God but he was gorgeous. Just looking at him sleeping made her horny. Broad shoulders and smooth back, flat ass, long legs pulled up slightly. The calm, reassuring rhythm of his breathing.
The days had flown by on a magic carpet of sun, water, pine scent and the best sex of her life. Mornings began with lazy passion, punctuated with giggles, sighs, moans and shrieks. Long afternoons sunning nude on the deck, a newly installed motion activated brass bell alerted them to approaching visitors. Warm nights on a blanket by the water, covered with nothing but stars and the watchful Moon Goddess.
July Fourth.
As a child, it had both excited and saddened her. Spirit Cove, decked out in its most festive, most patriotic red, white and blue, the daylong festivities in the park. Hot dogs and sack races and Sousa marches filling the air. Fireworks lit the sky, reflected like fountains of multi-colored falling stars in the still, black water.
But in her child’s mind it had also signaled the halfway point, the beginning of the end of summer. Like a roller coaster creeping expectantly toward the first rise and then rocketing down the other side to Labor Day.
Labor Day.
Pack up her summer fantasies and return to the real world. Work. Duty. Obligation.
No strings she’d told him; whatever there was for however long it lasted. Swept up in the desire and need of the moment, she hadn’t considered anything beyond the prospect of his cock in her yearning, aching pussy.
But that had been before she’d loved him. Before he’d touched her heart as well as her clit. He’d wrapped himself around her body and slipped into her soul as easily as he slipped into her pussy.
She wanted to tell him how she felt. Whisper it to him in their most intimate moments. Say the words as they sat on the deck watching the sunset. Run through the world screaming it at the top of her lungs. Paint it on the clouds so that everyone would know.
Something stopped her though, the words sticking in her throat like a cork in a bottle of wine.
He hadn’t told her he loved her. For all she knew, this might be nothing more than a summer fling, a pleasant way to combine business with pleasure. When he unloaded her gear in front of her condo back in town, would he simply drive away and never look back? Perhaps his plans did not include her at all.
A knot formed in her chest and she put out her fingertips to touch him. She needed to reassure herself he was still really there.
What if she told him? Just said the words out loud?
“I love you Campbell Alexander Harm. I can’t tell you exactly when or exactly how it happened. All I know is that it did.”
Perhaps he’d smile, take her in his arms and say the words her soul thirsted for: “I love you too, Elgin Collier.”
Or he might gape at her, shock, uncertainty, and fear replacing his smile. Warmth and closeness giving way to distance and chill.
“I’m…I’m sorry, Elgin,” he’d stammer helplessly. “I don’t know what to say. I never meant to hurt you…I thought we both agreed. No strings…”
His words ripped into her gut, the pain so strong, so real, she had to squeeze her eyes shut tightly to keep the tears from coming.
Elgin felt him stir, turning his body and reaching out to pull her to him.
“Good morning,” he mumbled in her ear and she felt his steely cock, already solid and hot against her thigh. Hot need immediately rose up in her, pulsing out from between her legs like ripples in a pond.
She had him now, she told herself desperately. Now mattered. Here…this moment counted, not some maybe, some Labor Day that might never come. He wanted…needed her now. The heat of him melded with her own.
“Why do men always wake up with a hard-on?” she teased.
“Can’t speak for all men,” he answered, nuzzling the back of her neck, “but I wake up horny because you’re here. I also walk around horny all day and go to bed horny for the same reason.”
“I don’t think it’s me, I think it’s you.”
He curled himself around her like spoons in a drawer. “Uh-uh. It’s definitely you.”
“And what makes you say that?” She snuggled her ass against him, feeling his cock press like a hot iron rod on her soft flesh.
“Well, for one thing, you have all these great tasting parts that I like to nibble on. Like your ears…” He took a tender lobe in his mouth, raking his teeth across it and nipping a little. Her shivers of delight rewarded him. Sticking out the tip of his tongue, he moved it quickly along the outer shell and pushed it into the canal, tickling as he went.
