by Nancy Warren
He stripped off her blue top and found a lacy piece of foolishness beneath that was like no bra he’d ever seen before – and he prided himself that he’d seen quite a few. This was like a lacy cobweb that showcased her breasts. They were small and round with the pinkest nipples he’d ever seen.
Her belly was subtly rounded and her hips flared. He stroked his hand over her breasts and felt her shiver. He wanted to ease her into this but she was already tugging her own skirt off, so it dropped to the floor like a dark shadow at her feet. Beneath the skirt she wore no hose of any kind he was happy to note. Just bare legs that stretched from the sexiest heels in Miller’s Pond to the whisper of silk that barely covered her secrets. While she attacked his belt, he touched her there, between her legs and felt how wet she already was.
How hot.
He couldn’t stop the groan that came from his throat. As she pulled his jeans down she cupped him and as she squeezed lightly he thought – slow wasn't going to cut it. Not tonight.
Caitlyn felt as though she had a fever. Her skin burned and all her senses felt woozy.
Every part of him that she looked at, that she touched, was gorgeous. She had no idea when this desk jockey had found time to work out but clearly he had. His chest and abs were strong and muscled, he was broad of shoulder and lean of hip. And when she slipped her hand into his briefs and circled his cock with her fingers she felt him pulse with life. Felt an answering pulse deep inside her own body.
He didn’t wait for her to finish undressing him, he stepped away and dragged and pulled the rest of his clothes off. Since she was down to bra, panties and shoes, she sat back and watched him. She liked his haste, since it confirmed that he wanted her as desperately as she wanted him. She liked the muscular thighs, the hairiness where hairiness should be. She was not a woman who approved of manscaping. It seemed that Evan agreed with her.
When he finished dragging off his jeans and was completely naked but for his gold watch, she thought he was as beautiful a man as she’d ever seen.
He stepped toward her and put his mouth on hers, kissing her deeper than before. His beautiful cock nudged between her thighs and she pushed her hips forward, rubbing herself against him.
He must have felt the intolerable barrier of her wispy panties as much as she did for he suddenly reached down and ripped them off her. She was so shocked by the move that she fell back. He came with her, pushing her all the way back onto the bed.
“I wanted to go slowly for you,” he muttered, “But I can’t.”
“I know. Me neither.”
Then his hot mouth was on her breasts, kissing her through her lacy bra. His hand slid between her thighs and he played with her there, stroking her own wetness over her hot button until she was close to climax.
“Want you,” she muttered. “Want you inside me.” God, she could barely form words.
She handed him one of the condoms she’d placed on the bedside table and he sheathed himself with hands that she noted weren’t quite steady. She loved that she had that effect on him.
Before he entered her, though, he took the time to slip off her bra. She had the strangest feeling that he wanted her completely naked for him.
And she was.
Except for her shoes.
When he entered her, he did so slowly, letting her get used to his size as she pulled him into her body. He filled her completely and when he was all the way in, he rested there for a second, his hips pushed against hers. Then he looked at her, right into her, hazel eyes telling her all sorts of sexy secrets.
And then he began to move.
She wanted him to move slowly, so she could enjoy every exquisite sensation. Except she couldn’t stand to wait that long.
She wanted him to thrust into her, hard and fast, except then it would be over too soon.
She wanted him to gaze into her eyes so she could watch him when he came, except that she wanted to kiss him and taste him and feel his lips tremble against hers.
She wanted to stay in this position forever. She wanted to move all over the bed, getting the entire Kama Sutra down and making up a few new poses to stretch the session out.
She wanted to wait.
She wanted to come.
In the end, she had no choice. He started out slow, dragging each stroke out so she felt the exquisite tingle all through her body. Then, as though he were as greedy as she, wanting everything at once, he began to move faster. She wrapped her legs around him, her high heels hard against his butt as she pushed her hips up to meet him thrust for thrust. Maybe she could have kept it up for a while but he put a hand down between their bodies and touched her right, oh, it feels so good, there.
