Wild & Hexy

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  ‘‘I’m not touching that line.’’ Oh, but he wanted to touch her. He had to stay focused on his plan, though, if he hoped to have a relatively private encounter in a few minutes.

  ‘‘Funny.’’ She dropped the branch and pulled her purse out of her kayak. ‘‘I should take a picture of the kayaks, in case the editor wants some kind of photo spread when the story breaks.’’

  Jeremy opened the back hatch of his kayak and removed the blue blanket and a canvas bag. ‘‘I suppose you’ll have a halfway decent story even if it turns out to be a prank.’’

  ‘‘Maybe.’’ She took her camera out and dropped her purse to the sand at her feet. ‘‘Especially if it’s a good hoax. But what I really want is an actual creature. That could make my career.’’

  ‘‘I’d be all for that, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.’’ He dragged the two-person tent out of the bag and began to set it up.

  ‘‘You brought a tent?’’

  ‘‘Uh-huh.’’ And he hadn’t put it together in ten years, either. He wrestled with the flexible poles, trying to remember how they went. He should have practiced in his apartment before bringing the damned thing out here.

  ‘‘You didn’t say you wanted to camp out.’’

  He glanced up and found her looking at him with interest and . . . affection. Yes, definitely affection. ‘‘We’re not camping out. Not all night, anyway. This is for temporary privacy.’’ One of the poles flipped up and nearly hit him in the face.

  ‘‘Oh.’’ She looked slightly disappointed.

  ‘‘Would you have done that? Would you have camped out with me tonight?’’ He shoved the pole back into what he hoped was the right position.

  ‘‘Probably not. The closer we get to Saturday, the more Melody flips out. Mom appreciates having me there to keep the lid on things.’’

  ‘‘I’ll bet.’’ Another pole sprang apart. If he hadn’t been wearing his glasses, it would have poked him in the eye.

  ‘‘Can I help with that?’’ Laughter rippled through the question.

  ‘‘Thanks. I’ve got it.’’ Ramming the pole into the closest sleeve, he surveyed the tent. It looked lopsided, but they were burning daylight. He stood and dusted off his hands.

  ‘‘Aren’t you going to stake it down?’’

  Jeremy eyed the pile of metal stakes. Then he gauged the position of the sun in the sky. Dusk would be upon them in about thirty minutes. He didn’t want to be responsible for Annie missing her photo op.

  It wasn’t as if they planned to sleep in this tent, so he decided staking it down would be overkill. ‘‘No,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ll hold it down with our bodies, anyway.’’

  She met his gaze. ‘‘Oh, we will, will we?’’ Her voice had dropped to a sexy murmur.

  ‘‘Yeah.’’ He reached for her and pulled her tight against him so she could feel his erection. ‘‘We will.’’ When she didn’t resist, his galloping pulse raced even faster.

  ‘‘Taking a lot for granted, aren’t you?’’ Winding her arms around his neck, she tilted her face up to his in an open invitation to kiss her.

  He intended to accept that invitation right now. ‘‘Maybe.’’ He took off his glasses and tossed them on top of the canvas bag that used to hold the tent. ‘‘Any objections?’’

  She rubbed her body against his. ‘‘I raised all my objections earlier. You shot them down.’’

  ‘‘I knew that debate class would come in handy.’’ The feel of her body pressed ultraclose coupled with the scent of her perfume threatened to turn him into a clothes-ripping maniac.

  He kissed her with more restraint than he’d thought possible. Then he lifted his head. ‘‘We have some extra time. Come into the tent with me.’’

  ‘‘Are you sure there’s room?’’

  ‘‘Just barely.’’

  She wiggled against him. ‘‘Nice.’’

  He groaned and allowed himself one more heart-stopping kiss. She matched him tongue thrust for tongue thrust and gasp for gasp. This was going to be so good.

  She drew back slightly and gulped for air. ‘‘About the tent.’’

  ‘‘What?’’ His brain whirled with the prospect of making love to her again.

  Her words were punctuated with her rapid breathing. ‘‘Have you ever undressed inside one?’’

  He had trouble thinking when she slid against him like that. ‘‘I . . . don’t think so.’’

  ‘‘Ever undressed a woman inside one?’’

  He knew the answer to that. ‘‘No.’’

