Thank you @Frissonsmiles for the steamy posters.  And thank you to @bookswithmonica and @xx_.queenieee._xx for the PND tiktoks! <3

Chapter 102: Tremble

It was so late that it was morning. We were tired but wide awake, the only two in the lake house beside the forest.

I was sitting barefoot on the fuzzy carpet with my back against the beige couch. Luke was standing over by the fireplace, having just thrown more wood into the fire.

The sound of the flames licking dry wood was almost rhythmic.

I tried not to stare at Luke, feeling myself so attracted to him, but he made it hard to react any differently.

He wanted tonight to be the night. No distractions.

I stared at him. Black jeans and a black bomber jacket that had a white ring circling the shoulders. He shrugged the jacket off, and I heard it slide to the floor. I didn't see it, because my eyes were on his face. My breath was hitched in my throat as I watched him walk towards me, wondering what he was going to do.

He raised his hand and unclasped the watch from his wrist.

I heard it clatter on the coffee table, but, again, I didn't see it.

His body towered over me and blocked the view of the fireplace behind him. The cabin that had been so cold when we first arrived, now felt like it was burning hot. I leaned back. I was burning up in a hoodie that I couldn't take off. Or maybe I could. I didn't know which way to move.

"Don't be nervous," Luke whispered, tantalizingly close to my lips, "I've barely touched you."

He crouched down to the ground in front of me and that sent my heart racing. His right hand against my neck, his fingers wrapped in my hair, and he lightly pressed down. My neck was exposed as he leaned down to kiss it.

I sat back and guided his hands to pull my hoodie up. I wondered how it felt for him to be taking his own clothes off my body. I wish I had worn something sexier than a gray shirt underneath. Luke didn't waste time. He slowly took the shirt off me and the small pile of my clothes on the floor was growing.

I shivered from being so undressed and instinctively covered my arms over my bra.

**

~Luke's POV~

She was so nervous. I could see the goosebumps on her smooth skin. She was watching my every move and her skin shivered under my touch.

I didn't want her to feel so shy with me.

I stared down at her hands trying to cover her blue bra, but failing to cover much. It was tempting. I looked up at her dilated pupils and smiled at her. She was adorable.

I knew I had to work over the trust issues she's accumulated over the years. But I was willing to work for it... to show her that she shouldn't be afraid. There's nothing scary about our bodies touching. It's natural.

"Don't be tense, Minnie."

She scoffed back at me, "How? I'm sitting here in my bra and you're fully dressed."

"If that's the problem," I smirked, needing no further encouragement. I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it to one side.

I saw her blush as she stared at my chest. I resisted the urge to look down and see if my abs were showing today. I flexed, just in case.

She was watching me, sitting on my knees shirtless, while I waited for her. She could jump my bones any day she wanted to. And I wanted to encourage her to be bold.

"This too?" I asked, touching the button of my jeans.

She looked embarrassed again. I realized that I needed to be creative if I wanted to show her how to relax. I'm down for the challenge and up...

Yeah, I was definitely feeling up

"Lie back," I suggested, leaning forwards over her.

Instinctively, she started to lean back, and I placed my hand around her waist to guide her down. Her naked back touched the carpet and her hair spread out like a halo around her face.

I liked looking down at her under me.

"I'm stuck," she squeaked.

"What?"

"My legs," she pointed down at her leg that was stuck under her, after she leaned back.

I didn't expect that. Maybe I should've. Millie does not know how to keep a romantic moment going. I sat back and adjusted her leg's position.

"Better?" I asked, wondering how in the world we got to this.

She nodded, looking meekly at me. "Can I kiss you?"

She was trying to bring the moment back. Cute.

"I have another idea," I replied.

I lightly touched her stomach, feeling the heat of her skin under the palm of my hand. She was squirming under me, moving every time I touched her.

"Is this OK?" I asked.

"Yes," she nodded.

I reached over her, and I saw that she was making the most of this vantage to stare up at my body. Her hand reached out to touch my chest. While she did that, I dipped my hand into the ice bucket on the coffee table and pulled out an ice cube. I held it between my thumb and index finger and saw her eyes widen at me. I smirked and slowly lowered the ice cube over her.

