The Perfect Indulgence (11 page)

They reached the front of the house, where she was jolted higher onto his shoulder. Then again.

“What are you
doing
? I’d like to keep dinner inside, where it belongs.”

“Getting...keys from my...pocket.”

She couldn’t stop laughing. “You’re going to
kill
me!”

“Nah.” The door opened and he brought her in, kicked it shut, hesitated, sweeping the beam of the flashlight back and forth, then resolutely marched them...somewhere.

Then she was being lowered to her feet and was not at all surprised to find herself in a bedroom, Zac’s light searching around. An amazing and enormous bedroom. Crazy paintings and sculptures covered the walls and surfaces. Contorted, misshapen bodies tangled around each other, and strangely combined animals roamed eerie mountain and woodland settings. The flashlight created wavering shadows that stretched and contracted across the walls and ceiling.

“Wow. Is your friend a collector or an artist? Or both?”

“Friend of a friend, and I have no idea. Not my kind of art, anyway.” He struck a match, lit a kerosene lamp next to the king-size bed and replaced the glass chimney. A warm, steady glow lit their side of the large room, a surprising amount of light given the flame’s tiny size. But the effect was still, frankly, creepy.

“She doesn’t have electricity?”

“Apparently she’s an off-the-grid kind of woman.”

“Well.” Chris looked around, nodding politely. She was still glad they weren’t camping, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to make love for the first time with Zac in a Grimm’s fairy tale, either. She didn’t think she’d be able to relax and think sexy thoughts with a half bear, half reptile glaring at her. “It’s...interesting.”

“I have a better idea.” He caught her chin and kissed her. “Do you need to use the bathroom first?”

“Mmm, probably should.” She was not sure she’d ever get enough of his mouth.

“We passed one. Out in the hall, first door on the right.”

Inside the bathroom, Chris lit a candle and freshened up, grinning at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were large, lips pink and full. She looked happy. Happier than she had in a while. She felt more alive, too, and more free, as if she’d stripped off too-tight shapewear. She even really liked her own hair.

The smile turned troubled. Hadn’t she spent the past few months thinking she was finally alive and free, having risen above the shackles of routine and self-control? What was this, then?
Jumbo
alive and free? Maybe she was just giddy with anticipation. But something felt profoundly different about this mood.

Shrugging, she finished drying her hands and hung the leopard-print hand towel back on the gold towel rack. This whole self-transformation thing was turning out to be really confusing.

Zac met her in the hallway with his flashlight, the creepy bedroom dark again behind him. “Ready?”

“We’re doing it right here?”

He chuckled. She loved that low, deep laugh of his. Though when it was at her expense she still wanted to smack him. “How about we take a look at the beach? My friend said something about shelters out there. We can at least check them out.”

“I would love that.”

Outside the air was chilly and she was glad for her sweatshirt and even gladder for Zac’s warm body next to her and his arm across her shoulders, though the house sat in a protected cove, which kept the breeze and waves gentle. Overhead the sky was crammed with stars, blotted out in large patches where clouds floated overhead. Chris could also see what looked like a couple of small cabins—this time the word was appropriate—between the house and the water. As she and Zac neared, the structures came into better focus and turned out to be...

Oh. My. God.

She turned to Zac at the same time he turned to her. She didn’t need the flashlight to know they were both grinning. The cabins weren’t cabins at all, but curtained beachside cabanas, wooden posts at four corners, fabric tented over the top, pulled back to reveal the sky to the occupants.

And they had beds. Big ones. Full or queen.

Chris walked around the perimeter to the ocean side, feet sinking into the soft sand, breathing in the salty sea air. “I think I might have to be appallingly rich someday myself.”

“Yeah?” He’d crawled onto the bed and was lighting a propane lamp hanging from the ceiling.

“I mean, I think I deserve a mansion with a private cove, don’t you?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” He offered her a hand to climb up on the bed.

“I suppose.” She turned to sit on the edge of the mattress, then let herself fall back. A breeze blew across her, undulating the curtains. The lamp above them turned out to be a heater, which kept the chill from being unpleasant. “Zac, this is incredible.”

