Off the Record

  I can't get over the extreme damage that has occurred. Most buildings are nothing but a pile of matchsticks. Yet, in the middle of the destruction, you'll see a building that amazingly was left untouched. The selective power of a tornado is frightening.

  "Have you done this sort of thing before?" Ever asks.

  "This is my first tornado. But this will be the third time I've helped clean up after a disaster. I helped after those two hurricanes hit Florida back to back two years ago. But the destruction was nothing like this."

  "How is this all being coordinated? I mean, how did you even know that volunteers were needed?"

  "There's a government agency called AmeriCorps. They coordinate and lead volunteer efforts."

  "I can't even begin to imagine what it's going to take to clean this up and rebuild."

  I couldn't imagine it either. The tornado ended up killing seventy-two people and left thousands of others injured or homeless. Our job while here was to help clean and stack debris for refuse trucks to haul away. There's no way that individual homeowners have the ability or manpower to clean the rubble up from their properties so they can rebuild.

  We pull into the parking lot of a high school football stadium. I see my teammates, Darius and Tyler are here already. They both went with me to help clean up after the hurricanes and were always up for a volunteer opportunity. They were good guys that way.

  There's a large military tent set up and several school buses. We head into the tent where we fill out some forms and sign waivers. Then we are loaded on a bus and driven into a neighborhood that was flattened by the hurricane. I make introductions between Ever and the guys, but we don't talk much on the way there. We are just too stunned by all of the carnage we see.

  I look at Ever, who is sitting next to me, and her eyes are wide with horror. I reach down and pick up her hand. She doesn't take her eyes off the window, almost so entranced she can't turn away. But she squeezes my hand and holds it all the way until the bus stops.

  After a viciously hot and back breaking day, Darius, Tyler and I swing by Ever's room to pick her up. We had agreed to get cleaned up and head out to a nice dinner before we hit the sack. We are all exhausted beyond measure.

  I knock on Ever's door and after a few minutes it opens. Ever is still in her work clothes, dirt smudged all over her face and she looks like she's been run over by a freight train. The main thing I notice is that her eyes have lost their sparkle.

  "I'm not going, guys. I'm just too exhausted and sore to even walk down to the car."

  I feel terrible. The work today was brutal. We had to haul lumber, bricks, cinder blocks and tree branches. We had to separate out electronics and metals from the rubble and place those in a separate pile. We had to gather papers and personal documents that were spread everywhere. What we couldn't gather in our hands, we were given rakes to make piles. The temperature had skyrocketed which was made worse by the fact we were all wearing long sleeve shirts and jeans for protection. On top of that, the masks that we wore over our faces did nothing to stop the smell of rotting food and animal carcasses, which had you threatening to throw up constantly. This work was not for the weak of back or fair of stomach.

  Several times I had to make Ever put on sunscreen, as I was afraid her fair skin would blister under the hot, Oklahoma sun. She was working so hard, she would forget to take breaks and drink water to stay hydrated. I feel like half the time I was running after her to shove a water bottle in her hand.

  And now she stands before me and she looks like a feather would knock her over. We had been working for almost nine hours straight minus a short break for lunch.

  I look over at Darius and Tyler. "You guys go ahead. I might catch up with you later."

  They nod and leave.

  I walk into Ever's room and shut the door. She just stares at me, practically swaying on her feet.

  "Did you drink that last Gatorade I got you on the way back to the hotel?"

  "No," she whispers and sits on the edge of her bed. She's covered in dirt and grime, and she smells like she had just completed her assignment of living homeless on the streets, yet she still looks remarkably beautiful to me. She was such a trooper today.

  "Drink your Gatorade," I order her and head into the bathroom. I run her a bath and make it as hot as I think her delicate skin can handle.

  When I return to the bedroom, she's still sitting in the same spot, just staring at the floor. "Ever...drink your Gatorade."

  "I'm too tired to move," she groans but I notice a small smile on her face. "Can't I just go to bed?"

