Sweeter Than Wine

by Hestand, Rita

  "Aw, don't be such a sissy; we don't need to burn down the whole forest. I thought we were gonna protest all the wastin' that happens. This place is pretty. I wouldn't want it to go up in flames 'cause we gotta have our fish cooked. Besides, he's right, it ain't bad."

  "All right. But tomorrow we camp to the east like he said and use a fire."

  "Deal," Sam nodded. "…you fellas have a nice evening."

  "Yeah, thanks man," they hollered after him.

  When Sam returned to Lacey's side she nearly laughed, "Wow, I'm impressed. I thought you might have to fight them to get them to put it out."

  "Nah, most folks are pretty nice. If you give them the chance." Sam said. "Let's get back."

  "Yeah, it's getting a little chilly." Lacey rubbed her hands together.

  Sam took his shirt off and draped it over her, "Here, let's go now, I'll race ya…"

  Lacey laughed and followed him. However, Sam wasn't running that hard, he wasn't about to let her get lost.

  When they got back, they were both out of breath.

  Lacey slumped on the couch.

  Sam built a fire and got it roaring warm, then joined her.

  He put his arm around her and they snuggled for a long while. They talked about the two men, about the trees they saw, about the fishing tournament. Everything except how they hadn't made love. Lacey laid her head on his shoulder and before long she was asleep.

  Sam picked her up in his arms and carried her upstairs to his bed. He should leave, he thought as he laid her against the sheets and covered her with the blanket, but she looked so cozy and warm, it was hard to walk away from her. He'd make her as comfortable as possible then leave and sleep on the couch.

  He scolded himself for wanting to sleep with her again. He knew what he wanted and he knew he shouldn't touch her. Nevertheless, knowing it and doing it were two different things.

  He wondered if she were comfortable. He reached under the covers and moved them so he could look at her again. She looked so innocent lying there. And she looked as though she belonged right there too, in his bed…with him.

  He removed her socks, for they had cockleburs on them, and then he looked at her again. He shouldn't do it, but a bra seemed about the worst contraption for a woman to have to sleep in, so he rolled her over on her side and reached to undo it.

  ***

  "What are you doing," she murmured as her eyes flew open and stared into the dim light at him.

  "It doesn't strike me as comfortable to have to sleep in a bra."

  She smiled warmly, "It isn't."

  Without even blinking she sat up close to him, she shed her t-shirt and he stared down at her.

  She looked up into his face again, as his hands reached to pull the offending bra away. His body seemed to react immediately. His fingers barely grazed her nipples, and she gasped.

  "The most comfortable way to sleep is without anything on, Sam." She murmured, as she tossed her pants and underwear on the floor. She wouldn't tell him her heart was hammering in her ears, and her body was on fire for him, but she felt very much like a live torch, all it would take would be one little kiss and she'd be in his arms. Would he offer that comfort she wondered as she lay there staring up at him.

  She pushed the cover away from her and scooted over, so he could join her.

  "Lacey, this might not be a good idea, I mean; we didn't use protection before…"

  Lacey reached to cover herself and rolled away from him. "I know."

  "As innocent as you are, I doubt you are on the pill, either." He suggested.

  "No, I'm not." She whispered through the night, her voice strained. "Truth is I've not had the need for it. Until now."

  "Well honey, doesn't that bother you a little?" he asked, moving her hair so it rested on her pillow. "We've already not used our heads, and next week…"

  She rolled back over and scooted up in the bed, so she was almost sitting. She pulled the cover over her and stared into his eyes. "It probably should, but it doesn't. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm in love with you, Sam. I think it happened the day I saw you on the beach and heard you making that mournful sound. Even so, I have no expectations of anything happening between us, except the pleasure we give one another here and now. If I become pregnant it's just a bonus of this wonderful summer, I've had with you. It will always remind me of the pleasure we shared. And how free I feel to express my love for you. I'd want your baby Sam."

  "No regrets?" he asked his voice low and sexy.

