The Cupcake Coven (16 page)

It was true. The shops in Market Square had good visibility, but Rebecca’s was more of a neighborhood bakery built into an old colonial house. The windows were normal sized for a home, not like a storefront, and unless it was dark out and the lights were on inside, no one could see anything from the street.

Dru scratched his head. It was a little soon in their relationship, but she needed protection and he had to find another place to stay that was cheaper. Even the motel that left the light on for him would eat up his savings eventually.

“Rebecca, I was thinkin’…”

“Uh oh…” One side of her mouth curled up and he knew she was kidding, but even so…he might well be out of his mind.

“Sorry,” she said and patted his thigh. “Tell me what you were thinking.”

“Well, it’s not a permanent solution, and you’re free to say no, but…um…”

Her brows knit as she waited. “But, um, what?”

“Well, I could stay here with you. My room got robbed, and I moved to a local hotel. If you’re okay with my payin’ my old weekly rent for your storage room, it would help us both.”

She raised her eyebrows but didn’t respond right away. He could tell she’d heard him, but didn’t have a clue what was going through her head.

Finally she chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“My storage room? You want to sleep on bags of flour?”

He chuckled too. “Yeah, right. With a bag of sugar for my pillow. Nah, I’d just be paying to stash my stuff there. As it is, I can barely afford the motel where my stuff is at, and I—well, I’m here with you most evenin’s anyway. It might be safer to have a man in the house all night.”

She didn’t respond right away. At last she nodded. “I have a guest room, you know.”

He smiled. “I figured if I asked for your guest room, you’d kick me outa your bed.”

She laughed. “No danger of that, cowboy.”

He tipped her chin up and held her gaze. “Does that mean you like sleepin’ with me?”

She rose and held out her hand.

I guess she’s gonna show me.

She led him to her bedroom and unbuttoned his shirt. Instead of letting it drop onto the floor, she took it to her closet, shoved her clothes to one side and hung it up. Then she opened a drawer, pulled out her t-shirts and crammed them in the drawer with her sweaters.

“This one’s yours.”

He stared at her and wondered if she was just helping him out or if she wanted him there. It felt like they were moving awfully fast all of a sudden.

“I mean it, Rebecca. I’m gonna pay you rent.”

She shook her head. “For a drawer and a section of my closet? I don’t think so.”

“Don’t make me point out the fact that you can’t afford to turn it down, darlin’.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Either I’m a lousy landlord or a good girlfriend. I know what I’d rather be, but it’s ultimately up to you.”

Now he felt like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. One false move…

“Look, I have no illusions about this,” Rebecca continued. “As soon as you find Shasta, you’re going back to Texas. Hanna says you’re close, but it could be two days, two weeks or another two months. At any rate, you said you’re not leaving without her, and I believe you.”

“So, it sounds like you’re just doin’ this to help me out,” he said.

She stopped and looked like she was thinking about it. At last she folded her arms and said, “Pretty much. Yes, it would be nice, and possibly safer, to have you here at night, but I’ll be fine alone when you leave. The police will probably lock up the loan shark in a couple of days.”

“Hopefully.” Dru pulled her into a hug. She ran her fingers over his bare back and the warmth of her fingers was nothing compared to the warmth she generated inside of him.

“Rebecca,” he murmured. Without saying another word, he swept her up in his arms and laid her on her girlie bed.

“I was thinking of taking a shower.” She smiled up at him with a twinkle in her brown eyes. “Want to join me?”

“Oh, yeah.” Dru extended his hand and helped Rebecca up. She led the way to the bathroom, unbuttoning her white blouse while Dru followed, admiring her tight round bum. As soon as they got there, he dropped his jeans and helped her off with hers.

She turned on the spray and while the water heated, she slipped her hands around his waist and tipped up her face.

Perfect.
Everything about her was perfect—except that she lived in New Hampshire and he lived in Texas. Over a thousand miles away. Maybe two thousand. He couldn’t concentrate on mileage while she was begging to be kissed. Her tongue flicked out and wet her luscious lips.

