Knight Shift

by Paulette Miller

  He swatted her hand and said, “Stop that or I’m going to drive into a street sign.”

  She teased, “Could it be that the all-powerful Ice can be distracted by this mere Human?”

  The challenge was on. He stiffened his body and replied, “I can take anything you can dish out, Human.”

  She accepted the challenge and said, “Let’s see who cries uncle first.” She scooted closer to him and, while her hand continued to make friends with his lower regions, her lips and tongue found their home on the side of his neck.

  Although he somehow managed to pull into the hotel parking lot, he didn’t recall any of the drive. His entire mind was lost to the sensations Penny was causing. Once he put the Rover in park, she nibbled on his ear and whispered, “You seem a little distracted, Iceman.”

  He shook his head and lied, “I’m totally focused.”

  When she gave him a firm squeeze and he moaned, she asked, “Are you so sure about that?” She scooted even closer and licked a line across his lips. She then took ownership of his mouth, giving him a kiss so deep that it made the one at the bar look like puppy love.

  When she released him and sat back, she looked where they were and said, “Alas, you made it back to the hotel, but the night isn’t over.” Seeing his glassy eyes and crooked smile, she kissed the tip of his nose and said, “I guess it’s time for bed.” She made sure she brushed her breasts along his arm as she moved back to her seat.

  Jax watched Penny go into the hotel, but stayed behind for a minute and waited silently until he was able to move comfortably.

  Once Penny was in the room, she headed to the bathroom to prepare for bed. She pulled out her pajamas. In one hand she held Jax’s shirt that she had been wearing at night. In the other hand she held onto the silk of one of the negligées she had brought. Although she had said she wouldn’t again initiate sex with Jax, she didn’t say anything about what she would do if he initiated the act. With a wicked grin, she dropped the t-shirt.

  Jax was sitting in bed in his night pants staring at a show on the television screen and desperately trying to regain mental and physical control. When Penny emerged from the bathroom, his eyes grew wide and he groaned when he saw what she was wearing.

  Seeing the obvious interest she said innocently, “Your shirt was dirty so I thought I would wear one of my own pajamas tonight. I’ll do laundry tomorrow. Do you mind?”

  While he shook his head no, other body parts that were hidden under the covers, saluted her choice.

  After she crawled into bed, she laid down facing away from him and asked, “No rush, but when you’re done watching your show, would you mind spooning in behind me? I’m a little warm and could use your body to help cool me down.”

  Although one part of his brain warned him not turn off the television until she was asleep, other body parts ignored the warning and had the room dark in seconds. Penny smiled silently as she felt him crawl in behind her. When he didn’t press his whole body against her, she scooted back. Once there was no gap between them, she moaned and said, “That’s better.” She was very pleased feeling his obvious reaction pressed against her backside.

  With his fists clenched, he tried to close his eyes and ignore the throbbing ache in his lower regions.

  After a few minutes, she said as a matter of fact, “Oh, I forgot. You haven’t had your daily Penny snack.” She exposed the line of her neck.

  He knew he was doomed if her blood touched his lips but, when she said, “I’m waiting,” and moved closer to his lips, he couldn’t stop himself. His mouth instinctively latched on to a pulsating vein and his teeth sunk into her sweet smelling skin. As he feared, once the taste of her blood registered, he surrendered to his needs and his hands went exploring every curve he could reach.

  Since Jax initiated the action first, Penny let her own hand go on a treasure hunt and, when she wrapped her fingers around the prize, Jax roared. Seconds later, she found herself naked and spooned back into his arms. She had no idea how he stripped her without her even seeing him move, but her wondering left her mind when he pressed his body against her back and she felt something hard and cool sliding inside her.

  But, as their bodies started to move together, he stopped. When he held her back, she yelled, “Oh god, don’t stop! I know that I said we wouldn’t do this again, but I really want this.” Her need was now just as desperate as his. She quickly added, “If this is about the bet, I give. You win; I lose.” She wiggled back into him hard and added, “Now where were we?” She gave him a playful growl.

  As his body screamed at him to continue, he said, “It isn’t that I don’t want to, it’s that we can’t do it like this. I can’t see your face.”

  Penny turned her head to look back at him and asked in disbelief, “My face?”

  Sharing something personal about himself, he admitted, “When I’ve been with others, I never really cared about seeing who I was with. But with you…I want it to be different. We’ll have to switch to a different position so that I can see you.”

  Being intimate was something new to Penny and, since she felt like she had years to make up for, she wanted to try everything and every position possible. Her mind completed her thought by adding, “…and as many times as physically possible.” But she was also very touched that he wanted their time together to be different than his past experiences. When an idea popped into her mind that she had seen in a steamy movie, she said, “Hold on a minute.”

  To his complete dismay, she crawled out of bed and walked into the bathroom. She emerged seconds later and he watched her light several candles. Once she had them positioned the way she wanted them on the vanity located just outside the bathroom, she motioned him over. He wasn’t sure what she had planned, but at this point he would have done anything her naked body wanted him to.

