by Zoe Chant
Lauren pulled back a little, and David could see she was trying to put her brave face back on.
“It’s okay to be tired,” he told her. “It’s okay to be overwhelmed.”
“Is it?” she asked him. “Because I really, really am.” Her words turned into sobs at the end, and she didn’t stop him from pulling her closer and enfolding her in his arms.
She nestled against him, warm and trusting, and he leaned down to nuzzle her hair, as he’d been dreaming of doing all day. He only intended to comfort her, as he stroked up and down her back and pressed kisses to her hair. But then his hand found the curve of her hip, and then Lauren shifted and pressed into his grasp, and suddenly his every nerve was alive to every point of contact between them.
He tilted her face up and kissed her tears away, slowly and gently, pausing between each kiss to give her time to change her mind. Lauren clung to him more tightly, pulling his hips to hers. The pressure against his cock was electric.
Finally he kissed her lips. Her mouth opened hungrily as she whimpered. He tasted her, savored her, as their kisses grew deeper and more desperate. The soft fullness of her breasts crushed against him was maddening.
But then, with a last nibble to his lower lip, Lauren stepped back. She put her hands on his chest, and it felt halfway between caressing him and warding him off.
“We shouldn’t do this,” she said sadly. “We should wait until you have your memory back.”
“Why? What do you think will be different then?” He took a deep breath and struggled to tame his passion. He wanted so badly to be with her, to bring her pleasure and to cherish her, but not if she had doubts about him. Hurting her would be far worse than never being with her.
“What if … what if there’s someone looking for you? Someone special in your life? For all we know, your disappearance is the top news story in Boston or somewhere, and your beautiful blonde fiancée is holding a press conference right now, tearfully begging for any news of your whereabouts.”
Her face looked so weary and resigned. David longed to reassure her, but her objections deserved to be taken seriously.
“I really don’t believe there is someone; I try to imagine it, and nothing about it feels true. But I can’t prove it, any more than I can prove my name. And I know it wouldn’t be fair for me to ask you to do something you feel is unethical, or take a risk that you’re not ready to take, just based on my gut feeling. It’s okay, I can sleep on the couch tonight.”
“Wait!” she said, then bit her lip and looked away for a moment. Then she seemed to reach a decision, because when she looked back at him, she was determined again, though she still didn’t look happy. “I’m the one who’s going to be unfair. Yes, I don’t think we should cross that line. And if we’re not going to, then we should be sensible about it, and do just what you said. But I don’t want to! God help me, I’m weak, and I just want to be as close to you as I can, for as long as I can. For all we know, this could all be over tomorrow; will you come sleep in my room tonight?”
“Of course I will,” he said, and kissed her forehead once more. “As close as we can, for as long as we can.” To lie beside her all night without taking things further would be absolute torment, but still there was no place that he would rather be.
Chapter 8
Lauren dreamed of a roaring fire in a fireplace, the blazing orange flames warming her skin and providing the only light in the room. She was seated on a rug before the fire – no, not a rug, a bear skin – and she was leaning back against someone strong and comforting. She looked over her shoulder and found David smiling down at her. Behind him she saw only the vague shapes of furniture under dust covers.
She cuddled back against him, warm and safe. His hand moved to her thigh and slowly pulled up the red dress she was wearing. Lauren realized that she was naked under the dress, and felt a sudden stab of desire so strong that she arched her back and gasped.
The David in her dream pulled the dress up higher, exposing her most private parts to the heat and light of the fire. The warmth was so intense it almost felt like a caress, and then she imagined David touching her there and she moaned. She felt totally unashamed as she let her legs splay open and she reached up to pull him into a kiss.
It was a hungry, almost ferocious kiss. The fire’s heat enflamed her, and the plush fur of the bear skin beneath her tickled her thighs. She moved David’s hands exactly where she wanted them: one to tease the delicate folds of her cunt, and one up higher, to cup and fondle her heavy breasts.
He made a rough sound of want that was almost a growl. Lauren laughed and pressed back harder against him, offering up every inch of her body to his hands.
When Lauren startled awake, she knew at once where that dream had come from. She and David were spooned together from head to toe, with his arm around her waist and his hard cock pressed up against her ass.
Her whole sex throbbed with need. All her noble protests from a few hours ago seemed pointless now, drowned in the tide of desire. Moving slowly, trying not to wake David, she slid a few fingers into her panties. God, she was so slick! And she was desperate to come.
If only she could get herself off without waking him, and then go back to sleep. She might not be able to look him in the face tomorrow without blushing, but at least she wouldn’t be compromising her principles too far.
She dipped her fingers into the thick wetness and then circled her clit a few times. Oh, it was good, but all she could think of was how much better it would be if it was David. And every little jolt of pleasure made her want to grind her hips back against him. No, stealth was not going to cut it.
Then, David woke up. Lauren knew the exact moment it happened; she heard the tiny startled breath and felt his arm begin to clasp her more closely before he froze.
Then Lauren did what she’d been dying to do since she awoke: she wiggled her hips, just a little, just enough to really feel the size and hardness of his cock.
