PeakExperience (11 page)

“It’s old, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it was built by my great-grandfather on my dad’s side,
a gift to his wife for the family they hoped to have. It always had more space
than anyone needed. Grandpa Crane grew up in it and Dad stayed here in the
summers. When the house and land came to him, he decided being here with only
his family wasn’t enough, so with my mom they created the camp.”

“And the rest is history. You came for summers too, right?”

“Absolutely. When I was little I thought this house was a
castle. It was bigger than the home we lived in during the rest of the year.
Here I had my own room and my own playroom, which was great because I wasn’t
interested in joining my brothers or risking having them break my things.”

“Were you ever a camper?”

“For several years. I started staying in the cabins the
summer after my tenth birthday. My parents agreed to let me register under my
mom’s maiden name so no one would know I was related to the owners. They may
have been only a few acres away, but it was the first time I had the chance to
be on my own. I wasn’t someone’s daughter or sister. I loved it.”

“Something in your voice tells me things didn’t stay that
way.”

To buy time, she drank her beer. “Things change. People
change.” She paused. “I changed.”

“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”

“It was at times. My parents are all about enchantment and
fairy tales and happily-ever-afters. When I was young it was wonderful. All the
kids wanted to play at our house, but when I got older, having parents who were
bohemians wasn’t cool. I wanted them to be normal. I wanted to be normal. By my
early teens, I was done with their view of the world.”

“That’s typical,” he said.

“Not in my family. My brothers loved it as much as our
folks. One became a Renaissance history professor specializing in the belief
and practice of magic. He’s a regular at fairs as well. My other brother writes
urban fantasy novels. I’m the outsider.”

“Did they let you go your own way?”

“For the most part,” she said.

“Then you should consider yourself lucky. I was born to a
group of hard-core business and law school graduates who had no idea what to do
with the kid who was reading nothing but sci-fi fantasy fiction and joining
role-playing games. I had to fight every time I wanted to go to a conference
that wasn’t on a topic that interested them. When I announced I was getting my
MFA and not an MBA I thought my parents were going to disown me. Thank goodness
for scholarships or I never would have made it.”

“Have they warmed up to your choices?”

“Not completely. They’re glad I’m happy, but they can’t
understand it at all.”

“Maybe we were born to the wrong families,” she said.

He laughed. “It almost seems that way.”

“Don’t you find it exhausting?”

“It was more difficult when I was in high school and
college, but I’ve accepted that I don’t want the life they have or the one they
would have chosen for me. Having to make my way in a field that’s separate from
them has made me stronger, clearer about what’s important to me. I’m willing to
fight for what I want.”

He stared at her then and she couldn’t look away. She knew
he wasn’t talking about art anymore. Keeping her business open was the first
thing she’d fought for in a long time, but it wasn’t about the passion and
desire he was talking about. His drive was motivated by love, hers from fear.

Lena didn’t want to think anymore. She wanted to act on all
the feelings she’d been having since the car ride. Without another word she
left her seat and sat in his lap. Taking his face in her hands she kissed him
passionately. She wasn’t aware of the night chill until her body warmed him. He
grabbed her around the waist and crushed her against him. She wanted to be
something worth fighting for, no matter how the idea scared her. She threaded
her hands through his hair, and loved feeling him shiver beneath her.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he said. He kissed her neck,
behind her ear, then moved to the opening at the top of her shirt as he
breathed in the soft, floral scent of her skin. “I want you naked and spread
beneath me.” He put one arm under her legs and one around her back and stood,
lifting her with ease. “Where’s your room?”

All she wanted was to touch him and be touched. Following
through on desire made her feel powerful. “Top floor, turn right, first door on
the left,” she said between kisses.

She loved the way he was able to carry her without breaking
his stride all while continuing to devour her mouth with his. For the first
time she didn’t feel small or intimidated next to the strength of another.

