Camera Shy

by Lauren Gallagher

  "No, no, it's no trouble," she said quickly. Too quickly, she realized a moment too late. She cleared her throat. "I like it up here."

  Jason inclined his head a little. "Are you sure? It wouldn't take much for me to get down to California."

  Simone swallowed. "Given the choice between here, and all of the smog, traffic, and crap down there? Trust me, it's worth the flight and the drive. " He hesitated, and then smiled, but some of the hesitation lingered in his eyes. "So you're just using me to get to Tofino?"

  She laughed. "Sex and Tofino, of course."

  "Well, in that case . . . ." His eyes finally backed up his smile and he shrugged with one shoulder. "I suppose I can't complain."

  "You'd better not be complaining, Mr. Connor."

  "Oh, I'm not." They held each other's gazes for a long moment. Then he kissed her hand again. "Well, no sense sitting here all night, is there?" He rose and picked up their plates. "Let me just clean things up a bit, but you might like the view outside." She glanced out the window. "In the dark?"

  "Go out and look up. Trust me."

  "Are you sure you don't need a hand in here?" A hand, how cute, Simone.

  "I've got it. I'll only be a minute. More wine?"

  She hesitated. Oh hell, what was one more glass to a woman who could kill a bottle and a half of Smirnoff? "Please."

  With his hands full of plates from the table, he gestured with his chin to the sliding glass door. "Go ahead; I'll bring it out there." Simone stepped out onto the deck and as he suggested, she looked up. Not a cloud in the sky, and the view was magnificent. There were thousands more stars than she could ever see in L.A. The sky was clear of smog, and the only light aside from the moon came from inside Jason's house. Below, gently rolling waves flickered in the soft, silvery light.

  Breathtaking.

  Behind her, the light inside went out and a moment later, Jason joined her, setting the glass of wine on the railing and resting his hands on her hips. He kissed the side of her neck, sending a shiver up her spine.

  For a long time, they stood in silence, staring up at the sky. Without the light from inside the house, even more stars appeared. "It's beautiful," she said.

  "I know. It's one of the reasons I moved here."

  "It never loses its novelty?"

  He shook his head. "Never. I could sit out here every night and look up there."

  "Do you?"

  "Well, when the mosquitoes aren't out."

  "And when the clouds aren't there?"

  He glanced at her and they both laughed. "Yeah, the clouds don't help much." Glancing around on the deck, Simone said, "I'm surprised you don't have a telescope out here."

  "I like looking at the stars," he said with a shrug. "But I'm just not a telescope kind of guy."

  "What do you mean?"

  He gestured at the stars. "They're beautiful as they are. I don't need to try to zoom in on them, to pick one out and focus on it." He shrugged and nuzzled the side of her neck. "Just seems like that's kind of missing the point."

  "Like missing the forest for the trees?"

  "Exactly."

  "But you focus on little things all the time with your camera. The little flower on the beach. That island."

  He nodded. "I like to see the things that are all around me. There's so much here to see, so many little things that are beautiful in their own right." He gestured at the sky again. "I just don't have any desire to go looking for it anywhere else."

  "I've never thought of it that way."

  "Some people get so caught up in looking for beauty that's light years away." His lips brushed the side of her face as he spoke. "They miss the beauty that's right in front of their faces." He slid his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Simone's mouth went dry.

  Jason put his hands back on her hips and turned her to face him. " That is why I wanted to take your picture the day we met, Allyson." She tried to avoid the intensity of his eyes, but he gently lifted her face back up to meet his gaze. "I've never been drawn to a woman like I am to you, and I wanted to capture that." Her legs were unsteady. "Jason. . . ."

  But he didn't wait for her to finish her thought. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. The dizzying scent of his cologne mingled with the moist, sweet taste of his mouth and intoxicated her. As many times as he'd kissed her, it still felt like the first time, every time.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, and for a long time, they just held each other on the deck, beneath the stars, and kissed. He ran his hands through her hair, caressed her face. It never ceased to amaze her how he kissed with his hands as much as he kissed with his mouth, and he overwhelmed her.