  "Not with you," she whispered, her hand going to his cheek. "It would be something I could carry back to Texas. Something that would last me a lifetime. No, I wouldn't regret loving you Sam, or your baby."

  "You're a remarkable woman, Lacey," he whispered. "But I’m not sure I could let you go back to Texas with my baby."

  That was the closest he came to declaring love, he suddenly realized and it shocked him.

  His kissed her fingers, and reached to pull the cover away. His eyes fastened on her breast with nothing short of hunger. "Dammit Babe, I don't want to hurt you," he murmured as his head dipped to caress her nipple with a tender suckling kiss. His lips were hot, wet, and inviting. She wanted more. The gentle tug he gave her nipple enflamed her. She opened her mouth and sighed aloud.

  She felt her feet react to his touch. Her feet! She couldn't believe all the sensations going through her at once every time he touched her. She wanted to feel every one of them over and over until she could conjure the feeling up herself. She pushed the thought of leaving back, out of her mind, and lived for the moment.

  His mouth moved up, around her neck, onto her earlobe where he blew warm breath against her. She shivered when his head moved again to the earlobe and he blew. His hot tongue shot out to taste her there, and then moved on to her eyes, her nose, and then finally her lips. His kiss was like an enveloping volcano of hot ash pouring over a soft rock. She murmured something against his mouth, as he backed away and stared down into her face.

  "What do you see when you look at me, Sam?" she whispered for his ears alone.

  "A beautiful goddess nymph. The kind of woman a man dreams about and never meets. A kind of woman a man doesn't want to let go of, no matter what"

  They made love into the night. Afterwards he held her close, his hands resting at her soft breast possessively.

  ***

  The next morning, he was sitting on the patio, from the bedroom; he had his pants on, but no shirt. He sat drinking coffee and glancing in at her every now and then.

  He was falling for Lacey, but there were things to settle first. He couldn't tell her yet, he had to know about himself first, and understand where he belonged.

  Would she stay here and give up teaching in Texas if he asked her to? So many unanswered questions danced in his head as he stared out over the land.

  She finally joined him and he saw she had gotten a cup of coffee too. She drank hers black, just as he did. He smiled. They did have some things in common.

  "So, what's on the agenda for today?" she asked with a teasing smile.

  "We've got some things to do. First we need to return to the original hotel, get our things. Then I want you to go with me to my 'sister's' house. How does that sound?"

  "Great, when do we leave?" she asked.

  "After we have an omelet, that I intend to make for you, and we shower."

  "Okay, I love omelet's what do you put on yours?"

  "A little of everything, tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, salsa, cheese, ham, and bacon if I have it."

  "Sounds heavenly." She stood up and stretched. "You're pampering me."

  She had donned his bathrobe from the bathroom, and his slippers and she looked so cute snuggled in them. He was determined she would not wind him around her finger today. There were things to be done, and settled. Then maybe he'd let her.

  "So, where do they live? I mean I know you said in Oregon, but where exactly?"

  "Who are you talking about?"

  "Th
is sister you've never seen?"

  "Oh, they live in the Cascade Mountains, in a homemade log cabin. She's been married for several years now and very happy from what I understand. It won't take us that long once we get to the hotel to get there, I'm sure. It isn't that far."

  "How do you know all this? About being happily married." Lacey asked, sipping her coffee and staring over the rim at him.

  "I had an investigator check them out."

  "Woe, that sounds kind of sleazy, don't you think?"

  He shrugged the statement away, "Didn't know any other way to do it. I wanted to know something about them before I just ran up there and barged in."

  "Do you think you have anything in common with her?"

  "I don't know. I hope so."

  "Are you going to tell her who you are?" Lacey watched him. "I mean right off."

  "That depends. I'm not even sure how I want to stage it. I just want to meet her, find out what kind of person she is, maybe more than that, I don't know…"

  "I guess it's natural, the wanting to know something."

