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“Yes. Yes!” I cried out.
“I still have a few more surprises for you,” Jason said as he sat up.
He moved so his front was to my back and he bent his knees up, taking mine with his. As he did, it moved him even deeper inside me and I cried out at the new sensation and how incredible it was.
It was all too much for me and my body tightened around him as I went over. “Ja! Jason!” I cried as I did.
“Natalie!” Jason cried out as he followed me over the edge. He wrapped his arms tightly around me as we both went over. When we were spent, he collapsed down on the bed, taking me with him. I rolled away from him and then went next to him, putting my head on his shoulder.
I took a moment to think about what had just happened and who I had done it with. There were times that I looked at Jason and thought he was just Jason, this man that I had spent the last week with and was slowly falling for. Then I would look at him and remember that he was my stepbrother and my co-worker.
I rolled away from Jason, he didn’t let me go but rolled with me and put his arms around me. Holding me close. I could feel him starting to respond to me again and it would have been so easy to roll over, kiss him, and be with him again, but I needed answers.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
I felt Jason tense up before he nuzzled his nose along my neck. “If you aren’t sure what we just did, maybe I need to show you again.”
He was teasing me, something I loved and was still surprised about when it came to him. It only reminded me that he wasn’t at all who I thought he was, I had so much to learn about him.
“Not that. Us. This. What is this?”
Jason didn’t answer me for a few moments and I tensed up as I waited to see what he would say. I wasn’t sure what I wanted him to say. I wasn’t sure what I wanted out of this. The attraction had become so intense something had to give at some point, but was this anything that we could have long term? Was it anything that I wanted long term? Would it even work for us to do that if we were working together? Or if we weren’t working together? It was almost too much to even think about and I didn’t want to but there was still a part of me that needed to know what he was thinking.
“I don’t know. Do you?”
My shoulders sagged in relief. It somehow made me feel better to know that he was as confused as I was about everything.
“No.” I answered honestly and it felt good to admit it.
Jason kissed my shoulders and said, “All I do know is that I like being with you. I like being around you, the last week has been incredible, I don’t think I could have gotten through my grief without having you and this escape. But this here, being with you, holding you, it’s wonderful and it doesn’t feel like just an escape. It feels like it could be something more, but I don’t know what that is. I wasn’t expecting this. I wasn’t expecting you. I don’t know what it will mean with everything else going on, I’m not sure how smart it is to be doing this. But I don’t care. I want to be with you, I want to have this time with you. Can we just enjoy what it is for the moment and figure it all out later?”
I turned towards him to see him looking at me with a smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. I could see he was nervous about what he said and how I would react. He had always been honest with me and I knew I needed to do the same.
“That sounds perfect. But we should get out of bed and figure out the next clue.”
“Can we hold off on that for today? Can we just take a break, take a breath. I want to enjoy this for a little bit longer. The clue, the hunt, everything, will be there tomorrow, but I have some place that I want to see in town and I would like you to come with me.”
I had thought he would want to get the next clue, or figure it out as soon as possible. It was nice being in bed with him, looking at his naked body, and lying next to him. But I was worried that I would get too comfortable with him and I wasn’t sure if I could handle that. Yet, as Jason looked at me, I knew he needed the day and at that moment too. Plus, I couldn’t deny him anything.
“Sure. Where do you want to take me?”
Chapter 18
Jason
I had seen and heard about Nitwit Ridge for years. It was considered a very different castle on a hill than Hearst Castle. It was started by a man who bought the two and a half-acre of land in the late 1920’s. He then started collecting things from his work as a garbage collector and used them around his house along with natural elements. It became an eclectic site and eventually a historical landmark.
It seemed like an interesting place to go and when I had read the clue for Hearst Castle, I thought it might have been for Nitwit Ridge instead. But it didn’t have a view of the ocean or elephant seals so I dismissed it. I was still curious what it looked like and thought it would be a fun little side tour for Natalie and me to do.
I also just wanted to spend some time with Natalie, just us. In situations where we weren’t on the hunt or thinking about my father or what we were going to do when we got back. I wanted us to see what we could be without all of that. I wanted her to get to know me better, as we had over the last week. But not as her stepbrother, then producer, and then her friend, but as her lover. I felt the best way to do that was by us getting away from all of it for a day.
She had been hesitant; I could see her wariness of what we were doing and what it all meant. I could see she wasn’t ready to think that this was more than just some fun we were having, something that we needed to get out of our system so we could move on. I wanted to show her that we could be something special, something great. But I couldn’t do that if all we were thinking about was the hunt.
It was much later that we left the hotel and headed into the town of Cambria and Nitwit Ridge. I wanted to reach over and take her hand as we walked to the car but I held off. I had gotten her to sleep with me, I had convinced her to spend the day with me, and I had to take the small victories while I had them. I would work my way up to holding her hand and other more public displays of affection eventually.
“What is this place and why are you so excited about seeing it?” Natalie asked as we got into the car.
“I’d heard about it years ago. Some guy had a house and he collected things and used them to help build the house. It got bigger and bigger and kind of got out of hand but instead of looking gaudy or over the top, it apparently is more artistic. Or at least it's considered a historical artist landmark by the state of California.”
