As if on cue, he growled. I moved my hands down the length of his hard torso and found that he needed little in the way of encouragement to suffer through another round with me. "Payton," I said, as I pulled away gently. "Don’t you have to go now?"
He growled, again. "Yes ... no, Valerie I can’t leave you. I don’t want to miss out on a second of being with you." His mouth found mine again and he slid his hands around me, flipping me over hard and fast. I let out a yelp, and he laughed softly. His fingers traced the edge of my spine and danced along the small of my back.
I loved the way Payton was able to use his fingers to do the most amazing things. He definitely had the hands to be a surgeon. He’d had me screaming out his name on several different occasions throughout the night with just the touch of his fingers. Now was no exception. His caresses were long and languorous. Each one managed to relax my body and still drive me to the edge of sexual insanity. Payton formed tiny circles on my buttocks, pressing them apart, and moving his fingers into my moist silk.
"God, Valerie, you’re so wet and tight. I can’t get enough of you. I’ll never get enough," he said, dropping down on the bed and forcing his face down to me. He tongue lapped up the cream that he had caused and he moaned slightly.
I clutched the sheets and moved my hips gently against the bed, rubbing my clit against the firm mattress. Each swipe of Payton’s long tongue sent my body into spasms. I wanted to scream out for him to take me, but I knew that he was already late for work, so I bucked to get him off me.
He rolled my body fast, his blue eyes wild. He made a move to kiss me and I pushed on his chest, holding him at bay. "Doc, I think you need to get going, you’re going to be late."
He groaned. "I’ll write myself a sick note, and besides, I think you feel a little warm. I should take your temperature before I go."
I let out a tiny laugh. I knew a proposition when I heard one. "And, what, may I ask, are you going to take my temperature with?"
His eyes locked on me. "Well, I’ve checked it orally, and it was a little hot. I should probably see how my thermometer is doing. It’s a bit sore."
Payton gave me little time to protest. He kissed my arm and artfully managed to get past my feeble protest. He licked the inside of bellybutton and had me laughing so hard that I almost rolled off the bed. He grabbed hold of my hips and repositioned me before he pushed my legs apart. His tongue was the first thing that greeted me. He licked along my folds and traced the edges of my opening slowly, carefully. I cried out and grabbed handfuls of his hair. He’d already had me on the verge of an orgasm, now this was just plain torture. I pulled gently and looked down to find him watching my face. The look in his eyes was raw, primitive. I didn’t look away. I maintained eye contact as he pushed his long tongue deep within me.
Tiny moans escaped me, and I thrust my hips up slightly.
Payton pushed his fingers into me as he licked the top of my engorged clit. Each flicker of his tongue made the already heightened nerve endings radiate waves of pleasure throughout my lower region. I tried to pull his head up and get him to join me for my orgasm, but he kept his head right where it was. I clawed at the mattress, trying hard to avoid digging my nails into his back. I’d already done that to him twice during the night and I felt horrible about it each time. He didn’t seem to care.
"Payton!"
He pulled away slowly. I tried to move down on the bed, to take his glistening shaft into my mouth, but he slid his body up and over mine. The head of his cock pushed into my tender channel. I kissed his ear and let out a wild noise as his impressive width pried me open. He pushed himself in until fully sheathed. I slid my fingers over his back, and his muscles tightened as he pumped himself into me.
I turned my head as he kissed my neck and noticed the almost empty box of condoms laying there. "Doc, hon," I said softly, as I tapped his shoulder. His rhythm slowed and he looked over at the end table. He dropped his head down on the bed next to my mine.
"I’m sorry, Val, I didn’t mean to start without..."
I reached out and grabbed hold of the last little foil package. He took it from me and leaned up long enough to open it. "Do you need some help?" I asked. We’d managed to make a game out of all the other times throughout the night.
He withdrew from me slowly and moved his hand down. "No, I’ve got it. I’m so sorry."
I kissed his arm and pulled him to me. "We don’t need a little one, not this early in the relationship," I said softly to him.
