Chapter Twenty-Four #2
Caught up in my own epiphany about us, Hannah was able to tackle me to the mattress with little to no resistance.
She made quick work of my briefs, grabbed protection from the nightstand, and then she was straddling me, sliding down on top of me as if I was the answer to every question she had ever asked.
My hands grabbed her hips, but she took them and wrapped my fingers around the wrought iron bed frame. With a look that made my blood heat, she said, “Behave, Simon.”
So fucking hot! I gritted my teeth to keep from coming right then and there.
I watched as she rode me, taking over our mutual pleasure in every possible way.
Relentlessly, she brought me to the peak of release and then slowed it down, keeping my orgasm just out of reach.
It was the most delicious torture. Absolute exquisite pleasure-pain as she brought me to the point of orgasm and then denied me again and again and again.
I was sweating and panting, my abs and ass tight and ready to come when she stopped right on the tip of my penis as if she knew, she knew it would drive me completely mad.
She looked down at me through a tumble of wavy hair and I was certain I had never seen anything or anyone this beautiful in my entire life.
This was how I would draw her but that would be just for me.
“Hey,” she whispered. “What are you thinking?”
I was thinking that I was in love with her, deeply, passionately in love, and there was no way I was ever going to get enough of her—not today, tonight, tomorrow, or ever.
Instead, I let go of the headboard and grabbed her hips.
I rolled us until she was beneath me and then I plunged inside of her with a force that made her cry out and I felt her orgasm hit as she convulsed around me.
It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
I put my thumb on her clit and rubbed it in circles that sent her into a thrashing frenzy where she was almost sobbing from the pleasure as her orgasm crashed over her again and again.
When her shudders eased, I rose up onto my knees, lifted her hips, and drilled into her once, twice, three times, and then my own orgasm fired up the back of my legs, tightened my balls, and swelled my cock until I felt as if it was being physically wrung from me.
I braced myself to keep from collapsing on top of her, marveling that I was lucky to survive such an intense climax. I pulled her in close, wrapping myself around her and burying my nose in her soft hair where the smell of lime and coconut soothed me. I was almost asleep when Hannah spoke.
“That’s one,” she said with a throaty laugh, and I found myself smiling, feeling a soul-deep contentment cover me like a blanket.
Our final days took on a rhythm. We sorted a little, repaired a bit, volunteered for baby turtle watch a few times, visited with our neighbors, but mostly, we spent every available second together.
When Hannah worked on her content for her social media accounts, I usually caught up on office work and checked in with Lor and Charlie.
Lor was still working for the woman Chance had called his aunt, but if Chance was a part of things, she never said and refused to answer when I asked.
Sisters! Charlie had his date with Diana and they were going on another one.
Julian had assured me that Charlie and Diana were well matched and taking it slowly.
When I asked Charlie about it, he changed the subject. Brothers!
They both asked me about Hannah and I told them she was fine.
I did not tell them that we had moved into the spare bedroom and that Dude now slept sprawled on the bed in the main bedroom or that I couldn’t decide what my favorite time of the day was anymore.
Was it waking up and finding Hannah beside me?
Was it laughing or crying with her as we went through the possessions our grandfathers had accumulated over the years?
Probably it was when I made love to her and found her looking at me with her twinkling blue eyes and wide grin.
A guy could get lost in a smile that big.
Of course, I said none of those things. Siblings!
I was sitting on the back deck, working on my sketch of Hannah.
I hadn’t drawn anything in years but as soon as I put my pencil to the pad, the remembered image of Hannah looking down at me through her tumble of hair with an expression of such complete love that it had taken my breath away then did so even now as my pencil filled the page with it.
“Holy shit! You’re good, like, really good.”
I jumped and glanced behind me to see Roland standing there.
He was in his usual ball cap and T-shirt, but his eyes were riveted on the page as he took in Hannah.
I slapped the sketchbook shut, grateful that I had decided to draw her from just the collarbone up instead of including that glorious bust of hers.
“Thanks, Roland.” I wiped the pencil residue off my fingers with a cloth. “How are things with you?”
“Funnily enough, I was just talking to Tim Larson about you,” he said. “Specifically, about your artwork.”
“Oh?”
“You know he’s looking to have a mural painted on the side of the Scoop,” he said.
“He mentioned something about that,” I said.
“You should do it!” Roland said.
“My art days—”
“Zach, Luke, come here!” Roland called out over me.
“They’re here?”
