"Yep, lead foot." Aidan took another long pull of his beer. "At least this time I was able to guarantee us two weeks' worth of search time. I'm not leaving Mexico without that taza,"
Earlier in the month he had been only hours away from an auction bid on an obscure dream doll when his employer, Sean McDougal, called him back to California for his opinion on a possible sword purchase. Aidan had been furious but didn't have any choice in the matter.
McDougal was an eccentric and exceptionally wealthy collector of antiquities, and Aidan's first-hand knowledge of history and his expert grasp of every language on Earth had made him perfect for the job of McDougal's acquisitions team leader. The position provided him with the means to travel the world at will, all expenses paid, truly the only way they could afford to have Aidan searching for the artifacts mentioned in the Elders' journals. Keeping his job was a necessity.
"I don't understand why the Elders waited until now to send Guardians after the artifacts," Lyssa said, thinking aloud. "Why not before you came here?"
"Because before the Key-you-were found, they were safer here. The Twilight is small. Over centuries, the items would have been discovered there. Here, they were far from the reach of the curious."
Heaving out her breath, Lyssa tossed back the sheets and slid off the bed. Aidan's low whistle of appreciation as she stood made her smile. She grabbed a spaghetti-strapped sundress and slipped it over her head, then grabbed her beer and went out onto the balcony to admire the last of the coastal sunset. A moment later, his arms bracketed her, one hand clutching the railing, the other holding his beer. His lips nuzzled the top of her shoulder and the embrace of his much larger body was a welcome comfort.
The scents of a barbeque drifted up from somewhere below. Nearby, on the small plastic table in the corner of the balcony, an open bottle of suntan oil released the faint smell of coconut. For Lyssa, the sights and smells inundating her were expected for a busy tourist resort town in Baja California. She worried about Aidan, though, knowing that centuries of living in a bubble-technically a conduit between two planes of existence, as he had explained-had made such a barrage of sensual input intense and disturbing.
"Do you miss it?" she asked softly. "The Twilight?"
She felt his smile curve against her skin. "Not in the way you might think."
Lyssa turned in his arms and faced him, finding joy in the mischievous gleam in his blue eyes. "Oh?"
"I miss the absolute quiet sometimes and the familiarity of my house, but only because I want to take you there. I want to be somewhere private with you, somewhere safe. Where time isn't a concern and I can turn off every noise. I want to hear nothing but you… the sounds you make when I'm inside you."
"That would be wonderful," she breathed, wrapping her arms around his lean waist, wrapping her love around his.
"It's my dream," he murmured, resting his chin on the top of her head. "Lucky for us, we know dreams come true."
Stacey stirred first. Connor fought the urge to hold her and keep her close. She was wiggling that lush ass against his loins and his cock responded admirably, especially considering he still felt less than his best. Traveling between planes of existence sure took a lot out of a guy.
"My God," she breathed. "How can you still have an erection after that?"
He buried a chuckle in the fragrant mass of black glossy curls and tightened his embrace. Just as he'd expected, she was soft and warm, a much appreciated refuge and delight in a world gone to shit. Never one to hide from trouble, he was nevertheless tempted to hide with Stacey. Just hole up in a bedroom somewhere and pretend that none of the last few weeks had ever happened. "You're rubbing and grinding your hot little body all over me. I would be worried if I weren't hard."
"You're insane. I'm wiped out."
"Are you?" he purred, sliding one hand between her spread legs. He arched his hips upwards, pushing his cock deeper into her while cupping a full breast with his free hand. With reverent fingertips he circled her clit, careful to move gently after her earlier frantic rubbing. "I'll do all the work, don't worry."
"I-I'm not… Oh! I can't…"
"Sure you can, darlin'." Connor licked around the shell of her ear, then dipped his tongue inside. She shivered and creamed around his cock. It felt delicious and he nudged his hips upward in gentle pushes, massaging inside her delectably tight cunt with the broad head of his cock. Pleasuring her with his body and all of his skill. Feeling the chill created by the nightmares and his homesickness melt from the heat of her response.
She began to whimper and writhe, straining in his arms, voicing breathless pleas, "… yes… oh god… deeper…"
He caught her nipple in his fingers and pinched it, tugged it. Her inner muscles rippled along his length making him groan.
"That's it," he praised, completely infatuated by her response. She was totally focused on him, as he was on her, which was perfect. She was perfect.
Stacey fell apart in his embrace with a thready cry that almost set him off. He clenched his jaw and held back, gentling her with kisses and murmurs of appreciation.
"Jesus," she gasped, her head falling to the side to press her cheek to his. "Three orgasms in an hour. Are you trying to kill me?"
"Are you complaining? I can try harder."
She smacked his hand when he tweaked her nipple and he laughed.
"I like your laugh," she said shyly.
"I like you."
"You don't know me."
"Hmm… I know you love your son and you're a good friend to Lyssa. I know you're tough and you raised a child alone without any support, something you resent and rightfully so. You're uninhibited and comfortable in your skin. You've got a wicked sense of humor and you don't trust men to want you for more than sex."
"Sometimes that's convenient." She giggled, and the girlish sound combined with her lush woman's body made him even harder. "Jesus. You might want to get that thing checked."
"I've only had one orgasm to your three," he pointed out. "And I want you for more than sex."
She stiffened.
"I have no friends here, Stacey. Besides Aidan."
"Listen…" She struggled up to a seated position and lifted off of him.
Sighing inwardly with disappointment, Connor rose, too, and reached down to tug off the annoying condom. Such precautions weren't necessary in the Twilight where diseases did not exist and reproduction had to be planned, but he couldn't tell her that. She wouldn't believe him.
"Friends-with-benefits is a great arrangement for a lot of people. But not for me."
He took a moment to step into the nearby downstairs guest bathroom and disposed of the condom. "Okay…"
He lifted the toilet seat and began pissing with the door open, waiting for her to finish voicing her objection.
Stacey leaned against the jamb and watched him warily. Relieving himself in plain sight was base and a bit crude, but also undeniably intimate, which was what he wanted. Intimacy. Connection. He'd take it anyway he could get it. It also appeared to fascinate her enough to forget that she was naked from the waist down, a view he appreciated immensely.
"I can't decide if you're completely rude and arrogant," she murmured, almost to herself, "which I hate. Or if you're simply open and confident, which I like."
"You like me."
She snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know you near as well as you think you know me. The only thing really working in your favor is that you're best friends with Aidan, who is overall a nice guy."
Connor stuck out his lower lip in a mock pout. "The three orgasms don't help?"
The corner of her mouth twitched and he was suddenly determined to make her laugh out loud. She was too serious, and he couldn't shake the feeling that the exterior shell protected a vulnerable middle. A middle that very few people were ever privileged enough to see.