by Virna DePaul
My left hand was kneading my left breast now, squeezing little by little, just enough to add some pressure to everything, some bite. Meanwhile, I slipped two fingers into my channel, already slicked and ready, even as my thumb continued moving faster and faster, like a whirling dervish. I imagined Corbin’s dark eyes, sweat slicked hair, and irresistible smile, as I felt the bulk of him pressing against me. It wasn’t my fingers exploring my core, it was his dick, thick and hard. It wasn’t my thumb on my clitoris, but his, worshipping all I was.
After that, rational thought seemed to stop, and I became a creature of sensation. The pleasure was like electricity, humming through my veins with every thrust of my fingers and every twist of my thumb. The harder I worked, the faster I moved, the stronger the charge became until I felt like a livewire, like everything was coursing through me at thousands of volts. Power and heat and passion all incarnate.
I came then, climax rocketed over me and I bit my lip so hard to avoid screaming that I tasted blood.
It didn’t matter that my mind was a mass of jumbled contradictions as far as Corbin was concerned. At least here, for tonight, I could be with him.
CHAPTER SIX
Corbin
The place Cindy had told me to go to, Miss Cecily’s, wasn’t that far from Evangeline’s. I probably could have walked the distance, but I didn’t much like the idea of leaving my precious GTO in a dirt parking lot overnight. The townsfolk had seemed friendly enough, and the town clean and comfortable, but you never knew.
Cindy had been understating when she said that the boarding house was big. It was massive. I’d literally stayed at hotels that were smaller. It had four massive white columns that anchored it to the mammoth wrap around verandah. You could probably fit two dozen vintage Southern belles in hoopskirts on the front part alone without any sweat. Before getting out of the car and heading to the massive veranda, I pulled out my phone and checked for texts.
Damn. No cell service. In the morning, I’d have to find a place in Pontmaison that had cell service and check to see if Tucker had pinged me again. Shoving the phone back in my pocket, I got out of the car and headed to the house.
“Hello?” I asked, knocking on the old oak door before me, then stepped back, taking in the front of the house while I waited for Miss Cecily. A faded yellow light above the front door illuminated a wide verandah, and the door was solid oak and old.
The door creaked open, catching me off-guard and revealing a small woman. Miss Cecily was so much smaller than I’d have thought. I’d assumed an alleged Voodoo queen would be tall and seem larger than life. Miss Cecily was hunched over with osteoporosis, had wrinkled skin that made it hard to tell her real age, but I wouldn’t have been surprised to find out she was ninety. Her snow white hair was wrapped into one braid that went all the way to her waist and her skin was the color of mahogany.
She looked up at me with some of the clearest green eyes I’d ever seen. Even if she was ancient, there was a lot going on upstairs with Miss Cecily. I’d seen less shrewd tour managers and entertainment lawyers.
“Well, isn’t this a surprise. I haven’t had a new boarder in quite a while.” Her voice came out smoother than I’d anticipated. Clearly making assumptions about this woman would not be a wise choice.
I stuck out a hand. “My name’s Corbin. I’m in town for a couple of months and am looking for a place to stay. I apologize for coming over here in the middle of the night, but Cindy Liu sent me. She said that you’d be up. She also said you were the best bet for a place to stay in town.”
Miss Cecily shook my hand as she ran her gaze up and down me, peering into my eyes as if searching for my soul. “I do rent rooms, young man.”
I grinned at her. “Great. I have the money to pay. Do you take credit cards?”
“I’ll take cash when you can get it next. I think you look good for it overall,” she said, nodding toward my car. “Besides, if Cindy sent you, she’s the best reference you can get as far as I’m concerned. She helped send my last lodger to me.”
“Oh, so there’s still room, that’s good.”
Miss Cecily grinned. “There’s room for lots of things here, child. Come in.”