Payton’s gaze shifted upwards. "Relationship?"
My stomach tightened. Oh, God, I’m pushing him too fast. I tried to sit up, but he moved his mouth down and his lips hovered right above mine. "I didn’t mean to push, I just..."
Payton’s lips met mine, as he re-entered my body. I cried out from the mix of pleasure and pain. He thrust himself into me hard, harder than he’d done any of the other times we’d coupled over the night. His hips ground my body into the bed, and I loved every minute of it. I moved my legs up higher and wrapped them tightly around his waist. He bit at my nipple until he was able to catch it, then he drew it into his mouth and sucked hard on it. The pending orgasm hit me hard, and I cried out his name as I dug my fingernails into the backs of his arms. He slammed his hips down on me, and his face went slack. I knew that he was coming too.
I bit softly at his shoulder and let out a small laugh. "I take it that you’re okay with being in a relationship with me then."
"Of course I am, Valerie, I’ve been trying to get you to go out with me for the last five years. Why wouldn’t I want a relationship with you? I just can’t believe that it’s finally happened."
I couldn’t believe it either. I’d finally given up and called him back. He was angry at first that it’d taken me three months to respond to him, but he got it over quickly. He’d asked me how house hunting was going. Molly had told him that she and Joey were engaged and that I was insisting on moving out. At some point in our conversation, I ended up inviting him to go look at two houses with me. I’d made appointments for late afternoon and was concerned about my car. It had been acting up more and more lately.
Payton had shown up with two dozen red roses and a big smile. Viewing the houses together was a riot. I looked at places well below what my trust fund could support. I didn’t want to find anything too pricey. I’d taken all the money I’d been making from working at the Admission’s office at school for the last three years and pooled it into a nice sized down payment. It wasn’t a ton, but it was enough. I’d been offered a full-time position at the university and was thinking about taking it.
One of the houses we arrived at looked very similar to a lean-to. I thought for sure that barnyard animals would feel right at home there. The floors were rotted through, and a nice layer of earth showed beneath them. If that had been the only problem I’d have thought about it, but no, all the windows were shot, the roof leaked, and the house had a mean lean to the left. I was beginning to give up hope of finding one in town.
Payton had insisted on taking me out to dinner. I’d given up and let him. We had a wonderful evening. We talked and laughed, never once touching on the witch subject, and then came back to my place. Molly stayed at Joey’s again. They were like little bunnies, always going at it. It was nice to have Payton with me. I hadn’t realized how lonely I’d been until now. We’d started watching a movie on the sofa and ended up here together.
The first time we had sex, he’d been so gentle with me. He’d taken his time and made sure not to rush it. After I clawed his back and screamed at him to fuck me harder, he did. We’d spent the night going at each other.
"Doc, do you regret it?"
He pressed the length of himself against me. He was ready and willing to prove he’d do it again. "No, Valerie, I’ll never regret this. I love you."
I didn’t know what to say to that. I looked away to avoid eye contact and knew that I’d hurt his feelings. I couldn’t tell him that I loved him too. I didn’t, at least n
ot yet.
Payton looked over my shoulder at the clock and shot up out of the bed. The morning sun was peaking in the window behind him. It illuminated the tiny brown fuzz that covered his tan chest.
"What’s wrong? Don’t go, I’m sorry, I just..."
He dropped to one knee and started moving clothing off the floor. He let out a small "Aha!" and pulled his jeans out of the mess. We’d been in such a hurry we’d trashed the place.
"I was supposed to be at the hospital for a meeting twenty minutes ago," he said.
"Are we all right?"
He leaned over and kissed me. "We’re fine. I’m not sure why I said that. It just fell out. It’s probably sleep deprivation ya’ tiger."
I pulled the tan sheet up and covered my breasts with it. He hopped on one foot around the room while he stumbled into his jeans. I leaned over and tossed him his shoes. He had his blue shirt in his mouth, but I was still able to make out a muffled "Thanks."
