I Vid. I Write. I Fangirl.

Alex was a sensual mastermind.

He might be new to sex, but he certainly knew his way around kissing a woman’s body, Poppy thought.

Because after whispering the most delicious words in her ear, he didn’t simply pull back and kiss her lips, no. He kissed the shell of her ear and tugged on her ear lobe with his teeth, making her gasp.

He kissed her jaw line from by her ear to near her chin, making her breathe heavier and inevitably grab at his body.

She felt his smile when she did that, but she didn’t care. He was trying to get her to unwind, to relax, and to feed her arousal until she was desperate for him.

And it was working.

“Ale-” she tried on another gasp, but he only dragged her bottom lip towards him with his teeth before drawing her closer, forcing her to pull him in and kiss him the way she wanted to.

Poppy moaned and started to lay back on the sleeping bag, bringing him with her. She spread her legs easily to make room for him, and he settled into the new space.

They kissed a while longer, Poppy’s hands exploring Alex’s shoulders and back, her calves wrapping around his hips, her heels digging into his ass.

Alex grunted from the sensation, propped up above her. They weren’t just kissing and exploring in order to get to the penetration portion, to be turned on enough to get there. They were doing it because they wanted to. Because they’d been looking forward to it since the waterfall – or really, since the first time they fucked and woke up wanting more. And that made all the difference.

Poppy turned her head slightly away from the intoxicating kisses to catch her breath and slow her heart rate maybe, but Alex didn’t falter. He wasn’t offended and didn’t object.

Instead, he used the opportunity to kiss her jaw again, and then kiss her neck, her collarbones, her shoulders. He kissed the slope of each breast and then the peak, swirling his tongue around her nipples and making her practically levitate off the ground, her fingers tangling in his hair.

“Alex. Mm, that feels so good,” she purred, as he smirked and continued his descent.

He kissed the underside of each breast, then down her stomach, leaving wet, hot kisses an inch or two apart until he reached her navel. Then he blew lightly on the wet marks he’d left and saw as Poppy shivered underneath his touch.

Then, he continued down her body, kissing each hip, then just below her belly button, then right at the top of her mound, breathing hotly against her glistening folds.

Poppy whined slightly, not knowing if she was more overwhelmed from his touch or the near-touch by her pussy’s surface.

“My god, how are you doing this?” she cried softly, clutching her fingers in her own hair as her body rose and fell in its impatience. “I thought you didn’t know how.”

“It’s just kissing, Poppy,” Alex teased, licking a line around her lower lips before licking his own from the taste.

Poppy hissed.

“M-more,” she heard herself begging. “More, please.”

Alex chuckled, but it was a little bit strained.

“Actually, uh,” he cleared his throat before kissing the inside of her knee. “I was hoping you could guide me through this part.” He kissed the other knee.

Oh.

Poppy lifted her head and opened her eyes.

“Oh, are you ready?”

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and then looked down at his own body. The weight and feel of his cock was hard and heavy. He could tell that just from where it leaned against the sleeping bag. But that wasn’t what he meant.

“I am,” he said, carefully. “More than. But uh, I want to…” He blushed a little. “I want to eat you out, Poppy.”

In that moment, Alex’s blush was nothing compared to hers. Her heart was pounding, and embarrassment flooded through her, but the lust and genuine desire was evident in Alex’s eyes. He wanted to do this. He wanted to learn. And maybe just wanted to pleasure her just for the sake of it?

Wouldn’t that be nice.

“Oh. Um.” She licked her lips. “Are you sure? Because you don’t have to. I’m turned on enough to get going, believe me.”

“No, I can tell that.” He smirked, and Poppy was sure she was red from head to toe. “But I want to, and I can tell that you…you want me to, don’t you?”

Poppy groaned and covered her face with her hands.

“God, this is so embarrassing.”

She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye.

“Pop, it’s not,” Alex said softly. “Don’t be embarrassed about you want. You gave me a hell of a blow job this morning. I’m just…returning the favor.”

Poppy removed her hands and opened one eye.

“You’re sure?”

He chuckled hotly.

“Positive.” He grabbed one of her hands and flipped it over to kiss her palm. “Show me. Talk me through it.”

Poppy licked her lips and nodded.

“Okay.”

“Okay.” His smile softened.

“Scoot down,” she instructed, scooting up a little herself due to the size of the tent. “I’m just going to quasi-sit, so you have room.”

“Alright.”

“Get on your stomach, and…” She licked her lips. “I’ll spread my legs some more.”