“Ohhhh,” she breathed, her body tensing with pleasure.
“And there’s that beautiful, slender, sexy neck of yours.” His lips moved down the side, barely touching her. Waves of heat rolled across her.
“Melting into those creamy, round shoulders that just beg for me.” Gently, she felt the tips of his teeth brush the soft flesh, combined with vigorous sucking, his fingertips gliding from neck to shoulder and back.
A jolt of electricity shot through her, making her start with its force, but he held her firmly as he continued his travels, turning her to her back. Through dreamy eyes, she saw him eagerly taking in the sight, relishing and savoring her.
“Those beautiful, perfect breasts,” he breathed cupping one in each hand, feeling their round smoothness. When he’d first seen them, they’d been white as milk. But the nude sunbathing had turned them to a beautiful light brown, gold almost, blending into the dark pink of her nipples. Playfully, he grabbed them between his fingers, twisting and rubbing them as they became as stiff and erect as his cock.
“I like your all-over tan,” he chuckled. “Makes you look like a wild native virgin.”
“Yes, well considering how much time you spent covering me, I’m surprised I got any sun at all.”
“What can I say? I’ve always been a sucker for wild native virgins.”
Harm straddled her on his knees, his muscled thighs tight against her hips, his cock taut and red against his tanned stomach, growing like one of the forest pines out of tangled dark brush. The sight of him, horny and needful, heightened her own desire for him.
“No doubt a holdover from your Navy days in the South Pacific.”
“Uh-uh. When I was twelve, I found an old copy of World Travel magazine. Had a story about some island in the tropics somewhere. Don’t even remember which one now. But boy I sure remember the pictures. White sand, blue water and lots of golden brown skin. Which reminds me. Turn over.”
“Why?”
“Don’t argue. Just do what I tell you.”
“Harm’s Way?” she needled.
“Exactly.” He moved a little and put his hand on her thigh.
Slowly, she complied, turning on her stomach. “Now what?”
“Now I give you a relaxing massage and look at your beautiful back and that incredibly sexy ass and make you so horny you come all over my cock.”
“Mmmm, sounds like a plan to me,” she sighed and closed her eyes.
“You feel so good,” he told her softly, leaning forward and putting his big hands on her shoulders, kneading gently. Instantly, she felt herself melting. “I could just stay here and touch you forever.”
Leaning down, Harm nuzzled the back of her neck, running his tongue across her smooth flesh, gently nipping and biting as his hands moved up and back along her shoulders.
She trembled beneath him as he brushed his erect cock in the crease between her cheeks. Hot and hard, his desire fanned her own and she wriggled her ass, pressing him between their two excited bodies.
Gently, he moved his hands under her, lifting her up and back until her ass presented itself to him, round and hot and waiting.
“You taste so good,” he murmured as his lips brushed over the curves of her cheeks in a prolonged, passionate kiss. As he did so, his fingertips slid under her and found her dripping pussy and swollen clit. The wet heat of her bolted through him like lightning.
Pressing harder against him, she whimpered like a needy child. “Please, please come inside me,” she begged.
Bringing his fingers to his lips, Harm licked them slowly, relishing the sweet taste and aroused scent. His cock glowed red with its own heat, straining like a leashed animal toward its prize, just inches away.
“Well, since you asked so nicely,” he murmured, guiding his cock to her pussy, feeling it swallowed up by her anxious, hungry body.
They began a leisurely, rhythmic dance, Harm balanced on his knees, his hands gripping her hips as she moved easily back and forth, now smearing his balls with her essence, now holding nothing but the head. Squeezing him the length of his shaft, up and down or letting him glide at his own pace. Frantic pumping and almost stopping, they changed their timing and movements like they’d been together forever and not merely a few weeks.
