The Seacroft: a love story (Paines Creek Beach Book 2) (13 page)

“Done,” he said, climbing down to the soaking grass. He took in the sight of the drenched girl before him. She hadn’t complained once, and she’d stood by his side for all twenty-six windows. “You did great, Viv.”

She shrugged and gave him a feeble smile. “Thanks.”

“You cold?” He’d noticed the temperature drop in the last hour, and then saw her shiver.

“Just a little. But it’s okay.”

“Come on, let’s get you inside.”

He urged her into the house, noticing that Uvi had turned on all the lights because of the covered windows. “Come on. You need to change out of these clothes and get some hot tea, or something like that.”

Vivian gave him a blazing smile. “Thanks, Cody. You’re sounding like a regular nurturer all of a sudden.”

He laughed. “Yeah. I guess you’re rubbing off on me.”

Uvi appeared suddenly in the doorway with a frown. “Who’s rubbing whom?”

“No.” Viv flushed. “You heard us wrong. I just said—”

“Get upstairs and change. You’re dripping all over my carpet.” When Vivian had gone, Uvi marshaled Cody into the bathroom, closing the door behind them. She gave him a lascivious glance. “Take off those wet clothes, young man.”

Cody looked at her. “But Vivian will be down in a few minutes. We can’t just—

Uvi locked the door and approached him with a wicked smile. “I’ll make those decisions for you. That’s an order. Come on. Strip.” She peeled off his sweatshirt and began to lift the hem of his wet tee shirt. “You’re soaked through.” She tut-tutted and leaned in to start the shower.

Cody knew what was coming. And he figured he’d better cooperate, because she was already mad that he hadn’t shown up in her bedroom for the past few nights. Besides, it was just sex, right?

He stepped out of his jeans. “Er. Thanks.”

She raked her eyes over his body. “God, you’re so beautiful.” She placed both hands on his rear and pulled him toward her, reaching for his mouth. “Kiss me.”

He did as she said, leaning into her perfumed body. Her soft curves pressed against him, instantly arousing him.

She kissed him deeply, reaching down to stroke him, then slipped out of her clothes and led him into the shower. “Come, my dear. You need some careful washing.”

Chapter 24

 Cody watched the water slide down Uvi’s spectacular curves. She tilted her head back in the shower spray, letting the stream caress her face and body. Her eyelashes were instantly soaked, trickling drops of water down her cheeks. Something about this action was so erotic, so unplanned, that he felt an urgent drive to take her, now.

He pulled her around to face him, leaning into her with his erection.

She shot him a flawless smile, glancing down at his eager body. “All ready for me, my love?” she purred.

“You know it.” He kissed her fiercely, lowering his head to tongue her nipples. They rose in expectation beneath his attention. He straightened and drew her even closer, clamping her tight against him.

She laughed and backed up a few inches. “There’s no need to hurry, darling. Here. Pass me the liquid soap.”

He fumbled with the fancy bottles on the shelf until he got the lavender scented soap she wanted, which she liberally poured over both of them. Now their skin was slick and smooth, and the motions of her hands washing him made him struggle to contain himself. The moist scent of lavender filled the room, intoxicating him further.

She reached down to rhythmically rub his penis, stroking with such eagerness that he almost exploded on the spot.

He stopped her hand, moaning. “No more, please. I can’t wait.” He slid toward the shower seat in the corner, plopping down on the plastic. He beckoned her toward him. 

She let loose a carefree laugh and straddled him, positioning herself over him and drawing him in with one smooth motion. Instantly, he was engulfed inside moist, squeezing flesh, as she lowered herself over him, driving him deep inside her. With her head thrown back she placed her hands on his shoulders and met him thrust for thrust. Their primal screams came minutes later.

He flopped back against the shower wall. “Oh my God. You’re killing me.”

She stayed atop him, her muscles clamping him, pulsing him. She peppered his face with fluttery wet kisses. “I knew you’d be good for me when I hired you.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Really? You knew? Is that why you hired me? I’m some kind of gigolo?”

She laughed, released him, and stood. Water streamed down her body and she cupped his chin in her hand, tilting his head up. “Well, not exactly. But it sure didn’t hurt that you are so gorgeous, dear one.”

