Party Favors

by Jennifer Dunne, Madeleine Oh

  “You flatter yourself that you even have a chance.”

  “I know I do, Katie, and so do you. If you were really annoyed you’d have moved away. You’re enjoying wondering what outrageous thing I’ll say next.”

  She was sorely tempted to deny that soundly. But lying was a sin, so she settled for a glare, suspecting it wouldn’t have the slightest effect, and darn it, he was right! She was enjoying his company. This was one family get together she’d remember for the rest of her natural born days.

  “Alright, Katie?” Jud asked after they watched in silence while Sally opened a gift basket of massage cream and scented candles, and Tim opened an electric can opener. Obviously Aunt Anita and Uncle Joe hadn’t approved of the idea of a ‘honeymoon’ shower.

  Katie looked at Jud. His dark eyes were serious, not a glint of amusement or tease. He looked worried, unless he was very good at acting. “Why wouldn’t it be alright?”

  He smiled. “Shh, they’re opening your present now.”

  Damn it! They were. What had seemed fun in the shop wasn’t quite the same with her mother and aunts and uncles looking on. But Sally seemed happy enough. “Just what I need when Tim gets out of line!” she announced to a chorus of ribald laughter. “Thanks, Katie,” Tim added. “Let me know if you need to borrow them!”

  More laughter all around, then thankfully they moved on to Helen and Jimmy’s gift of The Joy of Sex.

  “You know,” Jud whispered, as everyone gave their attention to a long package wrapped in silver paper, “when you look at those cuffs, your breath catches, and your heart beats faster.”

  A denial rose to her lips, but the words never came out. “You imagine it!”

  He shook his head. “I noticed that evening in the coffee bar, and in the Rose and Leather. The thought of handcuffs and manacles excites you.”

  Talking about it was a bad idea. “Jud...” she began

  “I do understand, you know. They excite me too. Kidnap, hostage, princess in the tower, fair maiden in the dungeon are fun games to play.”

  “Children play games! You grow out of it.”

  “Some of us never do.”

  Jud took her hand again. Lightly. It would take no effort to pull her fingers from his. She didn’t.

  “I won’t disappoint you,” he promised. For some inexplicable reason, she was wet between her legs.

  Katie expected her mother to be hovering by the door. She was dead right. “Katie, dear,” Mom enthused. “You will introduce me, won’t you?”

  Since saying “Hell, no!” to your mother was not an option, Katie smiled. “Mom, this is Jud Carlton, a friend of Andrew’s. Jud this is my Mom, Angie Fairfax.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Fairfax.”

  Mom beamed at Jud. “Lovely to meet you! I hope we’ll see you at some other family gatherings.” Not quite an invitation to dinner, but why did Mom have to act so eager?

  A couple of gracious comments from Jud (she had to grant it to him, the man was slick) and they did the last round of good-byes and left.

  Together.

  She might as well have put an announcement in the morning paper.

  He walked her to her car.

  “Can I convince you to come and have a drink? Coffee?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not making it up, but I have to get home and work. I’ve...”

  “A client waiting for a rush job?”

  “Modifications to the rush job.”

  “I’ll accept it’s not an excuse if you meet me for lunch tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow was her day for visiting Gran, as much as the old ladies would love the novelty, Katie was not taking Jud. But she didn’t want to brush him off. Ridiculously she was drawn to him, outrageous comments and all. “Tomorrow lunch is out, a family commitment, but if you’re serious about wanting to see me, give me a break from playing kitty doula the weekend after next.”

  “You feel Andrew pulled a fast one on you?”

  “To be fair, no, it was my mother.”

  Jud had a wonderful laugh, and out of the confines of the house, he let it roar in a wonderful rich peal that echoed in the frosty night. Heck, a couple of cousins turned from unlocking cars to listen. “I doubt many people refuse her. She gave me a good once over. I half expected to be asked my career prospects, and whether there was insanity or feeble-mindedness in my bloodlines.”

  It was her turn to laugh. “That will come when you get invited to lunch.”

  “What are my chances of getting an invitation?”

