Touch Me Once (2 page)

I turned to walk away and said over my shoulder, “That makes two of us.

CHAPTER 2

He really did live just five minutes away. I followed hi
s BMW in my crappy little Corolla and pulled into his driveway underneath a beautiful, sprawling live oak. The house was large, but not ostentatious. No pillars, nothing shaped like a lighthouse, and no cement dolphins in the front yard. “This is really nice,” I said, as we walked up to the front door.

“Thanks,” he told me as he grabbed his mail out of the box and opened the front door. We went through a small hallway and walked two steps down into his living room. It was a large airy room with twenty feet of ceiling space. He had some nice art on the walls and what looked like an extremely comfortable couch. Hardwo
od floors complemented the warm tone of the paint on the walls. What struck me the most was how neat it was. I’ve been in men’s homes before, and they’ve run the gamut from postapocalyptic dorm room to anal-retentive mama’s boy. This place felt I guess the word for it would be “fresh.”

“Let’s hit the kitchen and see what we can dig up
.” The kitchen was magnificent: Sub-Zero fridge and freezer, restaurant-quality stove, and blond wood cabinets lining the walls. The counter space was immaculate and held a bunch of expensive- looking kitchen toys, like a blender and a mixer and one of the fanciest juicers I’ve ever seen.

“This is quite a set
up. Do you like to cook?”

While he was looking in the fridge
, he said, “I like to cook, but I hardly ever do. I usually just take something home from work or order out. It seems like a waste to whip up something elaborate for just me. But I took some cooking classes in college and even thought about going to cooking school. Then I found out what a hot sweaty mess that job is and bought a restaurant instead.

I’m not used to having guests
, so let me tell you what we have.” I took a seat at the butcher’s block in the middle of the room and gave him my full attention. “I have beer. I have wine in the box or in the bottle. I have liquor, some mixers, and plenty of ice. There are non-alcoholic choices, but what fun is that?” he said wiggling his eyebrows. “Just don’t ask me to make juice with that machine over there. I’m not sure how it works, and to tell you the truth, the thing kind of intimidates me.”

“Wow, that’s a lot to
choose from. I’ll make it easy— I’ll have what you’re having.”

“In that case how do
you feel about vodka tonics?”

I replied, “Strangely enough
, that’s usually my drink of choice.”

“Fantastic,” he said
grabbing a little cooler from underneath the sink. “It’s kind of a long walk down the dock, so we’ll have to pack a liquor picnic basket.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”
I asked.

“Can you cut limes?”
he said with a smirk.

I got up and grabbed a knife
out of the block on the counter. “Is this what you use to cut?”

He grabbed a couple of limes out of the fridge and said, “Go to town
, smartass.” I cut the limes while he got a bottle of Absolut from the freezer and a bottle of tonic from the fridge. He put both bottles in the cooler and dumped in some ice. He handed me a baggie and I put in the limes. “I’ll just grab a couple of glasses and we’re good to go.”

“I have to warn you, I’ve got a pretty long dock.”

“That has to be one of the worst pick-up lines I’ve ever heard.”

He laughed and handed me two glasses
, and we walked to the back door. We passed an open door on the way out and I looked into his bedroom. The entire back wall was nothing but huge windows that looked out over the marsh. “You’ve got a great view to wake up to.”

“I love
the marsh to be the first thing I see in the morning. I can see egrets looking for fish, and when the wind blows, the marsh grass sways like it’s waving hello to me.” When we turned to go outside, we were face to face, close enough to kiss. I could feel his breath on my face, and just for a second, I almost leaned in and planted one on him. I think he felt it, too, but he didn’t push it. I wished he had.

“You weren’t
kidding about your long dock,” I playfully said.

“Kat, you should know that a man never kids when he’s talking about the size of his dock.” I loved this playful flirting. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this comfortable around a man. Especially a man I had only known for a few hours.

“Seriously,” I said, “How long is this thing? It must be 500 feet.”

“Actually
, it’s closer to 800. That’s why we had to bring so many supplies. There’s nothing worse than being nice and relaxed, then realizing your drink is done and you’re facing a 1600 round trip.” We got closer to the end of the dock and fell into a comfortable silence.

“Am I hallucinating
, or are we fast approaching a screened enclosure?” I asked.

“You are not hallucinating. This is the only thing I’ve added since I boug
ht the house. I love the marsh—the sights, the sounds, and the smell. The one thing I don’t like—and nobody warned me about this when I moved here, are the No-See-Ums.”

“Yeah
,” I said, sagely, “Those little bastards are what keep more people from settling here. When I was a kid you could tell it was almost time for dinner by how many you had to swat away.”

“I bet. My first night here at the house
, I came down to the end to watch the sun set. I had a nice big drink and was relaxed and pretty happy with myself for buying a house. I sat down with my feet dangling a couple of feet from the water, and just as the sunset was getting good, I felt all of these tiny little bites. At first I thought it was some kind of rash, then I saw small dark things all over my arms and in my hair. I stood up to brush them off, but there were just too many of them. I started to walk back, and they just got worse, so I threw my drink away and ran the rest of the way back to the house. First thing in the morning, I called a contractor, and this is what he did for me.”

Alex
opened the screen door, and we went in. High-end outdoor furniture lined the perimeter of the enclosure. A nice sofa with a coffee table in front of it faced down the creek where the sun would set. Three big chairs all faced the same direction, and a sink was set at the side just over the creek. There was nothing to get in the way of the view. Alex set the cooler on the table, and I handed him the glasses. “Make yourself at home. Should I mix these up, or would you like the honor?”

