“Wait.”
“Oh, right.” Michael let go, turned, and in the small room, took three steps to the dresser, and reached for a packet.
“That’s not it. Well, it is, but also this,” Paige reached down and pulled off her panties, holding them up. “No more ripping panties Mr. Can’t Keep It In His Pants, or in this case, hand towel.”
By the time, she finished talking, Michael was back, condom applied, and this time, both his hands slipped up past her waist, and he placed her hands on his shoulders. His gaze locked onto hers, his breath coming in deep growls.
“You mentioned something about trying out the wall?”
Before she had a chance for a retort, he kissed her, pressed her to the wall, and tapped her legs apart. His own widened to accommodate the height difference. He rubbed his cock to her soft, trimmed curls on her mound. The kisses continued, her returning his.
“Don’t let go,” Michael said, locking his gaze.
Stunned, Paige nodded, not really knowing or caring what he meant. She held his shoulders as his hands lifted her, cupping her bottom. Her foot found the bed for purchase. He slowed, rubbing his length to her more fully, sliding back along her smooth shaved lips and then up around her clit. From this angle, she was poised on him, fire spreading up through her from her core.
No sports were murmured. He rocked, slipping past where she wanted him to enter, teasing her into a heightened need. Each kiss, each nuzzle, each stroke, she felt more than ready. She was ravenous. She tilted her hips so he could finally sink deep into her pussy. She clenched tight on him, locking him in place. She took a breath and let him lean back then drew out partly only to press down onto him as fast as she could.
Then it began. In the late morning light, she met him in a rhythm. He entered her fully, making a soft shudder ripple through her with each powerful teasingly slow thrust. He was careful to pull back from the wall enough so that his strokes could deepen. Slow, deliberate strokes. She never let go of him as she lifted and lowered herself onto him again and again.
Fire built. All else fell away, but the sound of the rhythmic thump against the wall. Their bodies collided with an increased speed and a delicious urgency. She wanted him. She needed his thickness deep in her core and sawed onto him.
Michael bit into her earlobe and whispered, “Oh Paige…” Any other words, Oneida or English were garbled with his cry of passion.
“Michael…I think I…” Her words muddled into a held syllable. With a burning longing, Paige muffled her cry against his shoulder as she felt a dizzying flood of pleasure wash through her. She came hard. Her fingers gripped, body clenched, shaking. Lost…so lost in timeless rippling waves.
Awareness slowly returned to the Paige. His familiar kisses landed all over her face, easing her ragged breath. She no longer panted but drew in one long dreamy breath and smiled. A belated sweet gasp of passion’s jolt escaped her lips and quickly vanished into a glow.
Aunt Linney’s loud, sing-song shout shattered their embrace. “Paige!”
Paige refocused and cried out in the direction of the door. “I’m coming!”
“Again?” Michael guffawed, their bodies unlocking. She chuckled. Though breathless and glowing, she wasted no time in hitting him with anything within reach. It included the hand towel and her panties.
“Naw. Too cold for these. I think I need to wear a little bit more.” Michael laughed again.
Paige just groaned, threw on clothing as fast as she could, and barely gave him a kiss as she flew from the room, her cheeks still flushed and her grin wide.
****
“That should do it,” Paige said, shaking the dust off her hands.
She and her aunt looked up at their handiwork. At least the grandfather clock was visible and, more importantly, ticking.
Linney reached up and set the time according to her watch and carefully closed the cabinet door. The glass front had a huge crack with two types of yellowed tape holding it together. “Let’s see if it keeps time then we’ll try to figure out how the chime works.”
“Can’t believe you found it again,” Paige said, following her aunt to the kitchen to wash their hands since the downstairs bathroom wasn’t working. Paige moved to the side, wiping her hands on the kitchen towel.
“That clock was buried in the rubble in the corner of the dining room, facing the wall,” said Aunt Linney. “I just started working on that room and only excavated a third of it. Who knows what else is there?”
Michael entered wearing expensive dark jeans and yet another impeccable sweater. The face towel that had adorned his privates earlier was now draped over his shoulder. Paige’s eyes grew wide at seeing it.
