something they had been doing the entire time, nary a hint to how she was feeling about it. And it bugged Aspen.
The last piece of wood had finished burning up in the fire.
They were sitting in the comfortable silence that the cool air provided, watching the final embers dim down to almost nothing.
It was a little past nine o’clock, and the wind made forty-eight degrees feel like thirty-eight.
Aspen took in a deep breath before looking toward Mo, watching her watch the fire for a few precious moments.