  Once he was standing behind her, she looked at him from the reflection in the mirror and asked, “Can you see me clearly now?”

  “Of course, why?”

  She answered him by leaning over the counter. Knowing what she had in mind, he let out a growl so low and deep, she felt the floor vibrate. Soon his sounds were joined by her moans as they began their bed scene again from a new, upright position.

  After they both had cried out their passions, Penny said while panting hard, “Wow. When feeling comes back to my fingers and allow me to release the death hold I have on the counter, I’m going to give you a round of applause.” Hearing no response from him she instantly assumed she had done something wrong. She asked hesitantly, “Was it okay for you?”

  His answer was his crooked smile followed by him flipping her around and kissing her so hard she had to hold onto him to prevent from being knocked off her feet. But she didn’t care…she happily kissed him back just as hard. Without ever releasing her mouth, he managed to carry her back to their bed, crawled under the covers, and pulled her body tightly against him.

  She broke away from him long enough to say, “That was the last time, I promise. We’ll go back to our old routine tomorrow.”

  With panting breaths, he replied, “Whatever you say,” but he really hadn’t heard a word she said. He was too busy finding ways to thank her for her creative thinking, which he continued to do well into the night.

  Chapter 33 - Making Plans

  When a stream of sunlight flashed into the room, he squinted open his eyes. To his amusement he found Penny sprawled down his body with her feet in his face and several healed bite marks in rather interesting places. With a crooked smile, he recalled the activities that led them to their current position.

  After he carefully rolled Penny off of him and stretched out his muscles, he found that he ached. When he looked at the overturned furniture and bed sheets thrown around the room, he knew why his body was yelling at him. He quickly learned that Penny never did anything half way and sex was no exception to the rule. They had spent the entire night giving and receiving pleasure and Penny was an eager student. Her creative solution with the counte
r led to other unique approaches. Although some were quite taxing on his flexibility and strength, all of them were worth the effort and yielded great rewards that would be forever etched in his mind.

  Sex had been an act that he did to appease an ache, but last night he did it just for the sheer pleasure of it. Making new and interesting noises come out of Penny became his obsession and he couldn’t get enough. Even after an entire night of pleasure, if Penny asked, he would enthusiastically spend the day trying to find ways to add more items to his quickly growing firsts list.

  When Penny stirred and attempted to move, she moaned. As she gingerly sat up, she ran her fingers through her disheveled hair. While surveying the damage all around her, she asked, “What happened?”

  Jax answered, “Hurricane Penny blew in.”

  She turned to look at Jax and asked, “Did I really make all of this mess?”

  With a wicked grin, he replied, “You had help. You were a bit enthusiastic.”

  She said, “I guess I tried to make up for being years behind all in one night. I wish I could say that alcohol made me do it, but I wasn’t drunk on booze. I was intoxicated on the wonderful sensations that body of yours made me feel.” Recalling several very memorable positions she forced Jax to twist into, she asked with true concern in her voice, “How are you this morning? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “Not for lack of trying. You artists do look at the world differently than the rest of us mere mortals. Your sense of creativity has no bounds.” He rubbed his lower back and added, “Which my body can attest to.”

  Reaching out to him, she quickly added, “I’m so sorry.”

  Seeing genuine regret for her actions, he pulled her up into his arms and said, “You make a great workout.” He flipped her under him and gave her a kiss that made her toes curl to show her his appreciation.

  Fearing that he was stirring needs within her again, she broke away and said, “I’ll try to maintain control on my urges from here after.” When she looked at the clock and saw that it was almost lunch time, she screeched and said, “We need to get up or we’ll be late for the appointment with the lawyer.”

  As Penny crawled out of bed, Jax lay back. Although last night they had both forgotten about the reason for their trip, reality was quickly crashing back on them. Just before Penny entered the bathroom, she stopped. She turned to Jax and asked, “Aren’t you coming?”

  Jax tucked the real world away for a few more minutes and joined Penny under the hot streams.

  After they were dressed, they each grabbed a slice of the leftover pizza they had ordered late in the night. Shortly thereafter, they pulled into the lawyer’s parking lot. Over the next few hours, Penny signed more papers than she could count. As expected, other than donations to their favorite charities, her family left everything to her. Seeing her soon to be future bottom line, she turned to Jax and said, “Soon I’ll be able to pay you back for all of your kindness.”

  He kissed her hand and said, “You keep your money and use it to fund whatever that wonderful mind of yours can dream up.”

  Once all of the paperwork was in order, they drove down the road to a moving company. The blue suit from the make-shift morgue had recommended them to Penny knowing Penny had two homes to clear out and she lived across country.

  Although Jax had to do almost all of the talking on Penny’s behalf, they managed to make all the necessary arrangements. Penny wasn’t mentally able to go through her family’s possessions, so the company was going to take care of it all. They would go in and pack everything up in both her parent’s house and her brother’s apartment. All food items and other perishables would be sent to a local food bank and clothes to a local shelter. The rest, including the vehicles, would be shipped to a special storage rental area where they would sit until she was ready. As they stood to leave, Jax handed over the house and apartment keys to the man behind the desk and then, uncharacteristically, shook the extended Human’s hand.

