by Audra Hart
“Snap out of it Deidra! You are acting like a horny old coot!” She mentally chastises herself. But the flood of fantasies… or whatever they are making her feel unsettled.
Lucian watches all this play across her face, he knows exactly what she is remembering. His heart is filled with hope, until she reins herself in and puts that barrier back up between them. He reaches out and strokes her face gently and then smiles brightly and says, “Well, my three o’clock will be here any minute.” Actually, he can hear his client’s car pulling into the driveway at this very moment. He reluctantly stands up and says, “Try to rest, my Morna. I won’t be finished until five or five thirty. But I will come wake you by six. I would love for you to stay for dinner if you would like. I know that I really want to spend more time with you.” Having said that, he quickly leans in and kisses her lips gently and then disappears.
“How does he do that?” Deidra mutters to herself. “One second he is here and next he is gone! Maybe I am just losing it.” She shrugs and finishes her tea. She nibbles a little on the assorted cheeses and fruit feeling very relaxed. She looks around the lovely room and her attention is drawn again and again to the black and white photographs. Finally, she goes to stand before one of them, taking in all the details of the very large print.
The black and white photo on the east wall is of a lonely light house on a craggy outcropping overlooking the ocean. Somehow she knows that the stripes painted around the lighthouse are black and red, alternating. And the little shed at the base of the lighthouse is a faded forest green. Feeling confident in that knowledge, she chuckles at her fanciful imagination.
She imagines Lucian wearing a cable knit sweater, canvas jeans and water tight boots working around the light house or on a sail boat out on the ocean working bare-chested. She knows that no matter how many hours he might work in the sun, he will never tan. She frets for a moment over his unnatural paleness, and his cool, hard skin. Alarm bells sound in some part of her awareness but she quickly dismisses these concerns from her mind when she starts day dreaming about his beautiful body again.
In her mind’s eye she can see the sea through a huge window. The fierce winds are whipping the waves higher and higher. The tempest causes the waves to crash against the deadly looking rocks below the vantage point visible through the window. But her attention is quickly drawn from the sea to the reflection in the glass. Lucian’s bare chest and perfect face are reflected in the glass. She sees a pair of hands lovingly slip around his waist, and move up his perfect torso in a possessive caress. She can feel the icy hard contours of his powerful body under her hands… Deidra shivers with delight before she shakes her head at her imagination and then drags her attention to another photo.
The photo on the north wall is of the Grand Tetons. That’s a real classic, anyone could recognize that scene. A pair of majestic mountains that some horny French trapper named after women’s breasts. Deidra giggles at that idea, but she can’t shake the certain feeling that the person who took the photograph was in a boat on a lake. She feels as though she is sitting in a boat out in the middle of a placid lake, gazing up at the mountains. She imagines reaching her hands down and trailing her fingers through the chilly water.
“Wow, Dee what makes you think that the person taking this photo was riding in a boat?” she muses aloud. But she can’t shake the certainty that that was exactly what the photographer was doing when this picture was taken.
She closes her eyes and sees Lucian rowing a small boat out into the middle of a placid lake. In the next image, he is moving down her body seductively as she reclines in the boat. His icy mouth is moving lower and lower. Trailing open mouthed, wet kisses that make her burn with desire. She shivers in anticipation because she knows his destination and the pleasure that he will give her when he gets there…
Next her mind flashes through fleeting images of Lucian building a barn in a high mountain valley, herding cattle on horseback, chopping firewood, kissing her passionately and driving into her eager body with wild abandon on the floor before a roaring fire. Dee gasps because the last images cause her body to react as though she is actually experiencing his hardness thrusting deeply inside of her.
Panting breathlessly she steps back from the photograph. “Oh God! Help me, I got it bad for this man. My fantasies are so damned vivid that they feel like memories…” Deidra mumbles and rubs her face as she stretches her back trying to shake the tension in her body created by her vivid imaginings. Jeez, Dee, horny much?
