A Slow Boil

by Karen Winters

  “I found out later that she’d been dipping into my savings account. I guess her lifestyle went above her editor’s pay and she didn’t want to ask her family for money. I would have given her anything if she’d asked, but she chose to go behind my back.”

  “You need to learn how to use passwords.” I remembered how easily I’d gotten onto his wireless network.

  He snorted. “I suppose I do. I trusted her, though, and I shouldn’t have. After we split, I just gave up. I’d lost my mother, Jill, and now Susan. Everything in life just seemed to be out of my control, whether I lived like a vagabond artist or an upstanding professional, it didn’t seem to make any difference.”

  “And that’s when you moved here?”

  “Yes, within about six months. I didn’t care where I went, I just wanted to get away. I guess I’m a runner. I ran after my parents died and I ran after things fell apart with Susan.” He kissed my head again.

  “You shouldn’t see yourself as running away, you could be running forward, toward something better.”

  He pulled me to him. “Maybe you’re right.”

  We were silent again.

  “Maybe that’s where my need for obedience comes from. When I moved here and hired my first housekeeper, I could finally tell someone exactly what I wanted them to do, and they’d do it.”

  “You were alone and unhappy.”

  “Yes. Very. The only respite was my brothers’ visits in the summer, and even those chafed at me. I wanted the silence back, the control. I wanted them to come but I couldn’t wait until they left. I’m sure I was a very engaging host.” He laughed a little, then reached down and turned my face up to his.

  “Sylvia, I’m so messed up. What in God’s name do you see in me?”

  “You’re not messed up, Adam, just a little scarred.” I looked into his eyes and said the only thing I could. “And what I see in you is beautiful.”

  Chapter 22

  “Good evening, Mr. Hunter,” I said as I pushed through the dining-room door the next evening at six.

  “Miss Lane.” He was leaning against the sideboard, his long legs crossed in front of him.

  I put his first course down and went up to him for my kiss. He reached behind me and untied my apron, lifting it over my head and putting it on the sideboard behind him, bending down to kiss me, holding me to him tightly, working his way down to my throat. “What would the most beautiful housekeeper in the world recommend to drink tonight?”

  “A white, something fruity but dry. Italian if possible,” I whispered, the effect he had on me as potent as the first time he’d kissed me.

  “I’ll be right back.” He let me go and headed for the wine cellar, giving me a smile on his way out. I could tell he’d missed our dinners last week, and I had too. I slipped off my shoes and lowered the zipper of my dress a few inches, waiting next to my chair for his return.

  “I hope a pinot grigio will do,” he said, walking quickly back into the room with a bottle and the opener.

  “That should be perfect.”

  He pulled my chair out for me, poured two glasses of wine and took his seat.

  “What have we here?”

  “Steamed mussels, sir. I was hoping to serve oysters but Southbay’s didn't have any.”

  He reached up to cup my neck, his fingers dipping under my necklace. “Please don’t tell me you went to extra effort tonight after all the cooking you did last week.”

  “You deserve a special meal, sir, after having your peace disrupted.”

  “But I had fun. You’re the one who did all the work.”

  “Finally earned my salary, you mean.”

  He shook his head a little and smiled. “I could pay you ten times what I do, and it wouldn’t come close to fair compensation.” He turned back to his plate. “Now, tell me what’s in this sauce. It smells incredible.”

  The rest of the meal passed slowly. I kept my right hand on his leg through most the meal, reaching over occasionally to rub my bare foot on his shin. He praised the lobster fra diavolo, leaning over to kiss me between bites.

  “This is unbelievable. Did you cook the lobster yourself?”

  “No, I’m still not ready to try that. Pete offered to boil it at the store or you’d be having prawns right now instead.”

  “That would have been just as good, Miss Lane. Really, you do too much.” He offered me a piece of lobster with his fingers, which I licked clean.

  “Mmm, that is good.”

