Northern Moonlight (24 page)

“Yes, I am.
 
Let me just get the picnic basket.”
 

Sabrina turned around so he could get an eyeful of the dress’s rear view and felt his eyes penetrating her as she bent down to lift the basket of strawberr
ies, grapes, French bread, and b
rie cheese she had prepared that afternoon.
 
Sabrina smiled, striding in front of him as he followed her out the door.
 

“I have champagne in the truck.” Gio mumbled, still helplessly entranced by Sabrina’s sexually charged beauty in a dress that he wanted to shred with his teeth.

Sabrina smiled again, immensely satisfied with her delirious effect on him, “I know.
 
That was the plan.”

“
Yeah, that was the plan.” He repeated foolishly,
clumsily opening the passenger door.  He affixed
h
is hands to her hips and lifted
her effortlessly as she slid with grace onto the seat.
 
Gio closed the door and walked round to the driver’s side, feeling not the shadow of an appetite for the food she had lovingly packed for them.
 
As he tried to steady himself with a white-knuckled grasp on the steering wheel, he blurted out, “We’re going camping, you know.”

Sabrina looked at him in disbelief.  “What are you talking about? We’re going on a picnic.”

“No, actually, I’ve decided to kidnap you and take you camping far away from civilization where no one will ever find you.” He growled the words as Sabrina shrank back in her seat in mock fear.

“You’re kidnapping me?” She placed a scandalized hand over her mouth.  “Let me out of here right now!”

“Not a chance.” Gio muttered, gluing his eyes to her lovely form.

The sun dipped low into
the horizon just as Gio and Sabrina arrived at Sugarday Field from a leisurely drive sprinkled with light conversation and more delicious compliments from a very bemused Giovanni.
 
Gio decided he
would take her to the most secluded corner where they
could
recline on a blanket and forg
et that the world even existed. 
As he parked the car, Gio surveyed the grounds, pleased to see th
at there were very few people in sight. 
He would have Sabr
ina all to himself this night.

“Did you really think I would take you
camping?” He asked with a wink, spreading the blanket over the grass.

“Well, if you had,
I would have made the best of it and t
oasted
some marshmallows over a campfire!
It wouldn’t have been so bad!”
 
Sabrina said
congenially
, as Gio narrowed his eyes and caressed a tendril of her hair that shone natural red-gold highlights under the moonlight.
 

Around
them, the night was closing in. The almost starless sky hung
low and sleek, housing a slice of moon that did little to illumine the somber shroud.
 
Beneath the blanket they shared, the grass was cold and dewy, causing the pair to huddle closer.

“I’m sorry about the other night.  I shouldn’t have driven away without giving you a kiss goodnight.” Gio said intensely, pinioning Sabrina on her back.

“No you shouldn’t have.” Sabrina agreed, suddenly forgetting why she had been mad at him in the first place.  Before she had a chance to remember, he was on top of her, molding her lips sweetly to his.  His hands wandered over her body in the sundress, slipping underneath the hem to fondle her bare thighs.

Sabrina covered his hand with hers and said urgently, “Gio, someone could see us.  We’re not going to make love here in this field!”

“We’re not?” He raised an eyebrow defiantly and quieted her effectively with a kiss that transported her to a place of pure sensation where propriety and privacy were alien concepts.  Boldly, she wrapped her legs around him, tugging on his hair and pressing his face down closer to hers so the kiss naturally deepened. 

When they finally returned to reality, Sabrina blushed furiously to discover her dress twisted around her body and her sandals strewn carelessly in the grass.  Sensing that she was about to transition to the Primrose side of her personality, Gio encouraged her to recline next to him on the blanket. 

“Let’s just hold each other and look at the sky.” He murmured, as she compulsively smoothed her rumpled dress.  When she would have reached for her sandals, he grabbed her hands and clasped them together over his chest.  For long moments, they lay hypnotized by the panoramic view of the sky as well as by the erotic aftershocks still sizzling inside them. 

Voices sounded in the distance, and Sabrina could hear the distinctive gleeful chatter of a little girl.  She lifted her head from Gio’s chest and saw that a family of four was laying a blanket not too far from theirs. 

Two children skipped together in a circle until, without warning, the little boy clobbered his sister, knocking her over on the grass.  The little girl stood up in a flurry, running to her mother’s side to issue a formal complaint against the imp.  The parents exchanged a look that spoke of how familiar they were with such antics, and the mother waved a scolding finger at the little boy.  As the mother reprimanded the boy, she glanced over at Gio and Sabrina, seeming to notice them for the first time.  Taking in their state of partial undress, she looked away as though scandalized, and Sabrina knew it was time for them to take their erotic picnic elsewhere.