He leaned forward and kissed me. "I’ll call you when I get done."
"Sounds good ... no, wait, I won’t be here. I’ve got another house appointment."
"I’m telling you, give it up and move in with me, after all, we’re in a relationship now. And I just made a complete ass of myself by professing my love for you, so what’s to lose."
I tossed my pillow at him as he headed out the door. I threw myself back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Had I really just spent the night in Payton’s arms? It seemed so unreal to me. Good, but surreal, because he’d always seemed so untouchable to me.
I rolled out of the bed and let my feet adjust to standing. My body hurt everywhere. Sex with Dillon had been like this, it’d left me stiff and tired. I wondered if all men were like that or if it was just me. Both had made comments about me being a tiger between the sheets.
I bent down and picked up the scattered mess. I was pleasantly disgusted to find several used condoms thrown about. In my state of disgust, I did a count, five. Not bad for one night, not bad at all.
I made mental note to replenish Molly’s stock. Neither one of us had expected this to happen, so needless to say we weren’t prepared. Molly thankfully was. I knew she kept boxes of them in her room. I was worried that it would kill the moment to steal away to retrieve them, but Payton seemed even more ready when I returned.
I reached up and yanked the sheets off my bed. I turned and got a fresh set out of the closet and made it up again. My cell phone rang as I laid the last pillow back on the bed, and I snatched it up.
"Hello."
"Just checking to see if you miss me yet." Payton said.
"You’ve been gone all of fifteen minutes."
"Funny, felt more like ten days, Val. I just wanted to hear your voice. I better get going. They’re all in there waiting for me."
I sat the phone down and headed to the shower, smiling all the way. It felt good to be loved by him, even if I wasn’t sure that my feelings were the same.
Chapter 7
I stood outside waiting for the realtor to arrive. She was running late again. When she’d told me about this house yesterday, I was skeptical.
"It sits on about twenty acres of land. It has a great little pond out back, stocked with fish. Now, I know that you’re single, but I think you might like it, even though it’s a lot of land to take care of," she’d said.
I’d asked her about the price. Surprisingly enough, it was exactly the range I’d been looking to be in. I’d expected to find a tiny shack sitting in the center of all that land, but when I pulled up, I was shocked. I did a triple take to make sure I got the address correct.
The driveway was paved and led up to a small ranch-style home. The white house was everything I’d been hoping for and so much more. I wondered if a family of five had been slaughtered in it. How else could it be in my price range? I looked back at the two other buildings that sat on the property. One looked like a garage and the other one looked like a miniature version of the main house.
I saw Bernice, my realtor’s, yellow car pulling down the driveway. A small puff of dirt followed behind her. I waited for her to come to a stop before I bothered to walk up and greet her.
"Oh, dear," she said. Her tiny plump face looked up at me and a smile poked out of it. I had to smile back. Bernice reminded me of a clown. She dyed her hair orange and always had on the brightest colored clothing. I looked down at my blue jeans and red T-shirt and felt incredibly boring.
"Sorry, I’m late. I was held up with the Andres family. You know how meticulous Mr. Andres is about everything."
I laughed. I did know Mr. Andres and he was meticulous. It was easy to envision him triple checking every nook and cranny before he agreed to purchase anything.
We headed in and looked around at the house. Even if a family of fifty had been slaughtered in here, I was positive I would take it. Four bedrooms, two baths, one fireplace, one kitchen, one dining room, and one living room later, we emerged onto the porch. The décor was dated, but other than that, the place was perfect. It was too perfect.
"I love it, but what’s the catch?" I asked. Bernice winced.
"Well, see ... now some folk round here think that Gina and Arnold were ... well they think they were into no good."
I gave Bernice the hairy-eyeball and waited for her to explain this further. "See, Arnold, he died some ten years back. He was a good man, kept to himself mostly. But Gina his wife, now, she was different. Always runnin’ round town telling people to stop out and see her. She had an herb or ointment for whatever ailed you. Now, I myself never thought anything of this, but some folks in town did. They say that she was a..."