She was lost. She felt the orgasm surge up from deep within her, taking her, tossing her, swamping her. She’d never been a screamer, but she kind of thought if she hadn’t grabbed his head and kissed him deeply the noise that came out of her throat might have been a scream.
As it was, he licked into her mouth, sucking her sounds of passion into him. And she returned the favor when he went rigid and made a sound that was close to a roar. She licked it into herself, wrapping herself around him until the spasms passed.
He slumped but didn’t roll off her, so she felt herself clutching him through the aftershocks, felt him still moving, still hard, until, to her great shock and surprise, a second climax took her so sweetly she caught her breath.
Finally, they lay spent, her head on his shoulder where she could hear his heart still hammering, slowly returning to normal. She traced his ab muscles with a lazy finger, enjoying the rise and fall of his torso as he dragged in breath.
Neither of them said anything stupid and corny like ‘that was amazing.’ They didn’t have to. Amazing shimmered all around them.
He turned his head and as their gazes connected she saw amazement, a little humor, some smugness, and a whole lot of happy and relaxed. His hand came up and he smoothed her hair back off her face, than after a moment, leaned over and kissed her.
And that kiss said, “that was amazing,” louder than any words.
He went to the bathroom and dealt with the condom and she removed her CFM shoes since they had clearly done the job, and tidied the bed.
When he returned he slipped in beside her and the glint of gold around his wrist made her ask, “Why do you wear a watch that doesn’t keep time?”
He held it up and said, “This watch belonged to my mentor at work. Clayton Willoughby. I told you about him. He died a couple of months back. He was sixty-six years old and everything I thought I wanted to be. He ran one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. Had more money than he could ever spend. Respect.” He smiled ruefully. “A pretty hot and much younger wife.”
“Not his first, I’m guessing.”
“Number three.”
“Hmm.”
“He talked about retiring all the time. All the plans he had, the things he was going to do. I’m pretty sure both of his other marriages ended because he was always at work. The firm meant everything to him. He had no hobbies, no family. He liked to work hard, eat well and drink fine wines and brandy.”
“Let me guess, he never exercised.”
“No, ma’am.”
“And he died of coronary heart failure? Or a stroke?”
“The first one, Doc.”
“Well, if I had been his doc I’d have given him a good talking to about balance in life.”
“I doubt he would have listened.”
She stroked her finger along the edges of the watch feeling the hard metal, warm from his body, and the softer warmth of his skin. She thought even his wrist was sexy. “And why would a man with that much money wear a watch that doesn’t display the correct time? Aren’t lawyers all about billable hours?”
He nodded. “Calculated down to the minute.” He placed his hand over hers so the watch was beneath her palm. “I think the reason he wore this watch and never bothered to get it fixed so it worked properly is that he was successful
enough that he didn’t ever need to know what time it was. He had assistants and executive secretaries and even his wife for that. In a strange way he thought time would somehow wait for him.”
“But it didn’t.”
“Nope.” There was real sadness in his tone.
“I’m sorry you lost him.”
“I can’t describe how it felt when I came back to my office after his wake. All the sharks were circling figuring out how to take advantage and where they’d fit in the new organization. We were supposed to be giving him a wake but in reality everybody was jockeying for position. If it had been another senior lawyer who croaked I’d probably have been exactly the same.”
He stopped and she leaned over and kissed his chest.
“Anyway, I got back to my office and the watch came by courier later that day with a note from Clay’s wife saying he’d left me this watch. I knew its history, because he was so proud of the fact that his father had bought it when he was born, but not presented it to him until he graduated. Leaving the watch to me was saying what both of us had known but never expressed. I was like a son to him.
