by Lori Herter
She felt shy again and didn’t say anything.
“Do you like the way the water feels on your nipples?” he asked.
The question shocked her a bit. But she decided she wasn’t going to allow herself to be shocked. They were only talking. If she couldn’t even deal with talking about such things, how could she ever free herself up to do erotic things? “Yes.”
“I touched your breast in the pool. Did you like that, too?”
“Y-yes.”
“I’d be happy to do that again, if you like.”
She swallowed. Her breaths came faster. She knew he was trying to ease her over her fears, as they’d agreed. She wasn’t angry with him. But she wasn’t ready for what he was suggesting either. “I’d just like to get used to this situation right now.”
Wimp! Coward!! she admonished herself. A few days ago, she’d allowed him to touch her in the pool, but that was before she’d realized he could get erections. Finding out he was a potent male had set her back. She needed to get over that.
“Okay,” he agreed, looking very patient.
He was being so gentle, she could almost weep. No other man she’d ever met had been so understanding and sensitive. She wished she had the wherewithal to go further with him, for his sake as well as her own. Growing frustrated with herself again, she told herself she shouldn’t use the word wish. She possessed the wherewithal to go further—she just needed to find where it was inside herself and use it!
“M-maybe tomorrow,” she told him.
He raised his eyebrows. “Tomorrow I can touch you?”
She nodded.
He smiled. “Don’t promise. I don’t want you to worry about it all night and all day. Whenever you want to go further, I’m here.”
They said nothing more. She closed her eyes and relaxed for a while. But it was getting late and she needed sleep. After a few more minutes, she fastened her top and climbed up the steps. He watched her but made no move to touch her.
When she reached the top step, she paused and looked down at him. “Can you really get out on your own? Need me to hold the wheelchair?”
He shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Get some sleep.”
Josie went back to the cottage and got ready for bed. But she did a surprising thing. For the first time ever, she slept in the nude. It just felt right somehow.
THE NEXT MORNING, Josie was rinsing her long hair after shampooing in the shower. When she heard the phone ring she quickly got out and grabbed a towel. The cell phone was next to the bed. “Hello?”
“Oh, thank God.” It was Ronnie’s voice. “I’ve been trying to call you. I thought you’d dropped off the face of the earth! And with that quake last night—”
Earthquake? She could hear Ronnie’s TV in the background. “I’ve been staying at Peter’s,” Josie explained. “When we’re in the spa, I leave my cell phone inside. What earthquake?”
“Last night. About 2:50 a.m. Didn’t it wake you up?”
“I must have slept through it.” How odd! Josie had never slept through an earthquake before.
“It was a 4.9, centered here in Orange County. That’s what scares me. Usually the epicenters are somewhere else.”
“So it must have felt pretty strong. I can’t believe I didn’t wake up! Last night I just zonked out.”
“You’re staying at Peter’s place?” Ronnie sounded as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. “You told me you’re working for him, but—”
“We work late, and he doesn’t like me driving home after dark. He’s concerned that whoever tried to kill him might come after me. If it’s Martin Lansdowne, that’s certainly a possibility.”
“Martin hasn’t mentioned you lately, that I know of. So…” Ronnie’s tone grew curious. “Anything…interesting…going on? With you and Peter?”
“Well…yeah…” Josie filled her friend in on recent events. “He’s so sexy,” she confided. “Broad shoulders, rippling muscles. He has the most awful scars, but they make him look really masculine, you know? And he’s caring, has a sense of humor. I didn’t think men like him existed.”
Ronnie was laughing. “Wow, Josie, sounds like you’re in love.”
Josie bowed her head and clutched the phone a bit tighter. “In love?”
“Just listen to the way you describe him. I don’t think you’re the type to fall in lust. That’s why your inhibitions are melting. He’s the one man who’s managed to break through to your heart.”
“No, I’m not ready to think about love. I was just thinking about exploring a physical relationship.”
“That’s cool. You go, girl!”