Elgin had never experienced this passion, this intensity. She’d written countless love scenes…torrid casual sex and white-hot committed love. Erotica was her specialty, indeed, her reputation. The excuse she’d given herself for coming here with him. But she understood now how hollow all that had been, why her heroine’s sex scene with Kemp Harmon hadn’t struck the right note. She’d been trying to seduce him as an act of power and domination, not love.
What she’d mistaken in Campbell Harm for arrogance and self-importance had turned out to be fear and need and pain, disguised as aloofness and an edge of superiority. The same fear and need and pain she’d covered independence and disdain. Something strong enough to break through their mutual barriers had found them, translated itself into yearning, desire and a physical force that rocketed them past orgasm to a melding of their beings.
Fire screamed through her blood, pounding in her ears, making her gasp for breath. Her fingers clenched around the pillow as she streaked skyward, small moans and meaningless sounds escaping her.
Behind her, she felt his strokes quicken, his hands digging into her cheeks, growls and moans as the first shudders of climax bubbled up.
It tore through her, liquid fire shooting up from him like exploding lava, shaking her physical body and trembling the foundations of her very self. She hung for eternal glorious moments in a web of pure, crystal pleasure like a sunlit dewdrop on a silken spider’s web. Her writer’s mind was suddenly devoid of words to describe this wonder.
A few more hearty bangs against her ass and he stopped, sagging against her, his hot, ragged breath and soft lips on the flesh of her back.
“God,” he sighed, between shallow pants, “you are the best lover a man could ever have. I just hope you don’t kill me before Labor Day.” He pulled out and dropped beside her, curling her in his embrace.
“Oh no,” she assured him with a kiss, “I have no intention of letting anything happen to you before Labor Day.”
“We need to get up,” Elgin sighed, not moving or even opening her eyes.
“I’ve already been up,” Harm replied wryly, “although if you play your cards right, I might manage to get up at least once more.”
“I meant out of bed.”
“Okay. How ‘bout the deck? Or the rug in front of the fireplace? Maybe the kitchen counter?”
She sighed again. “In case you’ve forgotten, today is the Fourth of July. Spirit Cove party’s all day, then we’re invited to Marty’s for a barbecue and then out on ‘The Monkey’ for the fireworks.”
“I have a better idea,” he answered, taking her in his arms. “Why don’t we stay home and make our own fireworks?”
“You’re not only a satyr,” she pretended to grumble, “but a poop as well. I don’t know which is worse.”
“Poop?” he declared, his eyes popping open. “What do you mean, ‘poop’?”
“I mean you. You’re nothing but a great big old party poop.”
“You didn’t seem to mind my great big old party favor just a while ago. Or were you faking those screams?”
“Ohhh, I can assure you, the screams were absolutely, positively, one hundred percent authentic. You do nice work.”
“I’m glad you approve,” he beamed at her, “but it’s the inspiration. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Even Jeanne.” Harm gazed into her face, his eyes filled with pain, searching it seemed for something. For a fleeting instant, he held her, his lips moving as if he intended to say something.
Please dear God, she thought anxiously, please let him say the words.
“You’re right,” he told her finally, “I guess we should get up. I’ve never seen a real, old-fashioned, small-town Fourth.”
As he turned his back and moved to the other side of the bed, Elgin released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. The moment had come and gone and he hadn’t told her what she wanted so much to hear.
Putting her feet on the floor, her chest tight, her heart a rock, she knew now that the words would never come. That he’d told her what she needed to know with his silence.
Well, she had until Labor Day and she meant to hang on to every moment like it might be the last.
“Holy shit!”
Elgin giggled as the SUV rounded the last curve of the long circular driveway and pulled up in front of Marty’s house. Immediately, two young men in bright red vests opened their doors.
“Valet parking?” Harm’s voice brimmed with amazement.
“As you may have noticed,” she laughed, taking his arm and starting up the wide granite steps, “Marty likes to do things in big way.”
