Enthralled

by Ann Cristy

  Teel lifted her chin defiantly. "I'm just waiting for you to get out of my way."

  "Oh, is that what you're doing?" Chazz grinned, stepped back one step, and cocked his head inquiringly. Then he stepped back another smaller step and looked at her again.

  Teel began to descend slowly, walking in her most sedate way. When she reached the bottom step, Chazz flashed forward and locked his hands around her waist.

  "I like this," he crooned. "Being face to face, nose to nose with you, I mean." His grin widened as her cheeks burned. "Did you know that you have tiny little gold flecks that ray out from the center of your eyes?"

  "Yes," Teel answered tersely.

  "Did you know that the gold flecks match those in my eyes?" he whispered, his tongue touching her lips in a quick caress.

  "What?" Teel said.

  "Don't you think our children will have beautiful eyes?" he murmured into her neck.

  "Maybe."

  "How many should we have?"

  "The national average is two and a half, I think," Teel answered, dazed.

  "Don't you think three would be better than two and a half?" Chazz chuckled into her throat.

  Then she realized that her head was thrown back to expose all of her throat to his swift, hot kisses. She wondered vaguely who had pushed her head back. "Three is an odd number," she said vaguely.

  "True. Would you like four, do you think?"

  "That's a nice round number. Not too big, not too small."

  "Right."

  Teel's eyes refocused. She blinked at a grinning Chazz, her words repeating themselves in her mind. "Stop that," she told him, pushing his hand away from her thigh. "You're a menace," she hissed, shoving the sheets, pillow slips, and blanket at his chest. "Here. Make up your own bed."

  "Yes, ma'am. I think that's only fair. Since we both work at demanding jobs, we should share the chores." He shifted the bundle of linens under one arm and took her elbow, leading her down the last step and across the small foyer into the living room. "What days do you want me to do the cooking?" he asked, setting down the bedding and glancing around the room. "You forgot the pillows," he said softly.

  "Oh." She had been thinking about what he'd just said about cooking. "I'm sure you can't boil water." She whirled and rushed back up the stairs.

  "Don't be too sure, love," he called up after her.

  She ignored him, reaching up to the top of the linen closet to get her extra pillow. She looked at the striped ticking without seeing it. What if he liked two pillows? She ran into her own room, took one of the pillows off the bed, stripped the case from it, and carried both down the stairs.

  Chazz was standing where she had left him, holding a pillow slip out in front of him. She noticed that the sheets were already on the bed. He watched her closely as she walked toward him. "This is beautiful work." He gestured toward the lace-edged linen. "It looks hand done."

  "It is," Teel whispered, wondering how she had come to take Aunt Tessa's hand-embroidered pillow slips from the linen closet.

  "The sheets match the pillow slips, but there's a tiny difference in the edging."

  "Yes." Teel stared wide-eyed at the sheets that her aunt had made so lovingly, sheets that she intended to use only if she ever got married. She had been fairly sure that she would never use them. Now she had given them to Chazz. She really had to get her act together.

  He grinned at her. "I'm flattered that you let me use such treasures, darling. Are they from your hope chest?"

  "Yes—no!" she corrected as his grin widened and his golden eyes took on a speculative look. "They're just some old things I had around the house. I generally use them for drop cloths when I paint," she lied, gulping a silent prayer that Aunt Tessa would never know she'd spoken such blasphemy.

  Chazz chuckled. "Liar," he told her softly. He reached for one of the pillows, catching it under his chin as he fitted the case to the bottom and let the pillow slide inside. "We'll have to take very good care of these. We'll want our girls to have them one day." "Never," Teel snapped.

  "Why darling, I never imagined that you would be selfish with our girls," Chazz reproved her, his eyes bright with mischief.

  "You know damned well that wasn't what I meant at all," Teel hissed, her fingers curling into fists.

  Chazz yawned. "Let's not fight now, love. I need my sleep." He looked at her sideways, watching her gnaw at her lip. "Are you going to get my hot milk?"

  "Take a jump off a bridge!" Teel fumed, whirling and running up the stairs two at a time. She heard him laughing as she slammed her bedroom door shut behind her.

