by Nana Malone
“Oh, leave them alone, you two,” Dr. Andersen scolded her children. “They are just old friends.”
“Thank you,” Marc said. “We are friends.”
“You’re welcome, honey. Now if you all will excuse me, I need to see what my husband is up to.”
She walked away, and Marc’s lips drifted to Willa’s neck. “Okay, baby.” He kissed her there. “Now that Dr. Andersen is gone, tell them how we really spent our afternoon.” He kissed her neck again before moving to her throat, and if she weren’t surrounded by people, she would have shut her eyes and enjoyed his mouth. “Don’t leave out any details.”
“Marc!” She hit him in the stomach. “Quit it!”
He lifted his head, chuckling. “Willa told you guys the truth. That’s how we spent the afternoon.”
“I’m afraid of snakes and heights, Gin. Marc sacrificed himself to stay with me.”
“I get the snake thing, but heights? I didn’t know that. I would have never planned zip-lining if I had.”
“I know, but I want you to do whatever it is you want during this week, not worry about me.”
“You didn’t know Wil was afraid of heights?” Marc looked down at Willa. “She always has been. Remember that time she nearly freaked out when the Ferris wheel got stuck at the county fair?”
“No.” Virginia frowned. “I don’t remember that. Do you, Asa?”
Willa had nearly forgotten that day, but they had been stuck at the top for nearly twenty minutes. She also remembered who was in there with her. “They weren’t there, Marc,” she reminded him softly.
“Oh, that’s right.”
“Neither one of us was there?” Asa frowned. “You two hung out without us?”
“Sometimes,” Willa admitted. “You two can be pains in the ass.”
“Hey!” the twins said at the same moment.
Virginia looked at them once again, her eyes lingering on Marc’s hand that hadn’t left her arm, and his fingers that were still stroking her skin. “You sure there’s nothing going on? We’d be cool with it if there was.”
“I was in love with Willa in high school,” he told them. “I’m not afraid to admit it. Don’t you still have a soft spot for your first love?”
“First love?” Asa shook his head. “You never told me that.”
“You never asked.” He shrugged. “But if we were a couple now we would tell you. There’s no reason to hide it.”
“That’s true,” Virginia agreed, but she still looked suspicious. “Come sit with us. I think they are just about done setting up.”
* * *
He had told them he had been in love with her like it was no big deal, like he didn’t care if the whole world knew. It was so different from the way he acted in high school, Willa almost couldn’t get her head around it. She glanced up at him as they drove back to the resort. Before, he sat with Asa; now he was sitting next to her once again, giving her no space, the warmth of his hard body seeping into her cold skin. He would feel nice on a winter’s night, she thought. She could almost feel him in her bed, heating her up when it was bitterly cold outside.
“What are you thinking about, Wil?” He caught her staring.
“Nothing.” She shook her head and looked away.
“Liar.” He tenderly brushed his knuckles beneath her chin. “But you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
She wanted lean into his touch, but she resisted. He was sucking her in again, and she was having a hard time resisting. She thought she was stronger than that. “That’s good, because I’m not going to tell you what I’m thinking.”
“I can live with that,” he said softly, kissing her just beneath her ear in the spot that always made her tremble.
“This is why people think there is something going on between us.”
“I don’t care what anybody else thinks.”
“You don’t? You certainly did before.”
He sat up, moving slightly away from her. She felt him stiffen and immediately she felt bad for the shot she had taken. She was about to say something, but the van stopped and let them off in front of the main lodge.
They got out without saying anything else to each other. He spoke to everyone else, though. Smiling, saying his goodbyes, making plans for the next day. She stood by watching him, and for some reason feeling bad about what she had said to him. She wasn’t sure why she felt guilty. It was true that he had cared what everybody else thought when they were in high school. It was true that he put all others’ feelings before hers. He had hurt her.
He’s different now.
But you don’t need to fall in love with him again.
She walked up to him just as he was finished saying goodbye to Asa.
“Walk me back,” she said when he turned around.
He looked at her for a long moment. She couldn’t read his face. “I’m sorry, Willa. Lord knows how sorry I am, but I can’t apologize to you anymore. Especially since it doesn’t seem to make a damn bit of difference.”
“Walk me back,” she said again, but this time she reached out and slipped her hand into his. “Walk me back and let me be mean to you some more.”
He sighed, gently squeezing her fingers. “Okay, be mean to me. I guess I have it coming.”
“You should be used to people being mean,” she said to him as they started to walk. “You work in DC. I don’t think a nice thing has been said about anyone there since the dawn of time.”
“People are usually too scared of me to be mean.”
“Scared of you?” She frowned. “You are a big guy, but nothing about you is scary. If you tell anybody this, I’ll kill you, but I think you’re sweet.”
“Yeah, don’t go spreading that shit around. It will kill my reputation.”
“Why are people scared of you?”
