Finding Sunshine (25 page)

“You’ve got me,” I reply roughly, breaking her hold of me so I can quickly strip off my rapidly tightening jeans.

“Yes, you’re all mine,” she states emphatically, going to her knees and crawling towards the edge of the bed where I’m now standing.

In that moment, Russell reminds us of his presence by trotting over, pushing me with his body, and resting his head on the bed. Looking up at Nina, he’s begging her to let him join her.

“I completely forgot he was here.” She blushes shyly as she reaches out and scratches him behind his ears.

“I’ll be right back,” I say, leaning down to grab her face in my hands and pulling her to me in a quick, rough kiss.

“Okay,” she giggles.

“Russell, come,” I command, walking towards the stairs. Looking back, I see him standing by the bed, staring at me defiantly.
So much for being well-trained.

“Russell, come. Now,” I repeat myself, standing at the base of the stairs, waiting for him. He reluctantly leaves Nina’s side, but I really don’t blame him. I race up the stairs and let him through the door, shutting it behind him before I sprint back down to my woman.

“Where were we?” I ask, quickly stripping.

Kneeling on the bed, she wraps her arms around my neck and whispers into my ear, “You were showing me how much you love me.”

“It could take a while.” I wrap an arm around her waist and, putting a knee on the bed, push her back down.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she tells me, as I settle comfortably against her.

Nina snakes one hand between our bodies, and I gasp as she grips my cock tightly in her hand
,
stroking me perfectly.

“S-so—good,” I stutter into her neck, breathing in her warm, sweet vanilla scent. My body rocks gently against hers as I grow painfully stiffer.

“I want a taste,” she says, removing her hand and pushing me onto my back. I go down willingly
.
Leaning over me, Nina’s soft hair falls down, teasing me with its feather-light touch as she kisses her way down my body. Licking, sucking, biting and teasing me, she’s driving me crazy until I’m panting with unreleased need.

“Sunshine,” I gasp, when she fondles my balls and licks the pre-cum off of my slit.

“Do you like that?”

“You know I do.” My Nina’s hot little mouth is perfect. I’ll never understand why she’s always so self-coconscious about sucking me off. “You’re perfect.”

My hands reach down and my fingers tangle in her hair as she takes me in deeper. I shudder with pleasure as my woman uses her talented tongue to stroke the underside of my cock.

“I won’t last,” I gasp, releasing her hair and taking hold of her arms, encouraging her to release my cock. She does so with a wet pop, smiling up at me and licking her lips with her sinful tongue, making me groan.

Moving up my body, she holds me in her hand and sinks down onto me—
bare
. I groan with pleasure as we are joined. We’re both clean and Nina’s on birth control, so we’ve stopped using condoms. No matter how many times I’ve felt her silky wetness against my cock, it always feels as amazing as the first time. Running my hands along her thighs, I hold onto her hips as she begins to move. She places her hands on my chest, giving herself more leverage to ride me.

“Yes,” I breathe, as we begin to rock together. Faster
—and faster.

Wanting to feel her soft warm flesh in my hands, I pull up the t-shirt and tug it off of her, tossing it onto the floor. Gliding my hands over her thighs and up her body, I cup her breast firmly. She continues to grind down on my cock relentlessly.

She whimpers with pleasure as I squeeze on her breasts, tugging on her aroused nipples roughly. The nails scratching my chest have my balls pulling up in pleasure.
This feels too damn good.

“I’m not going to last much longer, Sunshine.” I groan out, as the first wave of pleasure beings to build within me.

“I’m close,” she gasps.

“Hold on tight,” I murmur, wrapping my arm around her waist and flipping us over, so I’m now in control.

“Yes!” she moans loudly, as I begin pounding into her pussy. I feel her pulse around me, as her climax unleashes—setting me off in the process. Soon, I’m exploding in a rush of pleasure, as I continue to move within her hot wetness.

We continue to move together as our rhythm slows, neither of us wanting the connection—
the pleasure
—to end.

I flop onto my back, still breathing hard. The movement takes Nina with me, and she giggles in shock at the surprise. My cock slips from her wetness as she falls onto her side, with half of her warm body still draped over my chest.

