Ethan
Claire and I made love on and off all night and into the late morning. We slept between, curled up to one another.
Every time I woke up, it was like Christmas morning as I realized she wasn’t just a dream.
It was around noon, and we’d just finished another sex session. She lay in my arms as both of us tried to catch our breath. “I think we should go find this lake.”
She turned to me, her beautiful face slightly flushed, her blue eyes sparkling. “Why don’t we pack up a cooler with some food and spend the rest of the day there?”
I stood up. “The day isn’t going to last too much longer if we don’t get moving. I’m going to jump in the shower. You stay here.” I pointed at her.
Claire gave me a pouty look. “You don’t want me in the shower with you?”
“Not if you ever want to see the lake today.” I grinned.
She smacked me on the ass. “Hurry up, then!”
After my shower, I opened the bag Meg had packed for me and laughed. Four jumbo boxes of condoms lay on the top with Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday written on them in sharpie. No doubt Meg’s gift.
I quickly located swim trunks and flip-flops and threw on a t-shirt. While Claire was in the shower, I went downstairs into the kitchen and hoped there was some food. I opened the fridge and started laughing. The entire kitchen had been stocked, no doubt, only for us.
I made some sandwiches and pulled out drinks, then sent Tom a text and asked where the cooler was. He replied, and I soon had it packed with food, drinks, and ice. I grabbed another canvas bag Tom had told me about and threw in some snacks.
I asked him where the towels and sunscreen were, and he texted that anything else we would need would be in the boathouse, as well as where the key was. He sent me driving directions on how to get there as well.
Claire came downstairs. She wore cutoff jean shorts, a white tank top, and the Gucci flip-flops I had bought her. A fully-stuffed beach bag was slung over her shoulder, and underneath her tank top I could see her black bikini.
I whistled. She gave me her million-dollar smile, and I pulled her over to me for a kiss.
“Don’t start that, or we’ll never get there.” She grinned at me.
“That beach bag looks pretty packed. Planning on staying for a week?” I teased.
“Ha, ha!” She playfully slapped my shoulder.
“Are you ready for the real question?”
“What’s that?”
“Where is the garage?” I realized we still hadn’t seen hardly any of the downstairs.
Claire threw her head back, laughing. She grabbed the beach and canvas bags and pointed to the cooler. “You’re on cooler duty!”
I gave her a little salute, picked up the cooler, and we started down the hall. We eventually found the garage. I grabbed the key to the Land Rover that was hanging by the garage opener.
We threw everything in the trunk, and I went to open Claire’s door. She got in, and I handed her my phone. “You get to navigate. Tom sent directions.”
I went around to the driver's side and got in. Claire handed me my phone. I wrinkled my brow at her. “Seriously, you have to navigate.”
“Yep. I got it.”
“I’m confused. Have you secretly been here before and know where we’re going?”
“Nope. But I read the directions and have them up here.” She tapped her head.
I looked at her in awe. “Is this part of your photographic memory?”
She grinned at me. “Yep.”
“Wow.” I pulled out of the garage and started driving down the road.
“So you kind of have superhero powers then, huh?” I teased.
She grinned, but then got serious. “Very few people know about it, so don’t spread it around, okay? Turn right here.”
I peered over at her to see if she was teasing me or if she was really serious. She seemed serious about others not knowing about her photographic memory. “I won’t say anything, but why the secrecy? I mean, you were hot before I knew this, but my perverted self is imagining you in a Captain Marvel outfit,” I teased her, which wasn’t a total lie.
“Ha, ha!” She slapped my thigh. Then she got quiet and didn’t say anything.
“Claire, why don’t you want others to know?”
She shifted in her seat. “Turn right again.”
“Claire?” Why wasn’t she answering me?
She looked out her window and then back at me. “My dad had a photographic memory as well. He was a gambler...”
I waited.
She started drumming her fingers on her thigh. “I was fourteen when he got caught... The bookies weren’t too happy…”
I took my eyes off the road and glanced at her. She was blinking back tears. I reached over and put my hand on her thigh. “Claire, you okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry.”
“They left him in an alley. He was beaten up so bad he never walked right again. My siblings and my college funds were drained. The retirement accounts were drained. The house my parents owned free and clear was signed over to the bookies. My mom divorced him, and I never saw much more of him. He died when I was in my third year of law school at Harvard.”
I didn’t say anything for a moment.
