Chapter Four

Paige woke earlier than Michael did. She rubbed her neck and stretched it. The bed was comfortable, but the makeshift pillows of rolled clothing and towels didn’t hold up and she’d slept contorted. At one point in the night, she shifted in such a way that her head was on Michael’s stomach. She tried to fluff his firm belly like a pillow, waking him momentarily with his “oof” until they shifted and returned to a spoon position, both warm under the mismatched sheets and small coverings, even though a draft blew in from the unsealed window.

As awareness crept in, she leaned up on her arm to watch him sleep. A wave of tenderness washed over her. Had it been really just a handful of nights they shared? Was she still in some sort of foggy dream of a vacation and it was all going to suddenly end? How could they be at this point, so comfortable, so relaxed…so close? Nothing at all like it was with her ex back in Atlanta, what seemed like light-years ago.

“Careful, Groundhog Man, it’s easy to fall for you,” she whispered, accidentally giving verbal acknowledgement to some of her deeper feelings. Is this love? Paige kissed his cheek gingerly before she slipped from the bed and his arms.

Robed, she tiptoed around the clutter in the hall to the bathroom. She decided to let Michael sleep as he’d had so little rest with his work emergency and all the attention he’d given her. Already he had made more sacrifices for her in the past few days than Davis had in the months of being with him in Buckhead. Make that ever with Davis.

After freshening up and still in her robe, she padded down to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. No K-cups in this old kitchen. The coolness of the morning drew her to the oven as she leisurely made muffins, thick healthy zucchini muffins with a few chocolate chips thrown in for good measure just as her mother had shown her to do. Her hands curled around her coffee mug for warmth as she looked out to the crystalline snow drifts and snow-coated trees. The sun was starting to melt the snow from the branches.

She thought of her Aunt Linney and wished her aunt could feel what Michael and she had blossoming between them. She pulled the muffins from the oven to cool, breaking off a chocolatey corner to nibble. With a relished, “mmm,” she went upstairs to change.

Seeing Michael still in bed, she was so tempted to slide under the covers again. She stood close by, let out a heady sigh, and turned toward her clothing bag.

Without warning, his arm reached out and grabbed her, pulling her to him on the bed.

“There you are, Flee.”

She squealed as he rolled her onto her back.

He kissed her. He tasted of contented sleep, mixing with the sweet lingering taste of her bite of muffin. Her robe draped part-way open. Skin touched skin, encouraging the embrace and kiss to deepen.

Leaning up, his smile shined as did his rich amber-brown eyes.

He chuckled. “Any chance you can hold that thought for later?”

With that, he quickly hopped out of bed naked. She watched his firm ass dash down the hall toward the bathroom.

“Well,” she said in a pretend huff to no one. She pulled herself from the bed. “And he’s the one with morning breath.” She shrugged, dropping the robe and began to dig through her clothing, sorting pieces before dressing in more than panties.

Michael returned, smiling broadly, holding a small face towel as a loin cloth.

Her eyebrows heightened. “Well, that doesn’t hide much.”

“Should I take that as a compliment?” he asked, the towel hanging on his privates as if it were a hook. A large hook on a smooth-muscled, well-formed body. He closed the door behind him.

Paige did all she could to keep from giggling.

“Take it as you wish, but take it over there.” She pointed to the wall. “It’s what you get for rushing off.” She turned back to her task.

In a flash, he was at her side, grabbing her. “Okay, but I’m taking you with me.”

He picked her up in his arms.

“Ugh. What are you doing?”

“Following your request.” He carried her and pinned her to the wall where she had previously pointed. He held her there, kissing her, the towel long since fallen, but his thick erection had not. He trailed fiery kisses down her skin, nibbling her nipples to ripe, hard points. A flash of electricity shot through her. She forgot all about the disheveled room she was to call her own. She was caught between sheetrock and a hard man and lost to each fiery biting nibble he gave her.

Tingles mixed with the now familiar longing each time his hands touched her. Her body responded to him more than with anyone else. His taut muscled body—how she loved touching every inch of his toned, caramel skin. She couldn’t help it.

When her breathing deepened into sighs, his lips moved to hers. His mouth devoured hers. She tasted a minty freshness mixed with hunger. He rubbed his cock against her silken panties, grinding, and brought her hands over head. Her legs opened, and then she stopped.

“Wait.”

“Oh, right.” Michael let go, turned, and in the small room, took three steps to the dresser, and reached for a packet.

“That’s not it. Well, it is, but also this,” Paige reached down and pulled off her panties, holding them up. “No more ripping panties Mr. Can’t Keep It In His Pants, or in this case, hand towel.”

By the time, she finished talking, Michael was back, condom applied, and this time, both his hands slipped up past her waist, and he placed her hands on his shoulders. His gaze locked onto hers, his breath coming in deep growls.

“You mentioned something about trying out the wall?”

Before she had a chance for a retort, he kissed her, pressed her to the wall, and tapped her legs apart. His own widened to accommodate the height difference. He rubbed his cock to her soft, trimmed curls on her mound. The kisses continued, her returning his.

“Don’t let go,” Michael said, locking his gaze.

Stunned, Paige nodded, not really knowing or caring what he meant. She held his shoulders as his hands lifted her, cupping her bottom. Her foot found the bed for purchase. He slowed, rubbing his length to her more fully, sliding back along her smooth shaved lips and then up around her clit. From this angle, she was poised on him, fire spreading up through her from her core.

No sports were murmured. He rocked, slipping past where she wanted him to enter, teasing her into a heightened need. Each kiss, each nuzzle, each stroke, she felt more than ready. She was ravenous. She tilted her hips so he could finally sink deep into her pussy. She clenched tight on him, locking him in place. She took a breath and let him lean back then drew out partly only to press down onto him as fast as she could.

