Natural Satisfaction (Au Naturel Trilogy Book 3)

by Anna Durand

  "You are not screwed up, Heidi."

  "Of course I am. I let you make love to me, then I ran away." I tore my hands free of his. "You're a nice guy. You should go find a girl who won't drive you insane with her neurotic behavior."

  "If you're trying to dump me, you can't do that. We're not a couple, right? That's what you keep saying. And that means you can't give me the big heave-ho." He leaned in, his mouth a breath from mine. "You're stuck with me."

  "So you're going to stalk me because I had sex with you."

  "No." He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. "I'm going to be the best friend you've ever had. I'll give you so much awesome friendship that you won't be able to live without me."

  "Why do you bother with me? I'm a mess."

  He sighed, regarding me in silence while keeping his lips within kissing distance. Then he picked me up and stood, cradling me in his arms. "Let's go to the lake and swim."

  "I don't have my swimsuit."

  "This is a nudist resort, Heidi. No swimsuit required." He set me down, settling his hands on my hips. "But we can walk on the beach if you'd rather."

  "Okay."

  While he led me away from the meadow, I tried to figure out what Damian was really after. He couldn't want to date me. I told him what a mess I was, and he responded by sighing and staring at me, right before he suggested a nude swim. Would I ever understand Damian Petrescu?

  Not likely.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Damian

  I took Heidi for a walk down the beach, but we didn't swim, with or without clothes. She seemed edgy after sharing her anxieties with me, so I didn't push for more than a walk. I couldn't remember the last time I'd done something like this, just walking and talking with a woman, no flirting or sex involved. It felt good. Heidi clearly thought she was a flake, but I never saw her that way, not even when we'd first met months ago. Nobody who worked as a pharmacy technician could be a flake.

  Heidi was smart and together, but she didn't seem to realize it.

  Though I hadn't thought she would want to hear more about my happy family, she asked me to tell her stories about them. So I did. She seemed to like that, which surprised me, though maybe it shouldn't have. Maybe hearing about my family made her feel better or…something. She got more relaxed and at ease the longer we strolled down the beach and talked. She did tell me more about her family too—good things this time. Her parents weren't total jerks, I learned. When she was a kid, Heidi's parents always gave her everything she wanted for Christmas, except for the year when she wanted a hot-air balloon.

  Yeah, I could understand not wanting to give a kid that for a present.

  But I would never understand why her parents made her the center of their marital problems and made her feel like their divorce was her fault. Maybe they hadn't meant to, but everything they'd done made her feel that way.

  On the way back to the resort, I told her funny stories about my parents and my brother.

  "Does your family like Halloween?" Heidi asked after I'd finished one of my stories. "Or is that not part of gypsy culture?"

  "We love Halloween, but it's not a gypsy tradition. We're Americans as well as gypsies, and Americans love dressing up and trying to scare each other."

  Heidi smiled. "Yeah, we do. Well, not me, but lots of other people."

  "You don't dress up for Halloween?"

  "Sure, I do. But my costumes are sexy, not scary." Her smile turned teasing, and she bumped her shoulder into me. "Do you wear your hot gypsy outfit for Halloween?"

  "No, I didn't start dressing that way until I came here and decided to play up my Ludar heritage for the tourists. Honestly, I haven't done the Halloween-costume thing in years."

  "Seriously? I would've thought you'd love that holiday."

  "I used to, but I kind of grew out of it."

  She arched her brows. "Damian the gypsy vampire doesn't like Halloween anymore? Maybe you need to loosen up a little too."

  I let go of her hand to sling my arm around her shoulders. "Maybe I do. A little. I have spent years working at a prison, which isn't the most relaxing environment."

  As we reached the edge of the woods, with the lawn in sight, she stopped and looked at me. "Want to finish that palm reading?"

  "Maybe later. Why don't we go into the entertainment room and play a game?"

  "Like what?"

  "Anything you want. Poker, Monopoly, Go Fish, Twister."