“I love you, Sunshine,” I whisper, kissing her soft hair and holding her securely in my arms.

“Ditto,” she says, kissing the hinge of my jaw and running her fingers along my naked chest. Her gentle touch makes me shiver with renewed desire.

“Why don’t we go up to Vermont this weekend, just the two of us?” I suggest, several minutes later running my fingers lightly along her naked side, making her squirm and laugh against me.

“Aaron—stop!” she says breathlessly, smacking my chest lightly as I cease my assault.

“I can ask Sarah to babysit Russell. We could go to Pinetree and at least look around, learn more about the area, and then I could met with Franklin’s father.”

“Could we stay at a Bed and Breakfast?” her excitement at the thought of a trip together is becoming clear as she squeezes me tightly.

“If you want.”

“Will you make love to me there?” she asks, leaving several gentle kisses along my jaw.

“You can count on it,” I say, rolling into her and pressing her onto the bed, under my body. She reaches up and tucks my hair behind my ears, as I lean down and possessively take her mouth. She moans with pleasure.

Thank fuck, I’ve got my sunshine back.

~ Nina ~

“What are you doing?” Aaron asks me, his sleepy voice muffled by the pillow.

“I’m kissing every freckle,” I answer, leaning down from where I’m straddling the back of his legs to pepper his shoulder blades with kisses as I run my hands along his naked back.

“That might take awhile,” he chuckles, twisting his body underneath mine.

“Hey! I wasn’t done,” I laugh, when I find myself being pulled down on the bed beside him.

“It’s my turn,” he growls, pressing his lips to mine roughly and stealing my breath away as he leans over, entwining our already naked selves.

My man’s hands and lips begin to move over my body, touching me in all the places that send waves of heat straight to my sex. I’m soon breathless with sensation—practically panting with need.

“
Aaron
,” I moan mindlessly, rocking my body against his as my frustration mounts.

“I love you, Nina.” Aaron vows, with one hand on the headboard and the other palming by backside, he joins us together and begins quickly moving us towards mutual satisfaction.

“I love you too,” I promise, wrapping my legs tightly around his waist and resting my hands on his stomach. I love feeling the muscles contract as we begin to move at a faster, harder, unrelenting pace. It doesn’t take long before we’re both exploding with pleasure.

Golly, that was a great way to wake up in the morning.

“Fuck. I love having a headboard,” Aaron growls, dropping back down to cover me while supporting his weight on his forearms. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him down and touch my smiling lips to his own.

It is Saturday morning, and after a long, rainy drive last night, we finally arrived at the picturesque
Pinetree Inn
. Aaron has taken several nights off from bartending at
St. Andrew’s
so that we could spend the weekend here together. Once we’ve explored the area today, he plans on calling Franklin to set up a meeting for tomorrow. Tonight, Aaron made us reservations at the inn’s upscale restaurant
Chester’s
—I hope my man likes the dress I brought to wear.

As ridiculous and probably juvenile as it sounds, it felt rather naughty signing into the inn last night together. This is the first time we have gone away, or truly been secluded in our own little world,
together
. After the revelation of Aaron’s past, I feel like we have hit a new—
deeper
—level in our relationship. I understand and know him better now—and am more in love with him than ever. And all week I’ve been looking forward to spending this blissfully uninterrupted alone time with him
.

Just the two of us.

“Does my sunshine want breakfast in bed?” Aaron asks, breaking me out of my thoughts and kissing me again quickly as he flops down on the bed beside me.

~:~:~:~:~

After enjoying a leisurely breakfast in the beautiful suite Aaron spoiled me with, we venture outside, into the sun-filled spring day. We stroll hand-in-hand along the cracked and potholed sidewalk, trekking the half-mile into the center of Pinetree. The air is filled with the scent of warm, damp grass and mulch as we pass beautifully restored homes with lush green lawns and colorful gardens.

It’s not long before we come upon a bright red covered bridge, standing over a swollen and sparkling creek. The scene is set against a bright, sunlit, clear blue sky.
Picture perfect.

