Lara relaxed in his arms, relieved to have the secret out. She closed her eyes.
* * * *
“I’d like to get my hands on him for just one minute…” Peter said with venom in his voice, but Lara was falling asleep. Her breathing became steady and Peter drifted off as well.
Fifteen minutes later Sam came home. Peter cracked an eye open when he heard his bedroom door creak. He spied Sam smile then close the door before he fell back to sleep.
About an hour later, Lara rolled over away from Peter, who opened his eyes and reached for her, pulling her back next to him. She cuddled up to him again, putting her head on his shoulder and snaking her arm around his waist. Peter bent down and put his mouth on hers in a slow, sweet kiss.
When she responded to the touch of his lips, he leaned over and gave her a more urgent, more sensual kiss, his tongue possessing her mouth. He slipped his hand under the bathrobe and touched her breast.
“I want to make love to you…” he whispered.
“I want you,” she breathed in his ear, holding his hand to her breast, surrendering to her longing for him. He ripped his T-shirt off over his head. Lara ran her hands through his soft chest hair. She spread her fingers out over his chest, studying his muscles with her fingertips. She smiled.
* * * *
Lara felt Peter slowly open the robe, exposing her body to his eyes. She felt his stare as if a gentle wave of heat rolled across her body.
“Are you staring at me?”
“You are even more beautiful than I imagined.”
Lara felt warmth in her cheeks and raised her lips to be captured by his again. He kissed her passionately as she lifted her tongue to meet his. He slid his hand down to her breast, while he buried his lips against her neck. She drank in his masculine scent and the hint of lime from the soap on his skin. She moaned and moved her hands down to his hips.
“Hey, you’re dressed and I’m naked. Unfair.”
Peter stripped off his pants and came back to Lara.
“Take it all off,” she teased.
Peter dropped his boxers. Lara moved her hands over his hips and his back, seeing his body with her fingertips, feeling the strength of his muscles and the smoothness of his skin. Peter slid his hands over her breasts and around to her back, down to her firm bottom, pulling her closer to him, until she felt his arousal. Every touch of his fingers on her skin was like a small electric charge, jolting her body, making her ache for him. Love and passion mixed in her veins to create a potent aphrodisiac.
He followed his hands with his mouth, traveling slowly down her neck to her breasts, where he created an agony of pleasure inside her with his lips and tongue. She moaned and writhed under his expert touch. Her breathing quickened.
“Your breasts are perfect,” he murmured as he caressed her.
“I want you,” she whispered, squirming under his caress.
“I want you too…you’ve no idea…”
He kissed her again, ravaging her mouth while his hand got lost in the soft tangle of her shiny hair. She arched her back, pressing her breasts onto his chest. His hand skimmed over the velvety soft skin of her belly and down further to her slick core, gently exploring, lighting a fire within her. She gasped, her body aching with desire as he stroked her, his fingers escalating the intensity of her need. Heat sped through her veins, as she slid her hand up his thigh to close around his manhood. Peter groaned.
“I can’t…too much…” he muttered, removing her hand, resting it on his stomach.
Lara grinned, pleased she excited him.
He kissed her deeply as if demanding her surrender. She pressed her hips up against him in a silent plea.
“Just a sec.” Peter scooted off the bed.
Lara felt him return to bed and heard a slight ripping sound. When she touched him again, her hand wrapped around latex. Peter eased between her legs and entered her slowly, gently. Lara wasn’t afraid, she trusted him. He groaned and increased his pace.
Her hips moved with him, her fingers dug into his strong shoulders as low moans escaped her throat. He pumped harder and faster, sweat beaded on his chest, forming a thin film between them. She cried out his name when passion dominated her senses and he took her over the top, melting her into ecstasy. He followed her, with a powerful release.
Afterward, they lay back, breathing heavily. Peter pulled Lara into his arms while she floated in the bliss of longing satisfied. His long fingers combed her dark hair, feeling the softness of it as it fell across her shoulders and breasts. He pulled the robe over her and kissed the top of her head. She reached up and stroked his rough face as they lay quietly in each other’s arms.
