Page 69 of Vistaria Has Fallen
She thrust her tongue inside, tasting him, exploring the even edges of his teeth, the sweetness of his mouth. She licked his damp cheek, then slid up to his ear and flicked her tongue around the curves and ridges before probing inside.
He groaned and his hand on her buttock pressed her harder against him.
The little movementsent water that hadn’t been warmed by their bodies eddying around them and she shivered violently.
Nick chuckled. The sound reverberated against her.
“We need to get you warm,” he said.
“I’m all for that,” she agreed. “It’s so nice here, though.”
“I’m not taking you far.” He stepped back, bringing her with him through the water. He was heading for the little cascade on the far edge of thepool. Now she was closer she could see why the spill seemed so clear and soundless. The edge was made of a flat, wide rock, four feet across. The water slithered noiselessly across the flat top and rippled down the sloping side to the streambed two feet below.
The floor of the pool sloped up to the rock edging. When they reached it, the water was only hip deep. Calli was more than grateful forthe touch of the sun and the ambient warmth.
Nick helped her sit on the rock, which had worn smooth from eons of water eroding the surface. Water pushed at her left hip and thigh, a cool caress that passed around her buttocks. She shivered again.
“Let me do something about that shiver,” Nick murmured, kissing her. His lips moved down to her throat, then lower. Calli propped herself on her hands,her head falling back, as Nick made love to her with his lips and tongue and his hands.
The distracted leader of last night was gone. He played with her, bringing her to peaks of pleasure over and over again, using his whole body to drive her mindless with the rich sultry bombardment.
Until finally, they were replete. Nick lay beside her, his thigh resting over her hip and between her thighsin an agreeably possessive way. He propped his head up on one arm and smiled at her.
“I will never look at this pool the same way again,” he told her and kissed her forehead.
She laughed. “You flatter me. I am not the first woman you have brought here.”
He frowned. “There has never been a woman I wanted to see this, to bring here, to my place. Until now.”
“You’re not joking, are you?”
Hishand, the one that did not prop up his head, had dropped to her waist. Now he idly stroked her skin, making the quiescent nerves twitch. “No joke,” he assured her. “You are the only one who has ever found her way this far into my life.”
This time she had no water and no time to disguise her reaction. The tears sprang without warning and rolled down the sides of her face. She did not dare saya word, for she knew she could not speak without sobbing. She did not wipe at her tears for she didn’t want to draw attention to them, either.
Nick wiped them for her. “Such courage,” he said. “You’ve dared much, haven’t you? Yet you’re overwhelmed by the mention of your own achievements. You think so little of yourself, Calli. I wish I could teach you to see better, to see how I see you.”
“I’m sorry,” she said at last when she thought she could speak and not betray herself further. “I didn’t mean to spoil the mood.”
“Nothing you could do could spoil the mood right now.” He brought his hand down to rest on her again. “This is the time I like best, when the physical needs are filled and raise their demands no more. In the moments after it is pure emotion. Feelings.”
“Happy ones,they should be,” Calli said, and gave a sniff.
“Happy, sad, regretful, it doesn’t matter what they are, for they are alwaystruthfulones and that is when you learn the most, if you watch for them.”
She put her arms around his neck and drew him down to kiss him and did not answer. Above all else, she could not afford to let him see the truth.
* * * * *
They lingered by the pool until the sunwas high.
Hunger drove them indoors in search of food. By the time the meal was prepared they were so ravenous, they did not bother with the dining room. They ate standing up in the kitchen.
After her last mouthful, Calli burped.
Nick laughed. “For such an uncivilized meal, only a very civilized espresso will finish it off properly.”
“God yes, coffee!” Calli agreed.