The sun was setting through the western windows, casting the
room in a pink-orange glow. He was at her bed in two steps and a breath later
they were in the center of the mattress wrapped in each other. It was not a day
for slow caresses or gentle exploration. They removed each other’s clothes in a
frenzy, wanting to be naked as soon as possible. The moment his skin touched
hers, she moaned. She craved the heat of him, needed to have him against her.

His hand went to her pussy as hers went to his cock. She
found him hard and knew she was wet for him. When his finger plunged into her
she arched against him, breaking the kiss to cry out with the pleasure of it.

“You love the feel of my fingers deep inside your pussy,
don’t you?” he asked.

The blatant words added a thrill to his actions as he pushed
in farther. It was language she’d thought, read and heard, but not something
she’d ever said. Talking this way never felt comfortable in the past, but with
Daniel she was able to take more risks, allow more freedom. “Yes, God, yes.”

He stopped his kisses and gazed at her. “Tell me what you
want.”

His eyes searched hers with an intensity she could not turn
away from, could not lie to. “I want you to touch me,” she said.

“Where?”

She moaned as he stroked her with the barest of touches.

“Where, Lena?” he asked louder. “Tell me or I’ll stop.”

“My clit,” she said, the words foreign and strange to her
tongue, yet exciting. “I need you to touch my clit and make me come.”

“And should I use my fingers or my mouth?”

“Oh God, Daniel.” His words were making her hotter.

“How about both?”

“Yes, please, both. I want everything.”

He wasted no time moving down her body, pulling her legs
apart and placing his mouth on her. She grabbed at the covers and moaned,
opening herself.

“That’s it, Lena,” he said against her sensitive skin.
“Spread your legs for me. Let me lick all of you.”

His words continued to inflame her but paled in comparison
to the sensation of his mouth teasing her labia while his fingers slid slowly
and deeply inside her. She could feel herself building to a crescendo faster
than she was used to. Her whole body was straining for what was coming.
“Daniel, you’re driving me crazy.”

“Good,” he said, pulling her legs over his shoulders
increasing his contact on her pussy. She didn’t think he could intensify what
he was doing to her, but she was wrong. Her hands clutched the sheets. A rush
of wetness she couldn’t control made her shiver. “Yes, Lena, let me taste you.”

Again he surprised her with how he loved her responses. A
part of her was still waiting for the critical comments, but each time they
didn’t happen, more of her healed and grew stronger. And her passion grew as
well. She craved, wanted, and Daniel was ready to give her exactly what she
needed.

As one finger began to tease the opening of her ass,
slippery from her juices running down, his tongue focused on her clit and
another finger entered her tight pussy. There was no stopping her climax, which
centered out from where he was stroking her and captured her body in wave after
wave of glorious release.

“God yes, Daniel, yes,” she yelled. Nothing other than “yes”
or “oh” was possible after as she surrendered to the hard contractions coursing
through her. When she could manage more than a single syllable she said, “Tell
me you have a condom in your wallet.”

“I have a condom in my wallet, and my wallet’s in my pants.”

“Get it. Now.”

He laughed deeply. “I like it when you’re demanding.”

“Then I demand you get back here and fuck me.” She heard the
words, but could hardly believe she said them. Before she could think, however,
he was in bed again, condom on.

“Get on your knees, Lena.”

She was turning over without a second thought. It was
thrilling to surrender to her needs and his demands simultaneously. She’d never
been this aroused. He reached around and stroked her clit, and she didn’t
consider holding back the moan. “More, Daniel. I don’t want to wait.”

“But what if I want you to?”

“Later. Another time. Please.”

“Another time then.” He teased her entrance with the tip of
his cock. “I have your word on that?”

“Yes,” she said, trying to push back against him. He held
her hips firmly in place.

“Yes, what?”

This was maddening. “Yes, another time you can go slowly,
whatever you need, just take me.”

