The Schuyler House

by Cade Haddock Strong

  “Dance with me, Mattie!” she says as she takes my hand and pulls me into her arms. We start to dance slowly around my living room. “This is nice,” I whisper in her ear.

  “Mmhm.” She gives me small, crooked smile before planting a soft kiss on my lips.

  I reach up and run my hands through her hair and tug her into a deeper kiss before drawing back to look up into her eyes. “Being with you makes me happy,” I say, and lean my forehead against hers. She pulls me closer and lets out a soft, pleasurable groan. We sway back and forth to the music until Alex’s phone starts to vibrate on the kitchen counter.

  Alex pulls back and looks up at me apologetically. “That’s probably Walker. I told her to text me when she was getting ready to leave the wedding.” She goes to check her phone, and I sigh, missing the warmth of her body against mine.

  “Yep, that’s her. She’s headed home,” she says as she walks back toward me. “I should probably go. She’s got keys to my place, but she flies out tomorrow, so I think it would be nice if I was home when she gets back from the wedding.”

  “Yeah, I agree. I totally understand.” I give her a quick peck on the lips before walking over to retrieve her coat from the front closet.

  She slips on her coat and leans over to give me a kiss good-bye. I expect a quick kiss on the lips, but she gently pushes me up against the front door and skillfully slides her tongue into my mouth. My tongue eagerly meets hers and minutes pass before she finally steps back.

  “Jesus, Alex,” I say breathlessly.

  She gives me a wicked smile, reaches for the door handle and heads out the door, leaving me wanting so much more.

  Chapter Thirty

  Spring is in the air, and as a result, things are even crazier than normal at Hemlock the week after Walker’s visit. Before I know it, it’s Friday and I’m feeling downright giddy about spending the weekend in Annapolis with Alex. We’d hoped to hit the road midafternoon to avoid the worst of the weekend traffic, but Alex gets stuck at a jobsite and it’s almost six o’clock by the time we actually get on the road. Traffic is heavy, and it takes us almost two hours to get to Annapolis. It’s well after dark by the time we pull into town, and we make a quick pit stop to pick up some beer and pizza before heading on to Allison’s house.

  I’m famished, and it is complete and utter torture to smell the wonderful aroma seeping from the warm pizza box as we drive the last few miles to Allison’s. The tires of Alex’s truck crunch on her gravel driveway as we make our way up to the house. I climb out of the truck, and a very large and very excited golden retriever runs up to greet me.

  “Hello handsome,” I say as I scratch the area just behind his ears. “You must be Cooper?”

  “Yeah, that’s him. He’s a big guy, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Alex says as she walks around the truck to join me.

  We grab our bags out of the truck and follow Cooper up to the house. Alex feels around for the key that Allison was supposed to leave for us and holds it up triumphantly when she finally finds it tucked behind a downspout. She unlocks the door, and we both step inside behind Cooper. Allison’s house is small but extremely open. The décor is what I would call contemporary, and the whole front of the house has big picture windows.

  “Those windows look out onto Crab Creek,” Alex explains. “Wait until you see the view in the morning.”

  “I bet it’s beautiful.”

  “Both bedrooms are upstairs. How about we throw our bags in her guest room and then dig into that pizza?”

  “Okay, but we better make it quick. I might die if I don’t have pizza in my mouth in the next two minutes.”

  We drop our bags and head back downstairs to the kitchen. Alex pulls some plates out of the cupboard and carries them over to the kitchen table while I go in search of a bottle opener for the beer. We sit down and inhale the entire pizza in less than twenty minutes.

  “Guess we were hungry, huh?” Alex says with a laugh.

  “Oh my God, that was so fucking good. I swear I could eat like five more pieces.” I chuckle just as Cooper trots into the room.

  “I guess I should take the old guy outside for his evening walk.”

  “All right, I’ll clean up here and see if I can get a fire going in that big fireplace in the living room.”

