Jesse's Girl Read online

  Jesse's Girl

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Epilogue

  About Kristianna

  Kit Tunstall, writing as Kristianna Sawyer, reserves all rights to Jesse’s Girl. Any resemblance to people or places is a coincidence. Please respect the copyright by not sharing this work. Permission of the author or publisher is required to copy any part of this work. All sexually active characters depicted in this work of fiction are 18 years of age or older.

  © Kit Tunstall, 2014

  Cover image courtesy of Depositphotos.com/©londondeposit

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  Jesse’s Girl

  Blurb

  Jesse has known Aleah for years. She was always his best friend’s little girl tagging along on their annual camping trips. During their first time camping since her father’s death, Aleah and Jesse realize they share a mutual attraction. He’s twice her age, but she isn’t going to let that stop her. She wants to be Jesse’s girl and doesn’t care if there is no protection available in the middle of the forest.

  Chapter One

  Aleah hit the light button on her watch to see the time. Her stomach gave a funny little flip as she realized she had been eighteen for twelve minutes now. A sense of relief filled her. She would never have to go back to living with her mother and stepfather. Of course, a lot of that depended on Jesse, and how he responded to her idea of staying to help him on his ranch.

  She couldn’t sleep as her mind rehearsed the words she wanted to say to her dad’s best friend. A sharp pang struck her when she thought about her father. If life had been normal and fair, he would have been along on this camping trip. It had been an annual event between Jesse and Tyrone. Smiling, she remembered how grown up she had felt the summer she’d turned eleven and had been allowed to come along for the first time.

  A rock dug into her hip, and she wished she had packed an air mattress or even a foam pad. Her decision to come along on the annual camping trip had been impromptu. When she had gained her mother’s permission, she had quickly packed and hopped a bus to Oregon, knowing her stepfather would have vetoed the idea if she had waited for him to get home.

  Perhaps he was just trying to play the stern father figure, or maybe he thought she needed guidance after her father’s sudden death eighteen months ago, followed by her weak mother’s turn to sedatives and alcohol to get her through the day. Phil might want to mitigate the upheaval he’d caused by marrying her mother only four months after they’d buried her father. Aleah really hoped his motives were pure, but she wasn’t taking any chances. The way he liked to control her every move and monitor everything she did creeped her out.

  With a sigh, she rolled over and sat up, deciding a quick swim might help her cool off and make her tired enough to ignore the discomfort of sleeping on the ground. She crept away from the campsite quietly, not wanting to wake Jesse. They were just a few feet from the riverbank, and she reached the water quickly.

  At the water’s edge, she faced a dilemma. In her haste to pack, she had forgotten a swimsuit. She’d also only grabbed a couple of sets of underwear, meaning she had to discreetly wash them each evening and leave them to dry. That had left her with the option of sleeping in her shorts and T-shirt without anything underneath.

  Her backpack was neatly arranged for the next day, aside from her damp underwear, so she didn’t want to have to sort through in the dark searching for something to wear that wasn’t wet.

  Her options were to walk into the river in her dry clothes, take them off, or forget the whole idea. With a considering look over her shoulder, deciding Jesse was asleep, she stripped off the T-shirt and shimmied out of the shorts before tossing them onto a rock.

  The water was cold, but in a soothing way, and she shivered while sighing. Forgetting about being quiet, she plopped down into the shallow water and leaned back. The water lapped around her, spreading her black curls around her head. With a sigh of contentment, she closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation of floating naked at midnight.

  ***

  Jesse had always been a light sleeper, even from the time he was a child. Ten years in the Army had honed that skill, and he’d been unable to shake the habit when he’d retired eight years ago. At the first splash of water, his eyes popped open. His hand was on the handle of his hunting knife before he identified the sound and origin.

  He turned his head in that direction and forgot how to breathe. Aleah lay just a few yards away in water that didn’t have the decency to fully cover her breasts. Since she wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothes, he could see every curve and contour of her brown skin. It was so wrong to realize abruptly that the little girl he’d known for years was now a woman.

  He wanted to look away, but her dark skin held him enthralled. His gaze homed in on the generous breasts, tipped with dark brown areolas and nipples a shade lighter. Jesse had the completely improper urge to take one in his mouth and suck.

  Inevitably, he followed the length of her body with his visual touch, over her nipped-in waist, flat stomach, and curvy hips. If it had been deliberate, she couldn’t have timed it better as she spread her legs while turning slightly. He couldn’t hold in a small groan of agony at the sight of her sweet slit. It was a blessing that only moonlight provided all the illumination, because he was certain more details would have made it impossible for him to not get out of his sleeping bag and join her in the water.

