I had the presence of mind to keep a hold of her collar once she was free. She was panting and quivering in a mixture of panic and pain. Her back legs were wet and I was just about to investigate what looked to be a smear of blood on her left hock when her whole body seemed to tense and two hooves and a nose began emerging from her back end. “Oh, no. Really?! Is this really the time for this?” I said in exasperation. I was more frustrated with fate than I was the goat. As if in answer to my complaint, a hot wind pushed through the surrounding trees, bringing with it even more smoke. This smoke was thicker and blacker, and inspired in me a great unease.
The hooves and nose disappeared back up inside of poor Milly and she relaxed a bit. I gave her a reassuring pat on the neck. “Alright, girl. The next one should do it.” I had great sympathy for Milly. I had given birth without pain medication and could only imagine how much worse it must be to be laboring while caught on a hook and choking.
As expected, the next contraction produced a wet, rather slimy kid. I wasn’t sure how long it took a new baby goat to start breathing. Milly nosed at it a bit, but she seemed more focused on delivering the placenta. After a long moment, I decided to meddle. I wiped the slime away from the doeling’s nose and started rubbing it vigorously. I could feel the instant the baby woke up. Her whole body seemed to shimmer to life and she let out a watery bleat.
By this time the air was becoming nearly unbreathable. My throat was starting to burn and my eyes were weeping streaks of tears down my cheeks. We couldn’t stay where we were, but I was disoriented and unsure of which direction to take to get us back to the Dambacher house. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head to think. What did one do if caught in a wild fire? I couldn’t see any flames, but I certainly couldn’t deny the fact that they were too close for comfort.
“Miles is pompier. A “fireman”, non?” Marla looked up at Miles and graced him with a sickeningly sweet smile. “He is American, Lara. You two will have much in common.” She ran her hand over Miles’ chiseled pectoral muscles, motioning for him to join me at my table.
We were docked at yet another coastal town with a bent for hedonistic debauchery. I was beginning to wonder if all of Europe was like this, or if Marla just had a taste for depravity. As if reading my thoughts she joined us at my table and purred into my ear. “I enjoy surrounding myself with beauty, Lara. Don’t you?”
I looked at her blankly for a moment, not sure exactly how to answer that. I was always uncomfortable around Marla, but never more so than when we were in each other’s company without Julien there to serve as a buffer. “Uh... yes?”
Marla smirked at me with a wicked glint in her eye. “I think Miles would make a wonderful addition to our little pleasure cruise. What do you think?”
I looked from Marla to Miles and back again. “I think Miles looks old enough to make his own decisions.” I was trying to sound annoyed but much to my displeasure, my voice came out sounding wary instead.
Marla bit her bottom lip. I noticed how white and even her teeth were. I always noticed her teeth. They were one of her best assets. Those, and her pert breasts, which were also on display, as she was wearing a sheer floral blouse that hung off one shoulder, and no bra.
We both looked at Miles at the same time, catching him appreciating the see-through quality of Marla’s blouse. “How about it, Miles? Do you want to come play on my boat?” asked Marla. He stared at us as if he couldn’t believe his luck.
“You ladies want me to join you on your boat? I would-”
I cut him off before he could finish his thought. “‘Lady’, not plural. No offense, Miles. You seem like a nice guy and all, but I don’t care either way, as I have no intention of getting to know you better. Besides, it’s her yacht.”
Marla’s eyes flashed venom. “She’s right, of course. It is my yacht. She is of little importance, as she is just along for the ride.” There was no mistaking her meaning. I clenched my jaw and turned away to scan the crowd for Julien.
Miles seemed a little uneasy with the palpable tension at the table. He had an easy charm about him, and I could tell his usual modus operandi was to smile and go with the flow. He focused on Marla as he said, “I would love to join you. Care to give me a tour?” He made as if to rise, but Marla stopped him with her hand on his arm.