She realizes that she has needed to use the bathroom for some time now. She crabs into the bathroom and quickly relieves herself. She washes her hands and splashes water on her face. She looks in the mirror and wonders what is going on with her. “I guess after nearly eight years without a man I am really going off the deep end over this one.” She looks hard at her reflection and decides there is more to it than just being horny and lonely. There’s something very, very different about Lucian. Different, yet hauntingly familiar…
She shakes her head and walks back into the bedroom intending to lie down and rest for a bit. But something catches her attention. The final photo on the west wall is a scene from the Olympic rainforest in Washington State. Even though the print is in black and white, Deidra can see the vibrant, earthy greens and browns. She can feel the moisture in the air, taste the musky decay of forest debris on her tongue. She can almost smell the wildflowers that fill the meadow just beyond the rise in the background of the photo. Faintly, she can hear the birds chirping, and the gurgling stream to the east of the meadow. Suddenly, a chill runs from her neck to her heels and as she imagines a wolf howling in the distance. She feels a powerful urge to let loose a battle cry and run through the woods to meet the threat head on…
Deidra feels like she jumps out of her skin when Lucian cracks the door open to check on her. “Sorry, Morna. I thought you would be sleeping by now. I was just checking to see if you needed anything.”
“I was just lost in my imagination, I guess,” she squeaks. “I have been admiring your photographs. They are lovely. Did you take them?”
Lucian smiles, looking mildly amused and shakes his head, “No, Morna, a very beautiful, dear lady that I know took them for me. They were a gift that I have treasured for many years.”
The antique clock on the largest dresser strikes five o’clock. “Wow, I can’t believe I have been standing here looking at these photos for nearly two hours. Lucian, I’m losing my mind,” she breathes.
Lucian notices the tray still resting on the bed. He ignores the frustration he feels that she didn‘t try to rest; but then again she rarely does what others expect her to do. “I rather doubt that,” Lucian says gently as he comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her shoulders and traps her hands in his. “Do you mean to tell me you haven’t tried napping yet?” he queries gently.
As soon as he touches her, her heart leaps like a racehorse out of the starting gate. She blushes as she recalls how vivid her fantasies of him have been this afternoon. When he traps her hands in his, her blood heats to the boiling point. Her breath starts coming in ragged gasps. Deidra decides she better get some space between them before she embarrasses herself again like she did this morning on the sofa. She steps forward and turns around to face him, breaking his hold on her. “I think I should go home now. Thank you for a lovely day,” she croaks as she tries to make it to the door without meeting his impossible blue eyes.
His right hand snakes out lightning fast to cup her cheek and hold her in place. “Morna, why are running away? You always run away or hide from me, why?” He flashes that glorious lopsided grin as his left hand reaches out to stroke up and down her right arm, and then lower, over her hip.
“Luca, you know why!” she hisses, her face hot with embarrassment.
His impossible eyes widen, only marginally, but his smile deepens, and his breath drags in raggedly. “Morna,” he whispers softly.
“I am going to make a total fool out of myself again!
Please let me go with a little bit of my dignity intact.” Her eyes plead with him as she whispers her desperate entreaty.
Understanding lights his eyes, quickly followed by a deep sadness. She stands on tiptoes and kisses his lower jaw. She darts out the door as fast as her wrecked leg will allow.
“Damn, where is my purse and cane?” she mutters as she looks around his living area. “I really shouldn’t have skipped PT today. I am going to pay for it tonight!”
“Morna, your things are on the table by the top of the stairs. Please stay, I can help with the leg. Let me draw you a bath. I have gone to enough PT sessions with you to know how to massage it for you.”
“No!” She snaps urgently. “I mean, No thank you. It’s okay Lucian, really. I just have to go.” Deidra snags her purse and hoists the strap of the heavy bag over her left shoulder. She picks up the cane and hooks it over her other arm, and then heads for the stairs. Just as she hobbles onto the third tread her heavy purse slips off her shoulder and bangs hard into her wrecked left leg. The pain shoots through her body, causing her to lose her balance and tumble wildly down the stairs as she screams in fear.
