His Love Match

by Shirley Hailstock

  Diana didn’t want Scott to separate from her, but he took a second to protect them. Then he was back, as hot as a furnace, as needy as she was. His body seemed to hunger for hers with the same intensity that she craved. In a second he entered her. Her pleasure seekers were out and ready. The touch of him opened all doors. She gasped as he began the timeless rhythm. Diana joined in, her hands on his hips, his body pumping into hers. He rose and pushed. She rose and accepted. Together they made love. Her hands roved over him. His body melded with hers. Sensation as tangible as fire soared through her.

  She would grow old with Scott, and when they could hardly walk they could still lay together, be together. They could wrap up in each other’s arms and remember the fire, remember the long days ahead and the long nights of lovemaking to come. And they would know the secret. They would know that love, however discovered, in either the universe of computer science or campus tomfoolery would find the two people it needed, and nothing could keep them apart.

  Diana didn’t think she could go burn up any more, but the sudden rush within and the feral nature of Scott’s movements told her that he was beyond control. She didn’t think about it. She was burning with his love, and she wanted whatever he would give her. He was beyond holding anything. As was she. Like a tigress stalking her mate, she went with everything she had. Her body took on a life of its own, surging up and taking Scott into her, then holding him for a moment before repeating the act. She went on. Her mouth was dry. Her body was burning. She didn’t think she could continue, but the passion she felt, the pleasure of holding him inside her, went higher with each stroke. She kept at it. He kept at it. She wasn’t sure if they were trying to outdo each other, but the result was too wonderful for them both.

  Finally, she felt the scream coming. It started deep in her body, almost as far down as her toes. Gathering sped and burning like a fireball, it grew into a giant wave that crested at their union. Sound filled the room as their climax exploded. Diana didn’t know whose voice it was. The two mingled together at their mutual satisfaction.

  Scott fell against her. She was slick and sated. She tasted the salt on her mouth as his head brushed her lips. Ragged breaths came from them both. The sound punctuated the air. Under Scott, she still moved. His stationary body still felt good against her own. She didn’t know how she had the energy, but he felt too good for her to stop.

  * * *

  The sun rose earlier in this part of the country than what Scott was used to. He opened his eyes. Diana slept next to him, her breathing even and rhythmic. While he’d spent many summers here with his parents and sometimes only with his father, the place took on a different life with Diana next to him. Love swept up inside him and nearly choked him. How had he ever come to this place in life without her? And to think their separate paths only crossed due to the Match For Love program that both had to be talked into using. Thankfully, the universe was on their side.

  “How long have you been watching me?” Diana asked.

  Scott looked down bringing her into focus. “Since the beginning of time,” he whispered.

  Diana smiled and raised her arm to encircle him. They were in his bed, the maroon one. After spending so much time downstairs, they finally made to the bed where a repeat of their lovemaking took most of the night.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She dragged the word out, letting him know her hunger wasn’t for any of the stores in the downstairs kitchen.

  Immediately his body started to harden. Scott couldn’t believe he could want her again so soon, but he knew he did.

  Diana pulled herself up. The sheet and comforter fell from her body revealing her breasts. They were nearly his undoing. His hand caressed the perfect mounds before he knew they had moved. Her eyes closed as his thumbs brushed across the sensitive buds. Diana climbed on top of him and took control of their kiss. Her mouth was like a sweet candy to him. He wanted more and more of it, knowing this was a sweetness without end. It wouldn’t give him a stomachache, tooth decay or added weight. It could only make him feel good, make him know the passion and rapture of two people who among the billions on the planet had found each other.

  In moments they were joined to each other in the most intimate way. Their lovemaking was slower than it had been last night. Mornings seemed to warrant that. Scott wanted it to go on for decades, until a wave of emotion gripped him and the pleasure he felt walled up like a huge typhoon and crashed into him. Without realizing it, his head was banging the headboard as the power unleashed by the two of them writhing together took them on a journey of pleasure that was unbridled.

  Scott was out of breath and he’d never lost so much control. He would happily have gone on banging his head if Diana continued her drive to pleasure as she had just done. He had never experienced a woman as he had with Diana.

  “We’re going to have to get out of here,” Scott said, each word took a full breath.

  “Why?” Diana asked.

  “Because if we don’t, you’re going to kill me, and then you’ll have to call the forest service because you can’t fly the plane.”

  “Who says I can’t fly the plane?”

  * * *

  A hundred yards from the house in any direction, the forest grew thick and dark. Scott had given her a heavy jacket to wear. Diana didn’t think she would need it until the sun barely made it through the tall trees. The temperature was at least twenty degrees lower inside there. Scott held her hand and led her down a path that had once been there, but now the forest had reclaimed it.

  She wore boots that belonged to Scott’s mother and were a size too large, forcing her to grip the toes. This made walking hard and tiring.

