“I know it’s probably too much, too soon, and probably way too overwhelming.” His dark gaze held her captive. “I felt it from the first moment I saw you, but I wasn’t going to say it, not yet, anyway. I’m sorry if I have I ruined everything by being so impatient to tell you how I feel. I just don’t want to waste one minute of our time together.” His voice was almost pleading, and even in the dim lighting in the truck cab, Dawn could see how desperately he implored her to speak the words he was hoping she would say.
She stared into those iridescent black eyes and lost all train of thought. Come back brain, I need you now.
“I have ruined it,” Mateo said in a low tone as he continued to hold her face captive in his hands and stare into her wildly blinking eyes.
“H-Hardly,” Dawn finally managed to gasp. She reached up and imitated him by placing her hands on each side of his face. “It’s just I was so afraid of the way I was feeling about you in the short time we’ve known one another. I worried if you knew how I really felt I would scare you off. But now—” She swallowed hard, thinking carefully about what she wanted to say.
“Yes?” Mateo asked in a worried whisper.
“I’ve never believed in love at first sight until two nights ago,” Dawn continued in a hushed tone. Her mind had graciously returned to a more natural state, and her heart was overflowing with undeniable love for this man. Now, if she could just relate her feelings to him without sounding like one of her twelve-year old students.
She heard his relieved sigh. She drew in a quivering breath. Her heart thrashed in her chest. This moment in time, this first moment when they were professing their love for one another, felt so magical it didn’t even seem real. It was almost like a dream, only this one was beautiful and filled with promise and love. Please, please let this dream last forever.
He didn’t give her a chance to say the rest of the words spinning through her mind as his lips descended on her mouth in a tender kiss. She returned his kiss with a depth of emotion that made her heart ache in her breast. When the kiss that sealed their declaration of love ended, they pulled apart and continued to gaze into one another’s eyes.
As hard to believe as this all was, she knew there was no use trying to make sense of any of it anymore. In barely forty-eight hours, the life she previously lived was behind her, and from this moment on, every breath she took would be for Mateo Two Moons and the future she knew they would share.
“We should probably get to the lake if we want to see the moon rising over the canyon walls,” he finally said as he reluctantly released his loving hold on her face.
Her head nodded in agreement as she let her hands slide away from his smooth cheeks. For a moment longer he continued to stare at her with such an obvious look of love upon his handsome face, she couldn’t breathe.
There was no denying he loved her as much as she loved him. A tender grin curved his mouth as he finally turned away from her to focus on driving the rest of the way to the lake.
It was full-on nighttime engulfed in total darkness outside of the cab of the truck, but at this moment, Dawn was certain they were riding off into the sunset.
They drove in silence for the few remaining miles, with only the sounds of the mystical guitar music playing on the truck stereo. Words were not necessary since the most important four letter one had already been spoken. As they pulled into a secluded cove beside the lake, a slight breeze was blowing over the glassy-topped water, causing mini ripples that mimicked tiny waves along the surface of the water.
Mateo parked his truck close to a towering rock wall located several yards from the sandy shore of the lake. There were no other vehicles or people in the entire area.
“Perfect timing,” he said as he jumped out of the truck and rushed around to open the door for her.
Yes, perfect. She seriously loved being an old-fashioned kind of girl, she thought as she took his hand and allowed him to help her out of the truck.
“I’ll grab the blankets,” he announced as he reached into the back seat and pulled out a six pack of beer and a couple of folded woven blankets. “Hungry?”
She shook her head and smiled. “Not yet, thanks. But I’ll take one of those beers.” Once again, she was impressed with this man; he even remembered her favorite beer.
“It’s really beautiful here,” she said glancing around and nodding her head in approval. “This is a very romantic spot.” She reached out and took the beer bottle he had opened for her. “I bet you’ve brought a few girls here over the years,” she added in a teasing tone of voice.
A quick chuckle was his only reply. He spread one of the brightly colored Indian blankets out on the ground, sat down, and patted the empty spot next to him. “Want to hear about all the girls I’ve brought here in the past, or would you prefer to make me forget all about them?”
The indisputable tone of his voice made Dawn’s limbs turn to rubber. She responded by rubbing her hand up and down her beer bottle in a sexually suggestive gesture. “I think we can wipe all those past memories completely out of your mind.” She slid down to the ground next to him and set her beer in the sand off to the side of the blanket. She had something else in mind to rub and she needed both hands to accomplish the task.
As she eagerly unsnapped his jeans, he leaned back without a moment’s hesitation on the blanket to give her easy access. Her eager fingers slid his pants zipper down. His erect cock flagged out from between his open zipper like a glorious beacon.
Commando. Yes!
It was so convenient, and damn, it was so seriously hot, she thought as her pussy throbbed and everything between her legs grew saturated with impatient and blatant desire.
