“The bar has always been his idea. I see now he was conning me so he could hang out in here.” Mr. Hyland chuckled and peered at her name tag. “What’s your last name, Rory?”
“Mitchell.” She nodded when he raised his brows. “Francine Mitchell is my sister.”
He said nothing, and Rory experienced her customary urge to apologize for the relation.
“I knew your grandfather when he worked here, and your mother, for a time.”
Rory was startled at the mention of her mother. “You remember her?”
“Of course I do. She was here for five years before she got sick. Seems as though this place is a family tradition for you.”
“Not for much longer. This is my last summer here.”
“Oh?”
“I’m leaving to go to school at the end of summer.”
“Halifax?”
She shook her head. “Moncton.”
“Ah.” She caught a hint of concern in his voice, and knew what he was thinking: that this was just a summer fling for his son.
But then he went on. “I’d like it if you came up to the house one day for lunch. My wife has been asking Noah, but he says you’re always working.”
“I do. I mean, I am. I work mornings at Garden View, except for Tuesday.” She tried to talk herself out of what she was about to say next, but it was no good. It was coming out whether she liked it or not. “I could come by before I start work here.”
“Tuesday it is, then,” he said decisively, and slid his drink towards her. He’d barely drank a third of it. “I’ll give you some fair warning, I’m going to have a meeting with Francie tomorrow. This bullshit about smiling pretty when someone is putting his hands where they don’t belong doesn’t fly with me. Your sister is an efficient worker, but sometimes I think she forgets what decade we’re in. I know there are only a few more weeks in the summer, but if anything like this happens again I want security called immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
He went into his pocket and pulled out a twenty, then held it up. “None of this goes into the till. This is for you.”
“I can’t--”
“If you don’t take it, I’ll have it added to your pay.” He slapped the money on the bar and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Do me a favor and let him chauffeur you to and from work when he asks. I’m tired of hearing about how you could get attacked by coyotes on the way home.”
She bit her lip to keep in her laughter as Mr. Hyland headed into the lobby.
Tom appeared out of nowhere. “Thank God everyone is finally gone. I’ve been dying to know what exactly happened here tonight.”
“I’ll let Noah tell you at the beach tonight,” she told him, and glanced at the clock. “Twenty minutes to go. Is that it?”
“Once I put their card through.”
“Good. I think we can cash out and lock up a few minutes early without getting nailed for it.”
When they’d cashed out and tidied up, she and Tom exited through the kitchen and met the usual crowd outside, including Noah and Fiona. In the week since he’d tracked her down at Mermaid, he’d been a regular participant in their nightly swims. If it had been the previous summer, the four year age gap between them would have been felt much more, but now they all felt as though they were in the same sphere with the uncertain future in front of them. Noah fit right in, and the previous Saturday had hosted a barbecue and camp-out at his property for those who could make it.
“I thought you were going home,” Rory said to Fiona.
“Like I’m going to sit for three hours by myself and talk to my brother.”
Rory latched onto Noah’s arm. “You okay?”
“Good. I need to cool off a little more, but I’ve calmed down a bit.”
“Then we won’t talk about it again.” She wrapped her arm around his waist as they headed to the shore. “Just so there are no surprises, I’m having lunch with your parents on Tuesday. I should have checked with you first, but I didn’t feel like I could say no.”
He laughed and wrapped his other arm around her, squeezing her as they walked. “He tends to have that effect on people. So do I.”
“Don’t I know it?”
*****
What remained of July crept into August so sneakily that Rory wanted to tear the calendar off the wall in the kitchen. Just a month earlier she had been looking forward to packing her things in her grandfather’s car and riding with him to the mainland, but now she just wanted to forget there was a plan to leave.
She didn’t want to talk about September. The first month of summer had been wonderful, and now the weight of the few weeks--days, really--that were left here with Noah were starting to crush down on her.
Rory could see it in him, too, beginning not long after her first dinner at his folks’ vacation house down by the harbor. He tried to keep it hidden, but she could see the change in his eyes. It was like a light going out, and he didn’t quite smile like he used to.
She imagined she wore the same expression on her face most of the time, and looking at him was a little like looking in a mirror.
Rory was determined to get the most out of him while she had him. September would never come unless she let it. Summer would go on and on and on if she didn’t think of September.
She hadn’t put up a fight when he asked her to take just one full day-and-a-half off from both jobs so they could have a night on the town. To his credit, he’d been tricky about it and taken advantage of the fact that she’d invited him for her Sunday lunch with her grandfather. The second she started to say she couldn’t afford to take the time off, her grandfather fussed and Dawna swooped in and offered to juggle the schedule so she could take off the same day she had off at The White Tip. By the time lunch was finished, Noah was laughing and Rory was giving him hell as she counted out the money her grandfather had given her to blow on the excursion.
“This is such a waste,” she moaned once they had checked into their waterfront hotel. “Your cottage is twenty minutes away. Mine is twenty-five.”
“And I don’t want to have to stay sober to drive us both back. God, do you never spend money for fun?”