Then it began. In the late morning light, she met him in a rhythm. He entered her fully, making a soft shudder ripple through her with each powerful teasingly slow thrust. He was careful to pull back from the wall enough so that his strokes could deepen. Slow, deliberate strokes. She never let go of him as she lifted and lowered herself onto him again and again.

Fire built. All else fell away, but the sound of the rhythmic thump against the wall. Their bodies collided with an increased speed and a delicious urgency. She wanted him. She needed his thickness deep in her core and sawed onto him.

Michael bit into her earlobe and whispered, “Oh Paige…” Any other words, Oneida or English were garbled with his cry of passion.

“Michael…I think I…” Her words muddled into a held syllable. With a burning longing, Paige muffled her cry against his shoulder as she felt a dizzying flood of pleasure wash through her. She came hard. Her fingers gripped, body clenched, shaking. Lost…so lost in timeless rippling waves.

Awareness slowly returned to the Paige. His familiar kisses landed all over her face, easing her ragged breath. She no longer panted but drew in one long dreamy breath and smiled. A belated sweet gasp of passion’s jolt escaped her lips and quickly vanished into a glow.

Aunt Linney’s loud, sing-song shout shattered their embrace. “Paige!”

Paige refocused and cried out in the direction of the door. “I’m coming!”

“Again?” Michael guffawed, their bodies unlocking. She chuckled. Though breathless and glowing, she wasted no time in hitting him with anything within reach. It included the hand towel and her panties.

“Naw. Too cold for these. I think I need to wear a little bit more.” Michael laughed again.

Paige just groaned, threw on clothing as fast as she could, and barely gave him a kiss as she flew from the room, her cheeks still flushed and her grin wide.

****

“That should do it,” Paige said, shaking the dust off her hands.

She and her aunt looked up at their handiwork. At least the grandfather clock was visible and, more importantly, ticking.

Linney reached up and set the time according to her watch and carefully closed the cabinet door. The glass front had a huge crack with two types of yellowed tape holding it together. “Let’s see if it keeps time then we’ll try to figure out how the chime works.”

“Can’t believe you found it again,” Paige said, following her aunt to the kitchen to wash their hands since the downstairs bathroom wasn’t working. Paige moved to the side, wiping her hands on the kitchen towel.

“That clock was buried in the rubble in the corner of the dining room, facing the wall,” said Aunt Linney. “I just started working on that room and only excavated a third of it. Who knows what else is there?”

Michael entered wearing expensive dark jeans and yet another impeccable sweater. The face towel that had adorned his privates earlier was now draped over his shoulder. Paige’s eyes grew wide at seeing it.

“Hello, women. Mmm. Smells good in here.”

Aunt Linney simply stepped forward and took the face towel from him, wiping her hands on it. Michael joined in Paige’s wide-eyed stare. He nodded to Paige, and she shrugged, feeling heat rush to her cheeks.

Michael moved to the coffee pot and poured a steaming cup. “I was thinking about taking you two out to brunch.”

“You could,” Linney answered. “Only it’s thirty minutes away. I’m hungry now. How about eggs along with Paige’s muffins instead?”

“There’s muffins? Sure. I’ll help with the eggs.” He started to pull ingredients out of the fridge while Paige turned and dug through a moving box for her favorite pan.

Aunt Linney cut a few muffins in half and put them in the toaster oven. She broke off a large piece of muffin and ate it with a loud appreciative moan. Michael was about to do the same.

“Hey, the muffins go with the eggs. Hold off, Michael,” Paige pleaded.

“Don’t mind if I just kickback, feet up, and watch, do you? Yuppers. Mmm, mighty fine muffins. Must be good, huh, Michael?” Aunt Linney moaned unabashedly. “Personally, I prefer muffins warm and buttery. Toasting them might only take a couple minutes. Might want to hurry with that omelet.”

“Aunt Linney, stop that teasing,” Paige scolded.

“Can’t help it. Gotta get my kicks somehow. You don’t want me to put my wall up or paper myself in?”

Both Paige and Michael looked confused.

Then Linney marched over to Paige and yanked off a piece of peeled wallpaper that had been stuck in her hair. “One way to start to remove wallpaper from the room. Not efficient, but I bet more fun.”

Both Paige and Michael froze.

Aunt Linney laughed. “Watch those eggs, Groundhog Man.” She re-filled her coffee mug and set the table.

They ate their meal, relishing bites, and with far less hidden secrets than assumed. Linney explained she hadn’t been in the house long after first fumigating and having the small basement cleared out professionally due to water damage. She also took the front bedroom since it had the least debris and painted it a deep violet to augment light birds-eye-maple furniture.

“I actually love the room now. It’s good to have a safe haven. Maybe, Paige, you could start on your room. It’s cleaned but sure needs fixing up and improved furniture,” Aunt Linney encouraged. “The other bedrooms are a piled-up mess. You can choose one of those as yours later. I have a plan to the de-hoarding process, but it also has to be a reasonable pace since I work on hospice cases.”

“Mom thought you weren’t moving fast. I think she is dead wrong. Sounds like things are flying.”

Aunt Linney shrugged. “Naw. She’s right. When I first walked in, I looked in a few rooms and saw a scurrying critter, food leavings, and destroyed furniture. I just turned and left. Took me a good couple glasses of wine and a friend to send me back in two weeks later.”

They toasted with the last bites of muffin. “To the house and finding the treasures from what’s been left behind.”

As if the house agreed, the grandfather clocked chimed the noon hour. “Hey, it’s on time, too.” Linney smiled a lopsided smile, cheek full of muffin.