Spiral of Bliss 03 Awaken (20 page)

“Well, for us, I suppose this is about as dangerous as it gets,” she mutters. “Dean, please be careful.”

I push my way through the door, then extend a hand to help Liv through. We find ourselves in what was once the kitchen—now a mess of broken chairs, a rusted sink, and shattered tiles. A layer of dirt covers everything. Dust motes swim in the faint light.

Liv tightens her hand around mine as we walk into the other rooms. A musty smell clings to the air. The front rooms are no better than the kitchen—torn, filthy rugs, peeling wallpaper, pockets of mildew. Drop cloths cover some pieces of furniture. The fireplace is coated with soot. But even through the grime, the historic beauty of the place is evident in the decorative trim, the ceiling medallions, and paneled wainscot.

“Can you imagine how beautiful it once was?” Liv says.

“It’s a shame no one took care of it.” I let go of her hand to take the camera from her, then angle the lens and take a picture of the room.

We explore the other rooms on the lower floor, all in disrepair with broken plaster, scarred wooden floors, and a million cobwebs. I snap a few more pictures of cool, architectural details—crown molding, the arch of a door, a carved newel post—before we go upstairs.

There are five rooms on the second story, with windows overlooking each side of the house and half-filled with broken furniture. The walls are patched with slats of wood, the ceilings discolored with water damage.

“I can see why the Historical Society needs a huge fundraising effort for this,” Liv says as she peers at a rusted light fixture. “It’ll cost a fortune to renovate.”

“It would be well worth it, though, if it were done right.” I pause beside a door leading to a narrow staircase. “Let’s see what’s up here.”

Liv follows me up to the tower that rises above the front porch. She stops and sucks in a breath when we reach the top. It’s an octagonal tower with windows on each side, cluttered with a few old chairs. Most of the windows are boarded up, but the one facing the lake is clear and unbroken.

“Wow.” Liv crosses to look out the window. “This must have been amazing, once upon a time. You can see all the way past the lake to the other part of town. What a view.”

I pause to take a picture of the cathedral ceiling. I examine the furniture, brushing the dust off a parlor chair that has a detailed engraving on the back.

“I can understand why medieval towers were used for defense,” Liv continues. “You can see so far away.”

“Sometimes they were used for other things too.” I angle the camera for a picture of the chair. “Chapels, prisons, libraries.”

“Cool place for a library.”

I lower the camera just as Liv turns to face me. My heart slams against my chest. For a second, I can’t speak. Can hardly breathe.

She blinks. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t… don’t move.”

Sweet mother of God, my wife is beautiful.

At that exact moment, a reddish sunbeam shines through the window, painting Liv’s skin with a rosy blush. Her dark hair is loose around her shoulders, and light weaves through all the thick strands. Behind her, the window glows and town lights sparkle against the expanse of the lake.

I may not be all that great at the romantic stuff, but sometimes the world sure gets it right.

I lift the camera again and focus the lens on Liv before snapping the shutter.

“Dean, I don’t even have any lipstick on.”

“You don’t need any.” I pause to check the picture. Even in the small window of the LCD display, it’s incredible. “Stay right there.”

Liv pulls her hands through her hair in an attempt to straighten it out. I take a few more pictures, zooming the lens in and then back again. I move to the side and keep photographing her, not wanting to miss any angle of the perfection that is my wife.

Finally, I lower the camera and just look at her.

“What are you going to do with all those pictures?” Liv asks.

“Plaster them on the ceiling like stars so I can look up at them at night.”

“Aw.” She smiles. “Good one.”

I don’t know how it is that this one woman can both bring me to my knees and make me feel like the greatest knight in history.

I click through the photos on the camera, pausing at one where a shadow falls across her neck and into the open V of her shirt.

A thought hits me like lightning. “Take your shirt off.”

“What?”

I lift the camera again. “I want a picture of you with your shirt off.”

“Me topless in an old tower?” Liv asks. “This sounds suspiciously like a rather kinky medieval fantasy, professor.”

“Too bad I don’t have any manacles, huh?”

She smiles again, but shakes her head. “Dean, I can’t undress here.”

“Why not? No one’s around. I bet not many people even know about this place.”