“Turn on that road, and we should be there,” Claire pointed out.
I turned, and soon enough we were driving up to a boathouse with a large, sparkling lake. Massive boulders adorned both sides of the beach. When you looked out at the lake, you could see straight out, but not to the sides of either boulder.
“Wow, this is seriously cool!” Claire beamed.
I parked the car and turned to her. “Hey, I’m sorry about your dad… And that you had to go through that.”
She shrugged. “It is what it is, Ethan. When I went to Harvard, I was there on a scholarship and loans. I didn’t hide it at first because I thought, well, my dad hid it, and look where it got him. But I quickly learned that others didn’t appreciate it.”
“What do you mean?”
“The rich kids were jealous. They nicknamed me ‘cheater’ behind my back. Instead of realizing it was a natural gift I had, they made me feel ashamed of it. So I started hiding it and found it’s to my advantage that others don’t know about it. I’ve solved lots of cases and helped my clients more because no one knows that if I see something, I’m going to remember it. Eventually, I always put two and two together.”
I reached over and kissed her. “You have nothing to be ashamed of, but your secret is safe with me. I think it’s pretty amazing, but then again, I think everything about you is amazing.”
She grinned and opened her door. “Come on. Let’s go enjoy the lake.”
We pulled everything out of the back and unlocked the boathouse. It had a sitting area, small kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and shed attached to it. The shed was full of water toys. Jet skis, a speedboat, and a small motorboat sat at the dock.
Claire found some towels and laid them out across the lounge chairs.
I put the cooler on the deck. “Claire, I’m starving. You want a sandwich?”
“Sounds good.”
“Water or beer?”
“Water. Honestly, I haven’t been able to stomach the thought of alcohol since I got drugged.”
I grabbed two waters and sandwiches and plopped down on a lounge chair next to Claire.
She grabbed the water. “You can have a beer.”
“I’m good right now. I’ll have one later.” I looked out over the water. It was so calm and peaceful. The sun was out, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
You won’t get this in jail. I tried to push the thought out of my head.
We ate in silence for a bit.
“So how many siblings do you have?”
Claire held up three fingers. “Cathy is my half-sister. She’s eighteen and from my mom’s second marriage. Doug is twenty-six, and Damion is thirty-two.”
I jerked my head toward her. “I don’t even know how old you are.”
She started laughing. “How old do you think I am?”
“You look like you’re twenty-four, but I hope to God you say you’re in your thirties.”
“Why is that?”
“Are you in your twenties?” A slight panic went through me.
She laughed. “No. I’m thirty-four, but why do you look so freaked out at the thought of me being in my twenties?”
“Well, I’m thirty-seven.”
“Yeah, I know,” she stated nonchalantly.
“How did you know that?”
She grinned at me. “There’s this search engine online. It’s called Google. You should try it sometime.”
So she did research me! “Ha, ha!”
“So what do you have against women in their twenties?”
“Besides the fact that I’m approaching my forties?”
She shrugged. “Most guys don’t care about that.”
“Guess I’m not most guys.”
She laughed. “You are definitely not most guys, Ethan Knight.”
“I get the feeling that I'm supposed to take that as a compliment?” I grinned.
“One-hundred percent!” She took a drink of her water. “What about you? Do you have siblings?”
I stared out at the lake. “I had a brother. Eric. He was two years older than me. He had some mental issues…”
Claire sat up and slid her legs between our two chairs. “What do you mean?”
I sighed. “Mental health was really different twenty years ago. He had depression problems. He… He gave up.” I took a drink of my water.
Claire stroked my cheek. “I’m sorry.”
I gazed over at her. “As you mentioned, it is what it is, right?”
“Yeah, but it still hurts,” she said softly.
“Yeah, it sure does.”
Claire was cautious. “So…what happened?”
“He was nineteen when he shot himself. My mom died a few years later of a heart attack, but my dad and I both thought it was from a broken heart. She never really got past it. I guess losing a child... Well, it’s not something anyone should ever have to experience. My dad’s in a facility with Alzheimer’s.”
There, I got it all out.
Claire got up and sat down on my lap. She caressed both sides of my face and leaned in and kissed me.
I pulled back. “What do you say we take out these jet skis and go explore the lake?”
“Yes. But you drive, I’ll ride.”
“Deal.”
We got up and found life jackets and the key for the jet ski. I uncovered it and got it off the lift. It didn’t take long before we were shooting across the water.
