I continued down the street to the grocer's. My aunt had sent Emmett with me to pick up the necessities for supper tonight, but he'd run into Rose at the corner and was still talking to her, trying to lure her away. He'd been trying for weeks, hoping to get more than kisses from her. Not that kissing her wasn't enough to have him waxing poetic on a moonlit night, but he always had to try his luck. Rather than wait for them, I'd decided to get the groceries myself. I froze at the door, though.
Esme Cullen stepped through it, calling over her shoulder to the grocer behind her. Her caramel curls fell to the middle of her back where her dress started, light green today, tight across her breasts and held up with thin straps. Her fair skin tempted me as it had every day since the first she'd bared so much of it. My hand even rose, outstretched, before I realized my folly.
She turned and started. "Edward," she said with a gasp and a hand to her chest. "I didn't expect to run into you here. I figured you'd be on your aunt's farm." Her smile was as warm as ever, though I noticed her eyes cast up and down the street, looking for observers.
They were there, a couple of older men on the bench in front of the barber's, a woman pushing a baby along. I swallowed, not sure what to say or do.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Cullen," I said at last, tipping my head slightly. She beamed at me. I had learned to call her Esme when we were alone, but knew that sometimes calling her Mrs. Cullen seemed to illicit an even better response.
"I trust you are enjoying your summer?" she asked, not seeming at all deterred by the eyes around us. Her eyes drifted down my chest and back to my face in appraisal. It felt like a caress.
My pants became tighter; my whole body felt tense. "Yes. Hot this year. Or perhaps it's only because it's my second." Did my voice catch? It sounded forced to me. In a way it was. Very difficult not to imagine the woman across from me in nothing but her skin. I undressed her with my eyes now, peeling away the thin cotton to reveal her creamy white skin, so soft under my fingers.
"It's not only you. The heat this year has been extraordinary. Sweltering, sultry even." Her drawl made the words sinful. Sultry... hot, wet, sweating...
"My aunt is waiting for me," I said quickly, pushing past her, unable to take any more. "I should really get the things she asked for."
"Of course," she said as her hand brushed up my leg over the seat of my pants. "Perhaps we'll bump into one another again." With that, she headed down the street. I nearly sagged in relief. I was sure I was only moments from pressing her against the store door and kissing her senseless.
"Edward?" the grocer, Harry, asked. "You don't look well. You need some water?" He filled a glass and passed it to me.
I took it gratefully and gulped once. "Yes, thank you. The sun," I muttered, blaming the heat again. Wandering past the tables, I collected the items Aunt Lynn had requested. I didn't see Emmett as I walked back to the farm. Perhaps Rose had finally broken down.
"Thank you, Edward," Aunt Lynn practically sang as she took the vegetables from me. "These look perfect." She set about washing and chopping while I excused myself. Moments later, I was at the pond.
Even though I knew Esme wouldn't be here—she was probably preparing her own meal—it seemed the right place to be. I lounged with my back to an oak, closing my eyes and remembering some of the afternoons spent here. I was still on edge from our encounter in town. The forbidden nature of our dalliance was emphasized there. If anyone knew...
What? It wouldn't tarnish me much. I wasn't likely to be back once I started at Princeton in the fall. She had to live here, though, and she had enough to contend with, reputation-wise, already.
My eyes were only half-closed, but I was still startled when a pair of hands covered them.
"Who—?" I asked.
"Guess?" that warm sticky drawl asked.
"Esme?" I pulled one hand down to kiss the inside of her wrist. "The beautiful scorned angel that walks my dreams?"
She tsked at me. "You know better, Edward. I'm no angel, and no dream either," she said, coming around the tree with a grin.
At least she didn't chide me for flattering her. She often did. She had voiced concern about my becoming attached to her, worried about me falling in love. I cupped her cheek in my hand, then slid my hand behind her head, pulling her close enough to kiss. "I have been wanting to do that..."
She chuckled, touching my pants. "I did notice," she teased, rubbing along my length. "You do flatter a woman, Edward Masen."
