Chapter Thirty-Two
Bree
I pushed Nathan back onto the bed. "No, it's my turn this time."
His eyes darkened but he nodded. I rolled over and pressed against his side, my hand sliding up his shirt to feel his taut belly. I felt him suck in a breath of air as I tickled his waistband.
Nathan's eyes were screwed tight but there was a smile on his lips.
"Does that feel good?" I brushed my fingertips along his waistband again.
"It tickles. You're teasing me," Nathan said with a tight smile.
"I like it." I leaned over and kissed his lips, letting him relax as I pressed my palm flat to his stomach.
Nathan caught my head in both hands and took over the kiss. At first, he idly tasted my lips, then he nibbled along my lower lip, and then he widened my lips with his tongue. I let him in and dragged my palm down lower to cup the growing bulge in his pants.
It was exciting to feel him grow harder against my hand. I fumbled with the button on his jeans and then slid down his zipper. When he was free, Nathan groaned and pulled me on top of him.
"Don't tease me, I'll lose control," he said.
I smiled into another kiss, then rubbed my body up and down his slowly. Nathan groaned and the sound sent shockwaves right to the sensitive apex between my legs.
I sat up, shedding my shirt over my head. Nathan's hands unclasped my bra, tossed it aside, and came back to cup my breasts. Gently at first and then tighter. As he squeezed, he brushed his thumb over my nipples, sending waves of warmth shuddering through my core.
My hips began to rock against him, and Nathan hitched my skirt up to my waist. I peeled off my panties and slowly straddled him. I teased us both with circular sweeps of my hips until Nathan couldn't take anymore. He grabbed my hips and brought me down on him.
I cried out with pleasure and the shock of being so full. He throbbed inside me as I started to shift my hips back and forth. Nathan sat up, wrapped his arms around me, and met my riding strokes with deep thrusts. When his lips found my panting mouth and kissed me, I rocketed over the edge.
Nathan came right after, growling into our deep kiss, his muscles flexed like steel around my waist.
"Wow." I collapsed on the bed beside him. "I should be on top more often."
* * * * *
We made love every day, sometimes twice a day for a whole week. I got to be on top plenty but by the end of the week, I was too antsy to stay in bed long.
"Can't we just go out for lunch? The crowds are small then, mostly tourists driving through, and no one will notice us," I said.
Nathan lay back on the pillows, his hands hooked behind his head. "We could go on another hike. There's that private little glen I wouldn't mind seeing again."
I shook my head. "Those grass stains are never coming out of my jeans. I had to throw them out."
"So, you'll wear a little sundress and sit next to me in the booth?" Nathan perked up.
"Fine. Whatever you want. Let's just get out of this room," I said.
Nathan chuckled and heaved himself off the bed. "Coffee shop, it is. They have nice, private booths."
Only a few tables were taken when we got there but Nathan requested a booth anyway. Then he winked at me. I was about to tease him when his eyes drifted off over my shoulder.
"What is it? The sheriff?" I whispered.
"No. Better. Much better." Nathan ripped a flyer off the bulletin board and brought it to the booth with us.
I ordered us coffee and joined Nathan on his side of the booth. "A house? Why are you looking at houses?"
"We should buy a place out here. It's beautiful, don't you think?" Nathan asked me.
I nodded but scoffed at his idea. "Sure, but we can't buy a house. They don't really let you get a mortgage or anything when you don't have identification."
"That's why I was so glad to see this." Nathan thanked our waitress for the coffee and asked her for a few more minutes. Then he held out the flyer for me to look at. "See? He's offering his property, a few acres, a house, and a garage. For cash."
"Who's he?" I asked.
"I met him the other day when I drove down to the fruit stand. He told me that the house needed work and he didn't want to have to deal with prissy buyers or nosy inspectors," Nathan said.
"Sounds like a real money pit," I countered.
Nathan pushed me with his arm and grinned. "That's the fun of it. We fix it up. Together. The place is so private. We'd be safe there. Happy."
I snatched the flyer from his hands. "This says it's a lodge. The pictures are nice. Did you see that view?"
It was impossible not to feel a flutter of excitement. For the first time in a week, I could actually see the future. It was amazing to think I'd get out of dingy motel rooms and finally have a place of my own. With Nathan. My heart soared.
Then dove straight down to the linoleum floor. A sheriff walked through the coffee shop door and tipped his hat at the hostess.
"We've got no business with him. Nothing to worry about." Nathan whispered in my ear.
I shivered as his breath tickled me, so he did it again. "Stop," I giggled.
"So, you must be the honeymooners." The sheriff paused on his way past our booth. "Heard you've been here about a week but no one's seen much of you."
Nathan grinned up at him. "Perfect honeymoon, sir."