“Florence Wickham does.”

“I guarantee you that Florence Wickham isn’t going to break in through the side door and come up to the tower.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Liv mutters.

To ease Liv’s mind, I shut the door leading to the staircase and turn the rusty lock. “Okay?”

She’s watching me, wariness and… curiosity appearing in her brown eyes.

“Live dangerously,” I suggest.

She lets out her breath and slowly sheds her sweater, tossing it over the back of a chair. My heart kicks into high gear when she reaches for the buttons of her blouse. She unfastens two buttons and glances at me.

“I don’t have sexy lingerie on,” she admits.

“Good.” I don’t want her in sexy lingerie. I want her exactly as she is.

Liv unfastens another button. Even from a short distance, I see her hands trembling. Warmth floods my chest. Finally she gets all the buttons undone and pulls the shirt off her shoulders.

Ah, God.
Just the sight of her cleavage cupped by a plain white bra has my blood heating. I focus on adjusting the aperture setting.

“Now I’m kind of nervous,” she tells me.

“Liv.” I lift the camera and focus on her. “You have no reason to be nervous.”

I snap the shutter. She fidgets at first, crossing her arms, winding a strand of hair around her finger, shifting from one foot to the other, but when I start to tell her how beautiful she is, she begins to relax.

A series of photos follows that I swear would win awards in photography competitions, for no other reason than the fact that Liv is a subject like no other—all at once sexy, sweet, assured, shy, and captivating. The light changes as the sun descends, painting her in shadows.

I look at her again.

“Take it off.” My voice is hoarse.

Liv’s gaze shifts away from me. After a heart-stopping second, she reaches back to unfasten her bra. All the breath leaves my lungs at the sight of her naked breasts, her nipples hardening in the cooler air, her long hair falling to curtain them.

So fucking beautiful.

I try to pull my attention from my lust as I adjust the camera again and get back to taking pictures. At my instruction, Liv moves to different areas of the tower—against a boarded-up window, near the door, in the center of the room, beside a rocking chair—and does what I tell her to.

“Put your arms over your head… that’s it…”
click click
“…now pull your hair back like you’re going to put it in a ponytail…”
click click click
“…one hand on your hip, the other on the doorjamb… both hands behind you on the windowsill…”
click click
“perfect… so damn pretty…”

Then I lower the camera.

“Touch them,” I tell her.

Liv’s throat works with a swallow, but she runs her hands over her breasts, cups them in her palms, pinches her nipples. I can see her getting aroused, all those telltale signs I know so well—her breath is getting faster, her cheeks flushed, and her thighs tense as she presses her legs together.

By the time she slides one finger down the valley between her breasts, I’m rock-hard and aching to get my hands on her. I force myself to focus on the camera and keep clicking the shutter.

Then, without my needing to ask, Liv unzips her skirt and steps out of it. Naked except for cotton underwear and her low-heeled shoes, she smiles at me, as if she knows quite well that the balance of power has shifted.

Which it has, since I’m at her mercy.

“You’re killing me, lady,” I mutter, changing the shutter speed.

“This was your idea,” she reminds me. She runs her hand down her torso to her panties. “Do you still want me to touch myself?”

Holy fuck, do I ever.

“Do it,” I tell her.

I click the shutter again, my pulse pounding as she eases her fingers into her underwear. A sigh escapes her. Then, half to my shock and half to my utmost pleasure, she hooks her fingers into her panties and tugs them halfway down her thighs.

I try and shift the discomfort of my erection, then snap a series of photos that I don’t even need since this image of Liv is burned into my brain forever—naked except for her panties tangled around her thighs, her hand still easing down toward her slit, her hair a tumbled mess over her bare shoulders, her breasts so full and perfect. Arousal brewing in her eyes. I can feel it from across the room, pulsing through her like lava.

I lower the camera. I want her bad.

“I think…” I clear my throat. “I think the camera is running out of memory.”

“Oh. I was hoping to get a few shots of you.”

I shut the camera down before she can act on that. The air is thick, hot. I want to pull her into my arms, feel her body crushing against mine, pliant and yielding.

“Dean.”

I lift my gaze to hers. She’s watching me, her breath still quick.