  One hundred percent, if she left it up to her mother. “Aren’t you going a bit too fast?”

  “Far too fast, but what have I got to lose? I made up my mind that night in the coffee shop. I want to see you again. No, what I really want to do is take you home and make love all night... but you have modifications for your clients rush job.”

  “Jud...” She made the mistake of hesitating.

  His knees brushed her thigh as he placed his hands on the car roof, either side of her shoulders. “Katie,” he whispered, his voice husky, while she stared up at him like a damn rabbit caught in the headlights. His lips came down, warm and moist in the October night. His mouth closed on hers with a gentle pressure that sent wild desire spiraling through her. Ridiculous! It was only a damn kiss, but his lips caressed, like a warm tide along a smooth beach. Each pressure on her mouth sent another rush of sensation flooding her mind and body. Wetness gathered between her legs, as he pressed his body against hers.

  Katie vaguely wondered about people passing by or traffic or Aunt Mary seeing, until his lips opened hers and her mind shut off. She couldn’t think, didn't have a need to. She opened her mouth and welcomed his tongue as it gently caressed hers. Blood pounded in her ears. Her heartbeat echoed inside her skull, as she wrapped her arms around Jud Carlton and pulled him close. Her legs parted at a tipping of his knee. She pressed into him, and he pinned her to the car with his body. He was hard. She was hot. And he deepened the kiss. She wanted this kiss to last forever, to spend the rest of her life locked in his embrace, but in a far corner of her reason, she knew there was more, much more. This man would take her to undreamed of places, give her unimagined pleasure, and with that hope, she kissed on.

  She was wobbly by the time he broke off.

  He too was breathing fast and looking down at her with glazed eyes. “We must stop.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I say so.” Her heart skittered at his hoarse voice.

  “Jud.”

  “Not here, Katie. What I want to do to you would get us both arrested, and utterly destroy the wonderful impression I made on your mother. I could take you home with me but...” The damn web site! She was two hairs from consigning her client to the devil but... “Business is business, Katie. You can’t let a customer down. We can wait. I’ll see you this weekend”

  “When?”

  “I’ll call you.” He took the keys from her sweaty hand, and unlocked the door. He even buckled her seat belt for her, and dropped a soft kiss on her cheek. “This weekend, be ready.”

  He shut the door and walked away while her confused brain processed what he’d said. She was half-tempted to call after him, but they’d put on enough of a display for one evening.

  Chapter Three

  “What have you done to Jud, Katie?”

  Andrew was darn lucky he was across town. As it was, she could only snarl down the phone. “What have I done?” her voice rose quite satisfactorily. “I went to Sally’s shower, and got opportuned!” Good word that.

  “Ah!” The way he laughed, he was lucky he wasn’t within kicking distance. “Like Jud do you?”

  “I really don’t know.” Might as well tell the truth. “He comes on a bit too fast.”

  “Is this the same woman who complained about wishy-washy men?”

  “There’s a wide range between wimpy and indecisive and Jud Carlton!”

  “So, he turns you on-just a tad?”

  Little did Andrew know!
She’d been so fired-up after that kiss, she’d pulled out her trusty vibrator even before stopping to make coffee. “I’m not sure what to make of him.” Safe and non-committal seemed best.

  “He’s smitten, Katie. He just burned my ear off for over an hour. I don’t think it’s so much lighting his fire as the setting of a conflagration.”

  “Yeah, right!” Jud had been in control every inch of the way.

  “I’m not kidding, Katie-coz. I’ve know Jud three years, and never seen him like this. I thought you’d hit it off, but never imagined he’d get ensnared so fast.”

  Flattering but... “Hey, wait a minute! You thought we’d hit it off? You set us up?”

  “Guilty as charged.” He ignored her angry splutter. “Hold on, Katie. I thought you might suit. He’s a good guy, and I thought you needed a good man.”

  “You’re sounding like Mom!”

  “Heaven forbid! But who asked me to find them a nice, bedworthy man?” Okay, but she hadn’t expected him to take her seriously. “Give him, and yourself, a chance. I think Jud’s just what you need.” The man certainly knew how to kiss, maybe... “He’ll call you, okay?”