He took Lara to a new intensity of pleasure with a tenderness she hadn’t known from other men in her life. A sense of being loved washed over her, a new feeling, as she lay with her head on his shoulder and her arm around his waist. Tears of joy came to her eyes. One spilled over onto his chest causing Peter to pull her chin up gently to see her face.
“You’re crying. What’s wrong?”
“Tears of happiness,” she confessed, embarrassed.
Peter propped himself up against the headboard, his fingers touched her hair, then her neck and came to rest on her shoulders as he looked into her blank eyes.
“I love you,” slipped out of his mouth. Words he hadn’t uttered to any woman in eight years glided off his tongue to Lara.
She put her arms around his neck.
“Oh, my darling, I love you too,” she whispered, kissing him sweetly.
* * * *
Thirst drove the lovers from the coziness of their bed. Holding hands, they padded into the kitchen seeking cold drinks, Lara wore Peter’s robe and he, only boxers. Sam joined them and Peter poured a cold drink for him too.
“Lara saw a shadow today,” Peter said, handing a glass of iced tea to Lara.
“You did?” Sam asked.
“Dr. Weiss said seeing shapes would be the first step back to full sight.” Lara took the glass from Peter and gripped it with both hands.
“Did she say how long it would take to get full sight back?” Peter ran his hand over her hair.
“Nobody knows. But it shows I am healing inside.” She leaned against Peter’s shoulder.
“What do you want to see first when you get your sight back?” Sam asked, putting onions, chopped meat and tomato sauce on the counter for a spaghetti dinner.
“Peter’s face,” she said, “I take that back. Peter’s eyes.”
Lara helped by setting the table and tearing lettuce for a salad. Peter fixed the rest of the salad and Sam made the spaghetti. After dinner Lara mentioned Pride and Prejudice which she had been listening to on tape.
“I’m in love with Mr. Darcy,” Lara cooed, clasping her hands together.
“What’s so great about him? A stuffed shirt, if you ask me,” Peter sniffed.
“What do you mean, Pete? He’s one of the great male characters in literature,” Sam said, twirling some pasta on his fork.
“I think he’s sexy.”
“You do? You think Mr. Darcy’s sexy? I’ll show you sexy.” Forgetting his father was there, he grabbed Lara around the middle, tickling her. She screamed and struggled, breathless with laughter. Peter plopped her in his lap and gave her a hard kiss on the mouth.
“Stay the night. Call the evil Fran, tell her you’re not coming home,” he said, closing his arms around her.
“Young lovers need to be alone. We can talk about books tomorrow,” Sam said, rising from his chair.
Lara turned her face away to hide her embarrassment.
“Goodnight, Lara,” he said, leaning over and kissing the top of her head. “Night, Pete.”
While Lara was on the phone, it was obvious Fran didn’t approve but Lara didn’t care. Peter picked her up in his arms.
“Now it’s time for bed, my little honeybee,” he said, moving toward the bedroom.
“Why do you call me that?” she asked.
“B
ecause,” he said, kissing her, “your mouth is sweet like honey to me.”
He moved through the bedroom door and sat Lara down on the bed.
“You’re cuddly and furry, like a big teddy bear,” she said, refusing to unlock her arms from around his neck, dragging him down on the bed.
“A teddy bear?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.
“Warm and reassuring. You make me feel safe.”
“Safe? Reassuring? I don’t want you to feel safe around me! You should call me a tiger, or a wolf, not a teddy bear! No woman ever called me safe before, dammit.”
Peter removed her arms from his neck and sat up.
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Safe is important. Can I call you bear?”
“Bear is okay,” he said, pulling her close to him and wrapping his arms around her. “I don’t want you safe, I want you to melt with desire, be wild, passionate and uncontrolled with me,” he whispered, giving the door a gentle push until it clicked closed.