“Hello, women. Mmm. Smells good in here.”
Aunt Linney simply stepped forward and took the face towel from him, wiping her hands on it. Michael joined in Paige’s wide-eyed stare. He nodded to Paige, and she shrugged, feeling heat rush to her cheeks.
Michael moved to the coffee pot and poured a steaming cup. “I was thinking about taking you two out to brunch.”
“You could,” Linney answered. “Only it’s thirty minutes away. I’m hungry now. How about eggs along with Paige’s muffins instead?”
“There’s muffins? Sure. I’ll help with the eggs.” He started to pull ingredients out of the fridge while Paige turned and dug through a moving box for her favorite pan.
Aunt Linney cut a few muffins in half and put them in the toaster oven. She broke off a large piece of muffin and ate it with a loud appreciative moan. Michael was about to do the same.
“Hey, the muffins go with the eggs. Hold off, Michael,” Paige pleaded.
“Don’t mind if I just kickback, feet up, and watch, do you? Yuppers. Mmm, mighty fine muffins. Must be good, huh, Michael?” Aunt Linney moaned unabashedly. “Personally, I prefer muffins warm and buttery. Toasting them might only take a couple minutes. Might want to hurry with that omelet.”
“Aunt Linney, stop that teasing,” Paige scolded.
“Can’t help it. Gotta get my kicks somehow. You don’t want me to put my wall up or paper myself in?”
Both Paige and Michael looked confused.
Then Linney marched over to Paige and yanked off a piece of peeled wallpaper that had been stuck in her hair. “One way to start to remove wallpaper from the room. Not efficient, but I bet more fun.”
Both Paige and Michael froze.
Aunt Linney laughed. “Watch those eggs, Groundhog Man.” She re-filled her coffee mug and set the table.
They ate their meal, relishing bites, and with far less hidden secrets than assumed. Linney explained she hadn’t been in the house long after first fumigating and having the small basement cleared out professionally due to water damage. She also took the front bedroom since it had the least debris and painted it a deep violet to augment light birds-eye-maple furniture.
“I actually love the room now. It’s good to have a safe haven. Maybe, Paige, you could start on your room. It’s cleaned but sure needs fixing up and improved furniture,” Aunt Linney encouraged. “The other bedrooms are a piled-up mess. You can choose one of those as yours later. I have a plan to the de-hoarding process, but it also has to be a reasonable pace since I work on hospice cases.”
“Mom thought you weren’t moving fast. I think she is dead wrong. Sounds like things are flying.”
Aunt Linney shrugged. “Naw. She’s right. When I first walked in, I looked in a few rooms and saw a scurrying critter, food leavings, and destroyed furniture. I just turned and left. Took me a good couple glasses of wine and a friend to send me back in two weeks later.”
They toasted with the last bites of muffin. “To the house and finding the treasures from what’s been left behind.”
As if the house agreed, the grandfather clocked chimed the noon hour. “Hey, it’s on time, too.” Linney smiled a lopsided smile, cheek full of muffin.
Chapter Five
“This is gross, Aunt Linney.” Paige pulled the cobweb from her
hand after she had tugged on the thin chain to click on the overhead light.
“Nonsense. Dirt, stone, and few cobwebs down here now. Hmm…a bit crumbly,” she said, brushing her hand on the stone wall of the small basement. She found a pen in her pocket and jabbed at the wall. Then again at the plaster.
“Phew. Just the plaster between some stones. Easy fix. A few lights down here, a table, then doing laundry will be a dream.”
“I thought you said this works.” Paige had loaded the washing machine and tried a button.
“Sure. You just need the secret.” Her aunt jiggled the dials, reset to it normal wash, and wobbled the start button. It roared to life.
Paige hid her frustration but admitted to herself that she had moments of wistful flashbacks to the posh condo she’d come from with upgraded appliances. Shiny, quiet, functioning appliances. She purchased most of the stylish expensive furniture and left it all behind, all but a few tiny pieces. She had told herself to make sure to add that to the budget list the next time her ex asked for money. The ease of her old life compared starkly to what was presented to her now, particularly with each special twist the old house required. Still, she was starting to get the same itch as her aunt to fix everything encountered.
