ERICK WOULD HAVE patted himself on the back for how well this plan was working out. They’d been at the lake cabin all of five minutes and not only was Clover ready to jump into bed, she was happy. God, that smile of hers... If it were a plant it would be a sunflower. Sunflower? Really? He was turning into Mother Nature’s handmaiden. Better than being a drone, right?
“Wait,” Clover said. “I forgot something. Put me down.”
“Did you leave something at the house?” he asked.
“No, I have it here. I just have to go, um, do something. Do you mind?”
“You’re about to have sex with me. Do you think I mind? I wouldn’t mind if you stomped on my foot, set the bed on fire and threw me into the lake as long as we got naked after.”
She smiled and kissed his cheek. “You have weird sexual fantasies. Put me down. I’ll be right back.”
He put her down, reluctantly but quickly. She grabbed her overnight bag and raced up the stairs with it. While she was gone doing whatever lady thing she needed to do—shave something or brush something or put perfume on something—he pulled back the covers on the bed and lit the two oil lamps Joey had told him were stored under the kitchen sink.
Man, he was going to owe Chris and Joey for eternity for letting them use this place for free for a couple days. A house like this would rent for four or five hundred a night, easy, during peak season. In addition to the bed in the front room, there were two bedrooms upstairs. The kitchen was exposed brick with stainless-steel appliances but the rest of the house had all the rustic charm one would want from a lake house. Distressed pine floors, carved stair railings, woven rugs and cedar paneling. The chandelier really pulled it all together. From the outside, it looked like a standard crystal light fixture one might find in a hotel lobby. Once inside, however, it revealed its secret. The crystals were actually mason jars of all sizes with LED lights threaded through them. It was a masterpiece of rustic folk art. Steffensen did good work. Just the woodwork alone turned Erick on. Put Clover in that big beautiful bed and he was a goner. An absolute goner. No doubt he loved his daughter more than life itself, but if this was the sort of stuff that happened when she left town, then the first day of college could not come fast enough.
Erick turned off all the lights but the two oil lamps he set on either side of the bed. He stripped out of his clothes and slid between the covers, propped up on thick down pillows to watch absolutely nothing happening out on the lake but the wind on the water. Clover seemed to think that sound was talking to her. Maybe it was talking to him, too, because it seemed a voice whispered in his ear, “Watch out...you’re going to fall in love with this woman if you aren’t careful...”
Stupid voice. Did it think he didn’t know that already? He’d been fighting off a crush on Clover ever since Ruthie went to work for her. Since that kiss yesterday, he’d stopped fighting and let himself feel everything he’d been trying not to feel for Clover for the past year. Instead of ignoring her quiet loveliness, her full lips, her long hair that he’d told himself wouldn’t look as good down as he imagined it would, he gave himself full permission to enjoy every glance at her, every kiss, every strand of that sun-colored hair so soft in his fingers. He’d convinced himself she wasn’t interested in him because of the wall of professional reserve she’d put up around herself. She’d never once flirted with him during his many trips to the nursery to drop off or pick up Ruthie. Now he knew the reasons for her reserve and could only feel supremely flattered she’d let those walls down with him. And damn, it was beautiful behind those walls. He could live there.
As much as he wanted to tell her that, something held him back. He’d been Clover’s first real lover. While he was flattered by that, even a little moved, he also couldn’t shake the idea that she would probably prefer to take things slowly with him. What woman wanted to commit herself to the very first guy she slept with? He’d lost his virginity in high school and had two serious girlfriends by the time he met Ruthie’s mother, got her pregnant—a happy accident—and had Ruthie. Wouldn’t Clover want to explore her options, date around, enjoy her newfound sexual confidence a little bit before committing to a serious relationship? Probably. He would in her shoes.
The other voice in his head sounded suspiciously like Ruthie’s and that voice was telling him that he should let Clover take the lead, let her decide what sort of relationship she wanted. That was a fair point. He’d leave it to Clover, then. If she told him she wanted to keep seeing him, then he’d tell her how crazy about her he was. If he told her today, she might feel pressured to commit before she was ready and that’s the last thing he wanted her to do. Bad enough she had her entire family trying to force her to get married and have kids. He wasn’t about to add to the chorus of voices nagging her about her personal life.
