Champagne Girl

by Diana Palmer

  “No fair,” he murmured. “You’ll hurt my feelings.”

  “You don’t have feelings,” she shot back. “You’re laughing at me, that’s all you ever do is…oh!”

  His mouth had stopped the snowballing tirade. She started to hit him, then felt his tongue enter her mouth and she froze. Her eyes opened to find his open, too. He was watching her reaction. His eyes were dark and smoldering, and his tongue was doing the wildest things to her mouth. She gasped. Her hands caught his shoulders and clung bruisingly; her heart seemed to stop beating.

  She couldn’t help it: she went under. Her eyes closed on a wild little moan and her nails stabbed into him rhythmically like the paws of a kitten in a pleasured daze.

  He moved her so that she was lying across him with her head in the crook of his arm. And while the kiss made her crazy, his fingers began a slow, tender progression up her rib cage. They moved up just to a soft curve of her breast and then down again, in a lazy teasing pattern that managed eventually to make her arch and cry out in frustration.

  Her eyes opened as he finally released her mouth to look into her flushed, surrendered face.

  “I thought you didn’t like French kisses,” he mused.

  “It’s different when you do it,” she whispered back, wonder in the look she gave him.

  “I know how,” he said simply. His fingers went back up her body again. “I know how to do this, too. And when you’re half out of your mind wanting it, I’ll touch you.”

  “I already am half out of my mind,” she said shakily. Her whole body trembled this time when his fingers started back down to her waist again. “Are you trying…to make me beg?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not into ego trips. This,” he whispered, emphasizing his words with another achingly slow trailing of his fingertips against the blouse, “makes the pleasure so much sweeter when it happens. There’s nothing sensuous about being grabbed.”

  “I’ve never been…grabbed.”

  “I know.” He bent and kissed the very tip of her nose. “Why didn’t you wear a bra, Catherine?” he asked softly. “Were you afraid it might discourage me?”

  Her lips parted as she looked up at him, helpless, hungry. “I didn’t think at all.” Her eyes searched his slowly, her breath ragged as he delicately began to increase the area his fingers were tantalizing. “Matt, I’m going to faint when you touch me.…”

  “Yes, so am I,” he whispered. He held her eyes. “Look at me.”

  His fingers moved, and this time they didn’t stop. She felt them against the delicate rise of her body, coming down, cupping her in their warmth so that his palm rested gently against the hard tip. And she shuddered, her hands clinging to him, her teeth biting into her lower lip so that she wouldn’t cry out.

  His hand caressed her tenderly as he held her eyes, and the sound of his fingers against the silky fabric seemed almost as loud as the speaker. “You watched a movie with me when you were about sixteen,” he said softly, holding her eyes, “and there was a very adult scene in it where a woman was being seduced. She cried out, and you were concerned that the man was hurting her. Do you remember?”

  “You said…that she was crazy with pleasure,” she whispered. “And I didn’t understand.”

  “And now you do.”

  “Yes.”

  His head bent. “I could live forever on your mouth, Kit.…” He kissed her gently and then not gently. And she clung to him, turning so that her body pressed against his and the whole world disappeared as his hand suddenly went under her blouse and against her soft, bare skin.

  “It drives me wild when you cry out like that,” he whispered roughly in her ear, his hand contracting as her body arched. “God, touching you like this is so sweet. So sweet.” He kissed her trembling lips softly, tenderly, and his fingers stroked her lightly as a breath, lingering at the tiny hardness that told him everything she was feeling.

  A sound outside the car brought Matt’s head up. He was breathing as unsteadily as she was, and his mouth looked a little swollen, sensuous. He glanced in the rearview mirror and slowly moved his hand to her shoulder with an uneven sigh.

  “You’d better sit up, honey,” he said quietly. “We’re about to have company.”

  He reached into his pocket for a cigarette and lit it, then slid his arm around a shaking Catherine as he pretended an avid interest in the movie. A strolling policeman with a flashlight wandered by, glancing into the truck and then going on along the row.

  Catherine watched as a young couple under a blanket struggled furiously to get separated as the flashlight aimed itself into their car. The policeman stopped there, and she turned her attention back to the screen, thinking how embarrassed she’d have been if he’d come along just a little sooner.

  “He’s the safety valve,” Matt said quietly, smiling down at her. He leaned closer. “Strolling birth control.”

  She burst out laughing and buried her face in his chest. “You’re horrible!”

  “You didn’t seem to think so a few minutes ago.”

  She nuzzled closer. “Didn’t I?”

  His fingers stroked her cheek and he pressed a slow, tender kiss into her disheveled hair. “I guess we’d better watch the movie. I can imagine how the family would react if they had to bail us out of jail for indecent exposure.”

  “They wouldn’t believe it,” she said simply.

  He looked down at her. “They’d believe it, all right,” he said, studying her face. “You look as if you’ve been made love to.”

  “So do you,” she returned.

  He smiled slowly. “I’ll have to teach you how,” he murmured. “You don’t quite know how to give it back yet, do you?”

  “I’m just a beginner,” she reminded him, trying to keep her head.

  “You’ll stay that way, too, in the important way,” he said, his voice deep and serious as he met her gaze. “Do you understand me, Kit? Seduction is not part of the plan.”

  “You won’t take me to bed?” she asked with mock incredulity. “What’s wrong with me?”

  “Not one damned thing,” he returned. “Except that Betty trusts me.” He drew her close and kissed her forehead lightly. “I have to take excellent care of you, Kit. The last thing I want is a shotgun wedding.”