“How about lunch one of these days, Ronnie? I’ll make some excuse to get away. I’d like to see you.”
“Make an excuse? Oh, he doesn’t know you’re still friends with anyone from Earthwaves.”
“No,” Josie said. “I suppose I could tell him. But he might think it’s odd.”
“Sure, call me when you want to do lunch. You have a TV? Turn on the news—they’re talking about the earthquake now. Channel 7.”
“I will. ‘Bye.”
Josie turned on the small TV in the outer room, on a shelf above one of the lab tables. As she listened to the reports, she still couldn’t believe she’d slept through an earthquake that apparently had lasted a full five seconds. There hadn’t been much damage: bottles in a liquor store had fallen off the shelves, and there were a few similar reports, but there hadn’t been any injuries or deaths, thank goodness. They interviewed a man from the U.S. Geological Survey who said the earthquake had happened on a blind thrust, a previously unknown fault line that had never broken through to the earth’s surface.
She used her phone to dial Cal Tech.
PETER WATCHED the local news on his kitchen counter TV while he got out cereal bowls and made coffee. Last night he’d finally fallen asleep after vivid imaginings of Josie had kept him awake for hours. And then the earthquake had awakened him. It hadn’t been the worst quake he’d ever lived through, but it had been a respectable rattler. Mostly because the epicenter, in Newport Beach, had been so close. He wondered if it had frightened Josie. He’d thought of phoning the cottage, but then decided not to. Earthquakes didn’t seem to scare her. Peter was acutely aware that she was more frightened of him and his male anatomy than any earthquake.
But last night, as she’d closed her eyes in the spa, he’d seen another side of her. She’d been serene, dreamy, sensual. He’d wished he could put aside his invalid ruse, go over to her, slip his arms around her and make love with her. It was all he wanted in the world right now. All he could think about. Nothing else seemed to matter quite as much to him as winning Josie, body and soul.
Nevertheless, the earthquake last night had left him feeling edgy. The Irish song haunted him. He remembered Maureen’s funeral, and the chilling effect of listening to the mysterious last verse. Peter had the disquieting feeling that danger was lurking somewhere, not too far away. Another, stronger earthquake on its way? Or was it more personal? Was whoever had sabotaged the overpass structure about to make a second attempt on Peter’s life? Or even on Josie’s?
All of this was very odd. Peter wasn’t used to getting ominous feelings about the future. Not before his accident, anyway. Now danger seemed to lie in wait everywhere when he let his imagination get the better of him. He loved having Josie around because she made him feel positive and fun-loving again. And yet, paradoxically, she also reminded him of the song that spooked him with the feeling that all was not well in his universe.
Josie came through the door into the kitchen, scattering his unpleasant thoughts. “Morning,” he said, noticing that she was wearing pants and a shorter sweater today. The sweater, while not exactly skintight, definitely showed her figure off more than the long loose things she used to wear. And the pants defined her slim yet curvaceous hips very nicely indeed. “You look terrific!”
“Thanks. Did you know there was an earthquake?” She glanced over at the TV. A re
porter was interviewing people and getting their reactions.
“Yeah! Woke me up.”
Josie looked troubled. “I slept through it. I turned on the lab TV and heard it was a blind thrust fault in Newport Beach.”
“You slept through it?” Peter chuckled. “And here I was worried that you might be scared all by yourself in the cottage.”
She sat down at the table with him. “After the spa, I fell into a really sound sleep.”
Peter was glad to hear that. “I told you it was relaxing.”
She glanced at him as she reached for the cereal box, and paused when she met his eyes. Her expression was open and easy. Brave, Peter thought, knowing how shy she could get. But then, she’d calmly stared back at him last night, too, in the spa. The sensual sheen in her eyes alone had aroused him. Her gaze now threatened to elicit the same response.
Peter smiled at her and set the milk carton closer to her. As she filled her bowl with cereal, she said, “I called my contact at Cal Tech.”
“What does she think?”