He should have been flattered. But something didn’t feel right.

He wasn’t the deepest person on the planet, he knew that. He’d never been famous for his great substance. He’d always had simple needs. Things like wanting his freedom, a place of his own. Or material items, like his truck, or a nice little kayak. He’d never wanted anything to do with people. Or one special person.

He loved sex. Oh sure, he craved it daily. It seemed to top his thoughts at all moments. Second only to food.

But something had changed.

Being a sex slave for a woman who paid him to screw her was starting to feel just a little uncomfortable.

It was hard to figure out.

Here was this gorgeous, exotic beauty, begging him to make love to her. She was experienced and sexually talented, beautiful and enthusiastic. She was every teenagers dream.

Yet he wasn’t a teenager anymore, was he? He was twenty-one. And he had a hard time not thinking about Vivian discovering them together in that shower.

Had she heard the shrieks of pleasure? Had the sounds of the water covered it?

Now, even more, he didn’t want her to find out. It was embarrassing.

Why?

He found his thoughts straying to Vivian during the sexual encounter. And in the end, he’d even pictured himself making love to her, not Uvi.

What did that mean?

Am I just lusting after every woman in my life? Or am I… God forbid… growing up?

“I have clothes upstairs you can change into,” Uvi said, interrupting his thoughts. “They’ll be a little big on you, but they’re dry. And you won’t have to go back outside in the rain if you don’t want to.”

Cody smiled but shook his head, pulling on his wet pants. “No. That’s okay. I’ve gotta go tape up windows on the second floor. After that, I need to see that the garage is buttoned up tight for the storm. Thanks.” He kissed her briefly, shrugged into his sopping sweatshirt, and left her standing in her towel.

Outside, the winds howled. They’d picked up strength in the last few hours, which meant he had to hurry to finish all the jobs he’d lined up for himself. He climbed the apartment stairs two at a time and quickly changed into dry clothes, grabbing his slicker from the hook behind the door.

 He worked hard all day, putting away everything the wind might pick up on the porch and on the grounds, taping all the windows with Vivian’s assistance, and after moving his truck into the garage beside Uvi’s fancy cars, he decided to put plywood over the garage windows and doors as well.

The temperature had dropped in the past hour and the rain blew sideways into his hood. Cody felt the prick of cold wet rain run down his neck. He shivered and pulled his slicker tight around him.

Freezing, but finally satisfied, he tromped into the kitchen at six to find Vivian stirring a big pot over the stove. The aroma of home filled the air, and his stomach growled.

“You look so cold.” Vivian glanced sideways at him. “Try some of my chicken soup,” she said with a shy smile. “It’s my first time making it from scratch and I think it tastes pretty good. At least it ought to warm you up.”

He shed his dripping raincoat and hung it on the rack in the corner. “Thanks.”

Vivian took down a yellow ceramic bowl and filled it with soup. She handed him a box of Saltines. “Milk?” she asked, opening the fridge.

“Perfect,” he said. He blew on his spoon and took a sip. “Delicious. What are those little white bits?”

“Barley.” She ladled a bowl for herself and sat across from him at the table. “I prefer it to rice. I used to make it for my brother this way.”

He smiled at her. “I’ll bet he loved it.” He opened the box of crackers and grabbed a handful. “I can’t believe how starving I am. Like I haven’t eaten in weeks.”

“You didn’t eat when you were sick, so you really have to make up for lost time.” She hopped up to refill his already drained glass of milk. “There you go.”

He focused on eating, and asked for seconds. She refilled his bowl again and they ate in companionable silence, which felt right. It felt real. It felt easy.

He smiled at her from across the table and took another spoonful of soup. “You really are a wonder, you know that?”

“What? Do you still have a fever? You’re talking crazy.” She flushed and looked away.

“You’re a wonder. An amazing person. You’re just so—”

She stood and opened the fridge. “More milk?”

Okay. So, if she wants it this way, I can manage that.

She was shy. He knew that. And she wasn’t comfortable with compliments.

“I’m just sayin’.” He smiled at her. “I appreciate all you did for me. It was really nice.” He drained his second glass of milk. “And yes, please.”