She saw as his adam’s apple bobbed and felt all sorts of sensations.

“Now.” She took a breath. “Lean down and use your tongue to push into my pussy.”

He lapped at the lining of her folds for a moment, then did as instructed. He said something then that she assumed was for confirmation that he was doing it right, as muffled as it was.

“Uh-huh, yeah,” she returned, swallowing hard as the sweat started to form on her arms and legs. “Now feel around for a little nub, almost like a button, and – oh, my god.”

She reached blindly and caught hold of a handful of Alex’s hair and held on tight, pulling him deeper into her.

“Now, just swirl your tongue around – yes, yes, yes. Fuck!”

Her arms gave out, and the tent leaned back where her head rested.

Alex reached for her hand, and Poppy reached back, intertwining their fingers and holding on tight.

Poppy tipped her head up then and watched as his head moved up and down, his nose doing a number on her too, right at the hood of her folds. But that tongue of his – hell. He was a fast learner and there was no denying that. When he started experimenting with sucking her clit, she nearly lost her sanity all together.

He used his other hand to lift one leg over his shoulder, and then untangled his other hand from her to do the same with her other leg. Then he yanked her a bit closer, and Poppy yelped as she slipped back down onto the sleeping bag and Alex continued to lap her up, to swirl his tongue around her clit, to repeatedly hit her most sensitive mark over and over and over again.

And then, it sparked like a rocket no more than a minute later. Poppy jerked up, and her limbs jerked too. She bucked hard against his face, but he kept going, kept flicking his tongue on the tip of her clit and along the sides too, until she was melting and unbearably sensitive, and sighing from the sensations rushing through her.

When the ripples finally ceased, Alex slowly lifted his head and licked his lips.

“That good, Poppy Wright?”

Still heaving, Poppy could hardly find the words. She lifted her arms for him to come to her, and his body slithered over her wetness, across her tummy and breasts, straight to her lips where he devoured her sweetly.

“You are the best student,” she said, emphasizing each word, after she came up for air.

He slipped his fingers into her curls and tipped her face up to kiss her again.

“Only fair, since you’re the best teacher,” he cooed.

She laughed and rolled her eyes.

“Okay, Mr. Nilsen, you ready for the next part?”

“We don’t have to wait? You’re not too sensitive still?”

“Oh, no. Us girls recover fast.” Her eyes twinkled, as he looked at her amazed. “Besides, uh, if I don’t get your cock inside me soon, I’m gonna start complaining real loud.”

He chuckled.

“Alright, then. What’s first?”

“First…” She bit her bottom lip, and then looked at him apologetically.

“What?” he asked, worried by the look on her face.

“We better get you a condom.”

He frowned.

“But we don’t ha- No. Oh, no. Come on, Poppy. They’re sheepskin!”

She laughed. Lambskin, actually, she thought, but she supposed it amounted to the same thing.

“I know. But you haven’t worn one before anyway, so you’ll only know the difference when you get a normal one the next time you have sex.”

He pouted.

“The things I do for you, Poppy Wright. Okay, where are they?”

She bit her bottom lip, preparing to break the bad news.

“Oh, no, they’re not…”

“Uh-huh.”

“Poppy!” he whined.

“In your tent.”

…

It was hell itself trying to get his shorts back on over a very prominent erection, but anything for Poppy Wright, Alex thought, as he at last trudged over to his tent, found the massive box of condoms in his bag and tucked them under his arm as he marched back to Poppy’s tent.

What he saw when he unzipped the tent door wet his appetite for her all over again.

One of her hands was gripping her breast, the other between her legs, massaging where his tongue had been, and he had half a mind to do the job all over again just to hear her hopefully screaming his name this time in addition to the whimpers and moans and cries he’d gotten this last time.

“Poppy.”

Her eyes opened slowly, almost like she’d been aware of him watching her, and he was positive that made the bulge in his shorts even harder.

“Zip the door,” she said sultrily, and his body ached to touch hers again, to be inside her just from hearing her talk like that.

He quickly came inside and zipped up the door, then kicked off his shoes, and with some effort, got his shorts off too.

“C’mere,” she beckoned, removing her fingers from her pussy and curling one to draw him near.

He didn’t have to be told twice. He practically pounced onto the sleeping bag to gather her into his arms and kiss her.

After a few steamy kisses however, she pulled away.

“That was nice,” she complimented, “But not quite what I meant.”

His brows furrowed, confused.

“I want your cock in my face.”