  There is a good bit of firewood and newspaper in the bin next to the fireplace, and I manage to get a decent fire going by the time that Alex gets back with the dog.

  “Wow, nice fire!” she says. “I’m going to grab another beer, want one?”

  I nod, and she goes into the kitchen to grab us each another beer. While she’s in the kitchen, I build a little nest on the floor in front of the fire using a few pillows from the couch and a big wool blanket. Alex gives me a curious look when she walks back in the room, and I motion for her to join me on the floor.

  She curls up next to me and affectionately reaches up to run a hand through my hair. “Hey you,” she says. “I like the little love nest that you’ve built.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I lean in to gently brush my lips against hers.

  We share a few soft kisses before I slip my tongue into her mouth. We kiss deeply for a long time and the desire that has been simmering between us begins to boil. Alex rolls over on top of me and pulls her sweater up over her head before reaching down to help me out of mine. She unclasps my bra and makes quick work of the buttons on my jeans. I slide out of my pants so I’m now lying naked beneath her. She caresses my breasts, and my nipples harden under her touch. She leans down to tease them with her tongue, and I feel the heat build between my legs. I reach up to release her bra, and she hovers one of her large breasts over my mouth as she slides her hand down into my wetness. I suck hard on her nipple as she strokes my throbbing clit and slowly slips her fingers in and out of me. It doesn’t take long before my body begins to shudder and I come hard against her.

  I look up at Alex. “How is it that you are still wearing pants?” I work to help her slip them off. I resume sucking on her nipple as I start to slowly run my fingers over the silk of her thong. “So wet,” I say as I tease her clit through the fabric before tugging her thong down over her ankles.

  I roll over so that I’m now on top of her and move my hand back between her legs. I slide inside of her. Her back begins to arch, and I slide down her body to taste her for the first time. She finally lets out a loud moan of release, and I crawl up into her arms. She places small kisses on my head, but neither of us speaks. Both satiated, we eventually doze off in front of the fire.

  A full bladder wakes me a few hours later, and I help Alex up to bed. She doesn’t fully wake up, but as soon as I climb into bed next to her, she curls up next to me, and I fall asleep relishing the feel of her warm body next to mine.

  * * *

  The sun wakes us up early Saturday morning, and we decide to take a quick run with the dog before breakfast. As we are walking back up to the house, Alex turns to me. “God, what a beautiful day, huh? This might sound like a crazy idea, but you want to go for sail? Allison said it was okay if we want to use her boat.”

  “Wow, yeah, that would be awesome. I mean, assuming that you know how to sail?” I laugh. “I took sailing at summer camp, but it would be a major stretch to call me a sailor.”

  “Yeah, I’ve done a fair amount of it since I moved to DC. I didn’t sail much growing up in Denver, but I’ve gone out with Allison a million times and she’s taught me a lot.”

  We make a quick run to the grocery store to grab some food for a picnic lunch and dinner that night. I make sandwiches and pack some snacks to take on the boat while Alex gathers up the required sailing gear from Allison’s garage.

  We wander down toward the water until we reach the U-shaped dock that juts out from Allison’s property. The sailboat is on a mooring ball about fifty yards from the dock. The dock is two levels, and the upper deck shelters the slip of water between the “U” formed by the lower dock. There’s a small Zodiac rubber dinghy tied up in the slip, a
nd Alex and I climb into that and row out to the sailboat. The Zodiac has a small five-horsepower outboard engine, but given the short distance to the boat, it’s just as easy to row. We tie the Zodiac to the back of the sailboat and climb aboard. I stow our picnic basket, cooler, a small blanket, some extra sweaters, and two rain slickers in the small cabin of the boat and then climb up on deck to help Alex rig the boat. It’s a beautiful warm day, but Alex insisted that we bring some extra layers of clothing because the weather in the Chesapeake Bay is unpredictable and can change suddenly.