Josie’s expression grew more serious as she poured milk on her cereal. “She says it’s not directly connected with the Hollister quake. But they’re afraid this newfound blind thrust fault may connect to the San Andreas out in the ocean. She talked to the expert whose theory they’ve been studying, and he thinks last night’s quake could increase the pressure on the San Andreas.”
“Meaning the Big One is more likely to happen sooner than later,” Peter surmised.
“Very soon, he’s speculating. But since it is speculation, they’re still not revealing it to the media.”
Peter felt edgy again, certain that something bad was going to happen somewhere, and soon. Josie kept an eye on him as she got up to put the milk back in the refrigerator. After she closed the refrigerator door, she stepped over to his wheelchair.
“Something wrong, Peter? You look sort of worried. That’s not like you.”
“I have an ominous feeling. I don’t know why exactly. I didn’t get enough sleep last night. Maybe that’s it.”
She lightly set her hand on his shoulder. “The spa didn’t relax you? Or do you mean you couldn’t fall back to sleep after the earthquake?”
“Thinking about you kept me awake. The quake didn’t help matters.”
“Thinking about me?”
He gazed into her eyes, allowing the longing he felt to come through. “You looked so beautiful in the spa. Thinking about how it would feel to touch you did a number on my libido and kept me awake.”
She smiled. “Oh.”
Peter was encouraged to see that she didn’t look put off by his admission. She’d gotten slightly shy, but her eyes were still locked with his.
He reached to take hold of her hand on his shoulder. “I understand your need for rules, and I’m trying hard to abide. My spirit is willing, but the flesh…well…”
“You’re only human—and normal. I wish I wasn’t so hung up about things everyone else does naturally.”
“‘When the apple is ripe, it will fall.’ Another of my great-grandfather’s Irishisms.” He squeezed her hand. “Think you could handle a good-morning kiss?”
Josie grew still.
“I didn’t want to ask last night,” he told her. “But now that we’re both fully dressed and out of the water, maybe…?”
Using her hand on his shoulder to balance herself, she went down on her knees beside his chair. With one hand on the chair’s wheel and one on his shoulder, she leaned toward him.
He bent toward her until their lips met. Their kiss was awkward and tentative, mostly because the wheel was in the way. They both started laughing.
“Sit on my lap,” he said, grasping her arms to urge her up off her knees.
She did as he asked. When she was on his lap, he encircled her in his arms. He reached up to smooth her long, fragrant hair. Settling his hand at the back of her head, he urged her closer. His mouth sought hers, and her lips were willing and warm. Soon she was kissing him back, winding her arms around his neck.
He avoided touching her breasts, not wanting to push her limits. Moving his lips over hers, he enjoyed their softness, felt the sweet breath of her nostrils on his cheek. He flicked his tongue between her lips, over her teeth, aware how quickly he was growing swollen beneath his zipper.
He slid his mouth to her jaw, following the delicate bone to her earlobe. Spreading his fingers, he sunk them into the thick hair at her shoulder to push her dusky tresses backward, out of his way. Taking her earlobe between his teeth, he gave the soft tuft of skin a gentle tug.
She laughed, her body quivering within his embrace, and he felt her hand tighten at the back of his neck. So he did it again, teasing the lobe with his tongue. She gasped this time, a sound that made his pulse race. His need quickened. His breaths came faster. He kissed her slim neck, moving his lips hotly along the side of her throat. She tilted her head sideways, arching her neck to allow him to do what he wanted.
Spurred by her willingness to let him explore her with his mouth, he continued kissing her smooth skin with increasing urgency, moving inch by inch to her collarbone. He lifted his head and, using his hand at the nape of her neck to bring her head forward, he fixed his lips ravenously on her mouth again. Enflamed with a driving need, he kissed her hard, not wanting to let her go, even to breathe.
He pulled her even closer, feeling her breasts crush deliciously against his chest. A deep surge of overheated, pent-up desire rose inside of him. His arousal was beginning to feel painfully constricted against his zipper. His breaths were coming overpoweringly fast and his arms felt too strong around her. He grew uncomfortably aware that he could physically take what he wanted. Her supple, slightly trembling body was soft, feminine and fragile.