Lowering herself, she took his inflated cock in her sweating hand. It was hard as stone beneath the smooth silken skin that moved slightly under her gentle stroke. She took a deep breath and leaned farther down. Her entire body was trembling as her lips gently encircled his member. The heat from him radiated inside her mouth as she opened wider to accommodate all of him. She heard him moan as she let her sodden tongue lavish and tantalize him with unadulterated devotion. Her other hand tenderly held his balls, massaging gently, sensually. They moved in unrestrained rhythm within the cradle of her cupped palm.
She was vaguely aware of his fingers entangled in her hair as he discarded the hair clip she had used to hold the long tresses on top of her head. The freed mass of hair fell over her face and spread out over his sculptured abdomen.
Her lips sucked with more dedication and his torso moved in tempo with her sucking motions. Small droplets of his fluid leaked into her mouth as she relished his unusual manly taste, a delectable flavor she could not even begin to describe as it slid effortlessly down her throat.
Eventually, she had to cease the erotic act for a second to catch her breath. The fervent groan that escaped from Mateo again only served to increase her desire to finish what she started and give him even more pleasure. For the first time in her life, she didn’t even mind swallowing. Wow. What this man did to her. But before she could continue, he reached down and gently pulled her up so she was lying on top of him.
His kisses entertained her mouth as he slipped his hands between their bodies and unsnapped her jeans. He began to push them—along with her baby blue G-string panties—from her hips. They parted only long enough so he could kick off his boots and they could both remove their denim jeans the rest of the way.
Her flip-flops had already fallen off her feet sometime during the initial round of foreplay. Neither of them, it seemed, wanted to waste any more time with the dispensing of clothes. She pulled her T-shirt over her head, and as soon as she had tossed the shirt to the side, he was unhooking her bra. Her freed breasts were held tenderly in his palms as he lavished each one with kisses and teasing nips, switching between one attentive nipple, then the other.
She reclined back on the soft blanket, thoroughly enjoying the individual attention he was giving each breast again tonight. She could so get used to l
iving in this fantasyland. Overhead the ebony sky began to fill with sparkling clusters of stars. Could they just stay here forever and never return to the real world? Because this was the way it was meant to be when they made love—as wild and free as the untamed Arizona night.
When he was finished ravishing her breasts, he slid up her body until his thick rigid shaft was situated between her legs and he was able to slide into her. She clasped her legs around his waist and they made slow easy love, moving in tempo with the gentle sound of the water lapping against the shoreline. A deepening sense of bonding enhanced their ardent love-making, created by the love they both confessed to one another...a love that would last forever and beyond.
The first glow of the moon peaking just barely above the tops of the high canyon walls looked enormous and mysterious. Snuggled in Mateo’s strong embrace under the second blanket he brought along, her head rested on his muscled chest. His raven hair and her pale blonde hair were entangled in wild profusion. Their naked bodies concaved and melded together almost as intimately as if they were still making love. The only sound other than their soft satisfied breaths was the rhythmic sounds of the rippling water in the lake.
Dawn was still in awe of the fact she was here in this amazing place, with this perfect man, and he seemed to love her as much as she loved him. Perfect no longer seemed significant enough to describe the way she was feeling about life right now.
“Happy?” he asked in barely more than a whisper.
A soft sigh escaped her mouth. “I’ve never imagined I could be this happy.” He began to stroke her hair tenderly. The night fell back into silence.
As the enormous moon began inching higher above the peaks of the stone cliffs, the entire landscape lit up in its soft silver glow. The shadowy waters of the lake hosted a million sparkles along its crest and the sandstone canvas of the surrounding canyon walls were streaked in shades of rich rust, pale tans and browns.
Dawn was lost to the wonder of it all. The more she saw of Arizona and the natural beauty of the desert and surrounding areas, the more she fell in love with this place she now called home. It was almost as beautiful as Colorado.
In that instant she decided that someday she was going to take Mateo to Colorado. The image of him standing among the tall shadowed pines of her home state created an image that took her breath away. Yes, she was definitely taking him to Colorado someday.
Time seemed suspended as they continued to lounge on the sandy shore. They made love again, relishing in the exploration of each other in the most personal ways. She was certain there was not one inch of one another’s body they did not know intimately by the time they were through making love on this second night of unequaled passion.
The moon had been up for what must have been hours when he finally spoke of leaving. “Although I would like to stay here forever, I suppose I should get you home,” he said in a mournful tone.
She hated the thought of leaving here, or of being separated from him again, but she knew Monday morning would come far too soon, and she had another busy day at school ahead of her. “I have an Open House tomorrow night at the school,” she announced with a deep tone of regret, which surprised her, because ordinarily she looked forward to the first Open House of the school year.
She sighed heavily. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but for the first time I’m wishing real life wouldn’t get in the way of my fantasy world.”
“Do you think this is just a fantasy?” Mateo asked in a surprised tone as he secured his hair in a ponytail at the back of his head again. He then focused his full attention on Dawn.
“Well, it’s sure not my normal life,” she joked as she gathered her own long hair in her hand and held it over one of her shoulders so he could snap the back of her bra.
