by Brandy Blake
An irresistible grin formed on Raina’s face. She tried not to feel like a giddy college girl, but it couldn’t be helped. His confidence and flirtatious manner brought out the urge to be fun and naughty, and to let go of all of her inhibitions. It was a very different mentality and sensation for her, and she was swiftly discovering that she liked it. It made her feel young and beautiful, and the way that he watched her made her feel wanted and desirable; the combination of all of it went straight to her head.
They talked a short while longer before being boarded onto the plane. She had gotten them seats in first class, and he admitted to her that he had never flown first class before. He enjoyed himself right away, and seeing him enjoy himself so much made her enjoy it all the more, as well.
Their conversation ranged over a wide array of topics as they flew north, and when they had landed and gotten through customs, she picked up their rental car and began to drive to the house that she usually rented when she was in Vancouver.
Michael looked like a child seeing the world for the first time; he was intent on looking at all of it, as much as he could as they drove along. The differences, even subtle ones, in culture and small things like speeds being in kilometers instead of miles, and gasoline being sold by liters instead of gallons, all seemed to intrigue him.
She didn’t say much to him about it, except to point out the things that she thought might interest him. Raina loved seeing him discover everything different around them, and she found that it endeared him to her.
After a little bit of a drive and a fast stop at a small market for groceries, they pulled up to a fair sized house on the beach, at the edge of the city. It was a ranch with a loft A-frame ceiling. It was set directly on the beach, with a deck going around three sides of the house from the front to the back. It was colored a slate blue, with windows with white trim that looked out of every side of it. It was surrounded by green grass and several bushes and flower beds that were at the end of their season.
The house itself was nestled at the foot of a tall hill that was covered with pine trees. It was entirely secluded, except for the city, just around the other side of the hill and down the road. There was a peacefulness about the place, and a serenity that seemed to fill them both, all the way to their souls.
Michael looked around them as they walked through the little picket fence gate and through the yard to the house. They stepped inside and he looked around more, and said, “I see no reason to leave.”
She laughed because she knew that he meant ‘ever’.
“Well, we don’t have to leave until Sunday, so we do have some time here.”
They were standing in a small living room that was connected to a small kitchen. He followed her as she walked out of the living room to a bedroom. It was the only bedroom in the home.
“My assistant always books this place for me when I come to Vancouver. I’m not sure how you’ll feel about this, but there’s just the one bed here.” She indicated the bed before them.
It was a king sized bed, and on the wall opposite the bed, there was a long sofa.
“That sofa folds out though, if you want to sleep there, but you’re welcome to sleep by me in the bed, if you want to.”
She felt her heart speed up and she couldn’t believe that her nerves were tingling all over. She knew she had no business feeling nervous, but there was no doubt about it; she could barely breathe thinking about him being there with her.
He walked over to the sofa and set his backpack and her carry-on bag on top of the cushions, effectively claiming it for the luggage.
He turned and looked at her with a sultry smile. “I’d rather sleep by you, if you don’t mind.”
Her breath caught and blood began to pound through her heart. “I don’t mind,” she said with a half-smile as she gazed up at him through her thick lashes.
It was already shaping up to be a visit like she had never had.
Michael’s dark brown eyes lingered on hers again for a moment, and then he turned his attention to the fireplace that was on the wall to the right side of the bed, nearer to the bedroom door and the living room.
“It is cool in here, I guess because no one has been in here. Would you like me to light a fire for us?” he asked, turning to look at her again.
She gave him a nod.
“That would be nice, thank you,” she answered, and then she walked over to the glass door on the left side of the bed and unlocked it, sliding it open. Cold fresh sea air swept through the room and she shivered and breathed it in with a smile.
The waves were crashing in, loud and powerful, as mist and fog formed around the pine trees that spilled from the mountain right into the sea just off to the side of the house. There was a small wooden deck at the door, and just off of the deck there was sand and beach.
“If we’d been any closer to the water, we’d have been on a boat!” she laughed, speaking just over her shoulder without really looking back.
She felt him behind her before she heard him; his warm chest up almost up against her back. His hands closed over her hips as he looked over her shoulder out to sea. She could feel his warm breath on her neck and it made everything in her begin to race.
“I can taste the salt from the sea on my lips. Can you taste it?” she asked, staring at the waves and willing herself to stand steady in his arms.
“I’d like to,” he said quietly, turning her to face him.
She drew her breath in sharply and found her hands on his chest, her palms flat, her fingers light on his shirt.
His eyes were dark and smoldering; his jaw set firmly as he gazed at her. She felt flaming tension burning between them, and for an instant, everything felt as if it were precariously balanced between them, and the next moment, he drew her up to him, sliding his hands over her cheeks and around the back of her head and her neck into her dark hair. His mouth closed over hers, and he kissed her; slowly, tenderly, taking his time and learning the form and feel of her lips as his moved over them.