  She stood against the closed door, her hand covering her mouth. That man! Now he was giving her stomach trouble. She, who had an iron digestive tract, was probably getting an ulcer, she decided as her stomach churned sickeningly.

  She strode into the bathroom, stripping off her clothes and scattering them every which way behind her. She would take a long, hot shower. That would help her sleep.

  The soothing warm water was sluicing over her and she'd just soaped herself thoroughly when the water turned ice cold, making her shriek.

  Shivering, wrapped in two fluffy bath sheets, she rushed out of the bathroom, stalked across her large bedroom, and yanked open the door. "You hog!" she shouted down the stairs. "You took all the hot water! Who told you you could use my shower?" she demanded. "I'll bet you can't fit into the powder room, much less take a shower in it!" She was still shouting down the stairs, bent double, when Chazz appeared at the bottom, rubbing his wet hair with a towel.

  "Did you want me to shower up there, darling?" he inquired pleasantly.

  "What?" Teel snapped erect, fumbling with the slipping terry-cloth bath sheets. "Up here? No, of course I don't want you showering up here."

  "Well, then." He shrugged, staring up at her as if X- raying her through the towel. "Shall I come up and kiss you good night?"

  "Certainly not!"

  "Okay, you come down here and kiss me good night."

  "No!" Teel's voice was frigid. She whirled away, her chin in the air, and stumbled over the end of the towel. She stubbed her toe on the edge of the door and staggered into her room on one foot, then slammed her bedroom door closed and shouted through it, "And don't you dare take all the hot water again!"

  She returned to the bathroom, rinsed herself quickly, cleaned up after herself and dropped the wet towels down the laundry chute. As she sprayed the bathroom tiles with cleaner and wiped around the sink, she muttered imprecations. "No doubt he left my powder room a mess," she grumbled into the cupboard under the vanity where she replaced her cleaners and sponges.

  Once she was settled in bed, Teel tried to read. First she tackled some school work that needed her attention. When she couldn't concentrate on that, she reached for the novel she'd borrowed from Nancy, who'd told her it was well written, but steamy. Teel was able to picture the hero quite easily.

  Before the first chapter ended the author had described him as Nordic with blue eyes. Teel saw him as dark with a slight hook to his nose and expressive gold eyes. She thought the blonde heroine was rather insipid and, as she read further, she was happy to see that the heroine's hair was darkening to chestnut.

  By the third chapter she was yawning and blushing, picturing Chazz and herself in the panting corkscrew positions of the passionate duo in the book. "What am I going to do," Teel whispered. "I can't get him out of my mind."

  She yawned again, making her jaw crack. She lay down and couldn't get comfortable. But eventually sleep overtook her, soothing her. She dreamed she was held close in Chazz's arms. For once, her inner voice of caution was silent. She felt thoroughly relaxed.

  When Teel opened her eyes and heard birds singing outside her window, she knew at once it was Saturday. Ahhhhh! She lay back and closed her eyes.

  They snapped open again. Chazz was downstairs! Her body sprung into a sitting position. She listened. Nothing. Maybe he had left. No doubt he worked on Saturday. That would be a relief. He would b
e away all Saturday. She could rest.

  She swung her feet out of bed and stretched, then went to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and hair. She padded back to her room, naked, not bothering with her robe.

  Every morning, before she dressed, Teel ran in place for ten minutes, then slipped on her sweats, took the pressed clothes that she intended to wear that day with her, and drove to the local high school. There she would swim forty laps in the Olympic-sized pool. If the weight room was unoccupied, she worked out on the Universal Weight Machine before swimming. If the room was crowded, she skipped that portion of her physical fitness for the day. On weekdays she showered and changed there and drove directly from the high school to the Mary Dempsey School for Exceptional Children, skipping breakfast. On weekends she treated herself by having the special at the local Greek diner.

  Now, out of breath from running in place, she made her bed before returning to the bathroom and splashing her body with cool water, then wiping herself dry and slipping on her sweats. She put a skirt, vest, blouse, pantyhose and sling backs into her canvas carryall.