His mouth ran dry.

“Are…Are you sure?” he rasped, the image it summoned making him nearly light-headed.

She nodded.

“Just…put your legs on either side of mine and scooch up as close as you can go.”

He gulped.

“You sure you don’t want to just get started? I mean, I’m really hard, Poppy,” he said, huskily. “I don’t think I’ll make it if you give me a blow job now.”

She smirked.

“I won’t do it for long. Just a little bit. Just so you can see what us girls can do.”

He licked his lips, the image in his head about to become reality a heady feeling.

“Okay.”

He followed her instructions as she’d told him before, and soon his cock was even with her lips, pointing right at her, and she was smiling.

He waited, drool forming at the corner of his lips, for her to begin.

Poppy didn’t make him wait long.

She wrapped her hand around his long, heavy, hard cock and pumped him a few times. Then, she massaged his balls a little, making him moan.

“Poppy.”

And then, while she was still doing that, she parted her lips and brought him into her mouth.

Slow as sin, she took him further and further into her mouth, taking her time to swirl her tongue around and suck him inch by inch until his tip hit the back of her throat and she gagged a little.

Alex, a little alarmed by the choking sound, tried to pull back, but Poppy grabbed a hold of his ass and kept him still, pushing herself the short distance until her nose was pressed up against his skin.

“Oh, god.”

And then, sucking hard, she dragged her head back until his cock was back out in the open air, and she was licking the precum off his tip.

“There. You haven’t cum yet. I told you we could do it. Condom?”

She held out her hand.

Alex was still staring at her like he couldn’t believe what he’d just witnessed, but her raised brows made him act faster. He picked up the large box, fiddled with the closed flap of one of the miniature boxes, and by some miracle, pulled out what was apparently a lambskin condom.

It was dark, not see-through, but the material still felt rubbery like he’d heard a regular condom was like, and the material was thin-ish too, so at least it wouldn’t feel all that different for Poppy going in.

“Oh, my,” Poppy giggled, when he handed it over to her. “That is different, isn’t it?”

Alex’s eyes widened, unbelievably worried for a millisecond before she reassured him moments later.

“I’m kidding.”

He heaved a sigh of relief, and she shook her head, smiling.

“Relax, Alex,” she said. “It still feels the same to me. It should be fine.”

“Okay,” he heard himself say, but still found himself mesmerized as he watched her put it on and then kiss his tip.

“Poppy, I gotta get inside you now,” he whimpered, oblivious to how weak and needy he sounded. She was being unbelievably sexy. Some part of him couldn’t even believe today had happened. All he wanted was for it to keep happening over and over and over again.

“The feeling is mutual.” She smirked, and he almost came right there. Especially when her hazel eyes flicked up to his, and her hands smoothed up the sides of his body.

“Okay,” she said, when her fingers reached his shoulders. “I’m going to lie down now and spread my legs.”

He gulped.

“Then I’ll put my fingers in my pussy where your cock is supposed to go. You put your fingers in by mine, and I’ll slip mine out once you get a good feel for it. Then, replace your fingers with your cock and push as far in as you can go. Then – well, you know how sex works, right?”

“O-Of course.”

He swallowed.

He knew a little. From seeing squirrels go at it once. And okay, that one clip of porn he’d seen in high school that one time when his friend Andy invited him over to ‘hang out’. That was the last time he did that. He bolted out of there like a jack rabbit as soon as Andy put his hand on his knee during the clip.

“Great,” Poppy said, surfacing Alex from his high school trauma. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready.”

He licked his lips, entirely focused on Poppy now.

He scooched back so that she could lie down and spread her legs. Then, he watched as she slowly inched her hand down her body and slipped two fingers inside her pussy.

“You’re so fucking hot, Poppy,” he blurted, making zero attempt to take it back after it’d left his mouth.

It was the simple truth. She was sexy as hell, and he couldn’t believe it’d taken this trip after his break-up for him to realize just how much.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Mr. Nilsen,” she moaned slightly, and he knew she was getting even more turned on by having her fingers back inside her again.

Well, he’d put a stop to that. He wanted to be the one getting her off.

He licked two fingers at the same moment as her eyes lifted to his again, and her eyes dilated. Then, only looking down once, he put his fingers where hers were, long enough to register which direction to go in when he exchanged them with his cock.

“You got it?” she asked, breathlessly, and he could tell the feel of both their fingers was really doing a number on her. He loved it.

“Uh-huh,” he said, giving a quick nod and licking his lips.