“I’m quiet when I work. People don’t know how to interpret my silence and see it as a dark side. But the truth is that I’m quiet because I hate what some of my clients do, and if I told them how really felt I would never work in that town again. I’m not supposed to pass judgment. I’m supposed to remain neutral.”
“Why do you stay if you hate it? I understand why you got into it, but now you have other choices.”
“I stay for the money. I make a lot of it. Sometimes I want to leave so much my gut hurts. But then I remember how poor I was growing up. We slept in a car for a year. The thought of possibly going back to that scares me. Plus, starting over isn’t easy.”
“I did it. I started over,” she said as they approached their bungalows.
“I know. That is one of the many reasons you are better than me.” He grinned at her, looking at her in that way that only he could, making her feel shy and special and pretty all in one moment. It had been a long day and the tiredness was starting to seep into her bones, but she didn’t want it to be over yet.
She leaned closer to him, placing both hands on his chest as she leaned up to kiss him. She had only meant to kiss him lightly, but he stepped closer, cupped her face in his hands, and opened his mouth over hers and slid his tongue deep inside her mouth. She gripped his jacket tightly; the kiss made her dizzy, made her feel like she was falling, so she held on to him. If she was going to fall she wanted him to come with her.
“Oh God, Willa.” He broke the kiss, breathing heavily he dragged his lips across her cheeks and chin and the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I can’t get enough.”
“Come inside.” Her eyes were still closed, still savoring that kiss.
“What?”
“Come inside.” She didn’t want to spend the night alone. She didn’t want to spend the night thinking about him while her body craved his touch. She had gone too long without sex, without being made love to. Some of her best mem
ories had been with him, and she wanted to add this night to them.
He looked at her for a long moment, studying her face as if to see if she was serious.
She closed the distance between them, sliding her hands under his shirt so she could feel the smooth, skin of his back. Setting her mouth against his, she licked across his lips asking to be let in. He groaned and before she could think, she felt her back against the door and his hands beneath her dress touching the backs of her thighs. “Are you sure about this?” he asked her, and she had never seen him more serious.
“I’ve never had to invite a guy in more than once. They usually take me up on my first offer.”
“You asked me if I had a girlfriend, but I forgot to ask you if there is a man in your life.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “He’s got his hands up my dress as we speak.”
He flashed her a wicked, sexy smile. “Open the door, Willa. If you don’t, you risk me stripping you naked right here.”
“I might like that,” she said, but turned away to unlock the door.
She barely got through the door before Marc was kissing her again, but this time it wasn’t her mouth that got the special treatment. He untied the halter that kept her short dress up, lifted her hair and fluttered slow, hot kisses across her neck.
“I have wanted to do this all evening,” he said between kisses. “You can’t wear dresses like this and expect me to keep my sanity. All night I kept thinking about pulling on this and unwrapping you like a present.”
He tugged down her dress, revealing her black strapless bra, and ran his fingers gently over the tops of her breasts. He was taking his time with her, seducing her. He didn’t have to. She had been seduced by him long ago. “Take it off,” she ordered. Her nipples were straining against the fabric. Her skin beneath her clothing had grown too hot. She wanted to be naked; she wanted to feel his hands and lips and breath all over her body.
“Take what off?” He tugged her dress down just a little farther until it fell to her hips. He went to his knees then, giving her a hot, wet openmouthed kiss on the small of her back. That kiss literally stole her breath, causing the throb between her legs to grow painful.
“Marc...” She tried to speak but couldn’t manage more than his name. He pulled at her dress one last time, till it fell to her feet. He turned her around, and for a moment he just looked up at her.
“Stop looking at me like that.” She shut her eyes, unable to take his inspection.
“Like what?” He kissed the curve of her belly, and for once in her life she felt perfect. She didn’t worry that her thighs were too big or her stomach wasn’t that flat. She didn’t feel awkward or weird. She felt like she had only felt with him, and it made her heart hurt.
“Like you’re looking at me,” she said, swallowing hard as he pulled down her panties just a bit to kiss her hip. “I don’t need to fall in love with you and you don’t need to fall in love with me. This is just a fling.”
“What?” He took his lips completely off her body and suddenly her thoughts became a little clearer.
“A fling. Isn’t that what people have when they’re on vacation in tropical places?”
* * *
A fling?
That was the last thing Marc was thinking about when he had followed her inside tonight.
A fling meant insignificant and fleeting. It meant that there were no feelings attached. Normally he would have welcomed that. No plans for the future. No messy breakups. Just the two of them in the moment. But somehow having just that with Willa didn’t sit well with him.
Having a fling with your first love seemed impossible.
“What if I told you I didn’t want that?”
She looked down at him, clad only in her black underwear with her pouty lips parted slightly. Her eyes grew thoughtful and then she said, “But I want you, Marc.” She knelt before him, slowly reaching for the buttons on his shirt. “I want this.”