“You have to have money to have fun with it.”
“Don’t give me that, not after your grandfather moaned about how you wouldn’t take any of his money.”
Rory grumped around the suite and had to admit that it was pretty sweet. A soaker tub and chocolates on the pillows. A view of the harbor. She had a minor meltdown when she came out of the shower to find him munching on expensive chocolate from the mini bar, but he quickly put an end to it by pulling off her towel and testing out just how soundproofed the room was.
“The mall closes at nine,” he reminded her, gorgeous and rumpled with a crisp white sheet draped over his midsection.
“It’s ridiculous.”
“Either you go out and buy me something special, or else we can get in the car and drive home.”
The threat irked her as she rode the elevator to the ground floor. He was turning her into a sex maniac. He’d followed up the lime green vibrator with a variety pack of flavored lube they’d gone through within a week. Now it was her turn to up the ante with a trip to the nearby mall and drop a hundred dollars’ worth of her twenties at the lingerie shop.
She got her revenge upon her return by jerking the bag out of his reach when he went for it, and told him he could see what was inside when they got back from dinner. She did, however, show off the fire-engine red bra and panties set she had picked up. As his hot gaze traveled over her, she was glad she had risen to his challenge.
Dinner was intimidating even for a girl who had worked in a place like The White Tip. While the dining room where she worked could be described as swanky, they didn’t skimp on comfort food like fish and chips or hamburgers. Prince Albert served up tiny portions on misshapen dishes, and dessert was a crème brûlée that was caramelized right at their table.
Their walk along the waterfront was her
favorite part of the evening. She felt light on her feet as they strolled arm in arm, with Noah pulling her into a kiss whenever the whim struck him.
“I know this is supposed to be romantic, but thinking about what you have hidden in the closet has me so horny right now.” he murmured as they headed back along the boardwalk.
He dragged her back, hands firm on her hips, and wiggled behind her so she could feel his cock poking through his dress pants.
She glanced around as pushed back against him and, certain they were relatively secluded on the little pathway, and lifted the hem of her sun dress. “You’re not the only one.”
He tucked his hand between her legs and rubbed her damp crotch. “Have you ever screwed in a hotel before?”
“The only time I’ve ever been in a hotel was a seventh grade trip to Montreal.”
He brushed his mouth across her bare shoulder. “I can’t wait to show you what you’ve been missing.”
“Show me.” Rory tipped her head back and welcomed his kiss.
He didn’t hold her hand as they headed back. His fist firmly clamped on her wrist. It was such a blatant exhibition of ownership that by the time they reached the hotel and stepped on the elevator that he could have taken her right there and she wouldn’t have pushed him away.
Once they spilled into the suite, Rory shoved him away and darted to the closet for her little black and pink bag.
She slipped into the bathroom while Noah was already stripped down.
“I hope you don’t plan to start without me,” she teased as she nudged the door.
“Don’t take too long. My imagination might run a little wild and I might not be able to help myself.”
Rory stood before the expansive vanity and held up the babydoll gown she’d bought. She wondered if it was too risqué. Then she wondered if it was too tame. It certainly was pretty, pale blue with black lace trimming. As she slipped it on, she almost felt a change come over her.
Backing up as far as she could, she twisted and turned to admire herself. The babydoll boasted a full bra barely held together by a strip of black ribbon. The open front revealed a peek of belly before flaring outward, leaving the matching panties on display.
She felt more womanly. She looked more womanly.
She hoped Noah liked it.
Stepping into the bedroom, she faltered at first sight of him. He had sprawled out on the bed, naked as the day he was born, head propped up on the pillows.
“Jesus,” he said.
Shyness pinched her. She chased it away and moved closer to the bed. As Noah’s gaze slid over her and with the sprig of arousal she twirled around.
“Better than my bikini?”
“What?” He seemed startled by the question. He shook his head and moved up onto his knees. “Yeah--no--I mean, I like the bikini, but this is … naughty.”
With his last word, a delightful rumble took over his voice and his stare became hungry.
He wrapped his hand around his dick and began to stroke it. “Come over here.”
Her excitement sparked so hot it was a wonder she didn’t set the drapes on fire. She crawled onto the foot of the bed. Facing him on her knee, her pose mirrored his, right down to her fingers stroking over the barely-there lace.
“Closer,” he whispered, and brushed the front of the gown.
She caught his hand and held it as she scooted forward. “I’m glad you talked me into this.”
“I’m glad you let me.”
He lowered his head to her shoulder and snagged the dainty strap in his teeth. Rory giggled as he released it and rubbed his scruffy chin against her neck.
“I don’t know whether to rip this off of you or fuck you in it.”
“Leave it on,” she purred. “You can take the panties off, but leave the rest on.”
“With you on top,” he muttered. The motion of his lips over sensitive skin sent a shiver through her.
Rory sighed and pressed his hand against her pussy. “From behind.”
He groaned and slipped his fingers beneath the crotch. He rubbed the tips through the wet heat. Once his kisses met her lips, he shoved to the knuckle.