  “It’s perfect. Just the right amount of spice.” He swirled some linguine around his fork and offered it to me. He watched my mouth close over the fork and his eyes narrowed. “In fact, the only way this meal could be improved is if I could eat it off your naked body.”

  My eyebrows shot up and I could feel myself beginning to color. Our dinners had been evolving, but did he really think I was going to let him do that?

  Suddenly his face broke into a smirk and he ran his thumb over my cheek. “I’m just kidding, Miss Lane, but I must say I’m happy I can still make you blush.”

  I swallowed my pasta and feigned indignation. “Enjoy my blush while it lasts, Mr. Hunter. That’s the last time I fall for one of your jokes.”

  “We’ll see about that,” he laughed.

  I rubbed my foot on his leg. “I’m glad I can still make you smile.”

  “That will never change, my perfect girl.”

  August was a blur of hot days, warm nights, and long, long dinners. Mr. Hunter and I couldn’t seem to get enough of each other, our lust as unabated as it had been in June, maybe even greater. We didn’t talk about what would happen in the fall if I didn’t get accepted at Noble, nor what we’d do if I did. I couldn’t stay here if I wasn’t enrolled as a student, so I knew that if Noble didn’t accept me, I’d have to go home. I didn’t like to think about that, so I didn’t.

  I did, however, think about what would happen if I was accepted. I wanted to continue living with Mr. Hunter, and was pretty sure he’d ask me to stay, as he told me almost daily how much I meant to him. The problem was the absurd amount of money he gave me each week. I wanted to tell him he didn’t have to pay me anymore, that I wasn’t with him because of his financial generosity. Knowing what I did now about his last relationship, I was even more determined that he couldn’t keep paying me. I was praying that if Noble accepted me, they’d also offer me enough financial aid that I could tell Mr. Hunter his payments had to end. I’d be glad to do his housework and serve him dinner for nothing, in exchange for letting me stay with him.

  If I didn’t get enough financial aid, I had no idea what I’d do. I just couldn’t allow Mr. Hunter to pay my tuition, which is basically what he’d be doing. I could get a job elsewhere, but the thought of being in school, getting a job in town, and still keeping up with my duties here seemed like too much to shoulder. The thought of him hiring a new housekeeper was out of the question.

  Even Britt couldn’t help me come up with a solution. We went away to the beach for a weekend where we lay in the sun, drank margaritas, and mulled it over together.

  “Why don’t you want him to keep paying you? Doesn’t that solve everything?”

  “It does financially, but I don’t want him to think I’m with him for his money. Plus it makes me feel like a kept woman. I mean, come on, he’s giving me free and board already, and now I let him pay for college, too? I’d look like a gold-digger. And he’d finally look like a sugar daddy.”

  “All that matters is what the two of you think, not anyone else’s opinion.”

  “I know, I know, but I also don’t like putting myself in such a dependent position. I’ve always taken care of myself, you know? If I let him keep paying me, I feel like I’m giving away some of my independence, my self-sufficiency.”

  “What if he hired a housekeeper just to do the cleaning, and you’re home in time to make his dinners?”

  “That might work, but I really don’t like the idea of someone else doing my job.” I really, really d
idn’t like the idea.

  “Does he need to hire a housekeeper at all? Is he that much of a pig?”

  I laughed. “No, he’s really neat. Lots of days I just go through the motions of cleaning his clean house.”

  “Well, you two will work it out. You’re happy together, that’s the important thing. Don’t worry about stuff that hasn’t happened yet.”

  I sighed. “You’re right. I don’t know why I’m getting myself upset over this.”

  “Because you love him, and you want to have an equal-sided relationship.”

  “Yes. That’s it exactly, Britt.”

  “So when do you hear back from Noble?”

  “I sent in what they call an expedited application, so hopefully in a week or so.”

  “That doesn’t give you much time, one way or the other.”

  “Nope. I’ll have about two weeks before I either go home or start school.”

  “Sylvia, it will all work out. I know it will. Things just do.” She looked over at me and gave me a reassuring smile.

