Pleasure (7 page)

It didn’t seem like her life any longer. She’d tried to
return to the person she was but found herself fantasizing about Fallon and
Vegas. Three months had passed since their last encounter and more than once
she’d picked up her cell to call the agency and then stopped. She would not
beg. And even if she did, she doubted Fallon would change his mind. He didn’t
seem the type of man to reverse a decision once he’d made it. Maybe the
children coming home for the winter break and preparing for the holidays would
take her mind off Fallon. She was afraid she had become obsessed with him.

The problem was, her life seemed empty and bland. She’d
started a journey, learned a great deal about herself and her needs, and now,
to attempt to shut the lid and go on without a key part of who she was seemed
like a one-dimensional existence.

When she looked at people, attended functions, went on about
her regular life, it was as though someone else lived it. She was going to have
to make a decision on how she should proceed, because this just wasn’t working
any longer.

She looked down at the papers on her desk. It was time for
her to think about re-election. Did she really want to trap herself into
another term?

Rising from her desk, Helen slipped on her coat and left her
office. She felt suffocated and needed to get out and walk it off. She had
reached a turning point and which direction she took mattered a great deal. The
fact that she felt trapped when she thought of serving another term was not a
good sign.

Fallon might not be a part of her life. It never was a
relationship that could go anywhere. She looked up at the sky. What was he
doing right now? Who was he with? It wasn’t that she was jealous. Or maybe it
was, because she couldn’t be a part of it any longer.

She liked watching him. At first, she’d fought her own ideas
of morality on the issue. But everyone involved was a consenting adult and
everyone’s fantasies were being fulfilled in a safe environment that Fallon
provided. It might be naughty and unacceptable to others—but it was her life.

She might be the mayor, a professional woman, a mother, an
icon for the community, and she fulfilled all those roles to the best of her
ability. But beneath all that there was more—a woman who needed passion and the
companionship of a certain kind of man—one who didn’t try to imprison her into
a societal cell because of who she was supposed to be and the position he
wanted to maintain in the community. She was more than that.

Stopping at the corner of Main Street, she looked across at
the statue of one of the founding fathers in the park. What was important to
her? She had reached her mid-life crisis—so was she now going to try to
suffocate shadow Helen and attempt to destroy her forever? It would be like
cutting out her soul. It would be a slow, torturous death and she didn’t think
she wanted that. She would end up being like that statue in the park, except
she would still be breathing—more or less.

Her gaze encountered the Realtor’s office on the other side
of the park and in that split second she made up her mind. With a determined
stride, she crossed the street.

Fallon had taught her something about life and determination
and pleasure. Nothing in her life was giving her pleasure right now and she
needed to change that. She was desperate to change it. And she was the only one
who could do it.

She stood on the sidewalk, looking at the Realtor’s window.
They would all think she had lost her mind with what she was planning to do,
but she refused to turn back. She didn’t need to stay here. She had enough
money saved, enough in investments, to live comfortably for the rest of her
life. She hadn’t done much traveling and maybe now was the time to remedy that
omission and see some of the world, gain some new perspective.

This town was not the beginning and end of everything—Fallon
had shown her that. The blinders were ripped off and it was time for her to
look around. She stepped up onto the porch and walked inside.

*         
*          *

Helen scooped up the mail from the mailbox and walked into
the house. Everyone had been shocked when she’d decided not to seek another
term as mayor. To be honest, she’d been more than a little nervous about
announcing her decision.

When they found out she was selling her house as well, she
saw speculation and concern in their eyes. What in the world was she doing? A
year had passed since she’d made that decision. It took nine months to find a
buyer for the house, but finally they’d found one. The children had balked
against her selling, but she was determined. Her son had graduated and located
a very good job on the east coast. Her daughter was just finishing up her last
year of college and already had received some nice offers, again on the other
side of the country. It was time to move on.

Tonight would be her last night in this big house. She had
located a small apartment on the other side of town which would suit her
purposes for the time being. If she did as much traveling as she planned, she
wouldn’t be spending much time there anyway.

As Helen walked into the kitchen, she sifted through the
mail—bills, invitations, advertisements. She stopped as her gaze encountered a
bright exotic postcard. She turned it over and gasped sharply as she reached
for a chair and dropped into it.

It couldn’t be. After all this time. He must have been able
to locate her address through the Fantasy Escorts Agency because she’d never
personally provided it to him. But then he was a man of rather amazing talents
and determination.

Did she dare? She set the card on the table and re-read it
again and again. In all this time she’d never forgotten him—not a day seemed to
pass without some fleeting memory crossing through her mind. It appeared he
hadn’t forgotten her either. She read the card again, trying to absorb what he
was asking her to do.

——

Retired and living the good life in Mexico. Join me. F.

Helen stepped off the plane into bright, searing sunlight.
It had been well over a year since she’d last seen Fallon. Would he have
changed much? Would he think Helen had changed?

Walking into the terminal, she headed over to the rental car
desk and gave them her name. Thank goodness the car was outfitted with a GPS
system where she could input her destination. On the postcard, Fallon had written
an address. Luckily the system came up with the data she needed.

She was nervous, not knowing what to expect when she
arrived. She took a chance on coming, but she couldn’t have turned away from
the invitation. Helen knew there would be no second opportunity. It was a
gamble she couldn’t resist.

Driving for more than an hour, she finally reached a small
parking area near the ocean and parked her car. According to the directions, the
address Fallon provided was not far. She just wanted a little bit of time to
get herself together. Tightening her grip on the steering wheel, Helen realized
she was trembling. Was it fear or anticipation? Probably both.

