Breaking with Tradition

"In the lake?" Todd asked. He grinned when Cosima nodded her answer and pulled a towel and a change of clothes from the back of her jeep. "I'll keep a look out and make sure no-one's coming," Todd said.

Cosima frowned at Todd and held her hand out. "If you have binoculars or something like that in there, then I want them."

Todd handed over his field glasses and tried to finish his notes from the afternoon, but he found himself watching Cosima instead. She followed the rutted trail around the lake to the first crag that rose from the water, and she laid the binoculars and her clean clothes on the rocks.

Cosima stood with her back to Todd and pulled her shoes and socks off, then lifted her top over her head and pulled it off her pony tail. She pushed her shorts down then stepped away from them and down into waist-deep water.

Even from a distance, Todd was thrilled by his view. Cosima didn't take long in the water, and Todd was thrilled again to watch her climb out. He'd undressed her in his mind—Cosima made that easy to do—but the reality of her standing by the lake to dry off was far better than the image in Todd's imagination.

Todd tried to look busy with dinner while Cosima walked back along the trail. He put a pot of water on the camp stove for the pasta, and emptied the jar of sauce into a second pan while she left her sweaty clothes in her jeep.

Cosima stopped beside him with his binoculars in one hand and her towel over her shoulder, and she sniffed. "You stink," she said, "and you should clean those scratches again. Did you bring a towel?"

"It didn't occur to me," Todd said. He took the towel that Cosima offered, found a change of clothes in the back of his truck, and left her to stir the sauce. Todd followed the ruts to where Cosima had undressed, and he inhaled her scent from the still-damp towel as he walked.

The water in the lake was warm around Todd's waist, but cold on his feet, so he bathed as quickly as Cosima had bathed. He looked back toward the truck after he climbed out of the water and found Cosima watching. She didn't try to hide what she was doing. She stood clear of the truck with his binoculars up.

Todd was annoyed, but he pretended he didn't care. He took his time getting dressed and walking back, and he found Cosima testing the pasta. "So you can look, but I can't?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure you got an eye full, just not good enough to count my short hairs." Cosima said then laughed. "Besides, you're from Roswell, I wanted to make sure you were, you know, normal."

Todd groaned. There had to be a Roswell joke. "But you know?" Cosima asked, "I could've seen that without binoculars."

* * *

Todd's phone chimed, so he stopped along the road before he ran out of cell coverage to see what it wanted. He had a text from Cosima. "I want to paint you," she said.

"Am I the wrong color?" Todd asked. He wasn't the pink lab rat he was when he first met Cosima. He was tan and toned from weeks of work on the mesa, and now all but the worst of the scratches on his legs were healed. Todd didn't wait for Cosima's reply before he sent his real message. "I won't get to the lake until about four. I'm going to stop on the way up from Vallecitos to collect some big samples."

Cosima's reply came fast. "Smart ass." He only had to wait another moment for her to add. "I'm still at work, but I'll probably be there before you."

Todd reached the lake in the hottest part of the day, and he found Cosima sitting under her canvas hat in front of her easel. She followed Todd as he opened his truck and hauled the samples out so there would be more room inside.

"You don't mind sitting for me, do you?" she asked. "It doesn't have to be all at one time."

Todd glanced at Cosima's canvas, where she'd already sketched out the lake and its craggy shoreline. He stopped and found her standing close beside him. A sheen of sweat gleamed on Cosima's neck, and Todd wanted to follow those lines down and under her shirt, but he pulled his eyes up. "I don't mind," he said, "but why me?"

Cosima seemed surprised by the question. "Because you're here," she said and glanced away. She looked back at Todd with a grin, and she tugged down on the brim of his cowboy hat down. "And because I like the way you look."

Todd sat for Cosima. She put a camp chair in front of her for him to sit on, adjusted his hat, and touched him to position him just so. They talked while she sketched him into the scene she'd already started.

"I have to move," Todd said when the sun on his shoulders got too hot. He didn't wait for Cosima to agree. He walked around to look at her work and cocked his head at the picture. "I don't know what I'm looking at," he said.

"You don't need to. You're just the model," Cosima said. She sounded annoyed. "Right now it's mostly just a layout and a color test," She turned away from her canvas to look at Todd. "Are you cooking?"