Dropping Aaron’s hand, I remove the camera I have strapped around my neck and begin trying to capture the scene.

“Aaron, move,” I say, crouching down and angling my camera upwards in an attempt to capture both the cloudless sky and the green mountains in the background.
Who knew there were so many different shades of green in the world?

“What?”

“You’re in Mr. Snappy and I’s shot,” I answer, grinning and waving him out of the way.

Chuckling, he moves to stand behind me. Over the months spent together, Aaron has learned to put up with me stopping at random times to snap photographs—whether it’s with my camera or just my phone.
It must be love.

I take several more pictures from various angles, and when I begin to feel Aaron shift on his heels behind me—in a move that I know by now is boredom—I place the camera strap back around my neck. Turning to face him, I pull my phone out from my back pocket.

“You do it, you have longer arms.” I hand Aaron the phone as I direct him to stand in front of the covered bridge.

“Do what?”

“We’re taking a selfie,” I smile, leaning into his side and wrapping my arms tightly around his waist.

He chuckles softly, but does as I ask, taking several photos of us cuddled up together. The red covered bridge is in the background and the bright, clear blue sky shinning down on us.

“I hope those are okay—you’re the photographer in this relationship.” He grins, handing me back my phone.

“I’m sure they’re great,” I assure him, quickly flicking through the pictures. With a little cropping and some colorization, they’ll be perfect.

After taking a few more photographs, I’m finally able to tear myself away from the idyllic scene and we continue over the bridge. Next we happen upon a neatly kept park that overlooks the creek—
The Otter Creek,
according to the sign. There are several groups of people on blankets, picnicking in the sunshine. They all look like they’re having a wonderful time.
Aaron and I should do that tomorrow.
As we continue down the street, we pass a small neatly kept, whitewashed church. The path to the door is lined with beds of colorful flowers, all fully in bloom.

The first shop we see in town is an Artisan’s gallery, filled with an assortment of pottery, metal works, hand-blown glass, photographic prints, handmade jewelry, and other arts and crafts. We slowly wander around, admiring the various items, until we come upon a display of wooded signs with various sayings painted on them. I gravitate towards the one that reads,
All you need is love…and a dog
. I pick it up to examine it more closely, and discreetly check the price.

“That’s nice. We should get it for our new place.” Aaron says, stepping behind me. He wraps an arm across my chest and kisses my temple.

“What new place?”

“The one we’ll get together, either here or in Boston,” he announces, as if it’s a forgone conclusion.

I don’t recall—ever—discussing moving in together.

“Aaron,” I growl in annoyance, placing the sign back down and turning around to face him.

“What?”

“I don’t remember us
ever
talking about moving in together.” I scowl up at him, placing my hands on his chest.

“I thought that’s what this weekend was all about—you deciding where you wanted us to live,” he counters innocently, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion and resting his hands on my hips.

“It is. But you’ve
never
said anything official. And I’d remember, because I’ve been waiting for you to ask me to move in.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“The problem is you assuming things,
again
,” I snap back at him and take a deep breath. “We’re not arguing about this here.”

“What’s there to argue about?” He pulls me in closer, kissing my cheek and whispering into my ear, “We love each other and we both want a future together. Right?”

Goddess. A future—together.

His words have me melting further into his body, and raising myself up on my tiptoes, I slide my hands up his chest and around his neck. I kiss his lips, whispering back, “Goddess, I love you,” against them.

Wrapping his arms tighter around me, he takes over my gentle kiss and turns it into one full of possession and desire, and it ends all too quickly.

Aaron picks up the sign, and after purchasing the first decoration for our new—yet to be determined—place, we head further down the street, stopping next at a cute little bookstore with a bustling café attached. We meander around, looking at the impressive display of Vermont authors, including Julia Alvarez and John Irving, as well as finding a selection of coffee table books. I stop to admire one filled with stunning photographs of my newest obsession—covered bridges.

After flipping through several other books, and becoming increasingly inspired with ideas for future photographs I could take, I look up and realize that Aaron is no longer standing next to me.