  She lost track of time as she lost herself in him. When he broke the kiss and looked into her eyes, his own just barely illuminated by the moonlight, the hunger was unmistakable. She wetted her lips, and, as if in response, he did the same a heartbeat before he kissed her again. Gentleness gave way to urgency, tenderness gave way to need.

  His hands slid down her back and onto her hips. "I love it when you wear a skirt," he growled, caressing to her thighs.

  "Do you?"

  "I do."

  "Why is that?"

  "Because it's easier to get to what I want," he said, his lips brushing her ear as he spoke. He brought her skirt up over her hips and ran his hands over her bare thighs.

  "Jesus, I can't get enough of you." His hot breath against her neck sent a shiver down her spine.

  She ran her fingers through his hair and down to the back of his neck. "I can't get enough of you either." Her voice somewhere between a moan and a whisper, she said,

  "I couldn't get back here soon enough, Jason."

  Kissing her neck just beneath her ear, he said, "I haven't stopped thinking about you since you left."

  She closed her eyes and moaned softly as he reached between them and unbuckled his belt. Somewhere in her consciousness, she was tempted to look around, make sure no prying camera lenses stuck out of the woods to snap damning pictures, but she doubted anyone knew she was here.

  Jason gently grasped her hips and turned her again, kissing the side of her neck and using his knee, he pushed her legs apart. A violent shiver of anticipation shook her to the core. A dozen reporters could have shown up just then, and she couldn't have cared less.

  "Tell me you have a condom in your pocket," she whispered, almost moaning.

  "Damn right I do."

  Fabric rustled behind her, and Simone bit her lip as Jason tore the wrapper. Once he had the condom on, he pushed her skirt up again. She braced herself against the railing and moaned as he slipped inside her. Holding her hips steady between his hands, he withdrew slowly, and then pushed back into her.

  "Jesus Christ," he whispered. "You feel . . . ." The words seemed to lodge in his throat, replaced instead by a soft moan.

  He kissed her neck again, his cock still moving slowly inside her. She let her head fall back, giving him more access to her neck.

  "Oh my God, Jason," she said. She chewed her lip. He felt incredible, but she wanted to touch him. She wanted to feel his skin against her hands, and in this position, she couldn't. She moaned with both pleasure and frustration. Then, he released her hips

  and put his hands on the railing beside hers. Desperate to touch him, she put hers over his.

  "Jesus, I could do this all night," he said, burying his face against the side of her neck as he moved faster.

  He gently pulled one hand free from her grasp and ran it down her waist and over her hip. When his fingers found her clit, Simone released a throaty moan and her knees buckled.

  Jason used his bodyweight to push her against the railing and keep her upright. His fingers circled her clit faster as he drove his cock deeper into her. She took in a gasp of breath. "Oh God, oh God, you're going to . . . ." Her voice faded to a whimper.

  "Tell me," he said breathlessly. He kissed the side of her neck and thrust harder.

  "Keep . . . ." She gasped aga
in as the tingling inside her rose to a feverish, pulsing crescendo. "Keep . . . just like . . . Jason, oh God, I'm . . . ." Her climax destroyed her ability to speak, to stand.

  He held her upright, kept giving her more and more until her clit could take no more and she feebly pushed his hand away. Grasping her hips, he rode her harder, driving himself into her as deep as he could, drawing her orgasm out.

  "I love when you come," he said, his voice barely audible. "You feel fucking incredible when you come."

  She grasped the railing, trying to breathe, willing her legs to keep her standing.

  "Give me one more," he said, his words clipped as he kept fucking her. "Come for me, one more time." His voice sounded strained, the way it always did when he was on the edge.

  Simone used the railing for leverage and pushed back against him. "You're going to come."

  He took a sharp breath. "Not until you do. Not until I feel you come one more time. Oh, God . . . ." He slammed into her faster and faster.