I shook my head slowly. "Not flattery. I thought I would explode. I was sure, a few minutes longer and I'd have you pressed to Clearwater's door."
She pulled on my free hand, yanking me to my feet before turning and putting her back to the tree. "Show me," she demanded breathily.
"Esme," I murmured, kissing her again, one hand sliding up her bare arm. Then I turned and kissed my way along it, starting at her elbow. Such smooth, soft skin she had. My lips seemed rough in comparison.
Her nails ran over my scalp and one leg hitched a little, foot rubbing the back of my calf. "Yes, Edward," she agreed.
My head was buried in the crook of her neck, nipping and licking the column as she continued to rake through my hair. My hips pressed between hers, lifting her slightly, until I had her pinned to the tree. The raking turned to tugging.
I'd never had her to myself. Always before Emmett came with me to this place. Today he was with Rose, and I couldn't be more grateful. Hand sliding along her thigh, I pushed her skirt back and reached the cotton at her crotch, brushing it with my fingers.
She seemed to sag, hips tipping out to my touch. She was as needy as I was. "God, yes, Edward. Please."
"As you wish, Mrs. Cullen," I murmured in her ear, slipping my fingers around the scant barrier, brushing skin twice before pushing into her.
Her head thumped on the tree as she arched back. Her nails dug into my shoulders, as though she feared being washed away. I attacked her neck again, eyes watching the lines on her face come and go as she tensed and released, the ecstatic expressions that crossed her features. She was amazing to watch; something else Emmett always got in the way for. He was so quick to seek his own desire that he didn't stop to watch hers.
I burned where I rubbed against the inside of her thigh, but all my attention was on her breath, coming in pants; her eyes, flicking open between seconds squeezed shut; and her lips, quivering, mumbling and occasionally pulled by her teeth. My release always came quickly, with little effort on either of our parts, but she... she could stay at the edge of it, or reach it again and again.
Picking up speed and moving my hips in time with my hand, I urged her on, knowing she would come for me soon. Foul words fell from her lips, but they sounded like warm honey, dripping sweetly, all vileness gone and only passion remaining.
"I'm going to, I'm going to... Damn!" The last was nearly shouted, though rasped to keep some of the volume out. There wasn't likely anyone to hear anyway.
It was only when I took my eyes from her face that I noticed her dress fallen to her waist and a pair of large hands covered her breasts. Emmett had found us after all, it seemed. He winked at me from around the tree and pinched Esme's nipples, making her cry again.
"No fair, starting without me," he complained, dropping his pants as he rounded the corner. "Rose left me hot and bothered, thinking to send me home that way."
"Her loss is my gain?" Esme asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"If you'd like," he grinned back her, dimples prominent. His hip pushed me aside and his hand took one of Esme's thighs over my own. He scowled. "You didn't take her panties off?" He looked at me like I might be another color. Shaking his head, he slipped the fabric down the leg he didn't hold, leaving them to dangle from the one he did. Then, pushing me the rest of the way, he took both her legs and stepped into her, pressing her into the tree again.
"Shit," she swore, suddenly speared.
"Damn, you're wet," he moaned. "So hot and slick."
She was panting already, still high from the orgasm she'd just had.
"Feels like you're dripping on me, Esme."
Grumpy, I opted not to stand around and watch, walking a few steps away. I stopped at a pair of rubber boots. They were too small for a man. I looked over my shoulder to see them lost in one another. Were they Esme's?
Emmett swore loudly, finished apparently, and Esme's head was on his shoulder as she shook. "Unbelievable," he murmured. "You're going to spoil me," he said with a chuckle. "Rose will never be able to hold a candle—" She slapped him suddenly, putting her feet down.
"You will not compare her to me, or me, her. Do you understand, McCarty? If she gives herself to you—if, mind! —you will be as gentle and slow with her as need be. She is not some hussy to be used and left." Her brown eyes seemed to light with flames. Even from this distance I could feel them, and Emmett showed he did as well.
Flinching, he backed away from Esme. "Of course. I... I didn't mean... You aren't a hussy!" he declared, standing a little straighter. "We aren't using you."