“I think he wanted to let me know that he was hoping I’d take over from him one day. Step into his shoes. Be the guy who’s so freakin important he doesn’t even need to know what time it is.” She felt his chest rumble as a bitter laugh shook him. “Strange thing was it had the opposite effect. I thought, this watch is like a metaphor for a life that’s out of synch. I looked ahead and I didn’t like the road as far as I could see it.
“Marrying Tessa?” He shook his head. “We didn’t love each other. It was basically a business partnership. And believe me, she dumped my ass but good when I told her I was taking some time out to do a list of things I’d dreamed up when I was twelve.”
She smiled against his chest. “I’m glad she dumped your ass.”
He turned to look at her. “Me, too. All I know is I don’t want to end up at sixty-six with a cellar full of good wine and a third wife less than half my age and a guy at the office being the closest I’ve got to a son.”
“So you pulled out your bucket list from when you were twelve. And now you’re driving across the country on a motorcycle.”
“Don’t forget number six on the list,” he reminded her.
As if she ever could. “And having sex with a woman.”
He sighed. “I’m probably having a midlife crisis.”
“You’re only thirty-five.”
“As you noted earlier, I’m precocious.”
She reached up and kissed him. “You’ll figure it out.”
He kissed her back and they turned to each other. When they made love, she felt the gold watch brush against her skin and it reminded her that her time with this man was short. She’d better make the most of every second.
Chapter Ten
Dawn came way too early. The first streaks of it were brushing the sky when he shifted his body toward the edge of the bed, trying not to wake Caitlyn. She’d only been asleep a little while. They’d made love and talked and made love again until exhaustion caught up with her. When he shifted, she turned and reached for him, still half asleep. He gently loosened her grip, leaned over and kissed her softly. “I didn’t mean to stay the night,” he whispered, feeling guilty that some early bird was going to catch him sneaking home.
“You didn’t. Yet.” She kissed him. “Stay.”
“I can’t.”
But then she pressed her naked, warm body against him and he realized he had no other option. When they’d enjoyed each other once more, he finally hauled himself out of bed, dressed swiftly and crept to the door.
The dog was curled outside the bedroom door when Evan opened it and his joy was so intense, Evan chuckled. “Settle down. You knew where I was.”
Caitlyn followed him, tying the sash of a silk robe that made him think of nothing but easing her out of it. “I could make you breakfast,” she said on a yawn. “You can’t eat the breakfast they serve at the motel. I know for a fact she buys the cinnamon rolls at a discount store.”
“I’m good. I’ll walk Homely here and then grab something at the diner.”
“At least have some coffee.”
That almost stopped him. Coffee. Coffee. He turned, said, “He gets antsy in the morning. I don’t want him to have an accident.”
That wasn’t true, but he had this strange Mad Men era notion that he didn’t want to sully her reputation. Not something he usually thought about in the big, anonymous city where he’d lived for so long. He kissed her. “Go back to bed.” And, with a sleepy yawn, she did.
He managed to head out by seven in the morning on a Sunday. With luck, most people would still be asleep. He took an obscure route back to the motel anyway, hoping no one would connect his early morning drive with the sexy doctor.
It’s amazing how you can build a routine in only a couple of days, Evan mused, as he walked into the diner. He said “Hey,” to Lucille at the diner as he headed in with his paper for breakfast.
“How you doing today?” she asked as though he’d been coming in every day for years instead of twice. She grabbed him a menu and snagged the coffee pot on her way back to a booth.
She poured coffee and dropped a menu in front of him. This was his second breakfast here. Everyone told him it was the only place in town to get a decent breakfast so he went with it. However, if he was going to be eating here for the next few days he’d better cool it with the eggs and sausage.
When she came by for his order he said, “I’ll have oatmeal and the fresh fruit plate.” As he was closing the menu and pushing it over to her he had a vision of the dog waiting patiently outside for him. He strongly suspected the dog had also figured getting a morning sausage was now a routine. “Can I get a side of sausage with that, too?” She must be too used to the strange things people ate to so much as lift a brow. “Sure thing, hon.”
