Pier Lights (21 page)

“Good enough.” Harry slapped his back.
“Let’s gather the ladies. This old man’s ready for some good
campfire food. It’s been far too long.”

“You ought to move out farther where you can
do one.”

“Well, you know, we’re getting too old to be
out too far by ourselves now. Not like we haven’t thought of it,
but we have to be practical. Shame. I envy you this. When you
decide to hire more folks, give me a shout. I got good names for
you. And Caroline will be darn good at keeping track of ’em, I
figure. Give her the chance.”

He heard voices as they approached where
he’d left Caroline and his mom. She was at it again. Dio sighed and
hurried his steps.

“Now don’t you give me any grief.” Caroline
rose onto her crutches to face the old woman. “I’m not going
anywhere. Dio wants me here, and I want Dio, so you’re just going
to have to put up with me. If you want me to be nice to you, you’ll
have to not give me lip. I won’t stand for it. I had enough of it
growing up and I won’t have it now. So just stop and you talk to me
in a polite manner or you don’t talk to me.”

Dio paused to wait for the reaction. He saw
Nelda do the same.

“Fine. I just won’t talk then.” She raised
her chin and turned it away.

“So be it. I like quiet. Won’t bother me.”
Lina settled herself in a chair. She glanced over at Dio and gave
him a grin.

He waited. Maybe Lina liked quiet but his
mom didn’t.

“Do you plan to give me grandchildren?” So
much for quiet.

Lina looked over at him again with a sly
grin and a dangerous look in her eyes. “Oh, don’t worry about that.
I have good hips and a nice strong abdomen. I’m sure I’ll be able
to manage as many children as Dio can father, or is willing to
father. I’ll give him every chance to try.”

The old woman chuckled. “You plan to keep my
boy happy?”

“Oh I plan to keep him plenty happy. Don’t
worry about that, either.”

“Well then, I spose I better get along with
you okay. I want to live to see my grandchildren and be allowed
around them.”

“Good plan.”

Dio cringed. Allowed around them, yes.
Unsupervised, never. He made his way over to Lina and picked up her
hands. “Stay off those crutches and let these hands heal. I told
you, I have a lot of work ahead for you and I need you well enough
to get around.”

The old woman snorted. “Sounds like she’s
got plenty of work ahead for you, too, Diomedes. You better keep
strength up enough to keep up with the girl.”

Nelda told the old woman to behave, it was
no way to talk to her son. Wasted warning. Dio had heard far worse
over the years. He ignored it as always and scooped Lina into his
arms. “Come on, baby. Let’s go make you your campfire.”

“A nice big hot one?”

He grinned. “As big and hot as you want
it.”

Caroline surveyed the area as he carried her
down the sandy path. She could see the water. She had no idea the
house was so close to the water. Much of it was hidden by a whole
line of thick trees, but it was there. “Oh Dio, this is beautiful.
I could sit at the top of this hill and just look out over it all
day.”

“I’ll have to put a nice bench out here,
then, so you can do that.”

She kissed his neck. “I’ll help you build
it. I’m good at building. I used to be.”

“Good at building? Miss Classical
Ballerina?”

“Before that I was one of the biggest tom
boys anyone had ever seen. I even cut my own hair when it got in my
way. Made Mom furious. I did that a lot.”

He chuckled. “I can just imagine.”

“Can we go all the way to the water? How
much is yours?”

“Enough. And yes, the water front is mine.
So is that dock I brought you in from the boat on the other
night.”

She was struck silent. All this and the
dock? The water front. And the dock. The boat. He was her water
god, as she always wanted. Someone who loved it like she did, who
would help her indulge her water fantasies. “Tell me you swim.”

Beside her ear, he kept his voice low. “I
swim naked. After I work with my sword on the boat, I come back
here and cool off.”

“Oh Dio, let me do it with you.”

“I’m counting on it.” With a grin, he
settled her on what looked like a hand cut log complete with
slightly sloping back rest made from a second, thinner log propped
on its end. A beautiful spot. Nelda grabbed a long stick and pulled
out a small pocket knife to start whittling the end to a point.
Caroline offered to help. Dio handed her his knife and stuffed
leaves and brush under the kindling to get the fire started. Harry
guided him, told him what he was doing wrong, said it was about
time he learned to do this.

