Page 28 of Love on the Rocks
Excited barking in the distance caught my attention, and I followed the sound around the side of the house and down the rocky path toward the edge of the hill. Terrible images flashed through my mind of her lying in a bloody heap on the rocks below. I raced down the hill, sliding on the weed-covered rocks. When I neared the bottom, a happily panting Argos met me.
“There you are.” I patted his head, and he licked the back of my other hand. But there was still no sign of the woman who had been tormenting my sleepless nights.
“What’s she up to now?” I asked him as he led me through the circle of pine trees to the rocks, overgrown now with weeds and wildflowers. I walked softly, not wanting to startle her, and wondered what the hell she was doing here when I remembered the thermal spring at the bottom of this treacherous terrain. Lyra had several springs, including one large pool near the resort’s construction site that I even prescribed now and againfor some of my older patients. But this small spring was too hidden and inaccessible to recommend.
As I got closer, I could hear soft singing. Relief swept through me. And then curiosity as the hidden springs came into view.
The rising sun glinted off the water. She was leaning back on her elbows, her golden hair piled on top of her head. Through the high grass, I caught a glimpse of the tantalizing swell of full breasts, pale pink nipples, and the curve of a round hip. She was like a painting, Botticelli’s Venus come to life.
I should have turned around, left her to this moment, but I was transfixed like poor Actaeon must have been when he stumbled upon the goddess Artemis bathing. And like Actaeon, I was risking her wrath if she discovered me.
My mouth went dry, and all the blood in my body rushed to my cock. Then the goddamn dog had to ruin it all by darting headlong toward her and, like a jealous fool, turning on me. He bared his teeth and barked.
Startled, she covered herself with her hands and then jumped in the shallow, opaque green water. Her hands were covering her nipples, but her generous flesh was spilling out of her hands. I realized I was staring at her like a dumbstruck fool.
“You!” she growled. I was sure she was going to cast a spell on me right there. Like Actaeon I’d be turned into a stag and devoured by my own dog.
I turned away quickly. “Sorry, I heard barking. I thought you were hurt.”
“Likely story. How long have you been spying on me?”
“I wasn’t spying. I told you, I thought you might have fallen.” I started to walk away. “I’m leaving. Go on with your bathing.”
“No, you’ve ruined it now!” She grumbled. “Hand me that towel, will you? And don’t turn around or I’ll gouge out your eyes.”
I plucked a white-and-red striped towel from the rocks, and keeping my back to her, reached out behind me. Water splashed and a second later, she snatched it out of my hands.
“Can I turn around now?” I asked partly to annoy her, partly because I really did want to see how the towel looked wrapped around her.
“No, you may not. I forbid you to ever look at me again.”
“That’s too bad. It’s my favorite pastime.”
“Ah!” She threw something at me. I looked at my feet. A bar of soap.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit risky to be out here by yourself—naked?” Anyone could have stumbled across her. Even some of the shadier characters from the island. There weren’t many, but I could imagine the worst. Or some random tourist who’d missed the last ferry and camped out on the rocks. It happened occasionally.
“I didn’t realize there were perverts like you lurking in the weeds!” she cried, and Argos started barking at me again. Why was he taking her side?
She brushed past me in a huff and started up the rocky escarpment. She was wearing a long semi-transparent sundress that offered tantalizing glimpses of her rounded flesh when the sun hit the material. Maybe I was a pervert because I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the promise of another glimpse of her beautiful breasts. Now I could fill in some of the blanks in my fantasies.
“Will you stop following me?” She turned around and glared at me.
“There’s only one way up,” I argued.
“Well, then keep your distance!”
I paused and gave her a head start before climbing up the rocks behind her. Her ridiculous sandals and long sundress werenot suitable for the rocky terrain, and my stomach dropped when she almost lost her footing.
Closing the space between us, I caught her against me, her ass somehow settling right against my cock, my hands just millimeters away from her breasts. I gripped her hard against me—any movement and she’d have the evidence of her effect on me poking into her backside. She gasped and for one glorious second, she let me hold her, my face pressed to the creamy skin of her neck, her wet hair smelling of jasmine and sea salt.
And then she elbowed me hard in the ribs.
“Fuck!” An agonized breath shot out of me as I covered my bruised side.
“What part of ‘keep your distance’ did you not understand?” she spit out and clambered out of reach.
“I was trying to keep you from tumbling down the rocks with those ridiculous shoes, and that’s the thanks I get?”