“Not just yet, Monsieur Le Pompier. I want to stay ashore a little longer. How about you show me what you can do with those strong hands of yours?” She slipped her perfectly pedicured foot out of her sandal and ran it up his thigh, smooth as silk. He was both surprised and delighted. He took her foot in his hands and began massaging it. Her resulting moans were blatantly sexual. “Mmmm, mon dieu, c'est orgasmique.” She bowed her back, and threw her head back in ecstasy. I was convinced this woman could harden her nipples on demand.
“Oh, Lara! He is amazing - très magnifique! You must feel this.” She motioned for Miles to do my feet, and eager to please her, he quickly made a grab for them before I could beg off. He popped my sandals off as I tried to pull away. He assumed I was just ticklish and clamped down on my ankle. “Just relax into it,” he said.
“No, really. That’s okay.” I managed to pull my foot from his grasp just as Julien came up behind me. He didn’t say anything at first; he just offered Miles a friendly smile. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Marla was beaming. Bitch. I should have known she was up to something.
“Julien, mon amour, this is Miles. He was just giving Lara a foot massage. He has the perfect hands for it, don’t you think, Lara?” Marla cocked her head and batted her lashes at me innocently. I just glared at her darkly. She didn’t miss a beat. “Miles is American! Isn’t that wonderful? They will have so much to talk about. I know I love the sound of a fellow countryman whenever I travel abroad.”
Julien raised his brows at this. “Oh, will he be joining us on the water, then?” He sounded politely interested.
Marla smiled a sexy smile. “Yes. He will be my personal guest.”
Miles had maintained his happy-go-lucky smile throughout this exchange. I got the feeling he was trying to figure out the group dynamic and where he would fall into it. Julien offered Miles his hand. “Well, let me be the first to welcome you aboard. Les amis de Marla sont mes amis.” Off Miles’s look of confusion he repeated himself in English, “Any friend of Marla’s is a friend of mine.”
Miles shook Julien’s hand and thanked him. Then, when he still had Miles’s full attention, Julien pulled me to my feet and kissed me thoroughly. The kiss was so complete that for a moment I forgot where I was, and when he reluctantly ended it, I was short of breath. Oh my. “If you’ll excuse us,” Julien said softly, “Lara and I have a few errands to run. We’ll see you onboard.” And with that, he wrapped his arm around my waist and led me away before I even had the chance to put my sandals back on. I had just been one hundred percent claimed, and I couldn’t have been happier.
Later that evening I was sitting on my bed as Julien was rattling things around in the en-suite. I could hear water running as if filling a bucket. When he emerged from the bathroom carrying a large basin filled with sudsy water, I smiled at my aural accuracy. “What’s all this?” I asked.
“This, is for you,” he answered. “I’m sorry I dragged you about town in your bare feet today.” He set the basin at the side of the bed and gently lowered my feet into the warm water. I would hardly call our little walk being ‘dragged about town’, but my god the water felt like heaven. I couldn’t contain my moan of enjoyment.
He was still kneeling at my feet. Pouring a bit of lavender oil into his palm he began to massage my calves; his strong fingers knowing just where to press and glide. “Mmmmm. That’s divine...” He washed my feet, dried them with pats from a fluffy towel, and then began to run his thumbs up my arches. When I sighed in bliss, he dropped one foot to concentrate on the other with both hands. “Do you enjoy foot massages, ma chérie?” he asked. I moaned in response and let my head drop back; causing me to think of the way Mar
la had reacted earlier at the table. I snapped my head back up, refusing to admit to any similarities between the two of us.
He immediately felt the tension in my foot. He rotated my ankle, and began massaging again, using his thumbs to press certain pressure points in my foot. It was a totally new experience for me. I was amazed how his pressing parts on my foot could make me feel things in other areas. I had been given foot massages before during pedicures, but they were nothing like this. This one was so much more intimate. Erotic even. I was in heaven, and thoroughly unprepared for what he did next. As I closed my eyes in contentment, he dropped a kiss on the ball of my foot, and then, without warning, my big toe was in his mouth.