“Okay,” she said, “Go for it then.”

Taking a deep breath, he slowly pulled his hand free of her, then inched closer and slid his cock inside, shuddering with pleasure as he moved into her.

“Keep going…keep going…keep going,” Poppy encouraged, as he took his time to inch along and become completely consumed by her tight wetness inside.

Then, Poppy gasped and moaned, tipping her head back.

“You made it.”

She shivered when he reached the hilt, feeling the fullness and hardness of him no doubt.

“Okay,” she said, after a beat. “Do it.”

He swallowed and placed his hands on her hips, tilting her up slightly.

Poppy helped, sensing the direction he wanted to go.

Then, he pulled out just a little, then back in again, just as slow. Out and then in, out and then in. The friction did a number on him, but it wasn’t quite enough.

“Poppy, I need…” he trailed off, not sure how to put it into words, but Poppy figured it out immediately.

“Do it then, baby,” she purred, probably not even aware she’d let the pet name slip out. “Fuck me.”

He shuddered.

Taking a moment, he released her hips and hovered back over her and waited for her kiss. Once she granted it, he thrust into her again, harder this time. Then again, twice, faster.

“Keep going,” she urged, sliding her hands up his back and ending around his neck. “Let me feel how bad you want this.”

He groaned and really sped up then, moving hard and fast, thrust after thrust, feeling as she tightened her grip on him and moved with him.

They fucked in tandem then, getting lost in each other and the sweat and the need and the ecstasy of fucking someone you trusted so much that you were slowly realizing was attractive as hell.

“Oh, fuck, Poppy, I think I’m cumming.”

Some voice in the back of his head said maybe he should stop or slow down or pull out, but he didn’t want to. And he was wearing a condom for Christ sake. They were protected.

“Then, cum for me, baby,” Poppy purred, digging her nails into his ass, and they both came undone.

“Ahhh,” Alex cried, collapsing on top of her as he throbbed and jerked inside of her.

“Alex,” Poppy moaned, hiking her legs up around him and bucking up against his drained body until her ripples ceased and she could go as limp as he was.

After a moment, Alex lifted his head then lowered it to kiss her.

“We only did one position,” he said after a beat.

“I know,” Poppy sighed dreamily. “I’ll have to just give you instructions on the other one. It’s just me on all fours and you behind me.” She yawned. “You just gotta be careful to put your cock the same place as before and not in the ass, because trust me when I say, most girls are not into that.”

Alex thought about it for a while.

“We could just do it again.”

Poppy opened one eye and then the other.

“I’m really more of a hands-on learner,” he informed her.

Poppy couldn’t help but laugh, her tummy rumbling against his.

“A third time today?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Well, yeah,” he said, kissing her nose and then her chin and then her cheeks until she was smiling. “I’d go all day if you let me.”

She sighed contently.

“Alright, Alex Nilsen. But your body needs time to recoup before it’s ready to go. Why don’t we have dinner first and relax outside. It’ll give the sleeping bag time to air out too, so we don’t feel gross when we use it again.”

“We could just go into my tent,” he said, cheerfully. “It’s been airing out all day.”

Poppy rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Alright, Handsome,” she mused. “But we should still eat dinner first, while it’s relatively light out. And toast marshmallows! This is our last night here.”

He kissed her nose again.

Lucy Gray woke in the middle of the night, bile rising up in her throat unexpectedly. She ran out of her room, burst into the backyard, and heaved into the dried grass by the door, retching intermittently for over a minute before the rawness could be soothed by a scoop of water from the cistern near the house.

Lucy Gray went back for a few more scoops of water, ignoring as it dripped down her chin and under her nightdress. She was sweating, though the cool night air whipped around her. She felt weak and had to lean against the outdoor wall of her home for support.

It wasn’t until the back door opened again and Barb Azure stepped out that she realized her bursting had alerted anyone else in the household.

“Lucy Gray?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. “Are you alright?”

“I…I think so,” she managed, swallowing hard. “I just threw up.”

Barb Azure looked down to the disgusting pile of vomit on the ground and the trail of wet marks from the cistern to the house.

“Here, sit down,” she encouraged, bringing a wooden chair over to where her cousin’s weak, fragile body was trembling. “I’ll get you some more water.”

“Thanks,” came out almost as a whisper, but she eagerly took the water from her cousin when she brought a cup over filled to the brim.

Barb Azure felt her forehead.

