by J. Darling
Nik shook his head, as he said, “Jules, Jules, Jules, we’re active guys. We don’t like sitting around, waiting, while you girls do a bunch of nothing. We like to be out doing things, manly things, tough and rugged things.”
“Yeah, I second that,” Kris added, putting some bass in his voice. Then he lifted an arm, and started flexing his bicep.
“Oh, really?” Jules said. “The kind of active that has you sitting in an ice house all day, waiting for fish to bite, as you pee in a bucket? Hmmm?”
Nik smiled. “Hell, yeah! And the bucket’s just for you girls. Us tough guys, neh,” he said, shaking his head, “we just go outside. What you’re describing is heaven, and depending on who’s with you—he wiggled his eyebrows at her—heaven on earth. What you got planned is pure torture, nothing but hell on earth.” He scowled as he said the last part.
Playing their little game, Jules said, “Well, Jake’s not like that. He’d like to go shopping. Right?” she asked, as she turned and looked at him.
“Don’t answer that!” Kris whispered loudly to Jake. “You’ve been slacking on the work in the barn. You could stick around tomorrow and sling some shit or something. Let Linnie take her. If nothing else, beg for mercy, she could go to the mall while you go to Cabela’s. Let me know though, I need some stuff from the hunting department, and some fishing lures too.”
Jake shrugged. “I don’t mind shopping so much.”
“Ahhh, man,” Nik whined, as he threw his napkin on the table. “Jake, you’re killing me here. You do realize you’re setting a precedent, don’t you? Whatever you do, we’ll all have to do the same sometime down the road. Well, we could always say you were adopted.”
“You’ve been hanging around Nate too much.” Kris added. “You’re both whipped.”
“Hey, now,” Nate jumped in, snapping to attention. “You can say what you want, but at the end of the night, I’m the one snuggling up with my girl. So, I must’ve done something right.” Nate leaned over and put a kiss on Linnie’s cheek.
Nik sat up. “Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You’re saying shopping in exchange for some nookie?”
Karl Albrecht, cleared his throat. “I don’t need to be hearing this.”
“Just trying to get some pointers from a self-professed pro, Dad.”
Jules interrupted. “Well, it’s moot, because I said it’s what I was thinking I wanted to do, but what I really want to do is…go dancing.”
All the guys except Jake busted out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Jules asked perplexed.
“That’s…that’s worse than shopping!” Nik hooted, trying to stop laughing as he held his stomach. “Where are you and Fred going to go?”
Irritated, Jake interjected grumpily. “You ain’t invited.”
“Oh, I’m going to be there, Elvis. The good thing is, you can have a few drinks first. Hell, with any luck, you won’t remember a thing about it.”
“What’s so bad about dancing?” Jules asked. “It’s fun. I enjoyed dancing with all of you.”
“Chick stuff,” Kris answered with disdain. “Dancing, shopping, romantic movies, all chick stuff.”
Jules scowled at them and dug in her heels. “Well, you want the chick, and all that comes after, then you ‘men’ need to happily suffer through the ‘stuff’ is all I have to say,” Jules answered.
“I know,” Linnie cut in. “The guys can take us to the Dalles House in St. Croix. We can all dress up for an evening of dinner and dancing, sounds perfect.”
All the men groaned.
“I hear the powder’s good on the slopes,” Nate offered, in an attempt to sway the conversation.
Jules shook her head, “Skiing’s off limits. I don’t ski.”
“Snow tubing then?” Jake asked, with an encouraging smile. “That’s a lot of fun, and easy. Plus it’s supposed to be warmer tomorrow.”
Jules thought about it. “I’ve never done that before. I guess we could go tubing during the day, and then dancing in the evening. That sounds like a good compromise.”
*****
Later, after everyone had turned in for the night, Jake crawled into bed behind Jules. Snuggling up and spooning with her, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight. Now we’re talking, he thought. She’d done such a good job with him earlier, he planned on returning the favor. Putting his face to her hair, he inhaled, mmmmm, damn, he felt himself getting hard. Bringing his hand up, he smoothed back her hair, exposing her neck. Lifting his head, he began kissing her there. Shit, she tasted good, smelled good too.