I can’t stand it anymore. I put the camera down and cross to her in three steps. Grab her shoulders and haul her against me. Capture her sweet mouth and kiss her senseless.

She sucks in a breath, her body going all soft against me, her arms winding around my waist. Her full breasts press against my chest. I can feel her nipples clear through my sweatshirt. My head spins with the feel and taste of her.

She runs her hand down my stomach to my erection. The heat of her hand burns through my jeans. She steps back far enough to unfasten them, pulling them and my boxers down. When she closes her hand around my stiff cock and starts sinking to her knees, my head almost explodes.

“Wait.” I yank my sweatshirt over my head and drop it onto the floor in front of her.

She shoots me a quick smile, adjusting the sweatshirt so she can kneel on it before she turns her attention to my cock. In one, easy movement, she has me in her mouth.

I tighten my hand on her hair. The sight of her kneeling in front of me, her lips and tongue working over my shaft, drives all thought from my brain. There’s only her wet mouth and my blood pulsing. Tension builds like steam.

I grip the back of her neck. She slides her mouth off me and sits back, her chest heaving. I reach down to palm her gorgeous breasts, rubbing my fingers over her nipples in the way I know she likes. She lets out a sigh and pushes herself into my hands. I tug her to her feet and turn her toward one of the boarded-up windows.

“Hold on.”

She grasps the windowsill and pushes her ass toward me. I tug her panties down her legs and pull them off.

“Jesus, Liv.” My chest burns as I stare at the curve of her back, her round ass, her legs spread apart. “I’m going to come before I get inside you.”

“Oh, don’t,” she breathes. “I want to feel you again…”

I rub my hand across her pretty ass. She gasps, spreading her legs wider. She’s still wearing her heeled pumps. She’s sexy as hell.

I trail one finger down to her slit. She moans. I ease a finger into her. Grasp my shaft with my other hand and squeeze. Pressure cords my spine. As much as I’d like to draw this out, I know I can’t last much longer.

Liv lowers her head, her hand sliding between her legs to her clit. “Dean, please. I need you now.”

I push my knee between her thighs to press them farther apart, then position my cock at her slit. One thrust into her tightness, and my blood goes into full boil. She groans, pressing one hand to the board and pushing backward again.

Heaven. Pure, sweet heaven.

I clutch her hips and shove into her again and again. Her ass slams against my stomach. Moans stream from her throat. The air is drenched with heat.

Part of me never wants this to end. I could do this forever, pumping into her, feeling her inner muscles clenching around my shaft, her body shaking as she takes the force of each thrust. I dig my fingers into her hips, wanting to drive us both to the edge.

“Dean, I’m… oh, God, don’t stop.” Liv moves her hand up to play with her breasts, the other still braced against the window. “Oh, you feel so
good.
”

I pump into her a few more times, then pull out. I grab her waist and tug her upright. She turns toward me, her hair falling into her face as she sinks against me for a hot kiss.

“Come here.” I take my sweatshirt off the floor and toss it onto the parlor chair. After sitting down, I motion for Liv to come closer. Her gaze tracks down my chest to my rigid cock. I slide my hands to the backs of her thighs and turn her around.

She spreads her legs over my lap and reaches back to take hold of my shaft. In one smooth movement, she lowers herself onto me and starts to ride. The sight of her ass bouncing up and down on my thighs, her skin glistening with sweat and her hair sticking damply to her back… I’m on fire inside and out.

My body tenses with the effort of trying to retain control. Liv moves off me and turns, lowering her head for a kiss as she sinks onto my cock again. Now with her breasts right in front of me, her nipples hard as cherries…

“Oh, fuck, Liv…” With a groan, I pull out of her and let go, shooting with a volcanic force. I push my hand between her legs. One rub on her clit, and she gives a sharp cry as her body convulses over mine.

She gasps and falls against me, pressing her face to my shoulder. I run my hands over her smooth back. She’s all soft, sweaty heat, her breath steaming against my skin, her body still trembling.

She shifts, pressing one hand to my cheek. She opens her mouth above mine and runs her tongue over my lower lip. Warmth rushes through me. She leans her forehead against mine.