  “Can’t he call and ask himself? Why this John Alden act?” Jud hadn’t exactly been hesitant so far!

  “You want him to call?”

  “I’d like to run my own life without you or my mother orchestrating everything.” Arranging a meeting in the kinky shop!” True, Mom wouldn’t have set that up but..

  “He suggested it!”

  Sheesh! “So, he’s into that sort of thing?”

  “Yes, so am I.”

  “Andrew!” That sort of squeaked out. It fascinated her, yes. But looking and doing were too very different things. And much as she dearly loved Andrew, she did not want to think about what he and Sophie did in bed. “I’ll call him!” she said and hung up.

  And didn’t call. Heck! What was she going to say? ‘You fascinate and scare me all at the same time, and now Andrew's told me you’re into kinky sex. I don’t know which direction to run.’

  Jud was going to have to wait. Web site clients paid good money. Jud looked likely to cost her at least some peace of mind.

  Client satisfied, Katie stripped off her clothes and fell into bed, remnants of make-up still on and teeth uncleaned. She’d treat them to double brushing in the morning-and just about passed out. Until she woke climaxing in the middle of the night, still high from a wild dream that featured Jud, red velvet handcuffs and enough wild sex to fill a couple of X-rated videos with original storylines. She lay panting, sweating, and gasping, and convinced she’d better never get that far with Jud, as the reality could never match up. It never had.

  After a restless half-hour, she got up, finally cleaned her teeth and showered. She was wide-awake, and this was as good a time as any to start the next job. By five am, she had created a series of sexy graphics that she could never, ever use on a web site for a Methodist church preschool.

  What now? She knew damn well she couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t work, it seemed. And while it was hardly fair to blame Jud, there was no one else available.

  She found his card still in her jacket pocket, and punched his number on her cell phone.

  It wasn’t until she heard his “Hello?” after the fifth or sixth ring she realized it wasn’t yet seven, heck, it was barely six-thirty.

  “Jud?”

  Silence for several seconds. “Katie?”

  “Did I wake you?”

  “As it happens, no.”

  He’d been awake, too. Given the feel of his hard body, he probably worked out for two hours before breakfast. “You said to give you a call sometime.” Dumb line but...

  The phone amplified the richness of his deep laugh. “I did, didn’t I?”

  “Sorry if I’m disturbing you.” Eeek, that sounded wimpy.

  “Not in the least, Katie, but tell me, for future reference, are you in the habit of calling men before breakfast?”

  She wasn’t much in the habit of ever calling men, but now was not the time to go into that. “Only good kissers with sexy, dark eyes!” What made that come out?

  “I knew you were a woman of sense and good judgment the minute I saw you caressing that suede flogger.”

  He would have to bring that up! “I was just looking. Anyway, it was too expensive.”

  “Nothing’s too expensive for you, Katie. It fascinated you, didn’t it? I was watching you.”

  “Jud...”

  “I watched your lips part and your eyes get bigger.” Sheesh! “Were you imagining how it would feel? How those soft tresses would caress your back? How they’d stroke your skin as they trailed over your ass, and down the back of your legs. How they’d feel brushing behind your knees? You’re very sensitive there, aren’t you?”

  Her throat all but seized up. Her heart raced and the hand on the phone was damp with sweat. As were other parts of her body, she didn’t want to think about. Why was he talking like this? Even more to the point, why was it turning her on?

  “Jud, please...”

  “I will, Katie, I promise.”

  “Listen!” She had to say something, but her mind was awash with sensual images and her cunt was throbbing faster than her magic wand at high speed. This was nonsense, ridiculous, and... “Look here, Jud, I...”

  “We need to talk. Lunch is out. Can you meet me this evening, just for an hour?”

  After the past five minutes she should run the other way. “There’s a deli, at Five Points, Knish and Tell.”

  “I know it. What time?”

  She was working late tonight. “How about nine-thirty?”

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  “Okay.” Was it really?

