Feeling absolutely wretched, he needed to feel Lanie’s arms around him. Despite his vow to stay clear of her in the waking world, Jason lay down and let her warmth seep into him. He whispered to her subconscious, “Dream of me, sweetheart. I’m free to love you in that world.”
* * * *
“Oh, here’s a good spot!” Bertha ran to spread her blanket on the ground between two very large sycamore trees.
“What do you think, Lanie, will you be able to see the gazebo from here?” Richard asked her.
She wished he’d stop trying to make conversation with her. For one, it clearly irritated his lover. Secondly, it irritated her. Knowing they’d made a cuckold of a wonderful man, she didn’t want to have anything to do with the lot of them. But Jason had asked her to stay and be a buffer to their unfaithfulness, and so she would for now. Putting on a good face she said, “Yes, I can see clearly.”
Lanie’s reply caused Jason to bite the inside of his cheek. He said to himself, that was a double entendre if I ever heard one.
“Here, Richard, bring the picnic basket to me. I’ll see what cook has packed for us.” Cathy patted the blanket beside her. Predictably Bertha and Richard sat on either side of her. Jason took a seat between Bertha and Lanie. It was the best he could do to stay close to Lanie, yet the constant snorting and braying of the other woman was fastly grating on his nerves.
They ate their cold chicken, their cucumber sandwiches, and their watermelon and waited for the summer concert on the town square to begin.
Pointing across the green, Lanie said, “I see Mrs. Gillette at the ice cart.” She turned to Jason. “She’s the shopkeeper in my employ.” To the group she added, “Please excuse me, I’ll return momentarily.”
Richard rose. “I believe I’ve a taste for a raspberry ice. Hold on, Lanie, I’ll walk you over there.” To his companions he offered, “I’ll bring ices back.”
Lanie hadn’t waited, forcing Richard to jog after her.
“Your brother appears to fancy Lanie,” Jason commented offhandedly to Bertha.
Bertha nudged Cathy, nearly knocking the celery stalk out of her hand. “Oh, I don’t think so, do you, Cathy?”
She stared at him running after Lanie like a dog sniffing heat. “It’s hard to say. You know how particular your brother is.”
Bertha brayed loudly in delight. “Isn’t he though?”
Cathy added for Jason’s benefit, “But then that’s only a guess. I don’t know him as well as you do...”
Bertha watched her brother closely, noting the way he stood next to Lanie, the way he looked at her when she turned away to speak with that woman of her acquaintance. If Richard and Lanie fell in love, he could have Lanie’s money and they could leave Jason alone. Bertha leaned close to the man she desired, and said, “You know, Jason, I think you may be right. Look at him. He is awful attentive don’t you think?”
The celery stick in Cathy’s hand snapped in two. “Of course he’s attentive, Bertha. Your brother is a Southern gentleman.”
Bertha extolled her brother’s virtues and laughed her mulish laugh again.
Jason had finally had enough. He informed the two women, “I should meet this Mrs. Gillette and schedule an inventory. If you ladies will excuse me.” With that he rose and went to where Lanie stood deep in conversation. He didn’t miss Richard’s frown as he juggled three cups of raspberry ice.
To Jason’s surprise, Lanie’s dream abruptly ended. Was she waking? Noticing how regular her breathing, he knew her to be still asleep. Poor sweetheart, this was a day of toil and stress. It crossed his mind that the pills she’d taken before bed had something to do with how soundly she slept. He lay beside her for a good long while and wondered if she could sense him near. Needing to touch her, he ran his hand over her in a caress from shoulder to hip. His sense of smell had inexplicably sharpened. He could smell the natural warmth of her skin and the scent of lavender that clung to it. Still she didn’t stir. She felt wonderful under his hand, and he gave into his weakness for her. He whispered to her mind, Lie back, love. Let me touch you in sleep as I dare not when your beautiful eyes are open.