“Bet we could jerry rig a table with something from the wood over there,” Paige suggested.
Rather than replying, her aunt nodded and found a thick, three-foot long board. They stacked cinder blocks and put the board on top.
“There. Temporary folding table. Not bad.”
“Works for now,” Paige agreed. “It needs a plastic tablecloth. I think putting the laundry room up on the same floor as the bedrooms would be much better, though.” She started up the stairs, with her aunt following.
“Sure. Depends on a bunch of things. The condition of the floors, the rooms, the pipes, the cost…” Linney groaned.
“Okay, okay. I get the picture,” Paige said with home designs beginning to form in her mind.
They walked to the foyer where Michael had just ended his phone call.
“Plastic table cloth from the dollar store for now. Putting it on my list,” Paige called to Linney.
“That’s my girl,” Aunt Linney beamed.
“Actually, she’s mine,” Michael said.
“Share or you don’t get her,” Linney teased.
“How about mine for right now at least, since I do need to go soon.” Michael pulled Paige into a hug when her aunt left. “Hey, thanks for letting me take care of a few work things first.”
“I’m messy,” she objected to touching him.
“Hi, Messy. I’m Michael.” He kissed her lips. “Mmm. Not messy there.” He added a second and third kiss while she relaxed to his arms. He smiled.
“Flee, it looks like a slight change of plans. I need to go to Dallas pretty soon.”
“Dallas? All the way to Dallas?” Paige objected. “But I thought you were staying right in the area and were coming around in a couple days, or trying to at least.” Why was she acting this way? She hadn’t meant to sound needy but had bristled at the smiling ease at which he announced his travel plans.
“Serves you right for going to a place off the grid.” Michael might have been trying to elicit a smile, but she wasn’t having it. Paige couldn’t control it and actually pouted.
“C’mon Flee. I’ll be back at least by the weekend like I said.” He cupped her cheeks as she pouted.
“I know but…all the way to Dallas? I thought you were on a project.”
“In Dallas part of the time. I think I need to make it to Dushore, too. Who knows what other locations?”
“Great. The shore and Dallas. Well, see you when I can.” Paige pulled away and turned to her boxes still piled in the foyer for want of direction. Why was she behaving this way? She knew she needed to get a grip but couldn’t get over the fact that he was traveling far from her. Was he really a rebound?
“Look, I know I said I’d try to stay over, but this is crunch week and all the more so after that computer disaster.”
Paige still gave him the cold shoulder.
“All right, pouting one,” he said. “I’ll try to make it for a dinner or evening mid-week if it’s easy driving. I’ll only be forty or fifty minutes away. No promises though.”
Paige stopped pretending to sort. Her eyebrows knitted into a stumped expression. “Dallas, Texas?”
“What? No. I’m booked at an inn located in Dallas, Pennsylvania. I wish they could put me up closer to the plant, but it was easier for those flying in from out of state. I’m in the area, Paige.”
“Really?”
Michael nodded and smiled. “Dushore, PA. Dallas, PA. All around the area. Not that it matters, I’ll most likely be swamped. I’m still going to miss you, though.”
“I’m not going to miss you one tiny, little bit.” She tried to hide her smile.
“Oh?” Michael’s eyebrow shot up.
Paige shook her head. “Maybe I’ll miss several bits, though.” She hugged him, kissed his cheek, and her hands moved lower on the softness of his sweater. “And some of those bits are quite large.” One hand squeezed his firm lower cheek.
Both eyebrows shot up. He curled his arms around her. “What am I going to do with you, Flee?”
“Ahem. Nothing at the moment,” Aunt Linney interjected. “You already did enough earlier. You two nearly shook the house down. Not to mention we’re a half day behind, and I have work tomorrow. So, get ready and shoo.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Michael said.
They stepped apart, Paige with an audible huff. She watched Michael gather his small overnight satchel and computer bag and put them by the door.
“And don’t come back without wine or goodies.” Aunt Linney offered her hand to shake. “Safe travels, Michael Yotahala Lukas with a K.”
