Once Upon a Time in Bliss

Chapter Five

Please make love to me. Please, Henry.

The words rang in his head. Bishop didn’t make love. Bishop fucked. He picked his partners for their willingness to fuck and often preferred to pay for the privilege. He’d fucked prostitutes and sometimes he’d fucked for information. Not a single one of those women had looked up at him with clear brown eyes and politely asked him to make love to her.

Not one of them had praised him for the simple belief that they thought he should be praised for his skills. Nell Finn wasn’t trying to manipulate him. She wasn’t trying to maneuver him into a position where she had the power. She was just being her sweet self.

And she wanted him to make love to her, to take her virginity, to be her first man.

John Bishop didn’t make love, but maybe Henry Flanders did.

“I’ll take care of you, Nell.” He was really shocked to discover he meant every word. He would take care of this woman for as long as he could. She was foreign to him, utterly alien, but so beautiful, and her beauty came from inside. He’d known many more gorgeous women than Nell Finn, but none had challenged him the way she did. Oh, a couple had tried to kill him, but not a single one had made him think the way she did. Her ideas were naïve, but she believed them and maybe, just maybe, she was right. Maybe it took a woman like Nell to change the world, even in the smallest way.

Bishop had spent most of his life fighting in a bloody war to keep the status quo.

Her lips curved up, her hands finding his hair. “I know, Henry.”

“Nell, I…” He felt a need to reiterate the truth to her. He didn’t want to lie. He didn’t want to set false expectations. He wanted her more than he’d wanted anything in his life, but he couldn’t steal this from her.

Her dark eyes softened, her fingers smoothing his hair back. “I know, Henry.”

She knew he would leave. She knew he would walk away from her, and she was still offering herself up. She was telling him it was okay to leave her, that she would only take what he had to offer.

What the hell did he have to offer her?

Why did it not matter? Because he was going to be a selfish bastard and take her anyway. He was going to take her because she was his payment for everything he’d done. She was his prize. This tiny time with her would carry him through all the rest of the crap he had to do. He would know that what he was really protecting was Nell Finn. They would be a million miles from each other, but he would be protecting her.

He dragged his body up, the taste of her still on his tongue. She’d tasted so good. He normally never ate pussy. His exchanges weren’t so intimate, but he wanted Nell to experience everything. He had an overwhelming desire to be her first—her first real dirty kiss, her first intimacy, her first oral, her first sex of every kind. He was craving her. He had days to teach her everything.

But this first time, he was going to teach her just how good it could be.

He let his body cover hers. She was small underneath him. He loved how silky smooth her skin was, how she contrasted to him. He suddenly had a deep desire to be the man she needed, a man she would admire.

He wanted to spread her and take her, his cock dominating. He’d never wanted to dominate a woman the way he wanted power over this one, but it wouldn’t serve her. He kissed her long and slow, the argument playing out in his head. His cock and his brain were in a little war. His cock wanted to fuck her until she screamed, but his head wanted to serve her properly, to bind her to him in a way he’d never been bound before.

He kissed her nose, his brain firmly in control. He wasn’t going to be selfish, not tonight. There would be plenty of time to play his games later, but he was going to give her tenderness tonight. She was warm and wet and willing, but he wanted this to last.

“Tell me you want me.” He breathed the words against her cheek, adoring the way her arms had wound around him. He was surrounded by Nell, her skin touching his, the smell and taste of her filling his senses. He needed to hear the words. He couldn’t take this from her. She had to give it.

“I want you, Henry.” She smiled up at him. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to do great. I just know it. Has it been a while for you?”

He felt a grin cross his face. She surprised him at every turn. “It’s been a while, but I think I can handle it.”

He could handle her. She was so fucking sweet, but it was obvious she needed someone to watch out for her. She was the kind of woman who could get lost in a cause, whether it be her protests or her friends, and forget to truly take care of herself. She needed a strong top, though the top would likely need to be stealthy. Nell would need to feel like she was in control outside the bedroom, but she desperately needed someone looking out for her.

The fact that she was in bed with him was proof of that.

His tongue tangled with hers, taking it slow and easy. He rubbed his chest against hers and felt the way her legs spread further to accommodate him. She made a place for him, cradling him between her thighs. His cock was ragingly hard, but he kept it under control, just rubbing himself against her. She was soft and warm, and so, so wet.

He inhaled her, letting her scent wash across his senses. He let his fingers find her hair, and he fisted it lightly. He was going to teach her so much while he was with her. He would show her just how he liked his cock sucked. He would thrust his cock into her mouth and spill his cum on her tongue and watch her drink him down.

