by Unknown
“When I first saw you,” he laid the packet down and pulled her over him once more, his fingers tangling in the fiery softness of her hair. “I thought you were a sweet looking kid…you looked so fragile and delicate…so delightfully female.”
“Funny…I kinda thought you were sexy in that uniform…nice tight behind, strong shoulders,” Chloe swallowed his groan and was unaware of the soft low moan pulled from inside her when he kissed her again, tipping them to the side.
He kept one hand at the back of her head while the other worked his pants off, kicking them aside before moving his palm to pull her hips hard against him. God, she felt good! He’d been arguing with the rational side of him the whole week. He was practical and she was fantasy. He was based in reality, schedules, budgets and statistics.
Chloe sucked in a fast breath when his palm slid inside her briefs, toying, sure fingers pressing through the red thicket, teasing the soft insides of her thighs. Moisture welcomed one trailing finger, tracing down the swollen petals and drawing a groan from deep within them both. He felt the tightness of her breasts against his chest and lowered his head to capture one swollen nipple between his teeth.
“Simon!” Her whispered need radiated around them both, her body shouting a need to be touched, a restless need that had her hips arching against his palm. She felt the heaviness of him pulsing against her thigh, tentative fingers lowered to stroke softly, learn the male shape of him. She allowed her palm to capture the sensitive, soft head, stroking gently downward, urged on by the raw need in his groan.
“Christ, Chloe,” he pulled back slightly, his fingers toying with the hidden folds of sensitive skin, drawing the moisture out with teasing strokes, probing and returning for more. The sweet fragrance of her filled his senses, his mind engaging long enough to reach for the packet at his side. “I need you, babe…I don’t think I ever realized how much until now…”
Chloe savored the tiny tremors when his fingers returned to stroke the soft nubbin that held her feminine pleasures. Her fingers curled around his shoulders and pushed him to his back. Pale lashes were narrowed as she sat astride him, moving her hips and seating the hardened male against the spot where those wild sensations were pulsing.
Simon almost laughed until he felt the hardened tip of him catch in the moist grotto and slide hotly back and forth. A teasing entrance only to be denied when her hips rotated above him. His hands cupped her breasts, leaning up and suckling with a hungry bite until the rotation of her hips had him trapped.
“Oh, Simon…yes…” she hissed softly when his palm slid between them to stroke the nubbin gently, her eyes closed and a silent cry of acceptance and pleasure as his body slowly, ever so slowly began to find itself buried in her softness.
Simon felt the tautness, dark eyes wide and his hands immediately going to her hips, holding her still, even as she peered down at him pleadingly.
“Chloe…babe…you’re tight…Christ…so tight…”
The shock of the final possession echoed in her body, sending a shudder through her as she angled her hips, adjusted her body and relaxed slowly to allow him entrance.
“Simon…please…you’re making me feel so very good…please,” she whispered hungrily, taking his hand and putting it back between them. “More…please…” she pleased greedily.
Simon lost the harsh, deep groan when the sexy softness began pulsing around him, in her voice, her body and in his mind. He drank in the pure form of her feminine self, allowing their movements to be set by her. The strict tightness around him was slowly killing his control, her hips rotating and pulling him deeper and deeper, seating him and grinding against him repeatedly.
“Chloe…babe…are you alright?” Simon stopped her movement, his palm up to caress her face, over her neck and into the long hair. She leaned forward slightly, a sexy moan breaking free.
“Yes…perfect…”
Simon was losing to the picture above him and the sensations her tight body was delivering, hot moisture breaking out on them both. He twined his hand in her hair and pulled her mouth to his before trailing over her back and pulling hard on her hips, drinking in the soft demands of her kiss.
Chloe tore her mouth from his, gulping in deep drafts of air, pale lashes slammed shut when the spiraling tension built and built until she felt the hot explosion in her loins; savored the white hot lights inside her mind. A distant part of her heard her name called over and over, a deep hoarse, masculine sound that extended the thrill to the feminine core of her.
A faint sheen of moisture coated them both. Chloe felt the bones inside her slowly, ever so slowly melt away as she fell gently forward and then to the side.
“Oh, my, goodness,” she breathed reverently, savoring the cool air around them. She shifted to her stomach, squeezing her thighs together for a brief burst of those fading tremors. “Simon…that was incredible…warm and…and…” a pleased little purr eased from her lips.
Slowly he felt the blood returning to his brain, higher functions like thought and movement had him push his elbows behind him. He turned to see a gloriously upturned behind and mass of red hair, her arms above her head and hanging off the end of the bed.
“Chloe…” He began and then changed his mind. “Hold that thought.”
She lifted her head enough to see him leave the bed, bend and retrieve the sleep pants he had been wearing and disappear into the bathroom. She wondered about her odd little fixation with his physique. The philosophical side of her wondered why now. Why this guy? Chemistry? He did use really nice smelling soap, she concluded.