"I planned to. I packed a lot of stuff in here," Todd said and pointed to his truck. "For tonight, I thought it would be canned beans, sausage, and rice."

Cosima rolled here eyes. "We should plan these meals, so I don't have to eat that."

Todd was surprised. "You don't have to eat it," he said. "What did you bring?"

"Cake from work." she said.

Todd set his jaw and decided it was a good time to stay quiet. He set up his stove, sliced sausage, and studied his notes while dinner cooked. Clouds rose in the west before he was done. They hid the sun, so the evening was already starting to cool when he took a fork and a plate of spicy beans and rice to Cosima.

"Dinner, your Majesty? Or will you eat cake?" Todd asked, and he immediately regretted it.

Cosima glared at Todd while he set the plate and fork beside her. Her voice had a tense edge to it when she said, "Your company may not be as good as you think it is." She picked up the plate and tried a bite, and then took another. She stayed quiet until she was almost done then admitted, "I'm hungrier than I thought, and this isn't as bad as I expected."

"Thanks," Todd said. "I do what I can." He wiped his plate off and started cleaning the pots. A nearly full moon rose over the distant mountains behind Taos, and at first it cast a yellow light. Cosima put her work away and stood a step away from Todd to dry the plates and pots.

Todd watched her for a moment and said, "Sometimes I think you don't trust me, and I don't know why."

Cosima slammed a plate down on the tailgate. "I trust you to be an ass," she said and stalked away.

Todd watched her standing alone by the lake shore while he put the stove away, then he sat on the ground and watched the moon climb into the night sky. He felt Cosima sit down behind him more than he heard her, and he imagined her watching moonlight on the lake.

Cosima sighed into the night and said, "I'm sorry. You didn't do anything to deserve that."

"I don't want to be mad at you, but you're making things really hard," Todd said. "What's eating you?"

"Things I don't want to talk about," Cosima answered and fell quiet. "I feel like we just had a lovers' spat, and we're not even lovers."

"We could fix that, you know?" Todd said. He waited, but he got no answer. "Are you going to hike with me tomorrow? We could cut it short so you can get home before dark."

"I'll go with you," Cosima said, "but you don't need to cut your day short. I'm not driving back tomorrow. Mama will have to take Abuela to mass without me." She relaxed with her back against Todd's back. "I want to paint you by early morning light. If I get you up with a cup of coffee, like first thing tomorrow, will you sit for me again? I'll take an hour or so to get the colors right, and then we can go."

Todd agreed, and Cosima used his shoulder to push herself up. "Being mad at you made me tired," she said. "My sleeping bag and my book are calling me."

Todd had his own sleeping bag calling him. He closed his truck behind him and, after a moment of reading, he set his book aside. Todd watched the moon through the window as it rose high in the sky. He fell asleep while he listened to the howls of coyotes in the woods and wondered what it was that Cosima wouldn't tell him, and he slept until she tapped on the same window.

"Open up! I have breakfast," Cosima said, and Todd's day began. They sat together on the tailgate in the cool morning air with burritos and coffee, and they watched the sun rise through the tree tops. Long shadows still streaked the meadow when Cosima positioned Todd again, and golden sunlight lit his face.

"I had a hard time getting to sleep last night." Todd said. He tried to talk without changing his pose. "I spent too much time wondering about everything you won't say. Are you ever going to tell me your real reason for coming here?"

"Why would I tell you?" Cosima said. "I remind myself every time I leave that I might never see you again."

Todd tightened his jaw. "That's not the way I want it to work," he said.

"Relax," Cosima said. "What would your girlfriend say if she knew about me?"

Todd jerked his head to look at Cosima. "I don't have a girlfriend. What gave you that idea? I mean, I have friends who are girls, but none of them are my girlfriend."

"Look back to your right," Cosima said. She stood close to pose Todd again and her eyes searched his face. His nostrils flared to take in her scent, and his fingers tingled with the need to touch her. "Just a few more minutes. The light is changing fast."

Cosima put her things away when the sun got too high, and Todd loaded his day pack. They spent the rest of the morning working south where there weren't many rocks to see. Todd took his measurements and his notes, and he tracked their location on his map. They walked side-by-side and tried to talk about things that wouldn't get either of them in trouble. They grew closer as they walked. Cosima's hand found Todd's elbow, his hand rested on her hip.

