by K C West
“That’s the problem. I watched you smile when you shook his hand. You’d have pounced on him a few years back. Don’t deny it.”
“I admit that before I met you, when I thought I was a straight gal, I might have found an empty closet and gotten to know him better. He did seem eager to help with my board assignments.”
“He was eager to get into your pants, you mean. You only had to give him the go ahead.”
“But, I didn’t give him any such permission, as you will recall.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“And what about your helper, huh? Heather Bigboobs.”
“That’s Bowan. Heather Bowan. She appeared to be a bright young woman in the prime of her life. I’m sure she’ll prove to be quite efficient as my assistant.”
“She’s only too willing to assist you, my dear. One snap of your fingers and she’d rub herself up one side of you and down the other. And if she ever did that, I’d be forced to kill her.”
Kim brought our hands toward her lips. Slowly, she took each of my fingers into her mouth, letting her tongue moisten them, effectively ending my heated words, starting a rather warm response from me of an entirely different nature.
Fortunately, we were both quite adept at forgetting our previous discussion in light of this more desirable distraction.
Pup stood and whined politely at the foot of the bed, at a very inconvenient time, however.
Kim blew out a hefty sigh. “Right at the top of my To Do List is to grab a saw and make him a doggie door.”
I pulled her to me for one final passionate kiss. “Kimmy the carpenter. My heroine. Plan on a Dutch door, okay? Anything else will be too small for our Pup.”
“Little one, you need a shower.” She pulled my T-shirt over my head.
“So do you. You’re a bit sweaty.”
“How could that have happened? And I suppose we’ll have to conserve water until the new heater is installed. Got any ideas?” She lowered her head and licked a trail between my breasts, making me shiver.
“Ooh. You could continue to lick me clean.”
“Uh-huh.”
“But that might take a while.”
“I’d be willing to make the effort, but my tongue would give out way too soon.” To illustrate, she let her tongue droop from the side of her mouth.
“And we wouldn’t want that.”
“No.” She pulled the appendage in question almost all the way back. Just the tip showed between her teeth.
“I suppose we could just force ourselves to shower together. Again.” I rolled my eyes.
“Okay.” She popped out of bed, patted the anxious Pup, and started to drag me out from under the covers.
“Wait! Kimmy, please. Let poor Pup out. I’ll start the shower and get the loofah. Okay?”
Kim slipped into her robe and headed to the back door with Pup racing in front of her. “Loo-fah! Loo-fah!” she called as they moved down the hallway. “I loo-fah you, PJ!”
“I loo-fah you, too,” I said, heading for the bathroom, knowing she couldn’t hear me from this distance. “You big, adorable goof.”
Chapter 2
“Happy Birthday to you,” I crooned, tickling Kim’s jaw with my finger. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head.
“Ugh! It is, isn’t it? Why do you have to be so cheerful about it?” After a second or two, she whipped the covers back down. “But since it is now, officially, my birthday, I get to find out what the surprise is. It can’t be your singing. That was painful.”
“Hey! Just for that crack, you can wait until lunch for your surprise.”
“No! Come here.” She kissed me on the nose. “I didn’t mean it. You sing wonderfully.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Now where’s my surprise?”
“What makes you think there is one, Miss Smart Ass?”
“Last night you got a phone call which you took great care to hide from me. It was from a Mr. Henry and I heard the words ‘Albuquerque’ and ‘Safari kit’ mentioned.”
“That could mean anything.”
“And then, I heard you get up early this morning, leaving me to sleep in.” She glanced at her watch. “Yikes. Eight forty-five. That’s incredible.”
I sat on the edge of our bed. “Okay, Nancy Drew. Or should I call you Kate Delafield? I’ll admit there is a surprise for your birthday. It’s here on the ranch and you will find a big clue hidden some place on me.”
“What?”
“Kimmy, are you sure you’re awake?”
“Okay, okay. I heard, but I didn’t quite get it. On you? You mean like jewelry? You’re wearing my gift?”
“Sort of.”
She checked my hands for any extra rings or bracelets, and then pulled me toward her by my shirt collar.
“Whoa, easy there, tiger. No ripping and tearing.” As I rearranged myself, Kim sat up, sliding her legs out from the covers. “You must conduct a civilized search.”
“Now you’re talking. I get to unwrap my birthday present.”
She tugged at my shirt’s buttons, stripped the garment from my shoulders, and let it fall onto the bed.
“Hmm. The only thing around your neck is one of the Amazon medallions we found in the Superstitions. Can’t be anything new with that.”
“Nope. Same old, same old. I have one, you have one, and they sometimes get warm and help us communicate with other Amazons.”
“I’m not saying they’re not unique, just not part of my present.”
“You’re correct on all counts.”
She slid one bra strap off my shoulder, then the other. “A sexy red number here, meant to distract me from my work, no doubt. Ah, maybe between…”
Two fingers probed my cleavage, making me giggle.
“There’s nothing in there but the usual.” I said, batting my eyelashes to appear coy.
“So you say, but how do I know for certain?”
“You could take my word for it.”