“You’re warm, but I don’t think you have a fever. We all ate the same thing tonight, and no one else got sick. So, I don’t know what else it could…” she trailed off, and then her eyes met Lucy Gray’s, the same thought merging at that very moment.

“No,” Lucy Gray said instantly, before the accusation could even be made. “We’re careful.”

Barb Azure folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.

“How careful?”

“He always pulls out before he…y’know.”

“Always?”

Lucy Gray nodded, annoyed, though she knew her cousin had good reason to doubt her the way she and Coriolanus went at it like rabbits.

“What about right before he left? How long has he been gone?”

“He’s been gone five weeks, but I don’t see what that has to do with-”

“Have you bled?” she demanded, and Lucy Gray didn’t even have to think about it.

She hadn’t.

In fact, she’d been so wrapped up in thinking and dreaming about Coriolanus, and then enjoying his letters and most recently his bird message to even question how good she’d been feeling lately.

“Your silence tells a mouthful,” Barb Azure scowled, heading for the house.

Lucy Gray shot up.

“I’m not pregnant.”

Barb Azure spun around.

“There’s no other explanation, Lucy Gray. You weren’t careful the last time you and Coriolanus went at it. It’s been over a month, and you haven’t bled. And now you’re vomiting with no other clear reason behind it. You’re pregnant.”

She continued to scowl, pacing in front of her.

“Pregnant with a peacekeeper’s baby. And a peacekeeper who’s not even here to know about it or take responsibility!”

She stopped to pinch the bridge of her nose.

“You have to tell him.”

“What? No!” Lucy Gray shot back. “I mean, not yet. He’s busy with officer training, and he’s coming back. I can’t tell him till he comes back.”

“And what if he doesn’t come back?”

Lucy Gray swallowed hard.

“Why wouldn’t he? He loves me. He says in every letter how much he misses me and wants to be with me. Why would that suddenly change? Especially if he doesn’t know.”

“So, you do think him knowing would keep him from returning,” she said, testily.

Lucy Gray was crushed. Barb Azure had been so supportive of her relationship with Coriolanus ever since reading his first letter – or the part that Lucy Gray let her read. Why was she now assuming the worst of him all over again?

“I didn’t say that,” she said softly.

“You didn’t have to.”

Lucy Gray’s brows narrowed, and she straightened her stance.

“If you’re so certain that he’ll run if he knows, then I shouldn’t have to tell him through a bird or even a letter, should I?”

“Did you just say, a bird?”

Lucy Gray lifted her chin.

“That’s what Sejanus brought me. A jabberjay with a message from Coriolanus. I can send one back tomorrow.”

“What if his commanding officer intercepts it and learns of your secret relationship?”

“Even more of a reason not to tell him until he returns.”

She crossed the yard to get to the back door, suddenly feeling very confident and antagonizing, despite how weak the vomiting had made her feel.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go back to bed.”

She slammed the door behind her, leaving Barb Azure scowling in the dark.

…

The following morning Lucy Gray took the bird and the controller and made the march out into the meadow where she liked to play her guitar, and what she had come to claim as hers and Coriolanus’ meadow – where they kissed and made love and sometimes just talked.

She hated the idea of not being able to keep her lover’s message in order to send him one of her own, but that was the nature of the jabberjays. And besides, keeping the jabberjay in the Covey home simply to keep the message to herself was just too risky.

There was the embarrassment from Maude Ivory listening to something incredibly private and intimate, and then there was somehow the authorities barging in and discovering it and how she might be punished for becoming entangled with a peacekeeper, especially now that she was…pregnant.

Pregnant.

Pregnant at 16!

Pregnant with her Capitol mentor’s baby. Her Coriolanus’.

That complicated so many things, and she really didn’t know how he’d react and couldn’t imagine having to wait several days or possibly three more weeks to find out.

And what if he didn’t want the responsibility like her cousin had implied? What if he stayed in 2 when he found out? Or maybe even transferred to the Capitol? Would he leave her forever because he didn’t want a bastard son or daughter, much less one from a district girl?

She didn’t think he would, but they’d been together for such a short period, and she knew how he valued status and power and prestige and everything she hated about the Capitol?

What would he really do if he knew?

Would he come back to her?

And was it right of her to wait to tell him, and so trap him someplace he didn’t want to be?

Her mind was screaming at her all different thoughts and possibilities and worst-case scenarios.

In fact, it was only the unexpected squawking of the jabberjay planted in front of her that pulled her from the chaos of her own mind.

