Lovers and Other Strangers Box Set: The Boston Stories (28 page)

"Fine, but you have to give me a back rub, I'm all tense now."

"Demanding little temptress aren't you. Come on." He got her soothed and back to sleep at least for a couple of hours. She was exhausting and invigorating at the same time and he wanted a steady diet of it.

He took her in to work which probably wasn't the best idea because she was like blood in a shark tank. It would have been comical to watch if he weren't going crazy every time a guy found some idiotic reason to come over to his desk and chat her up. She thought it was funny at first but as the morning wore on Joseph was getting grumpier and starting to growl like a big mean dog. Which of course made her want to purr like a kitten. He had called the security guys and they had discussed with her what they thought they could do. It wasn't going to be cheap but she had to admit she felt safer with the idea of it being there. Spending the morning at his place of work let her know exactly what he did too.

When she had asked him about it he'd just said Victims' Services, which made things clear as mud. Now she understood, the kinds of things he'd done for her he did for other people that had had something nasty happen to them. One case he was working with, a family had their house targeted by some drug dealers who basically destroyed all their stuff. Joseph was able to help them get the services they needed, even got the kids some clothes since most of theirs had been burned. He was working with the parents to get back on their feet too. She figured if he had his wish he'd rather do regular cop stuff but he was good at this too and it meant he wasn't getting shot at anymore.

When the last guy left Joseph's desk, she suggested lunch anywhere but there. He smiled at her with that silly boyish grin of his and made her turn all gooey inside.

"I've been force-feeding you Italian so why don't I take you to a Belgian place, not fancy, but the food is good. Did you call Rayna?"

"Sounds good, although I don't think a couple of dinners counts as force-feeding and I have loved everything you've made. As far as Rayna, she said she'd be in the studio all afternoon. We can go there after lunch if you're free."

She loved eating with him. Besides the pleasure he got from getting her to try new things, he just enjoyed her eating and always made it into something luxurious and sensual. Today was no different. They were having fancy grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries but the sandwiches were Croque Monsieurs and the fries, Frites with a garlicy mayonnaise. Only Joseph could make that meal sexy but he kept dipping the frites in the aoli and feeding her like she was some precious pet. He even got her to drink beer which wasn't her thing but went perfectly with the food.

"So the guys at work seem nice?"

"Shame most of them will be dead soon."

"What! Wait, are you being jealous?"

"Maybe, a little, okay, I am. But... you're mine. Let them get their own girls."

"Um, dare I point out that you sound like a slightly whiney 10 year old. What happened to the unrepentant bad boy I remembered from high school? Or even the stud in the half undone tux from the auction daring all of us females to make a play for him."

"I was getting more sleep then, for starters." He glared at her menacingly and she started laughing at him.

"Sorry."

"And, none of those girls made me as crazy as you do. And they were easier to get into bed. And..."

"I get it, I get it. But I still want to take it slow, sorry. You aren't really mad, are you?"

"No, just cranky from lack of sleep mostly. Is this a 'no sex till you're married thing'?"

"No." She almost choked on her food.

"Good, because if I thought you were a virgin or we couldn't do it till we got married I might have to do something crazy."

She stared at him. What the hell was she supposed to say now? "We haven't been just holding hands, Joseph."

"No, I can't say I've been bored, that is for sure." She let out her breath and finally relaxed.

"So you almost done? We should head to your side of town and go see Rayna?"

"I should probably give you the low down on Rayna before we get there. In the fishbowl of the Boston art world she is notorious."

"Why?"

"She's sexually voracious."

"Oh." She was ready to knock the smile off his face about a millisecond after it appeared.

"No, I'm serious, Men, Women, live shows, anything goes. Bernard wasn't kidding that she oozes sex and men will do anything for her. It would be one thing if she were even just moderately attractive but she is gorgeous. Seriously, stunning! She treats me like I'm something she stepped in. You, she'll like. She'll see you as a snack."