“I could.” She reached around my back and unhooked my bra, tossing it over her shoulder. “But I believe in being thorough.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
Kim stared at my chest for a few seconds. I watched her mouth slowly work its way into that familiar come hither expression.
“Well?”
“You’re right, nothing I haven’t already seen.”
The gleam in her eyes forced me to swallow. “You do remember the reason you’re undressing me?”
“Of course, though I am getting a bit distracted.”
“And I’m getting a bit cold. Somehow, I thought you’d go faster.”
“Okay. Stand up.”
I climbed off the bed and she rose with me. Wordlessly, she unzipped my jeans, pushing them carefully down over my hips. “Ooh. Red panties to match.” Then, she stopped.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
“Your jeans won’t come off because of your hiking boots.”
“Whatever will you do to fix that?”
“Sit.”
“Stand up, sit down. Make up your mind, Kimmy.”
“Hey. My birthday, remember? We do it my way.”
I sat again. She removed my boots and rid me of my jeans after investigating the interior of each pocket.
“My, you are thorough.”
I leaned back against Kim’s pillow, clad only in red bikini panties and a pair of thick white socks.
“You’d better believe it,” she said, subjecting my navel to intense scrutiny.
I folded my arms across my chest trying not to shiver.
“Well, not much left, but the view is stunning.”
I felt a blush heat my cheeks and neck.
“PJ, can I ask you a question?”
“It’s your birthday.”
“Yes, but you made up this game.”
“I know, and so far, it’s going just as I figured it would.”
“How do I ask this delicately? This present will be in plain sight, righ
t? I mean, I won’t have to go poking or probing around for it?”
I could feel myself blushing in full force. “No, geez. You won’t have to do that.”
She sighed. “Too bad.”
“Kim!”
She dismissed my comment with a wave of her hand. “Still, those panties will have to go, just on general principle.”
“As you wish.” I lifted my butt so she could work them off.
Kim whistled softly and turned me over, patting my rear end and kissing my shamrock tattoo. “This is the best present I ever got to unwrap, even if I never find it.”
“I’m glad you like it.” I rolled back to face her and sat up. “You still have a couple of places to search.”
“And you’re getting goose bumps waiting for me.” She pulled the blanket up around my shoulders and then tried to decide which sock to remove first.
“Ah ha!” On my left foot, she discovered an ankle bracelet with a key attached.
“Gee, you got it on your first try.”
“Okay, it’s a key. And it’s big enough to fit the ignition of a car or boat.”
“Or a tank.”
“Two letters embossed real big. R R. Holy cow! You got me a Rolls Royce for my birthday?”
“Remember, you said you didn’t keep cars around to look pretty. What would you do with a Rolls?”
“Yeah, I guess I’d be too rough on it.” The blood drained from her face. “Oh, my God. You didn’t.”
“I think I did.”
She snatched me up, blanket and all, squeezing me until I squeaked. “Where is it?”
“The barn.”
She raced into her shoes, threw on a robe, and grabbed her jacket. “Hurry up. Get some clothes on, woman.”
“Geez, you get bossier with every birthday.” I climbed into my clothes, found a jacket and ran after her, feeling a happy glow warming my insides.
****
“It’s so much better than a Rolls, honey.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Ever since our trip to Wales, I’ve wanted one of my own.”
“You like it? Really?”
“A shiny new Range Rover! Are you kidding? I love it.” She grabbed me, crushing my lips with a potentially lethal kiss. “I love you so much. Thank you. Oh, my goodness, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I love you too.”
We both stared at the gleaming vehicle. “Even though it’s not brand new, it’s still impressive,” I said. I had a hunch that, in her frugality, she’d never accept a brand new vehicle, and so far, my hunch was paying off. I was unable to resist listing some of its attributes. “The exterior color is called Maya gold and the interior is sand with burled walnut trim.”
“It’s beautiful,” Kim said.
“And for your listening pleasure, seven-hundred-and-ten watt surround sound system with fourteen speakers.”
She opened the driver’s side door and peeked inside. “I’ll take your word for it. All this leather smells fantastic.”
“The seats and steering wheel are covered in it. There’s also a personal telephone integrated system with hands-free capability.” Excellent idea. You never know when you might want to use our hands for other purposes.” She grabbed my waist and started tickling my ribs.
“Kim, your hands need to be free for driving. Both hands need to be on the wheel.”
“Oh, sure.”
“At all times.”
She ignored me and pointed to the center of the dash. “What’s with the screen?”
“It’s a navigation system. The GPS program is located there and all the 4-wheel drive graphics in a display that’s three-point-five times higher resolution than the LCD screens in previous models.”
Kim turned to me. “I’m getting turned on just listening to this.”
I held up my hand. “If you’d let me finish, I want to add that the driver can use a variety of hard and soft buttons to control all of the displays.”
“And I know just where to find all the hard and soft buttons,” Kim said, giving my hip a jab. “That’s a hard one right there.”
“Stop it. I’m trying to be serious.”
“Oh, me too.” She prodded my belly. “And there’s a soft button.”
I moved out of reach. “I guess, from the way you’re carrying on, you’re happy with your gift.”