“Bebe told Luke to quit hovering over her and the baby. Tossed him right out the door, so we’re going fishing and wanted to know if you want to come.”
“Um…sure.” Hannah and Dude wouldn’t be back from her latest project for a couple of hours.
It was cool to have neighbors ask me to join them.
In my life in Raleigh, I didn’t have time for anything more than outings that involved trying to woo big corporate clients.
Plus, it would be good for me to get away from the cottage, where it felt as if bits of Hannah existed in every room I entered.
I missed her even though she’d been gone only a few hours, which was something else I’d never experienced with a romantic partner.
“You find him, Dad?” Zach cried.
“Back here!” Roland hollered in return.
Around the corner of the house came Zach and Luke. They were laughing and chatting about Luke’s new baby and whether Luke was ever going to let her date or not.
“Of course I will,” Luke said. “After I teach her how to knock a handsy boy out with one shot to the chin.”
“That’s the way.” Zach raised his hand and Luke slapped it in a high five.
“There’s been a change of plan,” Roland announced.
“What?” Zach cried. “Why?”
“Because we need to talk Simon, here, into being the one who paints the mural on the side of the Scoop.”
Both Zach and Luke glanced at me in confusion and I shrugged. If they assumed Roland was having a mental episode, far be it from me to disabuse them of that notion.
“Look at this!” Roland snatched up my drawing pad.
“Hey!” I cried, but he danced out of reach.
Holding it up so the others could see, he started flipping through the pages. “He’s actually really good.”
“You don’t have to sound so surprised,” I said. “I know Gramps bragged about me to anyone who would listen.”
“Yeah, but I actually saw you creating this,” Roland said as he tapped Hannah’s portrait. “It made it much more accessible.”
Luke and Zach flipped through the pad. I tried to tell myself their opinions didn’t matter, that these were just crude sketches I’d been doing as warm-ups to painting again, but still I felt a tight twisting in my gut.
It was the same nervousness I’d felt when my book came out.
The only opinion I’d never worried about was Gramps’s.
He’d always gassed me up, making me think I was the next J.
C. Leyendecker. Damn, I missed Gramps. I felt my eyes grow damp.
Ever since I’d cried out my grief in Hannah’s arms, it was like the spigot on my tears had been turned on. I shook my head, now was not the time.
“Hypothetically, if you were going to do a mural, what would it be of?” Roland asked. “Big bowl of ice cream?”
“Obviously,” I said. “But it’d have to be reflective of Cape Split, too. The people, the landmarks, the history. It’s a monumental task, which is another reason why I passed on the opportunity.”
“You can’t pass,” Zach said while still studying my sketches.
“Excuse me?”
Zach glanced up and said, “If you don’t do it, Tim is going to hire Damian Shapiro.” Both Luke and Roland let out groans.
I stared at Zach. “And?”
“He’s not a local artist,” Luke said. He took out his phone and did a quick search.
“He has no connection to the Outer Banks at all,” Roland said, sounding outraged. “How can he possibly paint a mural in our town if he has no connection to the Split?”
“Why would Tim hire him then?” I asked.
“Because he’s available and has been badgering Tim to let him do it for years,” Zach said.
“You have to save our community, Simon, it’s as simple as that,” Roland said.
“I’m not sure I qualify any more than Shapiro,” I said. “I’ve only lived here for a summer.”
“That’s more than the other guy,” Roland argued.
“And your family has been here for decades, making you a legacy,” Zach said.
“You’re literally grandfathered into the community,” Luke added.
The three of them were staring at me and I wanted to stand firm in my no, but I couldn’t seem to force the words out. I thought of my afternoon with Hannah and Dude at the Scoop and couldn’t bear the thought of an outsider leaving their mark on that big wall.
The picture of Gramps and Pops in front of the Scoop flitted through my mind. I wondered what Gramps would think of me doing the mural for the Scoop, but deep down I knew. He’d be so damn proud. It hit me right then. The mural was what I could do to honor him.
“Come on, Simon,” Luke cajoled.
“Say yes,” Zach badgered.
I turned to Roland. “All right, let’s do it. Let’s see if Tim still wants this mural. One thing, though, promise me you won’t let Hannah find out.”
“You don’t think she’s going to notice a fourteen-foot-high painting?” Roland asked.
“Before it’s done,” I said. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone that I’m doing it until it’s finished.”
The three exchanged curious glances and then spoke together. “Promise.”