His hips started to move. He couldn’t wait longer or he would be inside her without any protection, and he didn’t want that for her. The need to spill himself inside her was riding him hard, but he couldn’t take the chance. If he came inside Nell, he would have to wait around. He would have to stay to make sure she didn’t get pregnant.

She would let him. She wouldn’t stop him because she wasn’t really in control of herself any longer. He was in control. She was trusting him. It would be the simplest thing in the world to just let nature take its course and within minutes, he might be able to bind her to him in a way she couldn’t deny even if she ever found out what a fucking bastard he was.

Bishop pulled away abruptly. He couldn’t. He had to protect her.

“What?” Nell asked, her eyes wide.

“I need a condom, sweetheart.” He fumbled. He never fumbled. He was always precise, in his movements, in his actions, but Nell was making him clumsy. His hands were actually shaking as he opened the bedside stand and reached for the condoms he always carried.

“Thank you, Henry. I’m not on birth control.” She was staring up at him like he was some kind of hero. Her hands were on his waist, rubbing up and down, soothing him. “I never had to be before.”

“We should take you in and get you on the pill.” He didn’t want to wear the fucking condom. He wanted to spill himself inside her. He wanted to know she was walking around with his semen tucked away, a piece of himself that would stay with her.

“All right,” she agreed.

Yes, she needed a keeper. She’d just agreed to get on the pill for a man who had said he would leave her.

But Nell Finn was smart. She wouldn’t wait around for his dumb ass. She would find someone. Maybe not the person she needed, but she would find someone who would take all her sweetness. She would forget about him eventually and she would need those pills, because a woman as sensual as Nell couldn’t stay alone for long. After he was gone, she’d find another lover.

He tore open the condom a little savagely. He hated the idea. He was getting possessive. He was starting to think of Nell as his, and that was a dangerous thought.

A moan came out of his mouth as he started to roll the condom on. Nell’s hand joined his, her small palm working the latex over his dick. He loved her hands. They were real. She didn’t wear nail polish, but her nails were kept neat. Nell’s hands worked. She used them to plant her garden and to type out her books. Now she used them to make him ready for her.

He nearly lost that iron-willed control he was known for. Bishop had to take a deep breath or he would spew cum right then and there like he was fifteen again and making an idiot of himself with one of the teens who shared his foster home.

For the briefest of moments, he wished he’d never done it before. Looking down at Nell and the wonder on her face, he actually wished he was a virgin again, sharing this with her, being in the moment with her, young and fresh and staring at a future with the woman underneath him. Nell was so young. Oh, she was twenty-five, only ten years younger than him, but he was centuries ahead of her in damage.

She finished tugging on the condom, and her hands smoothed along his chest, bringing him back into the moment with her. Regrets didn’t matter. There would be time for them later. If there was one thing Bishop had learned it was that regrets had a way of finding a man, even when he tried to outrun them.

The only thing that mattered now was pleasing Nell Finn. He let the melancholy thoughts flit away and concentrated on her.

“I’m going to go slow, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.” It was the last thing he wanted to do. He got to his knees and fit his cock to her pussy. His cock looked like a brutish marauder against that pretty little pussy, but the head was already coated in her cream. She wanted him. He let his focus laser in on the sight as he pressed in, his cockhead disappearing, slipping just inside her.

She gasped, her hands tightening on him.

“It’s all right.” Slow. Easy. He pulled back out and then surged in again, gaining just a little ground each time. “You were made to take me.”

“You’re going too slow.” She was restless underneath him. Her hips shifted up, trying to take him deeper.

“Nell.” He hissed her name, a warning that she didn’t heed.

“I want more.” Nell thrust up.

It was way more than he could take. He surged inside, thrusting in one long passage until she’d taken him to the root.

Nell’s whole body tightened, and her face flushed. Her breath came out in pants. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry, Henry. I’ve always been impatient. You should just get it over with now. It’s okay. I can take it.”

She was so frustrating. “Stay still, Nell. You’ll get used to me.” He looked down at her, his heart seizing a little. Tears pooled in her eyes. This was damn straight why he didn’t deal with virgins. He didn’t have the patience for it. He should do exactly what she said. He should finish quickly and let the girl go.

“You’re not hurrying, Henry.”