I smiled a little, glad to see him acting less a boy and more a man.
Esme's face softened and she leaned back on the tree as though no longer able to hold herself as straight as she had been. Anger had probably given her the energy in the first place. "I appreciate that. I didn't mean you." She looked down and realized the state of undress she was in, her panties around one ankle.
"Look at what you've done to my dress!" she shouted, sliding it off. The back was a mess of frayed fabric. "Did you tear it open?" she asked in disgust.
"Maybe," Emmett said sheepishly, hanging his head.
She frowned and threw it at him. "Well, you can just keep it then." She stepped into her panties and stalked toward me. "Your arm, Edward?" she asked, placing a hand on my forearm. She balanced on me as she stepped into the rubber boots and then walked away, her cotton panties pulled high enough to show the cheeks beneath. I watched open-mouthed as she made her way home. She wasn't likely to run into anyone, but it wasn't impossible either.
Emmett whistled after her and she smirked over her shoulder at him. I shook my head, but jogged up to her. Emmett didn't follow. "Let me make sure you get home."
She laughed. "Edward, my yard doesn't point into town. No one is going to see me popping in my back door." I looked to Emmett, who shook his head and headed for the farm. Supper would be ready soon, I realized. I also realized that I didn't care. Aunt Lynn would forgive. Even if she didn't, I was only here a few more days, little more than a week.
She stopped abruptly, looking at me. "Don't you need to be getting home?"
I looked over her chest, her belly and back up to her face. "I think everything I need is here."
She shook her head, muttering unintelligibly, though I made out "boys" at least once. "Come on in then. I'm sure I have something to feed you."
I'd never been to Esme's house. It was small and square, no more than two bedrooms upstairs and little aside from a kitchen and sitting room down. She slipped into the bathroom as soon as we entered, instructing me from around the door.
"Just help yourself to whatever is in the icebox. I'll grill up something as soon as I change."
I scorned the fridge and waited outside the bathroom. She nearly walked into me, completely naked now.
"Edward!" she yelped in astonishment. I silenced her with my lips on hers and scooped her up.
"I hope you don't mind, Mrs. Cullen, but you told me to help myself." I laid her on the table and kissed my way down her chest.
She chuckled. "Impertinent. I did at that," she agreed. She gasped when I laid a first kiss to the hair between her legs.
"You don't have to—"
It was cut off again as I explored freely. I even nudged a chair over to sit at the edge of the table, my eyes level with her.
She sat up, resting on her elbows, when I paused to admire her: plump pink lips that I pushed aside, looking over the glistening treasures they hid. I gazed up for a moment, catching her eyes.
"Still that interesting to you?" she asked with a smirk.
"Very much so."
Holding the lips open, I tasted her. I'd wanted to do this, but always Emmett fouled it for me. She'd cleaned, I could tell, and I wasn't about to miss the opportunity again. Her breath came in a rush, and I saw her head fall back again, her arms shaking slightly.
"Should I wait?" I asked, praying she'd say no. I kept my mouth to her, my tongue lapping lightly, trying to pull more flavor from her.
"Oh, God," she murmured before falling back to the table. "You boys... I haven't... I'll lose my mind yet to one of you."
I smiled. "I hope it's me."
I licked up the slit, flicking my tongue over the bud that made her twitch. I looked, but could only see her heaving breasts, her head nearly hanging off the other end of the table. That wouldn't do.
Running my tongue once more over her, I jumped up and ran into the bathroom, returning with two of the towels.
"Am I making that much of a mess?" she asked.
I shook my head. "I can't see you."
"You can see all of me, Edward," she complained, rising to her elbows again. I took the opportunity to fold and wedge the towels behind her, propping her up.
"Lie back," I told her softly, and she did with a small smile, shifting to burrow into the fabric. Now her face appeared just between the peaks from my vantage point. "Yes, perfect. You're sure you don't mind?"
Her eyebrows shot up and a strangled sound came from her throat. "I don't think you have any idea how much I don't mind, Edward. My husband never made me feel half so good in the years I had him. No one has ever taken so much concern for how I enjoyed..." She cut off shaking her head. "I wish I could keep you. I wish I could let you fall in love with me and share this tiny place."