  I walk over to her and pull her from the bed by her hands. "Now...you're going to drink your Gatorade and take two ibuprofen, then you're going to get your ass in the tub while I get us some dinner from room service. And if you don't do it, I'll pour the damn Gatorade down your throat and strip you myself to put you in the tub."

  "If I wasn't so sore," she mumbles, "I'd take you up on the offer to strip me."

  A pleasurable thrill runs up my spine at those words. It's the first candid moment we've had about this underlying attraction we have for each other since that kiss.

  That amazingly perfect kiss.

  The thought of stripping Ever down is way too tempting but I chase it from my head. I push her gently into the bathroom and close the door behind me.

  By the time Ever emerges from the bathroom trussed up in a fluffy white, hotel robe, I have room service laid out. I got us soup and sandwiches, which Ever attacked the minute she sat down. I also got us a bottle of wine. It will help her sleep tonight.

  "Today was surreal," she says. "I don't know that I'll ever see anything as horrifying again."

  "It's pretty bad. We won't even make a dent while we're here."

  "I guess every little bit helps. I assume they'll be cleaning up for months and months."

  We're silent for a while as we continue to eat and I pour her a second glass of wine after she finishes the first. I break the silence with something that has been on my mind. "You told Kyle your mom was sick. Was it cancer?"

  Ever nods at me while she takes a sip of water. "Breast cancer. Five years ago. She had a double mastectomy, chemo and radiation."

  "But she's okay now?"

  "Yes. For now. She's made it to the five year mark and that's a big milestone. But I still get nervous every time she goes in for a checkup."

  "You were what...fifteen, sixteen when it happened?"

  "Just turned sixteen."

  "How come you didn't say anything when I told you my mom died of cancer?"

  Ever shrugs and takes a sip of wine, holding the savor on her tongue before swallowing. "I don't know. It was horrible you losing your mom at such an early age to cancer. I guess I would have felt I was rubbing your nose in the fact that my mom survived."

  Wow. That's an incredibly thoughtful action on her part. Not that I would have taken it that way, but it proves to me something I had long suspected. Ever is a very caring person.

  "Must have been tough watching your mom be sick like that. I'm lucky I don't really remember too much. I only have good memories of her."

  Ever smiles at me. "We should all be so lucky. That's nice that you have nothing but good memories of her."

  Pushing back from the table, Ever stands with a groan. In fact, she can't stand fully up but is bent over slightly.

  "Is your back hurt?"

  "Yeah. I think I'll just try to get some sleep and hopefully will feel better in the morning."

  I stand and walk into the bathroom, grabbing a fresh towel. Walking over to the bed, Ever watches me with curious eyes. I hand her the towel and turn my back on her. "Take your robe off and put the towel over you. I'm going to give you a massage and work on some of those sore muscles."

  She doesn't say anything but I can hear her obeying me. I see the robe hit the floor next to my feet, and soon after she says, "I'm ready."

  I kind of expected her to balk at my request but I'm glad she didn't. I've been itching to
get my hands on her again, and while this massage is purely for medicinal purposes, it doesn't mean I'm not going to enjoy the hell out of touching her skin. I only hope I can do it without her noticing the boner I'm sure to be sporting by the time I'm done.

  She's laying on her stomach with the towel draped over her bare bottom, resting her head on her arms. Her back is nothing but an expanse of creamy skin that's delicately arched. I can see the curve of her breasts just below her shoulders and I want to skim my fingers across them to see what they feel like.

  Yup. Boner has commenced.

  Mentally shaking those thoughts away, I start on the arm that is closest to me, gently massaging from her shoulder down to her fingertips. I even take the time to massage each joint of her fingers. I'm always amazed at how small her hands are in mine. She seems fragile and I make sure I'm extra gentle with her.

  When I'm done with that arm, I tuck it by her side and crawl on the bed to reach her other arm. I pay it the same care, smiling at her small groans of appreciation.

  I finish with that arm and ask, "Do you mind if I straddle you so that I can work on your back?"

  "That's fine," she says, her voice relaxed and mellow.