“I’ve noticed. First that sea-going yacht and now this steroid-enhanced Adirondack hunting lodge. What does he do for an encore? Stage moose hunts in the parlor?”
She laughed again as they reached veranda and stopped so he could gawk. Two solid panels of glass rose in graceful triangles three stories high, bisected by a wall of some dark, rich wood that ran up to the peak of the blue shale roof, supporting both the glass and making a place for two massive doors. The same color as the wood, they were unadorned save for huge gold door handles and the enormous lion’s head knocker. They stood wide open to the warm late afternoon air, the hum of conversation mixing with laughter and the clink of ice in glasses floating out to greet them.
Slowly, they threaded their way through the crowd of people that began in the huge foyer and stretched unbroken down the long, high-ceilinged main hall, into the cavernous living room and spilled through the wall of glass doors out onto the deck which ran the length of the house and out for at least thirty feet.
Harm had thought the view from their deck grand. This was nothing short of breathtaking, more than one hundred eighty degrees of lake, mountains, pine forests and sky. Across the water, almost to the horizon, he could just make out the dots of the West Shore casinos.
“Champagne?” asked a liveried waiter juggling a large silver tray of long stemmed crystal flutes.
“Uh, no, thank you,” Elgin smiled.
“No thanks,” Harm added.
“Well, if you’d like something else, the bar is in the living room by the fireplace.” He smiled and moved away.
“Listen, I’m gonna fight my way through this mob and see if I can snag a beer. No sense both of us getting trampled. Find someplace out here to sit and I’ll bring you a hard cola. If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, send up a flare or get the bloodhounds.” He gave her a quick kiss. “And for God’s sake, try not to wander off.”
“Promise.”
She watched him melt back into the crowd and then turned toward the railing, hoping to find a place for them to sit and watch the sunset with a modicum of quiet and privacy. A few moments later, she came upon an empty glider off to the side. Most of the throng milled around the industrial barbecue set up on the other side of the deck, watching two men in jeans and cowboy shirts turn ribs, steaks and burgers on giant grills that looked like fifty gallon oil drums cut in half and laid on their sides.
“Hello.”
Glancing up with a start, Elgin found Chad standing in front of her.
“Hello,” she answered as he sat down, causing the glider to rock slightly.
“It’s good to see you,” he smiled, his eyes scanning her up and down. “You look terrific. The tan becomes you and I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you in a dress. The bright red goes with your dark features.”
Elgin felt herself blush, embarrassed as much by his presence as by his compliments.
“Thank you. It’s good to see you, too.”
“I stopped by a couple of times to check on you…do some sketching down at the beach and see if you were free for dinner but I haven’t seen much of you and when I noticed you’d installed the motion sensor and the bell…well…”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, putting her fingers lightly on his arm. “It’s just that…I mean…”
Chad patted her fingers, feeling a tingle down his spine as he did so. “It’s all right, really. If you’ll remember, I asked only if you were…free. Judging by the look on your face, you’re obviously not. While I’m disappointed and more than a little jealous, I understand completely and I’m very happy. I suppose there’s no chance?”
She grinned and shook her head.
“Well,” he sighed in resignation, “you can’t hang a guy for trying. But I do want to drop by and give you the oil I promised. Sunset off your deck.”
“Oh no, Chad, that’s not necessary.”
“I didn’t say it was. I’d like very much for my friend Elgin to have a remembrance of me. After all, if it hadn’t been for your view, I wouldn’t have had anything to paint to begin with.”
“All right. I’d like that very much.”
“Good. Can I come by early tomorrow with it? Say about nine? I have a plane to catch at two and with all the security nowadays, I want to make sure I get there in time.”
Her smile faded. “You’re leaving?”
“‘Fraid so. You see, after I couldn’t paint at your place anymore, Marty insisted I come up here. The morning light is spectacular. He sold one of my paintings to a guy who, it turns out, owns a gallery on the coast. Wants me to come out there and discuss a possible showing, maybe in the spring.”