An instant later she moaned softly and rolled on her back. He materialized then. The glow of his ghostly form lit her porcelain skin and highlighted every swell and swale. She was so exquisitely lovely, before he knew what he was doing his hand filled with the roundness of her breast. He moved from one to the other, softly sweeping his thumb over her nipples, and before long those rose-tinted nubs grew hard and inviting. He suckled between the two bathed in sweet lavender. Mostly unresponsive until that point, Lanie whimpered and just as before she opened her thighs and murmured softly, “Jason.” Her sleep-filled invitation was unmistakably clear.
Focusing his thoughts so he could touch her, he kissed a swath down her belly and settled between her silky thighs. Lovingly tracing his tongue over her flesh, he slid his finger inside her incredible silken heat. A thought formed in his mind, and he knew in that instant why he found her so delightfully tight. Lanie had never lain with a man. This beautiful creature was his alone. The echo of that thought kicked him soundly in the stomach. The voice of reason growled in his brain, Foolish, foolish ass, she can never be yours. Leave her be.
Reluctantly he realized the truth and lay beside her. “Dream, my love. If not in this time, then let me be the first man to love you there.”
* * * *
Closing her last ledger and adding it to the pile from 1884 and 1885, Lanie looked out the window. It had to be at least nine o’clock. She asked him again, “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go to the fireworks?”
Uncomfortably sitting beside her with his hard cock bent in his trousers, Jason shook his head as he mastered himself. After where they’d just been in her waking world, fireworks of another sort were weighing on his mind and balls.
The house was empty, and the celebration would last until midnight at the least. The staff was away, enjoying the holiday with family and friends, so they were completely alone. The instant she’d discovered Lanie had more work to do, Cathy informed him happily that she and her cousins were attending Mayor Nash’s midnight barbeque and dance. The last thing Cathy wanted to see was Richard dancing with Jason’s irritating houseguest.
He had an idea. “Would you like to see them?”
A large boom filled the air. Through the open window they heard the horses in the coach house nickering nervously. Lanie said, “I think we’re too late.”
He smiled, the light of the lamp making his eyes dance. Picking it up, he held his other hand to her. “Too late for the park perhaps, but not too late to see them. Come.”
He led her up the narrow stairs off the pantry, past Addy’s room and past the cook’s room. The sound of a bird chirping met them. Jason explained how Mrs. Boatwright kept a parakeet named for her deceased husband and the little bird tended to chirp whenever someone stepped on the squeaky stair. The cook once told him August the parakeet chirped because the sound of the stair usually heralded the coming of tasty crumbs. Lanie laughed.
Jason was right. High in the cupola they had an amazing view of the town square and the fireworks. He opened the windows all the way and the faintest scent of sulfur wafted through.
BOOM! Another Roman candle exploded into a rain of fiery brilliance. BOOM! And another, and another...
“The view is perfect up here!” Lanie exclaimed as the halo of burning paper bits and gunpowder rained from the sky.
He knew it would be. He’d watched from here before.
KABOOM! The blast shook the house and rattled the windows.
“Oh my lord, look at that one!” That had been the largest yet.
She was so lovely in her excitement. Setting the lamp on the small table, he turned the wick very low until hardly any flame showed. Only the occasional flash of the fireworks illuminated her silhouette now. Her hands were on the window sash, and he covered one with his. She turned to him then. They held each other’s gaze a long while, the
n, without warning, Jason crushed her to him for a soul-stealing kiss. Fueled by his actions in her waking world, his lips slanted hard over hers. Forcing them to part, his swirling tongue found hers and taught her to give as well as receive.
The hard rough brick of the stairway wall felt rough up against Lanie’s back. Jason’s large warm hands had slipped past buttons and hooks to free her pale breasts that rose and fell with each excited breath. “Jason...” Her words cut off as his lips and teeth and tongue moved over the roundness he held in both hands.
I need more. She had no idea of what exactly, only that she needed more of it. Her hands tangled in the dark russet silk of his hair to pull him closer.
Grazing his bristled chin over her neck and shoulder, his lips ran back again to her inviting mouth. His cock now sought any touch he could find, his thigh pressed between her legs as he ground himself against her. He knew she’d be his when he felt her ardor rise and she rubbed against him. Only then did he make his fiery descent.