Clouds started gathering at mid-morning. They were high and thin at first, but they hung low over the mesa when Todd and Cosima stopped for lunch. Cosima looked down from the darkening sky and said, "It feels like something's gonna happen."

"We should start back," Todd said, "So we can at least be close to the truck when it starts."

They circled back toward the lake along the high west edge of the mesa and watched rain showers cross the valley. "Do you have rain gear with you?" Todd asked. "It doesn't look like a problem, but we could get wet." Lightning struck a distant peak and thunder rolled over the valley. "OK, now it looks like a problem."

"I have a poncho, but shouldn't we get off the ridge?" Cosima asked. "Lightening makes me nervous."

Raindrops started to fall on the bare rock around them. They walked then ran downhill for cover and found it in a stand of plum trees below a jagged outcrop. Todd sheltered Cosima from the rain with his body while she dug her poncho out of her day pack, and they were nearly nose-to-nose when she stood. Todd licked his lips, but Cosima nudged him back. "Give me some room here," she said.

Todd stepped back. Rain fell in big drops and thunder rumbled overhead while he pulled on his rain coat. "The forest road back to the lake is just east of here. Let's go," Todd said. He tugged on Cosima's arm, and they ducked through low branches until they were on the road.

The rain stopped almost as quickly as it started, but the clouds were still dark and the air hung still and heavy. Lightning flashed in the west and thunder was a constant rumble. Cosima brushed against Todd as they walked. "The storm's like waiting for something," she said and tucked her hand around Todd's arm. "I feel like maybe the Indians' storm kachina is watching us."

They were still side-by-side when they rounded the last curve and could see their camp. Lightning danced on the ridge above the lake. The crack of thunder followed immediately, and raindrops started to fall around them.

"Run!" Todd said and pulled Cosima toward his truck. He pushed her through the passenger door while sheets of rain pounded the truck and lightning arced overhead. He dove into the driver's seat and slammed the door behind him.

Cosima was laughing. "My hair is soaked," she said. "There's water running down my neck." She ducked out of her poncho and shook her pony tail while Todd pulled his wet raincoat off and pushed his pack to the floor. Rain and wind battered the truck and thunder crackled outside, but suddenly that wasn't important.

Todd lifted the arm rest that divided the front seat, and Cosima leaned to him. She parted her lips, and he pulled her mouth to his.

Their tongues met and each of them explored the other. They were careful at first, but Todd could feel Cosima's breath hot on his cheek, and he knew that he breathed hot on hers. He held their mouths together with his arm around her neck. She stroked his sides and his chest and their kiss grew rough and excited.

Todd broke the kiss and panted against Cosima neck. "I've wanted to touch you and taste you for weeks now," he said. He kissed her throat and inhaled her scent. He cupped her breast in his hand and felt her push back against his touch.

Cosima lips brushed Todd's ear when she asked, "And do me? Don't forget that part." She tipped her head back and watched Todd's expression. "I'm so horny I could cry. That's why I was so hard to get along with last night—that, and because I was trying to deny it."

"You were hard to get along with," Todd said. "If there's anything I can do to keep that from happening again, then I'll do it." He pulled her nipple and the soft fabric over it between his thumb and forefinger. "Your nipple's hard. Did you catch a chill?"

Cosima laughed and lifted her leg over Todd's hip. "I'm not cold," she said. "You can figure out the rest."

Todd let go of Cosima's tit and slipped his hand around her waist to the small of her back. She was eager for his kiss, and he pulled her body tight against him with his thigh between her legs.

Cosima wrapped her arms around Todd's neck and ground against him. Her breath was shallow and ragged, and their kiss lasted until the crotch of her shorts felt warm and damp on his skin. Cosima turned her head to break their kiss and watched the water stream down the windshield. "It's raining too hard to get out and climb into the back," she said.

Todd reached up to the rear window of the cab, unlatched it, and slid it open. "Can you climb through that?" he asked. "I think I can."

Cosima untangled herself from Todd and climbed to her knees. She leaned through the open window, said, "No problem," and started to climb over the back of the seat.

Todd waited until Cosima was half-way through the window and said. "Hold it a second," and he tugged on her leg to stop her. Her pretty butt and her long legs were all he could see of her, but he liked the view. He unsnapped her shorts and tugged the zipper down.