She swung her legs to the side, sitting up, and then leaning down over me. Tears seemed to glisten in her eyes as she bent down to kiss me, ever so gently. "Your wife is going to be the luckiest woman on earth," she vowed.
"Is there any real reason that couldn't be you?" I asked. I wasn't pledging my troth—I hadn't really thought as far as that—but I had considered the repercussions to myself, and they seemed small and fleeting. An older wife might lead to some odd glances in a new town, but likely no more than that.
"Yes, Edward, there is. You are leaving, and I am not." Her warm eyes continued to hold mine. "This is my home, and I don't plan on giving it up at a whim. I may not have much, but some small dignity remains to me, and small property." Her eyes flitted around the room with another smile.
I nodded, my nose brushing hers as I did. "I wouldn't think to ask you to. Let's not rule that out though, if you don't mind." I took her hand, lacing my fingers among hers, kissing knuckles, then wrist, then elbow. She giggled and the sound made my heart jump. So young and free, so much lighter than her normal chuckle. "A part of me will always be yours, Esme."
She hopped down from the table. "Edward," she began, setting herself in my lap and wrapping her arms around me, "I will be glad to see you happily married, whoever she may be. My hold on you will be smaller than you think, but I will be happy to keep it." Ruffling my hair, her lips closed on mine again.
There was a knock at the back door, making Esme pull back in confusion. She looked to the doorway just as heavy feet padded in.
"Mom said to bring you home," Emmett said sulkily. "I tried to tell her you were fine and would find yourself something to eat, but she insisted I scour town for you." He hung his head. "Sorry to burst in on you, Esme."
She alighted from me and patted Emmett's cheek. "You are a good boy, obeying your mama. Now you just go home and tell her where you found Edward, if not what state I'm in, and tell her I asked him to stay for dinner. I asked you to stay, too, but someone had to come home to tell her where the other was. Got that?"
Emmett smiled a little. "Only if I get to come over for dinner tomorrow night," he said, grinning. "Why should he get all the attention?"
I groaned, but Esme just chuckled. "Fair enough. Now run along before she frets any more than she already has."
He kissed her once, but made it last a full minute, his hands holding and lifting her against him. "I look forward to tomorrow." He left wearing the same grin.
She shook her head a little. Turning to me, she started. "I didn't even ask, Edward. Would you rather have gone? You still can, of course."
I crossed the kitchen to her in two strides and silenced her with my lips. "There is nowhere I would rather be right now. Unless, perhaps, it were somewhere you were more comfortable?" I asked.
She grinned back at me and led me up the stairs. "I think there might be."
Esme's bedroom wasn't so different from what I expected. The linens were white, the walls clean with only a few faded photographs. The yellow curtains gave everything a sunny haze.
"Is this to your liking?" she asked, walking to the window and opening it further. "Not even a ghost of a breeze. It's cooler downstairs, if you'd rather."
I pressed myself to her back, running my nose through her hair while inhaling deeply. "I think this is exactly to my liking."
She moaned very softly, nudging her hips further into me. "Edward," she whispered, turning her head enough for me to kiss her over her shoulder. Fidgeting my fingers between us, I released and dropped my pants, kicking them behind me.
"Lean forward," I suggested. Her hands were still on the white sill. Her window looked out into town, but the streets were empty, everyone at supper.
She groaned but did as I requested. I pulled her hips back further until her breasts brushed the sill between her hands.
"Better keep an eye out for peepers," I whispered into her ear as I pushed myself into her, watching her breasts sway with the momentum. She gasped, just as I'd hoped she would. "Wouldn't want any other young men getting ideas about you." Then I straightened, holding her hips as I thrust into them again.
Reaching around her hip, I put a hand to the front of her, tipping her hips onto me, rubbing harder inside her.
"Fuck, Edward," she moaned. She felt so hot on me and she was so wet from earlier, nearly as sultry as the weather outside. It was definitely hotter in here, though. I added to it by thrusting faster, feeling myself lose control each time she squeezed me.
