Is Three A Crowd? (24 page)

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Nathan seemed loath to leave the land, but his scheduled meeting couldn’t be pushed back yet again. He left early, promising to be home in time for supper. Maris decided his hesitation was because he knew she’d spend time with Blake, alone.

She wandered the back roads in her pickup until she came to his log home and studio in the late morning, a picnic basket in the back holding their lunch. She’d diplomatically waited until both men had left for the day and asked Aminta to have it prepared. Maris went back to the stone house, showered and dressed, skipping makeup. The lunch was ready when she stopped back at the Chateau, leaving Shin with Aminta. She’d noticed he and the dog had formed a bond of sorts, and she didn’t want to worry about the dog running on unfamiliar land. Today was for concentrating on Blake.

Approaching his private home, she got a chill of anticipation. She knew it would be up to her to initiate any sexual encounter, but she was prepared. She wanted this private time with him, needed to know how they would be together without Nat.

Blake didn’t seem surprised to see her, but she noted he continually cleaned his paintbrushes on a cloth while she wandered around his studio. She glanced to him for permission to look through the completed canvases and got a nod to go ahead. What she saw surprised her. Blake’s style had changed. When they first met, he’d been doing landscapes and eventually portraits of her. There were some landscapes, but they had an angry feel. All the skies were stormy or cloudy. A few were downright depressing looking. In amongst them were sketches of her done from his memory. They all held her youthful appearance, something long gone from her today.

“These are interesting,” she commented, pulling one from the stack and taking it to the window where the light was better. “I didn’t sit for this one. Just like I didn’t sit for the one in your master bedroom at the Chateau. That was from memory, too.”

“I did that from memory just for myself. I’ll never forget that afternoon.” He sighed and turned from her view. “Just about all of them are from memory.”

“You made me look so young, almost virginal.” She laughed at the irony of her words.

“That was how I remembered you.”

“Or how you wished I truly was.”

“No, if you were some virginal angel of a creature I never would have touched you. Yes, you were young and beautiful, but you knew what you wanted, and how and where.”

“I remember sitting for you in the old garage.”

“I still have that painting. It’s hung in my master bedroom in this house.”

“Did you paint in the brush handle you fucked me with?” His smile told her he did, but he didn’t offer to let her see it.

Maris felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. “You hung it in your bedroom. Didn’t your dates ask you about it?” She asked without thinking, and got a strained look from him.

“I never brought dates back to the Chateau to bed, Maris. That place was sacred to you and to us. This place has been my private retreat. I didn’t bring women here, either.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound flippant.”

“Neither did I, it’s just…”

“Go on, please be honest with me, Blake.” She put the canvas back in the stack and continued to scan others.

“All right, it’s just that I’m nervous.” He laughed, and she turned to look at him. “Silly, isn’t it? We’ve done just about any and everything two people can do sexually, but right now my palms are sweaty, and I’m wondering if I should make the first move or wait for you.”

“We’ve done everything two and three people can do together. Was I that free back then?”

“You were just you. I accepted you for who you were and how you made me feel. I’ve missed you all these years, wondered if we’d ever be together again.”

“Have I disappointed you? Surely you must have wondered how I aged?”

“Actually, Nathan and I knew how you were all the time you were away.” He hesitated and cleared his throat, deciding to continue. “Since we couldn’t get close, we hired a private investigator to keep an eye on things in
New York
. He wasn’t intrusive, just checked to make sure you seemed happy and didn’t need anything.” He walked to the far corner of the room and opened a closet door.

Tacked to the inside were photos of her, candids from the last years she’d lived in
Manhattan
. They progressed from her first months there to recent snaps of her walking Shin or carrying groceries home. Maris wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with the idea they’d had her followed, but she understood from the files they couldn’t approach her directly.

“I look so different here.” She pointed to a snap. “So uptight. I suppose I was, waiting for each breath to return my memories. I think that was the hardest part, just waiting, but then you and Nathan know all about waiting.”

Blake didn’t answer her. He moved behind her and rubbed her upper arms, pulling her against his chest. It seemed so natural to turn in the circle of his arms, to reach hers up behind his neck and lean forward to accept his kiss.

“Are you sure, Maris?”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure.” His sexy grin crossed his lips, and she decided not to think too hard. Instead, she decided to feel and experience. Her hand slid around to cup his neck and direct his mouth to hers. Their kiss started lightly, just a press of skin against skin, but she wanted more. Her other hand dropped to his shoulder, squeezing and testing the strength of his flesh and muscle.

“This all seems so familiar. The scent of the paint and turpentine.”

“I’m familiar too, Maris.” His kiss changed, taking them to the next level of intimate, his tongue sliding across her lips, asking permission to enter. She let her lips part and accepted his offering.

Their hands stroked each other, relearned each other, and ultimately started to remove the clothing for skin to touch skin. She took the initiative, taking his hand and directing them to the rear of the room where the light streamed in from a skylight. She tugged a soft throw from the back of a nearby sofa and tossed it on the wood floor, dropping before him. Maris glanced up, saw his face and the expression of anticipated pleasure and knew this was right. She rubbed her face against his erection, finally opening his jeans and carefully lowering his zipper over his full cock. She sighed and settled before him, her hands pulling his clothing away until her lips contacted with skin. His sigh reinforced his want as his hand dropped to her shoulder.

