Passions in the North Country (Siren Publishing Classic) (14 page)

“You found me,” she stammered, realizing Ivan had just sent her a very clear message.

I know where you are. You were a rat for leaving me, and now I’m going to kill you just like I killed this rat!

She put her head down and hurried away.

As luck would have it, she met Devon as he was walking up the driveway. “What’s wrong?” he asked, instantly noticing her distraught expression.

“There’s a dead rat at my door,” she said, almost as if about to burst into tears.

“Wait here,” he said firmly, hurrying to the Captain’s House. A few minutes later he emerged with a plastic bag, the dead rat inside it. Devon put the bag into a garbage bag in the bin. He went inside and washed his hands, then returned to Jenny. “It’s been taken care of.”

She was deathly pale. “How did it die?” she asked.

“The cat killed it.”

“Cat?” she asked, perking up. “What cat?”

“Next door they have a big tabby called Simba. He’s an all-star hunter. Shows up here all the time with squirrels, birds, mice, and now a rat.”

“Are you sure it was him?” Jenny asked hopefully.

“I saw the teeth marks. They leave food around the pool a few doors down and it must have attracted this rat. I’ll tell them what happened and maybe this situation will be resolved. But there’s nothing to worry about. It’s gone.”

Jenny was still shaken.

“Do you want me to walk to the door with you?”

“Could you?”

“Yes,” he said, leading the way. When they got to the step, he pointed. “See. It’s gone. I’ll even get the hose and wash it down where the rat was. All right? Would that make you feel better?”

She nodded but said nothing.

“What is it?” he suddenly asked with a penetrating look. “What are you hiding?”

“Nothing!” Jenny snapped angrily. “Stop badgering me!”

Devon leaned back, shocked by her outburst. “We all have skeletons in our closets, Jenny.”

She thought he would be angry when she told him to stop badgering her. Ivan would have hollered at her, his eyes insane, but there was only empathy and compassion in Devon’s voice. The big, strong man, virile in everything he did, was soft and gentle with women, and, like her, he was a mystery not readily solved.

He was admitting that he had skeletons in his closet, too, but what were they? Until now she had been so obsessed with her own predicament that she was somewhat numbed to others around her. Who was this Devon North? Why had fate thrown them together in the pouring rain on a black night next to the ocean? Was there a reason? Or was fate a giant jokester who played with people for amusement?

Devon started to walk away when Jenny suddenly caught him by the arm, putting her thin, lithe fingers on his bulging biceps. Devon turned around with a look of surprise. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Jenny rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. For that brief moment, that one moment in time, Devon North experienced an extraordinary banquet of sensory delights. Her soft, warm mouth, the smell of her hair, her perfume, the moistness of her lips, the warmth of her body, the beauty, innocence, vulnerability of her expression. If Devon could have captured a single moment of his life and put it into a bottle from which he could drink at any time, for all eternity, it would have been this moment. It was so unexpected, so utterly delightful, that he could barely fathom it…and then it was over.

“I’m sorry,” she said, a fragile look on her face. “It’s just that it seems you’re always coming to my rescue.”

He looked overwhelmed. “I think it’s the other way around.”

Then, without another word, Devon simply smiled and went to get the hose. Jenny gingerly stepped over the spot where the rat had been lying and opened her door. She went to her room and stood back in the shadows, watching out the window as Devon sprayed the area clean. He got some dish detergent, scrubbing the step with a brush. Though she could never have imagined a rat being part of a romantic gesture, Devon’s concern and effort deeply touched her. He was doing it for her. When the hose finally stopped, she leaned her back against the wall.

“I think I’m falling in love with you,” Jenny whispered. “I can’t stop this feeling!” She again looked out the window, then opened it. “Devon!” she called.

He looked up at her. “Could you fix the lock on my window?”

“That one?” he said, pointing at the window out of which she had popped her head, the same one where Jenny had seen the dark-haired woman the day she arrived.

“Yes. There’s no lock. Someone could open it from outside.”

“Well, they’d have to get fifteen feet into the air.”

Jenny looked exasperated. “I’m sorry to ask you to do things all the time, but I just don’t feel comfortable going to sleep when someone could sneak into my room. Your ladder is right out back. Anyone could put it against the wall at three o’clock in the morning. I really don’t feel comfortable.”

“Yes, of course,” Devon said. “You’re right. I have a lock in the shed and I can put it on right now.”

