by Aria Ford
Like this.
I made myself pasta and sat down to eat it, still lost in a dream. My phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Allie.” It was Astrid, Frank's wife.
“Yes?” I asked, frowning.
“Just wanting to confirm – you'll be back on Monday morning, right?”
“That's right,” I said. “At two.”
“Okay,” she said. “You reckon Kelsey and Marcelle will be okay on Monday?”
“I'm sure they will be,” I said confidently. “I trust them.”
“Okay. Only Frank's got a lot of work on Monday, and he can't help out.”
“I'm sure he does.” I sighed. Astrid was a great person and I respected her. I knew she didn't really approve of my friendship with her husband, even though we really were friends. She tried her best to keep her opinion well-hidden, but I knew she felt I used Frank and I felt guilty about it.
“Okay. Well, then. If you're sure they'll manage.”
“I know they'll manage,” I said firmly. “Kelsey's very capable. I rely on her.”
“Oh.” She sounded pleased at that. It was nothing less than the truth – Kelsey was a godsend in the shop and I relied heavily on her. Especially during this week with my emotions leaping around from fear to elation and back to mistrust.
“Yes. Well, thanks once again. And thanks to Frank and Kelsey too. I appreciate it.”
“I'll pass it on,” she said.
When she had hung up, I put the phone aside and closed my eyes. I was confused and happy and excited. And I knew I was never going to sleep tonight.
The next morning I woke at five-thirty. I stumbled out of bed and carefully showered and dressed. I put on a big jacket, ready for the cold. I could take it off in the plane, but I wanted to have it beside me, ready to put on in an instant.
I drove to the airport, went through the security check in a kind of daze and then sat down. I would change planes once and then head off to the tiny airport by the lake. We waited for the pilot to hurtle us down the runway and then we were flying.
I felt my stomach drop away and excitement fill me.
The connection went smoothly and it was getting close to three P.M. when my plane finally landed at the tiny airport of Frankfort. I stared down, awed by the sheer volume of blue as we swooped in to land. The lakes were unbelievable. I would have thought they were inland seas.
I hurried off the plane, carrying my bag with me – no need to put anything in the hold when I was only going to be there a few days – and then exited.
It was cold. I shivered as we walked to the small terminal building, drawing my coat up tight round my neck to keep out the gusting air.
Inside, I looked around. At first I didn't see him. Then my vision cleared and I was facing him in the tiny arrivals hall. The walls, the crowd, the posters and signs and words – all of them drifted away. I could just see Drew.
He was wearing a black overcoat, close-fitting and stylish – and his dark hair was impeccably brushed. He looked as if he'd just walked out of his own home, not flown in on an earlier flight from halfway across the country. I smiled at him, my cheeks sore with the intensity of my grin. He smiled.
“Hey,” he said. “How's the flight?”
“Not bad,” I said. “I should ask you too.”
He chuckled. “It could have been later,” he said, blinking exhaustion. I realized he must have been awake at some ridiculous hour and instantly felt sorry for him.
“I'll drive,” I suggested quickly. He chuckled.
“It's okay, sweetie. I organized transport already.”
I laughed at him, incredulous. “Oh, you!”
“What?” he asked.
“I should have thought of the fact that you never do things by halves.”
“Well no, I don't,” he said. He put an arm round me and kissed me. “And you're an example of that.”
I looked sideways at him, pretending to be offended. “I'm not sure what to say to that,” I said.
He laughed. “You said I have a tendency to take things to extremes. Extravagant ones,” he said.
“Yes?”
“Well, you're extravagantly lovely. So there.” He kissed my hair and I laughed.
“I hope you know I'm completely swayed by flattery,” I said with a happy grin. “So be prepared to get anything out of me at all.”
He raised a brow. “Please. Don't do that to me.”
“Do what?” I asked, blinking bashfully.
“Make me think of things like that when I'm trying to concentrate,” he said flatly. “It isn't fair.”
I giggled. “Well, you're not driving.”
“True,” he said. We reached the car and he held open the door for me, then got in behind me.
“Take us home, please,” he said to the driver. “To Whiteshores.”
“Yes, sir.”
We headed off towards out destination.
As we drove, I stared through the window. The countryside was wilder here as we headed onto the main road, and I could see blue everywhere below the gray sky.
“Is it out of town?” I asked him.
“Yes,” Drew said.
We drove on until I was starting to wonder where exactly we were headed. Then, at last, it came into view. A beautiful cottage built in a traditional style, looking out over flat floodplain and vast blueness.
“Oh, my...”
I stared at it. It was perfect. Isolated, well-made, beautiful.
He chuckled. “Here we are.”
“This is it?”
“It is. Drive on.”
The driver took us to the door and Drew climbed out, opened my door for me, and took out my bags.
