"Thanks for the help.” She looked up into his face and burst into laughter.
"Don't worry, I always like to have some extra. Just in case."
She patted his arm and turned to pay for the large bag of food, then walked back out to the truck. She was already accustomed to allowing Matt to open doors for her and waited by the passenger door. Once the door was open, she put the bag on the floorboard and tugged out her camera bag. Unzipping an expansion zipper on the top of her camera bag, she stuffed the newly revealed space with her snacks and re-zipped the compartment. The two bottles of sports drink she'd left out were then packed into the mesh side pockets of the bag and the plastic grocery bag was twisted up and tucked into the main compartment.
Now fully packed, she shoved the camera bag back behind the seat and hopped up onto the truck's running board. As she pulled herself into the passenger compartment, he couldn't resist reaching one hand up and caressing her round ass. No panty lines—she had to be wearing one of her sexy thongs again.
He winced even before his pants cut into his cock. This really was getting old. It also made it rather difficult for him to get into the truck.
Lara's sultry smile told him she'd seen how slowly he'd walked around and how carefully he'd sat. She knew what effect she was having on him. And she loved it.
"Matt. How long will it take for us to get there? I'm not making you late, am I?” Her innocent question didn't match her grin.
A look at the clock in the truck showed that he had twenty minutes before he had to be clocked in and it was only a ten minute drive.
"No problem. I'll be on time."
* * * *
Lara watched Matt until he disappeared into the Visitor Center to clock in. In a constant state of arousal since he'd shown up at her B&B, she hoped it would ease now that they were going to be separated for the day. She'd not thought to bring spare panties with her.
She'd almost soaked through her thong multiple times already today. Growing wet while imagining Matt's taste or while touching him was easy to understand, but a few times she felt herself almost dripping when she felt an increase in the sense of wildness, the nearness of the spirit world. It was almost like a part of him was reaching out to her, rubbing on her.
It took a great amount of effort to shake off her fixation on Matt, and remember that she had to get her pictures and information if she were going to finish this book. Today the crowds seemed quite a bit smaller and she might be able to get some pictures with fewer spectators in them. For her purposes, this was a good change.
She took out the digital SLR and began walking down the path toward the lighthouse itself, snapping pictures as she went. At the same time, she mentally reviewed the places she'd gotten good test shots from yesterday and tried to remember to take similar shots today on top of any impromptu pictures she might snap.
She quickly lost herself in the visualizations of the finished pages but a small part of her was tracking just how long it would be until lunch and she could see Matt again. Maybe even kiss him again.
Chapter Ten
She bent backwards, a fist braced against her spine to try to stretch the stiffness from her muscles. Pulled from her picture-taking when her body got so tense and sore she could no longer ignore it, she glanced at her watch. Only ten minutes until she and Matt were supposed to meet at the tables near the vending machines. She'd better get moving.
At least her very successful morning had temporarily taken her mind off the gorgeous man and how long it would be until she could see him. The light, the weather and even the ghosts had cooperated. She had several tidbits of information she would be able to weave into the words of her book.
While walking, she snapped the lens cover over the lens of the SLR and stowed it safely back in her bag. She took the path out of the woods and saw Matt had beat her to the picnic tables and was staring into the vending machines, jingling a handful of coins as he seemed to ponder the selection. It was almost certainly the same exact selection as it had been yesterday and the week before, even, so she wasn't at all sure why he needed to ponder it.
The gravel of the area surrounding the tables crunched and rustled under her boots making Matt quickly turn to face her. Man, he'd be nearly impossible to sneak up on. The man must have the hearing of a bat.
The desire she'd thought was banked flared back into an inferno at the sight of him. Her nipples hardened into rigid, aching nubs that seemed to be abraded even by the soft lace of her bra. Every step made them throb.
Her pussy grew instantly wet and she could feel the small muscles of her vagina spasm as if begging for Matt's hard cock. She craved the thick, rigid erection she'd fondled through his pants.
Her body had turned into one huge erogenous zone.
Golden eyes half-hooded in a look that reminded her of a predator intent on eating her for lunch, Matt licked his lips and smiled a secretive little smile as she approached him. His eyes ran up and down her body, seeming to glow with yellow hot fire. Apparently he liked what he saw.
His approval gave an extra sway to her hips, an extra thrust to her chest that made her already substantial breasts even more prominent.
Her normal reserve deserted her when she got near enough to feel the tingle of her spirit awareness. The extra sensation of the awareness mixed with her already aflame desire made him completely irresistible. The last few steps were at a run before she threw himself at him, arms and legs wrapping around his neck and torso.
And he caught her easily. How incredible was that? No gasping complaints that she weighed too much or was too old to act like a child. He never even stumbled or swayed.
Instead, he wrapped one arm around her shoulder, one under her butt and held her unwaveringly against him. She barely had time to savor the hard ridge now rubbing against her pussy through both their layers of clothes before his head swooped down to capture her lips with his own.