“What are you doing?” she asked, groggily.
Undeterred, he responded, “What do you think I’m doing?”
Chuckling sleepily, she responded, “Giving me the royal treatment, even though I didn’t ask for any chocolate milk.”
He smiled at her humor and came back with, “Ooooh no, you’re mistaken. The royal treatment is for when you’re in front of me, face to face, standing in the kitchen, this is altogether different. Consider this a preliminary exploration of fascinating places in an attempt to plan future endeavors.”
They both laughed. He continued kissing her neck, then her ear, and he knew he was starting to have an effect on her from the little sounds she was making.
“Precious?”
“Wha—mmm?” she responded with a moan.
“Can I touch you some, sweetheart?” He sucked on her earlobe, then placed a gentle breath in her ear.
She squirmed, then whispered, “You really want to do that?”
He paused for a moment, thinking. “Ahhh, yeah, I do.”
“Alright,” she whispered.
Holy hell, she’d said yes. “Stop me, if I do something you don’t want, okay?” Once he said it, he hoped she wouldn’t feel the need to.
“I will,” she answered with a nod.
He knew where he wanted to go first. Moving his upper hand down, he stroked her outer thigh, then worked his way up and under, thanking his lucky stars her pajamas bottoms were stretchy. Making contact with her skin, he slowly moved his hand down, while noticing her breathing had increased. Coming to her hip bone, he found what he was looking for. Following the edge of lace back, he soon had her bottom in his hand, and loved what he was feeling, a nice bare butt cheek. He began his ministrations, attending to this area in great detail.
“You do realize you’ve been gypped out of some fabric back here, right? Not that I’m complaining,” he teased, as he nibbled on her shoulder
She laughed. “They’re called cheekinis, and they’re supposed to be that way.”
“Mmmmm, they are nice, for sure. I, for one, would like to meet the fashion genius who designed them, they deserve an award.” He began kissing her neck again, as his hand began traveling north.
She gasped, her breathing heavy. “They’re…one of my favorites. I have tons of them.”
He stopped, remembering the contents of her suitcase. “Tons? You have a thing for sexy lingerie?” he said, feigning ignorance.
She sagged in his arms, then nodded as she panted.
He turned her onto her back, and tried to see her in the dark, but couldn’t. He’d reached her breasts, and when he’d rolled her onto her back, her top had ridden up some. She was wearing a silky bra, and he could feel lace on the top half of her breasts. “I like what I’m feeling,” he said, nuzzling and kissing her neck.
“Mmhmm,” she murmured, as she ran her hands over his shoulders.
Tugging on her shirt, wanting to bring it up a little more, it wouldn’t give, so he gave it a little more muscle. It went up, and up, and up. He tried to stop it, he really did, but she’d straightened her arms over her head and he had it off her in a flash. Whoops. Hell, this was like Christmas, and he was unwrapping his best present. Trying to look at her again, he let himself imagine what she looked like right now, and his head spun.
Propping himself up on his forearm, he lay next to her, kissing his way up her neck. When he reached
her ear, he whispered, “I love sexy lingerie. It’s kind of naughty though, don’t you say?”
She put her hand on his face and pushed him away. “Shhhh, you’re embarrassing me, and I’m trying to pay attention in class.”
He chuckled and kissed her hand. “Naughty’s good, sweetheart. I’m way into naughty with you.” He nuzzled her neck, attended to her collarbone, and slid the forefinger of his free hand back and forth over the lace. Slowly working his way down, he placed tiny kisses along the tops of her breasts, causing her to squirm and wiggle.
“Jake?” she called out in a rush.
“What, sweetheart?” he said, as he began kissing his way back up, his finger switching to the other breast.
“This feels too good,” she answered, as she took a deep breath, expanding her chest.
