by Jackie Black
Later, as their breathing eased and they held one another in a loose embrace of contented exhaustion, Elizabeth smiled and asked drowsily, “Was it worth the wait?”
Sonny gave a tired chuckle. “More than worth it,” he acknowledged.
“I’m glad,” Elizabeth said contentedly.
He turned his head on the pillow to look at her lovingly. “And what about you?” he teased. “Are you pleased with the difference in mere illustrations and the reality of love?”
Elizabeth pretended to ponder the matter, but when she sensed Sonny’s very real concern over her delay in answering, she relented. “Well, I have to admit ... for a moment there, I was ready to go back to the books. But then you showed me what a mistake that would be.”
The look of relief on Sonny’s face brought a soft chuckle from her and she hugged him close. “Oh, Sonny, you didn’t really need to ask, did you?” she said lovingly. “You felt what happened to me.”
“Yes, I did and I shared the ecstasy,” he answered. “But the experiment isn’t over yet, my love. Not by a long shot.”
Elizabeth snuggled closer and sighed her contentment. “That’s the beauty of knowledge, isn’t it?” she teased. “You never get to the end of the learning process.”
“God, I hope not,” Sonny vowed emphatically and found her mouth to begin taking the second tiny step on a journey he knew would take them the rest of their lives to complete and would give them an endless source of contentment and joy as they made their way down the road.
Maggie, naturally, was in seventh heaven at the wedding. The only way she could have been happier was if her friends could have known that Lissa had once been the Vixen and could have attended the wedding so that Maggie could introduce all of them to the Foursome as well as her new stepmother. She was pacified, however, because there was no rule against her disclosing Lissa’s (and therefore Maggie’s) family connection with the Freaky Foursome, and Maggie’s popularity at school was soaring as a result.
Among the wedding gifts was a block of stock in a new medical technology firm from Jay, a complete new Vixen costume and makeup kit from Darla (for when the honeymoon was over, she said blandly) and the rights to the song, “You’re the Only Man for Me,” from Danny.
Because neither of them wanted to waste time traveling, they went to a friend’s cottage on Cape Cod for their honeymoon.
That evening, a mild storm blew in, and as Sonny and Elizabeth sat in snug safety in front of a blazing fire, drinking wine and listening to the wind howling around the cottage, neither could stop smiling between kisses.
Suddenly, Elizabeth remembered something and made Sonny release her, which he did with a great deal of reluctance.
“Where are you going?” he complained as she jumped up from the sofa and raced to the bedroom.
“You’ll see,” she called out as she rummaged in the bottom of her suitcase and withdrew a record album. A moment later the record was on the turntable and the strains of Ravel’s Bolero wafted through the living room of the cottage.
Elizabeth stood beside the stereo in her new white peignoir and grinned at Sonny’s confused expression. “I lied when I said I didn’t think it aided romance,” she explained happily. “I do.”
Sonny gave her a chiding look as he got to his feet. “Maybe it does,” he said as he headed for the bedroom, “but I know something that works even better.”
Now Elizabeth looked confused as Sonny came out a moment later with a record in his hands.
“What’s that?” she asked curiously.
“You’ll see,” Sonny said mysteriously as he stopped the stereo, removed the record Elizabeth had put on it, and substituted his own. He then programmed the stereo so that it would play only one of the selections on the album and turned to Elizabeth, holding his arms out to her.
She was still looking puzzled as she accepted the invitation. Her expression cleared abruptly and she began smiling as the introduction to “You’re the Only Man for Me” began.
“That’s our song,” Sonny murmured as he rested his cheek against Elizabeth’s hair and started to move slowly to the music. “Nobody else’s.”
“Literally,” Elizabeth agreed happily, and began to sing softly along with herself into Sonny’s ear, putting every bit of love she felt for him into her voice.
When the song was finishing, Sonny’s mouth captured the last word on Elizabeth’s lips, and while he was kissing her, he began to back her to their former position in front of the fireplace. He lifted her and placed her among the cushions on the floor, and when he was beside her, he cupped her face in his hand and stared down at her with such an erotically possessive gleam in his blue eyes that Elizabeth shivered in response.
“Are we going to make love here?” she whispered.
Sonny smiled slightly. “Are you comfortable?” he whispered back, and when she nodded, he said, “Then yes . . . we’re going to make love for the first time as man and wife right here. I want to start off our married love the way I intend it to go on ... as a waking fantasy, with no holds barred, no inhibitions to get in the way. The Vixen taught me that.”
Elizabeth opened her eyes wide. “But you never made love to the Vixen, Sonny,” she pointed out.
Sonny’s smile was malely wicked. “Didn’t I?” And when Elizabeth looked puzzled, he explained. “One kiss, and the Vixen invaded my dreams. I made fierce love to her almost every night after that kiss, Lissa. And now that I’ve got her in my arms for real, and you as well, I’m going to start living some of those dreams ... if you have no objections?”
The look in Elizabeth’s eyes answered for her so vividly that Sonny gave a rasping groan and seized her mouth in a fervid kiss that sparked off exactly the sort of fierce lovemaking he’d dreamed about with the Vixen.
Far from objecting, Elizabeth, with joyous abandon, matched his every searching, demanding touch and kiss. The dancing flames in the grate and the moaning wind outside the cabin were no more elemental than the two nude figures hungrily exploring the limits of their passion for one another. The security of mutual love and respect gave each of them the courage to abandon caution and let the wild, reckless side of their natures come to the surface and flow freely with life and vigor.