Therefore, it was decided. For Clover’s sake he’d keep his runaway feelings to himself for the time being. He’d enjoy this week with Clover and give her the best nights of her life if he could. If they only had the one week together, it was better than nothing. If it was the beginning of something real, even better. Much, much better.
Now that he’d had this little talk with himself and adjusted his romantic expectations, Erick closed his eyes and felt at peace with the universe—calm, relaxed and happy.
“You’re smiling,” Clover said. He smiled wider.
“I am.”
“Do I want to know why?”
“Just happy,” he said. “Where are you?’
“On the stairs. I’m coming down. Just stay there.”
“I’m naked. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good,” she said. “Because you’re exactly where I want you.”
“And I’m exactly where I want to be.”
“Really?”
Erick opened his eyes and found Clover standing by the side of the bed.
In the ten minutes she’d been gone in the bathroom upstairs, she had transformed herself from her usual natural beauty in jeans, turtleneck and a fleece pullover to a goddess in white lingerie. She wore a white lace-and-silk gown that clung to her every curve and stopped at the top of her thighs, with matching white lace panties underneath. She’d taken her hair out of her usual standard-issue ponytail, parted it down the center and curled it so that it lay in soft waves past her shoulders. He couldn’t think of a word to describe her. Even the word beautiful seemed inadequate in her presence. Exquisite? Elegant? A goddess? He’d go with that one.
“You look like a goddess,” he said.
“I feel ridiculous. Like it?”
He took her by the hand and pulled her down gently to the bed. He kissed her, pushed her onto her back on the sheets and slid on top of her, nothing between them but lace.
“I don’t like it at all,” he said, pushing his erection into her. “I love it. When did you buy this?” He hoped she’d say today, that she bought it just for him, but he had a feeling that wasn’t the case.
“After my surgery I went on a shopping spree.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he kissed her neck. “I bought something I couldn’t wear before when my breasts were too big. This is it. It’s been in the back of my closet since then.”
“You’ve never worn this before?”
“Never.”
“You got it out for me?”
“I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d make myself this ridiculous for.”
“You...” He tapped the end of her nose. “You have a strange idea of ‘ridiculous.’ Why do you feel ridiculous?”
“I’m just not a lingerie type. I’m a six-pack of cotton underwear from Target kind of gal.”
“You’d be beautiful in a burlap bag, but you are insanely beautiful in lingerie. You might feel ridiculous but you don’t look ridiculous. And you shouldn’t feel ridiculous dressing up or down for me. It’s what lovers do.”
“You’d put on lingerie for me?”
“I’d put anything on for you that you wanted. Name it. If they make it in my size, I’ll wear it if it turns you on.”
“You’re wearing my favorite of all your looks right now.”
“It is pretty comfortable,” he said. “You could wear this, too.” He slipped his fingers under the strap of her gown and slowly pulled it down her arm.
“Oh, no,” she said. “I worked up the courage to put this thing on for you. I’m not about to let you take it off me until I get some use out of it.”
“How long do I have to leave it on you?”
“Hmm...” She pursed her lips, tapped her chin, and looked so adorable he couldn’t stand it. “One hour.”
He turned his head and checked the cuckoo clock on the wall.
“It’s eighty thirty-five. By nine thirty-five I get to take this off you?”
She nodded. “In the meantime we have to find things to do that don’t involve me being naked. Any ideas?” she asked.
“One or two or a million. Let’s start with this one.”
He moved onto his side and put his hand under her gown, resting it on her stomach. He kissed her hard and heavily, mingling their tongues together as he cupped her between her legs with his palm. For a long time he did nothing but kiss her and press his hand gently and rhythmically against her. Her body warmed to his touch and her panties grew damp as he teased her through the thin lace. If she wanted to torture him by keeping her clothes on for a full hour, he would find a way to torture her back in the sweetest ways possible.
He lowered his head and kissed her breasts through the fabric of her gown, blowing hot air on her nipples and watching them harden through the silk. He kissed the soft tops of her breasts as he made tiny circles around her swollen clitoris with his fingertip. Clover’s chest rose and fell over and over with her shallow breaths. He glanced up once to look at her and saw her head lying back on the pillow, her eyes closed. She was the very picture of a woman lost in erotic pleasure. As much as he wanted to be inside her, Erick also wanted to make her come first to prove to her that a little slip of silk and lace wasn’t about to get in his way. Through the silk he sucked on her nipple while pulling the fabric of her panties to the side.
