to shore where the current was weak, but the memory of the hungry mosquitoes kept her twenty feet away from the bushes that harbored the swarms.
Her foot brushed a tree branch hidden under the water. It scraped and stung, and she gasped out loud. She put her feet down. Her toes squished through soft, sucking mud. She shuddered and jerked her feet back up, trying to not wonder about leeches.
She began rhythmically stroking through the water, thinking longingly of her big beach towel and Annie’s truck with the rolled-up windows. She kicked out a little further from shore. Her foot hit another deadfall tree. As she jerked away, her ankle was suddenly wedged tight in a tangle of branches, pulling her briefly under the water.
Great. She quickly surfaced and maneuvered around to pull her foot out from the opposite direction. Her ankle wrenched with the movement and she gasped.
A mosquito buzzed next to her ear. She batted at it, then gingerly felt along the slimy log with her other foot. She found a solid purchase and sighed in relief, balancing herself with small arm movements.
Her trapped foot throbbed a bit, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t seriously hurt. In any event, it was as good as packed in ice down there in the river water. She twisted it to the left. Nothing. Then she tried twisting it to the right. Still nothing.
She reached down along her bare leg until her hand found the branches. It was impossible to get a good grip without ducking her head under the water. So she ducked and pulled at the offending branch with all her strength.
It wouldn’t bend. It wouldn’t break. She surfaced again, wiping the water out of her eyes.
Should she call for help?
Wouldn’t that just be the most entertaining moment of the entire senior year? Eight boys all pawing around her naked body, trying to be the hero. Robin shuddered.
How long was it until a person became hypothermic in glacial water? She couldn’t remember what the first-aid manual said. Since she normally had total recall, was that a sign her brain was freezing?
She was overreacting. Goose bumps were forming on her skin and she was starting to shiver, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t in any immediate danger.
She ducked under the water once again, using both hands to try to free her foot. When she burst back through the surface she was no better off. Robin swore under her breath.
“Need some help?”
She nearly screamed at the deep voice directly behind her. She twisted around.
Jacob Bronson. The class geek. A rangy, slouch-shouldered, slow-talkin’ boy from the poorest family in town. His jeans were always too short, and he missed more school than he attended, working the pathetic piece of ground his father liked to call a farm.
“Uh.” She chewed her lip. It was pretty obvious she needed help here. And she didn’t think Jacob was dangerous. He might try to cop a feel, but then, so would Seth or Alex given the opportunity.
She was known as the Ice Princess because of her standoffish airs and habit of keeping all the boys at arm’s length. Though, in truth, it was more fear than superiority that kept her virtuous. Not that her reasons mattered. She could well imagine the prestigious bragging rights a guy would have for sliding his hands over a buck-naked Robin Medford in a rescue attempt.
Better one boy without an audience, she decided. One quiet boy at that. Though she strongly suspected even Jacob would break his silence to talk about this one.
It was settled then. Jacob was going to run his big rough hands along her naked legs.
She looked nervously up into his charcoal-blue eyes. He wasn’t laughing at her or leering at her. In fact, he looked genuinely concerned. She swallowed.
Her voice quavered as she answered his question. “Yes. Please.”
JACOB’S HANDS were gentle as they encircled her ankle. Of necessity, his cheek was in close proximity to her navel under the water.
She gazed up at the pale blue sky where a faint quarter moon bravely attempted to shine despite the midnight sun hovering just below the distant mountains. She tried valiantly to pretend this wasn’t happening.
Jacob’s cheek brushed her abdomen. She sucked in a frantic breath as a strange humming sensation worked its way along her limbs. The pressure of the tree branch lessened for a second, then snapped back. Robin jerked from the brief flash of pain.
Jacob surfaced. “Sorry.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay.” He was trying to be gentle, she could tell. She stared straight at his naked chest, wondering if succumbing to hypothermia might not be a better way to go. She was never going to live this down.
He clamped his jaw. “I’m, uh, going to have to…”
“What?” Please, oh, please, don’t let him go for help.
“Well…you see…” He raked a hand through his short-cropped hair. “I’ll have to wrap my arms around your leg…”
“So?” She was just relieved that he wasn’t going for an audience. She was beginning to worry that Annie would come looking for her.
“Just hurry,” she implored.
“Okay. I’m sorry.” He ducked under the water again.
The freshening breeze tangled her wet hair, chilling her face and scalp. She could feel his strong arms working their way around, no, between her legs. Her eyes widened.
His shoulder brushed her upper thighs. Her body hummed again. It felt… It felt…
She closed her eyes as her entire body seemed to convulse with longing. His fingers surrounded her ankle and his shoulder flexed enticingly. Then suddenly his body was rushing along the length of her, coming up for air.
He stood completely still, looking intently past her right ear at the black-green bushes on shore as he sucked in long breaths. Robin stared up at the droplets of water clinging to his dark, thick lashes. She felt flushed, warm, itchy. Her lips parted.
Suddenly she was in no hurry to get free. She wanted him to rub against her legs again. She liked the feel of his skin, the friction of the water.
He glanced hotly into her eyes for a split second before he dove. Abandoning any pretense of keeping their body contact to a minimum, his strong, sure hands explored her ankle and the branches surrounding it. His shoulders, neck and hair alternately rubbed and brushed her inner thighs and higher.
Her knees felt weak, and she reached down tentatively to steady herself. She touched his square shoulders, the shifting steel of his muscles, and suddenly felt safe. Here, trapped and naked in the Forever River, rubbing up against Jacob Bronson, and she’d never felt so secure in her life.
His ragged clothes and perpetual slouch had hidden a magnificent sinewy physique. Unable to stop herself, she let her hands slide down his upper arms. Bulging biceps flexed under her touch. His cheek rested against the top of her thigh, chin just barely brushing the downy curls.
Robin’s entire world focused on that insubstantial touch.
She