Peter stopped kissing her, and immediately she pushed on his shoulders to put some space between them. When he saw her face, he realized that she had, indeed, become frightened.
“I got a little carried away,” he said, catching his breath. “You were responding so sweetly….”
She nodded, her eyes troubled. “Y-you were breathing hard.”
He paused. “That happens. Why, does that scare you?”
Josie didn’t reply.
Peter searched her eyes, looking for the answer she wasn’t saying. “Does heavy breathing make you remember your bad experience?”
Her eyes glistened and she nodded. “He was breathing like that the whole time.”
“I see.” Peter bowed his head. What could he do about her traumatic memories? “It’s an automatic physical reaction, Josie. Men get excited, they breathe harder. I’m sorry it reminds you of him.” He paused to think. “I started getting breathless a while ago. At your earlobe. Why didn’t you make me stop sooner?”
“Because I figured it was one of those natural responses I have to get used to. And I liked what you were doing, despite the breathing. It’s just at the end there, things were getting a little…intense.”
“Yeah.” Peter felt bad that he hadn’t caught himself before his body began to go into high gear. But he couldn’t help but feel reassured that she had allowed him to carry on, even though she’d grown a bit scared. He gazed at her full, pink mouth. “But you liked being kissed?”
She smiled, her eyes shy yet full of dancing lights. “Yes.”
“Well, maybe the apple is ripening faster than we thought.”
Josie laughed a brief moment and glanced away. “My cereal’s getting soggy.” She got up from his lap, walked around the table and sat down at her place again.
Peter didn’t say anything more, afraid of saying too much or something wrong. She was progressing so well. But he was quite aware that while his own bowl of cereal might also be soggy, a certain part of his anatomy was still very firm. How he hoped this day would speed by, until he could be in the spa with her again this evening.
IT WAS ANOTHER LONG DAY, but Josie didn’t mind. Peter had called Al around noon with a new idea Josie had come up with, a vari
ation on the composite formula for their next test. Josie was glad that Peter was the one who usually dealt with Al. She felt uneasy even listening to Peter’s side of the conversation when he was on the phone with his partner. From Peter’s patient replies, she could tell that Al was teasing him again about working alone with her. Josie supposed it was merely Al’s unsophisticated sense of humor. She probably shouldn’t be put off by it, but she was. She hated that Peter always had to defend himself against his partner’s barbs, though Peter seemed immune to them. Theirs was a long friendship, and she reminded herself that she had no business making judgments about Al or how he related to Peter.
About nine o’clock, they stopped work.
“Join me in the spa?” Peter asked.
“Okay. I’ll change.” She said this in an easy tone, but her heart rate was already picking up.
Josie changed quickly in the bedroom, but then sat down on the bed for a few minutes before going outside, centering herself, renewing her courage. She’d been frightened by Peter’s heavy breathing that morning, and she couldn’t let it upset her if it happened again. It was such a challenge to turn herself into a confident, healthy woman with a normal libido. She’d put on pants that morning because she just didn’t want to be her old, inhibited self anymore.
When she went out, she found Peter already in the spa. The lights were on and she could see the water churning beneath the steam floating over the surface. Trying to look calm, she descended the spa steps slowly, and once she was accustomed to the water temperature, she sat down next to him.
Peter looked pleasantly surprised. “Welcome! Want me to turn off the lights?”
Josie hesitated. Should she say no or yes?
He studied her reaction. “Is it that difficult a question?”
“Well…it looks pretty with the lights on.”
His eyes sparkled with dancing innuendo. “But if you unfasten your top, there’s that risk that I might be able to see something through the steam….”
“I’ll take that risk.” She managed to make her tone light.
His gaze filled with such lightning energy that her breath caught in her throat. As if sensing he might be scaring her, he tilted his head to one side and gave her a mischievous look. “I like your adventurous spirit!”