He took her hand and then grabbed her for a hug.
She smiled widely. “Cut that out or you will make Paige jealous. And she’ll get all Southern on you.”
Michael turned to Paige. “You will?” he asked, moving to the porch.
She nodded with a look of fake determination. “Southern and all the other directions on you. All over you.” Paige kissed him on the lips.
Aunt Linney grunted.
Paige waved off her aunt. Linney took the hint.
“Ignore her. Here’s one for the road.” Paige handed him a travel mug of coffee. “And here’s one really for the road.” She kissed him, openmouthed. It was a deep, moaning kiss.
“Bye, now. Drive safe,” she said and closed the door on a stunned Michael.
Paige brushed her hands together. “There. Got all Southern on him. That should tide him over.”
Knock. Knock.
Paige opened the door. “Why did you knock?”
“The doorbell doesn’t work.” Michael said.
Paige just groaned at the old joke.
He pressed the bell again. “No, it really doesn’t work.”
“I’ll put it on the fix-it list,” her aunt called from the living room.
Michael reached toward Paige. She closed her eyes for another kiss. Instead, he picked up his satchel and computer bag. She sighed. Just when she gave up on one last kiss and thought he was leaving, he pulled her in, holding her tightly to his broad chest.
“Soon, Flee.” He kissed her again, plunging his tongue into her mouth, grinding his hips against hers, moaning until she let out a soft whimper of need. It was only then that he released her and walked to his car with bags in hand.
“Umm,” was all that came to Paige’s tingling lips.
“Michael, the name’s Michael.” He beamed. “Thanks for the amazing birthday and beyond, Amelia Paige Myers. Get some work on the house done.”
“You, too. I mean, your work, not the house, and rest up,” she called after him.
He nodded. “Text me if you ever get a signal. Better yet, get some Wi-Fi.”
He stared at Paige and slid into his car. Something in his expressio
n dripped sincerity. It told her he’d return. He had to.
Neither said the words lovers say. He waved before driving off, without fishtailing even once. She looked longingly after him, and it had nothing to do with how well his car hugged the road.
****
“Yup. Got all southern on him,” Paige admitted breathlessly, “but then he got all Michael on me. Jury’s out on who won.”
Her aunt ushered Paige inside and closed the door. “You both would have given heart attacks to many of the country folk around here if they saw you. Some people around here get married before they give each other more than a shake and a nod.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Didn’t say what was shaking or nodding.”
That made Paige chuckle. “Well, now, Auntie, you still have it going on.”
“Oh hush. You know it got up and went,” her aunt said but smiled in return.
“Well, you’re going to get it back if I have anything to do with it.” Paige looked at the tightly packed living room and sighed at the overwhelming task ahead. It looked like a paper storage warehouse filled with trash in between. She resigned herself to the task and clicked on a radio near the room entrance. She jiggled the old dial, turned up the music, and began to dance to the oldie.
“Get in here with your dancing self. Besides sorting, we need to tie up these newspapers to bring to the road. Recycling is tomorrow— Where you going? Big help you are.” Her aunt started to measure lengths of twine.
“I am a big help. I saw an old cart in the garage. I’m getting it so we can make the trips easier. Why not make the tasks more fun?”
Linney grunted. “No, you’re not getting it.”
“Am, too.”
“No, you’re not. I am. I have boots on,” Aunt Linney said, grinning. “Good idea, dirty dancer.”
“Dirty?” Paige turned to see her bottom had brushed against something dark and had a thick stripe across it. “You might be right, but I think I took after you.”
Linney’s backside was just as bad if not worse. The offending object causing the stains went straight into the garbage.
Soon, they figured out the best rhythm. With music blaring, they bagged garbage and began tying papers into bundles. Only a few selected items went into a box to be saved for further inspection later. They stacked newspaper bundles on the cart with wobbly wheels and, from there, wheeled it to the door and put the paper stacks on the porch. Linney would later simply fill her car and trunk with recycling to place them curbside. The efficiency of the process made both Dornheim women smile. It did more than that. It helped Linney open up.
A Paige in Cupid's Book Page 4