Poor Minna’s back was as stiff as a poker.
At last the orgy of self-congratulation trickled to a close and guests were invited to dine.
In accordance with the elaborate seating plan, Eve and Minna found their places opposite each other at one long table.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Minna whispered, preparing to embark on her appetizer. “Any more of that Delacroix and Moreau hogwash and I wouldn’t be able to manage a single shrimp.” She leaned across the flower arrangement, pinning Eve with a stern eye. “What is this fixation you have with the Delacroix men?” Her fierce whisper reverberated the length of the table. “That Rainer may be a fine-lookin’ hunk of man, but don’t forget he’s a Delacroix down to his satin-embroidered Y-fronts.”
Cringing, Eve considered sliding under the table. “Shh, Auntie. Please. ”
It was a relief when Minna turned her attention to the steaming bowl her neighbor had brought back from the buffet. “Is that blue crab gumbo you’ve got there, Lady?”
“I’ll get you some,” Eve said hurriedly.
She rose and sashayed gracefully to the buffet, taking care to allow her hips the subtle swing that appeared entirely unconscious. Just in case Rainer—strike that—What could she have been thinking?—Brent might be watching.
Predictably, there was a queue for the gumbo. By the time it was Eve’s turn, the tureen was scraped bare. The attendant had to scurry back to the kitchen for a fresh pot.
“I’m glad to see you lining up for some nourishing soup,” a deep voice murmured from somewhere in the vicinity. Her nerves jumped, while every wayward cell in her body trilled a welcome song. Rainer was standing a dish or two away, helping himself to some Cajun crawfish. Without turning his head, he added, “I’d hate to see that gorgeous body lose condition.”
Noticing Opaline Dixon lurking by the vinegar selection, Eve addressed her reply to the tablecloth. “The soup isn’t for me,” she murmured. “It’s for my aunt. She needs strength, surrounded as she is by Delacroixes.”
“If you ask me, it’s the Delacroixes who need protection from the Fortescues.”
“Not all of them. Only the hot ones.”
She caught a glimpse of his smile, just edging up his mouth, and it gave her quite a buzz, to be honest. He must have guessed he was übersexy. What man didn’t know?
The attendant returned with another steaming tureen, then ladled a fragrant helping of gumbo into a bowl for Eve. “May I carry this to your place for you, Miss Fortescue?” he inquired.
“Thank you kindly.” Smiling, Eve pointed out Minna, who was waving a shrimp-laden fork at her neighbor. Eve took up a plate for herself.
Without her noticing, Rainer had edged closer. So close that if she didn’t take care, he might graze her hip. “Can I help you to some salad, Eve?” She could hear the smile in his voice. “Some lavender-roasted lamb? Some Great Louisiana Egret?”
“Very funny. Do you have to mock everything?”
“’Fraid I do.”
“Is there nothing you take seriously?”
“Sex, death, and damnation.”
“Very amusing.” She swept down her lashes, but her annoyance was pretend, and he seemed to know that. “Maybe you should taste some of these bayou oysters.”
“I want to taste you, Eve.” The quiet words set the blood frothing in her veins like lemonade. “See that blue door?” His eyes, gleaming, determined, held hers for a heart-stopping instant. “Ten minutes from now.”
Her pulse bumped into a giddy, excited beat. “You know what I said.”
“Nine minutes, forty seconds.”
“You’re very sure of yourself.”
“Sure I am.” Smiling, he turned and strolled away.
Rainer Delacroix was in no way shy. Eve had to admit there was something appealing about such self-assurance in a man. She was distractedly piling her plate with Lord knew what, when Opaline Dixon sidled up, smiling, though her eyes were narrowed.
“Did you and Rainer meet in New York, Eve?”
Eve showed her her dimples. “No, Mrs. Dixon. I’ve never had that pleasure until this evening.”
Opaline tittered. “Pleasure, is it? You should take care, Eve. Some folk aren’t what they seem. Since you’ve never had the benefit of a mother to raise you, I hope you don’t mind if I offer you some advice. I’ve always warned my girls not to be too friendly on first acquaintance. Would I be right in guessing you haven’t heard the stories about that man?”