  She bit her lip. The aftershocks of her last orgasm intensified, rolling together into the earliest pulses of a second climax. "Keep . . . ." She gasped as his cock drove the breath right out of her lungs. "Keep doing . . . keep doing that . . . ." He responded with the throaty, primal growl that meant he was on the verge of losing control, the sound sending delicious tingles up and down her spine. He was close, and he drove her even closer. When his growl turned into a breathy, helpless moan, Simone closed her eyes and surrendered as a second climax overtook her. Over her own cries, she was vaguely aware of a similar cry from him. His hands hit the railing again, his knuckles turning white. The wine glasses wobbled precariously and the railing creaked as Jason braced himself against it, giving Simone everything he had.

  "Oh, God." His breath whispered across the side of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. His rhythm faltered, but he didn't stop. "God, Allyson . . . ." And with a deep groan, he came.

  Simone's head spun as she returned to earth, and she was thankful for the railing and for Jason, both of which kept her from falling. He rested his head between her shoulders for a moment, his body completely still except for the long, shuddering breaths he took.

  He released the railing and slid one hand up her forearm, stopping to let his middle finger draw lazy circles on the inside of her elbow. His gentle touch raised goosebumps on her arms and triggered even more aftershocks deep inside her. After a moment, he stood upright, taking his weight off her. Her knees buckled and she seized the railing for balance. Instantly, his arms were around her.

  "Easy," he said. "You all right?"

  "Yeah," she said. "Just, dizzy." Her head spun and her legs wobbled.

  "Come on then." He put his arm around her waist and guided her into the house.

  "Where are we going?"

  He grinned and kissed her cheek. "To bed, of course."

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Jason took Simone to a quaint little Italian restaurant on Tofino's waterfront the next night. Perhaps it was the fact that they were in public, where they had to keep their hands off each other, but as soon as they were seated, the flirting started. While Jason told her about some of his misadventures with his brother, Simone ran her thumb and index finger up the stem of her wine glass in a purely suggestive fashion, causing him to stutter and lose his train of thought. When she spoke, he knew just when to swipe the tip of his tongue across his lips to make her heart skip and her words lodge in her throat.

  When their meal arrived, it only got worse.

  "You really should try this." He gestured at the pasta dish. "The sauce is incredible."

  She raised an eyebrow. "Is it?"

  "Here." He put a little on his middle finger and extended it to her. "Try it." He grinned, an unspoken dare in his eyes.

  She closed her fingers around his wrist and drew his hand to her, sucked his finger into her mouth slowly, carefully, just a little bit farther than necessary to get the delicious morsel he'd offered, and then kept it there a moment longer than necessary. Her plan to tease him very nearly backfired on her as the taste of his skin met her tongue. Of all the times she'd tasted him, that single, tantalizing taste nearly drove her mad. Had they been at home, she'd have stood, grabbed him, and pulled him onto the floor.

  Her eyes never left his as she let his finger slowly slide out of her mouth, the tip of her tongue flicking across the back of his finger just before her lips released it. He closed his eyes and took a breath in through his nose. "Tease."

  "Who's teasing?" she said, letting her toe circle on the inside of his thigh. "A tease would have no intention of following through."

  He gulped, shifted in his chair. "You're evil." He sounded breathless.

  "And you love it," she said, running her toe up the inside of his leg. He reached across the table and put his hand over hers, sliding it over the back of her hand and running his thumb along the inside of her wrist. Goosebumps prickled her arm, and he laughed.

  "Touché," she said, gently freeing her hand and lifting her wine glass. As they finished their meal, the waiter approached and asked, "Would you like to look at a dessert menu?"

  "Well, I could go for something sweet." Jason glanced at Simone, his eyebrows lifting inquisitively. "You?"