“MORNA!” roars Lucian. He’s behind her at the top of the stairs when he shouts her name, and then a split second later he’s near the bottom of the long staircase holding her tightly in his arms before she can crash head first onto the marble flooring.
Deidra whimpers in agony and buries her face into his chest, clinging to him for dear life. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to worry you,” she whispers into the rock hard planes of his chest. As the effects of her fright slowly evaporate from her brain, she drags her tear streaked face away from his chest and looks up into his face, “How did you get to me so quickly? That’s impossible, but you did it.”
“That’s not important right now. Let’s make sure you didn’t cause any new injuries. Dammit, why are you being so damned stubborn?” he grinds out between clenched teeth
CHAPTER 5 - COMFORT AND UNEXPECTED ECSTASY
Deidra didn’t even realize he had moved until he is gently lying her down on his bed. “That’s impossible,” she mouths.
“No, what is impossible is your hard-headed refusal to heed common sense at times!” Lucian snaps in frustration. When he sees the stricken look on her face, he is immediately contrite, smiles sheepishly, and brushes her cheek with his fingertips. “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to act like a brute,” he soothes softly. “You just can’t imagine how badly you scared me. Then to top it all off you are so single-mindedly focused on me that you have no idea whether you are injured or not.”
“I am fine, Lucian. Believe me, I am an accident looking for a place to happen. I would know if I had sustained new injuries. I am just hurting, from being a damn hard-headed fool, as you so clearly pointed out,” she snickered. “Since you have already offered to let me impose, I will go take a hot soak, and if that doesn’t help you can dazzle me with your PT expertise…okay?”
“Fine, but I am calling Seth to come check you out before you move another muscle,” he insists.
“Forget it!” She says with finality, and tries to rise from the bed, but Lucian stays her movement with a firm, but gentle hand. “Look, Seth’s a good guy, but I won’t let you impose on my physical therapist by asking him to make a house call. Besides, can’t you imagine how mortified I would be by that?” Her plea is plain in her eyes. “Please see this from my point of view, Luca,” she pleads.
“Fine, let me draw a bath for you and then I will come back and carry you in there. Do Not Move An Inch Until I Return! Do I make myself clear?” he asks authoritatively.
Deidra’s reply is a stifled giggle and a mumbled, “Yes sir!”
Lucian is gone before she can blink. “How does he do that?” she mutters to herself. She stares at the ceiling for what feels like an eternity, but in reality, it was less than a minute before he reappears at her side.
“Let me check you over before we move you. You bounced off those stairs a few times and hit your head on the railing. I am worried about a concussion,” he informs her. He produces a penlight to check her pupils, examines both ears before he gently runs his fingers over her head, down her neck, shoulders and arms. His chilly fingers work their way back up her ribcage, then down again to splay over her soft tummy area. She giggles like a five year old, and he growls deep in his chest. “Dammit Morna, please be still! You should take this more seriously!”
“When one is as clumsy as I am these days, anything that doesn’t kill you is funny.” His stricken look causes her to backtrack. “I am sorry, I will be good. Finish your examination.”
She snaps her mouth shut and closes her eyes tightly as he resumes his explorations. He takes his time over her hips and legs, especially the one that had been crushed ten months ago. And then suddenly, he’s no longer touching her body. She fears he’s left the room, and considers opening her eyes to look for him, when she hears a ragged gasp. His cool fingertips are tracing the scar on her face. The hard, cold points of his fingertips trail down her neck and shoulder, and then traces the path of the jagged scar down her arm.
“Please don’t do that,” she whispers. Her eyes flutter open and she’s floored by the intensity of the pain she sees in his face. He cuts his eyes away quickly as a shuttered look replaces the raw emotion so quickly that she is left wondering if she had only imagined it there a second ago.