Opening the door, she stepped out of the car. Locking it,
she then followed the dirt path down to the ocean. The sea breeze whipped at
her skirt and her hair, pulling it free from the updo she wore. Just before she
hit the sand, she pulled off her shoes. The fine grains felt good beneath her
bare feet.

She walked down to the water and looked out over the
expansive blue vista. Living in Nevada, she’d never had much of a chance to
spend time near the ocean. The sound of the waves breaking against the shore
was soothing to her nerves, feathering and stroking across her skin, and she
felt some of the tension begin to ease away.

Was she doing the right thing by coming here? All of his
arguments against their relationship were good ones. The difference in their
ages, their professions, their lives. All of it made for a relationship that
could not possibly work. So why had she come?

She began walking along the shore as gentle foam swirled
over her feet. She needed Fallon, needed what he could give her. He drew her
from inside her enforced shell of living and showed her there was so much more.

Her fantasies didn’t involve forever after. She was no
longer a young naïve girl expecting a lifetime commitment to make her happy.
She’d been there, done that. She wanted to grab for some of the pleasure that
here and now could afford her. She didn’t want marriage, she liked her freedom.
But she wanted to share some of that freedom as well. And she wanted that
person to be Fallon.

A weight seemed to lift from her shoulders when she came to
terms with that. Fallon was a man who lived life and wasn’t afraid to reach out
and grab what he wanted without apology. And right now, he seemed to want her.
That was good enough.

Her gaze focused on a form materializing in the distance. As
the person drew closer she was able to distinguish it was a man dressed in low
slung white pants and an unbuttoned white linen shirt that fluttered in the
breeze. His hair was thick and dark, his features deeply tanned, and he wore
dark sunglasses.

Her senses recognized him before she was even aware of
focusing her thoughts on him.

He moved closer and finally stopped in front of her, slowly
removing the glasses. His emerald gaze roved over her like a thirsty man
discovering a cool glass of water. He smiled and his even white teeth gleamed against
dark skin.

Fallon was all male, alluring and sensual. Everything she
remembered; everything she’d been unable to forget. The dark hairs on his
abdomen above the low set of his pants tantalized her. She itched to touch him.

“You came.”

She gazed into his eyes, couldn’t look away. She knew she’d
missed him, but hadn’t realized how ravenous she truly was. “Yes.”

The wind whipped around them as they stood staring at each
other. Then finally he reached out to cup her face and then swooped down to
claim her mouth, thrusting his tongue deep inside. He pulled her against him,
molding her to his body, pulling the passion from a well deep inside her.

He lifted his head and she saw the dilated lust filling his
gaze. “I’ve missed you, Helen. More than I thought I would.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” This time she was the one to reach
up to claim his lips and he surrendered to her. For long moments he held her in
his arms and she inhaled his familiar scent.

There was something different about this—vastly different
from when she’d engaged his services as her escort. This was intimacy in full
force, equal measure, and she wanted all of him.

She looked up at him. “I want you, Fallon. This time I want
every bit. I want to know every inch of flesh, every thought. I want to know
the man, not the paid escort. That’s not what this is about, is it?”

He shook his head as he stroked her hair. “No. And before we
go any further, my name is Lucas. Lucas Compton. From Tipton, Missouri.”

“Lucas,” she breathed, absorbing the name, the trust he
placed into her hands by exposing his true identity. She reached up to touch
his lips.

“I’m assuming you have a place to live down here, Lucas?”

He grinned. “It’s been a long time since anyone has called
me that. It sounds good coming from you.” He leaned closer, his lips against
her ear, his fingers clutched in her hair. “When I fuck you, when I’m so deep
inside you that you can’t breathe without feeling me there, that’s the name I
want to hear you scream out.”

Helen’s pussy flooded with her juices at his words, at the
image they projected into her mind. “Take me home, Lucas. I don’t think I can
wait another minute.”

She saw a devilish twinkle enter his eyes. “We could make
love right here—out in the open. Do you remember when I made you come in the hallway
of your hotel that first night? You liked it—the thought that someone might
come along and see us.”

“B-but that was different.” Her body was swamped with
tingling arousal at his words. It was tempting, but the first time he fucked
her, she wanted it somewhere that she could savor every moment.

He pulled her arm through his and led her along the beach, a
soft, sensual chuckle rippling through the air. “Maybe not this time. But don’t
expect that I’ll forget what really turns you on.”

Helen stumbled along beside him, wishing they were alone and
private right this minute. Her legs trembled at the thought of finally having
him burrowed deep inside her pussy and feeling that special intimacy and
closeness that came from making love—not just having sex.

Finally, he pivoted and drew her toward a pair of stone
stairs leading to a large spacious, Spanish design house.

Her gaze widened in surprise. “This is where you live?”

He grinned. “I told you I made some good investments over the
years. I’m not a poor man—I don’t need your money, Helen. In fact, the last
couple of years I really haven’t needed to work as an escort at all. But I
liked the challenge and the adventure. It wasn’t until you came along that I
decided it was time to move on. It took some work to untangle myself from
certain commitments, but I finally did it.”

Helen laughed as she allowed him to guide her up the steps.
“It appears we were both on the same wavelength. I was the mayor, you know—one
of the reasons I didn’t argue with you when you said you wouldn’t see me
anymore. I was so torn.”

“I know. I sensed you put a lot on the line by coming to
Vegas—I didn’t realize how much.”

“I chose not to run for another term. And I sold my house.
Your postcard arrived just in time. I rented a small apartment and was planning
to travel. But something was still missing and I didn’t realize it until I got
the postcard. Then it all seemed to fall into place—well, more or less.”

“Fate obviously took a hand.”

They reached the top of the stairs and he turned to her.
“Welcome to my home, Helen.”