And when it was over, Sonny knew with utter certainty that he’d found every man’s dream—a complete woman, possessed of every grace and attribute of her gender, as well as a good many of those he admired in his own.
And Elizabeth knew she was the luckiest woman in the world to have found a man who could appreciate her for who she was, as well as draw out things in her she hadn’t known were there and was happily joyous to find.
Epilogue
Dr. Elizabeth Strotherton rose eagerly from her chair in her office next door to Sonny’s and greeted the first youthful patient of many she would have as a private physician.
“Hello, there,” she said cheerfully to the twelve-year-old girl who was here for a school physical and was at the moment staring at a large, colorful picture of a musical group which was hanging on the wall behind Elizabeth’s desk.
Elizabeth smiled happily over the girl’s interest, and she was filled with relief that she no longer had to hide her past. Now that she was a full-fledged doctor and had Sonny’s emotional support, the rest of the medical community’s approval or lack of it meant little to her. She even enjoyed filling in for Darla occasionally these days.
The girl’s mother frowned when her daughter didn’t answer Elizabeth’s greeting right away, but instead, continued staring at the poster.
“Sally, where are your manners?” the woman said chidingly. “Say hello to the doctor.”
The girl came out of her absorption with the poster and transferred her gaze to Elizabeth, staring at her with wide-eyed awe.
“Were you really once the Vixen?” she asked breathlessly.
Elizabeth smiled and was about to answer when the mother broke in.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Strotherton, but Sally’s fascinated by
that group. Normally, I wouldn’t be happy about it, but she’s always been afraid of doctors and it was like pulling teeth to get her to one. But when she heard about you . . .” The mother smiled, shrugged and held out her hands as though to say, “What can you do with children this age?”
Elizabeth chuckled and came to put her arm around the girl’s shoulders.
“Yes, I was once the Vixen, Sally. Why don’t you come in here to the examining room, and I’ll tell you all about it. And if you like, when this examination is over,” she added warmly as the girl climbed up on the examining couch, “I’ll give you an autographed poster of the Freaky Foursome that you can hang on your own wall at home.”
“If I like?” Sally said with happy incredulity. “Gosh, Vixen, I’d do anything to get an autographed picture of the Foursome!”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Elizabeth said as she put her stethoscope in her ears. “Just sit still while I find out if you’re as healthy as you look.”
Around noon, Sonny came to his wife’s door and leaned against the jamb, watching her with admiration and love in his eyes as she finished marking a chart.
“Ready for lunch, Dr. Strotherton?” he asked when she finally glanced up and noticed him.
“Am I ever!” she said happily as she jumped up from her chair and started taking off her white coat. “I can’t wait to tell you how my morning went. Maggie was right. The kids are so crazy about the Foursome posters, I think they’d let me take out their tonsils twice just to get their hands on one.”
Sonny grinned as he came and took Elizabeth into his arms and planted a kiss on her upturned lips. “I think they’re probably more impressed with the Vixen than the Foursome,” he teased warmly, adoring her with his eyes. “But as for me, I have one complaint about that notorious tramp.”
Elizabeth looked at him askance. “If you do, it isn’t apparent,” she said skeptically. “You look disgustingly happy.”
“So I am, so I am,” Sonny agreed. “But I’ll be even happier when the Vixen stops relapsing occasionally into wearing skimpy camisoles and miniskirts and starts buying maternity smocks.”
Elizabeth, who was in possession of some knowledge that Sonny did not yet have, smiled secretly. “Well,” she said lightly as she drew Sonny out the door of her office, “why don’t you reserve a cottage on Cape Cod for the long weekend that’s coming up and direct your considerable charms in my direction. You just might be able to persuade me to see things your way.”
Sonny’s eyes lit up with anticipation and he was unusually solicitous of Elizabeth as he walked her to their car and helped her inside it.
When he was settled beside her, Elizabeth gave him a puzzled look.
“Why are you being so blatantly gentlemanly?” she asked. “I’m not made of glass, you know.”
Sonny smiled a secret smile of his own, and Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she realized he had guessed her secret.
“Sonny Strotherton!” she said crossly. “How long have you known, and why haven’t you said anything?”
Sonny’s expression was serene as he reached over and gave her a loving pat on the knee.
“I’m a doctor, too, remember, Mrs. Strotherton?” he said smugly. “As well as a husband. The doctor in me knew almost immediately, but the husband was waiting for his wife to give him the glad news.” Elizabeth couldn’t stay cross with him, and she began to chuckle. “Does this mean we don’t get the weekend at Cape Cod?” she teased.
Now, it was Sonny’s turn to chuckle and as he did, he glanced at Elizabeth with a wicked twinkle in his eyes.
“Only an idiot would give up a weekend with the Vixen,” he said blandly, “and I’ve always considered myself pretty smart.”
Elizabeth gave him one of her sweetest smiles. “Me, too,” she agreed with his self-evaluation. “Now, let’s get to the restaurant, Sonny. I’m ready to start eating for two ... or more,” she added slyly.
When Sonny looked at her with a startled expression on his face, she gave him an even sweeter smile.
“Vixens usually don’t have single births, Doctor. Didn’t you take any zoology courses in college?”
And as Sonny’s startlement turned to dismay, Elizabeth burst out laughing and gave him a hug and a kiss to ease the blow. She would wait until their weekend on Cape Cod to tell him she’d deceived him once again.
Copyright © 1987 by Jackie Black
A CANDLELIGHT ECSTASY ROMANCE®
#510
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Table of Contents
Title
Contents
Excerpt
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Copyright
Table of Contents
Title
Contents
Excerpt
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Copyright