“It’s supposed to feel good,” he assured her, smiling as he nuzzled and nibbled her neck. He added a little thumb to the finger action.
She moaned. “But…but this feels too good.” She took a few quick breaths. “Oh, Jake, I think we could be in trouble.”
He chuckled, as he continued the tease, while putting tiny kisses on her face. “No, no trouble. I’m just going to return the favor. You took care of me, I’m going to take care of you. Fair’s fair, sweetheart,” he answered as he kneaded and tweaked.
“Can you do that?” she asked with a whimper, turning her face to his chest and kissing him there. “I mean, won’t it be too hard for you?”
Now he laughed. “No, I got it covered. You did such a good job with me, I can do this. No problem.”
She lifted her head to him and kissed him on the lips. “You sure?”
He nodded as he made his way down. “Very sure,” he answered, with a tweak and a nip.
“Mmm,” she responded, as she arched her back. “Jake,” she called out.
“What?”
“Two hands, please.”
*****
Jules was humming with pleasure. This felt wonderful. She’d had erotic feelings before, but nothing this intense, and this was with a bra on. Wow, he was ever so fine, and knew just what to do. Moaning, she wanted more, a lot more, but knew that had “bad idea” written all over it. His mouth was on her, and she felt him slide her bra strap over her shoulder, then it stopped, as he kissed his way down her chest. Ohhh, she thought, don’t stop, please keep going.
Massaging her breasts, he teased her with his nose and mouth, adding a gentle stubble rub here and there. She was out of breath and beside herself with pleasant frustration, when he began to move lower. Oh boy, he was going to have a stroke. Why had she done it, she shouldn’t have done it. Threading her fingers through his hair, she hoped to distract him. No luck, he was on a mission and heading lower, and she was lax for stopping him.
Pulling on his shoulders, he responded by sliding on top of her as he continued his downward study, one hand teasing and tweaking, while the other moved around her waist and inside her pajamas, where he kneaded and massaged her bottom. He scooted down some more, continuing to kiss and nibble his way along. Grabbing at the waistband of her bottoms, he gently tugged them down a bit, and she heard him gasp.
His head snapped up, and she could feel him looking at her. “Precious, what’s this, hmmm?” he asked, with a smile in his voice. “First sexy lingerie, and now this…You sure are full of surprises, sweetheart. I want to see, I need to see this.”
CHAPTER 10
As Jake reached for the lamp on the nightstand, Jules quickly pulled her bottoms up to cover her middle. This is all Linnie’s fault, she thought, I never should’ve listened to her.
“Man, you’re blushing. Well hell, look at that. When you blush, you blush all over! Damn woman, that’s hot. Can I see? Please…let me see.”
She covered her face with her arm. “You already know what it is. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”
He crawled up her body quick, nudging her arm out of the way, then kissed her long and deep, leaving her breathless. Looming large over her, he nibbled and sucked his way up her neck to her ear, making her moan. “Please,” he begged.
She looked at him from heavy lidded eyes, and he gave her a quick peck on the lips. Then pulling back, he looked at her with the most hope filled face, as he nodded in encouragement.
“Pretty please,” he begged some more.
“I’m embarrassed.”
He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Why? I find it intriguing, and I want to see it. I want to see it, and you.”
“Oh, fine! Look.” She growled and scowled in frustration.
He was up on his hands and down to her waist in a flash. Hooking her waistband, he tugged her bottoms down to her hip bones and whistled through his teeth. “Damn, that’s sexy! I love the way it settles into your belly button. What is it?”
“Amber,” she responded, covering her face again as she blushed.
“Damn! I don’t even need to see your face to know you’re blushing, I can see it all the way down here!”
She groaned. “Would you stop?”
“No way! You’re so frickin beautiful.” He tugged her arm from her face. “Look at me. Amber’s the color, but what kind of stone is it?”
She let out a sigh. “It’s Baltic Amber.”
“Really? I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s a fossil, and comes from the Baltic Sea region off Sweden’s coast. It’s supposed to have healing properties, and some say it dances with energy when they touch it. When I was little, Nana used to tell me stories about Jūratė and Kastytis and the Castle of Amber.”