“You’re soaking wet,” he said into her ear. “Did you know that?”
“I assumed so... I mean, you’re here, so of course I am.”
“Of course you are.” He felt inordinate male pride at her words. Of course she was wet. He was there. Of course...
“That explains why I’m rock hard,” he said. “You’re here.”
“I love it when you’re hard.”
“I love it when you’re here.”
She looked at him through eyes half-closed in ecstasy and smiled. Such a smile should have gone straight to his groin. But instead he felt that smile in his heart. He cared for this woman, already. Before this week he’d adored her for what she’d done for his daughter. Now he simply adored her. And it was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that when Clover raised her hips imploringly and whispered a soft “Please...”
He pushed his finger inside her and her head fell back on the bed again. A whole hour before he could strip her naked and fuck her like he needed to...a whole hour... He could spend half of it doing just this, massaging her inside. Her vagina was hot to the touch, slick with her arousal. He slid his finger up the front wall, watching her face the entire time, looking for hints of pleasure or displeasure. He wanted to know what made her tick, what felt good to her, what didn’t. He wanted to know her inside and out but right now the inside of her was his top priority.
He felt a soft hollow and pushed his fingertip into it. Clover inhaled sharply and he caught the ghost of a smile on her lips. He did it again and she inhaled again. He pushed a second finger into her and she opened her legs wider to give him more room to move in her. It was such a simple thing, spreading for him, and yet it drove him wild with desire and need. Did Clover have any idea how sexy she was like this—spread out under his hand, wet and hot and open to him and for him?
“I love it when you spread for me,” he whispered in her ear. She shivered at his words. “It’s killing me not to fuck you right now.” He rubbed that soft hollow with his fingertips.
“It won’t kill you.”
“It might kill me. But what a way to go.”
She grinned with her eyes closed. He rubbed her a little harder, made the circle a little larger. The grin disappeared.
“Erick—” She gasped his name and it was the sexiest word she could have spoken right then.
“I want you to come on my fingers. Will you do that for me?” he asked. “Pretty please...”
She gave a low sexy laugh. “As long as you keep doing that I will. Promise.”
“I wouldn’t stop fucking you with my fingers if the world ended outside this house. Take your time to come for me, but when you come, come hard.”
Erick wanted her to come but he was in no hurry to stop. He moved in and out of her with his fingers, stroking them along her inner walls, going deep before settling in again in that spot that made her so breathless when he touched it. At first he touched and massaged it gently and slowly, but as Clover’s shallow breaths turned into soft moans, he rubbed hard and pushed deeper into that spot, deeper and harder, harder and deeper. Clover opened her thighs even wider and pumped her hips into his hand and it was so sexy he could have come from watching her alone. A million erotic fantasies ran through his mind as he fucked her with his fingers. He wanted to rip her panties off, flip her onto her hands and knees and ram his cock into her from behind. He wanted to brace her against the wall, fucking her with her legs wrapped around him. He wanted to eat her pussy until she screamed. He wanted her mouth wrapped around his cock as he came deep in her throat. He wanted to spend the rest of his life inside her body.
The rest of his life?
Clover gasped his name again and her shoulders came off the bed as she came with an orgasm so powerful he could feel every muscle inside her gripping his fingers. Wetness poured out of her and onto the sheets underneath. Involuntarily her legs closed, trapping his hand inside her, which he didn’t mind one bit.
“Good girl...” He kissed her on the lips. She didn’t return the kiss but he took that as a compliment. If he’d come as hard as she just had, he’d need a minute or more to recover, too.
“Good girl?” she panted. “Not bad girl?”
“There’s nothing bad about what we just did,” he said.
“Feels so wicked.”
“Good wicked.”
“Wicked good.”
“That’s it,” he said, kissing her again, and this time she returned the kiss with equal ardor.
“That was incredible,” she said as she lowered her head back to the bed. “I didn’t know my body could do that.”
“It was pretty incredible. But I do have one question for you.”
“Ask me anything.”
“Are you going to give me my hand back?”
She looked down where his hand was still trapped between her thighs, his fingers still inside her.
“No,” she said.
“That’s fine. It’s better off where it is.”
Laughing sheepishly, she spread her legs again and Erick slipped his fingers out of her.
He glanced over his shoulder at the cuckoo clock on the wall again.
“Only nine,” he said. “What are we going to do for another thirty-five minutes?”