There was really only one way to shut that mouth of hers. He kissed her gently, a soft request that she focus on something else. Nell’s brain seemed to work too fast, to never shut off. He had to give her something else to concentrate on. She softened again, her arms moving around him once more. Her mouth opened beneath his, and he could feel the minute she relaxed. He let his body sink against hers, feeling the way her breasts pressed against his chest. He let his tongue do a lazy dance, rubbing hers slowly.

He took his time, even though his cock was dying. Patience. She might not have any, but it was his stock-in-trade. He held back, kissing her over and over, trying to drug her with pleasure. After a long while, he moved his hips again, and this time she didn’t wince.

“Better?”

Her eyes had taken on that dreamy look again. She nodded. “Yes. Do it again, Henry. It feels so good.”

It felt incredible. He’d never been in a tighter pussy. Nell gripped his cock, every inch a pure pleasure. He pulled out and very carefully thrust back in, making sure his pelvis ground down on her clit. He swiveled his hips and began a slow rhythm. In and out and all around. In and out, grinding down. That was the way to make sure she loved it.

He held back the rising tide, thrusting inside her with great care. Later he would let go. Later he could fuck her hard, but not tonight. Tonight was for her.

A low moan came from deep in her throat, and he let her pussy clamp down around his cock, milking him and sending him over the edge. The orgasm hit him like a lightning strike, making him shake and groan. He lost control and just fucked her for a few blissful moments, everything else slipping away until she was the only thing real in the world.

He thrust one last time, giving up every ounce of cum he had, and then slumped over, his body pressing hers into the mattress.

Peace. Calm. He let her warmth and sweet scent surround him. Now was the time when he would normally get up, go shower, and walk away after a polite “thank you.”

Nell’s cheek nestled against his, their faces rubbing together in a perfect intimacy. “Henry, that was so beautiful.”

She was beautiful. He shifted, hating the moment when his cock slipped out of her body. He rolled to the side, not quite knowing what to say to her.

It struck him quite forcefully that he’d never actually slept with a woman before. Oh, he’d fucked plenty of women. He’d spent the night with a couple. Mostly for work. There were several women out there who he’d screwed for the simple reason that he needed information from them and he’d either gotten it through pillow talk or he’d waited until the chick was asleep and downloaded her laptop or her phone. But he’d never slept beside them.

Not once in his life.

He was a sleeping virgin.

“Should I go?” Nell asked. Her eyes were wide, and Bishop wondered just how long he’d been sitting there thinking about the past.

It would be the easiest thing in the world to help her out of bed, get them both cleaned up, and politely walk her back to her room.

“No. Give me a minute.” He rolled out of bed. No matter what he did, he had to get rid of the condom. He stalked to the bathroom.

“You have a very nice backside, Henry.”

He felt himself blush. Fucking blush. Like a goddamn schoolboy. “Thanks.”

He slipped inside the bathroom and closed the door. What the fuck was he doing? Why was his heart racing? Why did he feel so weird?

Heart attack. He was obviously having a heart attack, and he was going to die right here on Naked Mountain. Would Bill even bother to dress him for the funeral or would he just toss his naked butt in a nice comfy hole in the ground? Did nudists have burial rituals?

He was acting insane. He rolled the condom off and tossed it away. He cleaned himself up and got ready to walk out there and explain to Nell that he’d had a great time, but she should go back to her room. They needed to keep things casual.

Yes, that was what he would do.

He opened the door, ready to very gently herd her out. And his heart did that stupid-ass flutter thing again because Nell’s eyes were closed, and she had an arm wrapped around his pillow while she slept. Strands of chocolate brown hair covered her shoulders and a nipple peeked out.

He turned off the light and slipped into bed, moving her arm so she was cuddling him instead of the pillow. It was nice. Warm. Comfortable. It was better this way. It was her first time. She required some tenderness. He eased down, feeling his every muscle sinking into the bed.

She was only his for a few nights, a week, maybe. Perhaps two. He could stick around for a couple of weeks, but that was all. Maybe even a month. Yes, he could work it so he could have a month.

He could stay here with Nell. Maybe eventually he would get used to sleeping with her.

He yawned. Something about the heat of her body and the soft skin against his own was having a drugging effect, and he was slipping into sleep.

But he was going to have to see a doctor, because there was definitely something wrong with his heart.

Nell came awake slowly, turning over underneath the blankets. She felt the sun on her face and blinked in the morning light.

Not her room. She was in Henry’s room. And she was naked. So very, very naked. She reached out carefully, letting her arm creep behind her. Nothing. She was alone in bed.