  “How far in do we have to go?” She had no idea where they were going.

  “Not much farther,” Scott answered.

  “That could mean anything from a few yards to several miles.” She pushed a branch aside. Most of the trees were evergreens. Their bristle needles scratched at her. Frequently she had to dodge one from hitting her in the face. Grabbing at them with her hands left her with red marks against her skin.

  Finally, they emerged into a clearing. A few yards ahead of them was a small stream.

  “It’s beautiful,” Diana said. It was like coming upon an undiscovered oasis. The place was surrounded by trees and mountains. Yet this plaza looked almost landscaped.

  “This is where my dad and I used to come and talk.”

  The sun was warm here and Diana grew hot wearing the coat. Undoing the buttons, she heaved herself atop a boulder, bringing her knees up and clamping her hands around them. “Tell me about your dad,” she said. “You know I know very little about you. Only that your family is wealthy, you come from Minnesota and you have a house in Maine.” She looked back at the path they had come from.

  “His name is Kevin and he owns a manufacturing business. They make medical instruments.”

  Instantly Diana had a picture of heart valves and leg braces in her mind. “He started it making tiny instruments for children’s surgery,” Scott continued. “From there he went into innovative instruments that kept up with medical technology.”

  “I apologize,” Diana said.

  Scott turned to stare at her. “For what?” he asked.

  “Your roots are humanitarian, not commercial.”

  “Maybe not totally commercial,” Scott said. “We make a lot of money selling those instruments.”

  “But they help diagnose and cure illnesses, mainly in children.”

  He nodded. Diana knew that made him a millionaire many times over, but he was providing a valuable resource that was needed to save lives. And Scott had followed in his footsteps even if it appeared tangential.

  “Is he still running the company?”

  Scott nodded. “They’ll have to wheel him out of there.”

>   “Are you planning to join him, become the president of the company?”

  Scott shook his head. “I’m not interested in that. He’s grooming one of my cousins for that position.”

  “Are you satisfied being a corporate pilot and dropping everything to fly human organs from place to place?”

  “I like the freedom, but the life of a pilot is short.”

  Diana waited for further explanation.

  “It’s not something you can do into your sixties and retire from. The plane is an unforgiving mistress. She’ll test you at every turn. You have to be on the mark every minute, without fail. Or you will fail.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I’ll need to prepare to do something else when flying becomes a younger man’s job.”

  “You say that as if you’re an old man.”

  He laughed. “I know I’m not old, but I also know that I need to plan for my future.”

  “Got something in mind?”

  “I have some investments. And I’m a major stockholder in my father’s company. I’m sure I’ll find something to do.” He smiled and came to stand in front of her.

  “What about your mom?” Diana asked. She didn’t want to be distracted by his closeness, but that was a losing gamble. Whether he was across the room or across the country, he distracted her. “Does she work outside the home or is she running the society of Minneapolis?”

  “She’d hate to hear you say that. My mom designs jewelry.”

  Diana frowned. In the back of her mind, she tried to remember something. “Thomas. Amera Thomas?”

  “Yes,” Scott said

  “Amera Thomas is your mother?” Incredulity was evident in Diana’s voice.

  Scott opened his jacket and looked inside. “I’ll check my birth certificate, but I’m pretty sure it has her name on it.”

  “Designs of Amera jewelry appear in all the bridal magazines. Her creations sell for tens of thousands of dollars. They are as prominent on the red carpet as any Versace, Armani or Vera Wang gown. I am so impressed.”

  “I’ll tell her you said that.” He plucked a pinecone from the ground and pulled out extraneous pieces, then presented it to her. “Now it’s your turn.”

  “My family isn’t nearly as interesting. And you already know where I grew up,” Diana told him.

  “But I don’t know who your parents are.”

  Diana sighed. “My mother is an academic book editor. And my father teaches college mathematics.”

  “I’m sure there’s more to them than that.”

  “My mother specializes in early European history, but she has worked on books from China, Australia, India and Africa. She’s a wonderful woman who finds books change the world and she instilled reading in her children. I can probably recite you part of the text of every book I ever read and every one she ever read to me.”

  “That’s impressive. What about your dad?”

  Diana smiled thinking about her dad. “He’s the typical absentminded professor. If it weren’t for my mother, I don’t think he’d be able to find his shoes. Although he’s a snappy dresser, my mom picks his clothes out. He’ll get on a math problem and forget everything else.” She stopped to smile again. “We were a noisy bunch of kids. When I come home sometimes I miss that noise. And when I go to check on my parents’ house, I remember the antics we did in some of those rooms.”

  “Sounds like you had a wonderful childhood.”

  “I did. We didn’t have all the opportunities of the world, but in terms of love and laughter, we had the most.”

  Without them discussing it, Diana slid down from the rock and into Scott’s arms. He hugged her close. “I’m glad,” he whispered.

  “For what?” Diana asked.