He helped her pull her shirt back over her head, then he tossed her the delicate blue panties she had been wearing earlier. She caught them in mid-air and stifled a giggle. Maybe she should copy his style and do away with unnecessary undergarments. She grew wet again with just the thought and considered seducing this gorgeous man one more time before they left. But she refrained. They had to go home sometime, right?
“Mine either. But it’s the most alive and happy I’ve ever felt.”
She glanced at him as she yanked her jeans over her hips, and nodded her head as a poignant smile curved her lips. “That makes two of us.”
As they headed back to the truck, Dawn wondered how she was going to be able to return to the common tasks of her regular life after the incredibly erotic and romantic weekend they spent together. She didn’t want to think about that, yet.
“I should have special-ordered a bench seat when I bought this truck,” Mateo said in a slightly aggravated voice as they drove back toward Apache Junction. “Then you could sit right next to me. You’re just way too far away right now.”
She chuckled and squeezed his hand, which always seemed to have a hold of hers when they were in this truck. A bench seat would be nice, and seriously redneck. It had been a long time since she had seen a vehicle that didn’t have bucket seats, but she wished Mateo had a bench seat right now so she could be snuggled up next to him with her head resting on his broad shoulder like in the old movies from the nineteen fifties and sixties. Then it would only seem natural to ride off into the sunset and live the fantasy forever.
“I’m not coming in,” he said when they reached her front door. He chuckled when he saw her lower lip protrude slightly. “What grade did you say you taught? First grade? I think your student’s habits are rubbing off on you with that cute little pouty frown.”
“This weekend went by way too fast,” she said in a tone that mimicked her pout. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her fingers slide into the thickness of the long ponytail hanging down his back. Once again, she was tempted to lure him inside and back into her bed. But he was right, of course, this perfect weekend had to end sometime.
Mateo’s arms held her tight against his body as he leaned down and gave her a kiss filled with as much emotion and promise as seemed humanly possible at this moment. She returned his kiss, prolonging the inevitable for as long as she could without needing to breathe. How was it that his mouth always tasted so amazing? She needed to ask him what brand of toothpaste he used.
“You’ll call?” she asked instead as they finally pulled apart.
“Every night, my love,” he promised. He kissed his fingertips and touched them lightly to her lips then took a step backward. His brilliant smile lit up his dark shimmering eyes before he turned and walked away.
My love. How perfectly romantic. A happy sigh escaped from her parted lips.
She remained in her doorway until he had driven out of sight. A quote from Romeo and Juliet’s balcony scene popped into her mind; ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’
So sappy love clichés really were her natural state of mind now. And it was all Mateo Two Moons fault.
She walked into her quiet apartment, still tasting his last delicious kiss on her mouth. She ran her tongue over her lips hoping to savor every tiny remembrance of him. Tomorrow she would go to school like it was any other day. She would try to act like she was the same person she had been last week and she would pretend she hadn’t just spent the past couple of days in a state of erotic bliss so overpowering she found it hard to believe it really happened.
Tomorrow was seriously going to suck.
Chapter Eleven
Chloe knew she should wait until tomorrow morning before heading up to the Superstitions. But since she wasn’t going to be able to sleep anyway, she might as well go up there tonight. If she hurried, she should be in her usual camping spot by nightfall. By early morning, she could be on the Old Military Trail.
Then she would just have to wait for the sun to set tomorrow evening, so she could look for the new clues Dawn had seen in her dream about the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine. Of course, it had only been a dream, she reminded herself for the umpteenth time. But Dawn’s dream had
presented her with a fresh insight and a new enthusiasm to check it out.
In the dream, Dawn said she had been standing in a spot high up on a ledge Chloe or her father never paid much attention to when searching for the gold mine in the past because from the trail below it appeared that ridge did not lead anywhere. Even more importantly, the graphic dream placed the face Jacob Waltz talked about on the desert floor at a location they never thought to check. The face was only visible when the sun was setting. Chloe, her father, and even grandfather always assumed the face that supposedly looked at the mine was somewhere on the surrounding walls of rock.
If there was any chance at all the dream could reveal a new clue to the location of the Lost Dutchman Mine, she had to know, and she had to know now.
Her hands shook as she tossed her camping gear into the back of her SUV, but she wasn’t sure if that was from excitement or something else. A nagging guilt was making her edgy and uncertain about missing school the next couple of days when there was so much going on with the first Open House of the year. With any luck, though, she would be back fairly early on Tuesday.
With even more luck, she might be coming back with millions of dollars’ worth of gold in her possession and she could retire from teaching altogether. The thought made her entire body shake, and that was undoubtedly from excitement.
She considered calling Dawn to tell her she was headed up to the Superstitions tonight, just because of the remote possibility she could run into trouble and might need for someone to know where she was. But when they were up here last weekend, she admitted she didn’t understand the obsession gold seekers had in their relentless quest to find the gold mine, so Chloe didn’t really want her to know she was off on another wild goose chase to search for something Dawn had seen in a dream.
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