  She laughed. "Does anybody play Twister anymore? I'm not sure that's a safe game to play with you."

  We wandered across the lawn and into the guest house, with my arm still around her, and we played silly games for two hours. Nobody bothered us because Eve and Val had taken a big group into town for shopping and sightseeing. The rest of the guests were either in their rooms or on the lawn enjoying the sunshine. Heidi and I had the entertainment room to ourselves. I could've taken advantage of that fact and turned it into an afternoon of naughty games, but I didn't. Spending time with Heidi felt even better than sex.

  Yeah, I actually thought that. Playing board games with Heidi was better than making love to her. Nobody would believe I could feel that way.

  I wanted to take Heidi into town and buy her dinner at a nice restaurant, but I figured that might trigger her anxiety again. So instead, we got our food from the dining hall and took it outside for a moonlight picnic. I got a battery-powered lantern from the supply closet so we wouldn't need to hunt around in the dark for our food. After we ate, we turned off the lantern and enjoyed lying on our blanket on the lawn with the stars and the moon above us.

  After that, I escorted her back to her room.

  Yeah, there was a good-night kiss. A chaste one.

  How long could I last without tasting her again? The flavor of her mouth drove me crazy, but the taste I hungered for the most was her luscious cream.

  In the morning, I brought her breakfast in bed. Turned out she slept in short-sleeve pajamas, not sexy lingerie. Still, seeing her in PJs got me just as turned on as lingerie might have. We sat on the bed, side by side, to enjoy our meal and tease each other.

  After we'd finished our French toast and bacon, Heidi turned to me. "You don't have to hold back. I'm not as fragile as you think. I know I acted like I am, but honestly, that's not the real me. I'd kind of forgotten who I am until you helped me remember."

  "I didn't do anything. You found your way again all on your own."

  She feigned shock. "Damian Petrescu is refusing to take credit for giving awesome dating and awesome sex?"

  "Very funny. I take full credit for the sex, but the rest was all you." I raised my brows. "Thought we weren't dating, anyway. Friends only, you said."

  "Oh, forget about that. We're dating."

  I stared at her. Probably with a blank expression. Or possibly with my mouth hanging open. Maybe both.

  She gave my shoulder a little shove. "Why are you catatonic because I admitted we're dating? I thought you'd be happy."

  "I am happy, but I feel rightfully shocked. Thought you'd need a lot more time to get over your anxieties." I couldn't help smiling with smug satisfaction, though it was the sarcastic kind. "Damn, I'm even better than I realized. One night of hot sex and two days of wooing, and you're begging me to be your boyfriend."

  "There's been no begging. Don't turn back into arrogant Damian. I'm starting to like the sweet guy under the Dracula-knockoff exterior."

  "Now you're back to calling me a knockoff?" I wrapped an arm around her, tugging her against my side, bringing our faces to within a hair's breadth of each other. "Maybe it's time I give you my awesome dirty talk. You'll never insult me again once you've heard me whisper filthy things into your ear."

  "Go on. I'm ready for that."

  "Maybe later. This is a workday for me, so I need to get into concierge mode."

  "Okay. What about tonight?" She snuggled up to me, running her palm over my chest. "I need you to talk dirty and fuck
me, Damian."

  I coughed, like that would ever stop my dick from getting hard. Which it was. Right now. "Tonight, for sure. I swear a solemn Ludar oath to fuck you senseless tonight."

  She grinned.

  And I went to work.

  I wanted to spend my lunch break with Heidi, but her friends commandeered her for a girlie shopping trip in town. Instead, I ate alone in the office.

  My cell phone rang while I was wolfing down a big bite of my turkey club sandwich. I fished it out of my pocket and answered while still chewing.

  "Damian, don't speak while eating. How many times have I told you that's uncouth?"

  "Mom?" I swallowed and cleared my throat. "It's my lunch break, so yeah, I was eating. Pardon my rudeness for not wanting to starve."