Opaline was giraffe-like in stature, but Eve had the benefit of five-inch heels. She smiled. “See, Mrs. Dixon. I have had the very great benefit of my auntie to raise me. And she always says too much guessing can be a dangerous thing. It can give rise to false and vexatious rumors. Can I help you to some of this lovely red jambalaya, ma’am?”
Minna would have been proud.
Returning to her place, Eve scanned for Rainer and located him in the next row. He was nodding gravely, listening with close attention to the detailed autobiographies of a couple of ancient Moreau great-aunts.
He only glanced away from them one time, and when he did he looked straight at Eve. An electric shock frizzled across the room and seared right through her ovaries with a power that was undeniably erotic.
But how could she possibly kiss him when her entire focus was on Brent? She glanced about for Brent and saw him surrounded by Dixons—Honey’s cousins on either side, Opaline now opposite, thumping the table with her middle finger, laying down the law about something.
Poor Brent was wearing a similar expression to the Great Egret’s during hunting season. Eve frowned. What was wrong with the boy? Couldn’t he see what a disaster he was making of his life? If no one intervened to save him, he would be surrounded by Dixons forever more.
Too wound up to eat, she merely toyed with her food. Honey was at the other end of the table, mingling with a bunch of Delacroix cousins and aunts. Honey was getting the best of the deal, though she didn’t seem to know it, judging by her expression.
It was clear to Eve the only thing she could do for Brent, the kindest thing, was to give him an option. And the only way to achieve her moment for that, was to kiss Rainer. It was a shocking dilemma, but as Eve saw it, she had no other choice.
It would only be a kiss, after all. Kisses were pleasant enough at the time, but hardly bone-shaking events. It was only afterward, when the imagination started working, that a kiss was really worth relishing.
Like the one she’d shared with Brent.
Washing down a delicate bite of her trout meunière with a sip of wine, she waited until there was a stream of people heading back to the buffet, then leaned forward to Aunt Minna. “Will you excuse me, Auntie?”
She may not have developed enough emotional complexity to impress the Village Players, but at least she’d learned how to make a seamless exit. Silently, considering her heart was hammering so loud, she rose and lost herself in the crowd thronging around the desserts. While people salivated over the sugary delights, she melted away toward the blue door and slipped inside.
She found herself in a long corridor leading to some offices, with several small rooms along the way. Her blood was seething with nervous excitement. She was standing still, wondering which way to go, when the blue door opened behind her and Rainer appeared.
His big, powerful form momentarily blocked the light. But then he moved closer, and she could see that his eyes were smoldering. He seemed bigger in here. All at once she felt her insides turn over with a purely sexual anticipation. He was so magnetically mesmerizing, adrenaline charged her blood. Desire rustled the air.
Silently, he opened a door to her right and ushered her inside. The room was a small pleasant office, with a desk and chair in front of a window curtained in lace. A leather chesterfield hugged the opposite wall. Rainer strode straight to the window and closed the blinds, then lowered the shade of the lamp to soften the light.
Then he turned to her.
His voice was as deep
and purry as a panther’s. “You may just be the most seductive woman I ever met.”
With the room pulsing with sexual possibilities, Eve trembled, her heart pounding. As Rainer stood facing her, so straight and gorgeous and mysterious, she felt a hot wild rush to her breasts and the tender tissues between her legs.
“Only one kiss, mind,” she whispered breathlessly.
There was a mocking gleam in his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. And just so you know, I’m only doing this for Brent, now.”
He said nothing, scrutinizing her face with a veiled gaze. The instant he touched her, taking a light hold of her bare shoulders, his fingers seared her skin.
Then holding her as gently as if she were something precious, he bent his dark head and grazed her lips with his. Softly. Searchingly. It was such a shock, how exquisitely tender and respectful a man could be. Her emotions, usually under control in this kind of situation, were curiously piqued.