I stepped through. The front hall was dusty and the furniture looked turn of the century. I gazed at the portraits on the wall as Miss Cecily led the way into a poorly lit kitchen. There, hanging over our heads were various bags of…something. Instantly I could see where some of the voodoo rumors had started. I sniffed the air, and realized some of the scents emanating from the bags reminded me of oregano. When I caught the scent of mint and lavender, a warm sense of pleasure washed over me.
My grandmother on my father’s side, Grandma Brigitta, used to grow herbs and dry them in the same way. As a kid I used to help her harvest and put up the herbs. My cousins hated the work, but I didn’t mind as much. Gran would tell stories of her grandmother coming over from Norway and settling in Minnesota. With the tales she told, I never felt bored.
“Do you have an herb garden, Miss Cecily?” I asked, pointing at the bags of herbs dangling down.
She looked up above our heads. “You ever hear of a gris-gris?”
I racked my brain. Something in that term was familiar. “Something about voodoo? I’ve been to New Orleans more than once, but I never really did the ghost tour or even the tourist bit at all.”
Miss Cecily chuckled. “Ah, you’ve heard the rumors. Cindy’s a nice girl, but she always loves to spread the rumors. Can’t quite help herself from telling everyone’s story.”
Tension took over in my body, shoving away the warm sensation my childhood memory had brought. I had to hope Cindy would keep my secret quiet. I was enjoying the anonymity and didn’t want my summer in hiding over before it started.
“Rent’s paid every week,” she said, matter-of-factly, switching the subject. “Fridays. It’s one hundred and twenty-five dollars.”
“A night?” I asked.
“No, a week,” she said, then she pointed upward. “So long as you don’t mind the rumors or the...ambiance…the room at the top of the stairs and to the right is yours. I only have two other borders. Lisa and Aimee, and Lisa’s out of town. So there’s plenty of room.”
I froze. “Aimee Bodine? The girl who runs Evangeline’s?”
“That’s her. You met her?”
“I sure did.”
“And?”
“Ma’am?”
“And what did you think of her?”
“She’s…amazing.”
Miss Cecily harrumphed, but there was a definite edge of approval to the sound. “Tasted her baking, did you?”
I grinned. “Yeah. But that’s not why I think she’s amazing.”
Something perilously close to a smile formed on Miss Cecily’s face and then she shooed me up the stairs.
The room was actually nice. It sucked that there was no internet, no cell signal, and no landlines. The television did work and it did have color, but the last thing I wanted to do was watch TV. I laid awake all night, but I didn’t toss or turn. I didn’t even care that I couldn’t sleep. All I could think about was the fact Aimee was in a room somewhere in this house.
And I absolutely fucking couldn’t wait to see her again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Aimee
The alarm from my cellphone was blaring in my ears. Still groggy from my late night and bone melting orgasm, I reached over and grabbed the phone and blearily gazed at the glowing numbers. Then I bolted straight up in bed. How I’d managed to sleep through that loud screech for the last thirty minutes, I’d never know.
“Darn it all!” I ground out, hopping out of bed. I needed to be at Gator Ventures in thirty minutes. Even with the world’s fastest shower, I’d be explaining to Earl why I was late. I was still naked but there was no reason to put on clothes I was only going to take off. The other boarder Lisa, who lived downstairs, was out of town, anyway. Miss Cecily would be sound asleep. I rushed down the hall in double time and turned
on the shower in the shower room, then walked through the sliding door to the vanity area, where I brushed my teeth in the sink and gazed blurrily at my reflection.
Yowzers. A twenty-hour work day did not look good on me. If this wasn’t such a small town I could have called in sick to my Gator Ventures job, but Earl would somehow find out I’d lied.
I blinked heavily, then headed back into the shower room, sliding the door shut behind me and stepping under the spray. Oh good grief, the water was freezing! Usually it warmed up during the time it took me to brush my teeth, but not this morning. Damned water heater couldn’t always handle an early morning load. Not that I could complain. The rent here was good and it allowed me to save for my down payment.