“I have an idea.”
“Does it involve my cock?”
“It does.”
“Say no more. I’m already sold on this idea.”
“I can’t say any more about it.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” she said as she pushed him onto his back and straddled his thighs, “my mouth is full.”
She lowered her head and licked him from the base of his cock to the head. He groaned and she giggled and it was the sweetest combination of sounds he’d ever heard. This woman...this incredible woman...so innocent, so erotic, and all at once. Where had she been all of his life? Oh, yeah, right there, under his nose.
Clover looked up at him with an expectant expression on her face.
“Tell me what you like,” she said.
“But I’m shy.”
“You are such a liar.” She shook her head. God, he loved driving this woman crazy.
“I can’t help it. You’re so cute when you’re annoyed with me.”
“You are not shy. You are the least shy man I’ve ever met.”
“That’s probably true.” He nodded.
“It is true. Now tell me what you like. I know you’re going to do it, anyway, at some point.”
“Also true. Okay...” He took her by the wrist and placed her hand on him. “Rub first with your hand. Kind of pull, but gently. No pulling it off.”
“No pulling it off. Good tip.”
She did as he instructed, and it was as much a pleasure to watch as it was to feel. Erick put a pillow behind his head, propping himself up enough that he could watch her as she worked.
“Is this good?” she asked as she ran her hand over him, lightly pulling, lightly caressing.
“It’s perfect. Oral is a lot of stimulation. I need to warm up for it or it’ll be too much all at once.”
“I’m making mental notes of all of this,” she said. “I like hearing what works for you. It’s sexy.”
“It’s good you like hearing it because we both know I can’t shut up when my cock’s hard.”
“I’ve never had anyone talk to me like you do. I didn’t think it would be as sexy as it is, but...it is.”
He reached down and caressed her cheek and lips.
“You bring out the horny poet in me.”
“What do I do now, horny poet?”
“Lick,” he said. “Just lick.”
She lowered her head again and licked him from base to tip, from tip to base. Every lick kicked his temperature up a degree. Watching her as she did it kicked it up another. That pink tongue of hers, those pale pink lips...so sweet, just like candy. He couldn’t wait to see them all red and swollen after she sucked him off.
And he told her that.
“Dirty mouth,” she said.
“Guilty.”
“I’d smile but my mouth’s a little too busy,” she said as she licked him again.
“Suck the head now. Smile later.”
She took direction well, that was for sure. Him telling her exactly what to do seemed to help with her confidence. When he told her to increase the pressure with her hand, she did. When he told her to run her tongue around the rim of his cock, she did—twice. When he told her to take as much of it as she could into her mouth and suck hard and deep, she did it over and over again until he couldn’t tell her what to do any longer.
Instinct must have taken over because she put her hand on the shaft and stroked it while she sucked the head and licked it. He managed to whisper a desperate “That...keep doing that...” before he lost all powers of speech and could do nothing but moan and gasp. It was ecstasy, pure erotic ecstasy. He reached down and put his hands on Clover’s back, rubbing her shoulders and caressing her hair as she went down on him, sucking and licking him and making him feel like a god. He had to touch her. The most beautiful woman in the world doing the sexiest act in the world in the most beautiful cabin on the most beautiful lake in the most beautiful forest in the entire universe...he was the luckiest man alive.
Erick dug his heels into the bed and felt all the muscles in his legs and back locking up as he neared orgasm. With his eyes shut tight he breathed as deliberately as he could, hoping to prolong this incredible pleasure for a second or two more. But it just felt too good. He couldn’t hold back. The need to come was overwhelming. He’d die if he didn’t come. Clover held all the power in that moment. With his cock in her mouth, she owned him. She owned him body and soul. He would have begged her to let him come if she’d made him, begged her with pleasure and no pride at all. Maybe he was begging. God only knew what was coming out of his mouth right now...
When his need to release was at its strongest, its most desperate, he felt it starting to explode out of him. He came hard into Clover’s warm soft mouth, waves of pleasure rolling through him and out of him. His stomach muscles tightened and released and his hips jerked as a spasm of sharp pleasure shot through him. His orgasm seemed to go on forever but was over in seconds. He collapsed back onto the pillow, empty and sated and happy, his hair plastered with sweat to his forehead and every muscle in his body slack.