He deepened the pressure of his lips, his hands gentle on her ribs, drawing the breath from her lungs. Drawing her very soul.
Oh, Lord, she was reeling under a spell, while tingles of flame danced along her lips. The pleasure was so intense she came near to swooning.
With her knees buckling, she grabbed his shoulders and clung. He put his strong arms around her and deepened the kiss to a greater intensity, sliding his tongue into her mouth and deliciously teasing the tissues inside.
The mingled flavors of whiskey, wine, and pure male animal filled her giddy senses with the most intoxicating aphrodisiac she’d ever tasted.
Her tongue tip collided with his, and it was as if a thunderbolt rocked his hard body and zigzagged simultaneously through her, fusing them together. Her blood flared to a furious blaze of wild and insatiable desire and she wanted to grab him hard, lick him, bite him. Possess him.
She sensed that Rainer was driven by the same instinct. His hands, beautiful hands, had been so tender at first as they stroked her neck and shoulders as if she were made of silk. But soon they grew hot and hungry, convulsively clutching and releasing impassioned fistfuls of her hair, then boldly handling her curves with rough and sexy greed.
She didn’t protest.
She was enthralled, and crazily, thirstily hot for his bare skin and the seductive bulk pressing against her belly. Like a woman in the grip of a narcotic she clutched at him, and actually caressed him in his most highly personal place until he grabbed her hands and held them still. Even so, she managed to release a few of his shirt buttons and feel his chest.
That powerful chest felt so satisfyingly hot to the touch, the satin skin riding his ribs rippled so arousingly under her palms, it was a while before she noticed the growling animal sound coming from her own throat.
She was further encouraged when he backed her onto the desk and trailed his clever fingers up her dress and the inside of her tingling thigh.
She knew in some remote recess of her brain that this was escalating beyond the agreed boundaries, but the fire between her thighs was raging with a sweet and urgent yearning that could not be denied. She parted her legs to encourage him.
Oh wow, she was purring inside while still drowning in the kiss, quivering with desire as his fingers drew nearer and nearer to her mound. Yes, Rainer. Keep going there, Rainer. Oh, Rainer…Rainer….
The kiss broke as softly, tenderly his fingers stroked her inflamed and quivering secrets through the flimsy lace, then slipped inside the fabric and caressed the sweetest spot of all.
Ahhh, the ecstasy. Waves of rapturous pleasure irradiated her flesh with a dark, delicious magic. Then to her escalating whimpers, he slipped his finger inside her and massaged the tender silken walls.
Pleasure swelled inside her, illuminated her flesh with streaks of ecstatic light that built higher and higher. But then, right at a crucial moment, he paused.
She nearly cried aloud, “Don’t stop now.” But it wasn’t even necessary.
The guy was a genius.
Somehow divining her emergency, he pushed her back onto the desk, drew down her undies, then knelt. Lifting her legs onto his shoulders, to her extreme and grateful pleasure he flicked his tongue across her burning clit, then thrust it into the place his finger had so recently pleasured.
No degree of imagination was required. Overwhelmed by the erotic reality of his dark head between her legs, his mouth sucking her clit, the arousing sensation of his tongue flicking inside and out of her inflamed channel, she lost all control.
While she writhed, whimpered, and moaned a heartfelt rhapsody, her pleasure swelled to a fantastic and explosive climax and burst into a million glorious shards.
After a second or two he drew away from her, then stood, his eyes like burning coals. He turned away.
Eve sat up. For a while she stayed there in a giddy, trancelike state of adoration. Surely some magic had happened here? Then she blinked, sensing that a certain constraint had entered the atmosphere. Rainer stood with his back to her, his neck and shoulders set in rigid lines.
Panting for air, her thoughts in drugged confusion, her hair, her clothes in total disarray, she attempted to gather some dignity about her.
“Well,” she said, or rather, croaked. “There, now.” Realizing her dress was rucked up to her armpits, she yanked it down, then slid off the desk. Looking down, she noticed her panties hanging off one ankle, so bent and whipped them back up.
No doubt her breasts were rising and falling like the Gulf Stream after Katrina.