Every look Willa gave him, every sound she made when he touched her aroused him, but her words made him so hard he couldn’t see straight.
She finished with the buttons on his shirt and pushed it all the way open, revealing his chest. She smoothed her hands over his chest. “I couldn’t do this with anybody else,” she told him, and she pushed his jacket and shirt down his arms. “I feel safe with you.”
She inched closer and ran her tongue lightly along his lips. He grabbed her by the waist, needing to feel her, but he stopped there, too curious to see what she was going to do next.
She kissed him again as her hand wandered down his body to his pants. She unzipped him, slid her hand inside and just held him for a moment, running her thumb up his shaft. “I need this.”
“It’s not detachable.”
She looked up at him and grinned, reminding him of that girl he once fell in love with. “I like the attachments.” She wrapped her hand completely around him, stroking his entire length.
He hissed out a breath, the pleasure was so good. “I think you should stop that.”
“I think you should finish undressing me.” She stroked him again, every touch bringing him closer to the edge.
He grabbed her hands and pulled them above her head. “Stay like that,” he ordered. He needed a moment away from her touch. She was clouding his head. He already knew that one night wouldn’t be enough. One fling wouldn’t satisfy him. It might be enough for her. She might be able to go back home and get on with her life, but he couldn’t. She would stay with him. He would carry her with him. And knowing that he wouldn’t be able to repeat this night again would drive him insane.
She reached behind her and undid the clasp of her bra with one hand. Her breasts were exposed. Round. Soft. Beautiful. She looked him in the eye and cupped them in her hands, rubbing her thumbs over her nipples.
That drove him over the edge. He got to his feet and scooped her into his arms, carrying her to her bedroom. She landed on the bed with a bounce and he stood back as he stripped off his pants and shoes, enjoying how she looked spread on the bed nearly naked. Just a pair of black satin panties and her pretty strappy shoes.
“I thought I told you to stay put.” He settled himself between her legs and pinned her arms behind her head. He took one of her breasts in his hand and gently squeezed it before he set his mouth to it. Her back arched off the bed.
“You don’t listen, Willa, and that’s a problem.” He kissed the line down to her belly button, stopping to lick inside.
“You were...” She moaned again. “You were taking too long.”
“I like to look at you.” He pulled her underwear down, not all the way, but just enough to kiss the skin that was hidden there. “You should have just let me look at you. Now you are going to pay.” He liked to take his time with her, even though he was on the verge of losing control. She was the kind of woman that needed to be savored, and if he was only going to have these few days with her he wanted to make sure he remembered every moment of them.
“Marc, please. I’m sorry.”
He pulled her underwear all the way off, kissing the lips between her legs. She was more than ready for him, but he hadn’t had his fill yet. He gently parted her, slipping one finger inside her. She grabbed his wrist, preventing him from moving.
“I’m too close. I want all of you.” He relented, the need to be inside her overwhelming him.
His chest met hers and he wrapped her thighs around him. Finally they were face-to-face, pressed together with no clothes between them. It’s what he had been thinking about since he had first laid eyes on her again.
She took his face in her hands and kissed him, and just as he was about to slip inside her she cursed.
“What?” He lifted his head to look at her, but the sight of her kiss-swollen lips distracted him.
“I think we should use a co
ndom.”
“Okay.” He kissed her mouth, glad that she was smart enough to remember. He quickly left her to retrieve his pants.
“You have some?”
“Yeah.” He pulled them out and showed her.
“You just happened to have condoms on you?” she asked as she placed her hands behind her head. “You always bring them along? You expect to get lucky everywhere you go?”
“No. I bought them in the gift shop when you went to take a nap.” He handed one to her. “Put it on for me.”
She sat up and did as he asked. “You were that sure I was going to sleep with you?”
“No, I heard Carlos’s mother is single and thought she was pretty hot for a sixty-seven-year-old woman.”
She paused for a moment, looking up at him with a frown. “Damn, she looks good for her age.”
“I wasn’t sure, Willa.” He kissed her shoulder. “I just know that I can’t be around you and not want to be with you.”
“I feel the same way about you, Marc.” She pulled him down on the bed, their bodies lined up, their skin touching, and she was looking at him the way she used to. She was looking at him the way she did when he knew she loved him. “Stay with me.”
Chapter 6
Willa woke up the next morning as soon as Marc rolled away from her. She had slept last night wrapped in his arms, his face buried in her neck. They had never slept together before. When they were teenagers they would steal moments alone, plan out their time together. She had never been with just him. This week they had spent more uninterrupted time together than they had their entire relationship. She kind of liked it. She liked him.
He got out of bed still naked, his large, sculpted body beautiful. She watched him, her eyes drinking him in as he stretched. He had the perfect behind, and images of last night flooded her head. She had never had sex like that. Sex that made her feel like liquid afterward. Sex that left her feeling utterly and completely satisfied. Sex that made her feel so connected.