  Fuck, he should have sent her home when she’d shown up on his doorstep a few days ago, ready for the camping trip. Jesse had been planning to go, as he did every year, though last summer had been lonely as hell without Tyrone and little Aleah. He’d actually been happy and relieved to see her. That was when he’d still thought of her as a kid, and his friend’s daughter.

  Now that she had moved into woman territory, how the hell was he supposed to act around her? For starters, he had to deal with the raging hard-on pressing incessantly against his fleece pants. Jesse hadn’t wanted a woman with this degree of desire in years, but he was suddenly as randy as a teenager again.

  That the object of his lust was a teenager herself, and half his age, sickened him—but it did nothing to diminish his arousal. His cock throbbed, and he slipped a hand inside his waistband to squeeze it, trying to admonish the steely flesh to behave.

  He couldn’t resist the compulsion to stroke himself just once as she turned again in the water, thrusting her breasts forward as she sat up. Only the realization that she was about to get out of the water kept him from continuing. Feeling guilty, he slipped his hand from his pants and closed his eyes as she walked out of the water.

  He tried to convince himself it had been a dream, and he expended all his will power not to open his eyes again.

  Despite his best intentions, they snapped open when she tentatively called his name. He lay still, waiting until she said it again before allowing himself to reply. “Yeah?” His voice was husky with desire that he hoped she would dismiss as sleepiness.

  “This is embarrassing, but um, I left my towel in my backpack, and…”

  With a grunt, he got up, careful not to look at her as he turned toward her pack and rummaged through with the assistance of a flashlight. The towel was near the top, but he dug far enough to catch a glimpse of pink and gray lacy things that sent his libido up another notch.

  Trying not to look down, he walked toward her, holding the towel extended. She held a thin T-shirt to her body, but damp patches showed
everything beneath it. The fucking moon just had to be full tonight. Trying not to act like a complete pervert, he thrust the towel at her.

  As she reached for it, the T-shirt dipped and slid off the other arm. For just a second, her nude body was completely visible, and they both froze. Her dark brown eyes met his, startled and embarrassed, but also dilating with what could only be a surge of ardor.

  He was certain she would see the same thing in his blue eyes. Jesse wrenched his gaze from her, looking over her shoulder instead. He was still vaguely aware of what she did as she wrapped the towel around herself. “You shouldn’t swim alone.” The words sounded gruff and paternal, which was what he wanted. She had to continue seeing him as a peer of her father’s. He needed that to maintain his control.

  She seemed to blush, but her voice was definitely flirtatious. “Sorry, Jesse, but I didn’t know you liked to swim naked too.”

  He shoved overgrown strands of dirty blond hair off his forehead and out of his eyes. “It’s dangerous to be out here like that.”

  Aleah tilted her head, licking her full lower lip slowly in a way that seemed designed to drive him wild. “Do you think I might get attacked?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “There are still wild animals out here, despite humanity’s best efforts to drive them away.”

  “I should have asked you to join me then.” With a motion that seemed entirely too casual not to be by design, she loosened the towel and began drying herself. She was still technically covering all the private bits, but the act was so sensual that his erection jumped against the seam of his pants.

  He was paralyzed when she stepped closer, bridging the distance between them until they were almost touching. He wanted to ask what she was doing, to demand she stop playing games, but his tongue was as frozen as the rest of him.

  “I know you’d protect me, Jesse.”

  How was he supposed to protect her from himself?

  Aleah’s kinky waves spilled down her back and shoulder as she moved the towel again, this time allowing most of her left breast to show. “It’s funny, but I’ve always seen you as Dad’s friend. Sort of an honorary uncle.”

  He nodded, mouth dry. “Same here.”

  Her hand trembled just slightly when she touched his arm. “Except tonight I’ve realized you’re not just Dad’s friend, and you’re certainly not my uncle.” Her gaze dipped lower as she made no effort to hide her fascination with his arousal pressing forward insistently. “You’re a man too, Jesse.”

  He grunted, knowing he should walk away right now. Ignore the situation, and the tension would naturally diffuse. If it didn’t, they would be back in civilization in three more days. Instead, he stood there like a deer in headlights when she stepped closer, until her damp body was lightly brushing his. Her breasts raked his chest, making them both inhale sharply.

  “And I’m a woman, Jesse.”

  He snorted. “You’re barely more than a baby, Aleah.”

  The way her brow furrowed in her annoyance was adorable and sexy. “I’ve been eighteen since midnight.”

  Jesse laughed. “Eighteen is still practically a baby at my age, honey.”

  “You’re forty?”

  He shook his head. “Thirty-six.”

  “Oh.” She sighed. “I thought you were Dad’s age…or the age he would have been if…” Aleah trailed off, her shoulders dropping.

