Efrem (6 page)

“No.”

“Oh.”

Another few minutes passed before either of them stirred. Lisa moved her numb foot, and Efrem eased to her side. There was barely enough room, but he held on to her.

“Lisa, I—”

“My foot is falling asleep. We’re going to have to get up.” No way did she want to hear that phrase again, not when she had every intention of ignoring the first time he uttered it. How could anyone fall in love in a couple of weeks? It couldn’t be love-at-first-sight, and it wasn’t the result of a yearlong courtship. Was there such a thing as love-at-the-second-week? She didn’t think so, but if there was, she was voting against it.

“Lisa?”

She was wriggling around, trying to get off the couch
,
but Efrem was in her way. And he wasn’t moving.

“My foot is asleep.”

Unbelievably, the man rolled his eyes. “You said that already.” A warm hand settled on her hip, holding her in place. He was going to force the issue. Naked and trapped, she looked at him.

“Would you go out to dinner with me?”

With a grin that hurt her cheeks, she threw her arms around him. “Yes!” He grinned back and let her up. Normally, dressing took Lisa a few minutes. But, when there was a beautiful, naked, playful man around, it was more like half an hour. He kept touching her, kissing her, running his hands through her hair which stuck out all over the place. Once they were dressed, he brushed her hair but would only let her put it in a ponytail.

“It gets in my face too much like this.”

He stood in front of her and smoothed his hand along the side of her head. “I’ll take care of it,” he whispered.

He was as enthralled with her hair as she was with his biceps. Since he’d only gotten as far as his jeans, his chest and arms were bare. She ran a hand up his arm, circling the muscle at the top of his arm. “You didn’t get this typing on a keyboard.”

Smiling, he looped his arms around her waist. “Sure I did. Those suckers are heavy.”

She pushed him away with a chuckle. “Finish getting dressed. I have to check on Raven and the other mares in the first barn.” So far Efrem had managed to mostly stay away from the horses. Lisa wanted to test her theory that he was afraid of them. Imagine a man like Efrem afraid of a horse?

“Uh. Okay. I’ll meet you in a few minutes.”

He looked anything but eager. She wondered if he was still in trouble at work.
Because of me.
Lisa decided to let him be by not teasing him. “Good.” She strolled out of the office wondering if she would ever feel the same way about the room. There was a good chance the answer was no.

This is what she got for teasing him. Never tease a man about his weaknesses
,
because it brings out his strengths.

Efrem was not afraid of horses, but he was timid with them. Lisa was deathly afraid of water. And here she was, riding in Efrem’s truck, which sprouted two surfboards. It was aimed for the beach.
Not good. Not at all.

“You said you can swim. What’s there to be afraid of?”

It was a reasonable question asked by a reasonable man of a woman whose father had drowned in a flooded cow pasture when she was a child. His horse had slipped into a hole hidden by the rising water and gone down. Her father had fallen forward, over the horse’s head, which put him in the path of the terrified animal once it had regained its feet. The horse’s thrashing hooves had caught her father in the forehead, knocking him unconscious. It had taken searchers two days to recover his body.

“Oh, nothing. Except shark attacks, riptides, and death.” Glumly, she stared out the window, but looked at him when the truck slowed and pulled onto the shoulder. He cut the engine and faced her in the cab.

“No one I know would anticipate a day at the beach with such gloom. Your enthusiasm is underwhelming, but I didn’t think you were anticipating death. What gives?”

Again, a reasonable question, but one she did not want to answer. She forced a smile on her face. “I’m sorry I’m being a wet blanket—ha, ha, get it? Wet blanket? Beach blanket?”

He stared at her.

“Never mind. I have a lot of work to do at the ranch.”

“No, you don’t. You have a great foreman and several excellent cowboys taking care of things. You’re caught up on the books, thanks to my computer, and you haven’t taken a day off since I met you.”

“I run a ranch. With animals. That like to be fed every day. They’re fussy that way.”

“Ha. You’re fussy.”

“I’m not fussy, I’m fussing. At being dragged to the beach when—” She took a quick look at the sky. “It’s going to rain.”