He descended upon her like a starving man. They groped and devoured each other until the heat and steam from the shower reached them. Or was it from their own bodies?

At any rate, Rebecca grabbed the handle and adjusted the water temperature. “Tell me how you like it.”

“Up against the wall, on the seat, hands and knees…I’m not picky.”

Rebecca shot him an exasperated smile. “I
meant
the shower spray.”

He chuckled. “I know you did.” He held his palm under the very warm, but not too hot water. “Perfect.”
Just like you.

She slipped around the curtain and held it for him to join her. The shower was free-standing with a small tile lip, not part of a bathtub.

Rebecca held her head under the spray and got her hair nice and wet. Then she turned Dru until he was under the spray. As they kissed, he smelled something minty, then felt Rebecca’s fingers massaging his scalp.
Ahhh…that’s so good.
When he felt like he could be lulled to sleep that way, he heard a loud thump and suddenly his toe hurt.

“Oops. Sorry,” Rebecca said. “My elbow knocked the shampoo off the shelf.”

“No damage done.” Opening one eye, he spotted a bottle of natural shampoo on the shower floor. As she reached down to get it, he stood up straight and rinsed. He was just lowering his head as she stood up and his chin connected with the top of her head.

“Ow.” She rubbed her head.

“Sorry. Are you okay, darlin’?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Good thing you have a hard noggin. Your turn.” He grabbed her arms and pushed her in front of the spray.

“Wait.” She must have taken in some water, because next thing he knew she was sputtering and gasping.

“Sheesh. Sorry about that. This ain’t as romantic as I pictured.”

She giggled. “Maybe we should take turns. It’s kind of tight in here.”

“I’m not givin’ up yet.” He grabbed the shampoo bottle and squirted a dollop into his palm, then he smoothed it over Rebecca’s head. As soon as he’d worked up a good lather, he returned the scalp massage.

“Mmmm…” Instead of standing still as he had, she grasped his cock and began to stroke.

Whoa. Talk about feeling good!
When she played with his balls, he groaned. Soon he couldn’t handle any more. “Time to rinse, darlin’.”

She smiled and pivoted under the spray. Her hair looked twice as long as it cascaded down her back. He took advantage of the moment this time and cupped her breasts, which fit his hands perfectly, and he rubbed his thumbs over her nipples.

She let out a low moan, reaching behind her for his cock again.

“Not yet, love,” he said and drew her backward so she nestled against his chest. He reached between her thighs with one hand and cradled her breast with the other.

She gasped as he tweaked and began massaging her most sensitive places. Dru took great satisfaction in how responsive she was and loved giving her pleasure. She held onto the metal grab bar and soon she trembled and whimpered.

Almost there.

She let out a cry and vibrated wildly. He kept up his love massage as she bucked and screamed out her release. Sometimes she practically melted into the bed after he brought her to orgasm, and he had a momentary vision of her slithering to the shower floor. He held on tight until she grabbed his hand and yanked it away from her clit.

“No. More. Can’t. Take. Any. More.”

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her temple. “How about if we towel off and move to the bedroom?”

“Not yet, darlin’,” she said and grinned. Apparently she’d learned to mimic his accent as well as his expressions. Not perfectly, but he gave her cute points for trying.

She had a small wooden bench on one side of the shower. They’d avoided it during their foreplay, but the way she was eyeing it, he’d guess she had plans for it now.

“Have a seat,” she said and nodded to the bench.

“Don’t mind if I do.”

The minute he was seated, she lowered herself to her knees, grasped his cock and guided it into her mouth. He leaned against the wall and groaned as incredible sensations fired all his nerve endings.

She took him in deep and applied extra suction as she withdrew.

“Dear God,” he whispered. “I won’t last long at this rate.”

Ignoring his weak protest, she carried on. When he tensed, she pulled back and laved her tongue around his shaft as if tracing the rings on a candy cane. It didn’t provide much of a reprieve, because he still wanted to come and come hard.