  “And Katie...”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t be scared. I understand.” Damn good thing he did, because she was completely confused. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  He was. Sitting in a table by the bay window, watching. For her. Waiting like a lion for his prey, or a lord for his lady. He was turned away, watching up the street, so she paused, half-tempted to run, knowing there was no way she could. No two ways about it, Jud Carlton fascinated her. It wasn’t just the sexy voice or the way his eyes sparkled, and wrinkled at the corners when he smiled. There was something about him that drew her, despite his outrageous conversation. But if he really thought she was going to let him whip her, he had another thing coming! He turned as she pushed the door open, and stood up, his face breaking out in a broad smile. Had he been worried she’d stand him up? It might have been the smart thing to do, but smart held little appeal.

  “Katie!” He stepped towards her, taking both hands in his. A gentle grasp, but very confident, as he pulled her close and kissed her on the cheek.

  “You found it okay?” Duh! Of course he had! He was here, wasn’t he?”

  “Yes, now let me take your coat.” He had it off before she had time to suggest she was quite capable of taking off her own coat. As he draped it over a spare chair, on top of his jacket, he asked. “Coffee? Soda? What can I get you? A sandwich?”

  Food! She needed to think about food, not the way his hair curled behind his ears. Or did she? The ache in her gut was something far more basic than hunger. “I don’t know.” What was wrong with her?

  “Have a seat.” She sat down in the chair he held. “I’ll get you something. Are you vegetarian, or anything like that?”

  “No!”

  He dropped a kiss on her forehead. ”Don’t get so wound up. I’m not bringing out whips or chains in here.”

  That was supposed to calm her!

  Her deep, relaxing breath came out like a sigh from her gut. She leaned back and stretched out her legs, and doing so, nudged a black plastic shopping bag that looked suspiciously like one from the Rose and Leather. She was tempted to look, but it really was none of her business. Did she really want to know? Yes!

  Another deep breath. Why was she here? Because Jud asked her. No, because she’d cal
led him before dawn and had the most outrageous conversation. She needed a couple of weeks to sort this out. He fascinated, and scared the willies out of her. He was into whips and chains, and heaven knew what else, and she wasn’t interested. Intrigued, maybe.

  Particularly by what was in the bag, less than an inch from her left foot. She could peek, but that would be on a par to his looking in her purse, and she drew the line there.

  Better not to know. But she’d have to be made of stone not to wonder. The suede whip? She didn’t think so. Handcuffs? Chains? Most likely a couple of the kinky magazines she’d not had the guts to look at with Andrew there.

  “Here you are.” He was back fast. Just as well she didn’t have her nose deep into his shopping. “The soup looked good, and on a damp night like this, I thought it might appeal more than a sandwich.”

  “Thanks.”

  Appetizing aromas of garlic, herbs and onions rose up from the bowl of vegetable soup. He set his own bowl on his side of the table, and sat down opposite. “Bon appetite!”

  It was delicious, and after the second spoonful, her appetite came back with a rush. “It’s great, thanks.”

  “You’re more than welcome, Katie. I enjoy erotic torture, but I’ve never starved a woman yet.”

  It was only luck that she happened to be between spoonfuls. “Can we talk about books, or movies, or the weather, while we eat?”

  “By all means. May I take that to indicate you’re willing to talk about sex after we both finish eating?”

  “That was not what I said.”

  “No, but if you really were offended, you’d be halfway down the street by now. You’re not. You’re just uneasy.”

  “I’m not sure it’s ‘just’ anything.”

  “I’m not either.” He paused to take another taste of soup, his lips puckering against the side of the spoon. His eyes met hers, as he slowly sipped without a sound. He rested his spoon on the side of the plate. “Tell me, Katie, Have you read the latest John Grisham?”

  She had, and he’d read the latest P.D James. A good start. But after she discovered he’d read all Laurel K Hamiliton’s Anita books, and was in the process of collecting Chelsea Quin Yarbro’s backlist, Katie felt she’d met a soulmate. “I’m so thrilled you like reading the ‘weird’ stuff,” she said. “Most people I know think I’m odd.”