  I lifted my margarita glass to hers and clinked it. “Here’s to things working out.”

  When I got home Sunday night, Mr. Hunter waited at the front door while Britt and I said our good-byes. He and Britt waved to each other as she left and he took my bag from me as I met him at the door, gesturing for me to enter the house first. I was on the second stair, just about to turn around and start telling him about my weekend when I heard the bag drop to the floor. He was behind me the next instant, throwing one arm high around my waist, one across my hips, easily lifting me off my feet and pulling me tightly against him.

  He carried me into the living room and spun me onto the couch, not even giving me time to stop bouncing before he was on top of me. He kissed me like a starving man given a meal, like we’d been apart for months instead of days.

  “You can’t leave me again,” he groaned into my mouth, his first words to me. “Ever.”

  His urgency lit my own. “Never,” I mumbled, tightening my arms around his shoulders.

  “Promise,” he growled into my neck, pressing me down with his chest, his hands running down my legs, pulling them up around his hips.

  “I promise I’ll never leave you. I love you.” The words were out my mouth before I realized it, but I didn’t care anymore. It was true.

  “Say it again.” His frantic movements had come to a sudden halt, his face still buried in my neck.

  “I love you.”

  “Again.” He pressed into me.

  “I love you, Mr. Hunter. I love you, sir. I love you, Adam. I love you. I love you.” Now that it was out, I couldn’t stop saying it. “I love you.”

  He didn’t move for a long time. I felt his body weight on mine, heard him breathing in my ear, as I waited for him to say the words back.

  “Sylvia.” It came out like a sigh.

  I didn’t answer, just held my head against his. He was silent for several moments, his hand coming up to gently stroke the other side of my neck, his weight shifting a little to the side. Finally he turned his head so that he was facing me and kissed my jaw and my ear, caressing my neck for another minute before he spoke.

  “That first night you worked here late, I couldn’t sleep and heard you tiptoe in at two. When I came in to check on you, you were sound asleep. You looked so exhausted, so fragile, so beautiful. I’d never felt such an urge to protect someone.”

  I tightened my arms around him.

  “I thought when I asked you to move in, that I could keep my distance. But that day in the library when you were laying there in front of me, barefooted, I knew I wanted you.” He lifted his head, bringing his arm up to prop it on his elbow, looking at me a little sadly. “I felt so bad for wanting you. Here I’d dressed you up in a uniform, made you serve me dinner, had you scurrying around the house at my command. But then you threatened to hurt me,” his expression turned into a smile, “and I realized you were more than capable of holding your own.”

  I smiled, encouraging him silently to go on.

  “The afternoon I went to Arnolds, when I passed through the jewelry section, I was suddenly overwhelmed by how much you meant to me. I wanted to buy you the whole store.”

  He ran a finger down my throat, then traced slowly back and forth over the dip of my collarbone.

  “I still didn’t think it was right. I wanted you so much but I didn’t want to want you. I didn’t see how I could possibly be good for you.”

  I held his gaze while he cupped my cheek, his fingers slipping into my hair.

  “It was the morning you were sunbathing that I finally gave up fighting it. You looked so happy and relaxed. I realized that being here made you happy, that maybe I made you happy.”

  I nodded and brought a hand up to circle his wrist, running my fingers over the light hair on his forearm.

  “I think I fell in love with you that night when I helped you fix dinner, but seeing how hard you worked made me hesitate again. All I could think about was how much you do for me and how little I could give you in return.” He paused again, his thumb rubbing lightly back and forth over my bottom lip. “The day you came running into my office and said you wanted me, though, that’s when I knew I loved you already, that I’d loved you for some time.”

  He dipped his head down and kissed my forehead, my eyelids, my nose, my lips. I squeezed him tightly with my legs. “You won’t leave me this fall. You’ll stay with me.” I nodded again. I already knew I wouldn’t leave him if I got accepted.

  “But, sir -”

  His face broke into a small smile.

  “What if I don’t get accepted? I can’t stay here when my visa expires.”