“I am. It’s way beyond my wildest dreams, but then so are you.”
“Aw.”
“Come here.” We shared a slow, pleasurable kiss.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
We gazed at each other for a few seconds until Kim caught sight of a large, tarp-covered object behind me in the corner of the barn. She wandered over to it. “What have we here?”
“Oh that. I can explain.”
The tarp slid through her hands to the floor. “A shiny red Jeep Wrangler. Where did this come from?”
“When I was shopping for the Rover, this cute little Jeep kept sparkling and shining at me, practically begging me to take it home.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh. And I do need something reliable to drive when I go to lectures. It even has a winch and an off-road light bar.”
“What happened to the Tracker? And the old wreck of a Jeep?”
“Mr. Henry took both of them away when he delivered the Rover and the Wrangler.”
“What?” Kim’s happy mood faded momentarily.
“It was time for them to go to that big auto graveyard in the sky.”
She went quiet for a few seconds. “PJ, this is insane. We can’t afford this. You know we talked about it. You shouldn’t have spent so much money. I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want to spoil your obvious joy, or mine either, but that Rover has to cost around sixty or seventy thousand dollars.”
“Eighty-nine, I believe.”
“God! That’s way too much. I can’t let you do it.”
“I knew you would say that, but just listen to me, okay?”
She leaned her arm on my shoulder, while rubbing the driver’s side door gently. “Okay.”
Look at that, they’re bonding already.
“I didn’t buy them. The Curtis Foundation is leasing them. They’re for use by us or any other employees while working here in the southwest. I’ll show you the paperwork, but I consulted with David Carpenter, Dad’s chief financial advisor, and he said it was a good deal.”
“Oh,” she said, pausing to let it sink in. “You didn’t buy either vehicle?”
“No.”
“But I still get to, that is, we still get to use both vehicles?”
“Yes, as long as we’re here working for the Foundation. Call it a perk.”
It was hard for me to compromise when I wanted to buy her the newest and best of everything because I loved her. I felt she deserved it, and I could afford it. But I had to walk a fine line between extravagance and expedience for Kim’s sake.
She opened the back door and hustled me inside. “In that case, there’s just one thing left to do.” She leaned across me to close the door and adjusted the reclining backseat.
“What?”
“Think back to Wales. One of the few happy moments we had from that trip. Remember the rainy afternoon we drove out into the country and found the secluded cove and one thing led to another?”
“We’re going to christen the new Rover just like we did the rented one?”
She stroked my cheek. “I knew you weren’t just another pretty face with a gorgeous body attached.” Moist kisses heated my neck. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons on my shirt. “All this leather is acting like an aphrodisiac. Let’s see how fast we can fog up these windows.”
I removed Kim’s shirt and gave her throat some passionate attention. Our lips met and lingered, mouths parting for a slippery game of tongue tag. The leather seats under our bodies warmed perceptibly.
“So, you like your birthday gift? It was a nice surprise?”
; “I love it. Best surprise I ever got. But I’m afraid I’m going to have to undress you again, even if there’s no present waiting for me to find.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure of that. I just might be able to manage something new to give you.”
It wasn’t long before I was naked again, and I didn’t have to worry about goose bumps or shivering. My body was quite warm. I’d say it was the heated seats - just one of the little details in the Range Rover tradition of automotive excellence - but the engine wasn’t even turned on. The passengers were, however, so the windows steamed up rapidly.
Chapter 3
“Professor Jamison, members of the University of New Mexico Anthropology Department, students and guests, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight.” I paused and looked around the lecture hall at the audience of college students and adults, gathered for my talk on recent developments in the field of archaeology.
I wished once again that Kim had been the one to make this trip and deliver this speech, but talks with her editor and a looming deadline prevented it. We’d discussed my ability to substitute for her and she decided that Tyler Jamison’s request would be an excellent baptism of fire for me. In Kim’s words, I “could recite the party line” as easily as she could. According to her, every talk was basically a pitch for funds, volunteers, or both, so I should get out there and smile a lot while I do it. It’s hard to talk and smile at the same time, I soon discovered, so I figured I’d empathize with my audience, instead.
“You know, it wasn’t too long ago that I was in your position, forced to attend lectures by some boring, stuffed-shirt PhD, as he or she droned on about how exciting archaeology was. Now, I’m one of those boring stuffed shirts.” A bit of laughter greeted my words. “And you know what? It really is an exciting field. Those of you in the doctoral program have chosen to involve yourselves in a fascinating career. I hope you’ve also developed a sub-specialty in which to focus your talents. Contrary to popular belief, there’s a whole lot more to archaeology these days than grubbing in the dirt. Since I left Boston University, I’ve learned that today’s archaeologist needs a team of specialists working with him, or her.”
I walked out from behind the podium and clicked the remote control to dim the lights and turn on the slide projection system. As the first aerial view of Lesvos came into brilliant focus, a murmur spread through the crowd. My own heartbeat quickened as I remembered the island of Lesvos and the specific site where Kim and I spent months helping Sandy uncover his treasure inside a labyrinth.