“Rebecca…” he murmured.

She peeked up at him, but didn’t stop attending to his needs.

“I want to come inside you,” he said.

She shrugged and went back to deep throating him.

He gipped the seat and groaned. “Seriously…I can’t hold back much longer.”

She broke the suction just long enough to say, “Are you sure you don’t want me to keep going this way? I don’t mind.”

He grabbed her under her arms and hauled her to her feet. Then he sat back down on the bench and patted his lap. “Why don’t you ride and let me do the driving.”

She grinned. “Reverse cowgirl?”

“That’s the idea.”

“Okay.” She turned around and lowered herself onto his erection while Dru gripped her waist. He lifted and lowered her easily. She let out little mewls of pleasure.

The pressure built again and he groaned. He reached around and massaged her sensitive bundle of nerves, causing her to rock and moan. He kept it up until she shattered a second time, and then hot cum shot out of his shaft as he went on his own rocket ride. She stayed with him to his last aftershock.

When at last they stilled, she laid her head back, rested on his shoulder and panted.

He turned and nuzzled her neck. Then he whispered in her ear. “I love you, Rebecca.”

She sighed.

She didn’t say it back. Didn’t say anything at all.
“Did I lay my cards on the table too soon?”

Rebecca fidgeted. She swiveled around and gazed at him. “No. But you’re leaving.”

“Doesn’t change the way I feel.”

She rose and grabbed the washcloth from its hook outside. “It was probably the afterglow talking.”

“No, dammit. I meant it. Look, I know long distance relationships can be difficult…”

“Try impossible.” She wet the cloth under the spray and offered it to him. “How often do you think I can take a vacation from the bakery?”

“Uh…not at all?”

“Correct. And how often can you take a vacation from the ranch.”

“Well, there’s foaling in early spring, haying in the summer, but other than that it’s just the regular routine…” She had a point. He might be able to manage two weeks at a time, but no more than once or twice a year.

“Don’t say it again until you’ve had a chance to come back to earth—and make sure you have clothes on.”

The shower spray was cooling, but that was nothing compared to the splash of cold water to his heart.

April sat on the deck of Mike’s beach house, gazing out to sea. The clouds were high and slow moving, but there were a lot of them. She hadn’t looked at the newspaper or TV for a weather report that morning and could only guess at what kind of day it was going to be.

Didn’t matter. It was sunny and warm in her heart.

Mike stepped out onto the deck with two mugs of coffee. He handed her one, then leaned against the railing. “I guess we should call the shelter and explain why you weren’t in your bed last night.”

She grinned up at him. “Should we tell them
all
of it?”

He chuckled and played with her hair. “I think they can fill in the details for themselves. Besides, they might be jealous.”

“Yeah, of me.”

“Me too.” He leaned over and kissed the top of her head, then he dragged the other Adirondack chair next to hers and sat down. He reached for her hand and she happily let him clasp it. That meant she was drinking her coffee with her left hand, but she didn’t mind.

“Last night was pretty amazing,” she said.

“Yeah, not bad for a girl who doesn’t know if she’s a virgin or not.”

She laughed and he grinned over at her.

Yup. I could stay in this spot for the rest of forever and feel just fine about it.
A few silent moments later her mood sobered. “I wonder when my memory will come back?”

Mike shrugged. “Frankly, I wouldn’t mind if it never did.”

She whirled on him. “What?”

He squeezed her hand. “Relax. I just meant that after last night…well, if it turns out you’re married or something—”

“I’ll get a divorce,” she said immediately.

He stared at his coffee. “It might not be that simple.”

Uh oh.
“Are you thinkin’ of getting’ back together with your fiancé?”

“No.” He blew out a sound of disgust. “Hell, no.”

“Okay.” She relaxed. “I just wondered…”

He drew her fingers to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Don’t worry about her. She had her chance and she blew it.”

April smiled, then went back to gazing at the gulls gliding on the wind. A queue of sandpipers scurried along the waterline. She couldn’t help wondering if she did have a family out there. She was young, but not too young to have a child or two wondering where their mother was. Why did she have to think of that and spoil her perfect morning?