He felt Clover leave the bed but he didn’t worry about it. She might have gone to spit and he couldn’t blame her if she did. She returned quickly with a cup of water and a small wet towel in her hand.
“Lavender wipe?” she offered.
“Ruthie’s got you hooked on these, too?” He took the towel from her and wiped off his face.
“They’re supposed to be calming. I ordered a whole case of them when I found out my family was coming for Thanksgiving.” She drank from her cup and handed it to him. He swallowed the water greedily, grateful for it. His mouth was dry from all the heavy breathing.
“You’re too good to me,” he said. “Water and lavender wipes and a blow job. I feel spoiled.”
“Good to you?” she asked as she sat by him on the edge of the bed. “I enjoyed that. All of that.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t warn you I was about to come. I know it’s kind of a lot to take in.”
“You warned me. I didn’t mind.”
“I did warn you?”
She nodded. “In the midst of telling me all the things you wanted to do to my body and a few things you wanted me to do with yours, you warned me.”
“I have postorgasm amnesia. I say this stuff and don’t even realize I’m saying it. I hope none of it offended you.”
“It didn’t. Although some of it’s probably impossible. I don’t think I can bend that way. And I’m pretty sure one of your suggestions is illegal.”
“Illegal?”
“Last I checked, indecent exposure is still a crime in Oregon.”
He rolled his eyes. “Clearly you’ve never been to Portland during the annual Naked Bike Ride.”
“I knew I lived an hour from that city for a reason.” She bent and kissed him on the center of his chest. He didn’t know why she did that but he liked it. “I did enjoy that. My first full blow job. Very exciting.”
“You’re good at it.”
“You told me exactly what to do. You’re a very good teacher.”
“You get an A in BJs.” He glanced over at the clock and back at her. “It’s 9:35. Lose the lace, toots.”
“A deal is a deal,” she said. Clover stood up and shimmied out of her gown and pulled her panties off. Her naked body glowed in the light of the bedside oil lamp and he couldn’t tear his eyes from her full round breasts and the little patch of hair between her legs, nearly as soft and pale as the hair on her head. “Happy now?”
“You are naked. I am the happiest man on earth. Are you the happiest woman on earth?”
“I think so. I mean, I can’t guarantee that,” she said as she sat on the bed next to him again. “I don’t know the happiness quotient of every other woman on earth at the moment, but I’d guess I’m in the top ten at least.”
“Ruthie said I can’t speak to her again until I’ve made you the happiest woman on earth.”
“You can call your daughter. I’ll vouch for you.”
“I’ll call her tomorrow. Now I’m going to put you in bed next to me and sleep for fifteen minutes. Then I’m going to wake up and fuck you. If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all. Only fifteen minutes?”
“Hmm...good point. After that orgasm, we better make it thirty minutes.”
“I’ll be here when you wake up,” she said, and it was the sweetest thing she could have said to him. He held her against him, and she rested her head over his heart. Was she thinking what he was thinking? That he wanted her to be there when he woke up, every time he woke up, forever? He tried to tell himself he was going too fast, feeling too much, rushing into things he should be tiptoeing into. But it wasn’t like they were strangers. He’d known her a year. They’d had more than one long serious talk about Ruthie and her situation after Clover had hired her. He’d gotten to know her well as his daughter’s boss and as a businesswoman. He trusted her with his kid, and if that wasn’t a sign that they were good together, he didn’t know what was. But this week, it was just about the two of them. No work. No Ruthie. Just him, just Clover, just them together. They were attracted to each other and the sex was incredible. Ruthie had already given her blessing—sort of. As long as he took good care of Clover and made her happy, Ruthie would give her blessing. And it seemed Clover was having as much fun this week with him as he was with her. If they could make it through Thanksgiving without him telling her family they were assholes to their faces, maybe he had a good shot at making this, whatever this was, into the real deal.
“Can I ask a girl question?” Clover said.
“I’m not a girl.”
“Okay, can I ask a girlie question?”
“You can ask me anything.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You were smiling. I wanted to know what was making you smile.”
Erick wanted to tell her the truth, that he was thinking about how good they were together, how much he cared about her already and how much he hoped this was going somewhere past Thanksgiving. But he didn’t say that because Ruthie had trained him too well. He knew better than to put that kind of pressure on a woman this early in a relationship. So he told her a half-truth.
“I’m thinking I’m very glad you picked me over Sven.”