  Flipping a leg over her body, I straddle her just over her buttocks. I need to take a deep breath because I have a fleeting image of me pulling her hips up and driving into her from behind.

  Hoping to drown out those visions, I start concentrating on her shoulders and upper back. She's particularly sore up there and I make sure that I gently knead the muscles. She continually lets out soft moans indicating that something feels good, or she'll flinch if something is especially painful. I read her body and know what to give her.

  When I'm ready to work on her lower back, I scoot backward so I'm sitting over the back of her thighs. I gently pull the towel down a bit, just so it still modestly covers her ass but let's me reach all the way to her tailbone.

  I work her muscles, slowly...tenderly. At one point, she murmurs, "That feels so good."

  It's nothing more than a thanks of appreciation but my dick chose to take it as a sexual innuendo and gets harder yet. I'm going to need to jerk off something fierce when I get back to my room.

  As I work my way lower, getting closer to her butt, I notice that her moans and flinches become less, and she actually becomes quite still. She seems to be holding her breath as I inch my way down and I have to wonder what she is thinking.

  When I finish massaging her lower back and cannot go any further without mauling her ass, I move off of her and start on her legs. I work her feet first, tiny things that they are. They are soft and well cared for, but tremendously sore if her groans are any indication.

  Next I work her calves, recalling how I had massaged the one with the charley horse, just days earlier. My thumbs dig into her tender flesh and I can almost hear her muscles sigh in relief.

  As I work on the back of her thighs, she again becomes hushed and still as I move my way up. I rub the sides of her thighs, the back and when I get to that part on a woman that I adore--where her ass cheek meets her leg--I spread my hands wide and cover as much skin as I can.

  I can't help myself but I move my thumbs up just a bit and press them down into the firm globes of her ass.

  Ever flexes her hips toward the bed and issues a sound like I had not heard yet...sort of a mix between a purr and a growl.

  I freeze, afraid I may have crossed a line that she is not comfortable with. I start to remove my hands but she says, "Don't."

  I try to swallow but my throat feels like it's coated with sandpaper. My voice comes out in a whisper. "Don't what?"

  "Don't stop."

  My gut tightens at the evident desire in her voice but I need to make sure of what she is asking me. "Don't stop doing what, Ever?"

  She inhales deeply and says, "Don't stop touching me. I want you to touch me more...in places that you haven't touched me yet."

  I close my eyes, unsure of what to do next.

  I'm dying. My body is slowly incinerating and I won't be anything but a pile of ashes when Linc is through with me.

  The massage started out as I'd expected. He diligently worked my sore muscles until I was feeling loose and relaxed. The ibuprofen was helping and I was no longer one throbbing mass of painful nerve endings.

  But the closer Linc got to my ass, the more I kept imagining him taking his fingers a bit further. What would it be like if he just dragged one finger down the middle of my ass cheeks? Or as he worked his way up my legs, what if he cupped me with his hand? Would he feel how hot I was for him?

  I feel needy and displaced. My body is screaming for something, and I'm so afraid he's going to reject me again.

  I've asked him to touch me, but he's gone perfectly still. I can't see him but I still feel his hands lightly resting on my thighs. He's not making a sound.

  And then he's gone, standing up from the bed. I almost cry out in frustration, tears starting to form over his rejection of me again.

  But then I feel him grab my ankles and next thing I know, he's flipping my body so I'm on my back. I look at him with astonishment and immediately take in the fact that his eyes are glowing with heat.

  The towel is now under me and I'm completely exposed. Linc does nothing but rake his eyes up and down my body, and my nipples tighten in response. Then he takes his hands and puts them between my knees. He slowly pushes my legs apart until they are spread wide.

  I am exposed before him and vulnerable. He stares at me for the longest time. His tongue darts out and licks his lower lip, and I feel like he's just walked up to an all-you-can-eat buffet, staring at it in wonder. He leans over and places his fingertips in the curls between my legs, softly moving them back and forth. I think I might have a heart attack from the thrill of what he is doing.