  ‘‘Then let me go in first.’’ She untangled herself from their frantic embrace. ‘‘I’ll call when I’m ready.’’ She nudged off her shoes, opened the tent flap and crawled inside.

  Despite the sexual overload shorting out his neurons, he could see the wisdom in her plan. He was very ready now. He was beyond ready. If he waited for her signal and crawled into the tent with all his clothes on, he might never get them off in time.

  He’d be wise to engage in some pre-tent maneuvers, starting with his shirt. As he tugged it over his head, he heard Annie rustling around inside the tent. Then her blouse sailed out through the flap onto the canvas bag he’d left in front of the tent.

  In another moment, her bra followed. Forgetting all about his own undressing plan, he became mesmerized by the lace cups that had recently cradled her breasts. Heat surged through him, expanding his already throbbing penis.

  Her khaki shorts joined the pile of clothes, and then came the scrap of material that had to be her white lace panties. The clothes lay there in mute testament to her nakedness, like the movie scene where a woman undresses behind a folding screen and flips each garment over the top edge so it hangs there in a seductive display.

  ‘‘Ready,’’ she called out.

  He snapped out of his daze. Maybe he should have worried about stripping down on a public beach. Big Knob had laws about such things. But at the moment, he didn’t give a damn. He shucked the rest of his clothes, grabbed a condom from the kayak, and crawled, naked and painfully erect, into the tent.

  Dorcas lowered her binoculars and turned to Ambrose. ‘‘Our Jeremy is turning into quite the wild man. He just stripped in public.’’

  ‘‘I’m gratified to see that you stopped watching once he did that.’’ Ambrose sounded a touch jealous.

  ‘‘I wasn’t expecting a show, Ambrose.’’ But once she’d realized what Jeremy intended to do, she had taken the time to notice that he was very well endowed. Just because she was married didn’t mean she was dead.

  ‘‘Lucky for him we’re on the job so he has the privacy to run around bare assed.’’

  ‘‘He’s not running around bare assed. He was only exposed for a few seconds. Now he’s in the tent with Annie.’’ She tucked her binoculars in their case and turned back toward the house. ‘‘And it’s all about bonding.’’

  Ambrose hurried after her. ‘‘What was that?’’

  ‘‘I said it’s all about bonding.’’

  ‘‘Shucks. I thought for a minute there Jeremy had gone really wild and was into the velvet ropes and fur-lined handcuffs.’’

  ‘‘Now who’s the voyeur?’’

  Ambrose cleared his throat. ‘‘I find various sexual practices fascinating, that’s all.’’

  She stopped to gaze at her husband. ‘‘Are you interested in the velvet ropes and fur-lined handcuffs?’’

  ‘‘No, of course not. I mean, well, maybe. Sort of. Yeah.’’

  Ambrose never failed to surprise her. She thought the whole concept was silly, but if he wanted to try it, she’d go along. ‘‘We couldn’t exactly find that sort of thing in the Knobby Nook Department Store.’’

  ‘‘No.’’ He gave her a sly glance. ‘‘But I could order it online.’’

  ‘‘Is that what you’ve been doing down at Click-or-Treat? Searching for sex toys?’’

  ‘‘Absolutely not. I research all kinds of things. You’d be amazed at what I come up with surfing
the Internet. Simply amazed.’’

  ‘‘I’m sure.’’

  ‘‘It’s true! I got the idea of putting the fluorescent orange parking cones across the entrance to the lake road from reading someone’s blog.’’

  Dorcas had to give him that one. He’d rushed to put up the cones after Jeremy and Annie had parked so no one else would come down to the lake tonight. ‘‘It was an excellent plan.’’

  Ambrose put an arm around her. ‘‘Those aren’t just parking cones.’’

  ‘‘They look just like parking cones.’’

  ‘‘They started out that way, but I’ve been working on them down in the basement. They’re spell enhanced.’’

  Dorcas had another unsettling thought. ‘‘Where did you get them, by the way?’’

  ‘‘They’re doing a little road work on I-64. Something else I learned on the Net.’’

  ‘‘You stole them?’’

  Ambrose looked indignant. ‘‘Absolutely not.’’

  ‘‘I know they didn’t give them to you. That’s state property. How did you get them?’’