By the time she and Nelda had four long
sturdy sticks chiseled, the fire lapped up over the heavy logs.
Lina did feel like a kid at Christmas. She had a campfire and Nelda
promised S’mores, she had a beautiful view with the promise of
naked swimming later; and she had a sexy stud at her side who
promised even more than naked swimming, long term. This was far
better than any Christmas she’d ever known.

Mesmerized by the fire, Lina relaxed against
the log chair. She propped her right foot over top of her left
ankle to get all weight off of it. It didn’t ache as much today. It
did ache, but not the throbbing ache.

“Ready for this?” Dio handed her a stick
with a hot dog pierced through the end.

“Absolutely.” She held it out but she wasn’t
nearly close enough.

“Want me to do it?”

“No, I want to do it. I haven’t done this
since I was about seven.”

He grinned. “Come on, then.” He picked her
up to move her closer, but he stopped too soon.

“Dio, I can’t reach yet.”

“Let me do it for you.” His voice was
strained.

“No, I’ll do it. I want to do it.”

“Lina...” He was scared. More than scared.
His eyes darted to the fire. He was terrified.

She touched his face and he jumped. “This is
from...”

He looked back at the roaring flames.

“Oh Dio...”

“I don’t want to drop you, or let you fall.
Sit down, Caroline. Let me do this.”

“No. Just hang on to me from behind. I’m
good at balance you know, but put an arm around my stomach and let
me lean on you and we’ll do it together. It’ll be fine.”

He hesitated. She insisted. Harry took his
side, also, for moral support, she supposed, and helped them get
situated just close enough she could reach her hot dog over the
nearest flame. Harry handed another hot dog stick to Dio. They
stood back to front slightly to the side and she twisted her head
up to give him a soft kiss.

“Your hot dog will burn.”

“I like it well done. Kiss me.”

He met her lips again. His arm tightened
around her stomach. And she gave him a smile. “This isn’t so bad,
right?”

“She dropped me on it. When I was three,
nearly four. I was running around it in circles and she told me to
stop. I didn’t. So she picked me up and took me in very close to
feel the heat, to show me the danger. And she dropped me. I burned
most of my hair off, my eyebrows. I didn’t feel it at the time.
Once I could feel it, it was the most excruciating pain I have ever
felt. It hurt like that for weeks. I haven’t done this since.”

Caroline glanced to the other side of the
fire where his mom stared into the flames. “She dropped you?”

“She only meant to startle me but I was big
enough... She should have had the sense to know she couldn’t hold
me that way.”

“I think our hot dogs are done enough.”

He nodded and she took both sticks so he
could pick her up and set her back down on her log chair. She
waited while he grabbed buns and asked what she wanted on hers and
brought them over on the same plate. Caroline nudged the half
blackened wieners onto the buns.

Nelda brought a bag of chips to set between
them with an understanding smile at Dio. “She ain’t been the same
since. She was never stable, but that ... oh Dio, she loves you so,
it just about killed her.”

Caroline watched Dio as he let it sink in.
She didn’t want it to sink in, to bother him more than it already
did. “Hey, time for another.” She waved her half gone hot dog at
him.

“Something wrong with that one?”

“No, but by the time you have another one
cooked for me, I’ll want it. I’ll take this. Get busy. I’ve barely
eaten in days and I’m famished.” She took the plate from his
hand.

This time, he shoved two on the same stick.
Caroline had to wonder if he meant them both for her. Even famished
she didn’t need three hot dogs along with the chips she devoured
and still have room for the chocolate marshmallow sandwich she
wanted at least two of. She didn’t have to keep her abdomen
absolutely flat anymore. And she didn’t feel the need.

He gave her a grin and went back to the
fire.

“NOOOO
.”

Caroline jumped at Cleo’s ear-piercing
scream. The old woman jumped up and ran at Dio. He moved away from
the fire in time she didn’t knock him into it. Caroline stood but
her crutches were too far away. Harry was there. Dio had his mom in
his arms held firm.