  The next stop that day was picking up the ashes. Although Penny was walking and talking, it was as if she was outside her body looking down at herself going through the motions. Her first clear thoughts were hours later when she found herself walking through a park.

  After letting the fresh air clear her mind, she announced, “Let’s go home. But if you aren’t in any rush, I have something I would like to do along the way.”

  “Anything.”

  “My family loved life and don’t want to spend eternity locked up in some vault. Instead, I would like to make stops along the way to spread their ashes in the nature they loved.”

  Jax replied, “We’ll stop at a store on the way back to the hotel to buy a map and few other supplies we’ll need for the trip.”

  After they made the necessary stop, they spent the evening plotting their course across the country. At first Penny thought it would be a painful process but, as they started to pick stops, she recalled wonderful memories of family outings and shared many stories with Jax. As they selected their last stop, Jax pulled out a GPS that Penny hadn’t seen him buy.

  He explained, “I thought we might find this handy when we chart the precise locations where we put your family to rest. Someday you might want to retrace your steps with your own family at your side.”

  She nodded appreciatively and said, “You don’t have to do this. This trip could take weeks and you’ve done more than I could have dreamed of. I could rent a car and drive myself back.”

  The thought of letting her do this alone was beyond his comprehension, so he folded up the map and said resolutely, “I’m coming.” His tone informed Penny not to waste her breath trying to argue.

  When he walked away with his phone in his hand, Penny asked, “Who are you calling?”

  “Sam and then your boss. I promised to let them know what our plans were and I want them to know that we’ll be gone a few more weeks.”

  With the plans set, they called it an early night to catch up on missed sleep. Their long journey home would start with the dawn.

  Chapter 34 - Hunting Instincts

  Using their map as their guide, the travelers headed out of the hotel toward their first stop. Along their path was Penny’s home town of Charlottesville but, instead of the scenes bringing her comfort, the familiar sights made her nauseous. As they drove through the town she grew up in, Penny closed her eyes tightly. She wasn’t emotionally or physically prepared to take in the surroundings that her family had called home.

  Once Jax drove out of the city limits, he said, “It’s okay now. You can open your eyes.”

  Although Penny did as requested, she didn’t look back at the road behind her. She knew if she did, Jax would have to deal with another scene of her crying hysterically. While keeping her eyes on the road ahead, she took in several deep, slow breaths, trying to calm both her mind and stomach.

  Several hours later the lingering ache returned when they passed into the borders of the Shenandoah National Park—their first official stop on their journey. Penny whispered at the familiar woods affectionately, “My family climbed and camped here more times than I can count.”

  “If this is too much for you—”

  Penny interrupted him and said, “I need to do this.” She directed him where to go and, after arriving at the designated spot, Jax pulled off the road. Before heading up a trail into the woods, he tucked four small colored silk pouches into his backpack. Each pouch carried a small amount of ash from each of Penny’s family members. He had filled them the night before to help ease Penny’s burden.

  After hiking several hours, Penny found herself standing where she had once slept with her family at her side. Jax handed her the first pouch. After taking in the wonderful view of the mountain side her family loved, Penny whispered a quiet good bye as she emptied the contents of each bag into the air. The ash reflected the sunlight and the air instantly filled with a cloud of sparkling diamonds. As they watched the remains carried away on the wind, Jax stood behind Penny with his arms wra
pped around her—an act of comfort that she gratefully accepted. They stood silently until the air was once again clear. They buried the pouches under a nearby tree and then Jax took many pictures and marked their location with the GPS before they headed back down the trail.

  Half way down the hill, without warning, Penny veered off the designated path and headed into the trees. Jax followed her, unsure of what she was doing. Once she found a small clearing tucked in next to a large boulder, Penny turned to Jax and, while unbuttoning his shirt, she commanded, “Distract me.”

  “What?” he asked.

  She demanded more forcefully, “Get naked, now.”

  “But I thought you said…”

  “I know what I said, but I need to feel something other than pain.”

  At that moment he would have done anything for her in an attempt to take away the agony in her eyes. He looked around and said, “Although this location is somewhat secluded from the main trail, we could be seen by anyone who takes one of the side paths.”

  “Frankly, I don’t care who sees us.” She switched her attention to removing her own attire. Moments later she stood against the boulder naked and motioned him to her, commanding “Get over here.”

  Accepting his additional role, he quickly added his clothes to the pile. Since there was no place to lay down comfortably, he picked her up and pressed her back against a smooth section of the stone. Even though their intertwined bodies caused her to fill the nearby woods with her sounds of pleasure, his genuine concern for her made him fear that the stone might be too hard for her back. In a flash, he flipped positions so that his back was pressed against the rock. While using the stone behind him to help keep him upright, his strong arms held her in position, allowing her to use his body for her pleasure.