  She clucked her tongue. "My sweet boy is becoming a heathen out there in the woods."

  "Did you call to give me a verbal spanking? Or was there a genuine reason?"

  "Of course there's a reason." She paused, probably for dramatic effect. My mother had always loved doing that. "We're coming for a visit, to see what about the Oregon woods has lured our son into the nudist lifestyle."

  "I work here, Mom. It's a legitimate job, not an excuse for getting naked and sleeping with hot girls. And for your information, I keep my clothes on during work hours."

  "We need to check on you. Your father is booking our flight as we speak."

  "No, Mom, you will not invade the resort. I'm a big boy, and I can take care of myself. I think we're all booked up, anyway." I had no idea if that was true, but I hoped so. I loved my family, but they—especially my mom—could be a bit much. Heidi would panic for sure if my mother showed up and started grilling her like a shish kebab.

  "Ollie reserved rooms for us," Mom said. "And he told Mary you have a girlfriend, so she told me. I should have heard that from you, Damian, not from Ollie's mother."

  Yeah, my mom and Ollie's mom were good friends, and sometimes Ollie inadvertently told his mom something I didn't want my parents to know, and then Mary would tell my mom. I couldn't blame Ollie, though. He'd always sucked at lying, and besides, it was my problem, not his.

  "Who is she?" Mom asked.

  "I, uh, well…" Was it wrong to tell my mother to go suck a lemon? "I only just started seeing this girl, and I don't need you guys getting in the middle of things. Please hold off on your visit until later."

  Maybe I should've begged. Or shouted. Or begged in a shouty voice.

  But no, that wouldn't have worked. Once my mother made up her mind, there was no stopping the runaway train.

  "We'll see you tomorrow," she said. "I can't wait to meet your girl."

  Given the tone of her voice, I knew she meant "I can't wait to aim my evil stare at your girl while giving her a full physical including a pelvic exam." My mother was a good person, but she could do the evil-stare thing better than anyone. She also tended to get overprotective.

  What was it about this resort that made our families decide to invade the place for surprise visits? Eve's family had done it. So had Mara's. Now my mom was planning a "visit" I was sure would match the Invasion of Normandy in scale and drama.

  Since I seemed to have no choice in the matter, I told her, "Fine, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

  "Your brother is coming too. With Emily and the kids."

  A total family invasion? Somehow, some way, I had to prepare Heidi for this.

  Yeah, no problem. She freaked when I made love to her, but she'd handle the invasion of the Ludar horde, no problem.

  I said goodbye to my mother, then dropped my head onto the desktop, facedown, and groaned.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Heidi

  Shopping had sounded like a good idea when my friends suggested it, but it turned into the longest retail torture session ever. I didn't care about push-up bras or novelty T-shirts. Even cute skirts couldn't drag my attention back to the present. No, I kept remembering the other night when Damian made love to me. Memories of our nature walk tormented me too—the way he'd held my hand, the feel of his lips on mine, our conversations, his patience and kindness. All of that affected me with almost as much strength as the lovemaking had.

  I liked Damian. A lot. I told him we're dating.

  My tummy fluttered, and my pulse accelerated. Was it fear or excitement? Maybe both. Being with Damian felt like a dangerous and thrilling adventure, one I didn't want to end, not yet. Being here at the resort gave us a chance to explore this whatever-it-was between us without the distraction of our families getting involved. Sure, we had lots of friends here, but I remembered the fiascoes that happened when Eve's family and Mara's family had turned up, on separate occasions, to push their noses into their budding relationships with Val and Ollie. Mara and Ollie had survived her parents' visit. Eve and Val got through it too when her parents, her brother, and her sister showed up.

  But I didn't know if I'd survive something like that. My parents would never in a million billion years show up here, at a nudist resort. I barely talked to them anymore except on holidays and birthdays. Damian's parents wouldn't come here, would they? No, of course not. I was being paranoid, worrying about something that wouldn't happen.