Raina’s breath caught and she felt everything in her tighten as he kissed her, and she began to kiss him in return, her lips softening and moving against his as a quiet sigh escaped her. His hands were warm on her skin, and his mouth was even warmer.
Gravity let go of her, and she felt as if she might be rising right up off the floor, and then he let go of her, slowly and gently, kissing her lightly once more before lowering his hands.
“I didn’t taste the salt, but I love the taste of you,” he said quietly, his dark eyes centered on her. He gave her a little smile and she tried to remember how to breathe.
Words escaped her and she could only look back at him, wondering again what she had gotten herself into. She couldn’t remember the last time she had swooned in the arms of a man, especially one who was five or six years younger than her. That had never happened. She began to wonder if she had been missing out, and she told herself that if she had, she wasn’t going to anymore.
He turned from her silently, and went to the fireplace to start a fire. She smiled to herself, thinking that he had just started a fire in her, and if he kept at it, they wouldn’t need one in the house.
Raina began to make dinner for them, and after Michael had a fire going in the bedroom and in the living room, he helped her with their meal. She made steaks and wild rice, and he cut up vegetables for a salad.
They sat and talked over their meal, drinking wine and discussing interests that they had, and goals that they wanted to achieve. Raina found more and more as they spoke to each other that she liked so much about him. He seemed to be a man of integrity and honor, of intelligence and wit. She liked that about him, and his genteel way with her. It appealed to her on many levels.
When the meal was finished, they cleared the table together and he insisted on doing the dishes. She liked that he was being helpful, and as he took care of what little work was needed, she pulled two wine glasses from the cupboard and opened a bottle of champagne for them.
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�What is this?” he asked with a grin, watching her as he dried his hands on a towel.
“It’s champagne in wine glasses for us, so we can go walk on the beach and watch the sunset. They had champagne flutes here once upon a time, but they’re not here now, so we’re using wine glasses. You can get more champagne into a wine glass, anyway.” She winked at him as she handed one of the glasses to him. He took it from her, and he picked up the bottle and gave her a wink in return.
“To the best beginning we could imagine.” He lifted his glass to her in a toast.
She toasted him and nodded. “Cheers!”
“Well, I’m ready anytime you are. Lead on!” he replied happily.
She laughed at him and led them out to the beach, where they strolled slowly along the edge of the water, watching the waves roll in and the golden sun sink low. They drank their champagne and she handed her empty glass to him and waded into the water up to her knees. She turned once to see if he was enjoying it as much as she was, and she saw him grinning, his dark hair falling over his forehead as he looked down, pouring more champagne into her glass.
He was charming indeed, and sweet, and funny, and romantic. She knew that she was lucky to be with him there, and she knew somewhere in the back of her mind that he was lucky, too, though he had yet to say it to her.
She came out of the sea and took the glass from him. They toasted again, and stood side by side sipping their golden bubbly, watching fiery colors blaze across the sky before the light began to dim, and all the reds and oranges dissolved into dusky blues and violets. Stars began to twinkle, and a bright white half-moon rose in a periwinkle sky overhead. It felt like a dream to her.
They went back inside the house and he took care of their empty champagne glasses and the bottle while she made popcorn and put a movie in for them. They sat together on the sofa in the living room near the fireplace, side by side.
The movie had barely started when he reached for her hand and took it in his. She couldn’t resist the smile that came over her face, and she felt an innocence with them, and a sweetness that she knew she would enjoy if it stayed with them.
By the time the movie was half done, he had wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close. She let her head lay on his shoulder, nestled into the crook of his neck, and she found it comforting and quite warming.
When the credits of the movie rolled, she began to grow nervous again, just a bit, realizing that bedtime was upon them, and knowing that he would be sleeping next to her that night for the first time. She was looking forward to it, though she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Normally one to take the reins in any situation, she found that she wanted to be sought after to a point; she wanted him to make the first move, and she decided to wait to see if he would do it, and if he did, just how he would.
Tossing her cares to the wind, she told herself that she should just let the evening play itself out, and whatever happened would happen. It was easier than anticipating and hoping; better than worrying and wondering. She would just see how it went, and if anything happened between them, it would be because of him.
The bedroom was dim as she went in after tidying up the living room and kitchen, and locking the front door. She was delighted to see that there were a few candles lit around the room, and that the fire in the fireplace had made the room cozy while giving it a warm light.
He was in the bathroom readying himself for bed, so she picked up a blanket and walked to the sliding glass door in the bedroom, pulling it open and looking with surprise at the beach in the night. It was only a few minutes later that he came up beside her to look out with her.