“Better than the circle-of-hell bedroom back there?” He lay down next to her.

“Much.” Inhaling deeply, Chris stretched her arms up toward the sky. “Look at the stars.”

“Look at the beautiful woman in bed with me,” he whispered.

She turned, smiling, to find him gazing at her in a gravely awestruck way that made her smile fade, and a solemn, sweet feeling take its place.

Zac moved first; their lips met, clung, met again. Their bodies drew toward each other, arms encircling, legs tangling. Zac didn’t seem in the hurry she’d come to expect from men, tasting every part of her lips—one at a time, both together, then the corners of her mouth.

The effect was a remarkable mixture, drugging her nearly into a trance, while at the same time sparking a low burn of arousal that grew until she was the one ready to take things further.

She rolled Zac onto his back and unbuttoned his shirt, taking her time, kissing the skin that was revealed inch by inch. His chest was smooth and well-muscled, warm and inviting. She lingered over one nipple, bathing it with her tongue, pleased by his soft groan of pleasure.

He half raised his body to help her take off his shirt, then she pushed him back down, feeling strong and free and oddly without self-doubt, as if she’d made love to him before and knew what he liked and how he liked it.

The fly on his jeans she undid next—more buttons where she expected a zipper, but they gave one after another without her having to fumble. Underneath, a bulge covered by smooth gray cotton. Chris pressed her face to the soft material, inhaling his scent, moving her lips across the hard length of his penis, loving the way he held still for her, his hand lightly threaded into her hair, not pushing, not guiding her, but letting her explore at her own pace.

Slowly, she worked his jeans down over his strong thick thighs, over his long shins and beach-toughened feet.

“Wait...in the pocket,” he whispered. “Condoms.”

Chris grinned. She had a bunch stuffed into her pockets, too. At least they’d be well supplied.

She pulled the packets out of his jeans and tucked them under one of the pillows, then returned to her task, dragging his boxer briefs down over his erection, which sprang eagerly free.

His body was beautiful, long, lean and masculine, dominating the bed. She felt strangely moved by the trust she had in him not to abuse his power.

“There’s a problem, Chris.”

“What is it?” She echoed his whisper, even though they could probably shout and no one would hear them.

“Only one of us is naked.”

“Hmm.” She kissed the tip of his penis, then took the first inch slowly into her mouth and let it back out. “What do you suggest?”

“Take your clothes off for me.”

She took him in between her lips again, farther this time, loving the way he reacted with a sharp breath, his hands making fists against the white sheets but his body keeping still.

After a minute or two of tormenting him with her mouth, she let him go and knelt next to him, drawing her top up and over her head, hoping to torment him in a different way. Under it she wore a lacy black bra that earned a murmur of masculine approval, which encouraged her. She reached behind her to unhook it, and with a start realized she had no worries about the size and shape of her breasts, or whether Zac would find them too small, too pointed, too whatever.

Chris was enjoying this fling so much. No anxiety, no worries about whether she was right for him or he for her, just
here I am, here you are, let’s do this
.

The bra slid off. Zac’s cock jumped. “Mmm, Chris, you are so hot.”

Her confidence grew even more. She slid her knit pants down her hips, sat on the bed to kick them off, then knelt back on the mattress, watching him enjoy the sight of her breasts, then drop his gaze expectantly to her panties.

She let him wait until he looked up questioningly and caught her sly smile.

Mistake.

Growling, he lunged and yanked down her panties, toppled her over and dragged them off, tossing them over his shoulder onto the sand.

Then his hands clamped on her hips and he lowered his face until it hovered between her legs, abruptly silencing her shrieks and giggles.

Oh, my.

The cool breeze blew over her, the waves rolled in, the heater whirred.

At the first touch of his tongue Chris nearly lifted off the bed. The warm, wet strokes were doubly intense after she’d been lying wide-open to the chill of the night air. Taking her cue from him, she relaxed instead of straining her hips to his mouth as her body was begging her to do, allowing him to control the process.

Within minutes she discovered that not moving allowed her to concentrate minutely on the intimate movements of his tongue, on the slippery wetness and the skillfully varying strokes and pressures.