She sat down and leaned against the tree, pulling the birdcage in close. She heaved a sigh and tried to calm herself.

She wished she could talk to someone, anyone, who wouldn’t make matters worse.

And she knew there was only one person who could fulfill that desire, who she trusted and loved implicitly, even as Barb Azure had put doubts in her head.

And that was Coriolanus.

She lifted the remote from her lap and pressed the green button, listening to his message one last time before pressing the red button and erasing it, a tear slipping down her cheek as his voice was taken from her once again.

“Coriolanus,” she began, after pressing the green button once more. “I don’t know how to begin or how you’ll even take this, but Barb Azure told me to tell you, and she’s usually right about these things, so I suppose I will.”

She swallowed hard.

Poppy trudged ahead of Alex on their way back to the campsite.

It would be an hour’s walk, and somehow, they had to make it back without thinking too much about how naked they’d been in each other’s arms under the waterfall.

From the moment Poppy had met Alex a year ago, she’d tossed in the back of her mind that he was not unattractive to look at. He was cute in the traditional way. Their personalities had just been so opposite that she’d never even considered anything beyond the fact that he was cute.

Of course, shortly after he’d mentioned he had a girlfriend, and that was the end of any wandering contemplation about something beyond one-time acquaintances on a car ride home.

Then, they’d become friends, and while how appealing he was to look at was never at the forefront of her mind when she’d thought of him, seeing him nearly naked the night before and ripped to boot had made her think things that she probably shouldn’t be thinking as his platonic travel companion.

And then they’d had sex.

She’d sworn it wouldn’t change a thing between them, but she knew it already had. If nothing else, Alex itching to do it again made her feel things she couldn’t remember ever feeling before. All the guys she’d hooked up with in the past six months had been one-night stands. And none of the experiences had been memorable, even if she did manage to get an orgasm out of most of them.

A part of her didn’t want it to be memorable with Alex because then what if she started feeling things?

She’d accused him of going down that road while they’d been in the pool, but really it was her who was at risk.

In a very short period of time, he’d become everything to her. Their relationship had been the only thing holding her back from deciding to move to New York to pursue her dreams. She didn’t want to lose him in the process, and his sappy smile when he suggested they travel somewhere every summer, potentially for the rest of their lives, did something to her insides. Melted her to goo in the best possible way.

She couldn’t get that smile of his out of her head, the way he’d looked so adoringly.

And she couldn’t forget the spark she’d felt when he’d kissed her before they had sex so she was more aroused and it could be enjoyable for her too.

Kissing Alex Nilsen just did something to her, made her fold completely.

The sex had been good for sure, even if she’d been instructing him for the most part and trying not to make it weird, since they were friends, but kissing him?

God, she could kiss him forever, and it would never be long enough.

She shook the thought from her head though, telling herself she needed to keep such thoughts to when they were strictly practical, like when it was necessary to kiss him when she needed to get a little wetter down below in order to make the transition to fucking more enjoyable.

She couldn’t let the thought come before or after for that matter. And this would be the last time. It had to be, even as her heart sank at the thought.

They could not become a friends-with-benefits situation, because those never ended well. And she worried doing that would definitely involve her developing feelings Alex would never return, leaving her crushed and heartbroken when Sarah inevitably realized she’d made the mistake of her life letting him go and wanted to be with him again.

Of course, Alex would jump at the opportunity. Why wouldn’t he? He loved her and missed her, and they had a lot of history together.

Damn.

She was already getting annoyed just at the prospect.

Poppy took longer steps, guesstimating that they were roughly halfway back to their campsite, given how long they’d been walking.

Alex, with his longer legs though, had no trouble matching her pace, and caught up to her almost immediately, which annoyed her to no end. Because, all feelings aside, the sexual tension between them was thick, thicker still the closer they were together.

All of it was making Poppy question everything, and she forced herself – forced herself – to see this only as an instructional experience for Alex. It couldn’t be more than that. It couldn’t.

“Thinking about it?” Alex asked gleefully, breaking the silence between them.

“Huh?” Poppy frowned, being forced out of her own thoughts and trying to register what he was referring to. “Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. Yes.”

“Me too,” Alex said, grinning from ear-to-ear when she turned to look at him, blissfully unaware of the turmoil going on inside her head and heart.

Poppy’s frown deepened as she began to wonder if he only wanted to have sex with her because she was the only person in his vicinity. After all, he’d kissed Daisy the night before when he went skinny-dipping. If she was here – or even more so, if Sarah was here and open to it, would he rather kiss one of them instead?