A game of push and pull began. Rory made the first move, shuffling forward to get him onto his back, but Noah won. She let him win, let him hook her under the knee and flip her onto her back.
“Don’t say it,” he said with a chuckle.
Rory raised her hips as his thumb twitched around her clit. “Say what?”
“We could have done this at home.”
She shook her head against the plush duvet. It wasn’t in answer to his sarcastic remark, but the dual pleasure he was creating. “I’m all yours.”
He withdrew and tugged her panties. “God, I hate to even take these off. They’re so pretty and frilly but they’re also so …”
Noah ended with a growl and tucked his fingers under the elastic.
Rory lifted her hips, but he quickly changed his mind. Instead of pulling them off, he stretched the fabric aside and bent.
She reached down to cup his head, but he brushed them aside. One look told her he wanted to be able to look up at her while his tongue did its wicked work. Splaying her out was as much a part of this fantasy as the hotel suite and the lingerie.
She spread for him, parted the gown to expose her belly, and rested her hands over her head.
If he wanted to, he could have gotten her off in a matter of minutes. He knew right where that particularly sensitive bundle of nerves was, but he evaded it with his tongue again and again until she was red-faced and begging him for more.
Noah pushed down. He muttered something that could have been “baby” or “Rory” or something else altogether, but she felt it more than heard it as he licked around her clit. The vibration zipped through her and slipped off her own tongue with a gasp. She bucked up, ass off the mattress, and quickly found herself turned over onto her knees.
She bowed low, rendered silent by the sudden brusqueness of it all, and remained in her pose as he wrapped his dick and tugged her panties down. The hem of the babydoll went up to the middle of her back. Expecting the tip of his cock where she wanted it the most, Rory arched up, only to whimper as he rubbed his hard shaft between her nether lips.
“Put your hand over it,” he said quickly.
Rory obeyed and moaned from the sudden motion against her clit. Compared to the methodical swipe of his tongue, the chaotic friction didn’t inspired begging but sobbing. The intensity was too much and she released him, but Noah captured her hand and held it in place.
“Come on, honey. You know I like you nice and wet when I ride you.”
And then, the catalyst. The pressure of his hand at the nape of her neck, fingers in her hair. Not tugging. Not hurting. Merely holding. For a frantic series of heartbeats, Rory went stiff with the shock of it. Then, the significance of it hit her.
Mine.
It wasn’t something he would say out loud, but in the weeks she had known him she had learned that with a look, with a touch, Noah could say so much more.
With her realization came stars before her eyes, white hot and sparking through her entire body. She gurgled, smothered and paralyzed as her heart drummed against the onslaught.
She took it as long as she could. She let him thrust against her until her sensitive clit could take no more, and then made a fist between her throbbing pussy and his palm. He relented, releasing her hand and neck at once. Rory bowed into the bedding, shaking as she tried to catch her breath as he stroked up and down her back.
As her senses went from electric to tingling, she pushed up.
There, again, at the back of her neck while the other hand moved to rest above her ass. He moved quietly but quickly. He stretched her with the tip in one heartbeat and filled her with the second.
He could be a master of words when it was her pleasure he manipulated, but when it came to taking for himself he merely took. He met each shove with a moan that rattled from the back of his throat. She trie
d to lay her head down, but he wouldn’t let her out of his reach. He pinched down, not enough to hurt her but to make it clear he wanted her as she was.
The steady friction of his cock against her inner wall quickly reignited her. She used her weight and pushed back against him, meeting his every thrust with a stinging slap of his belly against her ass. The bed, unanchored to the headboard, shook and creaked as the momentum built.
Noah thrust so hard and groaned that she was sure he had reached the end, but as she shunted back he withdrew. He turned her over again, and pulled her panties completely off, pushed her legs apart and with a jut of his hips filled her up.
Delirious with the heat that pulsed beneath her hands and between her legs, Rory held onto him as he pounded into her. He hovered over her, red-faced and demonic, staring down at her with the most intense stare she had ever seen on him.
His gaze flicked from her face so briefly she nearly missed it, and just as quickly he reached out and yanked the ribbon holding her bodice together. Rory quickly split the gown apart, then grasped the bedding over her head.
“Fuck me, baby,” she said in a pant, and tucked her knees against his ribs. “Fuck me so good.”
With one fierce thrust he impaled her. With his cock throbbing and his semen jetting against the tip of the condom, his tongue finally loosened. Words poured out, gurgling as he was emptied.
One last word and he deflated, heaving with his cheek against her shoulder.
Rory stared at the ceiling, arms still around him but too startled to move.
One last word.
One devastating word reaching out to her from amidst that frenzy of meaningless words.
“…love…”
Her mind raced, unable to hold onto a single thought as calm settled in the man on top of her.
He didn’t mean it.
It’s just something that came out in the moment.
Don’t cry. Please don’t cry.
But something had shifted. As he pushed up and away from her, she felt it. He didn’t look at her as he settled back and quietly discarded the condom.
After a long time, he spoke.
All To Myself Page 9