She felt him slide back onto the bed, a smile tilting her lips when his palm glided over the smoothness of her behind. Then a quilt was dropped over her. She shifted to her side, pushing the long hair behind her and holding her head in her palm.
“Welcome back.”
“Chloe…I…”
She waited, a puzzled little frown creasing her lips. “Are you okay, Simon?” Chloe sat up, ignoring the quilt and reached out to run her palm over his face.
“Can’t recall ever being better in a very, very long time,” he admitted after taking in a long breath that ended in a soft groan. “Woman, you’re gonna kill me…” He tugged the quilt over and wrapped her in it.
“Simon…you’re old enough to have seen it all before…”
“And you’re old enough to have…but you hadn’t, had you?”
“Had sex? Nope…but you certainly made up for all the celibacy. I know it might not look like it, but I actually came here to see if I could get you to come out and play. Then I thought that lying next to you in a warm bed might be nice…and I fell asleep. Are you sorry I hadn’t had sex before now? If it helps, I’ve read a great many books on the topic,” Chloe sat cross legged, watching the male of the species gape at her. “A particularly good one by Xaviera Hollander from the ‘60’s.”
“Reading about it and…doing…and no, I am not sorry you hadn’t…a guy doesn’t expect to…in this day and age…” Simon felt his mind leave him when she slid from the quilt and put both her palms on his face. Her kiss was tender and warm and full of color and fantasy.
“How about we go outside to the beach or markets or something?” Chloe stood up and began gathering the clothes that had been strewn about.
“How about a shower first…” Simon took her hand to his lips. “I didn’t mean to sound…like that…it was just not what I expected…and yes, incredible is a word I would use to describe what making love to you is like.”
Twenty-five minutes later, Chloe wandered down the few steps, backpack on her shoulder and hands weaving the damp hair into a nice braid. She offered a smile as she entered the kitchen, seeking out juice and a glass.
“Good morn
ing again,” she said, pulling a stool so she could lean on the counter and stare in the rapidly departing fog.
“I left the breakfast out,” Griss looked at his watch.
“Sorry…I fell asleep…he’s shaving now.”
“Not a problem. I’m off for the day and going to make the rounds of some markets.”
“Have fun and tell Tina hi for me…” Chloe met the surprised look on his face. “She’s my friend, Griss. I helped her with funding the Driftwood Shack…we had a blast finding things to decorate the inside.”
“She’s a fun lady,” Griss agreed, striding from the house with a light whistle.
Chloe pulled her phone out and laid it on the counter. Intuition told her she’d be getting a call. She found plates and began serving up the collection of foods Griss had left on the counter. He must have really felt like cooking. She gazed over the French toast, scrambled eggs, hash brown potatoes and some thick slices of ham. She was happily munching when the movement of the swinging door registered in her mind.
“Griss left us food,” she said with a wave of her hand, smiling at the slightly dazed expression on his face.
It wasn’t that he had never awakened with a woman in his morning. Never in this house, but in other places, yes. But he readily admitted that he’d never met the morning in quite the same way as he had with Chloe Applegate. He had stood before the fogged mirror for a long five minutes. The grin on his face was confused by the amazingly relaxed feeling coursing through him. He had spent twenty minutes in a steamy shower with an amazingly steamy redhead who wanted to try something she read about. His brain was still lost in the fog. He’d told her they hadn’t brought a condom with them, she calmly informed him with a saucy wink that she had other plans for him.
“Coffee?” Soft shoes were silent on the stone tiles lining the kitchen area. He took a cup down and poured from the waiting carafe.
Chloe took a long drink of the fresh chilled orange juice and slid to the floor. She moved to the nicely designed social area off the side. The fire pit was not lit but the thick, huge half circles of sofa welcomed her to his side. She slid next to Simon, one leg bent beneath her.
“You’re very quiet,” she commented softly.
“I might actually come to like mornings…” Simon remarked, draining half the cup before breathing a long sigh. “Griss left?”
“He’s going Farmer’s Market hopping with Tina. I think they could be good together,” her head tipped, blue eyes studying the man curiously.
“So we have the house to ourselves…” He set the cup on the wide rim of the fire pit, hands out to tug Chloe onto his lap. He tipped her back and captured the full mouth in a long, slow kiss. “I think my mind has closed for the day. I keep seeing this incredibly erotic woman in my shower…”
“Did I shock you, Simon?”
“In our continued goal of honesty…yea…oh, yea, I was shocked…”
Chloe couldn’t stop the giggle. “Part of you really didn’t seem to mind…”
“I didn’t say I minded…and I think getting breakfast would be a great idea to keep my mouth from saying something it doesn’t mean while it works out what it wants to actually say.”