The water finally warmed up a tad, so I showered and raked shampoo and conditioner through my long hair in record time before shutting off the spray. Blinking bleary eyes, I reached for my towel and realized that in my haste, I’d forgotten it in the vanity. “Perfect,” I groaned. I’d have to drip water all over Miss Cecily’s ancient oak floor, which she did not like. And I didn’t like getting on Miss Cecily’s bad side. I slid the door open and stepped into the vanity.
It was then that I felt my heart stop.
Oh God, I’m hallucinating.
“Hi, Aimee,” Corbin said, just as conversationally as he had last night.
Nope, not a hallucination. He was here, in my vanity, leaning against the washbasin, shaving his face, dressed only in a towel.
And I was naked and dripping all over the floor.
I desperately tried to cover my private parts, ignoring the fact that mere hours ago I’d been fantasizing about Corbin touching said body parts. “What the hell are you doing here?” Was Hot Guy Corbin a stalker? But even as my heart beat double-time in my chest, I noted that he didn’t look threatening or at all embarrassed or worried to be here. Plus he was wearing a towel and shaving. Even as stunned as I was by his sudden appearance, I knew he was no threat.
“Cindy told me this was a good place to rent a room. I checked in last night with Miss Cecily.”
I closed my eyes. Of course. I opened my eyes again and took a deep breath. “Cindy told you… But how did you…I mean, why…”
“Aimee, I’m not complaining, but you might want to cover up while we talk. I’m trying to keep my eyes on your face, but I’m only human.”
Shit! I blushed then blushed harder when he pulled the towel off and held it out for me to take. Which left him deliciously and mind-bogglingly naked, too. “You need this more than I do at the moment.”
I couldn’t help it. I stared. His body was tan and while he was sleek and slim, like a soccer or baseball player, he had rippling muscles in his shoulders and a trail of abs that part of me—okay a huge part—would love to lick. It all trailed down to a narrow waist with those sharp dips in his hips. I had to fight everything to keep myself from licking my lips at the sight of his cock, currently at, ahem, half-mast and getting larger the longer I stared.
“Aimee,” he called softly, and when my gaze met his, his expression was amused.
I grabbed the damn towel and wrapped it around me, then turned my back on his naked bod. Holy moly. He’d looked hot just in jeans and a leather jacket last night, but completely naked in my bathroom? I could barely comprehend it.
“My room’s the first one on the right, just up the main staircase,” he said behind me. “I had no idea this was your home until Miss Cecily told me last night. Cindy didn’t mention it. I can leave if me staying here makes you uncomfortable though.”
Cindy! “I think I need to have a talk with her. She must be playing Cupid.”
“Does that mean you want me to leave?”
“No. No, you don’t have to leave.”
“Good. So maybe we can both get dressed, and we can have breakfast together?”
I stared at the shower I’d vacated, unable to believe I was standing there in a towel while a naked Corbin was standing behind me, and we were just chatting away as if we were still at the bar of Evangeline’s.
“I can’t have breakfast with you. I have to get ready for work.”
“Oh right. It’s Wednesday. Gator Ventures.”
He’d remembered. Damn. This was the sort of thing that made girls weak at the knees. I opened my mouth, then slammed it shut again, not knowing what to say.
“Look, Aimee,” he said. “I really can find another place to stay.”
“No.” My vehement and quick response surprised me, but I didn’t want Corbin staying somewhere else during his time here. I wanted him here, in my home. I wanted him close by.
I wanted him.
Only I couldn’t come right out and tell him that, so I said, “Miss Cecily needs the money. She doesn’t get many boarders.”
“Oh, well, I’ve decided to stay for a couple of months so hopefully that’ll help.”
I stiffened and glanced at him over my shoulder. “You—you’re staying for a couple of months? But I thought you were only staying for a week.”
“Guess I know a good thing when I see it. And something tells me, staying in Pontmaison a while longer would be good for me,” he said, staring at me intently.