I drove around the boulder and stopped the jet ski. Mountain peaks surrounded us, with green forestry. The water was so clear you could see far below, and coves similar to the one Tom had built his beach area in were all over.
“Wow!” I was mesmerized. Take it all in, Ethan. You may never see anything like this again if you’re locked up.
I must have sat there for a little too long. “Ethan, you okay?” Claire asked.
I snapped back to reality. “Yep. Just taking a mental picture.”
“It really is breathtaking.”
“Sure is. So I’m not being funny, but are you good with all directions...not only written ones? I’m kind of nervous I might get lost out here and not get us back,” I admitted to Claire. It really was a huge lake with lots of coves.
She laughed. “Don’t worry about that. You drive, I’ll navigate us back later.”
“Okay. Hang on, Claire.” I pushed the throttle at close to full speed as Claire hung onto my back.
We spent hours exploring the lake. Every now and again we got off the jet ski in different coves to swim or walk a bit along the shore.
We were on our way back when we found a waterfall. I pulled the jet ski onshore, and we removed our life vests. “I’ll race you!” I dove in ahead of her.
“Ethan! No fair, you’re cheating!” she called out, and ran after me.
There were shallow and deep parts near the bottom of the falls. I swam between the rocks and the part where the water fell. I could stand up, but the water was to my neck.
Claire swam over. “Hey, I can’t stand here.”
I pulled her into me. “I’ll stand for us both.”
She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my waist. “Mmm, you’re nice and warm.”
I wrapped my arms around her back. “You cold?”
“I probably will be in about an hour, but I’m enjoying stealing your body heat right now.” She shot me a sly grin.
“You can have as much of my body or heat as you want,” I teased.
“Hmm…I can’t choose. I guess I’ll be greedy and take both!”
“Ha, ha!” I couldn’t help it. I stared at her.
“Ethan, why are you staring at me right now?”
I blurted it all out. “You’re the most beautiful person I know, Claire. Not only physically—because you are. You seriously are the most beautiful person on Earth. But you’re so much more than that. You’re smart and funny and kind...and...and I shouldn’t be saying this to you because I’m probably going to jail, but I’m so crazy about you I can’t think straight.”
“Ethan—”
“And I hate the fact that I’m putting you through all this. I hate myself for pursuing you and wanting you so much...because it isn’t fair to you. You deserve so much better than this. But every morsel, every crumb of time I get with you makes me so damn happy, and I know it’s selfish...but I can’t stop. I adore you. I seriously adore you, and I don’t know how to stop.”
“Shh. I pursued you. I’m crazy about you. I adore you.” Claire’s eyes welled with tears, and she put her fingers over my lips. She leaned in, her soft lips met mine, and her delicious tongue once again claimed mine as her own.
Water continued to crash all around us as Claire wrapped her body tighter around mine, loving me, caressing me, making me forget about all my problems and fears.
Adoration and addiction are closely connected, and as I became lost in her touch, her kiss, her whispers, the two blurred together. She was my solace, my drug, my high, and no one else on Earth would ever do again.
The sound of snapping wood pulled me out of our haze, and I looked up to see a moose drinking at the edge of the lake. “Wow.”
Claire looked over at the moose, and we watched it slowly turn and walk away.
“Let’s get back before it gets too dark,” I told her.
She nodded.
Swimming side by side, we got to the jet ski and put our life vests on. We weren’t that far from the boathouse. As the sun was setting, we pulled up to the dock.
Claire took the life vests and hung them up to dry and went into the boathouse while I put the jet ski back on the lift and covered it.
When I got to shore, she came out. “Do you want to spend the night here? They stocked the fridge here, too! And there’s a fire pit and extra clothes that I think we can make work. It might be nice to wake up on the lake.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Sounds perfect.”
She grabbed my hand and led me to the house. “Let’s go get some warm clothes on and out of these wet suits.”
We toweled off and went inside. I stood behind Claire and pulled the string to her top off.
She turned to me. “You’ve been waiting to do that all day, haven’t you?”
I laughed. “Yep.”
She stepped forward and put her chest on me.
“Jesus, Claire. You’re freezing!”
“Maybe you should warm me up, then?” She gave me her wide, innocent eyes that always sent me reeling.
I picked her up, slapped her ass, and she giggled. I grinned. “Let’s go take a hot shower, then.”