“From my various readings…a couple should be able to be honest. In all areas. We have a sex life and therefore, should be able to be uninhibited and trusting with each other,” she placed one finger over his lips. “I’m just a girl, Simon. I’m not breakable. I’m not fragile. It’s amazingly sweet to be treated that way. And I do so enjoy being treated like a girl…especially by you…I find you rugged…handsome…sweet and protective…smart and fun…and contrary to how it ended up, I did not set out to seduce you this morning. I am also not the least bit sorry that it occurred…if people quit finding our life so interesting, I know it would have happened eventually. It is the logical conclusion.”
“Wow…” Simon stood up and pulled her alongside him to the island.
“Sensory overload?”
“The shower was sensory overload,” he said with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure my ego is next in line, though.”
“I suppose my impressions could be a tad on the stilted side,” she admitted with a crooked little frown, returning to the plate of breakfast she’d filled. “Somehow I think your ego will survive.”
“So how did the thinking go yesterday?”
“Muddled still,” Chloe carried her plate and fork to the sink, spent a few seconds washing things and placing them in the dish drain. “Thing is…there are tons of programmers out there, Simon. Dozens even in that field of expertise…there isn’t now or then a good, solid reason to want me. At least not for…my…skills…”
Both sets of eyes immediately went to the deep chiming ring coming from the phone lying on the counter. Simon arched an eyebrow when she made no move toward it. “Is that…?”
“Wagner…the Valkyries…and that ring tone is only assigned to one person.” She let it ring through to voice mail. She knew he would not leave a message and braced for the next ring. Chloe was unaware of just how ragged the breath was when she inhaled deeply, slim fingers shaking slightly as she tapped the speaker. “Hello.”
“Chloe Wetherly?”
“If I deny it, will you go away and not bother me anymore?” She hated the small sound to her voice and the way her fingers clenched into a tightly balled fists. She forced her palms open, cold fingers on her cheeks, eyes closed when the only response was meant to belittle her.
“I would expect that type of response from you,” stated the strong male voice on the other end of the call. “We are family, Chloe. We’ve been concerned about you.”
The soft bark of a laugh wasn’t something she tried to stop. “You can not honestly expect me to believe that line? After what you…you had the audacity to do to me? How dare you!”
“What we did? You developed food poisoning, Chloe. We had the doctor to the house and did everything we could…”
Simon moved to stand behind her, pulling her into his arms and holding her firmly. “You don’t have to do this,” he whispered with a gentle kiss.
The genuine sincerity in his voice sent shivers through her, her head back to rest against Simon’s chest. There was a reassuring strength in the solid sound of his heartbeat.
“Food poisoning?” She whispered in amazement. “Is that what you’re calling it…”
“It’s what is listed in a medical file with a very prominent physician, Chloe,” he replied with a cold simplicity that refused any other explanation.
“I see. So exactly what do you want?”
“Why can’t a father simply want to see his only child? It has been over four years since we saw you.”
A very unladylike snort erupted. “Not nearly long enough. Why the private investigator?”
“Guthrie was only supposed to locate you.” He said the words, but there was little reflection in them. Just acceptable banter, he mused.
“He is a little OCD with the photos. Call him off.”
“He is not a happy man at the moment. You’ve cost me a set of tires and a paint job for his vehicle. I have ended his employ.”
Chloe ignored the reprimand in his tone, her laughter loud and irreverent. “He’s lucky someone held me back…believe me, it would have been a great deal worse. Again, what do you really want?”
“Chloe, I simply wanted to contact you. Find you. Your grandmother was very concerned about you when you were spirited away by that woman you went shopping with. She was preparing for your wedding…”
“I never – NEVER – agreed to marry anyone,” she felt the hiss burn in her throat. She stopped, leaned upright with a long, straight stretch
to her back and shoulders. There were echoes in her mind, warning her. Telling her this was what he wanted. He gained his strength from her collapse and she refused him that power. “I have things planned for the day and really do not want to reminisce about the past. When you want to be honest and tell me what you want, leave a message.” Chloe tapped the phone and continued inhaling long, slow breaths.
“You okay?” Simon rubbed his palms along her arms. It was a dumb question but he wasn’t sure what else to say.
“I don’t know. Haven’t had any nightmares since this started, so I must be doing mostly okay,” Chloe said with her usual lightness.
“He’s never tried contacting you before? In over four years?”
“Nothing. While I was in the hospital, some talented friends created the new me and planted global sightings in tiny tech bits in newspapers. Nothing was ever tripped until the last four weeks,” pale lashes rose slowly. “He never mentioned grandfather. He grandmother…my father’s mother and father live with them. But he never mentioned him…” Chloe turned out of his arms. “I need a computer.”