“Look at that!” she exclaimed in amazement as she stared at the phenomenon before her. “I’ve never seen anything like it before, have you?”
Fat snowflakes spiraled slowly down from a thick cloud overhead, falling onto the beach and the sand, dancing around them in a silent waltz. Michael stared at it as well and shook his head.
“No, I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s beautiful! I’m surprised, though. It didn’t look like there were snow clouds when we were out walking on the beach before.” He shook his head and slid his hand into hers, closing his fingers around hers. “Is this even real?” he asked in quiet wonder as he watched it all.
She shrugged and laughed softly. “If I’m dreaming, please don’t wake me.”
She realized then that while it was warm behind them in the room, it was plenty cool in front of them in the open air of the doorway they were standing in. She took the blanket from around her and moved to stand behind him, wrapping the blanket around them both and closing it in front of him as she stood in the doorway, and he stood on the wooden deck in front of her. She carefully set her chin on his shoulder and held them both in the warmth of the blanket.
“This makes me think of an old Edgar Allen Poe poem that I love,” she said quietly.
He turned his head slightly to look at her in curiosity. “Does it? Which one?” he asked in a soft voice.
“Annabel Lee,” she replied. Taking in a breath, she smiled to herself and began to recite it to him, speaking it barely above a whisper near his ear as the snowflakes drifted down around them toward the sand and the sea, and the waves rushed and crashed to the shore.
“It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea, that a maiden there lived whom you may know, by the name of Annabel Lee, and this maiden she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by me, and I was a child and she was a child in this kingdom by the sea…” She spoke the whole poem, taking her time, allowing herself to feel every word and every line, until she reached the end of it.
Michael turned to look at her, and his eyes were filled with wonder. “That’s tragic, but beautiful. Thank you,” he said quietly.
She nodded and smiled. “It’s one of my favorites. I’m glad to share it.”
“I was glad to hear it,” he replied, facing her fully and sliding his arms around her waist.
He stepped into the room with her and pulled her up against him, lifting his hand to the back of her head where his fingers got lost in her dark hair and his eyes searched hers, almost asking, and almost insisting.
There was a momentary stillness between them, a canyon of eternity as everything began to shift from what they had been to what they were about to be, and in the next moment, his lips met hers again, and she gasped as she closed her eyes and felt herself melt into his form, his kiss, and his arms.
Their lips moved slowly at first, but as their inhibitions dissolved, desire and heat began to fill them, and their mouths and hands began to move more urgently. As their kisses quickened, his fingers moved from her back and her hair to the edge of her jawline as he held her face in his hands.
Breath grew short between them as their tongues twisted around one another, and they nibbled and bit at each other’s lips gently.
His voice was deep and quiet as he lifted his face from hers and looked into her eyes. “I want you… right now… right here…” he spoke with a hoarse whisper. “Are you ready for this to happen between us?” he asked, searching her eyes in anticipation.
She was more than ready. “Yes,” she answered simply, bringing her lips to his again.
It was all he needed to hear. His hands moved beneath her sweater, pulling it off of her before they caressed her skin, his fingertips rubbing over her gently. He paused in their kissing to lean back and gaze at her before him in her black lace and pink satin bra; her full breasts half exposed to him.
Raina helped him pull his own shirt off, and in minutes he had slid her skirt from her body and was out of his jeans, and laying her back on the big bed behind them. He trailed his mouth from her lips down her neck, hungrily tasting her as his fingers moved nimbly to remove her bra. He took his time then, touching her body, discovering her and gazing at her, as she did the same with him, running her hands over the solid muscles of his chest, letting the dark hairs there tickle the ends of her fingertips.
Her bo
dy had gone far beyond growing heated with need; she began to ache for him, burning with desire as she pressed herself against him. His erection was hard on her, only separated from her by the thin cloth of her panties.
It seemed the breath of a minute before he had taken them off her, and pulled a condom on himself. He moved above her and spread her thighs apart, sliding himself into her slowly as her body grew accustomed to him. He held her eyes with his as he entered her, both of them holding fast to one another until he was in her fully, and desperate need overtook them both.
The wind and snow blew gustily outside as the ocean waves thundered, and the fire in the fireplace blazed hot and bright, lighting the curves and lines of their bodies; the dark of her skin and the paleness of his, all in perfect complement.
They rocked with each other slowly at first, sharing tender kisses and a close embrace, but passion ignited like a flame growing to a bonfire, and their hunger and desire consumed them both swiftly as they moved, wrestling against one another in need until ecstasy engulfed them, and they both cried out in release, shuddering together as they came for one another, their arms locked around one another, their fingers digging into their lover’s flesh, eyes shut tight, trembling breathlessly.