  ‘‘The workers were quite a ways down the road doing something with a dump truck and a grader. I didn’t want to bother them, so I took the five cones I needed and tucked money under the windshield wiper of the flatbed truck they were stacked on.’’

  Dorcas sighed and shook her head. She supposed it could be worse. She just hoped Chief Bob didn’t come around asking questions.

  ‘‘So let me tell you what these little hummers do.’’ Ambrose warmed to his subject. ‘‘They not only block people from coming down that road; they extend a circle of protection around the perimeter of the lake.’’ He swept his hand toward the trees.

  ‘‘Hm.’’ Dorcas had her doubts, but if the spell worked, that would be very convenient. ‘‘Maybe we could use them Sunday morning, to keep Jenkins from coming down here with his shotgun.’’

  ‘‘I don’t see why not.’’ Ambrose looked extremely proud of himself. ‘‘And then there’s the whole business about outdoor sex to consider.’’

  ‘‘Excuse me?’’

  ‘‘I’ve been reluctant to have outdoor sex in the woods near the house. Too many people are attracted to the lake and the surrounding forest. It was bad enough when we had to worry about Big Knobians, but now there’s Isadora gallivanting around. This is turning into a very busy area.’’

  ‘‘I’m sure Isadora has better things to do than spy on us having sex.’’

  ‘‘I wouldn’t put it past her, not for a minute. In any case, it doesn’t matter, because I’ve created a Safe Outdoor Sex Zone.’’

  ‘‘Okay.’’ Dorcas always worried about Ambrose’s tendency to pile one spell on top of another. Sometimes that could backfire.

  ‘‘And even better, the cones are pyramid shaped, so that gives them added power.’’

  ‘‘No, they’re not. They’re round, which is why they’re called cones. They’re not called parking pyramids, Ambrose.’’

  ‘‘That’s correct. I had to modify them, flatten them on four sides so they would become pyramids. So anyone within that circle of protection will feel the power of the pyramid during sex.’’

  ‘‘So I’ll have pointed orgasms?’’

  ‘‘Very funny, Dorcas. Do you want to keep mocking my invention, or do you want to take it for a test drive?’’

  ‘‘Are you proposing we go into the woods and have sex right now?’’

  He gave her a long, lazy smile. ‘‘I most certainly am, my little muskrat.’’

  Dorcas thought quickly. Jeremy and Annie were otherwise occupied, and Dee-Dee couldn’t make her scheduled appearance until after they’d emerged from the tent and could concentrate on taking pictures. That left Dorcas with some time on her hands.

  She really did enjoy outdoor sex, especially on a balmy night like this was turning out to be. The moon wasn’t up yet, but when it did arrive it would be full. She could feel the full-moon energy beginning to pulse.

  Or maybe it was the effect of Ambrose’s orange parking cones. Now that he’d done the deed and procured those cones, she was curious about whether they’d make a difference during sex. If so, then maybe his protection spell was viable, too. A test seemed like a logical idea.

  ‘‘Okay,’’ she said. ‘‘Do we need to get a blanket?’’

  He took her hand. ‘‘The blanket’s already spread out under the trees, along with a bottle of wine and two goblets.’’

  ‘‘We can’t let ourselves get distracted. I need to come back here in about thirty minutes and cue Dee-Dee.’’

  Ambrose squeezed her hand. ‘‘Then you might have to settle for two climaxes instead of three.’’

  A promise of triple orgasms meant that Ambrose had oral sex on his mind. Dorcas didn’t want to short-change herself on that. ‘‘Maybe I can spare forty-five minutes.’’

  Ambrose laughed. ‘‘I thought you might begin seeing things my way.’’

  Chapter 19

  Before Jeremy was halfway into the tent, Annie reached for him, desperate to feel that skin-on-skin connection that set her world to rights. As if he knew exactly what she needed, he kissed his way up her body while he crawled in on his hands and knees.

  She moaned as he paused to suckle her breasts. The sensation of his mouth there, right there, telegraphed a message straight to her vagina. She intended to keep that line open. Arching her back, she cupped her breasts in both hands and lifted them for greater access.

  ‘‘Mm, nice.’’ He became even more enthusiastic, tugging on her nipples with his teeth and burying his face in her cleavage. Then he licked every square inch of her breasts, moving her hands away so he could get the underside, too.