She poured it, refilling his glass for the third time. “You’re welcome, Cody.”

He touched her hand before she moved away. “I meant it. Nobody’s ever taken care of me like that.”

“Really?”

This time she met his gaze, and he felt a thrill tickle his spine. His heart thumped harder. And he just sat there, staring at the girl he’d never really seen before. It could be a problem, the way he was feeling about this woman. Yes. A real problem. Especially the next time Uvi commanded him to her bed.

Chapter 25

Vivian woke at midnight to the sounds of wind and rain battering the house. She tiptoed to her window—which was crisscrossed with masking tape—and peered out into the dark, where the trees bent almost to the ground. The storm was raging now, and she wondered what kinds of damage they’d find in the morning.

A distant crack and tinkle of glass came from one of the rooms in the hallway. It sounded like something had broken through a window. In slippers and bathrobe, she headed for the hall, flicking the light switch by her door.

Nothing.

“Power’s out. Ugh.” She grabbed her flashlight and turned down the corridor in the opposite direction from Uvi’s bedroom.

She figured no one else had woken up, since all the doors were still firmly shut. She thrilled a bit to think of Cody sleeping in Mr. P’s room, just a few rooms down the hall from her. He’d agreed to stay in the big house while the storm surged around them. It would be fun to take a peek at him, but she’d die of embarrassment if he caught her. Anyway, he had to be exhausted from his day’s labor, and was probably out like the proverbial light.

She opened the first door on her left, but saw nothing amiss.

Maybe the broken window was across the hall?

Turning, she investigated two more rooms, and in the third, she found the wreckage.

A thick limb from a nearby Catawba tree had broken through the window, scattering glass everywhere. She noticed with a gasp that the limb had struck and knocked over an old desk, and the poor thing was cracked right down the middle, contents spewed all over the room.

Instinctively, she bent down to clean up the mess, setting her flashlight on a chair for light. But it was hard to see with the wind and rain that lashed at her through the open window. Pulling her robe tighter against her body, she began to retrieve the papers, old checkbooks, and other articles from the mess on the floor, stuffing them into her oversized bathrobe pockets.

While rescuing the documents, she couldn’t help but notice a bundle of what seemed to be important papers, including the deed to the house, the Polansky’s marriage certificate, and a U.S. passport.

She carefully slid the papers into her pocket, but her wet fingers slipped on the passport and it fluttered to the puddle on the floor. She grabbed the flashlight to see better, and found it lying open, face down, in the glitter of glass from the window.

Flipping it open, she recognized the seductive expression from the oil painting hanging over the mantle downstairs.

Mr. P.

There he was, in all his glory, silver hair slicked straight back and even though he didn’t smile, his eyes held an invitation. If he was in Timbuktu or somewhere equally as exotic, according to his enraged wife, then this had to be his older, expired passport.

The rain gusted heavily into the room, nearly blinding her. With an exasperated sigh, she zipped the passport and the rest of the papers into her bathrobe pocket, backing out of the room.

Back in the hallway, she decided to check on Uvi. Even though it was nearing twelve-thirty, she ought to at least peek into her room. If Uvi was awake, and if she’d heard the sound of the splintering glass, she’d probably want to know what had happened.



Cody arched over Uvi, coated with perspiration from the last hour of making excruciating, labored love to his boss. He’d given in when she’d come to his adjoining room to claim him by waking him up with her mouth on his penis. He hadn’t been able to reject her this time. He hadn’t even tried.

He’d explored her body in every possible way this time, including the fifteen minutes he’d spent down under the blankets. She’d even asked him to lick honey from her belly and breasts, and had poured it on him, too. When they’d become too sticky to continue, they’d spent a while in the bathtub, soaping and rinsing each other off with slow, deliberate movements.

Now, back in the bed, he impaled her with the candles flickering in the background, driving rhythmically into her willing flesh.

Uvi grinned with unabashed lust, pulling him deeper inside her. “Oh, Cody. I could fall in love with you, baby. You are so beautiful.”

Beautiful? Well, I’ve been called worse.

He held off as long as he could, then let himself come, sending her into paroxysms of joy. She screamed with pleasure, but over her cries came the sound of something breaking at the other end of the hall.