"God," she cried, clenching her jaw. "I know you boys aren't actively competing, but Emmett is definitely losing." She swirled her hips before tightening on me. Her movement set me off and I exploded, gritting my own teeth and grunting slightly. I felt so base, so feral at this moment. In some ways, it seemed the worst of me, but the best of her. I was disappointed I couldn't see her face.
Planning to rectify that, I scooped her up, flipping her in my arms. She flailed once before wrapping an arm around my neck. "Edward?" she asked, startled.
"I'm not quite finished yet," I warned her, ripping back the spread to lay her on the sheets.
"I was hoping you weren't," she admitted, leaning back on her elbows and tossing her still damp curls. Bending her knees, she parted them slightly, anticipating.
Bracing on my left hand, between her knees, I leaned up into her and kissed her. "I would never leave you wanting, Esme," I promised, kissing her lips again, then her ear and neck. I leaned into my other hand and moved the one between her legs to spread the wetness slowly oozing from her.
Her hand tightened and pinched on my shoulders when I brushed sensitive points, but rather than linger, I explored, sliding further down.
"What are you doing, boy?" she asked, her head tilted back, exposing more of her throat for me to nibble.
"Anything you like," I answered. "You'll tell me what you don't like, won't you?" I slid further, finding her puckered hole.
She gasped when I touched it and her legs twitched. "I will," she said almost in a growl. Her nails began to dig into my shoulders as I moved more slick liquid toward her ass. "Shit. No wonder he liked that so much," she muttered.
I stopped briefly, my finger still tracing her. "Who?"
"Shit," she cussed again. "Carlisle always wanted me touching him there, wanted to fuck me there. I liked neither, but it didn't feel like this." She pressed against my finger and it popped in. "Damn, that does feel good."
The thick puckering smoothed inside her and I felt her squeezing. "I'm glad you like it," I told her, still a little uncomfortable at the memories I'd stirred. "You're sure it's all right?"
"Just kiss me, Edward. I don't want to think about him." She pulled me toward her and my finger slid free. I brought my now free hand around her back, holding her tightly to me while willing the ugliness away. My hands refused to be happy flat on her skin. One moved to cup and caress a breast. The other slid down her back, over the dimpling at the base of her spine and back into the cleft between her cheeks.
I pulled back slightly, upset at myself. She'd just said she didn't like what her husband had done there.
"It's fine, Edward. Really. Please." She guided my wrist back to where it had been and I toyed more slowly. The time allowed my stamina to return, and soon I was rubbing myself between us as I pressed a finger into her again.
"May I, Mrs. Cullen?" I asked, shifting my hips to her entrance even as my finger was still inside her from behind.
"Oh, God, yes." Her closed eyes opened to gaze on me with fire. She'd been rubbing herself on me, but just like me, she wanted more.
"Esme?" Emmett called from downstairs. I sighed and started to pull away from her.
"Come on up," she called. Then she whispered just to me. "I think you can do what Carlisle couldn't." She turned beneath me, my finger slipping from her again. Her entire back seemed to glisten from sweat and her liquid and mine. Leaning toward me, she lined herself up and sat back very slowly.
The door opened just when I thought I was going to ignite from the pressure of being pressed into such a tight hole. I hadn't even gotten in yet.
"Whoa," Emmett murmured, staring at us.
"Nope," Esme declared, rising. "You stay there for another minute," she ordered Emmett. Then she took my hands and turned me around. "You sit," she ordered me. Then she took up where she had stopped before. It seemed much easier for her to simply sit on me, although I still thought my dick might fold up or break as more and more weight was put on it. It was sudden for both of us and we gasped when the tension broke and I slid into her.
"Good God," I muttered, wrapping my arms around her chest and holding her tightly in an effort to fight off the urge to simply blow inside her. My face screwed up as she squeezed around me.
"Good God in heaven," she answered.
"Am I allowed to move yet?" Emmett asked. I had forgotten he was in the room. He had undressed and was stroking himself, watching us. "You look like you're enjoying that, Esme," he said with a smirk.