“So, do you want to drive around again today and see if anything jogs your memory?”

She sighed. “I guess so. I don’t have much else to do, but it seems like a losing battle. If I came in on a bus, it’s possible that I’ve never been here before. Maybe I didn’t even get off on the right stop.”

“I thought of that. I figure we could go on the internet and look up different bus routes. Maybe we can try following a few up and down the coast.”

“Can you spare the time?”

“I could probably go back to work in a day or two, but maybe I should take the rest of the week off, just to be sure my memory is intact.” He winked at her.

She ‘saw’ a flash of a young man who winked at her. Not Mike, but someone about his age. Taller, trimmer, and with light brown hair. “I think I just remembered something. Some
one
, actually.”

“Really? Who do you think it was?”

“I don’t know. Someone who might have winked at me like you just did.”

“A guy?”

“Yeah.”

“Close your eyes. See if anything else will come back.”

She did and tried to recall the young man’s face. She wasn’t very successful. It was already fading.

“Nah. I’m gettin’ nuthin’.”

“Well, don’t worry. It’ll probably come back to you again.”

“Yeah. The apple pie did.”

“That’s right. And that wasn’t long ago. You’ll probably get a lot more memories soon.”

“Is that how it was for you?”

“Yeah. I mean, it helped that my parents were able to fill in a lot of my history, but then the gaps started filling themselves in after that.”

“Cool. I wish I could run into just one person who knows me. Even that would help me answer basic questions.”

“Like what planet you’re from?”

April laughed. “Yeah. Like that. Right now I think I’m from Earth, but you never know. Maybe I’m a Martian.”

“I’m betting you’re from Venus if last night is any clue.”

“You want me to bake a what cake?” Rebecca exclaimed.

Keith stood in front of her grinning. “A cock cake. A group is coming in tomorrow night for a bachelorette party. I know it’s last minute, but the girl’s maid-of-honor mentioned it and we both thought it would be funny. I said I’d look into it for her. She’s willing to pay up to a hundred dollars, but if it’s too much trouble—”

“No! It’s no trouble. I’ve just never done one before.”

Dru returned with his empty tray in time to hear the end of the conversation. “What haven’t you done before?”

Rebecca propped her hands on her hips. “Baked a cake to look like a penis.”

Dru reared back and laughed. “I’ll be happy to model for it.”

She smirked at him. “I’m sure you would, but I think I can remember what they look like.”

Keith raised his eyebrows. “Remember? Aren’t you two boinking like bunnies?”

Rebecca felt her face heat. “Let’s see…I don’t have a mold, but maybe I can come up with something. How many does it need to feed?”

“Twelve.”

“I still think you should use me as a model,” Dru said, and winked. “You want to make a good one. Not like Michelangelo’s David. You could use two grapes and a cocktail weenie to make that one.”

“And what are you,” Keith asked. “Two peaches and a salami?”

Dru grinned. “Why? What have you heard?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “So, Rebecca…since you two are hot and heavy, and apparently Dru wants to be immortalized in sugar and flour, can you do it?”

“I think so. I could use a long loaf pan from my bread baking days, then shave off the sharp edges…No, wait! I could make a long sheet cake, like I do for Yule logs, but roll it length-wise, complete with cream filling.”

Keith cracked up. “I love it.”

“Great. I’ll give it a whirl.”

Dru scratched his chin. “You know, you could add erotic cakes as a special order item. I can mention it to adults around the area. That’ll probably kick up your profits.”

“Hmmm…I might be able to use some of that hundred bucks for a cake mold.”

“Now that I can see your wheels turnin’, I’ll just stash this tray in the sink and give you some thinkin’ room.” Dru strolled into the kitchen.

“Is business still slow?” Keith asked.

“Not like before,” Rebecca said. “I’m still waiting for my second baker. Once I get more help I can think about taking big party orders again. But I’ll do it for you, Keith.”