  “I’ll come back to the States with you.”

  “You will?”

  “I can work from anywhere. Almost everything I do is online.”

  “You’d leave here, this house, for me?”

  “Anything for you, my very, very dearest Miss Lane.” He kissed me again. “It’d be like running away together.”

  I reached up this time to kiss him, hard, as hard as I could.

  “But don’t worry, you’ll get in.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  He shook his head. “I just can’t imagine anyone not wanting you, my perfect girl.” He nuzzled my neck and lifted an arm to run his hand up and down my leg. “Now let’s get you upstairs so I can welcome you home properly.”

  “No.”

  “No?” He lifted his head with his eyebrows raised.

  “Here.” I tightened my legs again.

  “Here?” A slow smile drew across his mouth.

  “Switch places.” I rolled him off of me, pushed him down on his back, and climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. I sat up, running my hands over his chest.

  “You, my dear Mr. Hunter, intimidated me when I met you.” I leaned down and touched my mouth barely to his, not kissing him, just feeling his lips with mine. “I thought you were so handsome,” I whispered, “but scary and mysterious.” I started slowly unbuttoning his shirt. “The whole first week I worked here I tiptoed everywhere, afraid you’d hear me.” I kissed his beautiful jaw with my mouth open, savoring the feel of his scruff under my lips. His hands were slowly moving from my rear down my thighs and back again.

  “I knew I wanted you the night you fed me some mousse. It felt like you’d kissed me, and I wanted you to kiss me.” I had his shirt unbuttoned and he sat up enough that I could pull it off him. He reached for the hem of my t-shirt and pulled it over my head. I undid my bra and dropped it to the floor. His hands came up from my waist to cup my breasts, his expression one of almost worship. I slowly unclasped his belt, my hands a little shaky as his fingers worked their magic on my nipples.

  I scooted back just far enough to pull his pants and boxers down. I licked the length of his penis as I crawled back up his body, lightly drawing my naked chest up along his, until I was back to his face. His eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily. I loved hav
ing this effect on him, it drove me wild, the best aphrodisiac in the world. I licked his earlobe and whispered, “I fell in love with you the first time I heard you play the piano.” I kissed and licked the sensitive spot I knew he had just under his ear. “I fell in love with you the first time I heard you laugh.” I rubbed my chest lightly on his, letting him feel my erect nipples. “I fell in love with you the first time you fed me with your fingers.” I pressed myself down on his erection. “I fell in love with you the first time you called me your princess.” I pulled up and kissed him deeply, my hands tugging in his hair, angling his head so I could kiss him even more deeply. “I fell in love with you the first night you carried me to bed.”

  His eyes were still closed, but his hands began frantically working at the waistband of my shorts. I got up just long enough to yank them off along with my panties, and straddled him again, sitting up and taking his erection in my hands. I stroked him lightly, watching his head push back into the cushion and his mouth open in a quiet groan. I raised myself up and slowly lowered myself onto him, an inch at a time. “I fell in love you almost immediately, Adam.” I couldn't talk any more, the wonderful sensation of him filling me all I could focus on. Would I never get over how amazing he felt? I pulled myself up until he was almost out of me, then slowly eased back down again. He grabbed onto my hips, and held me to him tightly, pressing his hips up to mine, pushing himself into me as deeply as he could. It was my turn to groan.

  He opened his eyes and pulled me down to him, one hand on my back, the other on my ass, squeezing and pushing me down harder. He began thrusting up into me, already hitting that perfect spot, already sending tremors through my body, making my legs start to shake.

  “Oh, Adam,” I moaned, “oh, please, oh, please!”

  “God, Sylvia,” he growled and he pulled me into him even tighter, thrust even harder, and we both fell apart within minutes.

  I lay on top of him as we recovered. I loved these moments so much, listening to his heavy breaths, his pounding heartbeat, feeling his hands tenderly tracing over my body, my hair. I could lay here on top of him forever. I never wanted to get up.