“So much for a kiss. I hope you found it…acceptable.”
As soon as she said those words, every nerve in her body clenched with fear for what he might say. How he might judge her most uninhibited moments ever.
He turned to stare at her, smoldering embers in his lust-darkened eyes. He spoke with an effort, his voice deeper and growlier than a grizzly’s. “It was…memorable.” He lowered his lashes. “You’re truly sweet.”
Sweet? She felt so filled with nameless emotion she wanted to say something wonderful to him. Something right.
But before she could he said, “Brent’s a lucky guy to inspire such–passion.”
She drew a sharp breath. “Well, but…” She broke off, wondering if she should admit that Brent had not been present in the room in any way, shape, or form.
He shot her a keen glance. “Yeah? You were saying?”
Her courage shriveled. She dropped her gaze. “Nothing.”
He moved to the door. Hesitated. Turned back to her. “Look, er, when things loosen up out there I’ll take Honey for a stroll and keep her occupied for five minutes.”
She hardly comprehended the words. But then it all solidified in her mind again and she remembered.
“How?” She felt such a sharp pang the words escaped her before she could bite them back. “How will you occupy her? Will you kiss her?”
His hand arrested on the door handle. He glanced back. “Would that matter, Eve?”
Something nasty jabbed her in the chest. “No, I guess. I mean…Well, yes. Yes, it might. You know it might.”
“Why?” His eyes glinted.
“Well, Honey loves Brent, and she might…be confused. People could feel hurt…”
“Would it hurt you?”
“Ye—no. I don’t know.” She turned away, her brain whirling, or maybe it was her heart still in a Rainer-induced spin. “Look. Look, go away now, will you please, Rainer? I can’t think properly while you’re here.”
Chapter Four
It took her a while to tidy up in the ladies’ room and calm herself down, though it was ridiculous to think anything had changed just because she’d kissed Rainer. Or—fine, indulged in sex with Rainer. Experienced an orgasm with Rainer.
With her lips so swollen and her eyes burning like hot coals, her face looked too blissfully sexual, like a supremely satisfied alley cat who’d stolen all the cream.
But it had been so good. She sagged against the vanity and closed her eyes, breathing hard.
The feel of Rainer’s lips, his hands, seemed somehow burned into her senses. All her past erotic experiences paled in comparison.
But how had it been for him? He’d certainly given every appearance of being hotly aroused, so the question had to be asked. Had it been enough?
Maybe he pleasured women as a matter of course, and didn’t require much tit for tat. Or should that be tat for…? Although, should she be worrying? Who was he to her, after all? A virtual stranger. An adventurer who drove women to jump off cliffs and the like.
But he had been very polite, describing her as seductive. Quite a few guys had said things like that to her, that she was hot, that she was sexy. She appreciated the kindness of the thought, she really did. Who wouldn’t want to be thought seductive? Somehow though, it was the other term Rainer had used that made her insides glow.
Sweet.
Her heart warmed with joy to think it. For once a man had looked past her face and her body and found sweetness in her.
The truth was, she’d rather be thought “sweet” than “seductive” just about any day. Still, one anxious thought remained lodged in her brain. Rainer had been more in control than she. She couldn’t help thinking of other boys she’d kissed and how secretly bored she’d often felt. Well, she’d been the one in control then.
Half the time she’d been thanking her lucky stars she was an actress. What if Rainer had been bored?
Even Brent…
Oh, Brent. She covered her face with her hands because, face it, she could hardly look herself in the face. How could she be in love with one man and moved to wild animal lust for another?
There. She’d admitted it. A minute alone with Rainer and she was the original Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. After months of emotional and sexual deprivation, in the space of hours her situation had become unbelievably complicated.
She was just smoothing some gloss onto her swollen lips and dreamily reliving those first enchanted moments of the kiss when the door swung open and Honey burst in.
Eve started from her reverie, hoping her erotic adventures weren’t stamped on her face, especially when she saw Honey’s eyes widen.
When Honey Got Married Page 8