"A snack, I'm hardly anyone's idea of a snack. I think I'm insulted."

"If we were talking about how you are viewed by merely ordinary women, you would be a three course meal accompanied by fine wine. To Rayna? Sorry, just a snack."

"How do you see me?" His eyes had gotten that hungry look that made her pulse race and heat collect in her belly. Her breathing was too fast and her mouth was so dry she kept licking her lips.

"How do I see you? You are a Roman bacchanal complete with entertainment and the requisite hedonism." He grinned like he had just licked her pussy dry. Oh, how she wished that were true.

He got right up in her face. "I expect a description of the entertainment and hedonism later. I'm afraid if you tell me here I'm going to have you on top of one of these tables." His voice was barely above a whisper and so deep it sounded like thunder.

***

Rayna's studio was an old store front with big picture windows, Evie would have gone nuts with that kind of exposure but she thought Rayna kind of thrived on the thrill of knowing people could be watching her. She had kept the bell over the door so she heard them walk in. Some of the space was set up as a gallery so potential buyers could see her work in a non-studio setting but the rest of the space had the grungy look of a painter's studio with the standard splashes and spills.

In the middle of it all was Rayna looking like some caricature of a bohemian artist. She was wearing cut off jean shorts that looked the size of panties and a man's tank that had been sliced or torn off so that the bottom curves of her breasts were visible. As expected she hadn't bothered with a bra so her nipples were on full display. Evie felt a wave of envy wash over her. She hated her breasts, Joseph would scold her if he heard her say it. She wished she had tits like Rayna, they were just the right size, the aureole was large and the nipples didn't stick out awkwardly but just enough that you could see she was aroused. And with Rayna, she was always aroused.

The rest of the picture didn't help Evie's confidence. The short shorts highlighted her long shapely legs and her head was topped with almost black wavy hair, tons of it. Add in the cinnamon skin and she was as exotic as you could get and still be on this planet. She made Evie feel like she was about as exciting as dishwater.

When she saw them she walked over to them like she was having sex. Evie wondered if there was a soundtrack that accompanied her in her head. She stepped between the two of them as if Evie wasn't even there and focused all her attention on Joseph.

"Mmm, Delicioso."

"Grazie. I'm here to see what you know about Bernard?"

"Why, would you like to have sex with both of us?" Evie's mouth dropped open. She stared at Joseph who just smiled at Rayna.

"I don't share. Have you been one of his partners?"

"Mmm, not so much my type. You on the other hand... I have been told I can raise the dead."

"I'm taken. Have you had any discussions with Bernard lately. He mention having to come up with any money quickly, problems selling his work, women he was stalking?"

"There is no such thing as 'taken' there is only fear of getting caught. He did say something about needing to sell some things but he thought he had a different way to raise the money."

"You may be right about the fear of getting caught for most people, me, I am more of a hunter I prefer the chase and with a woman like you, well... He never mentioned what his other plan was?" Evie was getting dizzy following both of the conversations they were having. At this point the only one she really cared about was the one where Joseph said no to Rayna. Without thinking she put her hand on his shoulder. He took her hand and kissed her fingers. Rayna's eyes got wide and she looked furious.

"You would take the girl scout over all this?" She ran her hands over her breasts and down her torso in a sensuous invitation.

"I like girl scouts. They are resourceful, creative and come with cookies." He nibbled Evie's fingers and she wanted to jump him right there. "You on the other hand leave nothing to the imagination. And frankly, I've never liked fake tits."

"They're fake!" Evie slapped her hand over her mouth. Rayna looked like she wanted to kill her.

"OUT!!" Rayna started screaming what Evie guessed were obscenities in her native Portuguese. Joseph started howling with laughter. They both bolted out the door and down the street.

"Oh, Joseph, I'm sorry." Evie was still trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard. "I figured she wasn't going to be helpful. I should have just let you go alone."