* * * *
Lara sat straight up in bed. Her loud gasp broke the silence of the night. Her heart began to pound, her breath came in short gasps, she was shaking. Peter rolled over.
“What is it?”
She reached out and her hand thumped up against his chest.
“Peter?”
“Honey, I’m here,” he said, his hand stroking her arm.
“Where am I?”
“You’re here with me, safe in my bed,” he said, putting his arms around her and pulling her closer.
“What time is it?”
“It’s three.”
“Hold me and don’t let go.” She trembled in his arms.
Peter held her close to his chest, resting his head next to hers. He folded his arms around her body and his legs up underneath her making her totally secure and safe.
“Do you think you can sleep now?”
“As long as I’m with you, bear,” she muttered, closing her eyes.
The lovers fell into a deep sleep until the morning light.
* * * *
In the morning, Sam didn’t mind having Lara there, knowing she spent the night. After Peter left for class, Lara collided with Sam on her way into the kitchen for more coffee.
“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling her way to the table.
“No problem. Would you like more coffee?”
“Please.”
Sam refilled her cup and knitted his brows as he looked at her. Peter’s in love with her but what does she feel? Obviously, she’d slept with him, but Peter had sex with plenty of women who didn’t love him. Sam needed to know.
“So, Lara, what’s up with you and Pete?” He lifted his coffee mug to his lips never taking his eyes off her.
Lara blushed.
“What do you mean?” She put her mug down.
“I know how he feels about you…how do you feel about him?”
“I love him, is that what you want to hear?”
“I want to hear the truth.” Sam continued to watch her.
“The truth…last night he told me he loves me.”
“I’m not surprised. Do you feel the same?”
Color crept up into her cheeks as she smiled. “I do. I guess I’m as surprised as you must be.”
“I’m not surprised, I’m glad, relieved actually. Not going to break his heart, are you?”
“Why would I break his heart?” Lara asked with a laugh.
“It’s been done before.”
“I’ve never known any man as sweet and kind as Peter. I’d never hurt him. Protective, aren’t you.”
“I pride myself on staying out of my sons’ business. But not this time.”
“I promise not to break his heart. I hope he won’t break mine.”
“This is the real deal for him.”
“And how do you feel, Sam?”
“Couldn’t be happier,” he said, sitting back and finishing his coffee.
* * * *
At The Wet Tee Shirt on the outskirts of town
Gradually, Deena’s affection got to Rex. He was falling for her. He began to be protective, keeping a close watch on the men she drank with at The Wet Tee Shirt. No one got fresh with her when Rex was around. He put up with every guy in the place staring at her breasts, but no one was going to come on to her or touch her. She wasn’t going to be sleeping with anyone but him.
It had been a month since they started having sex and Deena wanted him to move in with her. While he was tempted, they needed to keep their association hidden. Rex took Deena out in towns about an hour away. They never went to a restaurant or shop in Willow Falls. It was for his protection more than hers. If someone blew the whistle, accusing her of blackmail, they wouldn’t connect her with him. Let her take the fall.
She passed along the information to Rex. Then the big score walked in all by himself; Peter Caldwell shooting his mouth off about Jason.
“Deena, baby! This is big!” Rex grabbed her and gave her a big kiss when they were back at her apartment.
“It is?”
“A Dean of Students…he’s got bucks…lookin’ at maybe twenty thousand. We’re going to collect big time.”
Rex pulled Deena to him and slipped his hand under her T-shirt. She giggled and let him strip her naked. He tossed his clothes next to hers and pulled her down on the bed.
Chapter Nine
The State Fair comes to Valley Grove Park, near Willow Falls, in August. It is the biggest attraction of the year. The price of admission includes rickety rides, access to sticky sweet and deep-fried foods, the livestock competition, and the 4-H exhibits. This year the main attraction was The Colorado Kid and his Bronco Babes for only four nights.