  He knew it was a bad idea even as he put his hands on her shoulders. It was meant to be a bracing touch, but her soft skin derailed his intentions. He started stroking her instead, only realizing what he was doing when her head drifted back, and she moaned. Abruptly, he dropped his hands and would have shoved them in his pockets if his lounge pants had offered any.

  She opened her eyes to stare at him, confusion plain on her face. “Why did you stop?”

  “I can’t…” He cleared his throat. “You should get back to bed.”

  Aleah swayed toward him, her lips just an inch from his. “There’s a rock under my hip.”

  “Move your roll.” He practically snapped the suggestion, but couldn’t help it. She was making him nervous, which was ridiculous at his age.

  Pressing her palm to his chest, she stretched a bit higher to brush her lips against his cheek when she whispered, “I could share with you. It’s a double, and you have that nice built-in air mattress.”

  He grasped her wrist to pull her hand off him, shocked when she grasped his hand and pulled him closer. Jesse’s lips brushed hers, and he couldn’t help tasting her. Just a small sample, he promised himself, as his lips pressed to hers. She strained against him, her eager kiss bearing proof of her inexperience, but still arousing in her enthusiasm.

  Somehow, his arms twined around her, drawing her closer. Jesse grabbed a handful of her damp curls to secure her against him as he deepened the kiss, subtly guiding her lips to open so his tongue could slip inside. She tasted like mint toothpaste, and it was unexpectedly erotic.

  Reason and sanity returned when his cock settled into the soft curve of her abdomen, reminding him her wet heat was just inches below. Part of him wanted to lift her and drive his cock deep inside her, claiming her as his. The rational part of him compelled him to lift his head.

  Jesse stumbled a step back, dragging in deep breaths to restore his equilibrium and calm his raging arousal. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  She frowned. “I wanted you to, Jesse.” Aleah drew her lower lip between her teeth, biting in a way that made him imagine her doing the same to his lip. “I wish you hadn’t stopped.”

  In frustration, he pushed his hair aside once more. “Well I did, and this can’t happen again.” He turned away from her and strode back to their campsite. Jesse deliberately didn’t look at her as she followed more slowly, and he forced himself to ignore her softly whispered words.

  “We’ll see, Jesse.”

  Chapter Two

  After spending a virtually sleepless night tossing and turning, while contemplating her newly discovered attraction for the older man sleeping—or pretending to sleep—just a few feet away, Aleah woke surprisingly refreshed. Sometime around dawn, she had decided there was nothing wrong with pursuing him. Jesse was bound to feel reluctance and a measure of guilt for kissing her, but she was going to make sure he didn’t have a chance to brood on that.

  Instead, she was going to seduce him. Aleah wasn’t entirely sure how she would accomplish that, since she’d not had any real practice with seduction, but she didn’t let that dissuade her.

  Her campaign began just after breakfast, when she undressed near her pack to put on khaki shorts and a different T-shirt. Unlike other mornings, when she would find a measure of privacy in the woods off the trail, she took a deep breath for courage and started stripping.

  Somehow, she smothered her grin when Jesse cursed and stomped away. Aleah struggled not to rush through undressing and throwing on clothes. She had always been modest and a little unsure about her curvy hips in contrast to the rest of her body, but she didn’t let her fears stop her.

  Convinced he was watching her, though he had made a show of walking away, she took her time pulling on her dry set of underwear. She was downright meticulous with making sure her breasts fit properly in the gray cotton with its pretty pink trim. After sliding on the panties, she bent over to retrieve the set she had hand-washed yesterday evening when they set up camp. They were dry, as expected, and she stuffed them into her backpack before finally slipping on the clothes she planned to wear that day.

  As she fastened the button on the shorts, she wondered if he had seen the damp patch on her cotton panties where she was wet just from thinking about him watching her. Again, she hid a grin when he returned to the campsite just moments after she had pulled on her hiking boots. He must have been watching from somewhere nearby.

  Jesse was clearly in a bad mood as he finished packing their things. She worked beside him in silence, deciding not to poke the grouchy bear any further, for the time being.

/>   They were on the hiking trail within fifteen minutes, and her muscles protested as they did at the start of each day. Unlike Jesse, who lived an active lifestyle filled with the hard physical labor required to own a ranch, she was a city girl. Aleah swam in her stepfather’s pool and exercised on the gym equipment in his basement. She took zumba with her friends and had sporting interests, but she wasn’t always on the go.

  Fortunately, her muscles soon relaxed, and the hiking started to feel good. She briefly wondered if that was how it would be if she used the muscles that had previously seen no action. Would it hurt before it started to feel good if Jesse took her virginity? Her folds grew slippery just imagining it. Even a small pain would be no deterrent to offering herself to him.

  If only he would accept.

  Which brought her to her next campaign. It truly was warm, but not as much as she pretended as she stopped for a second, dropping her pack. She smiled at him as innocently as possible while fanning herself.