Glancing around, I see him striding back over towards me with a huge smile on his handsome face and a paper bag in his hand.

“Where’d you go?”

“To buy you this,” he states proudly, handing me the bag. “I saw it when we walked in and thought you’d like it.”

Reaching inside, I pull out a brightly colored paperback book and, flipping it over to the cover, see that it’s the
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Cookbook.

Golly, my man is sweet!

“Thank you!” I rock up onto my toes and kiss his cheek. “That’s so sweet. Literally.”

“You’re welcome.” Aaron wraps an arm around my waist. “I did have an ulterior motive—I thought I could be your taste-tester.”

“Of course,” I laugh, giving him another quick kiss. “Can we sit down for a second? I want to look at the map and see where else we might want to explore while we’re in town.”

“You just want some coffee,” Aaron chuckles. Keeping his arm wrapped around me, he leads me towards the café on the other side of the store.

“I wouldn’t say no to another cup,” I laugh, leaning into him.

Standing in line, I eye the impressive display of delicious looking sweets—all of which seem to be coffee-themed. There are mocha crinkle cookies, mocha truffle brownies, coffee toffee thumbprint cookies, and chocolate cake doughnuts with coffee icing drizzled on top. It is basically
Heaven.
Even though we ate a delicious and filling breakfast—western omelets and fruit salad—I’m salivating by time we’re at the register.

“Do you want anything?” Aaron asks, looking down at me with a teasing glint in his eyes.

“Of course. Surprise me.”

“Really?”

“I trust you.” At my words, Aaron kisses my forehead sweetly and rubs his head against my own.

“Can we please have two dark roasts, two of those and two of those,” he orders, pointing through the glass at the cookies.

“Aaron, we don’t need all of that,” I laugh.

“Sure we do,” he says, taking out his wallet to pay.

I have learned not to try and pay when we are out together—it only makes him grumpy. Instead, I have become more sneaky in my financial contributions. I’ll bring groceries over to the house, order our movie tickets online, or use my account when we rent movies at home. I also try and do little things for him, like baking his favorite cookies or throwing his laundry in with my own. Anything to illustrate that I want to take care of him as much as he wants to take care of me.

With our selection of cookies and cups of coffee in hand, we find an empty table near the door, which looks out onto the busy street through large picture windows. From our seats, we can watch as people come and go, greeting each other cheerily. Catching snippets of conversation, it seems as if everyone knows each other.

“Good choices,” I mumble with my mouth full of cookie. Aaron was correct; we quickly demolished all of the delicious treats—my favorite being the mocha crinkle cookie.

“I’m glad you enjoyed them.” Aaron leans over and kisses me, licking the crumbs off my lips. “Yummy.”

Pulling away, I sip my piping hot coffee slowly. Finally, I dig the map out of my purse and hand it to Aaron, and then reach into my back pocket and pull out my phone.

“Who are you texting?”

“No one. I’m putting our selfie on
Instagram
.” I answer, looking up at him.

“And that couldn’t wait ‘til we got home?” he asks rolling his eyes, reminding me how much of Luddite he can be at times.

“No. I want everyone to be jealous of how much fun I’m having,” I state, smiling at him smugly.

“You’re having fun?”

“Of course.” I place the phone on the table, and hugging his arm tightly with my own, I kiss his cheek. “How could I not? I’m with my man, and he’s spoiling me.”

“My woman’s easy. All it takes is cookies.”

“Don’t forget the coffee,” I tease against his lips as he kisses me tenderly.

“Never,” he chuckles, rubbing our noses together.

“Masters?” says a surprised voice, making us both look up to see Franklin Royal striding over to our table, with Father O’Neill following close behind. The first time I met the two, I wasn’t able to fully take them in
—having had one too many lemon drops.

At first glance, I notice that Franklin looks similar to Bennett: the dark glasses, olive skin, dark brown hair, and a slim but fit build. However, he exudes an air of mystery and darkness—something that is both frightening and intriguing. He’s dressed in dark, fitted blue jeans and a black t-shirt that reads,
It’s not me. It’s you
.