Callie got to know Danny Maine when he was in high school and she was engaged to his older brother, Kyle. But when Kyle died in Iraq, she and Danny lost touch. Looking for Callie, Danny came to Kensington State to teach English. He met and married Eliza, an undergraduate dean, and friend of Mac Caldwell, two years ago. Now they had Casey, a mischievous toddler who delighted and exasperated them. The Caldwell and Maine families were best friends and planned to attend the Fair together.
They met in the parking lot at about five o’clock on Saturday. Familiar aromas drifted their way…the smells of cotton candy, caramel apples and funnel cakes mixed with cigarette smoke, a faint odor of manure and farm animals combined with sweat from warm bodies.
The strains of canned calliope music stretched all the way to the parking lot. The music got Jason excited before they even got to the gate. He remembered the fair from last year. Kitty, being only four, didn’t, but she clapped and skipped, imitating her brother.
Eliza got a firm grip on Casey’s little hand. At two years old, the boy was fearless. He wandered away from his parents at every opportunity. Eliza knew he was often hard to keep track of, but Danny promised to keep a sharp eye on him.
Kaitlyn Baines, one of Eliza’s twin daughters from her first marriage, was with Chase Lawson, who she’d been dating on and off for the past two years. Her twin sister, Sally, was with Tanner Lawson, Chase’s older brother. Sally and Tanner had been a steady couple for the past two years.
Peter was there with Lara, whose senses were bombarded. What she couldn’t see, she could smell and hear. Since it was her first State Fair, she was amazed by all the different sounds of the fair, from children crying, to roosters crowing, to teens screaming on rides and cows mooing softly in the background. The smells enticed her, fat simmering, the sugary scent of cooking confections and the heavy smell of frying meat mixed together.
Callie put her arm around Lara.
“You have to try the strawberry shortcake here. Real strawberries and homemade biscuits,” she said.
“Homemade biscuits? I’ve never had homemade biscuits before,” Lara replied, licking her lips.
“It’s my favorite…even beats funnel cakes,” Callie said.
“What’s a funnel cake?” Lara asked.
This was Peter’s first State
Fair too, and he was nervous about losing Lara in the dense crowd. He kept a tight grip on her hand.
“Okay, Mac, where are all these great foods you talked about?” Peter asked.
“In good time, shrimp, in good time,” Mac responded.
Sam and Pat held hands and followed the children and grandchildren.
“My first State Fair too, Patsy. What’s up here for an old man like me?” Sam asked, patting her hand.
“You’re not an old man!”
He laughed.
“You’ll love the animals, Sam. Bunnies, cows, goats, horses…4-H science projects…but no birds, I’m afraid.”
“Cows and horses?”
She nodded. “And you can pet them.”
“Lead on, lady. This is looking up,” Sam said, lacing his fingers with hers.
* * * *
It was Rex Vesson’s first time visiting a State Fair too. He leered at the young country girls, many dressed provocatively in low-cut tank tops and short shorts. They whetted his sexual appetite. Sex with a sixteen-year-old girl appealed to him. He envisioned a young, firm body, mentally undressing some of the giggling girls getting on rides with their friends, and his body began to react.
Rex wore a tight, sleeveless undershirt showing his muscular shoulders and chest, and tight jeans. He noticed girls gave him second looks as he walked by. His libido would have to wait as his appetite for food crowded out thoughts of sex. His mouth began to water as the scents of fried and sweet foods filled the air. He licked his lips when he saw the strawberry shortcakes and the funnel cakes.
* * * *
Callie and Mac came upon the shooting gallery, the first attraction on the midway, next to the sausage and pepper stand, wafting its spicy smells to the shooters and across from the sickly sweet cotton candy, whose sugary smell and vapory pinkness tempted the children. The young man behind the booth groaned when he saw Danny. Danny had been a sharp shooter in the army. For the last two years he had practically cleaned out the shooting gallery.
Now and Forever 5, Love's Journey Page 11