Efrem looked up. She knew all he was seeing were two or three fluffy clouds with dark underbellies. He started the truck, put it in gear, and started to make a U-turn.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking you back to the ranch. Obviously I underestimated how afraid you are of the water.”

Direct hit.
She didn’t like her fears exposed any more than he did. And he didn’t like it at all.

“No. I want to learn to surf. Really.”

When he stared at her without saying anything, she slid closer to him and clutched one of his magnificent biceps. “I want to go to the beach with you.”

“Hmph.”

“Please? I’ll make nice.”

He shifted in his seat and tried to hide a smile. “How nice?”

“You’ll have to wait and see. After you teach me how to surf.” She stifled the shudder than ran through her at the thought of being on a stick of wood in deep water for the purpose of falling into said water. With her face under the water. The phony smile felt tight.

“Okay.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and resignation. She might as well get it over with, chances were the man would keep her in the water until she pruned like Great
-
Aunt Meredith. Ugh.

* * * *

When they finally left the water for the last time, Lisa was exuberant. “Surfing is much better than swimming when you do it right. Ride the wave all the way to the beach and your hair doesn’t even get wet!”

“I told you. And your sense of balance is fantastic! I never saw anyone take to the board so fast.”

“That’s from horseback riding. You need balance and strong legs to do that, too. Maybe you’d like to try it someday?” For, even though Efrem had petted a few of the horses and let them lip apple slices from his hands, he hadn’t ridden one yet. He’d said he would try, but Lisa wasn’t one to count her foals before they dropped. Right now it was getting dark and they had a dinner date. “With your sense of balance from surfing, you’d be a natural.” She said this with her back to him so he wouldn’t see her smile.

“You’re smiling, aren’t you?”

Wiping the evidence from her face, she turned. “No, of course not.”

But she grinned then shrieked when he scooped her up and pretended to throw her back in the water.

“Let’s rinse off and eat. I’m starved.” Lisa followed Efrem to the boardwalk and a fresh water rinse. The shallow groove that marked his spine was straight and deep. His muscles clenched and released with each step he took. Lisa stumbled over the first step to the boardwalk.

“Watch it,” Efrem said, holding out his hand. She took it and stepped under the outdoor shower. They were completely alone since it was so late in the day, and they splashed each other while they rinsed off. Efrem headed back to the truck with a promise to return with the food. Lisa went back to the dune line where she pulled an old blanket out of her beach bag and pulled on a cover-up. Efrem walked toward her. His muscled legs pumped in a smooth motion but the cooler hid the stomach action.
How disappointing is that?

“What are you staring at?” Efrem asked. “Is my zipper open?”

“Your trunks don’t have a zipper.”

He raised an eyebrow and Lisa grimaced. “You’re very observant.”

“I left myself open for that. Ha-ha.”

“I’ll forgive you if you help me serve this food.” He put the cooler down and flipped open the lid.

“This,” Lisa explained, “is the best nourishment after a day of hard surfing.”

“What is it?” Efrem dropped to his knees beside her. “I’ll eat anything.”

“Peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches.” She kept her face averted as she put the plastic storage container on the blanket. “And this is Gatorade. Naturally.” She peeked through her lashes and fell on her side laughing at Efrem’s comically unhappy face. “You said you’d eat anything.” She squealed when he caught and hooked her ankle to keep her from scrambling away.

“What is it?” He had a devilish look in his eye. “Tell me or I’ll be forced to make you confess.”

She laughed. “Ooh, I’m so scared.”

He dug his fingers into her ribs and together they rolled around on the blanket.

“I give! It’s chicken. Fried chicken.” He stopped the tickling, but he didn’t look convinced. “I swear. Let me up and I’ll prove it.”

He kept an arm around her stomach—which only postponed dinner more—while she got back on her knees and pried open the plastic lid to reveal the crispy fried chicken she’d made that morning. Satisfied, he let her go and they both devoured the food. Efrem sighed with satisfaction over the imported beer she’d packed for him and gallantly held the bottle to her lips for her to taste. Inevitably, some of it missed and dribbled over her chin and down her neck. As if mesmerized, Efrem stared at the path the golden liquid made on its way between her breasts. He offered her another taste—but most of it went the way of the previous taste.