The waistband of her skirt unhooked, the garment fell to the floor. With her corset pulled down, her milky white breasts were exposed to the flashes of fireworks, giving the illusion that she was the ghost, not he. He untied her pantalets with trembling fingers, but the maiden in her was hesitant to let it fall with the rest. She held the garment tight in her hands. His hands covering hers, he knelt before her, his gaze beseeching as it held her eyes. In a husky voice he whispered, “I mean to love you, Lanie, will you allow this?”
“Jason, I’ve never…”
“Please allow me to love you as we both desire. Give us this moment, love, and I vow to treasure you always.”
Lanie’s nod was nearly imperceptible. She bit her lower lip, her body pulsing with anticipation and aching for the unknown. Yes, she wanted him. She wanted whatever he was able to give her.
He slowly moved her unresisting hands from her laces and eased her undergarment down to puddle with the rest at her feet. He moved over her breasts, pressing them in from the sides, nipping and sucking from one swollen areola to the next. Her hands went from his hair to his shoulders and back again, the sensation of his lips and teeth and bearded stubble making her head swim like she’d drunk too much sherry.
Jason kissed her belly, letting the tip of his tongue outline her navel before traveling lower where the heady scent of her arousal filled his senses Needing to hold himself back for her ultimate pleasure, he passed the velvet and kissed her knees instead. He lingered there while she stroked his head, and he could feel her pull of desire mounting when her hands led him where she willed him to go.
His hands started at her shapely calves, stroking up the silk of her stockinged and gartered legs. His thumbs met at the apex of her thighs where he peeled her outer lips back and pressed a kiss there.
Lanie felt his body shudder. He kissed her most sensitive place again, his breath warm as his tongue drew a wet circle over and over and over again.
Holding her open with thumb and forefinger, Jason licked while the other hand explored the slick folds.
Lanie’s fingers curled into his hair as he slid a single finger into her, to pump it slowly inside and out, each return deeper and longer. Never had she imagined such sensations. She moaned. The stretching brought an uncomfortable fullness, yet she didn’t want him to stop.
Knowing this first discomfort was inevitable for her, he murmured against Lanie’s flesh between kisses, “Spread your legs, my love. Let me inside.”
Encouraged, she widened her stance, and Jason deepened his gentle probing. She was growing mindless now, his kissing and licking were at odds with the ache he was building inside. A strange sensation unfurled in her belly and with it even the fullness felt sublime. He was making her delirious, and before long she found herself grinding against Jason’s hand, searching for more.
Moving faster now, with everything he had, he sucked her diamond-hard nub, resisting the urge to bury his cock in this magnificent tightness. Instead, he focused all his attentions on readying her. He was by no means a small man. You’re so tight, my love, so wonderfully tight.
Lanie’s legs began to tremble. Little mewling sounds came from the back of her throat. “Mmm…Jason I…I’m…”
The front door slammed. “Jason! Where are you?”
Lanie gasped.
He was on his feet instantly. Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, he whispered, “If I don’t go, they’ll come looking.” Apparently he’d loosened his trousers at some point, for he buttoned them now. Setting his appearance to rights, he turned the wick down completely before calling down the three flights of stairs. “I’m in the cupola and coming down, Cathy.”
He gripped Lanie by the upper arms and kissed her hard on the mouth, her own scent and taste upon him. “Make your way to Addy’s bedroom. The door on the far end opens to the stairway near your room. Leave your door unlocked, I’ll come to you.” He walked casually down the stairs.
From below stairs, Lanie heard, “Jason, honestly, what took you so long?” followed by, “Please lower your voice, Cathy, or you’ll wake Lanie. Now be a dear and get my bag. Richard, what seems to be the matter with your sister?”
Her hands were shaking. In fact, she was shaking all over but somehow she managed to dress. No help for her hair as several hairpins went missing. She groped the floor in the dark and found only one. Just as Jason had directed, the housekeeper’s room did indeed have a door that opened out to the hall. Luckily it was only a half flight down to her own room, and she scurried there.