“Oh. Well. Um. You’re right. Two months of rent would make a big difference for her. Stay, Corbin. We’ll make this work somehow. We’ll talk later today, okay? I promise.” Still clutching my towel, I crossed my heart and held two fingers in the air, the way Corbin had the night before when he’d promised he wouldn’t ask me out on a date.
“I look forward to later.”
I shuffled toward the door, opened it, then rushed back to my room. But before I did, I might have taken one quick little peek at Corbin, still standing there in all his naked glory.
And he might have caught me and started laughing.
* * *
Corbin
Aimee Bodine was the hottest woman I’d ever seen. That had been true even before I’d seen her naked, but now that I had… I was hooked. Even after she’d headed back to her room, all I could think about was her gorgeous eyes and her banging curves.
Lush. Silky. Creamy.
And completely bare
Fuck. It had taken all my willpower to hand her my towel.
And all my willpower to rip it off her almost immediately after she’d put it on.
Thank God I’d decided to stay in Pontmaison and would have two months with her.
After she left, I finished shaving, got dressed, and headed down to the kitchen where a delicious scent wafted in the air.
Miss Cecily scooped freshly scrambled eggs, a cinnamon roll, and some bacon onto a plate and handed it to me. “I don’t do vegan this or macrobiotic bunkum that. You eat what I serve you.”
“I’m happy to, ma’am,” I said, biting down into a fatty piece of bacon that was salty enough to leave me drinking orange juice soon after. Salty and crunchy, just the way my Granny Tilda used to make.
“You like?” She gestured to the food. “You stopped eating. Looked a little lost in thought, there.”
“Your food is amazing. Reminds me of how my grandma used to cook.”
Miss Cecily nodded. “You miss her. I can tell she passed by how you looked so off in space, like you thinkin’ ’bout someone special. About some time that was special.”
She’d pegged that one correctly. I looked down at my eggs. They were spiced up with a mix of paprika and pepper jack and kicked even more ass than the bacon. “Do you cook this way every morning, and for all your boarders? How many do you have, anyway?”
“At one time I had about eight. Made good money, then. Not so much now. With you, I have three boarders. Room for more, for sure, but not many people have an interest.”
“I get that you’re not anywhere near the beaten path or, well, anything else for that matter.” I glanced around. The place was a bit of a relic, too.
“True. That and the voodoo.”
I jerked my gaze up and saw Miss Cecily’s eyes glinting at me and a small smile tuc
ked in the corner of her mouth.
“Jes’ kiddin’, young man. But some folks in Pontmaison can be superstitious—those Lamells being the worst of them—and they’ll judge you as soon as meet you. Maybe that’s why Aimee finds a home out here, too.”
I set my fork down. “Why’s that? Everyone seems to like her. She got along well with everyone at the bar the other night. What’s there to judge?”
“I can’t go spilling someone else’s secret. T’ain’t right.”
Even though I was anxious to learn more about Aimee, I nodded, liking that Miss Cecily watched out for her. “I ran into her upstairs, as she was leaving for work. I can’t believe she worked so hard at the bar last night and is going to put in more time leading a swamp tour today. When does she have time to rest?”
Miss Cecily pursed her lips. “She’s got dreams and she’s working for them. She’s going to make them come true, too, despite the hard road her mother paved for her.”
Before I could ask her what she meant (even knowing she wouldn’t answer anyway), she stood up and rummaged through a kitchen drawer for something. I figured it was a serving spoon or something like that until she came back with a pendant. I wasn’t going to call it a necklace. It was really just a leather cord with a polished river stone wrapped in wire. It looked old.
She stared at it intently for several seconds before saying, “I’mma gonna have to give up this place soon. Been struggling to make the mortgage and my time’s just about up. But I’m glad Aimee will be moving on soon to her own place. Lisa’s already looking for a place the next town over, where she stays with her boyfriend most of the time now. And you…” She looked up at me. “You’re just here temporarily. Gonna go back to your real life, yes?”