Vanished

Hike

The front door closed behind my brother, which left me completely alone with Ellie for the first time in ten years. It made me anxious.

Bear ran over to the livingroom window, ducked behind the curtain and watched my brother leave. I knew from experience that he had his nose pressed against the glass, which left snot marks all over it, but I didn't care.

A minute later, I heard the car pull out of the driveway.

I was restless despite having only slept for a couple of hours and having gone for a run in the morning. I needed something to do to keep my mind off of the fact that me and Ellie were alone.

She looked so young and innocent with her makeup free face and her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. It reminded me of how she looked the days before I was forced to leave her behind ten years earlier.

That, combined with her being dressed in my t-shirt and sweatpants, did something to me. It was almost a possessive feeling to have her next to me, wearing my clothes. Like she was mine to care for, even if it was just for a few days. It didn't make me forget the predicament we were in, but it was a distraction. Whether that was good or bad was to be seen.

"Can we go for a walk?" she asked carefully once we finished cleaning up after our breakfast.

I hesitated. Everything appeared to be fine. I hadn't seen anyone when I went for my run and none of my brother's fancy warning bells were ringing.

"It's such a nice day..."

"Sure," I heard myself say, giving in. "But we have to stay close to the cabin."

The smile she flashed me was an arrow straight to the heart.

Damn, this girl would do me in all over again if I let her.

It was a beautiful, cloudless summer day with only a very slight breeze. If Ellie was warm or uncomfortable wearing my pants, she didn't complain. And she was probably better off with pants, anyway. Less chance of tic and bug bites.

"It's beautiful up here," she said as we strolled along a narrow trail through the dense trees. "Will you miss it?"

"Yeah, I will," I answered, and it was the truth. The cabin was mine and my brothers, and even if we could not get up there as often as we'd like, we had decided to keep it. It was the one thing we had that was just ours, and we planned on going back, eventually. One day.

Ellie nodded like she agreed. "What's been your favorite place to live so far?" she asked.

I wanted to say Georgia, because of her, but that wouldn't be right. It would only complicate whatever it was we had now. Some weird kind of pseudo friendship. Regardless of what happened this weekend and despite how comfortable and easy everything felt with her, I was leaving. And that was what was best for her. Even if just the thought of it hurt me to the core.

"You're right," she said when I didn't respond, and I cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "Don't answer that."

"Ellie..."

She shook her head and reached for my hand. "No, please," she whispered. "Let's just enjoy this. The time we have. Right now."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just gave her hand a light squeeze and continued down the narrow path to the nearby lake. Her comment made sense, but it still hurt. I had to remember that we had a very clear expiration date.

Bear was never more than a few feet away from us. At one point, the path narrowed significantly as the forest got thicker. He took the lead, with Ellie behind him and me taking up the rear. I admired how smoothly she traversed over the tree roots and rocks, almost like she was dancing along the trail.

She'd gotten more beautiful over the years and the way she carried herself and her self-confidence only made her more attractive.

Any man was lucky to be in her presence. The thought depressed me, so I shook my head and looked for Bear. He had stopped to smell something near a large pine tree, only to a second later lift his leg and mark the spot.

Suddenly, Ellie slipped, and I reached for her before I even knew I'd reacted. She caught herself but flashed me a thankful look over her shoulder when my hand gripped onto her elbow to help her stay upright. And damn.

This was hard.

I was so torn between what I wanted and what was the right thing to do that I didn't notice her turn all the way around.

"Austin," she asked hoarsely, and the smile slipped off her lips. "What's wrong?"

I just shook my head. This had been a bad idea. I should've been the one that went to the store and let my brother stay with Ellie. Why had I thought I'd be able to handle being alone with her?

"Hey," she urged, and gripped onto my hand when I tried to pull away. "What just happened?"

"Nothing, Ellie."

She didn't buy it and I didn't really think she would've. She always used to see straight through me.

But instead of saying anything else, she just tugged on my hand until it forced me to take a step closer to her. She reached her free hand out and cupped my face, all the while her eyes captivated mine.

I was so gone over this girl.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against her hand, thriving at the touch. Allowing myself that brief moment to reminisce in what we once had.

The next thing I felt was her letting go of my hand and then her hands were in my hair, in the back of my head and her warm breath was on my face. My heart stopped for a second just to be shocked back into rhythm when her lips touched mine.

It was like fireworks and unicorn and rainbows all at once. Her lips were soft as they moved against mine and her breath was sweet and warm. I'm pretty sure I moaned like a schoolboy as she tugged me closer and begged me to open up.

My resolve broke completely when her tongue touched mine, and the clean taste of mint tooth paste mixed with Ellie's own sweet taste flooded my mouth. I gripped her face in my hands and kissed her back like I was dying.

Ellie moaned into my mouth when she felt my arousal up against her stomach and instead of slowing down, she wrapped an arm around my neck and pressed the other one onto my back, forcing me closer to her.

She was soft in my arms. The feel of her breasts against my chest and the taste of her had my body pleading for more. My dick was rock hard and begging. My brain wasn't so sure and my heart didn't seem to know what to do other than to beat at double speed.

My arousal won, and a few seconds later, I had her pushed up against a tree and devoured her like she was my last meal. And I was strangely okay with that. If this was the last thing I'd ever do, at least I'd die a happy man.