He thrust up against her before freezing again. She could feel his body quivering with tension. Very deliberately, she reached up behind her, running her hand over his face and neck before burying her fingers in his hair. She took a deep breath and whispered, “Please.”
It was the only permission he needed. With a groan he swept his hand lower, shoving her panties out of the way and exploring her damp curls.
Lauren sighed gratefully and let her body respond, rocking back against him. Waves of pleasure rolled through her. Tension surged back and forth between his fingers in front and his rock-hard cock behind her. David slipped two fingers into her and she gasped, rocking harder, overwhelmed with sensation.
David was panting behind her, then he pressed damp kisses to her neck, thrusting against her backside. When he gently nipped her neck, the electric shock of his teeth was the last push she needed. She came, pulsing against his fingers, melting into a warm, deep peacefulness.
After the last wave, she stretched luxuriously and rolled to face him. In the cozy afterglow, all her doubts were gone. She knew she would fight a million blonde fiancées to keep him; every fiber of her being was telling her that this was meant to be.
She turned her face up to kiss him, opening her mouth to his tongue. Every move he made now had an edge of desperation. She reached down into his shorts and grasped his hardness, running her hand up and down, feeling him surge into the pressure. She had condoms in the bathroom but it seemed cruel to make him wait even that long. Besides, they had the whole night ahead of them. She stroked him harder, running her thumb over the slit each time she came to the top, and with just a few pulls he was coming in her hand, spilling hot and wet between their bodies.
His kisses grew gentler as he calmed. He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her face.
“I want to see you,” he whispered. “I want to know this is real.”
“I’ll light a candle,” she whispered back.
She sat up and felt for the matches she’d left on the night stand. With a scrape
and a hiss the match lit, then the wick caught and a small golden light bloomed in the darkness.
Lauren turned to look at David. He was looking at her with rapt attention, a stunned smile on his face. He pulled her back into his arms and she happily settled in against him. She kissed him again, small, teasing kisses.
Then he stopped and said, “Lauren, is it okay that we did this?”
“I honestly don’t know. But it feels so right. We’ll find a way to make it okay, no matter what happens.” Then Lauren held back the next words that came to her lips: I love you, David. It scared her a little to realize just how true it was. Part of her was protesting that she’d taken leave of reason completely – she’d only known him for less than 24 hours! But the rest of her was utterly confident. This was the right time, the right place, the right person. This was their moment, and doubts would only get in their way.
She sat up and pulled off her t-shirt, which had caught the worst of the mess earlier. David joined her in stripping down, and when they were both naked, Lauren’s dream came back to her: the warmth, the desire, the fire-lit glow. The rest of the world receded, even the adventures they’d shared during the day were forgotten. There was nothing but the two of them, their bodies and their hearts, together in this bed.
Lauren sank back into his arms, feeling completed now that they were finally skin-to-skin from head to toe. She lost herself in his hungry kisses. He played with different rhythms, different pressures and sensations, everything from tiny little nips to deep, fierce kisses with thrusting tongue. It was almost like he was testing each kiss.
She whispered to him, “Are you trying to figure out what I like? Or what you like?”
“Both,” he admitted with a little laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’ve done this before, but it all feels brand new.”
“So it’s kind of like your first time,” she said with a wicked chuckle. “So which do you like better, this, or this?” First she licked a broad, firm stripe up his neck and under his jaw, and then followed it with little bites heading back down, each just hard enough to leave red mark. He twitched with each bite, excitement building until he was straining up against her.
“They were both really nice,” he said, “but the biting …” he trailed off with a wordless groan as she nipped one more time.
“Oh yeah, definitely the biting. Here’s another one for you: right? Or left?” She flicked each of his nipples with her tongue, then let out a surprised squeak as he rolled her over and settled on top of her.
“I could ask you the same question,” he said, following up with a couple of licks of his own.
Lauren gasped with pleasure and writhed under the heavy weight of his muscular form. It felt so good, her hips just wanted to keep moving, grinding against him, seeking contact for the wet heat between her legs.
Her hunger sparked his, and in the next moment all playfulness was gone, replaced by raw need. Her arms encircled his broad back, holding onto him as tightly as she could. She twined one leg around his as he thrust against her hip, just inches away from where they both desperately wanted him to be.
Tearing herself away from him to fetch the condoms from the bathroom was like getting kicked out of paradise, but when she came back, oh, it was worth it. He filled her completely. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him close. Every scrap of her awareness was focused on the delicious stretch of his cock inside her, and when he started to move, it was like losing her mind.
She came undone, gasping and moaning in a way that was utterly primal, and then so did he as his hips sped up and he thrust into her even harder. They came together in a perfect unity that Lauren had never felt with anyone else in her life.
Chapter 9
David awoke to the chiming of Lauren’s cell phone alarm. She rolled out of his arms to grab it and turn it off, then smiled shyly at him. She was just as beautiful all rumpled and sleepy in the morning sunlight as she was at the height of passion in the candle’s glow.