“That’s wonderful, Chad, really. I’m so happy for you.”
“Well, I have the niggling suspicion that Marty may have had more to do with this than just selling a painting but he insists that it’s my talent and nothing more.”
“Sounds just like Marty. He loves to do things for people, the more anonymously the better. And even if you catch him red-handed, he still won’t own up to it. But it sounds like a great opportunity and I hope it’s just the beginning for you.”
“Thanks. By the way, who’s your friend?” He nodded at the foot tall stuffed animal she held in her hands, a baby polar bear dressed in a crimson and silver clown suit, complete with jester’s cap and covered in silver sparkles.
“He doesn’t have a name yet,” she laughed, holding the bear up for him to get a better view. “Camp won him for me at the picnic this afternoon. You put a quarter on a color and then they spin a wheel and let a mouse loose on it. He runs down a hole and if you pick the color of the hole, you win. Camp told me he could just tell it was a green sort of mouse and he was right.”
“I like him,” Chad grinned, reaching out and flipping the pompom on the bear’s cap. “I…”
“Hi.”
They looked up to find Camp standing there, a beer bottle in one hand, a dark brown hard cola bottle in the other and a combination of distrust and questioning on his face.
“Oh, Camp, you startled me.”
“Harm.”
“Comstock.”
“I was just showing Chad the bear you won for me.”
“Very cute,” Comstock added. “I’ve never heard of betting on rats before.”
Holding the hard cola bottle out to her, he felt a twinge of something. Not quite anger but he definitely didn’t like finding Comstock sitting there, Elgin practically in his lap.
“Personally,” Harm told him coolly, “I don’t like rats. Sneaky little bastards. Always trying to slink in when you’re back’s turned and make off with your goodies. But Elgin really wanted the bear so…” he shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her. “What’s a guy gonna do?”
Elgin didn’t know whether to be appalled or amused. They were behaving like stray tomcats circling a mouse or a fresh fish. Why did men always think women found these displays of possessiveness and jealousy flattering? Especially in a situation like this where Chad knew how she felt about Harm and Harm had not expressed any serious, long-term intentions to her.
Yet there they stood, Chad deliberately baiting Harm and Harm fairly twitching for a fight. If she’d been watching two other idiots and another woman, the ludicrous scene would probably have made her laugh and ended up in one of her books. Happening to her though, reduced its comic value considerably.
“Howdy everybody.”
Jim Fisher strolled up and stood beside Harm, a bottle of beer in his hand, Tom trailing behind like a bewildered puppy, clutching a can of soda and gaping in all directions. He’d put on a clean pair of jeans and a white T-shirt with a waving flag on the front. His hair had been combed and slicked into place. The difference made him look almost handsome, she mused.
“Jim,” she smiled, glad for the interruption of the tension. “Happy Fourth.”
“Same to you Ellie. Camp. Mr. Comstock.” He turned slightly. “You remember Tom? Works for me down at the marina.”
“Of course. Glad you could make the party, Tom.”
“Thanks, Ma’am,” he answered quietly. “Mr. Marty, he invited me hisself. Came right up ta me an’ said, ‘You be sure ta have Jim…Mr. F., bring ya along ta my party. Gonna be lots a food an’ drink and afterwards we’re gonna go out on ‘The Monkey’ an’ watch the fireworks.’” He gazed at all the people and shook his head.
“Didn’t know there was this many people in the whole a Spirit Cove. Guess that’s why Mr. Marty had his shindig here at this hotel. Too big fer just a house er even ‘The Monkey.’ I think I’m gonna go over an’ look at the cowboys.”
“All right, Tom,” Jim told him gently, “but you be careful to stay out of the way and don’t get too close to the fire. And don’t go wanderin’ off.”
“Yes sir, Mr. F.,” the older man assured him like an obedient six-year old. “I won’t get inta nothin’ an’ I’ll stay close.” With that, he ambled away toward the grills.