  Even lunch at a nice restaurant didn't rouse me from my Damian daydreams.

  When my friends and I got back to the resort, I told them I was tired and wanted to go back to my room. They probably believed me since I'd been yawning a lot today. Staying awake half the night fantasizing about Damian had left me at less-than-optimal wakefulness.

  I trudged into the guest house, shoulders hunched, hands jammed into the pockets of my cargo pants.

  And I ran straight into Damian.

  "Sorry," he said, grasping my shoulders when I teetered. "Are you okay? I wasn't looking where I was going."

  "I'm fine. And I wasn't looking either."

  "Did you not have a good time in town?"

  Shrugging, I took a step backward. The feel of his hands on my body had set off a faint tingle on my skin. "It was okay. Guess I'm not in a shopping mood today."

  His features tightened into a pained expression. "I need to tell you something, and it might make you anxious again. Please don't panic. It's not as big a deal as it sounds like."

  I was getting anxious just listening to him say that. But I would not panic. No way. I was done with that. So I pulled my hands out of my pockets, rolled my shoulders back, and said like a mature, level-headed woman, "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'll be fine, promise."

  "Okay." He said that like he wasn't at all sure he believed me, not that I could blame him for being skeptical. "My mom called me earlier. Turns out Ollie mentioned to his mom that you and I are dating, and she told my mom, so now the whole family knows, and…" He winced. "My parents and my brother are coming for a visit."

  "Here?" I was so proud of myself for not shrieking that word. It had come out sounding a touch surprised, but in a mature and level-headed way.

  "Yeah, here."

  "When? Like, next week or something?"

  He winced again, harder. "Tomorrow."

  I swore every ounce of blood in my body evaporated, leaving behind an icy chill. Damian's family? The gypsies who read palms and who-knew-what-else? What if his mother put a curse on me? Get a grip, woman, you will not panic again, absolutely not. I pulled in a slow, deep breath and exhaled it little by little.

  Damian grasped my shoulders again, gazing into my eyes with the sweetest look of concern. "It'll be okay. My mom likes to put on a show of being a mystical gypsy, but she's actually a tax accountant, and she's a nice person deep down. Once she gets to know you, she'll love you."

  "Are you lying through your teeth to make me feel better?"

  He winced for a third time. "Yes. But only a little. My mother takes…getting used to."

  "Uh-huh."

  "I tried to talk her out of coming here, but she's determined. Mom can be pigheaded, especially when it comes to me
and my brother."

  "Really?" I said with a smirk. "That's a shocker. I mean, you're so not pigheaded."

  His lips kicked up at one corner. "I prefer to call it sexy determination."

  "I suppose that's a mostly accurate description." I kissed him. "I'll be okay, even if your mom curses me to be frigid just to stop you from dating me."

  "Nothing will make me do that." He pulled me into his arms. "But I want to make sure you're okay with this. You are wearing cargo pants again, after all."

  "I like them. They're comfortable."

  He gave me a skeptical look. "Are you sure it's not because you're anxious again and trying to hide that gorgeous body?"

  "Yes, I'm sure. Maybe I'm not quite ready to go nude again, but I'm telling the truth about cargo pants. I have decided I like them." I patted one of the many pockets on my pants. "Lots of places to stash lip gloss and mascara."

  He squinted like he was scrutinizing me. "You don't look like you're wearing either of those."

  "No, but I could keep them in these pockets if I wanted to wear them."

  "Right." He stroked my back with his palms. "Are you absolutely sure you want to be here when my parents show up?"

  "Yes. I'm positive." It was my turn to wince. "Though I can't promise I won't get a teeny bit anxious when I meet your mom. I will not panic, though. I've made a vow to myself."

  "Is that like your celibacy vow? Because you kind of ditched that one."

  "And it was your fault." I wriggled against him, loving the way he hissed in a breath. I was rubbing myself on the bulge in his pants, after all. "If you weren't so damn sexy, I would've kept that vow for six months."