"What are you doing back there?" Cosima asked, and she squealed when Todd pulled her shorts and her panties down her legs.

Todd squeezed Cosima's butt cheek and gave it a little kiss, and he slipped his hand up the inside of her thigh. She waited until he combed his fingers through her dark curls then she wiggled away and fell into the back of the truck.

Cosima had barely turned around when Todd climbed in after her. He grasped the bottom of her tee-shirt, pulled it over her head and freed it from her pony tail. Todd knelt between her legs, and she propped herself up on her elbows to look at him, "I can't believe you already have me naked."

"You're not naked," Todd said. "You still have shoes on." He picked up one of Cosima's feet and pulled her shoe off, and then her sock. He stripped her other shoe and sock and said, "Now you're naked." Todd watched Cosima by the flash of lighting from outside while he kissed her toes and ran his fingers along the inside of her thigh.

Todd leaned over Cosima and found the wet crease between her legs. "I knew you were pretty—especially after I saw you bathe," he said. He sniffed and then tasted the thick nectar on his fingers, "but God, Cosima. Every inch of you is gorgeous—and tastes good too."

Cosima wrinkled her nose at Todd and laughed. "That's gotta be a mess right now," she said. She tugged on his shirt. "Now let me have this."

Tod lifted his arms and let Cosima take his shirt. She laid back and watched him while she inhaled his scent from the fabric. He pulled his shoes off and dropped them behind him then pushed his shorts down, and his straining hard-on popped up.

Cosima dropped the shirt and felt around her. "You have like a nest in here," she said. "I like it."

"It works for me," Todd said, "but I've never had sex in here before." He laid down with Cosima and pulled her body against his. He kissed her mouth, and he kissed her throat. Todd cupped his hand between her legs and pushed one finger, then two fingers into her. He took a mouthful of her tit and sucked her, and he drew her nipple between his teeth.

Cosima kicked her feet apart and arched her back. Todd could barely hear her moan over the roar of the storm. Excitement and instinct made her rock her hips and grind against his hand.

Todd first felt Cosima's hardened trigger under his hand, and then he found it with his wet fingers. He pushed his knee between her thighs to keep her from closing them, swirled his fingers over her clit, and then into her to wet them again.

"Don't stop" Cosima said. She clutched Todd's hair and held his mouth to her tit. Her body grew tense in Todd's arms, and she writhed under his touch. Cosima's excitement grew slowly and steadily. She clenched her teeth and bucked, and when her climax came it flowed through her body in waves from under Todd's fingers.

Cosima released her breath with a scream, and relaxed in Todd's arms. He let her tit go with a little pop and watched her open-mouthed euphoria, but then he couldn't wait any longer.

Todd kissed Cosima's throat and her lips, and he knelt over her with his aching shaft in hand. He wet the head of his cock with Cosima's juice, but she didn't realize what he was doing until he nestled it between her deep folds.

Cosima lifted her legs around Todd, and he thrust into her. He caught his breath and pushed until his hips pressed against her thighs, and her body engulfed his whole throbbing length. It wasn't until their bodies where joined together that Todd could breathe again.

At first, they watched each other's every move and expression. Cosima saw Todd's jaw clench and his nostrils flare. She clutched at his arms and his sides, and he stepped up his pace. He saw her close her eyes. She opened her mouth and tipped her head back.

Thunder rattled the truck, and Todd rocked Cosima. He felt Cosima tighten her grip on his sides as she lost control. Their bodies slapped together until he had to pause and catch his breath. "Oh God, don't stop now," Cosima said, and Todd started again, slowly at first, but faster with each repeated thrust.

Cosima twisted under Todd, and she clenched her teeth. Her second orgasm came hard and fast. Her fingernails dug into Todd's shoulders and her body tightened around his cock. The sensations were too much for Todd. His mind went blank. He stopped with his cock deep between Cosima's legs, and his burning essence erupted inside her.

Todd collapsed onto Cosima and held her tight until he was empty. He kissed her face and chanted her name, and then he rolled away from her.

The flash of the lightning was not bright like it had been, and the thunder rolled instead of crackling, but rain still pounded the truck. Todd and Cosima laid together and stared up while they caught their breath.

The cool air seeped into Cosima. She squeezed herself against Todd, and he wrapped her in his arm. "Should I worry because we had no birth control?" he asked.