I sucked in a breath in shock. Not shock over the fact that my toe was in his mouth, but shock over how incredibly good it felt. I had always laughed at the idea of men with foot fetishes, and if I was being honest, the thought of licking or sucking someone’s feet had always seemed positively disgusting to me. I had never understood the appeal. Until now. Julien explored my foot with his tongue the same way he had explored every other part of my body - thoroughly, expertly, and with barely contained passion. I was mystified at his ability to make me orgasm never having touched me above the knee, and when he finally rose up and entered me the way I had been waiting for, I was mystified again that I could come a second time so quickly.
Think, Lara. THINK. Find a low spot. Cover yourself with wet blankets, or even soil if you have nothing else. Breathe close to the ground...
I scooped the kid into my arms and headed down the debris pile into what used to be the basement of the long since ruined house. I was hopeful that Milly would follow me considering I had her baby. When I reached the lowest possible spot, up against the foundation, I lay down and nestled the kid against my chest to keep her warm. I had unearthed a small sheet of corrugated metal on my way down, and I put this over us. Then I pulled the neck of my shirt up over my mouth and nose to serve as a filter.
The air was a little bit better down there, but not much. I wasn’t sure how long I had been lying there before things started getting muddled. I was so sleepy, and my head was pounding. I welcomed the blackness when it came.
I could hear voices.
“Lara? Is she breathing? Lara can you hear me? Open your eyes.”
It was so hot. My throat was on fire. My lungs were burning. My eyes wouldn’t cooperate. The blackness came again.
The next sound I heard was a low humming. There was something on my face, and I raised my arm to bat it away, but my effort only resulted in my hand knocking against something hard and cold. I gave the command to open my eyes and this time they obeyed.
I was in a hospital bed. My hand had hit the raised bed railing, and the thing on my face was an oxygen mask. So. I was alive.
Nan was dozing in a chair by the window.
“Nan?” I croaked. My voice was hoarse and attempting to talk started me coughing. My coughing woke Nan and her concern turned to joy when she saw I was awake.
“Lara! Oh sweet heavens.” She rushed to my side. “Don’t try to talk sweetheart. Just rest.”
She knew me better than that. I could see the oxygen mask fog up as I attempted to get my question out. “What -” I had to stop to cough several times. “What happened?”
Nan put a restraining hand on my arm. “You hush now. You got caught up in the fire and suffered from smoke inhalation. We lost you there for a little while. Literally. But thank the good Lord we found you in time!”
“Lost me! I-” More coughs forced their way up my throat. “I died?!” I must have been hearing her wrong.
“Oh! Heavens no!” said Nan. “I mean we actually lost you. We didn’t know where you were.” I visibly relaxed and she continued. “When the wind picked up and shifted, your grandfather came home to find you had run off. Alex and I weren’t home yet, but as I understand it, there was an emergency evacuation ordered and Pops about lost his mind with worry.”
I started to ask how they found me, but she kept talking over my attempt, and answered my unasked question. “It was your Julien that found you. He tracked your cell phone on the computer. Isn’t that amazing? I didn’t know they could do that. It was like a James Bond film!”
“They just let-” The coughing was exhausting in addition to being annoying. “-Julien wander through a wild fire?”
Nan looked at me like a teacher looks at a purposefully obtuse student. “Of course not. He was with the search and rescue team. You caused quite a fuss!” Suddenly Nan’s face crumpled and she started sobbing against my shoulder. “Oh Lara! I don’t know what we would have done if they hadn’t found you! You can’t scare us like that. My old heart can’t take it.”
When Nan calmed down I patted her back to get her attention. “Did our place burn? Chester?” She shook her head quickly.
“No. The fire has been put out. Our firebreak worked. Our place is fine. So is Chester, and” she added, “so is Milly and her new baby thanks to you. You should have seen Doc’s face when they brought those goats home. I don’t think there was a dry eye among any of the men.
I nodded slowly, taking all of that information in. I let relief wash over me and found myself very tired. Nan took in my drooping eyelids and smiled warmly. “You get some more rest, sweetheart. They’re keeping you overnight for observation.”
“Are you staying with me?” I asked in a small voice.