  She smiled. "I could, but I think what I'm in the mood for is at home." She ran the tip of her tongue across her lips, grinning with satisfaction as he shivered. He looked at the waiter. "Just the check, please." He fished his wallet out of his back pocket and handed over his bank card. When the receipt came, Jason quickly worked out the tip and signed it. Simone noticed his unsteady hand with no small degree of satisfaction. His usually perfect, ramrod straight signature dropped slightly below the signature line. The opposite, she guessed, of what was going on beneath the table.

  "Why don't we get the hell out of here?" he said, smiling.

  "Lead the way," she said.

  He picked his jacket up off the back of the chair and draped it over his arm in front of him, taking her hand with his other. She glanced at the jacket. "It's chilly tonight; you might want to put that on."

  Running his thumb across the back of her hand, he said, "I'll be fine. Trust me."

  "And what if a lady told you she was cold?" she said, giving him a sassy wink.

  "Would you be a gentleman and give her your coat?"

  He released her hand and slid his arm around her waist, kissing her cheek as they stepped out into the cool night air. "If I give you my coat, the whole town is going to see just how much of a gentleman I am not when I'm in your presence."

  "But what if I'm cold?"

  He gave her backside a gentle squeeze. "Then you'll just have to accept my promise to warm you up as soon as we get home."

  The Jeep was only a couple of blocks away, but they couldn't get to it soon enough. Jason opened her door, but she didn't get in right away. Instead, she put her arms around him and kissed him. He leaned her against the Jeep, kissing her with the same hunger that he had the night he laid her on the kitchen table, and she suddenly wanted him even more. Needed him even more. Needed him now. She pulled him closer.

  "We should go." He kissed her again. "As it is right now, we aren't going to make it past the front porch."

  "Just one more kiss," she murmured.

  "If you insist." He leaned into her and her breath caught as his erection pressed into her hip.

  Her hands bunched around his shirt. "God, I want you . . . ."

  "Then let's go." He sounded breathless.

  Finally, they broke free of each other long enough for Simone to get into the Jeep. Jason hurried around to the driver's side and got in.

  "One more kiss." Simone leaned across the console.

  He didn't protest in the slightest, putting his arms around her and kissing her deeply. When her hand ran up his thigh, his spine stiffened. She squeezed his cock through his slacks and he jumped.

  "Oh fuck, babe," he whispered. "You're killing me." She laughed and kissed him. "Mr. Connor, i
f I didn't know any better, I would think you were a little turned on."

  "I'm more than a little turned on." His voice dropped into a deep growl, sending a shiver through her. "Kiss me like that one more time and I may have to fuck you right here."

  She grinned and kissed him like that again as she unbuckled his belt.

  He stopped her hand, his breath catching. "We should get back to the house. We're too out in the open. Someone will see if I—oh, fuck." Her fingers wrapped around his hard cock. "They'll see us if you fuck me," she said, kissing his neck as he struggled to breathe. "But they won't see a thing if I stay out of sight."

  He looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face. "If you—?" His words lodged in his throat as she took his entire cock into her mouth. "Oh fuck . . . ."

  His body tensed and he grabbed the steering wheel just to hold onto something. She devoured him, stroking him with one hand as she took him into her mouth again and again.

  "Oh my God," he breathed, letting his head fall back against the seat. Somewhere in his mind, he knew anyone who cared to look would be able to figure out what was going on, but he didn't care, not with the way her tongue kept pausing to circle the head of his cock a couple of times before she—"Oh my God, oh fuck. Please, Allyson, don't . . . don't stop."

  She didn't stop. She kept licking and sucking and stroking him. His hands left the steering wheel and grabbed the headrest behind him. His eyes closed, his breath caught, his entire body shook as she did everything right, everything perfectly, everything he could possibly handle without bursting into flames.

  "Oh Jesus, Allyson, that's fucking amazing." His breath came in short, shallow gasps. "Keep . . . doing . . . ." He grasped her hair with one hand, still holding the headrest with the other. "You're gonna make me come, baby." She responded by increasing her efforts. Her lips tightened around him, she moved faster, her fingers squeezed him.