I held it out over her quivering lips and watched as a droplet of icy water slid off the ice cube and dropped into her open mouth. She swallowed and her eyes suddenly looked more alert, like the ice had given her a jolt of energy.

"Just enjoy it," I whispered, kissing her wet lips before I moved further down.

Her bare body was like a canvas. So smooth. I lowered the ice cube onto her stomach, and saw her goosebumps spread. I gently slid the ice cube over her skin, watching her tingle. 

I slid her jeans down ever so slightly, until I saw the orange underwear she had on. I brought the ice cube down there and she gasped. I glanced up at her, checking to see how she felt. Her lips were parted, and I could see she was aroused. I made a line, sliding the ice cube in a straight line up her stomach and to the dip between her breasts. I curved the ice around the mounds of her breasts and up to her collar bone.

After my fingers started to get a little numb, I chucked the half-melted cube back in the ice bucket and focused on the hot girl beneath me. Where I had been slow with the ice cube, I was much faster with my mouth. I went low, holding her jeans down in both hands as my lips hovered above her low-slung underwear.

I exhaled and heard her moan, "Your breath is so hot."

"That's the idea," I coaxed, kissing her down there.

I exhaled hot air over the cold that the ice cube had left behind. She squirmed again beneath my legs. I licked the thin layer of water and followed the trail up her smooth stomach. I tasted her sweet body, raising my own body over hers as I travelled up her body. My hands squeezed her thighs before letting go.

I rested my lips on her chest and lightly rested my hand on her. She moaned again, her eyes fully closed now. I licked up and kissed her.

My relationship with Minnie has been a slow burn. I've never waited so long for anybody before, but just her touch was sending my senses ablaze. I guess this is what happens when you catch feelings. It makes everything feel a thousand times better.

I tried to tone down my excitement. I needed to make sure she was ready.

"Luke," she moaned my name and ran her hands through my hair, encouraging me to go further, faster.

I didn't need to hear it twice. Her grip on me tightened and she pulled my body onto her, so that I could feel all of her. Her head cocked back and we kissed, feverishly, hungry; my hand grabbing her as I took her pants off. She arched her back and I pressed her hips down, wanting her to feel my body against hers.

"Wait," she whispered, panting.

"What?" I breathed out.

"I'm not ready."

"I have condoms-"

"It's not that," she said, patting her hair down as she sat up, creating a small distance between us, "I'm not ready for s*x. I want you badly but I, just, I have this block in my mind that I'm not ready."

I didn't fully understand it, but I backed off. I backed way the f*ck off.

I sat back on the carpet and pressed my back against the couch. I dropped my head back onto it and gazed up at the ceiling, telling myself to cool down. My heartbeat needed to slow down. I had been so aroused.

She moved closer to me, "I'm sorry-"

"Don't apologize."

**

~Millie's POV~

I was breathing so fast it was like he'd taken me on a marathon. My body was tingling in ways I hadn't experienced before. It was like he unlocked a whole new feeling in me – one that only he had the key to.

It was all so much, so fast. I didn't want to let him down but, at the same time, this was a huge moment. And I wasn't ready for it. I didn't want my first time to be on the floor, unplanned in a house that his parents didn't even want me in. I wanted to feel ready.

Maybe something's wrong with me? He's the boy I love. My soulmate and we're in a relationship... why was now not the time?

So much in my life was in a mess, except for Luke. While it felt nice to drift off into a dream world with him, I was too attached to reality. Anything we did here would last in my memory forever. I was scared.

I was scared this would drive a distance between us. Luke was a sexual person. He shows his emotions through touch, much more than speaking. And I know that our lack of s*x was starting to get to him. We were barely in summer camp one week when he became s*xually active with Tamara.

And I thought I was ready, but I'm not. I don't blame him for questioning me. I question myself.

"Luke," I tried to reach out to him but stopped myself.

Touching him was probably not what he needed right now. I don't know what he needed, and I didn't know why my instinct was to keep apologizing. It's my body, I shouldn't be apologizing.

"It's ok, Minnie," he said, looking over at me.

I gazed at him, sitting shirtless on the ground with his hand resting over his raised knee. He was leaning against the couch, his hair all messed up after I had run my hand through it. The outline of his abs were chiseled down his lower stomach and his black boxers peeked out over his jeans.