“With pleasure,” he said, his voice husky with passion. He
pulled her toward him hard and his cock was instantly sheathed inside her.
“God, you’re so tight.”

He felt full inside her as well. All of the time in the car
trying to tighten herself against her arousal must have given her vaginal
muscles a good workout because she felt stretched. She moved her hips in a
grinding motion, accommodating more of him, and was rewarded with his groan.

He reached around and stroked her clit again, bringing her
arousal to a near boiling point. She was expecting him to use the other to
caress her breasts. Instead he dipped one finger along her pussy, wetting it
with her juices then moved it around to her ass and teased her there. She
gasped at the unexpected and exciting sensation.

“You like that, don’t you?” he asked, his voice a husky
whisper.

“Yes, I think.”

“You think? If you can think,” he slid a finger partially
inside her, “then I’m not doing something right.”

“It’s not that,” she said haltingly, allowing the pleasure
to help her become accustomed to the feel. “I’ve never done this before.”

He paused in his movements. Clearly she surprised him. “No
man has enjoyed the pleasure of taking your sweet ass before?”

His words sent a ripple of breathless anticipation through
her. It was something she thought about, even fantasized about during
masturbation, but she had always been too shy to mention it with any of her
lovers. “No, never.”

“Then I’m going to have to change that for you.” She
shivered, wiggling herself back on him, allowing his finger to slide in deeper.
“And from your reaction, I would say it’s something you’re going to love.” He
increased his movements on her clit. “You’d like it, wouldn’t you? My cock
sliding slowly, deeply into your ass, stretching you in new ways while I
continue to please your pussy with my fingers.”

His actions mimicked his words and she could imagine how it
would feel to have him there, deep within her, giving him something she never
gave another man. The images flashing through her mind coupled with the
pleasure he was causing was too much for her body to handle.

“Daniel, I’m going to—”

“Come, Lena. Come for me. Come with me.”

Knowing he wanted it as much as she did was the final
tipping point. She grabbed at the comforter under hands, pushed her hips back
to take him as deeply as she could. He continued to play with her clit and her
ass and she could feel his balls against the lips of her pussy. The climax
slashed through her with a white-hot intensity, sending fire to every part of
her body. As she screamed her release she noticed she wasn’t alone. Daniel’s
voice echoed her pleasure and release.

When her orgasm ebbed, it sapped all her energy and her
elbows gave way. She collapsed, boneless, onto the bed, Daniel on top of her.
They lay there not saying anything, both breathing rapidly. She wondered if his
ears were ringing like hers were. She decided to ask him when she could form a
sentence again.

She didn’t know how long they stayed connected to each
other, but eventually Daniel’s cock slid out of her body. He moved slowly off
her and padded quietly to the bathroom. When she heard the flush, she knew he
disposed of the condom. He came back quickly, pulled her into his arms and held
her close.

“We’re good at this breathless thing,” he said. He put his
hand under her chin and kissed her softly but passionately.

“Yes, we are,” she sighed with a smile.

“I never thought I’d be glad this place is remote, but I’m
relieved you don’t have any close neighbors. They might have called the cops on
us.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “At this point, I don’t think
the wildlife will come near the camp tonight. I’m always surprised by how
completely I respond with you, to you.”

“I could say the same thing about you, my sweet. You’re
reactions are so exciting they push me over.”

Once again, a part of her heart softened. He found her
responsive and exciting, not cold and unreachable. Maybe if he saw her that
way, it could be true.

But would an older, more experienced partner see her that
way? Daniel was so young, and didn’t have much to compare her to. No matter how
wonderful he was, she couldn’t allow herself to forget he was so much younger
than she and his opinion of her was influenced by that as well as the crush
he’d had on her years ago.

Besides, she expected this only to be a fling, right?
Something to get her juices going, as Michelle said, before she moved on to a
real relationship. He wasn’t someone she could get serious about. She wasn’t
cut out to live the artistic life her parents chose.

The thought didn’t make her feel better.