“Do you still want to go help with breakfast?” she asked. For a moment he imagined spending the whole day in bed with her instead, and the vision was definitely tempting. But he could hear the sounds of the town waking up through Lauren’s open window, and he also felt pulled to work and be useful, to help all the people here who’d been so generous in welcoming him.
He leaned over and kissed her, asking “What do you want to do?”
She made a happy noise against his lips, but then he saw her eyes stray to the window, and she looked up at him a little apologetically.
He laughed. “It’s okay if you want to help. I do, too.”
“If you had other plans, I could probably be talked out of it,” she said with a sensual little shimmy against him.
He pinned her down and kissed her again, reveling in the taste and scent of her, and in the strength and softness of her body beneath his.
“Oh, I have lots of plans, but they can wait till later.”
“We still have hot water, I think,” she said. “Who wants to shower first?”
When they were both clean and David was dressed in more of Pete’s clothes, they set off to the church. It was buzzing with activity. Many people who were still living in their own homes had brought their breakfasts here, to share their food and to not be alone.
Ella found some chores for Lauren to do, but after David finished his cereal and yogurt he found himself at loose ends. Just then the mayor came in looking for men to help with removing the debris from the culverts. David waved at Lauren to show where he was going, then headed off with the work crew.
As soon as the doors closed behind him he felt a tug like a magnet. It felt strange to leave Lauren behind. He laughed a bit ruefully when he realized that in the very short lifetime that he could remember, he’d never been more than one room away from her before.
There were large cracks in the Carter Street road bed where it ran along and over the culvert, so it wasn’t safe to get a back-hoe close enough to actually reach the debris blocking the creek. So David and the other men hooked ropes and chains around the largest logs, then ran the ropes up to trucks with winches that were parked further away. It was hard and complicated work, requiring lots of yelling back and forth to coordinate, but as the morning wore away they made good progress clearing the creek. The street might still not be safe for car traffic but at least people could cross on foot until repairs could be made, and there was no danger of another storm washing them out.
A large older man wearing well-tailored clothes stood apart from the rest of the work crew, looking like he thought it was his job to supervise, though he didn’t seem to be contributing anything to the process. Then David saw Fran coming down the hill. When the man caught sight of Fran, his face began to turn red.
“You!” he yelled. “How dare you talk to my wife like you did yesterday! You think you’re so tough – come over here and try talking to me that way!”
Fran leaned forward and walked faster, a feral grin spreading across her wrinkled face. She didn’t seem in the least intimidated by his bluster.
“With pleasure,” she snapped. “I’m tired of you looking down on us all, and complaining about all the ‘civilized’ things you can’t buy here, and acting like we’re all your employees. Nobody asked you to ‘retire to the country’,” she said, with her hands clawing air quotes. “Nobody asked you to build that monstrosity up on the hill.”
David looked up where Fran was pointing: an elaborate structure spilled down the slope, with multiple sections connected by breezeways and porches, and all of it absolutely clotted with white gingerbread trim. It was like a Victorian farm house had metastasized.
“We got by just fine here for centuries without the Valentis lording it over us in a gaudy castle, and we’ll keep getting along just fine after you’re gone,” she finished. Then she turned and walked away before Mr. Valenti could respond. His face got even redder, but when he realized every man in the crew was staring at him, he coughed and tried to look unconce
rned.
After another half hour of work the culvert was cleared. The crew returned to the shelter for lunch. David realized one benefit of spending time away from Lauren – now he would actually have something to tell her over lunch!
He caught sight of her standing over a grill outside the church. When she looked up and saw him, a welcoming smile spread across her face. She handed her spatula to a woman walking past and ran up to meet him.
There was an awkward little moment where neither of them was sure whether to hug or kiss or what. They settled for twining their fingers together and standing close.
“I missed you,” David said.
“I missed you, too,” Lauren said, blushing a little. Was missing someone something to be embarrassed about? Was this a social cue David had forgotten along with his name? If so, he didn’t care. He couldn’t imagine not telling her the simple truth, that she’d been on his mind in one way or another the whole time he was away.
They went to stand in line for some lunch. While waiting, David told her in a low voice about the argument between Fran and Mr. Valenti.
“I wonder why she seems so angry?” David mused.
“She’s pretty grumpy in general, it’s true. She loves the animals she takes care of, but she doesn’t have a lot of patience with people. Ella told me a really sad story about her. It’s third-hand by this point so I don’t know if we can really trust the details, but it would explain a lot. She and her husband only had one child, a daughter. They weren’t too keen on her going away to college, but she had her heart set on it. And there she fell in love with some guy that her parents totally did not approve of; I don’t know what the problem was, it might have just been that he wasn’t from Ashton or Sheldon. That’s how parochial some of the older people are here.
“Anyway, she ran off and married him without their blessing, and her parents didn’t speak to her for years. And when they finally decided to reconcile, they couldn’t find her. This was before the internet, and they didn’t even know her husband’s name. They had to hire a P.I. At first he couldn’t find any trace of them. When he finally found their name and where they’d moved to, it was too late. The daughter and her husband had both died in a car accident a few months before.”