Hearing the voices and finding Bertha’s very recognizable one absent, she quietly sat on the bed, curious as to what was happening down the hall but not enough to quell the jelly-sensation in her lower body. Lifting her skirt she slid a hand inside her pantalets and found her sex very tender, hot to the touch, and slippery wet. Just thinking about what he had done to her set her heart to fluttering again. After the better part of an hour passed, Lanie had determined Jason was not coming. Seeing to her toilette first, she proceeded to get undressed for bed. When the doorknob turned, she froze.
Jason entered quietly. Closing and locking the door behind him, he stood a moment just drinking in the sight of her. The nearly full moon had finally risen and illuminated the opalescence of her skin as she sat with her knee bent, wearing only a single stocking.
A thought came unbidden. Watching Addy’s fade into the light had created within him a sense of loss. Though loss for his friend and housekeeper was keen in its own right, this added far more. He felt the loss of Lanie. It hadn’t happened yet, but inside he feared it would. He could disappear into the light tomorrow, or it could be in this moment. The last gave him pause. He sent his thought to heaven to any and all who might listen. Please allow this. Please allow me to love her.
She’d let her hair down and brushed it. In her time, her hair fell to the middle of her back. The Lanie of his time had raven waves to her knees. He came to her then. Kneeling at her feet, he gently lifted her stockinged calf and rolled the silk down. He kissed her arch before moving higher to place another on her ankle. Higher still, another fell upon her knee. Parting her thighs, he stroked his fingers up and down the smooth skin. He could smell the fully aroused scent of her, God help him. Rising on his knees, he curled his fist into her raven hair and pulled her face to his. He kissed her hard while his fingertips fanned the smoldering coal banked between her thighs. Before long the flame was burning again.
“Lie back, my love.”
Lanie wasn’t cold, yet her body felt like she was covered with goosebumps. A different tremble took her now as she lay across the sheets.
His eyes upon her as he stood and undressed, he stripped away his clothing item by item until he too was as naked as she. She swallowed. As handsome as he was fully clothed, naked Jason Bowen was splendid. No small man was he with his cock standing straight out from a nest of dark curls. Following her gaze, he looked down. His hand closing around the hard staff, his eyes met hers. “This is the power you have
over me. This is what you alone make me feel.” With that he stroked slowly.
Her voice quavered as she sat up and reached a hand toward him. “May I touch you?”
He pressed into her palm, and her fingers closed around him. He was hard and hot, and she could feel his steady pulse beating in her hand. She mimicked his stroking of a moment before. The skin glided back and forth. He stopped her hand with his own. Lanie looked up at him, confused. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“God, no. You feel wonderful, but a man has only so much restraint.”
“Please teach me what to do.” She stroked him again and purred, “I want to know what feels good for you. I want to bring you pleasure like you’ve brought to me.”
He wondered then if Lanie in the waking world might ask the same of him. According to the television, in her time, with its women as bold as brass, there was little for a man to do to ready his partner for lovemaking. Either way, her shy request fired his blood. He joined her on the bed and, pressing her shoulders back, stretched out beside her propped on his elbow. Caressing her breasts and belly, he said huskily, “What we will share will bring pleasure to us both. I’ve a mind to taste you again.”
Thrilling to those desire-laden words, Lanie waited breathlessly. The full-body tremor had returned and with it the low unfurling in her belly. Surrendering to the wanton feelings, her trembling legs widened in offer.
Her glistening invitation displayed so provocatively and in the moonlight, Jason feared his heart would burst from wanting her. Helpless to do otherwise, he fell between those silken thighs and wrapped his arms around her hips.
Needing to rein in his passions, he rested his head against her thigh in an attempt to still the firestorm raging in his balls. It had been years since he’d lain with a woman and never with one who had so thoroughly stolen his heart and soul like this lovely creature had. He so wanted this first time, hers and theirs, to be everything it could be. She needed to know how wondrous it was for a man and a woman to share this most intimate act. If Cathy had taught him anything, it was how important this intimacy was. Before his death he’d tried everything to break through that frigid, albeit deceitful, wall. He pushed thoughts of Cathy from his mind. She wouldn’t steal this precious moment like she had upstairs.
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