  "You want me to touch you here?"

  I nod at him, afraid to speak and ruin this electrically charged moment.

  He leans over me further and glides his hand up. He scrapes his knuckles over one of my nipples. "Here too?"

  "Yes," I whisper, trying not to squirm under his hand.

  He crawls between my legs and moves his hand up to my throat. He strokes upward until his thumb crests over my chin and comes to rest on my lower lip. He rubs his thumb back and forth. "How about here?"

  "Please."

  His face lowers, and when his lips are almost on me, he instead places his forehead against mine. "Maybe later I'll kiss you."

  I don't even comprehend what he is saying because he moves his body back down and quickly flicks a tongue over one of my nipples. My body isn't my own anymore and my hips slam upward, trying to find some contact. But he's kneeling between my legs, only touching my breast with the tip of his tongue. The rest of his body remains elusive to me.

  Linc looks at me then, and my breath catches. His face is full of promise, that he is going to touch me in the most important place of all. A smile forms and he looks downright lecherous. My entire body clenches in anticipation of what he's going to do to me.

  With no hesitation, Linc moves off the bed and grabs a hold of my ankles again. He gives a sudden pull and I gasp as my body goes sliding until my butt is near the edge of the mattress. Linc falls to his knees as if he's getting ready to pray. Instead, he pushes my knees further apart until I am spread wide open in front of him. He just stares at me in hunger, and I self-consciously feel my face burn in a weird combination of embarrassment and lust.

  A sudden case of nervousness overcomes me and I try to push my legs back together. He pushes back gently with his hands and says, "Don't be shy."

  I'm uncertain. I want him to touch me...with his hands, his mouth, his body. I want it more than anything but I'm suddenly chagrined that I've asked for it. I've never come on to another man like this in my life, and truth be told, it feels downright hypocritical of me. I feel like I'm using him.

  His hands are resting lightly on my knees, his thumbs stroking the insides softly. "I'll stop if you want me to, but
I really want to make you feel good."

  Oh God. My heart lurches and my blood turns to fire. There's no way I'm going to stop this gorgeous man kneeling between my legs. The tension leaves my legs and he knows I've submitted.

  Linc takes my legs and drapes them over his shoulders. He wraps his arms under them, placing his hands over my stomach. Then he simply stares at me for a minute, and I hold the contact. I'm helpless to look away.

  "Feel free to scream," he says, a salacious smile sliding into place.

  That's the only warning I get before he brings his mouth down on me. No other foreplay. No soft kisses to warm me up. He goes in straight for the kill.

  No scream issues from my mouth. Instead, I suck in a sharp breath of air and hold it. My eyes squeeze shut and I concentrate on the feel of him against me.

  His lips are working me over hard. Then his tongue comes into play, and finally his fingers. I let my breath out in a loud whoosh, only to suck it back in and hold it again. I feel like if I breathe, it will get in the way of the sensations I'm feeling.

  Linc is playing my body. He seems to instinctively know what it needs and he is a master at giving it to me. There is no warning at all for the sudden climax that barrels through me, but when it does, I let out that scream and practically strangle him when my legs lock together around his head.

  When the last tremors ripple through my body, my legs relax slightly. I look down and Linc is still kissing and lightly nibbling between my legs. I'm so sensitive, it's almost too much to bear and I reach my hands down to push his head away.

  "Enough, Linc," I whisper.

  He merely growls in response, lifting his lips off of me just enough to say, "It's never enough."

  And then he dives back down again. He's rougher this time...possessed of an intent to make me come again...maybe harder. His tongue is fluttering against me sinfully and he uses his lips to suck at just the right place. He adds his fingers again, twisting and flexing them to hit me in a spot that makes my body practically fly off the bed.

  It shouldn't be possible but within just a matter of seconds, I'm cresting again. My hands are no longer pushing him away but holding him in place. Not that he's going anywhere by the looks of things. And when he feels my insides start to clamp around his fingers, he bares his teeth and bites at me gently.