  Teel skipped downstairs, whistling—and stopped dead. Chazz stood there in a pair of slacks, his chest bare, holding his folded bedding. The bed was back in its original position as a couch. "What are you doing here?" Teel demanded.

  "Did you forget that I slept here last night, darling? Where are you going?"

  "No, I didn't forget. I just thought you might have left to go to your office."

  "Never on Saturday, love, not unless it's an emergency."

  "I'll pray for an emergency," Teel retorted frostily, grabbing her car keys from the hook near the door and opening the front door.

  "Where are we going?" Chazz asked behind her.

  "I don't know where you're going. I'm going swimming, then for breakfast." She held her nose high in the air.

  "Suits me," Chazz replied, lifting a leather bag from the floor next to the couch. "Just let me get into my sweats." He pulled cocoa brown sweats from the bag, slipped off his slacks, and put on his sweats before she could protest.

  Teel gulped and averted her eyes. "You don't have a swim suit."

  "Yes, I do. Sibley always packs this bag with essentials. I'm ready. Let's go."

  Teel discarded several scathing remarks that came to mind as they headed out the door. None seemed destructive enough to suit her mood. "I'm sure you won't like the diner," she said.

  "Smug, darling? That's not like you." Chazz cocked his head at her Chevy Camaro. "Shall I drive?"

  "Certainly not." Teel felt a ray of hope. "If you don't like being driven by a woman, then stay here. I like to drive my own car."

  "That's fine with me." Chazz stepped into the carport that Teel had had built onto the carriage house and held open the door to the driver's side. When she had slipped behind the wheel, he closed the door and went around to the other side, then eased into the bucket seat next to her and smiled. "All ready."

  Teel gunned the motor and shifted into reverse. The gears ground. Her annoyance soared. She had always prided herself on never grinding the gears. She loved to drive a shift car and knew she was both careful and confident. She ground her teeth as Chazz turned to look at her. "It may interest you to know," she began, "that I have never ground the gears on this car before this moment." She spun the wheel, making the car rock and spew stones.

  "Of course," Chazz agreed, grinning wickedly at her when she threw him a glowering look.

  Teel decided her best course was not to speak to him at all. That way she wouldn't be tempted to run her car up a tree.

  Teel lived only a mile from the high school, which they reached in short order. She nodded and waved to the students who had Saturday duty at the door to the pool, then she and Chazz separated at the locker rooms. Since the weight room was filled with students, Teel decided to skip it.

  There was only one person other than Chazz in the pool. Teel slipped into a lane next to his, admiring the slick, clean strokes that carried him rapidly through the water. Soon they were both creaming up and down the pool. Though Teel put everthing she had into her swimming in an effort to pull ahead of Chazz, she couldn't keep up with his powerful strokes. After fifteen laps she was panting. Chazz stopped next to her, his own breathing scarcely affected by the vigorous exercise.

  "Macho man," Teel breathed as she hoisted herself up on the edge of the pool. She felt rather than saw Chazz heave himself up next to her.

  "I'll see you when you're dressed," he told her, laughing.

  Teel crashed around the locker room, slamming the door, dropping her key, and nearly scalding herself in the shower. "Now he's going to burn me to death," she seethed, shampooing her hair with a vengeance. "Owwww!" Damn, she'd gotten soap in her eyes. It took a long rinse to relieve the sting.

  Teel stalked away from the shower room muttering to herself, intent on dressing as fast as she could. Instead of soothing her, as her swim usually did, it had left her more frazzled than when she'd first arrived. And she hadn't even lifted weights. That man! He was even attacking her mind. Now, when she went out to the lobby, he'd be waiting for her—to do more damage. She straightened slowly from in front of her locker. Why should she hurry out there to him? Let him wait.

  Suddenly Teel had an idea. The sauna! She rarely used the facility, but today she would—if only to keep him waiting.

  Since the school had only one sauna, which was used by both men and women, the rule was to wear a bathing suit and shower afterward.

  Grimacing at her soggy, cold suit, Teel pulled it on again and shivered. After grabbing a towel, she slammed her locker door shut and hurried through a short tunnel that led to where the sauna was situated, equidistant from the men's and women's locker rooms.