“Would you mind?”

He smiled. “No, I don’t mind.” He paused. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Thank you, Devon.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Five minutes later Devon returned to find Jenny had left her door open. He walked up the stairs to Maria’s room and found Jenny at the bureau combing her hair with Maria’s brush. She turned and looked at him.

“You’re fast,” she said. “You’re going to have to learn to slow down if you ever get paid by the hour.”

He laughed. “I hope to always be my own boss.” Devon was wearing his big blue sweater, the one she had seen in the truck the first night they met. He took it off, laid it on the back of the chair, then started working on the lock. “I’ll have this geared up in no time.”

“No rush,” Jenny replied, walking toward the stairs. “I’m just going to paint my toenails.” She laughed. “What do you think, blue or red?”

“Hmm,” Devon mumbled, looking at her as if she had just posed an extremely important question. “Blue is pretty and it would go with your eyes.”

She loved the playful twinkle in his gaze.

“But red is a pretty color, too, and it would go with your hair.”

“Blue is cold and red is hot,” Jenny said. “I like it hot, so I’m choosing red.” Jenny laughed at him, tremendously enjoying their banter. “My polish is downstairs in the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Red it is,” he said humorously. “I hope I won’t be disappointed.”

“You won’t,” she said sexily. “I don’t do it often, but I think I need to pull out the red today.”

“Make me a believer.”

Jenny walked downstairs and took the red polish out of the bathroom cabinet. She was just about to go upstairs and apply her polish in front of him when a great and unstoppable spirit took hold of her. She unbuttoned her dress, took off her bra, and threw it into the hamper. After buttoning up her dress, her breasts now free and jiggling with each step, she lifted her dress and slid down her panties. She had them around her knees, hesitated, then pulled them down and stepped out of them. She tossed them into the hamper and started back upstairs, feeling so exquisitely naked under her dress. The feeling of the material on her bare ass and on her nipples, now hardening and pushing out, was intoxicating.

“Red?” Devon asked as she returned to Maria’s room.

Jenny held it up and could hardly speak because her heart was pounding so hard. “It’s called Auburn Red,” she noted, holding up the label.

“Just like your hair.”

“Yes,” she stammered, sitting on the bed a few feet away from him. She flipped off her sneakers. “Have you ever seen a woman paint her nails?”

“No, but I’m open to new experiences.”

She laughed at him and curled her toes. Devon looked at her foot, a foot so elegant and soft, and found himself incredibly attracted. He did not tell her, but he would have loved to paint her toenails and to kiss her foot. She unthinkingly wiggled it and Devon, though he tried to be discreet, was absolutely turned on. Jenny lifted one foot onto the bed, bringing her knee almost up to her chin. Her dress fell open, exposing almost all of her legs. Devon froze, his eyes drawn as if she had supernatural powers. She painted her big toe, slightly rocking her leg side to side, showing him so much, but not everything. He would have given anything if she would have ended the torture and lifted the dress, showing him her panties, but she took him right to the edge.

“How long has it been since you were in a relationship?” Jenny asked point-blank.

“Four years,” he told her without hesitation.

“Wow,” Jenny said. “You haven’t been in a serious relationship for four years?”

“I haven’t been in any relationship in four years,” he said. “What about you?”

“Five years since I’ve had a steady boyfriend.”

“You haven’t dated in five years?”

“I didn’t say that,” Jenny clarified. “I have dated, but I haven’t had a real boyfriend in five years.”

“What exactly is a ‘boyfriend’?” Devon asked, intrigued by the seductress who was exciting every molecule in his body.

“A guy friend is someone you hang out with,” Jenny said, “but a boyfriend is a guy you do certain things with.” Jenny moved her leg in just such a way that Devon could see part of her bare behind.

Devon swallowed hard. “Certain things?”

“Yes, certain things,” Jenny said, leaning forward and allowing Devon to see most of her breasts. “You know, where you make him feel good and he makes you feel good. You know what I mean, Devon. I don’t have to spell it out. That’s what a boyfriend is to me, someone I’ll do things for that make him feel good.”

“Mr. North,” Danny called up, seeing the window open. “Are you up there?”

“Yes, Danny,” he said, sticking his head out the window. “What is it?”

“We just need some more paint. Can you open the shed for us?”