"I am and you may." She didn't move from me but seemed to settle herself even further. I groaned, fighting the same need as before while nibbling her shoulder.
"I'm going to come," I warned her.
"Really?" she said, a little disappointed. "I understand." She sighed a little.
I ground my teeth and held my breath. "Just hurry," I growled.
"You heard him," she told Emmett. "Get over here."
My eyes, closed against the impending orgasm, flew open and found my cousin's. He was standing in front of us and Esme was lifting her legs to his hips.
"Really?" he asked in alarm and surprise.
"You boys almost skewered me like this in the water. I've been wondering since then. Almighty Lord," she cursed, her hair falling back on me as she leaned heavily into me. I understood why. Seconds later, I felt... something pushing against me.
"You are so tight, Esme. I feel like I'm going to rip you," Emmett said with concern. It sounded odd when so much of what came from his mouth was bravado.
"Fuck, yes, I'm tight. I'm stretched right open. Damn." She squeezed me again, and the pressure grew. She was more tight.
"Oh, God," I groaned, knowing I was going to lose it.
"Wow-whee!" Emmett let out like a boy, and I felt a twitch before he pulled out slightly and then rocked back into Esme's hips.
That did it for me. I pulsed into Esme, groaning and growling against her shoulder while squeezing her chest tight to me.
"Yes!" she cried out, spasming on both of us.
Emmett, seemingly oblivious to either of us, rocked against her three more times. Oversensitive, I thought I would lose my mind. Esme, rather than complain, seemed to encourage him, squeezing me right out as I softened and crying louder and more foully as Emmett pounded his thick length into her until he came as well.
"Don't even think about collapsing on us," I warned him.
His hands were on either side of my hips, his head between Esme's breasts, while both of them gasped for breath. "I'm not thinking at all," he admitted.
"Lord almighty, I have never, will never..." Esme shook her head, unable to express herself.
"What brings you, Emmett?" I asked tersely.
"Huh? Oh. Just wanted to let you know Mom washed all your stuff. You just need to pack it."
Esme shifted from me to sit next to me on the bed. Emmett moved to her side.
"You leave soon?" Esme asked, stroking a hand through my sweat dampened hair.
"Day after tomorrow." I wasn't looking forward to it as I had been at the beginning of the summer.
"And you?" she asked Emmett. "What do you have planned in the fall?"
"Just work," he complained, slouching a little. "Mom's got me lined up with the lumber mill. Not sure if I'm in the mill or jacking."
Esme nodded, rubbing his head. "You boys are both going to be great men." She leaned over to kiss Emmett's cheek and then mine. "You are going to make two women very lucky." She rose and walked to the door. "I'm going to shower again. You can see yourselves out?"
"Wait, Esme," I called, running to catch her.
"Clean break, Edward," she told me, not turning back when I tugged her arm. "You're going to Princeton. I'm staying here."
"What about me?" Emmett demanded. "I'm staying here."
This time she did turn, sighing. "Yes, and you are courting Rosalie Hale. Look, you boys are both dear and I wish the summer wouldn't end, but it does. Take what we've had and cherish it, but make new memories with women you love."
"I love you," I murmured, not quite able to accept what she said.
"Go on, Edward. Trust me. There is another girl out there. She will tie your heart in knots that I can't, I won't. Live, be happy. Find what I didn't." Emmett opened his mouth, but she rounded on him, poking him in the chest. "And you will not dishonour Rosalie by letting anything about this get around. Do you hear me, Emmett McCarty? You. Will. Not." She poked on each word.
"Yes, Mrs. Cullen," he muttered, ducking his head.
"Good. Now, both of you, out of my house. This is no place for either of you." She turned and stomped down her stairs. The door to the bathroom slammed.
"She doesn't mean it," I said, looking at my cousin. He was in the process of pulling his pants back on.
"I think she does. You better get going. I think she's going to be right pissed if we're here when she gets out."
I couldn't believe him either, but stumbled into my clothes and out the door.