“Thank you,” he said to the driver. “Have a nice day.”
“Thanks, Mr. Liston. You too.”
Then we were alone together. I stared up at him.
He cleared his throat. “Well,” he said tightly. “Shall we go in?”
I could feel my whole body throbbing with longing. Having him so close, so soon, was going to actually make my loins catch fire.
“Yes,” I whispered.
We went inside.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Allie
I followed Drew through the cottage to the stairs. The place was beautiful. Everything was new, from the laminated wood floors to the pale wood furniture. It smelled new and clean and lovely.
“Allie,” he said, his voice grating. I reached up and kissed him.
“Upstairs?” he said.
“Yes.”
He led me up the stairs to a whitewashed door and opened it. It opened onto a big bedroom with a bed covered in bleached linen coverlets in neo-Scandinavian patterns.
Drew turned to me then and his tongue pushed into my mouth as he kissed me. I sighed and let him push me back against the bed, my body pressing against him and his erection pressed tight to my belly, proof of his arousal.
“Oh, baby,” he murmured. His eyes were shining. I smiled up at him.
“Shall we lie down?” I whispered. His eyes brightened and he nodded.
I sat down on the bed, feeling a little hesitant. He joined me. Then, slowly, he pushed me down onto the bed as he kissed me. I could feel the sweet pressure of his body on mine, insistently propelling me backward onto the pattered coverlet. I let him push me back and lie beside me, his mouth still plying mine.
I sighed as his hand gently stroked down my body, fumbling for the buttons of my button-down blouse. I let him start to unfasten it, loving the efficient, practiced manner he undressed me. I was half naked on the bed now and he leaned down and kissed me again.
“You look amazing,” he whispered. I smiled, my whole body shivering.
“I think I can undress you too,” I said. I reached for his shirt buttons and he smiled.
“I wouldn't say no,” he whispered.
“Good.”
He chuckled and I fumbled with the buttons, opening them one by one, smiling as I revealed
the lean, hard body beneath. I sometimes couldn't believe he was real. When I had taken the shirt off, I sat back and just stared. With broad shoulders, a narrow waist and bulging abs, he was so beautiful. I teased myself, looking when I wanted to touch.
“You're so stunning,” I said.
He smiled at me. His brown eyes shone and I smiled back as he reached out to touch me.
“Mm,” I murmured as he started to slide my bra off, reaching behind me to unclasp it and then letting out a long breath as my breasts came free.
“I love your breasts,” he murmured and my stomach clenched in longing as he kissed me and then moved his mouth down, moving down my neck and to my breasts. When his mouth closed round my nipple I almost cried with pleasure.
His hand was busy with my other breast, teasing and tickling. Then, just as I thought I could stand no more, he swapped. I was shaking, my poor body so ready for him. And I was still not undressed.
“I...” I gasped dizzily as he sat back and I opened my eyes. “We should undress.”
“Mm. Indeed,” he said with that quirked grin. He bent down and started unfastening my jeans and I sobbed with arousal as he fingered me through my panties.
Then, fortunately – because I couldn't have waited any longer – he undressed and knelt between my thighs.
“I want you so much,” he said.
I giggled. “Same here.”
He smiled sweetly and pushed that big cock inside. I cried out as I felt him enter me and then I lost the sense of anything except his moving and my moving and the sweet growing climax in me.
I sobbed as it crashed through me, leaving me shivering and gasping and calling his name.
A moment later he came too. I felt him tense and then soften, collapsing onto me. We lay like that, spent and sated, until he rolled off me and I lay beside him.
***
I reached out to stroke the soft skin of Allie's body as she lay beside me, her thigh over mine. I still couldn't quite believe this was happening. It was five in the evening and I was thousands of miles away from home, with her.
“Allie,” I whispered as I kissed her.
She opened her eyes and smiled sleepily at me. “Oh, there you are,” she said.
I chuckled. “Where should I be?”
“I was dreaming,” she murmured, snuggling in closer. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her, loving the feeling of her lying encircled in my embrace. It was so peaceful.
“Good dreams?”
“Nonsense dreams,” she said with a laugh. “Just about the bakery, and work and...silly things.”
“Mm,” I murmured. I kissed her hair. “As long as it wasn't a nightmare?”
She chuckled. “My work isn't often that bad,” she paused. “Though if the coffee machine breaks again it might turn into one.”
I laughed. “It's giving you trouble?”
“Yes!”
As she told me, in sleepy murmurs, the story of the coffee-machine from hell, I stroked her hair and felt the drowsy contentment of post-sex wash through me. I was so happy with Alexandra. She suited me.
And now we were here. Together. Two whole days.
My body stiffened with longing then and I let out a small chuckle.
“What?” she asked. She had finished the story and her head rested on my shoulder again.