He was settling over his paper, barely noticing the hum of conversation and the rattle of china, when a deep, male voice said, “Good Morning.”
Evan glanced up to find Horace Freemason, the town’s only lawyer, greeting him. “Good morning sir.” Then, realizing the man was holding his own copy of the paper and didn’t seem to have a dining companion, he said, “Care to join me?”
“Don’t mind if I do.” He settled in, tipped cream into the coffee Lucille had just poured. “Thought I’d find you in here. I saw your dog outside.”
“It’s not my dog.” He sighed. “Doesn’t seem to be anybody else’s either. The only call I’ve had since I put up the poster is from a realtor who’d love to show me some properties if I’m thinking of relocating to this area.”
Okay, there was that one other time that he’d got a call thanks to the poster, but he wasn’t going to share that with Horace Freemason.
Just the thought of her voice on the phone had him reliving last night. This had been happening to him since the second he left her place. He’d walked past a store window selling home décor and a vision of her spread out beneath him on her big bed smacked him with lust. When he’d watched the dog sniff a big maple tree he’d pictured her up against that tree trunk, the way she’d kissed him up against the wall in her kitchen. It was crazy.
“I got an email from my daughter this morning. She’s going to try to get home for Christmas.”
“You have a daughter?”
“Sure do. She’s a lawyer like the old man. Works for the UN.”
His surprise must have shown in his face. For the older man smiled. “She’s found her passion. She loves what she does and she’s very good at it.”
“And you? Have you found your passion?”
Horace Freemason seemed to consider the question seriously. “I don’t know that you could say being a small town lawyer is exactly a passion. But the life suits me.”
“You don’t get bored?”
“Certainly not. There’s no specialization in my practice. Of course, it’s mostly real estate and wills and trusts.”
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“What about disputes between neighbors?”
“I never touch them. I have a deal with another lawyer in a nearby town. I send my neighbors to him. He sends his neighbors to me. Lets us live in harmony in our own homes.”
“But that’s—”
“Look around you. These are my friends. I try to do a good job, charge fair prices, and live in harmony. It’s not exciting, perhaps, but I have the respect of the community, time to garden and read. Time to travel a few weeks every year with my wife. As lives go it’s not such a bad one.”
The old boy made his life sound so blessed Evan wondered if a sales pitch was coming next. Sure enough.
“The only problem I have is that I’m getting on. I’ll want to retire in a few years and there’s no one to take my place.”
“What about your daughter.”
“I always hoped when she went into law school that she’d take over the family business but, like I said, she’s found her passion.”
Evan spooned oatmeal into his mouth and pondered. Finally, he said, “How did you know this was what you wanted to do?”
Horace leaned back. “When you figure that out, son, you’ll be able keep that motorcycle of yours in the garage, bring it out on weekends. You’ll be able to put down roots.”
But not here, Evan thought. Mentally he went over the list he’d promised himself he’d accomplish. He’d gone a few hundred miles on his bike, barely half an inch on the atlas. He’d jumped ahead and managed to accomplish number six on his list, but he hadn’t swum with any dolphins, the Grand Canyon was many miles away. Any root putting down wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.
They whiled away the rest of breakfast talking about federal politics and finding they pretty much agreed on most things. “Well, I better be getting back,” Horace said. “My wife likes me to drive her to church.”
“Have a nice day.”
“You too. Come by any time for a visit.”
They shook hands. “Thanks.”
He finished reading the paper, scooped up the now cool side of sausage, walked out the door and fed it to the dog. “We really need to find your home,” he said as the dog wagged his tail and wolfed down the sausages simultaneously. As though on cue, his cell phone rang. He both hoped and dreaded that it would be Caitlyn. On the one hand, he missed her already and he’d only left her a couple of hours ago. On the other hand, he was leaving Wednesday or Thursday and the last thing he wanted was for either of them to take this fling seriously.