  We sail for almost two hours before Alex expertly guides the boat into small a cove next to a sandy spit of land. She gives me the cue to climb up on the bow of the boat as she turns the boat into the wind so that we can lower the sails. There are no other boats within eyesight. It’s an absolutely glorious day but is still extremely early in the sailing season. Allison is one of the few people along Crab Creek who even has their boat in the water.

  We plan to anchor the boat in the cove and take the Zodiac to shore for lunch, so once the sails are down, I start to prepare the anchor. Once I’ve got it ready, I look back at Alex and give her thumbs-up and she gives me the cue to toss it overboard and into the water. The cove is only about fifteen feet deep, and the anchor quickly catches on the sandy bottom. I wait for the boat to drift a little bit so that there’s a little slack in the anchor line before kneeling down to tie it off. Alex appears on the deck next to me and reaches out a hand to help me to my feet. She pulls me into a quick hug. “Great job, mate.”

  “Nice job yourself, Captain!”

  “You like this little cove?” She gives me a quick peck on the lips.

  I look up at her with an approving smile. “It’s a beautiful spot, and I can’t believe we have it all to ourselves.”

  “Shall we head to shore for lunch?” She takes my hand and leads me back down toward the Zodiac.

  I grab the picnic basket, the cooler, and the blanket, and we both climb in the rubber Zodiac to head toward shore. We had to anchor a good distance from shore because the water quickly gets very shallow around the sand beach and the sailboat draws nearly six feet. Rather than row all the way to shore, Alex fires up the little engine on the Zodiac. As we approach the beach, she kills the engine and pulls it up out of the water so that the Zodiac can coast up onto shore.

  “Nicely done, Miss Holland,” I say as the Zodiac glides onto the sand. We unload the boat and pull it up higher onto the sand so that it won’t float away while we picnic. I pick up the picnic basket and Alex grabs the blanket and small cooler, and we walk toward the small, sandy point.

  “How’s this?” she asks when we reach the point.

  “Perfect,” I reply, and she spreads the blanket out on the ground.

  We both sit down, and I pull our sandwiches out of the picnic basket and grab us each a sparkling water and some carrot sticks from the cooler.

  “The sun feels amazing,” I say as I take a big bite of my sandwich.

  “Yeah, I can’t believe how lucky we got to get a day like this. I looked at the weather before we left the house, and it looks like it will be back to crappy gray spring weather tomorrow.”

  We eat the rest of lunch in silence and stare out at the sun dancing on the water. When Alex is done eating, she polishes off her water and lies back on the blanket with a sigh. I look down at her, and she tugs at my coat. “Come here, you.”

  I eagerly comply and rest my head on her chest. It doesn’t take long for us both to doze off, and the sun is much lower in the sky when Alex nudges me awake. “It’s getting late, we should get back to the sailboat.”

  I let out a whimper of protest when she rolls her warm body away from mine and stands up. She gives me an understanding look and leans down to pull me up. We gather our stuff and walk back to the beached zodiac.

  The wind has died significantly since we arrived, and reluctantly Alex decides that we should motor back to Allison’s house rather than sail. The sun is going down quickly, and the temperature is beginning to drop so, as much as I miss the silence of sailing, I know it’s the right call.

  We get back to the house in under and hour, take a nice hot shower together and get started on dinner.

  “What do you think about eating in front of the fire tonight?” Alex suggests.

  “That sounds wonderful…I have very fond memories of that fire,” I tease, and she playfully snaps a dishtowel on my ass. “I’ll go and try and get a fire started.”

  We watch a movie after dinner before heading up to bed. Once upstairs, we undress one another slowly and climb into bed. The raw desire from the night before is gone, and we take our time exploring each other’s bodies and tenderly make love before falling asleep in a tangle of limbs.

  I wake up early the next morning. Alex is still sound asleep. She looks so peaceful and I can’t bear to wake her, so I quietly slip out of bed, get dressed and take the dog out for a quick walk. As the weather report predicted, it’s a gross, rainy day, and neither the dog nor I is too interested in a long walk. He does his business quickly, and we head back to the house. I grab the New York Times off the doorstep, towel off the dog and wander into the kitchen to make some coffee.