  He shrugged and frowned. "You know I've thought about that a while. Had my father told me about this earlier, I might not feel so lost, or out of place. However, to wait till he was dying and then blurt it out, I don't know. It just hit me in the face. I really don't know why I'm so hung up on seeing my sister unless it's the fact I'd like to meet someone who is related to me by blood. She doesn't even know I exist. Perhaps it would shock her and give her problems she doesn't need. But I feel she needs to know about me. And I want to know about her, about myself."

  Lacey studied him a moment, "If I was your sister, and I didn't know about you, I would want to. I would want to know everything I could, I think…"

  "Really? I'm hoping that's how she'll feel."

  "Yep, now let's take a shower and get on back to the hotel. I'm running up a bill there I don't need." She chuckled.

  "You are right. Let's go take a shower."

  Her smile lit up like a Christmas tree, "Together?"

  "With you there is no other way." He smiled devilishly.

  ***

  She watched him make the omelet but chopped the veggies up herself very small and added them to it before he flipped it. Unknown to him, her mind was still on the shower. She'd never experienced such glorious lovemaking before. The way he licked the water from her body set her on fire for him, and then when they joined, he leaned her against the shower wall, while the water peppered them gently. Oblivious to the water and the steam bath they created.

  She smiled on reflecting.

  He cooked the omelets to perfection then lined tomato slices on top. She made toast and coffee while he finished up and then they sat down to eat.

  "So do you know what you are going to say when we get there?" Lacey asked him, as she took a bite.

  He shook his head, and finally answered, "No, I have no idea what I'll say. ' Hi I'm your long lost brother'. 'Hi I ran out of gas down the mountain, can you help?' I just don't know how to approach her. Maybe it will come natural when I get there. I hope."

  "Why is it so important to approach her at all? I mean, you've lived all these years without this part of your family, why now?" Lacey asked.

  "Because there's something missing. I don't know who I am Lacey. I thought I was one person before. You didn't know me then. I was working for my father, as an accountant in his lumberyard and doing everything he wanted me to do. Going to all the right schools. Dating all the right girls. Everything was sort of prearranged. I loved that old man and would have done anything for him. However, on his dying bed he tells me I'm not his son. My brother isn't my brother any longer. I don't fit any longer. That's when I moved up here. Thinking hey, I'm closer to the others now, I could go visit them. See them tell them. But do I want to do it? I don't know. I don't know them well enough to call it."

  "Sam," she reached for his hand, and covered it with her own, "You’re the same man you always were. You just have an extended family too now."

  "Lacey, I didn't fit in that other family. I did things, well, frankly because it was expected of me. Because I loved the McKay's. I still love them. But I’m not a McKay. I'm a Douglas, inside at least."

  Lacey nodded, "Okay, then we'll go see them. Together. Then maybe the whole thing will fit and you will find yourself. That is what you're trying to do, isn't it, find yourself?"

  "I know it sounds silly to anyone else, as old as I am, but perhaps it's because I am older that it's so important to me... But I have a need to find them, to be around them. To know them at least a little and decide where I do belong, once and for all."

  Lacey nodded, but scooted closer, her arm going around him, "I loved taking a shower with you," she murmured.

  He couldn't seem to stop the smile that curled around her heart. "And I thought you were beautiful when you were dry. Seeing you in the water like that, with the droplets dripping from your nipples and curling through your hair, and then when you wrapped your legs around me, all I could do was be inside you, holding you there, God you were so beautiful. The way you move with me, slowly at first and then hot and heavy..."

  Lacey chuckled, "Eat your omelet…I think I turn into someone else when you make love to me."

  "Lacey, maybe we should take this day off and just be together…." He began.

  "What do you mean? Why? Are you afraid to take the last step to finding yourself?"

  "No, not afraid, but this might be the last chance we have to be really together."

  "Why?"

  "Because once we are up there, our lovemaking has to stop. We aren't married and others might not understand our growing need for each other. Not that I don't want you every minute, but I need to take care of this. I can't concentrate on you while I'm there."