Had Henry left? She sat up, holding the covers to her breasts.

“Good morning. There’s a pot of hot water over here. I have Earl Grey, oolong, and green tea.”

Henry was sitting at the desk, and sure enough, there was a tray beside him with a white ceramic pot and two mugs. It looked like he’d found some muffins.

He turned in his chair. He seemed to be working on a computer. His lips curved up in a small smile. He was devastating when he smiled. “The muffins are vegan. Blueberry and raspberry. I thought you might like them.”

She nodded slowly, not quite sure how to handle the fact that he was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants and she was totally naked. Where were her clothes? Should she take a shower? She definitely needed to brush her teeth.

“Nell?” Henry stared at her expectantly. “What tea would you like?”

Tea. He was offering her tea. She loved tea. “Green.”

He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked very different with his clothes on. He looked almost normal. When he’d been naked, with his glasses off, he’d been superhero hot, but he was back to sweetly attractive. Except his chocolate brown eyes went frosty. He was even hotter when he got his caveman on. She knew it was wrong, but she went all soft and gooey on the inside when Henry went dominant. “What is wrong with this picture, Nell?”

She had no idea. She pulled the blankets up, feeling every minute of her awkwardness. Maybe she should just brazen her way through this. She spied her clothes across the room. Or she could just run to the bathroom and start the shower.

“Nell, I asked you a question.”

And she hadn’t known the answer. She didn’t like not knowing the answer. She always had the answer. She’d been the champion of debate team. “Everything seems fine to me, Henry.”

“Why is that blanket around your neck? I have the heat up in the room. It’s nice and toasty. Come over here and get your tea.”

“Can you pass me my clothes?”

“No. That’s not the way this works. We’re alone so you’re naked.”

She stared at him, feeling a frown cross her face. “You aren’t naked. That doesn’t seem fair, Henry.”

“This isn’t about fair,” he replied, not giving her an inch. “This is the way it is, Nell. I want to watch you walk around naked. When we’re alone, I want to know you’re available to me.”

“Again with the not fair.”

“It isn’t about fair, Nell. And it is fair when you think about it. When we’re not alone, I’ll do pretty much whatever you want me to as long as it doesn’t put you in danger. Why do you think I brought the vegan muffins? I ignored the bacon. I love bacon, Nell, but I think you would prefer I eschew it around you. I prefer you leave off your clothes. It’s a trade.”

When she really thought about it, it was a very good trade. Henry wasn’t a tiny man, and he seemed to have a very good metabolism. He’d eaten two burgers and a whole bunch of fries the night before so she was sure he could have eaten a lot of bacon. She was really saving a pig when she thought about it. Sure, she was potentially scaring him off. He’d seen her the night before, but that had been during sex. Men probably saw a woman differently when they were in the sex mode. This was the tea mode, and he might notice her cellulite.

She had to balance her need to stay sexy around Henry with her deep need to save a pig. Pigs were intelligent creatures, but they were also known to eat just about anything. Pigs weren’t the nicest creatures in the world, but that didn’t mean that they should be horrifically murdered and then cut apart for various meats. But her boobs did sag.

“I would give a lot to know what you’re thinking right now.” Henry’s smile had moved from a little uptick of his lips to a brilliant, sunny thing.

“I was thinking I might be able to save a pig by showing off my boobs.” It was a good cause.

“Yep. You should really get up and come over here and sit in my lap, otherwise I might just go and devour the first pig I see.” He patted his lap. “I’m utterly willing to give up meat to obtain your submission.”

There was a word she’d never liked before. Submission. “I don’t know that I like the thought of submitting.”

“Only because you’re thinking about it the wrong way. You think submitting makes you weak, but I know it takes a strong woman to submit to a real man. It’s an exchange and like all exchanges, you get something out of it. You promise me that when we’re intimate, you’ll obey me. I promise you that just about every other time, I’ll follow your lead.”

That was practically insane on his part. She couldn’t see him in her world. Except she would love having him there. “Henry, I’m into some crazy stuff.”

“Yeah, I know.” He gestured toward the computer he’d been looking at. “Did you really need to protest that kid’s birthday party?”

He had her computer? “That’s private.”

“Nothing is private anymore, Nell. Drop the sheet. I have some questions for you.” He picked up a very delicious-looking muffin. “Come on, baby. You know you’re hungry. I didn’t turn up the heater before we fell asleep so this place was arctic this morning. I woke up to my penis trying to crawl back into my body, but I braved getting out of bed just to feed you.”