  “For being normal.”

  “I didn’t say we were normal.” She laughed.

  “In my field, I see the terrible things that can happen to children. Knowing that those close to me are normal is an exception.”

  Diana understood that Scott wasn’t the rich boy she’d imagined. Something he’d seen or been part of had cut deeply into his emotions and he’d pushed it way down. It defined his character, and she was proud of that character.

  Chapter 13

  Princeton was another planet to Diana Monday morning. Maine was beautiful. Her time there with Scott had been magical. The stream, the trees, the mountains, the house, and most of all Scott. She felt as if their whole world was contained in that small space stripped out of the forest. They talked to each other the way lovers did, the way people in love did. And they were in love. She loved him more than she ever thought she could love anyone.

  “How was it?” Teddy asked the moment Diana walked into the office. She looked as if she wanted to tap each foot in a gleeful dance.

  Diana went to her and closed the door. “It was wonderful.” Diana spun around the room like a sixteen-year-old who’d been asked to the big dance by the cutest boy in school. That was exactly how it felt. She was Brainiac, Diana 4.0, the girl hiding behind the long hair and the best-looking man on campus had just asked her to the homecoming dance.

  “I want you to tell me all about it, but right now, I have to go put down a crisis.”

  Diana didn’t ask Teddy what the emergency was. Teddy could handle it. Diana wanted to think about herself for a moment. She’d done things for others so long she’d forgotten herself. Now she thought of Scott. The two parted only a few hours ago, yet she missed him. She wanted him now...here...today.

  But he was unavailable. He had to fly to South Carolina, then to Boston. One of the corporate executives of the biomedics firm had to get there, and Scott was the pilot who took him. Even so, she wanted to return to the house in Maine, with its satellite phone and isolation.

  And she wanted Scott to be with her.

  * * *

  Boston was a maze to Scott. With its cobblestone streets next to major highways and historic districts around every corner, he couldn’t see how horse and carriage could find the right house, let alone a rented car. Piper and Josh lived in one of those historic areas. Their house was a redbrick attached row house with flower boxes at the windows and a black iron gate that protected three steps up to the front door. In reality it was no different from any other house on the street except for the brass numbers above the black lacquered front door.

  Scott opened the gate and ran up the three steps. He punched the doorbell and waited. Inside he heard the scurry of feet as someone approached the door. Piper looked out from one of the side windows. A smile split her face. Scott found himself smiling, too. Even before she opened the door.

  “Well, this is a surprise. What are you doing here?”

  He came inside and hugged her. “I had a delivery for Mass General. Thought I’d use it as an excuse to get a home-cooked meal.”

  “Well, you’re right on time. I’m just finishing dinner.” She started for the kitchen. Scott dropped his hat and coat on the radiator cover near the door and followed her.

  “Where’s Josh?” he asked, noticing the absence of his brother-in-law.

  “He’ll be here in a moment. I sent him to get some bread.”

  “It smells great in here. What are we having?” Scott glanced at the stove.

  “Liver and onions.”

  “Liver?” he frowned. “When did you start eating liver? If I remember correctly your usual description to the word liver is—‘ugh.’ Must be the hormone thing.”

  “It’s weird, but we don’t want to talk about eating habits.”

  “Don’t we?” Scott said. “It’s not like I get liver and onions every day.”

  “You didn’t come all the way here for liver and onions. By the way, we also have vegetable soup. And yes, I know this is July.”

  �
��So what do we want to talk about?”

  “We want to talk about her—Diana.” She passed some plates and silverware. “Set the table.”

  Scott took them, glad of something to do. The minute she mentioned Diana he felt himself tense. Piper was on the money. She usually was.

  “I liked her. She’s smart, funny, can talk about just about anything. I hate it when a person can only talk about themselves and whatever their business is. She knows a lot. Did you know she speaks several languages?”

  “Yes, I did.” The incident at the church came to mind. Scott forced himself not to relive it.

  “Some of the wedding stories she told were hilarious.” Piper stopped a moment to laugh. She had to be remembering something Diana had relayed.

  Scott walked to the cabinet and retrieved glasses. He set them on the table.

  “How do you feel about her?” Piper asked.

  He stopped and faced his sister. She’d stopped her activities and was looking at him.

  “Oh, my God,” she said, her voice low as it dawned on her. “You’re in love with her.”

  Scott took a long moment before responding. Then he nodded once. But once was enough for Piper. She sailed across the room and hugged him. “Have you told her?”

  “Not yet.”

  “I’m thrilled,” Piper said. Her smile could rival the Charles River.

  “About what?”

  Both of them turned as someone spoke from the doorway. Josh stood there holding a long bag with a tube of French bread poking out of it.

  “Hi, Scott.” He came forward and the men shook hands and gave each other a back-clapping hug. “What brings you to Beantown?” Josh went to Piper and kissed her on the mouth.