“You’re the host.
I trust you.” We settled onto the sofa, and Alex handed me my drink. We clinked glasses and each took a long sip. It was perfect. We still had about an hour before the sun set, so, like we had rehearsed it, we both leaned back and put our feet on the table at the same time.

We both chuckled
, and Alex looked over at me and said, “Great minds think alike.”

The first drink went so well we decided to have another one.
Alex was wearing a white, short-sleeved dress shirt unbuttoned at the neck which gave me a small peek at his lightly hairy chest. Thank God he wasn’t a shaver (at least on his chest— in other areas I don’t mind a little grooming.) I watched the muscles ripple in his forearm as he squeezed lime juice into our drinks. His khakis were just tight enough that I could see how firm his thighs were. I looked up at the ceiling and asked, “Does that fan work?”

“It
better. I paid enough to have power run out here.” He got up to turn onthe fan and I couldn’t help but once again admire his ass. I also couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to squeeze those buns in my two hands. He sat back down just a little closer to me than when he stood up. I didn’t mind a bit. With the downdraft from the fan, I caught a very pleasant scent coming off of him. I couldn’t place the smell. It didn’t seem to be cologne just a manly wave of pheromones that was going right to my head.

“This is nice,” he said.
“I haven’t had anyone over in so long that I forgot what a treat it is to have company out here. To tell you the truth, I can’t remember the last time I sat out here and watched the sunset.”

“Why not?” I blurted out.
“If I had this view, you couldn’t pry me away from it.”

“I work a lot.
Maybe more than I should. They don’t need me all that much at the restaurant. I’ve hired some really good people that I trust.”

“Why don’t you take more time off?” I asked.

“That’s a good question.
The simple answer is that I don’t know what I would do. I don’t like to piddle around in the yard. I’m not much of a handyman and there’s nothing around here that needs fixing. I do like reading but I feel guilty if I sit still for too long. I always feel like I should be doing something. At work, there’s always something for me to do. What about you?”

“I like watching movies,” I said.
“I love going and sitting in a big dark empty theater and losing myself for a couple of hours.” When I talked, he half turned his head so we were making eye contact. I could get lost in those blue eyes of his for a couple of hours.

The sun was just starting to go down so
, we turned our attention to that and sat in a very easy silence. “You know, that sun is magnificent, but I was serious when I said that I’d rather look at you.” He turned his head to look at me, and I looked right back at him and we both smiled a little. Then, very deliberately, he took my hand and lifted it gently to his mouth and kissed the back of it so lightly that I wasn’t sure it even happened. I let him. We both put our drinks on the table and turned so we were facing each other, our noses almost touching. He opened his mouth to say something, and I put a finger to his lips, then we very delicately pressed our lips together.

We slowly
opened our mouths and let our tongues meet. We moved closer together until we were chest to-chest. His lips were soft, and he tasted like vodka and lime. There wasn’t any static electricity this time, but there was definitely heat.

Our kisses grew more passionate until we were making out like a couple of teenagers.
I put my hand behind his head and pulled him to me. I couldn’t get close enough. I wanted to feel all of him, and I wanted him to feel me. We came up for air, and he slid his mouth to my neck. He placed little kisses from my earlobe to the tip of my chest, then ran his tongue lightly up my neck until our mouths locked again.

I could feel my nipples
harden and there was a delicious ache in my underwear, which was beginning to get wet with desire. We pulled apart and gazed at each other with undisguised lust. Panting a little I said, “So, how fast do you think we can run down that 800 feet of dock?”

He laughed in a low
, throaty way, “Not fast enough for me. If you can’t keep up, I’ll carry you.”

It was a lot faster going back than it was coming down.
If anybody was watching, it probably looked like we both had to pee very badly. We didn’t speak, but we did hold hands. I couldn’t wait for those hands to touch my naked body. We kept looking at each other and began walking faster. About 100 feet from his back door, we broke into a run and started giggling like children.

We burst through the door, turned into his bedroom
, and launched ourselves at the bed. As soon as we landed, we started groping at each other’s clothes. I undid all the buttons on his shirt, and he threw it to the floor. He slid my top over my head and tossed it behind him. I wasn’t wearing my nicest bra, but it was okay, since I was about two seconds away from not wearing it at all.

His chest was firm and muscular with just enough hair to run my fingers through.
I ran my hand down it and over his well-formed abs. His fingers found the clasp on the front of my bra, and it joined the growing heap of clothes on the floor.

When my breasts came free, Alex stopped and stared at them.
My nipples were already hard when he leaned forward and gently put his mouth over one and licked it. I couldn’t help the moan that came out of my mouth as he flicked it lightly with his tongue. His hand was slowly kneading my other breast, and then he brushed that nipple with the tips of his fingers. I moved my hand to the front of his pants and felt a very welcome bulge. He let out a small moan of his own while I stroked it.

We found the front of each other’s pants and undid them.
Zippers came down, and we were at the point of no return. I wasn’t wearing a thong, but what I was wearing didn’t leave a lot to the imagination. I was silently thanking God that I had shaved my legs and trimmed up my lady garden. He had on boxers with tiny dogs on them, within those boxers was a nice looking tentpole.

Alex continued to lavish my aching nipp
les with his skilled tongue and he circled the stiff buds with his fingers while staring directly into my eyes. “These are magnificent,” he practically panted.

“That feels incredible
,” I told him. He closed his mouth over a hard peak and released it with a small, wet pop. Then he leaned up and softly blew on it. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this turned on. We were in our own bubble of desire. There was only the moment, and I wanted to have all of him and give all of myself to him.