Something painful twisted inside her, and she couldn’t shut it off.

Which was ridiculous!

They were just friends.

“Here, c’mere.”

And he broke through her thoughts again when he wrapped his hand around her forearm and pulled her to the side, making her yelp.

“Alex!”

Before she knew it, her back was up against a tree, Alex’s hands were on her waist, and he was crowding close, his nose brushing against hers, her heart hammering so loud in her ears, beating out of her chest like it would melt against his if he pressed himself any closer.

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “No one’s around.”

Poppy wanted to look around just to make sure, given how they’d been caught before under the waterfall, but she couldn’t. Not with him so close, preventing her. Not with his hand sliding up the side of her body and cupping her face, tucking a wild curl behind her ear.

She licked her lips, feeling as it brushed against his bottom lip – that’s how close they were – and he started to smile.

“I knew I wasn’t imagining it,” he murmured, kissing the corner of her mouth. “You feel it too.”

“Alex,” she tried, but he was persistent, with the thumb on his other hand resting beneath her right breast. “Alex, we still have a ways to go. Just wait till we get to the tent, and then we can, y’know.”

“What if I don’t want to wait?”

And he kissed the crook of her neck, making her eyes roll back and her fingers clench on his shoulders.

Damn. He was certainly good at seducing for a newly non-virgin.

She tilted her head away from his, and by some miracle slipped away from under him.

The space helped, and she brushed herself off before looking back at him.

“I’ve never done it standing up before, Alex,” she said, kind of hating how cold she sounded, but she couldn’t undo the tone after it slipped past her lips. “I wouldn’t be able to…guide you.”

Alex just stood there, staring at her for a while. She couldn’t read what he was thinking, and she hated that.

“C’mon,” she said, gesturing in the direction they’d been going. “We’ll be there soon enough, and then all your raging hormones will be put to rest.”

She charged on ahead, not waiting for the sound of his feet on the dirt ground before continuing to walk on the path they’d set. A few moments later though she did hear them, and she gave a silent sigh of relief.

She could keep this strictly platonic if she just tried hard enough.

She had to.

…

Alex couldn’t help it. He was grumpy for a good 10 minutes after Poppy pushed him aside.

He really thought, after the waterfall, after the talk about fucking again, that his best friend would be game for at least making out against a tree like he’d been fantasizing about earlier. Maybe even more than that.

She’d seemed to give in at first, but then something snapped inside her and she went cold, which was so unlike her.

He wanted to talk it out, see where her head was at, but she hadn’t shut down having sex again, and he was worried Poppy’s drama-filled persona would take away the possibility if he pressed, so he kept mum and walked just a little bit behind her the rest of the way back to the campsite, silent as a mouse.

When they arrived, he didn’t know why, but he’d expected it to be a little calmer between the two of them. Instead, he felt a tension that had nothing to do with sex and worried he’d gone too far by pressing her when she wasn’t in control of the situation, just like in the pool when he’d pressed her about how she’d wanted to lose her virginity.

“Okay, well, we’re here,” Poppy announced, as if it wasn’t obvious.

He heard the tightness in her voice though. Like she didn’t want what they’d both agreed to anymore.

“Just, uh, let me go inside first and tidy things up, yeah? I’m sure it’s a mess, and we want it to be nice and clean and comfortable. Or as much as it can be. So, I’ll let you know when it’s ready. Okay?”

He tried to force a smile at first, but at the last minute he reached for her again. Not the way he’d done in the woods, with lust behind every touch, but with their friendship humming between them. He wanted to make sure she was alright.

“Hey, wait,” he said gently, trying to make it clear that he was stopping her as a friend, not a horny sex partner.

She looked at him expectantly.

“Are you okay, Poppy?”

“What – of course I’m okay,” she said, laughing in a way that sounded unnatural. “Now, just wait a minute, okay?”

He nodded reluctantly and released her.

If she wanted to pretend nothing was wrong, then he would let her until she was ready to talk.

And hell, maybe he was imagining things and everything was fine. Maybe he should start believing that until he was given more blatant proof to the contrary.

He slipped his hands in his pockets and kicked some sticks around on the ground, waiting for Poppy to give him the okay to come in the tent.

He could hear her moving some things around and unzipping what was probably her sleeping bag to spread it out and give them more room. Then, he heard what could possibly be the sound of her clothes and shoes coming off and wished he was in there to see her undress.