"A witch," I finished for her. She looked ashamed to have suggested it. I smiled and looked around.
"Didn’t they have any family?" I asked.
"Who, Gina and Arnold?" She didn’t wait for me to answer. "Oh, no they never did have kids. They did a young feller livin’ out in the guesthouse for the last five years. Must have liked him well enough, they left it all to him."
I looked around. "Why the hell is he selling it?"
"There’s the problem. He doesn’t want it. He told me himself that he had no need for their money. I’m not sure what he’s plannin’ on doin’ with it. He was adamant that I find a buyer for this place, and he told me that they could have immediate possession. He did have one stipulation about the place."
"What’s that?"
"That whoever purchases it must agree to never develop it, and let him stay in the guest house for no less than a year or until he can make other arrangements."
I looked over at the guesthouse in question. It sat far enough away from the main house that it wasn’t an issue. My neighbors now were ten times closer to me than that.
"You say that you’ve talked to him. What’s he like?"
Bernice looked up at me and smiled. "Oh, Mr. Douglas is a nice man. He’s a young one. Oh, and a handsome fellow too. He keeps mostly to himself. He told me that he works out of town. He seems nice enough. He’s no criminal if that’s what your wonderin’."
That was exactly what I wondered. I looked around one more time and turned back to Bernice. "I’ll take it."
Chapter 8
"Oh my God, Valerie, I can’t believe you got it for that cheap. You know that’s close to Necro’s Magik World." Molly said. I watched her toss boxes of cereal in the cart. She just randomly picked them off the shelf while she walked. I knew it didn’t matter to her. She’d eat anything.
"Magik World?"
She stopped the cart and stared at me. "Sometimes I wonder if you live in a bubble. It’s an amusement park with a supernatural theme. I told you about them breaking ground on it two years ago. It’s not supposed to open until next spring. But still, that’s only like twenty minutes from it at most."
"Sounds great. So long as I’m not bothered by it, I could care."
"Honestly, Valerie."
I walked with her as she picked up groceries. I never bothered to try to pick out anythin
g. Molly liked junk food and only junk food. Our refrigerator was always full of crap. Occasionally, I would stop and pick up fruit or actual food to cook. She would wrinkle her nose at it. I’d taken to eating out. It was easier than cooking for one.
"You tell Payton about it yet?" she asked.
I suddenly found a box of whole grain oats very interesting. "Well, not exactly."
"Valerie?"
"No, it’s just, he asked me twice to move in with him. I don’t think he was joking. I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but..."
"But, you aren’t in love with him."
I put the box back on the shelf and looked at her. "How will I know?"
She reached out and patted my hand. "Honey, I can’t tell you if he’s the right guy for you. Only you can figure that one out. I can tell you that he loves you."
I turned and stared at her. She smiled up at me. "It kind of slipped out this morning."
After browbeating Molly all the way through the supermarket, I found out that she’d seen Payton right after his meeting. On the drive home she told me about how Payton was grinning from ear to ear. Someone suggested that he looked like the "love bug" had bitten him. He replied that he’d been bitten by it five years ago and had just sealed the deal this morning.
"When he turned around and saw me standing there, he turned red. Of course, I knew who he was talking about. I pulled him to the side and demanded an explanation. He told me that he couldn’t help the way he felt, that he tried not to fall head over heels in love with you, but it didn’t work."
I followed her into the house and put the grocery bag down on the kitchen table. I listened to her go on and on about Payton’s feelings for me. I wanted to run as fast as I could out of there. I wasn’t ready for love. Dillon had ruined me. I’d loved him and found out that he’d had several affairs. I wasn’t ready for that kind of pain again. I liked Payton. I found him attractive. I even cared for him, but I didn’t love him. At least not yet, anyway.
"Joey wants us to come down to the pizza place. He’s making a pizza for us. I told him we’d be down by seven. Is that all right with you?" Molly asked.
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