“Thanks. I’ll bet you can handle a few erotic cakes. Dru is still here, and nobody thinks he’s leaving.”

Did she dare hope? She hadn’t sensed any urgency in him to get back home, even when he said his job was on the line. “Do you know something I don’t?”

Keith shrugged. “Just call it a feeling.”

She smiled. “I like your feeling.”

Dru returned to the store front and slipped an arm around Rebecca’s waist as he spoke to Keith. “Your club’s not that far. I can walk it over.”

“I’ll have to put it in a brown paper bag so you don’t get arrested for displaying porn in public,” Rebecca said.

“Well, I’ve gotta get going,” Keith said. “Can you have it there by eight tomorrow night?”

“I’ll make sure it’s ready.” Rebecca grinned at Dru. “I’m looking forward to this.”

Watching Rebecca shape and decorate her ‘cock cake’ was fun. It was the most animated Dru had seen her in a long time. She’d looked up adult cake pans on the internet and found she could afford a few good ones if she reinvested the profit from her first effort.

Dru couldn’t help being amused by her innovation. The item was huge, but she insisted it had to be, just to feed all the guests. She’d done a spice cake roll with cream filling and used a cupcake on its side for the head. Two macaroons made the balls. She’d covered everything in something she called fondant and sculpted a very realistic looking erect phallus, complete with some veins.

Dru couldn’t wait for Keith to see it when he set off for the club.

He hadn’t gotten ten steps from the bakery when a guy with his hands in his pockets blocked his path.

“Whatcha got there?”

Something seemed weird about the guy’s confrontational approach, but Dru chose to err on the side of good PR.

“It’s an erotic cake for a bachelorette party.”

“No kiddin’. Can I see it?”

“Sure. It’s a whole new thing from The Bewitching Bakery.” Having no free hands, he tipped his head in the shop’s direction as he slid the cake carefully from its paper bag.

The guy took a look and chuckled. “A whole new thing? So she’s expanding, huh?”

Shit. I hope it’s not another one of Marvelous Marv’s lackeys.

Dru lifted his chin. “Yeah. They’ll have to be special ordered. I can take your phone number and call you in a few days…”

The guy smirked. “Nah. I think I’ll just go in and get a donut or something.” He moved as if to go around him.

“She doesn’t make donuts.”

“Pity. Well, I’ll just go see what she does have.” The guy pushed past him, bumping his arm in the process.

Dru held onto the precious, one-of-a-kind cake, relieved that it didn’t land upside down on the sidewalk.
Whew.

He didn’t like the guy’s obvious disrespect and followed him back into the bakery. The need to protect Rebecca was more important than any delivery. Without Ethan or Hanna there, he was all the safeguard she had. He set the cake on the stoop beside the door, in case he needed to restrain the guy and followed him in.

The guy glanced over his shoulder and frowned when he saw Dru.

Yup. It looks like he’s up to no good.
This time, he wouldn’t let anyone get within grabbing distance of his girl.

The guy walked up to the counter and appeared to be browsing. Dru raised his voice, hoping Rebecca could hear him and would stay in the kitchen. “She’s not here right now, so I’ll help you, sir.”

Apparently, she didn’t understand because she came breezing around the corner.

“I’m still here.”

The guy reached into his pocket and Dru threw himself in front of Rebecca. “Get out of here, babe. I’ll handle this.”

“I have questions for the owner. Are you the owner?” the guy said with a snide expression.

“No, but she’s not here right now. This is just a baker.”

“Nice try, but I know what Rebecca Colby looks like.”

“Dru,” Rebecca murmured in his ear. “Let’s hear what he has to say.”

“I have a question first,” Dru said, not taking his eyes off the
alleged
customer. “Who are you?”

“My name isn’t important.”

“Oh, but it is. We like to know all our
customers
by name…especially if they know
our
names.”

“I’m not a customer. I’m a realtor. I’m here on behalf of someone else.”

“Why didn’t you say that up front?”

“Because my client asked me not to.”