“Sure,” he said, looking back at Jenny with a flushed expression. He took the keys out of his pocket and tossed them down to Danny. “I’ll get them later, okay?”

“Sure thing,” Danny called up.

Devon put three screws into the lock and then looked for the last one. Jenny was holding it and smiling from ear to ear. He reached for it, but she pulled it back slightly, just out of his reach.

“Do you need a screw?” Jenny asked with her dumb-blonde look.

“Yes, I do,” he said, looking deeply into her eyes.

Jenny slowly swung her leg to one side and for a split second exposed her bare, hairy pussy. Her heart thundered as she did it, and Devon, shocked, could not resist looking.

It was just a flash, but Devon clearly saw her hair and her opening. Jenny closed her legs, flashed a sexy look at him, then started painting her nails. Devon’s pulse was pounding and he was hoping to see her do it again, but she concentrated exclusively on her task, almost ignoring him now. He was left to wonder if she had shown him her pussy by accident, without even realizing it, or if she had, like a magician, teased him with just a flash, holding back the spectacular finale.

She yawned. “When you finish,” she said sleepily, “I think I’ll take a nap. Could you close the door at the bottom of the stairs on your way out?”

“Sure,” he said, returning to the job at hand.

Jenny continued to paint her nails when she spontaneously looked up at him. With the position her head was in, her eyes fell right on his crotch. To her surprise, she could see that he had a raging erection in his pants. It was so obvious it was painful. She could see the big, thick shaft, the point of his spear tip, even the slight impression of his heavy, cream-filled balls. His big, hot cock excited her and she couldn’t take her eyes off it. Devon glanced at her and noticed where her eyes were. He shifted position, trying to hide the rigid soldier, but his prick would have nothing of it. It stood tall and pulsated with power. Jenny found herself visualizing him in the nude, at full attention. Devon shifted again and was quite aggravated with the situation, but other than surreptitiously brushing his pecker and pushing it aside, there was nothing to be done but finish the lock and leave.

“There, done,” he said, again shifting and trying to get his little friend to behave himself.

“Thank you,” Jenny said, sitting back on her hands, her bare legs exposed to within a few inches of her hidden treasure.

“I’ll be leaving now,” Devon said, holding the drill in front of him as he walked.

“Thank you,” Jenny answered sweetly, laying back on the bed and lifting one leg onto it.

Devon glanced and again saw a flash of her hairy, blonde pussy. He would have done anything to kiss it, to lick the nectar from her delicious lips, but she quickly pulled the other leg onto the bed and folded the dress between her thighs. The show was over. The excitement ended, at least until the circus pulled into town again. Devon took a deep breath and waved good
bye. She waved back and thanked him again. For a few seconds they stood looking at each other, a man and woman alone for years, but now alone together in a room, the smell of sex in the air, and the instinctive drumming of lust and love sounding in their cores. Devon’s ten-inch cock was ridiculously swelled now, pushing at his pants like an animal trying to escape. He was so keenly focused on the beautiful woman, though, that he did not even think about how he looked. Jenny did. And she liked what she saw. Liked it a lot.

Devon left, walked down the stairs and closed the door, locking it behind him. Jenny was mad with heat and almost immediately slipped the dress off her naked body. She closed her eyes and started to touch herself, Devon’s man scent still lingering. Though she had learned to live without even thinking about sex while with Ivan, it was not her natural state, and now all the pent-up sexual frustration seemed to rise to the top. Casually glancing to her left, she noticed Devon’s big, blue sweater draped over the chair. Feeling impossibly bold, she put it on and looked at herself in the mirror. It surrounded her like a blanket and hung just below her waist.

She laid on the bed and started to masturbate, pushing the material against her breasts, exciting her nipples. The delicious sensations in her clitoris radiated throughout her body, building up as if climbing a series of terraces. She visualized him standing there, his huge, hard cock pushing against his pants like a tent pole. In her fantasy, she knelt in front of him, opened his pants, then slipped them down to his knees. She pulled down his underwear and his impressive pole, so rigid it looked almost petrified, sprung up and pointed at the ceiling. Jenny saw herself as a Cleopatra, her face covered in exotic makeup, her mouth moist and covered in red coloring. Devon looked down at her with his mouth gaping open, his eyes half-closed. Though he was big and strong, he was now pottery clay in her hands, ready to be molded into what she desired. She could take him to the highest peak or cast him into the deepest valley.