"I got everything I needed. I'm glad you were there to save me from the man-eater."

"Do you really like girl scouts better than all that oozing sexuality?"

"Come here." She walked towards him but when she got close to him he pulled her on top of him. He tunneled under her hair till he found her earlobe and then he bit it, hard enough that it pinched but not enough to really hurt. "That was for doubting your many charms." he whispered in her ear. Then he started nibbling up and down her neck. When she pulled away she asked "What was that for?"

"Because I find you addictive. Let's go to the pleasure palace."

"What!"

"Sorry, that is how I think of your place. I want to check some sight lines before the security guys install the cameras. Was there anything you needed to get from there?" She climbed off his lap and they started walking toward her loft. Evie was lost in her thoughts so she was surprised when Joseph stopped and she realized they were at her place already.

Joseph opened the door with the key the locksmith had given him and handed it to her.

"Do you want me to hang onto the other one?"

"Is that your sneaky way of getting a key to my place?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Yes, I'd like you to have a key." Once they were inside she could start to warm up and think again.

"You were quiet on the way over here. What is going on up there?"

"How did you know Rayna's were fake?"

"Oh, If you know what you're looking for its not hard. Hers had that fullness at the top that real breasts don't have. Other than that though, hers weren't bad."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Take your sweater off and I'll show you." He couldn't help it, he knew where he was going would lead to frustration , although maybe not, she had always been creative and not truly puritanical about her body. She had been driving him crazy all day in her prim sort of college girl get up. The pieces themselves weren't inherently sexy but together on her they had him thinking about all the ways he wanted to get her out of them. He got closer to her and unwound the scarf from around her neck and dropped it on the couch. He blew on his hands so they wouldn't be so cold and slowly inched his fingers up under the sweater and the Tshirt she was wearing. She didn't pull away just sort of stared at him with half closed eyes. He lifted his hands higher up her sides and she pulled her arms from the sleeves and then ducked her head so she could be free of it. Her breath caught when he grazed her chest. He loved that she went braless, like she was always ready for him to touch her. He traced his finger tips across her skin a couple of inches up from her nipples.

"Here is about where it rounds when a woman has fake tits. See you are smooth and sensitive." He watched as her nipples pearled and he leaned forward to kiss them. His right hand slid down her side and found the zipper on her wool skirt, slowly pulling it down. She didn't move to stop him so he leaned in again and kissed between her ribs where her diaphragm was and felt it clench as her breath held for a second. Her skirt dropped to the floor around her feet. Her thighs were bright pink from the cold still and he spread his hands on them to warm them up. Her head fell forward enveloping him in the curtain of her hair.

"Take off your boots." it came out as a whisper against her skin. She knelt down and removed her boots and knee socks. Now she was standing in just her panties, he didn't know how she managed to be utterly sexy and still innocent but it was a powerful combination that got him every time he saw her like this. He motioned for her to come to him and she curled up against his chest when she did.

"You are freezing. I am going to tuck you into bed while I run you a bath and then I am going to wash that gorgeous hair of yours."

"I thought you needed to check something for the security system?

"Later, this is more important."

***

Hours later he was drying her hair while she snuggled against him.

"Joseph, when do I get to do that for you? I want to touch you like that. Make you feel this wonderful and pampered."

"You will eventually, I want you to do all that but I'm still a guy."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Evie," He took a deep breath and let it out. "I want to feel your pussy wrapped around my cock. I want to hold you while I slide in and out of you. I..."

"You're not going to be satisfied with fooling around much longer."

"No."

"But I'm not ready to go there yet, so now what?"

"What do I have to do to convince you?"

"Joseph, this isn't something we can debate about. There is nothing wrong with any of the things you have done. I know I want to sleep with you but as intense as the last few days have been it hasn't been a week yet. I know I am old-fashioned but I don't want to just jump into bed with you, not like that." He forced her to stand and then backed away from her.