“Gio, we should leave now.” Sabrina nudged him as he slept lightly.

“Huh? Why?” He asked, not opening his eyes.

“Look over there!” Sabrina urged, as he turned his head and finally noticed the young couple with their school-age children setting up for a much more wholesome sort of picnic. 

“Out of all the places in this field, why do they have to come here?” Gio grumbled, but did not argue further as Sabrina gathered their picnic basket together. 

In a quest for privacy, they decided to move their uneaten picnic to Sabrina’s house.  As Gio careened his truck into the driveway, Sabrina ducked her head as she spotted Mrs. Benjamin hauling a garbage bag to the curb.

“Come on, let’s hurry and get into the house.  My neighbor watches me like a hawk.” She hissed through her teeth, as Gio chuckled, unfamiliar with Mrs. Benjamin’s prying personality.

Shaking his head in amusement, Gio got out of the car just as the old lady was walking back to her porch.  In her slippers and housedress, Mrs. Benjamin padded towards Gio.  Hoping to avoid Mrs. Benjamin was futile, Sabrina realized, as she hopped out of the truck.

“Hi Mrs. Benjamin.” Sabrina greeted with a false smile.

“Hello Sabrina.” The woman narrowed her eyes and came closer, looking disapprovingly at her sundress.  “You’re stained with mud!” She accused, as Sabrina peered down at her dress, noticing a small smudge of dirt.

“I better go inside and put it in the washing machine.” Sabrina said brusquely, dreading that Mrs. Benjamin might guess the reason for the stain. 

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Mrs. Benjamin hollered after them, as Sabrina walked briskly towards her house. 

Impatiently, she whirled around and said, “You’ve seen him before.  He’s the man who left those flowers for me.  But, I’ll introduce you.  Mrs. Benjamin, this is Giovanni.” Giovanni politely offered Mrs. Benjamin his hand.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you, Mrs. Benjamin.  Have a good night.” Not waiting for a reply, she whisked Gio over to the front door and unlocked it in a single motion.  Inside, she breathed a sigh of relief.  “Believe me when I tell you that woman could have kept us talking until dawn.” Gio laughed as Sabrina took another look at her dirty dress.

“This really does need to come off.” Gio said, yanking on the fabric.

“Be careful! Don’t rip it.  I can still wear this dress if I wash it with enough detergent.” Sabrina scolded.

“If it’s not rain getting me out of my clothes, it’s dirt getting you out of yours.” Gio remarked, waiting for her to shed the dress.

“You’re right about that.  After rolling around on all that grass and dirt, I wouldn’t mind taking a shower.” Sabrina said invitingly.

“I wouldn’t mind taking one with you.” Gio replied, as the two made their way to the lavender-tiled bathroom. 

Gracefully, Sabrina stepped out of her sandals and stripped off the dress as Gio watched with ravenous eyes.  He enthusiastically followed suit with his own clothing, and Sabrina marveled how he was naked in a matter of seconds.  She ran tepid water from the shower spigot and tested it before stepping in.  Gio followed close behind her, and they both luxuriated under the water’s gushing refreshment.  As the water saturated Sabrina’s hair, she reached for a shampoo bottle.

Gio gently grabbed her wrist and said, “Let me do that.”

Then he squeezed a dollop of fragrant shampoo into his palms, rubbing them together to create a foamy lather. 
It was with heart-wrenching, infinite tenderness that he soaped and washed her long cascade of dark hair, all the while gently massaging her scalp, sending joyful tingles throughout her body.
 
As his masterful hands kneaded the back of her neck and upper shoulders, she closed her eyes, trying to crystallize this moment in her memory, knowing she didn’t have to try.
 
Sabrina
sighed sweetly as Giovanni patiently proceeded with his loving massage, telling her with the movements of his hands what he was still unable and unwilling to put into words.
 
You
must
love me
.
 
She thought to herself in a silent murmur.
 
No man would be so
solicitous
in such a
tender
manner unless he truly loved a woman.
 

As
Sabrina
arched her back, pressing her hands against the ivory porcelain tiles of the shower, she fe
lt a jolt of arousal in Gio
, but still he continued his thorough massage, now molding the muscles of her middle and lower back, sending wave after blissful wave of gratitude through
Sabrina
.
 
She thought of all the ways she could return the favor, then deliberately cleared all thoughts from her mind, not wanting to di
sturb the perfection of Gio
’s rarely displayed affection.
 
Mentally, she floated away, barely noticing as he began to rinse her hair, cupping his hands to gather water and then carefully pouring the water onto her soaking hair.