“It was nice of Marty of invite him,” Chad commented watching the little figure disappear into the crowd.”
“Ah hell, Marty didn’t invite him,” Jim replied with a laugh. “Marty wouldn’t know Tom if he ran over him. Just one a Tom’s fanciful ideas. He’s seen Marty down at the marina and heard all the talk about the party and he sort of ‘imagined’ Marty talkin’ to him. But everybody knows Marty just throws open the doors on the Fourth so I knew he wouldn’t mind. Made sure he cleaned up enough to be presentable though. Speakin’ a which, I just wanted to say how pretty you look, Ellie. That sun dress looks real nice on you.”
“Thank you, Jim, that’s very sweet. I bought it especially for this party. I just hope it doesn’t get too cold out on the boat tonight.”
“Marty wouldn’t let that happen. You think he’s gonna let a little thing like Mother Nature screw up his big Fourth of July party? Hell no. He’s probably paid off the old gal to go to Florida or somethin’. Even the full moon doesn’t come up ‘til almost midnight. Wouldn’t dare show her face before that.”
They all laughed heartily.
“Well, I’ve got to be moving along,” Chad told them. “I promised Marty I’d check to make sure all the canvases were crated up properly. The truck will be here tomorrow to take them to the airport. You know what a stickler he is.”
“Canvases?” Harm asked.
“Uh-huh. I’m taking several of my paintings to the coast tomorrow. Meeting with a gallery owner who’s interested in perhaps giving me a show. I’m leaving and I doubt seriously I’ll be back before Labor Day.” He glanced at Elgin and smiled wistfully. “Even though I regret not getting up to the plate, I at least hoped to stick around in the on-deck circle. Just in case you had a change in the line up.”
“If I don’t see you again tonight, Chad, I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Leave enough time to have a last cup of coffee.”
“I will Ellie, I promise. Good night everyone.”
“Good night,” Jim called as he retreated. Harm didn’t say anything, just quickly moved to the glider beside Elgin.
“What was all that baseball crap?” he inquired, trying to sound casual but not succeeding.
“Nothing,” she told him softly. “Nothing at all.”
“Well, I don’t know about you two,” Fisher chuckled, draining the last of his drink, “but I’m gonna see about another beer and see when we’re gonna eat. Barbecue’s startin’ to smell real good.” He turned and moved slowly away.
“You hungry?”
“Not right this minute. Even if they are serving, the line will be a mile long and I’m sure they’re not going to run out of food. Marty’s probably got enough to feed Spirit Cove for a week. I’d just like to sit here with you for a minute and enjoy the sunset.” She looped her arm through his and laid her head on his shoulder. The glider rocked slowly and silently they watched the picture postcard scene spread out before them.
Elgin could never remember such peace, such a feeling of ‘rightness’ before. More than anything else, she wanted to stay in this glider, the warm sun hanging low over the blue water, with Camp sitting beside her forever. Make time stand still so that not another day, another moment passed. They’d just stay like this and live happily ever after.
“I think I’ll go get another beer,” Camp chuckled. “But I think I’m going to have to make room for it. Can I bring you back another hard cola?”
“Well, as long as you’re going that way. And since the guest bathroom off the living room will probably have a line, go straight through and down the hall towards the east wing. Second door on the left is a guestroom. The door will probably be closed but you can just go right in. Bathroom’s on the right.”
“Thanks. When I get back, we’ll walk over and see what’s for dinner.”
“I’ll be right here, promise.” They shared a kiss and she watched him stride leisurely toward the house. Camp’d been gone only a few moments when a young waiter approached her.
“Ma’am, the gentleman asked me to give this to you.” He held out a piece of folded white paper. When she took it, he nodded once and scurried back toward the house.
Curious, she unfolded it.
Snagged a blanket and a bottle of champagne. Meet you in the clearing just north of the house.