She glanced out the window. The world was covered in white. The storm Stella had predicted had come in, and she bet the room had been mighty chilly before Henry turned the heat up. And she noticed that she had been carefully tucked into the blankets. Henry had put another blanket around her body while she’d been sleeping, making sure she was warm and comfy. He might be a rat fink computer thief, but he’d been incredibly tender the night before, and, it seemed, this morning as well. And he had it all toasty and warm in the room which she would usually protest, but this morning she was feeling a little selfish. She had Henry all to herself for this brief time. The earth would forgive her.

She let the sheet drop and held her hand out for the muffin. There was something deeply intimate and loving about eating breakfast in bed naked with her lover. Henry Flanders was her lover. She took a deep breath because tears were threatening. The last thing she wanted was to mar this time by crying. “I will take a raspberry muffin, thank you. And I wasn’t actually protesting that boy’s birthday. I was protesting the way the zoo treated its bears. When the conservancy that the bears came from gave them to the zoo, they also gave the zoo a large donation that should have gone toward a new, larger environment for the bears, but the zoo used the money to put in a carousel. I was protesting the carousel, which also happened to be the site of one Austin Jacobson’s fourth birthday party. I also might have mentioned to his mother that the balloons she had bought would kill a ton of birds. Conversely, I performed the Heimlich maneuver and saved Austin’s dad when he nearly choked on a hot dog. That wouldn’t have happened with a vegan substitute.”

Henry’s lips turned up again as he passed her the muffin and started to pour her tea. His eyes briefly found her breasts, and he sighed as though enchanted by the sight. “All right then. He probably isn’t the one who broke into your cabin.”

She took the tea mug. “You’re looking through my e-mail to try to find the crazy gentleman?” Wow, that was sexist. “It could be a female. Females can be just as crazy as males.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, baby.” He turned back to the computer. “And yes, I’ve been combing through your e-mails to see if anyone had sent you threatening letters. I was surprised at the volume.”

She’d kind of gotten used to it. People tended to not like it when she protested their businesses or housing developments or zoos. She’d become accustomed to nasty e-mails and letters and the occasional phone call. “I get it a lot. I just ignore most of it. Except for the box that looked like a bomb. I had to call the sheriff for that one. But the Farley brothers promised me that it was so poorly constructed, it would never have actually gone off. They’re so smart. They’re just kids, but they were so much more informed about bomb making techniques than their elders.”

“Someone sent you a bomb?” Henry was looking at her, and the temperature in the room seemed to have dropped again.

Maybe she should have kept that part to herself. She choked a little on the muffin. “Uhm, it wasn’t a very good bomb. I also have gotten the occasional box filled with poop. Those didn’t explode, either, thank god.”

His face was flushed, his jaw a hard line. He seemed to take control of himself, his voice so much softer than his expression, as though he was working hard to try not to scare her. “Nell, sweetheart, I’m going to need the names of the people who sent you those packages.”

“Oh, they don’t tend to leave a return address.” Henry seemed a bit naïve. Nell munched on the rest of her muffin. He probably didn’t get a lot of threatening letters as an academic.

“But the sheriff tracked them down, right?”

“Law enforcement is pretty laid back here. It’s kind of a no-harm-done thing.”

Henry said something about harm under his breath, but Nell didn’t catch all of it. His eyes closed briefly. “All right, then. We’ll start fresh. Do you know where the skinny kid lives?”

“Logan or Seth?” They didn’t really like to be called kids, but she was sure that was who Henry was talking about.

“Seth.”

“He’s spending winter break with his grandfather. He lives on the outer edge of the valley. Logan’s place is two doors down. You can’t miss Logan’s place. Teeny and Marie like gnomes. They’re kind of everywhere. Seth and Logan will be either there or at Seth’s place. They’re pretty much always together though.”

“Good.” Henry stood up. “I think Bill told me he has a couple of snowmobiles. I would like to have a talk with the young man. I think he might know a thing or two about tracking someone down with a computer.”

She passed back the napkin. “Thanks for the breakfast, Henry. It was delicious.”

“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t had any yet.” The temperature in the room shot right back up. Henry was staring at her like she was the best-looking muffin in the world. “How sore are you, baby?”

Just like that her heart tripled. One look from Henry and her whole body went soft and willing. “I’m good.”

He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. “Good, because I’m very hungry, Nell. Spread your legs and let me have some breakfast. I need some honey.”

Nell lay back and started the morning out right.