“I... you have a great effect on me.”
She grinned. Her hand stroked down my waist and moved lower. As it explored me I ground my teeth, trying not to let the groans of longing escape. I would never be able to figure out exactly what she did to me with that hand, but it aroused me in a way I'd never known.
“Oh, baby,” I finally managed. “You make me want you so bad.”
She grinned. “I want you, too.”
“Mm,” I murmured. I kissed the side of her head and then sat up, looking down at her lovely curves. I put my hand on her shoulder and, very gently, moved her. She realized what I was thinking of and flipped obligingly onto her tummy, exposing her round, pink butt.
I felt my cock throb. Gently, I moved to kneel between her thighs. I parted them and realized I was trembling as I looked at her, so wet and welcoming. I stroked her, unable to resist it, and she gasped.
As I pumped inside her, my whole body on fire with need, I felt myself tensing and realized I was about to come. I growled and tensed and tried to keep myself back, holding off until she had climaxed first. I was shivering and trembling, transported to fever-pitch of longing when she finally cried out.
After, I collapsed onto her and I lay holding her in my arms.
“I don't ever want anything but this,” I murmured. I want you, now and always.”
At that moment, I meant it with every fiber of my heart.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Drew
I woke up the next morning feeling amazing. The day was a little sunnier and the light washed through the linen curtains, falling onto my eyelids. I could hear the sweet sigh of the lake water and the softer sigh of Alexandra breathing.
I turned to look at her. She was fast asleep, her eyes closed, the long lashes resting on her cheeks. She looked like a sleeping angel.
I didn't want to wake her, so I slid carefully to the edge of the bed and stood up. I stood on one of my shoes, lost my balance and wind milled my arms, before grabbing onto the wall behind the bed to steady. I must have made a noise of some sort because she stirred and her eyes opened.
She smiled. “Hello, Drew,” she whispered.
As it always did, hearing my name on her lips – she usually called me “dearest” – was arousing.
“Hello, sweetie,” I whispered. She smiled more broadly and rolled over, shading her face with one arm.
“What's the time?”
“It's...um...nine o' clock.” I read the time off my watch, then set it back on the bedside table beside her.
“Oh.” She stretched and lay down again. “Nine on a Sunday morning. And we're here on holiday. Blissful.”
I chuckled. “I should make us some breakfast,” I said. The smile on her face was gratifying.
“Mm! I like the sound of that.”
“Good.”
I showered and when I came out she was standing by the window, staring out over the lake. I stayed where I was. With her body lit by the sun she looked so lovely.
“It's sunny out,” she murmured.
“Not for long, probably,” I said, indicating the dark clouds already gathering over the lake.
She grinned at me. “There's no harm in being hopeful, you.”
I laughed. “I am hopeful,” I said, my arms around her. I kissed her hair and let my hands touch her. “Just a different kind of hopeful. I'm hoping it rains and rains. Then I can spend the entire day in bed with you.”
She giggled, then turned and looked into my face.
“Drew. That's so sweet.”
I chuckled. “No, it's selfish.”
That really made her laugh. She was still chuckling as I dressed and headed through to the kitchen. I heard her turn on the shower as I started hauling out pots and pans and got ready to make some breakfast.
I was still busy with the eggs – I had decided to make fried eggs again since she seemed to like them – when I heard a soft foot fall and someone hugging me.
“Lovely smell,” she murmured, sniffing theatrically. “I'm so hungry I could eat five of those.”
I chuckled. “Well, we have six eggs in the house so far...I'm happy to have just one.”
She bit my shoulder and I shivered gently. “Well, I can be content with two, but only if you promise me some distraction.”
I chuckled, my poor body starting to throb.
We had breakfast shortly after that and I kept my promise of distraction, my knee between her thighs, toes stroking her foot. She chuckled and sipped coffee and I felt as if I was on another planet – one where nothing miserable or tedious existed and I could just feel peaceful.
“What will we do today?” Allie asked, stretc
hing as she reached for a cup of coffee. She caught my look. “Not just that.”
I chuckled. “Yes, I have a one-track mind, sweetie. But I promise to show you a little more of the lake today.”
“Oh?” she smiled, setting the cup down, Those pink lips parted as she looked up with a sweet expression and I shivered, already distracted.
“Well, I thought we could wrap up warm and take a walk down the shore. I don't want to stay out too long though – the wind is chilly and I don't want us to freeze. Then we have to decide where to have lunch, and maybe walk around town a bit...” I trailed off and she made a soft contented sound.
“I like that.”
“Good,” I nodded.
“A lazy day.”
“Exactly.”
We cleaned away the breakfast-dishes and then headed back upstairs to dress. We wrapped up warmly, but when we stepped outside I was pleased to discover that the earlier sunshine had done a great job of warming the place up outside.