His fingers joined his tongue, spreading her labia, allowing him to travel down and around, painting her fully.

Chris moaned and lifted her head, let it drop, clutching at the sheets, on the verge of going over again. She hadn’t thought she’d be able to come twice, now she was barely able to hold back.

“Zac.”

“Mmm?”

“Not now. Not yet. I want to come with you inside me.”

“You will.” He thrust a finger up into her, closing his lips over her clitoris and sucking hard. Chris gave a choked yell and a second orgasm swept her, lifting her to a burning peak for one long, nearly unbearably intense moment before the sensation burst and spread, leaving her convulsing under Zac’s mouth, her internal muscles squeezing around his finger.

Eventually, she recovered sufficiently to speak again, between still-fast breaths. “Oh. My. Gosh.”

He kissed her clitoris lingeringly, nuzzled the inside of each thigh, then kissed his way up her stomach. “You liked that?”

“Um. Yes?” She laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. “But we have another problem now.”

“What’s that?” He lay next to her, propped up on his elbow, hand possessively on her stomach, his erection poking her side.

“I’m ahead by two.”

His deep chuckle delighted her. “Yeah, I’m pretty pissed off about that.”

“I don’t blame you.” She slid her hand surreptitiously under the pillow, looking for a condom. “It’s greedy of me.”

He shook his head mournfully. “Pret-ty selfish.”

She came up with a packet and held it to his chest, then pushed him over on his back. “Your turn.”

“Oh, boy.” He was so eager she found herself giggling again. She’d never been able to play like this in bed, to laugh and not take the lovemaking completely seriously. This change was delightful.

Had she mentioned she liked flings?

“Hold still, Zac. This won’t hurt a bit.” She tore open the packet and rolled the condom onto his erection, which was so hard she had no trouble whatsoever.

He helped her to straddle him, grasping her hips and guiding her over him. “Now?”

“No, no, not yet. First we’re going to have a long discussion about—”

“Now.” His strong hands pushed downward. His cock found her, pressing strongly, demanding entrance.

She closed her eyes, savoring the hardness between her legs, the promise of joining to him in this incredibly intimate way. “I guess now is okay.”

“Mmm, good.” He let her weight sink her down, allowing the tip of his cock inside her, stretching her, sending nerve signals firing.

Chris gasped and let out a moan, unable to believe how she could still be this turned on after coming twice tonight. She lifted, then sank again, her arousal increasing. Once more and she was rewarded with the long, slow, easy slide of Zac’s erection inside her, and the ragged breath, almost of relief, that told her this felt really, really good to him, too.

She rocked her pelvis back and forth, concentrating on the length of him filling her completely. “Mmm, Zac, that is really nice.”

“Yes.” He spoke tersely. “
Really
nice.”

Smiling, she planted her hands forward on the bed, and lifted and lowered her hips, savoring the slip and slide of him, in and out, in and out.

“Chris.” He was breathing with difficulty, hands urging her along as she pumped him.

She opened her eyes to find him watching her, jaw clenched, chin jutting, and pretended concern. “Hey, are you okay? You look sort of...desperate.”

“Um. Yeah. You’re making me kind of nuts.”

“Gee, is that bad?”

“At my age I’m supposed to be able to last all night.”

“So I must be doing something wrong?” She lifted up off her hands, balancing her weight over her thighs, and crossed her arms behind her head, arching her back, riding him harder, up and down, up and down...

“No.” He was barely able to speak. “Definitely not... Oh, my sweet—”

A breath hissed out between his clenched teeth, his fingers dug into her hips. He gave a brief yell and held her still over him and she felt him pulsing inside her, over and over until he gave a soft groan and lay still.

Pleasure welled up inside her, too. She felt crazy sexy, like nothing she’d ever felt before. Maybe it was the romance of the cabana, the wild isolation of the cove and the distant awesome beauty of the stars. But she suspected it had more to do with the man in this beautiful bed.

“Come down here with me.” He pulled her on top of him, wrapping his arms around her.

Chris burrowed against his chest, closing her eyes, inhaling the warm skin under her cheek.