The sensual friction of lips meeting and moving quickly turned to a mix of nibbling little love bites and licks. She gasped when Matt bit her lower lip with a little too much enthusiasm and he took advantage of her parted lips to snake his long tongue into her mouth and explore the tender flesh inside her lips and cheeks. A hot, sensual exploration that left her desperate for more.
She needed him closer, inside her, part of her. Somehow he was already sharing a part of her soul, but she wanted him to share her body too.The rhythmic thrusting of his tongue made her hips echo its motion, circling and pulsing against the hard thickness of his cock.
A loud wolf-whistle pierced the air, instantly freezing her in mid-motion. She pulled her lips away from Matt's as clapping and laughter broke out from somewhere behind her, from the direction of the walking path.
The sound that would normally have sent her into a frantic, albeit angry, retreat only pissed her off. Who the hell was making fun of them? She wanted to scream at them, to slap them. They'd interrupted the slaking of her starved sexual appetites.
Whoa, where did the usual embarrassment and fear go?
Still clutched against Matt's chest, she rested her head on his shoulder and realized that she really didn't care who was watching or what they thought. She'd be damned if she'd run from Matt for the sake of some stranger's approval or lack there of. Fuck them.
No. Fuck me. Matt needs to fuck me.
She lifted her head again and tried to capture Matt's lips but he dodged her, breathing heavily.
A small mewling sound escaped her as he turned and walked the few steps to one of the picnic tables and set her gently down on it. Then he pried her legs from around his body, running his hands up and down them as he did so, clearly reluctant to let go.
"We have to stop. I can get fired over this.” His voice wasn't steady at all.
Horrified, she instantly released him. Oh my god, who had seen them? Who had whistled? Suddenly this was about far more than what anyone thought of her, it could have an enormous negative impact on Matt.
And it was her fault.
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She'd thrown herself at him and initiated their kiss. “Oh no. I'm so sorry, Matt. I don't want you to get into trouble."
She pulled away from him and straightened her clothes. “Did you see who was whistling at us? Maybe I can talk to him and make sure he knows it was a private moment."
She hopped off the table, feeling the heavy camera bag she'd managed to forget about bang into her hip. Turning in a slow circle, she only saw a few people at all and none of them even seemed to be looking toward her and Matt. “I can't tell who it was."
"You're making me dizzy with the spinning."
Matt's voice was tight but with a hint of heat and amusement. Bringing her to a sudden stop with his arm encircling her waist, he hugged her to him briefly. He released her and gently spun her to face him again. “It's okay. Let's have lunch now. Did you eat all your snacks already?"
Distracted by Matt's touch, it took a moment for her to remember she had lunch for both of them still packed into the waterproof compartment of her camera bag. “Oh, of course. You made me forget."
Lara hurriedly yanked the strap of the bag over her head and discovered her braid was wrapped around it when her head was yanked painfully to the side. She yelped and her eyes watered almost instantly. Having her hair pulled had always been the worst sort of torture, despite how long she'd let it get.
Without being able to see the problem, she struggled to somehow tug the bag strap away from her hair but couldn't set the bag down. Twisting at the waist, she frantically tried to force a hand up behind her back, contorting her body more and more. Trapped. She was trapped and couldn't get away from the pain. Unreasonable panic was setting in, her fear of being unable to escape something that was causing pain coming to the front with a vengeance.
"Stop. Lara, stop thrashing. Hold still and I'll get it untangled.” Matt's warm voice and firm hands magically broke through her panic and allowed her to hold still long enough for him to gently untangle her hair and take the camera bag from her to set it on the table.
Insistent hands turned her and pushed on her shoulders until she sat on the corner of one of the benches. Strong fingers rubbed her shoulders and stroked over her upper arms while she breathed deeply to calm herself.
"Your braid is a mess. Do you have a hairbrush with you?"
She pulled the camera bag toward her and found the small brush she always carried, then reached back to try to fix her braid. She hated having her hair a mess.
Matt plucked the brush from her hand. “I want to brush it for you. Will you let me?"
She nodded silently, almost without hesitation. No one else had brushed or even run their hands through her hair in years. In a strange way it was her shield, something she and only she controlled. But Matt was already so much a part of her that she trusted him to care for her.
Thinking was hard. Trying to make any sense of her feelings and her current situation was even harder. She needed to regain some semblance of calm and control. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the warm air scented with the smells of the ocean and the scent she already associated with the large man behind her.
Without her sight, she could feel every tiny tug and movement of her hair as Matt released it from the braid. Over and over he stroked his long fingers from her scalp down through the length of her hair, stopping to carefully untangle any snags he encountered. After a few strokes uninterrupted by snarls, he began running the brush through the thick mass. Slowly and rhythmically, the strands of hair crackling with the static generated by the brush. Finally the brush clicked on the table as he set it down and she felt the familiar motions of braiding.
It was such a tender, nurturing action, she was almost in awe. It made her feel wonderful, cherished and cared for. A simple thing, yet so profound.
"Done. You have gorgeous hair and it's a shame to have it all confined. I love it loose."