  Alex appears in the kitchen wearing a Vail T-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms as soon as the coffee starts brewing. I can’t help but notice that she’s not wearing a bra, and I feel a small twinge in my groin as her breasts bob under her shirt when she walks over to pour herself a cup of coffee. We sip our coffee and read the paper before cooking up some bacon and eggs for breakfast. Alex’s phone rings just as we finish eating, and she gets up to walk into the front hall where she left her phone. I figure I might as well start the dishes while she’s on the phone, so I gather them up and fill the sink with soapy water.

  I’m almost done when Alex walks back into kitchen. “It was Allison checking in to make sure we haven’t burned down the house and let the dog run away. I assured her that everything is under control…although I chose not to mention the fact that we had sex in her living room.”

  “I think that was probably wise.” I chuckle.

  Alex walks up behind me as I set the last dish in the drying rack. She presses up against my back, wraps her arms around my waist and starts to nibble at my neck. “Thanks for doing the dishes,” she says between nibbles, and then slides her hands up and begins to caress my breasts through my sweater.

  I let out a little squeal of surprise and feel my nipples harden as she teases them with her thumbs. She turns me around to face her and leans in for a slow but deep kiss, pausing briefly to reach down and pull my sweater up over my head and masterfully unhook my bra. She plants a kiss on each of my breasts before reaching down to quickly pull her T-shirt up over her head to reveal two swollen breasts. I cannot resist the urge to reach up and run my fingers over her taut nipples.

  Alex pulls me into another deep kiss, and the sensation of our bare breasts rubbing together as we kiss puts my groin in overdrive. I push her back against the kitchen island as our tongues continue to lash together. We’re both panting when Alex eventually breaks the kiss to look at me with hooded eyes. “We better hightail it up to the bedroom before I take you right here on the kitchen island…Allison might prefer that we not have sex in every room of her house!” she says with a laugh.

  I grab for her hand, and we practically run back upstairs to the bedroom.

  When we get upstairs she kicks off her flannel pajama bottoms, gently pushes me down on the bed and works to unbutton my jeans and slide them off my body. She takes one of my nipples in her mouth as she moves her hand down between my legs. Alex quickly brings me close to the edge as she slides her fingers back and forth through my wetness. My entire body is on fire as she moves down to take my throbbing clit in her mouth. It takes only a few swipes of her tongue to push me over the cliff.

  Still breathing deeply, I roll over on top of her and slide my hand deep inside of her. She is incredibly wet and comes almost instantly. I roll over onto m
y back, and she curls up next to me. I can hear the rain dancing on the roof as we both doze off.

  We finally emerge from the bedroom late morning and decide to take the dog for a walk in the park. The day is still gloomy, but the rain has mostly stopped and the dog needs some exercise. It’s late afternoon by the time we get back from the park, and we reluctantly pack our bags and tidy the house before driving back to DC. Allison should be home around dinnertime, so the dog should be fine on his own until she gets back.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Alex and I make a feeble attempt to keep our relationship under wraps at the office, but before long, the entire office knows about the two of us and we give up the charade. Apparently, the tender smiles and longing glances that pass between us were a dead giveaway. At first, I was a little worried that some of the employees would be uncomfortable with the fact that Alex and I were dating but, from what I can tell, everyone seems genuinely happy that Alex is in a relationship with someone.

  “Are you okay that we’ve been outed at the office?” I ask her one evening.

  “Yeah. I mean, I was a little worried at first. Most of the people at the firm have been around for a while and they knew Robert well. I wasn’t sure how they’d react especially since you’re, um, a woman but everyone has been really supportive.”

  “Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure.”

  “After Robert died I started working even longer hours than normal. Partly because I was now doing the work of two people but also because it was my way of coping, or maybe, not coping, with the fact that he was gone. I think people at the office are happy that I’m now leaving at a reasonable hour on occasion. I have you to thank for that,” she says and gives me a long smile.