“Honestly? That’s sweet! Man, I can’t see you going in and getting pierced though. What gives? How’d you get it?”
“Oh, that would be Linnie’s fault.”
“Linnie? She did it?” he asked, looking surprised.
Jules shook her head. “No. One of the nurses from the hospital where she worked was having a tattoo and piercing party. Linnie wanted a belly button ring, and wanted me to get one with her, an act of sisterhood kind of thing. So, we agreed to do it together. I went first, and while I was having it done, the woman next to me was hollering and carrying on so much, that Linnie chickened out and wouldn’t do it. By then, mine was in. That’s where that little saying ‘I’m going to quit listening to you, it just gets me into trouble every time,’ comes from.”
He laughed. “I like it, a lot,” he said, studying her. “It’s a nice sized gem and fits your belly button perfectly, and I love the color. Tell me the Castle of Amber story.”
“Jūratė was a beautiful goddess, who lived far removed from others at the bottom of the Baltic Sea in Amber Castle. Kastytis was a fisherman, who loved to sing as he fished the waters around Amber Castle making a living. Jūratė loved listening to him sing while he fished. Once he cast his nets far and wide, landing them over Amber Castle. Jūratė sent warning for him not to fish there, but he didn’t listen.
So, she went to him herself, and ended up falling in love with his courage, his beauty, and his voice. She took him to Amber Castle, and when it became known that she’d broken the rules by falling in love with a mortal, her Amber Castle was destroyed by a bolt of lightning, and she was ordered chained within its ruins. Kastytis was rocked asleep by the waves and taken from her. She cries for him to this day, and her tears wash ashore in the form of small pieces of amber.”
“Wow, that’s cool, I never heard that one before,” he responded. “It seems awfully sad though, don’t you think?”
She smiled, watching him as he moved the piece of amber around, studying the back of it. “You think so? It’s the ultimate love story, they could ruin the castle and separate the two of them, but they couldn’t stop the love. It’s epic.”
He laughed and pushed on her hips, trying to move her. “Stand up, let me see it that way.”
“What?” she asked, feeling uncertain, thinking he’d lost his mind.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “Stand up, so I can see it when y
ou’re standing.”
Getting up, she mumbled in embarrassment, “This is crazy.”
He shook his head as he sat on the edge of the bed. “No it’s not, it’s sexy. You’re sexy, and…” He whistled. “Nice! Come here, stand in front of me. Mmmm…” He started kissing her tummy as he tugged on her bottoms.
She started laughing. “What are you doing? That tickles.” She pushed him back, pulled her pajama bottoms up, then crawled back into bed, laying on her side. “You’re being silly.”
Rolling her onto her back, he said, “No I’m not. I want to look at you. I like looking at you. You’re just one surprise after another.” Then he kissed her passionately. Pulling back, he looked at her with the most charming smile. “Please. I’m being good you know. I deserve a reward for good behavior. I took those cold, slimy, flapping fishies off your hook, remember? And don’t forget, I stuck my arm into that ice cold, freezing water for you, when I could’ve easily been bit by some unknown creature, and I gutted them too, don’t forget that.”
She laughed. “Guilt? You’re resorting to guilt. Your reward was that I shared them with you at supper, remember.”
“But you’re my dessert, and I like this dessert. Please, can we lose the bottoms?”
She blushed a deep red. “Jake, I’m…shy. I can’t believe I’m lying here without a top on right now. The only thing that’s making it okay, is that I’ve convinced myself it’s no different than wearing a bikini.”
He kissed her again. “I get it, but it’s just us, and all I’m going to do is look at you, and touch you some. We can leave your bra and cheekie things on, if that’d make you feel better, and we won’t do anything you don’t want to do.”
Rolling onto her stomach, she pushed herself up onto her forearms and looked at him over her shoulder. “Promise?” she asked. “Bra and cheekini’s stay on, and just touching?”