Reluctantly, she opened her eyes again, taking a moment to readjust to the brightness of the daylight. She turned on the seat and looked up with a smile. “Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now we need to eat while we have time. Do you still have any of your snacks left?"
She almost laughed at the idea she could have eaten all that, even if she'd wanted to. “Of course. Almost everything I bought was for lunch and I don't eat nearly as much as you do."
Turning again, Lara tucked the hairbrush back into the pocket of the camera bag and zipped open the large waterproof compartment she'd tucked the food for lunch in. She emptied it out, setting the assortment of sandwiches and snacks on the table.
"Let me see what I want."
Confused, she watched him head back to the vending machines. “Matt, don't you want the picnic lunch I brought?"
Had she gotten things he didn't like? She knew he wasn't a vegetarian after having dinner with him. She couldn't imagine him being too proud to take food she'd paid for—he was courteous and courtly, but not prejudiced. Not that she could tell, anyway.
"You brought lunch for both of us?” He spoke slowly, almost hesitantly.
Maybe he thought all this was only for her. For all his care and courtesy toward others, hadn't anyone ever made those same small gestures of caring and concern toward him? Lara felt her temper flare at the thought of Matt being taken advantage of.
Not everyone perceives him as you do. Nor does he treat others as he treats you.
The whisper of a ghost's voice ran over skin just beginning to shiver with awareness.
"Thank you.” Her whisper was only barely audible as Matt returned to the table.
Determined to enjoy the picnic she'd planned, no matter how unconventional it was, she set most of the sandwiches and a bag of chips in front of him after he sat down. She started to worry she would have to open the food to get him to eat but he finally picked up one of the roast beef sandwiches and unwrapped it, then took a large bite.
She began to eat the portion she'd saved for herself, not realizing how hungry she was until she smelled the food. The casual meal passed without much talking, both she and Matt contented themselves with eating and drinking, sharing quiet company and the beautiful weather for the few minutes they had out of their busy day. A low thrum of awareness and sexual attraction swam just below the companionable silence.
As soon as they had eaten, Lara gathered up the wrappers and containers, depositing them in the lidded garbage can nearby. Instead of sitting back across the table from Matt, she nudged him over so she could sit next to him on the very end of his bench, leaning against his side.
He tucked her under his arm and ran his hand up and down her side, causing her banked desire to flare back to full life. The heat ran through her veins, concentrating in her nipples and pussy and making them throb in a relentless rhythm. Oh man. She had to resist the urge to throw herself at him. This was not the time or place. She refused to get him in trouble with his bosses.
"I need to get back to work. Can I meet you after the park closes? Maybe we can have dinner again.” He reached over and tilted her head up with his free hand.
"I'd love to have dinner with you."
She really didn't want dinner, she wanted him. But she thought she'd better not tell him that or she'd seem desperate. A small voice in the back of her head laughed at her. She was desperate, desperate for him.
"I won't be off until six p.m. tonight, but there's a beautiful walking trail you can take after the lighthouse closes, until I can clock out. It's called the Bayside Trail and it's a great place to see everything from historic buildings and wartime sites to the local wildlife. Just be careful to not come too close to any animals you see. It used to close at five but they've decided to keep it open until sunset again."
He bent his head down to hers, then he tenderly and gently kissed her. “I'll meet you at the parking lot a little after six, okay?"
"I'll be there."
Helping her up from the bench, Matt stood as well, hugged her and started to walk away. He stopped in mid-stride, turned and took a quick s
tep back to her. His golden eyes glinted as if they belonged to a predator that had sighted its favorite prey and he growled quietly. Snatching her up against him, he captured her lips again, but this time in a kiss that demanded, that took. No longer the gentle seduction, this was a full out possession.
As quickly as he'd grabbed her, he released her again and left in the direction of the Visitor Center at a trot. She watched him race off and was struck again by the smooth, almost silent movement of the large man. He moved like an animal—a dangerous, wild animal.
Chapter Eleven
She was done for the day after these pictures. She probably had enough information now to allow her to sit down and start to lay out the pages she needed for the remainder of the book. This had been one of the easier and faster lighthouses to document because so much of the work had been done for her by the National Park Service. She'd only had to fill in the more personal and esoteric items.
Standing on the railed walkway surrounding the lighthouse's big Fresnel lens, she took a moment to stare out over the gorgeous, cloudless panorama. Such a tremendous view. The new lighthouse could be seen down below and the tall cliffs that the old lighthouse sat on appeared even taller from the added height of the lantern tower.
Back inside, she took an additional picture of the view looking down the narrow, tightly spiraled staircase, fascinated by the geometry and sense of movement. She felt the ghost before he spoke.
I walked that staircase every day for eighteen years to tend the oil lamp. A beautiful site, a beautiful French lens, but all for naught.
The spirit of a middle-aged man, dressed in the uniform of a Victorian lighthouse keeper paced back and forth on the small landing at the top of the stairs. From the pictures she'd seen in the Visitor Center, she recognized him as Robert Israel, the last keeper of the lighthouse.
Texas Tea [Del Fantasma] Page 7