I elbowed Nathan in the ribs.
The sheriff laughed, tipped his hat to me, and kept going to the last stool at the counter. When he settled down and opened the newspaper, I relaxed a bit.
"See? He's just getting coffee. Some clichés are true." Nathan leaned close and whispered against my neck again.
"Stop." I fought off another silly giggle. "We should go."
Then the waitress headed straight for our booth. Nathan smiled at her and ordered a club sandwich with fries.
"I'll take an egg-white omelet, please," I said.
"Hash browns or home fries?"
"Home fries." The simple question had me longing to check in with my friends at the diner.
Nathan sensed my thoughts and whipped out the local newspaper to distract me. "I'm serious. I could like living here. There's got to be a place nearby that needs a mechanic."
"I don't want to end up at another diner," I said.
Nathan tickled my knee. "You can distil your own whiskey up in the hills for all I care. It would just be nice to have a place of our own."
"Didn't you have a place, um, before?" I asked.
"Nah. Just a little rented bungalow on the outskirts of the base. That was never mine. I want a place that needs work so I can put my own sweat into it." Nathan went over the want ads again.
My breath caught in my throat. The sheriff got a cup of coffee from our waitress, took a sip, and then stood up. He started at the closest table, chatting with the young couple there while he sipped his coffee. Then he moved on to the next table.
"What's he doing?" I asked. I gripped Nathan's hand under the table.
Nathan looked up but stayed calm. "He's just chatting with the locals. Sheriff is an elected office, maybe he's warming up his campaign."
"Sure. Maybe," I said.
"What do you think about furnace repair? I could do that." Nathan turned his attention back to the job listings.
The sheriff moved to another table closer to us. The middle-aged couple was passing through but they seemed very interested in his conversation.
"They didn't find the bodies? How awful," the older woman said.
The sheriff shrugged. "Hard to tell. There was a fire."
I took a sip of my coffee with a trembling hand. The sheriff could have been talking about anything. There were often wildfires up in the hills. Nathan’s hand stilled on the newspaper and I knew he was listening, too.
"Just relax," Nathan said. "I've got this."
The sheriff spoke with the middle-aged couple for a few more minutes before he sauntered in our direction. "Sorry to interrupt you love birds, but do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?"
"Fire away, Sheriff. Would you like to sit down?" Nathan asked.
The sheriff looked at us all cuddled up on one side of the booth and shook his head. "No, thanks. I'll be quick and let you get back to your lunch. Where'd you folks come from anyway?"
Nathan mentioned a city in the opposite direction from Springer, New Mexico.
"Forgive me, but it's a little strange to get honeymooners around here. Maybe as vacation renters at some of the fancier houses, but not at the motel." The sheriff took a long sip of his coffee and studied us over the rim of the mug.
"That's my fault," I said. Nathan laid a warning hand on my knee but I barreled ahead with my cover story. "We got a flat tire here way back when we first started dating. Ended up the rim was bent so we had to spend the night in the motel."
Nathan jumped in. "They gave us the honeymoon suite then, and we thought it was so crazy."
"The idea of settling down and getting married." I shook my head. "Yet, here we are."
"So, the motel was the perfect place for our honeymoon. Full circle," Nathan finished.
The sheriff nodded and took another long, slow sip of coffee. "You two are really in sync. That's good. Say, you came into town about a week ago. Did you see anything of that crash on the road in?"
Nathan shook his head. "We heard something had happened but we drove in from the other direction. Thank god. I heard the highway was closed for hours."
"What happened?" I couldn't help myself. I had to hear what the sheriff would say.
"Seems a couple stopped at a turnout to enjoy the view, maybe eat some food they picked up, but they forgot to put on the parking brake. The car rolled off the cliff. Didn't stop rolling until a full switchback down. Then caught on fire."
I pressed both hands to my mouth, more to repress the memory than to appear shocked. I didn't have to fake the horror that paled my expression. "That's awful."
The sheriff nodded. "Anyway, we haven't found their bodies yet. Can't identify who drove the car. If you know anything, anything at all, it would be much appreciated."
"Sure thing, Sheriff," Nathan said.
Our food came and saved us from further interrogation. The sheriff moved on and eventually left the coffee shop. We ate quietly until I couldn't stand it anymore.
Nathan stole a bite of potato off my plate. "Man, if we live nearby I am going to have to take up jogging to off-set this delicious food."
"How can you say that?" I asked. "How can you sit there and pretend like we can stay here? Stay anywhere! We need to leave. We need to go tonight."
"Guilty parties run, Bree. We should just keep doing what we're doing," Nathan said.
"You mean going crazy? Because that's what it feels like I'm doing," I said.
Nathan kissed my cheek and finished off my home fries. I had lost my appetite.