This time it was Efrem’s tongue that followed the shiny wet path until his face was buried between her breasts. Her top came off and the cover up settled around her hips.

“Someone might see us,” she mumbled.

Efrem made a noise in his throat. He stood up, pulled her to her feet and strode toward the dune line. He hesitated then grabbed his surfboard and plunged ahead.

“You can’t go in there,” she whispered fiercely while clambering up the dune and clutching her cover up against her breasts. “The dunes are protected.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “Don’t worry too much, Miss Alayne. I’m not going to do anything to the dunes.” They crossed the first dune and descended into a natural low spot. They couldn’t see the ocean or the boardwalk. Scrawny sea grapes bobbed in the evening breeze and the whip-like grasses danced in the air around them. She was aware of their surroundings but stayed focused on the look in Efrem’s eyes as he watched her in the moonlight. She dropped the cover-up and slid out of her bikini bottoms.

Efrem put his board down, wet his whole finger in his mouth, cupped her and slid it between her labia. Another moment and he wouldn’t have had to do that much more. He slipped his suit off. They dropped to the sand, but Efrem laid her out on his board.

It was her turn to laugh when Efrem, staring at her spread out on the board, said, “I’ll never think of Sex Wax the same way again.”

Straddling the board he pressed a hand flat on her stomach and nudged her legs apart with his knees. His erection pointed at her and he watched as he moved one finger in, then out, two fingers in, then out. Lifting his hand from her stomach, he spread her lips open and lightly pinched her clitoris between his slick fingers.

She squirmed. Moaned.

Efrem bent and whipped his tongue around and around that tangled bundle of nerves, once, twice, ten times.

She bucked.

Slowing his tongue—but not releasing her—he thrust his fingers in and out of her, mimicking the act of love. She came twice before he let her go and, by then, his hips were straining forward, the head of his penis seeking the dark wet warmth of home.

Eased by Lisa’s wetness, he slid into her but remained resting on his heels. His butt cheeks grazed the waxed board. Again he watched while he held her legs wide open¸ her feet at his shoulder level. The base of his cock pressed at her entrance, seated as deeply as possible. He watched as her pussy tightened around his dick, milking him without moving her hips. He felt sweat break out on his brow. Restraint and patience were not his
str
ong suit where she was concerned.

“Please,” she whispered and clenched his cock with her vaginal walls.

He groaned as she tried to pump her hips. She didn’t succeed, but it drove him to pull out of her, slowly, watching as his dick withdrew covered with her juices. He stopped before the head appeared.

“What do you want?” he asked, his voice deep and raspy with passion.

“You. Just you. Come here. Come to me.” A delicate but strong hand reached for him, but he ignored it.

At last. Here’s a woman I understand, Lisa Alayne. She wants me. To love her, protect, help her. And I want her.

He smiled as he pushed inside her again, watching every inch disappear into her slick, swollen channel. Then he was pumping rhythmically. His hips rotated right going in, left as he pulled out. At each change of angle she whimpered and lifted her hips more. The wet, sucking sounds of their lovemaking jangled his nerves. Picking up speed and adjusting his angle, he made his nuts slap her on the ass hovering in the air over his board.

I’m going to bronze this board.

He released her ankles and grabbed the sleek globes of her ass. When she was on the verge of coming again, he leaned over and let his dick drag across her clitoris. She exploded, flooding him to his pubic bone. He returned the favor.

* * * *

She would have been satisfied with another fast-food run like their after-sex dinner the day they spent at the beach. Sand between her butt cheeks notwithstanding, she had enjoyed every minute. But no, the man wanted to take her to a
nice
place for dinner. The king of burgers and the clown of kid’s meals were nice enough for her. But Lisa had to admit, the man had style.

Efrem showed up in charcoal-gray slacks, light-gray shirt, and a black satin vest. In honor of her profession he wore brand new, shiny black cowboy boots. The vest showed off his broad chest and shoulders, tapering in to emphasize a narrow waist. Her heart beat take-me-take-me-take-me inside her chest, making the filmy material of her new dress flutter ever so slightly.