  She breathed in the scent of musty nylon and sex. The heat of their bodies turned the inside of the tent into a sauna, and her skin grew slick from sweat and the swipe of his tongue. She wanted to come, and she was close.

  She gasped for breath as she felt the first tightening. With a little urging, that spasm could become a full-blown climax. All he’d done was use his mouth on her breasts, and it was almost enough. If he’d just slide his hand between her thighs . . . She willed him to do that.

  Or she could do it for herself. But no, she wanted Jeremy’s hand to be at the controls. She wanted those thick masculine fingers probing, thrusting, driving her over the edge.

  Grabbing his right wrist, she positioned his hand right where she needed it to be. He knew the moves. As he continued to suck rhythmically on her breast, he shoved deep with his fingers.

  ‘‘Yes,’’ she murmured. ‘‘Oh, yes.’’ Spreading her legs, she lifted her hips and pushed against the firm pressure of his fingers until her world erupted, showering her with pleasure.

  With a stifled groan, Jeremy released her breast and toppled to his side, but he kept his hand right where it was, his fingers buried to the hilt. The tent swayed and righted itself. Annie rolled to her side, too, so that she wouldn’t risk losing that delicious feeling of his fingers moving gently as the contractions slowly subsided.

  His voice was low and husky. ‘‘Lost my balance.’’

  ‘‘My fault.’’ She dragged in air as her body trembled in the aftermath. She’d been too involved with her orgasm to realize he needed both hands to brace himself.

  ‘‘My right arm’s stronger.’’

  She opened her eyes to find him gazing at her. ‘‘Next time I’ll remember that.’’

  He smiled. ‘‘Or I could strengthen my left arm.’’

  ‘‘It’s okay.’’ Keeping her thighs closed over his wrist, she reached up and traced the line of his mouth with the tip of her finger. ‘‘You stayed upright just long enough.’’

  ‘‘Do I get my hand back? Not that I’m complaining. I like where it is, but my other arm is pinned under me and my options are limited unless you give me more room to maneuver.’’

  ‘‘I want you like this for a little while.’’

  ‘‘You can have me any way you like.�
��’

  ‘‘That’s good to know.’’ She felt a certain power knowing that she held him a willing prisoner. By stretching a little, she could wrap her hand around his penis. ‘‘Look what I found.’’

  He clenched his jaw and air hissed out from between his teeth. ‘‘Careful. That rocket’s in final countdown.’’

  ‘‘I can tell. It feels like I’ve wrapped my hand around the grip of a softball bat.’’

  ‘‘And if you keep squeezing like that, you’ll hit a home run in about two seconds. Maybe we should get the—’’

  ‘‘Not yet.’’ She had an idea, something she’d always wanted to try and never had the nerve to do. Somehow being cocooned in this tent made her feel safe enough to go for it. She let go of his penis. ‘‘I’m going to reposition myself. Lie still.’’

  ‘‘Don’t worry. I’m going to lie very still and think about something besides sex.’’

  ‘‘You can do that while we’re in here naked?’’

  He gazed at her. ‘‘No, but it sounded good. God, you’re beautiful.’’

  She could listen to that kind of talk all day. Every time he told her she was beautiful, she felt like Cleopatra and Helen of Troy rolled into one. ‘‘You can have your hand back now.’’ She released her grip on his wrist.

  ‘‘Now I don’t want to leave.’’ He caressed her, building the heat once again. ‘‘I came out here with this tent for a solo camping trip the summer between my junior and senior year. I remember distinctly having a wet dream about you that night.’’

  ‘‘Do you remember the dream?’’ Amazing how he could work her up so quickly again.

  ‘‘Typical male fantasy.’’

  "Let me take a guess. It involved my mouth and your penis."

  ‘‘Yeah.’’ He brushed his thumb over her clit.

  ‘‘That fits right into my plan.’’ Reluctantly easing his hand away, she sat up.

  ‘‘No, it doesn’t. Believe me, I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn’t last five seconds if you tried that.’’

  ‘‘You might if I offer you a distraction. A job of your own, as it were.’’ She watched his expression and had to hold back a smile at the way his eyes widened once he understood. ‘‘Let’s do it,’’ she said. ‘‘I’ve always wanted to.’’