Read Stirred Up for Free Online

their conversation was awkward,
but after a few minutes they settled into casual chitchat. His
erection had subsided, though just sitting next to her when she was
dressed in those little shorts meant the threat of another one
wasn’t far off.
    They reached the gym and he grabbed his
duffel bag and led the way inside. At the front desk he checked in
for the short belaying demo and pulled out twelve dollars for her
day pass.
    “Wait, what are you doing?” she protested.
“You’re not paying for me.”
    “This was my idea and I invited you. Of
course I’m paying,” he replied, handing the money over.
    She was still frowning when they walked away,
but her expression changed to one of trepidation when they reached
the climbing wall.
    “Um, I don’t know about this,” she said,
looking up at the thirty-five foot high expanse covered with
thousands of tagged hand and foot holds.
    “Don’t worry. You’ll only do what you’re
comfortable with. If that means you only get two feet off the
ground, no problem. This is supposed to be fun.”
    “You two ready?” Andy, the climbing
instructor, asked, coming over to them.
    Jason couldn’t help smiling when Cheryl
squared her shoulders, her eyes narrowing in determination.
    “I’m ready.”
    ***
    “I did it!” Cheryl yelled, grinning from ear
to ear.
    She was clutching the uppermost handholds of
the climbing wall’s beginner route thirty feet off the ground. Her
muscles trembled and sweat dripped down her forehead, but she felt
amazing. Craning her head she looked down to see Jason smiling
hugely at her.
    “That was fantastic. How do you feel?” he
called up.
    “Great, but I’d better come down before all
my muscles give out.”
    “Come on down then. I’ve got you.”
    And he did, literally. Her harness was
attached to a rope that ran through a pulley set into the wall,
with Jason hooked up at the other end of it. On her way up he’d
kept tension in the rope so that if she slipped, she wouldn’t go
anywhere.
    There was no doubt in her mind that he knew
exactly what he was doing, and that she was as safe as if she were
standing on the ground. After her little tutorial with the climbing
instructor, he’d personally checked through all their equipment,
answering her many questions.
    Jason gave the rope some slack, but still she
hesitated. It was an odd feeling to know she’d be falling through
the air, even if he was on the other end, controlling her
descent.
    “Cheryl? You okay?”
    Nodding her head, she took a deep breath and
pushed off from the wall. A squeal escaped her as she fell several
feet.
    “You’re doing great,” he called, obviously
feeling the need to encourage her.
    She pushed off again and he let out more
line, but now that she knew what to expect, it wasn’t so scary. In
fact, it felt kind of incredible. By the time her feet hit the
padded floor, she was euphoric.
    “That was amazing,” she said, wiping the
sweat out of her eyes with her gloved hand.
    “You’re amazing,” he said, smiling. Only this
time there was a flare of heat in his eyes that belied his
easy-going manner.
    She said nothing, unable to speak as her
whole body lit up with awareness and heat pooled in her belly and
between her thighs.
    “Here, drink some water,” he said, handing
her a water bottle, and the moment passed.
    Then it was her turn to stand at the bottom
while he went up, but unfortunately her confidence was starting to
wane a bit, and she was almost more nervous than when she’d been
the one climbing.
    “What if I screw up and you plummet all the
way down?” she asked. “Just hypothetically.”
    “It would be great if that didn’t happen,” he
said, totally deadpan. “But you know what you’re doing. You’re set
up perfectly, and you understand what to do, right?”
    She breathed out.
    “Sorry. Yes, I totally know what to do. I’m
just not used to having a big muscle-bound man at my mercy.”
    “Oh no?” he asked, his voice suddenly low