He drags his eyes back to face her. “I am sorry, Morna, it just pains me to think how much it must have hurt you when that side of your body was crushed in the car wreck. I didn’t mean to make you self-conscious.”
“It’s okay, just let me up so I can take that hot bath. I’ll be just fine Lucian, I promise.” She chuckles nervously and says, “I hope your bathroom isn’t flooding as we speak!” As she tries to sit up, Lucian gently scoops her off the bed into his arms, and carries her into the bathroom, where he sets her down on the chaise in the corner of the bathroom. “I think your bathroom is bigger than my bedroom,” she snickers.
He strides over to the tub and turns the water off, dips his hand into the water to test the temperature and stirs in a very generous amount of eucalyptus scented Epsom salts. When he turns around to face her again. By now, she has sat up on the chaise and is struggling to get the oversized tee shirt over her stiff shoulders. “Be patient,” he chides hoarsely. “Let me do that before you hurt yourself.”
She starts to argue, but thinks better of it when a painful spasm wracks her bad shoulder. “Yeah, I guess you better do it after all,” she breathes between spasms.
Ever so gently, he tugs the shirt over her head, and then down her injured arm before tossing it onto the lounge behind her. Keeping his eyes averted, he kneels down to remove her dingy house shoes, and rubs her feet gingerly between his cold hands. He slowly moves his hands up her calves, thighs and hips to reach her waistband of the pajama pants. He hooks his fingers in the elastic band, and smiles when she arches her butt off of the chaise as he peels them downward exposing her, over her legs and off the tips of her toes. He balls the pants up and tosses them on top of the tee shirt.
Lucian takes a deep breath and then encircles her waist with his cold right arm and rests his left hand behind her right shoulder as he eases her up into a standing position. He pulls her body against his own, and gently raises her up until her feet are no longer touching the floor. He quickly walks her over to the bath tub, where he gently sets her on her feet and turns her to face the tub. Then he trails his icy finger tips from her shoulder to her bra strap.
“And of course, you are wearing the black lace bra and panties!” He whispers softly. She shivers because his voice almost sounds feral, it is so raw and full of need. “You are constantly doing the unexpected, aren’t you, my Morna?”
He unhooks the bra, and plants a lingering kiss on the red mark left by the elastic band. His lips start a new wildfire in her blood. He straightens up and inhales the scent of her hair. Deidra can’t help herself, she leans
into him with her entire body and is very pleased to discover that he too is moved by their close proximity, as evidenced by the bulge in his jeans. He plants a lingering kiss below her left ear as he slides the bra off of her arms and tosses it away. His chilly hands slowly glide down her voluptuous waist where he hooks his fingers into the elastic at the top of her panties. He slowly, torturously drags them toward the floor. His icy fingers blaze a trail of fire that further ignites the flames in her blood.
He taps the ankle of her wrecked leg and she raises her left foot to allow him to slip the panties off over her toes. He stands suddenly and loops his right arm around her sturdy waist and lifts her up, and against his hard, cold chest. She gasps and quickly wraps her arms around his neck to keep from falling. He nicks the panties hanging off the toes of her other foot before he hooks his arm under her knees and eases her wiggling body into the tub. He chuckles and says, “I won’t let you fall, baby. I’ve got you. I’ll always have you.”
Her squirming causes the water to splash up over his shoulders and down his chest. Plastering his pale shirt to the perfect contours of his upper body, leaving very little to her imagination. Her eyes open wide and her mouth gapes open. After a long moment, she realizes that she is staring. Self-consciously she snaps her mouth shut and averts her eyes. By this time, her heart feels like she’s doing a four minute mile, and her ragged breathing is keeping pace. Her hands jerk out the water splashing water on him again. She buries her scarlet face in her hands. And utters a mortified groan. “I’m sorry Lucian, I don’t seem to be able to rein in my reactions to you today,” she mumbles behind her shaking hands.