The arousal crept up on him without warning as he recalled earlier that day when they’d gone at it the first time, how he’d felt seeing her in such an intimate way, and then how she’d touched him.

He wanted to touch her like that, make her feel pleasure the way she’d done to him. In fact, the need was clawing at him. He wanted it more than he needed to be inside her. He wanted to worship her with kisses until she was aching for his touch and demanding he fuck her the way he’d wanted to from the beginning.

“Okay, Alex,” she said, her voice slightly monotone.

He’d put a stop to that. Soon she’d be crying out his name and forgetting about whatever unpleasant tension that had developed on the way back.

He licked his lips, bent down, and unzipped the tent. Pulling back the flap, he looked inside, and what he saw nearly stole his breath.

Poppy was naked, but she wasn’t leaning back, legs parted in a seductive ‘come hither’ stance.

Her knees were bent, and her arms wrapped around them, her chin hovering over her embrace of herself, as she wiggled her toes a little and waited for him to come inside.

Her hair was down now and some of it was in her face, but she didn’t seem to notice or care.

She was just unapologetically Poppy, and she looked so vulnerable he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her all over until he could feel a smile tugging on her lips.

“You coming in, or…?” she trailed off. “There are still bugs out, even during the day.”

“Right.”

He cleared his throat and stepped inside before zipping the tent back up and coming to sit beside her.

“Maybe you want to undress?” she suggested, and he chuckled a bit at the awkwardness of it.

It shouldn’t be awkward. They’d done this once before.

But he realized it wasn’t the inevitable sex that was making it awkward but the wall Poppy had put up between them. He wasn’t used to that. She was usually so carefree and happy, and he wanted to know if the whole tree thing had really turned her off so horribly that she was regretting this whole arrangement entirely.

If she was, no matter how badly he wanted her, he knew he could suck it up and not do it. He also knew though that she’d probably fight him on the matter if he voiced how he could tell something was up. They’d never really fought before, but there was a first time for everything, and he could tell something was bothering her.

Still, he nodded, said okay, and undressed, piling his clothes and shoes in the opposite corner as hers. Then, he scooted back beside her.

“Alright,” he said. “I’m ready.”

Poppy looked over, saw his limp cock between his legs, and he saw as she deflated.

His insides were screaming. He wished she would say something.

“You’re not turned on,” she said sadly. “Not like you were before.”

He swallowed.

“You wish I was someone else.” She paused as his eyes widened, his heart racing in his chest. “Sarah maybe? Or Daisy?”

Fuck. Is that what she’d been thinking? All he could think about was her.

“Nevermind. Don’t answer that,” she said quickly. “I don’t think I want to know the answer.”

“Poppy –” he tried, but she cut him off.

“Alex, just—”

“The only one I’m thinking about is you,” he told her before she could get another word in.

Her jaw clenched, and she looked away, like she didn’t really believe him.

His heart was pounding inside his chest. Suddenly everything felt like it was up in the air. The sex, their friendship – and the latter he really didn’t want to lose. He could handle only knowing one sex position if it meant their friendship wasn’t hanging in the balance.

Somewhere along the line, Poppy had become the vulnerable one in this situation, and he was eager to restore her confidence and happiness. Suddenly everything in the world depended on it.

“Poppy,” he tried again, this time determined to get her to see reason.

He gripped her chin and turned her face towards him. Her eyes were closed, but she opened them and eventually looked him in the eye.

“I’m not thinking about anyone else. I’m not turned on by anyone else. I’ve been fantasizing all day about you. Even before we had sex earlier.” He tucked a curl behind her ear again and sifted his fingers through her curls.

She was silent for a while, then – “Really?”

He nodded.

“But if you don’t want to do this, I will make every girl ride me whenever we have sex.”

Poppy laughed and shook her head, swiping away a tear that had welled up in the corner of her eye.

“I don’t think your future partners would like that too much.”

“No?” He frowned. “You didn’t? I mean, before?”

She shrugged.

“It’s not the most comfortable position for the girl,” she confided.

“And that includes you?”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’m a girl, aren’t I?”

He immediately felt guilty.

“Yes.”

“Don’t feel bad, Alex. It was the best way to teach you where things go. But this time things will be a little more tricky for you, and a little more comfortable for me. Think you can handle that?” She raised an eyebrow.

He grinned, feeling at last that things were okay again.

“If you can, I can,” he said, and she giggled.

“Kiss me?” she requested, closing her eyes and waiting.

He slipped his hand along the column of her neck and whispered into her ear.