Maris loved him with all her pent-up energy, making love to his penis, accepting it deeper and deeper down her throat until her nose was pressed against his lower belly. Her onslaught of nips and touches continued until he pulled from her mouth and dropped before her. She took off her shirt and lay back while he pulled her jeans down her legs, lifting her butt to help his progress. His sigh of approval greeted her naked skin. With the touch of his hands on her body and the tip of his tongue to her clit, Maris came alive.

She writhed under him, trying to reposition them into a sixty-nine where they could both be pleasured. Ultimately, he moved with her and she reveled in knowing she could please him. His cock would throb between her lips when she pinched his butt cheeks. It surged deeper down her throat when he watched her suck on her finger before gently gliding it in his anus. His ass cheeks clenched and he bucked at the intrusion, taking it deeper within him.

“Maris, let me fuck you before I come,” he managed to whisper, but she didn’t release his cock. She sucked him harder, using her teeth to hold him when he would have pulled from her grasp. “You want me to come down your throat, then come for me.”

She felt him shifting but didn’t relinquish her hold. His tongue laved her from pussy to anus and finally his finger probed at her opening. “Oh, yes,” she sighed on an outward pull of her teeth. “Fill me, Blake, make me come.”

“Anything you want, my sweet.” His middle finger teased her full pussy lips, penetrating easily. Slipping another beside it, he fucked her with his fingers while suckling her clit. His other hand came around her back, sliding lower, his index finger grazing her repeatedly until he gently pushed it inside, the double filling too much for her to comprehend. She came with both his hands pumping her body and his lips to her clit. He surged between her lips and came down her throat, his hips bucking forward. They collapsed on the floor, sweaty and sated.

Chapter Twenty

“I still need you to fuck me,” she said, laughing as he tried to catch his breath.

“Fine, but feed me first.”

“If I must,” she said with a laugh, rising and stretching before him. Their picnic lunch was just a few feet away on a table near the door, and she flexed her aching muscles on the walk toward it. She watched Blake roll onto his back and push himself up, taking a few of the pillows and cushions from a sofa nearby. They sat naked and explored the basket, opening the wine and sipping it as they ate the sandwiches. There were several pieces of fruit in the basket, and he pulled out an orange. Maris watched as his fingers stripped away the peel, the orange essence strong in the air around them.

She lay back on the cushion, relaxed with a full stomach, watching the afternoon sky above through the skylight. The first drops of juice ran across her belly, with Blake’s tongue quick to follow. The rest of the fruit was devoured in stages, a few sections squeezed on her nipples and licked off. Droplets on her lips were kissed away. Maris paused when Blake drew back and pushed her legs wide, crushing the fruit between his fingers so the juice would drip on her pussy. He lowered between her legs and cleaned her with his tongue. That process brought her a small orgasm. When he tossed the rest of the fruit aside, his sticky fingers invaded her, pumping in and out while he suckled her breast.

“Blake, fuck me, I want to feel your cock inside me.”

“I’ve waited to hear you say those words again for so long, Maris.” He pulled away from her and rummaged in his pants, a smile forming on his lips when he found the condoms. She reached to take it from him and sheath him but he shook his head, no.

“I’m so close and on the edge, if you touch me now I’ll come.”

“Come inside me,” she whispered, drawing her knees higher, widening to accept his body between them. There was no teasing. He dropped down and in one full push was deeply embedded in her pussy. “Oh, God, you’re so hard,” she told him, her fingers running along his chest in lazy patterns, pausing to pinch his nipples. “And so long. Fuck me, Blake. Come for me.”

“I have to change positions, or I’ll do just that. Wrap your legs around my waist.” She did as he asked and held tight as he changed their place. She was amazed at his upper body strength when he rose with her still riding his cock, taking only a few steps until her ass rested on the back of the sofa. He centered her weight and sucked her nipple while he plunged inside her, taking short, then long strokes in and out of her body. She felt his body tense and knew he was finally letting his release come. He shuddered inside her and sucked her nipple harder, making her orgasm impossible to hold back.

They held tight for a long time, their sweat and juice-covered bodies sticky. When he finally stood, he released her legs from behind him, letting her weight down onto the sofa back.

“Welcome home, Maris,” he said and kissed her with a passion she’d known in the past and welcomed back.

“I’m glad to be home,” she managed, pulling him close, hugging him tight to her body. In a playful gesture, he pushed her back so she was lying on the sofa on her back. He moved beside her, and she rolled to her side, giving him space to stretch out, their arms interlocked and holding tight. “Rest a bit,” she told him as her body relaxed and her mind cleared.

Their shower together turned into an exercise in touching in small spaces, their laughter and smiles making her believe this was right. As the day grew long, they reluctantly dressed. Maris sat on the arm of the sofa and pulled on her T-shirt. As she drew her panties up her legs, Blake paused, forgetting to zipper his pants. He moved beside her and tackled her onto the sofa, kissing her playfully.

“I know what I want next time,” he said, pulling back to watch her face.

“Next time, why not now?”

“Because I want to sketch you next time, my way.”

“Okay, what’s your way?”

He pulled back and reached for her hand, helping her to stand and then pushing her forward so her arms rested on the back of the sofa and she kneeled on the cushions. His fingers drew her panties down over her buttocks and left them halfway to her knees. He took the hem of her T-shirt and bunched it up so the bottoms of her breasts were visible. His hand came down and playfully spanked her butt. Maris froze, then relaxed back into position, wiggling her ass to accept his touch. He tapped her a few more times and took a step back.