Horny rascal, she thought as she slipped the note in her pocket, picked up her bear and turned toward the steps leading down from the deck to the grounds below. The bathroom thing had been a ruse to spring his naughty little surprise on her. In the huge crowd, everyone concentrating on dinner, no one would even notice their absence. Marty wouldn’t come looking for them until it was time to leave for the marina, at least another hour and a half. They’d have plenty of time to, as Harm had suggested, make their own fireworks.
Her own desire rising, Elgin hurried across the broad expanse of lawn, checking to make sure she was alone. In a few moments, she reached the edge of the forest and closed the last few yards, breaking into the clearing, expecting to find her lover.
Instead, the clearing stood empty and silent, no sign of an illicit tryst, no sound.
Oh well, she thought, moving to the center, I’ll be here to surprise him. After all, she knew Marty’s place and could find this spot in the dark. Camp would have to get out one of the doors and then circle almost all the way around the house.
A breath of something chilly suddenly raised goosebumps.
Camp didn’t know this place. He’d never been to Marty’s house. How would he have known about this clearing? And where would he have gotten a blanket?
Something grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides and seeming to root her in place. Opening her mouth to scream, something wet and soft pressed itself to her face, clinging like a starfish. She couldn’t smell anything but something slightly sweet trailed into her mouth as she sucked in the material, struggling to breathe. But the harder she fought, the tighter the grip on her body, the harder the wet thing clung.
She couldn’t get any air. Her whole body seemed paralyzed with fear as the thing holding her squeezed the air from her lungs, deflating her body, leaving her limp and sliding sideways. Legs too wobbly to hold her up, unclenched fingers releasing the soft fur of her bear. Heartbeat and breathing vanishing. Darkness.
“Here you…” Harm stopped, the sight of the empty glider bringing him up short. Craning his head in all directions, he didn’t see her.
“God damn it,” he muttered, angry that she’d chosen now to play this stupid game. Well he’d been scared out of his wits once too often to be taken in again. Wherever she was, she could just stay there. In a little while, she’d realize he wasn’t going to bite and come back. In the meantime, he had a beer to keep him company.
Setting her bottle of hard cola on one of the little wood end tables, he settled into the glider and took a long draw, letting his eyes sweep the area to see if he could spot where she might be hiding.
His hand brushed against something. Looking down, he saw a piece of folded white paper stuck between the cushions, almost hidden from view.
Down the steps, across the lawn and into the clearing at the north end of the house.
So, that was it, he grinned to himself, stuffing the paper in the pocket of his jeans. She was hungry but not for barbecue. A little fun and games to work up an appetite. Rising, he walked casually over to the deck steps, his cock, excited by the prospect of a romp in the woods, making his progress uncomfortable.
He wondered what she had planned. A nice, long slow fuck in the pine-scented stillness or a wild quickie, pressed against a strong tree, pumping and grinding like horny teenagers grabbing some before they’re discovered.
His steps picked up tempo across the perfectly manicured lawn, his cock now bulging against his fly. No wonder she’d suddenly decided to wear that sundress at the last moment, he chuckled to himself. Easier than trying to wrestle out of two pair of jeans.
The lawn ended and the forest began as he moved into the trees. It couldn’t be very far he reasoned. Probably just a few feet.
“Elgin?” he called, weaving among the trees.
And then he saw it. A flash of red among the green trees and brown dirt.
“Here I come,” he growled playfully, “ready or not.”
He stepped into the clearing and in a heartbeat, the heat of his need vanished, replaced with icy dread. From the middle of the space, Elgin’s bear grinned up at him, it’s black eyes wide in welcome, it’s little arms outstretched as though glad to see him. The pendant hung from his left paw like an extended gift.
In three long strides, Harm got to the bear, bending down and reaching for the little stuffed animal.
Behind him, he heard a branch snap and turned his head just in time to see a blur of movement before the bomb exploded in the back of his skull and fireworks lit up the sudden blackness.