I wish I could capture this moment of him. I never wanted to forget the way he looked right now. The flames of the fire started to grow weaker.

"Come here," he told me.

I crawled over to him, not feeling self-conscious about my nearly naked self. I only had my underwear on, but I felt so comfortable. He's done that to me. Luke raised his arm and I slid into the gap, resting my head on his hard chest, while his arm lowered around my shoulder. We sat, mostly naked, in silence, in front of the fireplace.

**

Luke's head slowly rested over mine. My ear was pressed against his chest, and I could hear the slowing pace of his heartbeat. He was falling asleep.

"I love you," I whispered quietly, when I thought he was asleep.

But he stirred, "I love you."

I gently held onto him and tugged him down onto the soft, fuzzy carpet. He was a strong guy, and it wasn't an easy move.

"You're cute and all, but I need you to help me a little here," I whispered.

He smirked but moved for me. After he lay down, I pulled the blankets off the beige couch and wrapped them over him. I was looking forward to sleeping in the living room tonight. The house was warm now that the heating was up and running, but there was something that felt so romantic about lying together like this.

I lay down next to him and got under the blanket beside him. He turned to face me, and his face looked so peaceful next to me. With eyes still closed, he extended his arm to pull me close to him.

I rested my hand around him, slowly tracing my fingers up and down his bare back. I felt his muscles relax and I smiled, liking how he reacted to my touch. I lowered my hand down to his jeans and back up again. After tickling his skin, I rested my hand down on his ass and felt something in his back pocket. It was a tube.

I pulled my hand away quickly, not wanting to pry but at the same time, wondering what a tube was doing in his pockets. I didn't think tube shaped wallets were a thing.

Luke stirred at my sudden movement and opened his blue eyes, "What happened?"

"Nothing. You, uh, have stuff in your pockets. Maybe you want to sleep without-"

I didn't expect Luke to react the way he did. He went from half-asleep to wide awake. His hand reached down to his back pocket.

He sat up, and the blanket fell to his waist. I quickly covered the blanket over me as his movement had pulled it off. I was not feeling so comfortable anymore. There was a scary look in his eyes.

"Did you see what it was?" he asked me.

"No."

Now I wish I had.

He didn't explain anything. He just got up and walked away from me. The empty space he left behind felt cold. He raised his hands through his hair and started to pace nervously.

"I don't know what the right thing to do is," he confessed, "I don't want to freak you out but... I probably should've told you."

"Told me what?" I asked before telling him, "You know when you say you don't want to freak me out, that really freaks me out."

Luke stopped pacing and faced me directly. He was standing in front of me while I was still sitting on the ground. I didn't like the height difference between us, so I clambered up to my feet, pulling the blanket up with me so it covered my nakedness.

"We're meant to be more open with each other," I reminded him.

He sighed and then cursed. In one motion, he pulled out a small orange tube from his back pocket and handed it to me.

I didn't take it. I just stared at it. "Are you taking pills?"

Please tell me this is vitamin C.

I reached out and my fingers clasped around his. I wanted him to feel my touch before I took this away from him. I didn't know what bomb he was about to drop on me, but it sounded like a big one.

"Minnie," he said quietly, but his expression was serious. "Remember the night we found your necklace? Someone left it on Chad's car. It was in this tube."

Oh no.

I felt joy escape my body. The blackmailer was everywhere. Even in the jake house, so far away from home, the daunting image of the blackmailer was with us.

I stared down at the orange tube and realized that it was a prescription bottle. It had a white cap and white printed label on it.

"Look at who it's prescribed to," Luke told me.

I turned the tube in my hands until I found what he wanted me to see. The name printed in black text.

A name I never expected to see in my lifetime.

I exhaled, "Austin."

A/N: ONE CHAPTER LEFT. I can't believe I'm saying this. Well, I'm not actually saying it, I'm writing it but you get my drift. We're one away from the end.

The FINAL chapter of PNM will be out next Thursday. Preview will be on my IG as well as a countdown for the exact time (@natalieinacorner) *sniffs*

Also, Austin.  Anyone guessed that?

See ya one more time!  Please vote & share the story <3