“Mom, it’s all right.”

“No
, Diomedes, the fire. The
fire
. Get away.
Get away
.”

“Okay, it’s all right. I’m fine.”

“Come, Cleo, the boy’s all grown now. Look
at him. He’s just fine. Just you relax now and sit.”

Lina could only watch from the distance. She
didn’t dare risk hopping. It would scare Dio to death and he didn’t
need more of that. She tried to put her foot down to see if it
would hold her. The first bit of pressure snapped a pain all the
way through it. But the old woman calmed with Dio’s voice, with
Harry and Nelda assuring her all was well and they were all
enjoying the fire as they used to and as they needed to start doing
again.

She wanted to hold him. Where were her
crutches? She didn’t even see where they’d gone. She felt helpless.
And she felt like the cause. She’d encouraged this...

No. Harry encouraged it. It was his idea. He
wanted them both to heal. Her grandma always said you had to face
bad things if you wanted to get over bad things. She would have
liked Harry and Nelda. She would have liked Dio, too.

Finally, he looked over at her. Standing
there perched like a stork, one leg bent up and balanced on the
other, she had to be a humorous sight, and his expression said she
was. He said something to Harry, transferred his mom to his arms
instead with a word to her, also, and he came over. “Trying to
fly?”

“If only I could.” She gripped his arm. “Are
you okay?”

“I’m ... ready to finish cooking as much as
you could possibly want so I can then kick all of these people out
of here and have you alone.” He put his mouth close to her ear.
“Naked.” He kissed above her ear. “And wet.” With a grin, he
scooped her up and moved her closer to the others. “Now stay
put.”

“Where did my crutches go?”

“You don’t need them. I’m your legs for
now.” He turned and grabbed the stick from Nelda to finish the hot
dogs.

~19~

Dio woke to pressure, exquisite pleasure, up
and down tender pleasure. And he was hard as hell.

“Morning.” Lina kissed his chest.

“Mm, baby. I didn’t mean to keep you out
here all night.”

She grinned and maneuvered on top of him
underneath the thick blanket he’d brought out the night before so
she could stargaze as they dried. “I was trying not to wake you but
I couldn’t help myself.” She moved her hips up and down, caressed
herself with his erection, tilted her head back and closed her
eyes.

It was still mostly dark. Only the barest
light accented her hair and her shoulders. The air was cool but not
terribly cool. Dio pushed up against her, and he pulled the blanket
off.

“Dio...”

“I want to see you.”

“But, your mom...” She looked up the hill
toward the house.

“No one can see us from there.” He ran his
hands from her pale small firm shoulders slowly down her strong
fragile trembling back to her round soft sensual ass, and he
coerced her down into him.

“I wasn’t ready yet.” She whispered in his
ear and kissed his neck.

“Yes you were.”

“I wanted to tease more.”

“I’m in charge this morning.”

“Why?”

“Because you woke me up. That’s the
rule.”

“Is it?”

“Hm.” He rolled them over so he could be
fully in charge and pushed more deeply inside. Dio watched her
face. She closed her eyes. He grasped her wrists and pulled them
over her head, held them in one hand. She didn’t struggle. She
bucked her hips up into his.

Dio slid his free hand down to her breast,
then he pulled out of her, her wrists still in a firm grip. She
objected that he pulled out. He hushed her, reminded her he was in
charge. Pulling her hands down closer where he could hold them more
easily, his legs between hers so she couldn’t get away if she
bothered to try, Dio took her nipple in his mouth, teased it with
his tongue, moved his lips to the side of her breast, and bit,
sucking the tender skin.

“Dio...”

“Shh.”

“You marked me last night.”

“That was last night. I told you, Lina,
every time.”

“I’m going to have to start wearing more
clothes then.”

Satisfied with the bright red spot, he moved
his tongue back to her nipple, nibbled until she groaned and reared
up, then he entered her again, enough to tease, and pulled back
out, moved his mouth to her other breast, traced the light brown
circle with his tongue, nipped at her with his teeth. “Are you
ready?”

“No.” Her eyes were closed. Her head tilted
back.