  Teel stepped into the wooden cubicle and immediately felt suffocated, as she always did in it.

  "Hello, love," Chazz said behind her.

  Teel jumped in surprise, her heart pounding like a trip hammer. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

  "It occurred to me that you might find some excuse to keep me waiting, so I thought of this. When I saw you run down the tunnel, I went back and got my own suit," he explained, stretching out beside her on the upper level.

  When she sat erect and put her feet on the next level down, Chazz moved closer and put his head in her lap.

  "Stop that." Teel tried to lift his head. Ignoring her, he turned his face into her abdomen and hooked one arm around her body. Teel felt his mouth on her navel. "I— I don't want to stay in here too long," she said. "Too hot."

  "Right." He spoke into her body. "I'll be ready to leave when you are."

  Chazz's hand burned into her spine. She shook her head to keep the perspiration from running into her eyes. Her blood pressure was rising, she was sure of it. "I want to leave now," she announced suddenly, standing up so quickly that Chazz almost tumbled off the wooden bench.

  Good reflexes saved him from a hard fall, but he clutched at Teel to right himself. "Would you mind giving me a little warning when you decide to do things like that?" he suggested, both amused and perturbed.

  "Sorry. Hot." Teel jumped down to ground level and pushed open the wooden door.

  "See you in the lobby, angel," Chazz called.

  Teel grumbled continuously as she sluiced herself with cold water, redried her hair, and brushed it into a gleaming chestnut fall. After dressing in her panty hose and a denim skirt and vest with a pale silk blouse, she studied herself in the mirror. She ignored the fact that the color of her blouse matched her eyes and was a perfect foil for her hair. She barely noticed her long, shapely legs and trim ankles and looked instead at her low-heeled sling backs, which were as comfortable as slippers. Most of all, she studied her face carefully for signs of defeat by the determined assault of a man called Chazz Herman.

  "Don't you dare think he has defeated you," she admonished her mirror image as she pouted her mouth to apply lip gloss. "Tell him to go to hell." She nodded at the image, slapped the lip gloss
into her shoulder bag, picked up her carryall, and left the locker room.

  Chazz was waiting for her in the lobby, his hair still damp and curly from his shower. He wore beige slacks with a beige shirt in a deeper shade and a tan suede vest that he had left open. His shoes were beige loafers in finest suede. He looked like what he was, a modern Croesus, Teel decided grudgingly.

  Chazz seemed to sense Teel's presence, and he looked around, his face lighting up when he saw her. "Ready, darling?"

  Teel had no intention of smiling at him, but she couldn't help it. She just stood there and grinned and nodded. Maybe she really was coming down with something!

  The change in Chazz was electric. He snapped erect, his own smile fading as he strode toward her.

  Teel almost collapsed when he leaned down and kissed her mouth—not a light kiss, but a searching, passionate caress. "That's the first time you've smiled at me since we left the Deirdre," he whispered, his mouth just above her own.

  "Hello, Miss Barrett." Teel instantly recognized the cold, stiff voice. Miss Daisy Butler, teacher, spinster and member of the board at Mary Dempsey School, was staring at them in shock and amazement.

  "Miss Butler." At Teel's stricken look, Chazz's eyes narrowed warily. He turned to Miss Butler, placing an arm around Teel's waist, and smiled at the tight-lipped woman. "Miss Butler, you are the first to congratulate me," he said. "Teel has just promised to marry me— next week."

  "What?!" Miss Daisy's cry was louder than Teel's protest. The older woman's eyes darted to every corner, as if looking for someone to tell. Teel knew Miss Daisy loved news, yet was rarely the first to hear any.

  "Yes." Chazz held a struggling Teel at his side. "I finally convinced her, and since neither of us can take another vacation now, we're going to get married right away and honeymoon later." His smile seemed to mesmerize Miss Daisy. "Of course the wedding will be small." Chazz had to tighten his hold on a now moaning Teel. But Miss Daisy took no notice of her. Her birdlike eyes snapped in anticipation of Chazz's next words. "But we'd like all of Teel's many well-wishers to join us for the reception.