Nan gave me a reassuring pat and answered, “Of course, dear.”
I glanced at the chair Nan had been dozing in. It didn’t look very comfortable, and for all of her vigor, Nan wasn’t a spring chicken anymore. I couldn’t in good conscience expect her to stay, even though I knew she would without hesitation should I indicate that was my wish. I knew she wouldn’t go for herself, but she would for Alex.
“No, Nan,” I managed. “You should go home. Alex will be missing me, and he’ll need you to comfort him.” Nan started to argue but I kept talking. “Please, Nan. I’ll rest easier knowing Alex isn’t scared or sad. Go home. Get a good night’s sleep in your own bed.” I started coughing again. Each cough burned like fire. “See?” I said, water streaking down my cheeks. “I’m just going to keep trying to talk to you if you stay.”
Nan pursed her lips in exasperation. “Oh, Lara. You are such a stubborn young thing.”
I smiled under my oxygen mask, knowing I had won.
“Get some sleep, dear. I’ll be back to pick you up in the morning.”
Staring at my reflection in the mirrored door of my closet, I tamped down my chagrin at the borrowed finery I was wearing. For all that Marla was a vicious bitch, she had impeccable taste in clothes. The material was shimmery black silk that slid against my skin in a ghostly caress. Not surprisingly, considering the dress’s owner, it was very low cut, the front dipping between my breasts and the back barely covering the top of my ass.
Marla had insisted on a formal party at the last second. Formal for Marla meant everyone was expected to be dressed in either cocktail attire or sexy lingerie. I had neither. Marla happily volunteered to loan me a dress. I would say she graciously volunteered to loan me a dress, but nothing Marla ever did was gracious. Her every move seemed calculated.
I would have been perfectly content holed up in my cabin for the night, but neither Marla nor Julien would hear of it. I was perched on my bed, struggling to fasten the buckle on my strappy high heel and wondering how I was going to manage not breaking my neck in them, when Julien rapped lightly on the door and let himself in. He stopped short upon seeing me, and stood very still.
Arousal flared brightly in his eyes, and I felt an instant reaction pulse through my body. I slowly straightened and leaned back, supporting myself on my out stretched arms. I lifted my foot towards him, presenting him with the fussy buckle. His warm hands wrapped around my ankle. He settled my foot against his chest while his deft fingers made quick work of fastening the strap. He hooked his thumb under the back of my ankle where my heel met my calf, then raised
my foot to rest on his shoulder as he sank to a kneeling position before me.
My pulse was thundering in my ears. His eyes darkened with need as he stared up the scant material of my dress. The low cut nature of the garment didn’t allow for the wearing of underclothes, and I knew he could see my nakedness. His tongue darted out to wet his lips and I squirmed in anticipation of what he would do with that tongue next.
Neither of us spoke. Our silence seemed to serve as an aphrodisiac. He turned toward my inner thigh and ran his nose back and forth across my skin. My skin broke out in shivers and my heart skipped a beat. He moved deliberately slowly. I was aching with need by the time his breath tickled across my labia.
I shifted my weight to one arm, freeing the other to wrap my fingers in his hair. I wanted to moan his name, but I bit my lip to keep silent, loving this new game of ours. The whirl of sensations manifesting between my legs was overpowering. I tried to concentrate, to figure out how he was making me feel the things I was feeling, but the waves of pleasure were all encompassing, and I found myself too distracted to focus.
I screamed as I came, unable to keep quiet any longer. I was so caught up in my orgasm I didn’t register the door opening at first. As I came back to reality and opened my sex-addled eyes they slowly focused on Marla standing stoically in the threshold. A jolt of adrenalin rocketed to my heart, and my whole body stiffened. Julien looked up at me in question, then followed the line of my sight to Marla in the doorway.
She made no move to leave. She didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed or apologetic to have caught us in such a compromising position. She just stood there, a neutral expression on her face. Her eyes traveled over my skin, taking in her wrinkled dress that was now hiked up around my waist. I was grateful that Julien was blocking her view of my private parts.
Sudden Legacy Page 7