  Lacey frowned, "I haven't asked you to."

  "Hey, I want to concentrate on you, Babe, but this is something that has to be settled for me. Before anything else can happen."

  "I know that, and I don't intend to get in your way. I'll sleep on the couch or whatever, or I'll stay here while you go…"

  "No, I want you with me." He corrected. "Hell, I want to sleep with you too, but I'm not sure it's possible. Unless we tell them we're married or something."

  "You want to lie to them?" she screeched.

  "It might be worth it to have you near me." He smiled.

  She liked that reaction.

  "Okay, whatever you want, Sam." She said and started to get up and clear the table off. He drew her to him. He pulled the plush robe he wrapped her in open so he could look at her.

  She stood very still, staring down into his eyes. Waiting to see if he'd take what she would give him so freely.

  His lips caressed her mid section, hot and wet and wanting. She seemed surprised that he hadn't kissed her on the mouth, but she loved the way he kissed her and she groaned a little as he made a long trail with his lips. He pulled her hips toward him and buried his face in her as her head fell back, and her hair cascaded over her shoulders. She pulled up to grab him but he was too busy readying her. The way his nose and lips worked her, she was helpless in his arms. She hadn't known such pleasure before it shocked and pleased her.

  He stood up and picked her up in his arms, as the robe fell to the floor. His hand slipped insider her as he carried her, working her slowly into a frenzy.

  He caressed her lips and carried her up the stairs. He laid her on the bed and stared down at her. "I'll never tire of looking at you."

  Lacey shook her head, "All women are the same…"

  "You're wrong there. I'm not Romeo, but I've had a few, none as uninhibited as you. None as lovely. You're so damned provocative; I can't believe you're the same shy Lacey I first met. You move so natural. So innocent, so lovely. Just once more and then we'll leave," he whispered as he came down on top of her. Skin met skin, nipple to nipple, and then suddenly he thrust himself inside her hard and deep. She didn't object. She moaned the pleasure he aroused in her. He wasn't being
gentle, but he'd suddenly let go of his own control and plunged inside her so deep she wasn't sure where she ended and he began. He had kissed her all the way up the stairs; making her want him, need him.

  His hands were on her hips, as he kneaded the flesh there as he pulled her up and closer. He'd never seemed to go so deep, so penetrating, so hot, and needy. She felt the sweat on him, and they seemed to slide against each other as they moved in unison. He pulled up, and her with him. She took her legs and wrapped them around his middle back, as he carried her, still inside her, and carried her to the shower, their lips touching caressing each other.

  "I love you, Sam," she whispered when she walked toward the bed once more.

  "Oh babe, you make me want you again."

  "Good, it's mutual," she whispered. "I feel like I'm on a drunk for making love."

  "Want to take another shower," he invited.

  "I can't. I can't move, I may not be able to walk, after all that" She barely breathed and kissed his chin when he sat beside her and caressed her nipples with his abrasive thumbs.

  "I have to, I've got to cool off, or we'll never get out of this bed today." he chuckled.

  "Promises, promises…" she smiled.

  "Be back, if you miss me, come on in." he invited again.

  "If I do, I won't be able to get out of the shower." She laughed. "And you won't want to."

  "Don't worry, I'll help you." He winked and was gone. But he wasn't gone long before she decided she could die happy in a shower, with him.

  ***

  The next day they drove back up the mountain to the hotel and collected all their belongings, then turned their keys in.

  "Now what?" Lacey glanced at him as she looked at their luggage and the bike.

  "Now we rent a car, drive up there, and see how it goes." Sam said.

  "All right, let's go." Lacey smiled tenderly at him.

  They rented a Honda and drove toward Mt. Hood. It was a long winding drive and very scenic. Lacey kept him company and every now and then she would reach to touch him. He smiled and backed her hand away. "No more, sweet lady. Or we'll never get there." He laughed. "This does have a parking gear you know."