  That brought it all back. “The last thing you want is a wedding, period,” she said, forcing herself to be light about it though she was dying because he didn’t want to marry her. “Join the club. I have a career to look forward to, once I convince you that I’m capable of it.”

  He frowned, as if he hadn’t expected her reply. “Are you serious?”

  “Of course! You did promise me, Matt,” she reminded him, and quickly put her day’s work to the back of her mind. She knew he wouldn’t keep that promise, and so did he. But when she failed miserably, he’d let her go. He’d probably buy the ticket. And that was a little depressing, especially after what they’d just shared. She cocked her head at him. “You promised,” she repeated.

  He sighed, turning his eyes back to the screen. “So I did.”

  She laid her head back against his broad chest, loving him so much that she hurt all over. But she couldn’t let him see that. “Sorry.”

  “About what?”

  “That your strategy didn’t work,” she murmured. “I like kissing you, Matt, but it won’t keep me on Comanche Flats.”

  His face, if she’d seen it, would have been a revelation. His arm tightened around her roughly for a minute before he relaxed and brought his cigarette back to his lips. “Well then, little Kit, I guess I’ll have to find another tack.”

  That was an admission, she told herself. He’d brought her here trying to give her another incentive to stay home. He knew she wanted him, although he didn’t know how much. Well, it wouldn’t work. She was going to New York, where she wouldn’t be vulnerable, and she was going to find a man who’d love her, not dominate her.

  “But meanwhile,” he murmured, tipping her head back, “I’m go
ing to see to it that you get a little educating in the things that matter. Just so that you can protect yourself.” And his mouth went down against hers roughly, hungrily and for so long that she was dazed when he finally lifted it again. He searched her shocked eyes. “Just don’t get addicted to me, honey,” he added in a cutting tone, “because nobody gets me for keeps. Not even you.”

  She could hardly believe what she’d heard. Matt had never been cynical with her before. “I won’t,” she promised curtly.

  He laughed mirthlessly. “We’ll see.”

  Her fingers touched his mouth as he started to bend again. “You might warn the real estate agent from Laredo, too,” she said, smiling as the shock touched his face. “She might need the warning even more than I do.” She turned her attention back to the screen, and he slowly crushed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

  “Who told you about Layne?” he asked quietly.

  She gave him a haughty stare. “Do you think the family doesn’t know about your women, just because you don’t bring them home?”

  His eyes returned to hers, quiet, watchful. “Layne is working on a project with me,” he said after a minute. “I’m expanding a feedlot, and she has a client with land that adjoins mine.”

  “What does she look like?” she asked, hating herself for wanting to know.

  He didn’t seem to mind telling her, oddly enough. He even smiled. “She’s twenty-nine, tall, dark-eyed and dark-haired.”

  “And experienced?” she asked.

  “And experienced. Most of my women are, if you’re curious about that part of my life. You’ve never expressed any interest in it until now.”

  “I’m not interested,” she hedged.

  “No?” He stretched lazily, and her eyes went uncontrollably to the lean, hard-muscled length of his body, down his broad chest to his narrow hips and powerful long legs and big booted feet. “I like your body, too, Kit,” he murmured, catching her out. “I especially like the way it feels.”

  “What an interesting movie!” she enthused, crossing her arms as she curled up on the seat to watch the space creature devour a human.

  “Is it? If you won’t sit on my lap, then give me your hand.” He reached out his lean fingers and laced hers with them. Then he leaned back to smoke another cigarette and watch the movie while Catherine ground her teeth in frustration.

  They went home at midnight in a silence unbroken except for the radio. She walked into the house beside Matt, conflicting emotions tearing at her self-control. She didn’t know what he wanted, and she was afraid, now that he’d seen how vulnerable she was to him.

  Once he’d closed and locked the outside door, she turned, wanting to ask him what the game was. But he turned back and, holding her eyes with his dark ones, he tossed his Stetson onto the hall table. He started toward her with a steady, measured stride.

  “Matt…” she began.

  He caught her by the waist and drew her to him. “It’s a hell of a lot more exciting to kiss standing up,” he murmured. “Come closer, Kit. Your legs won’t melt if they touch mine.”

  “I don’t—” She caught her breath as his hands slid to her hips and brought her thighs into total contact with his.

  “That’s better,” he whispered, smiling wickedly.

  “Mama told me not to ever—” she tried again.

  “Shut up.” He bent and caught the back of her head with both hands, holding her face where he wanted it while his mouth made mincemeat of her protests. He forced her set lips to part, and his tongue penetrated the soft line of them delicately, sensually. His hips moved slowly against hers in a rhythm that made her blush, and still the kiss went on and on until it had the effect he meant it to have. With a tiny moan, she stood on tiptoe to get closer to him and linked her arms around his neck to lift herself in an even more intimate embrace.

  “Yes,” he breathed into her hungry mouth. “Yes!” His arms lifted her clear of the floor, and the world spun away in a blaze of open mouths and wildly beating hearts.

  She couldn’t get enough of him. It was so sweet to kiss him like this, to feel his heart slamming at the walls of his chest, to feel his teeth cutting into her lip as he deepened and lengthened the hard, devouring kiss.

  All at once his body went rigid. Quickly, he put her back on her feet and held her away from him. He looked down at her with dark, smoldering eyes.

  “Go upstairs, honey,” he said huskily. “Go fast.”

  “But, Matt,” she protested, her voice a mere whisper, her body trembling.

  “I want you like hell,” he ground out, and his desire showed in his eyes, his shaking chest. “Get out of here while you can.”

  She didn’t argue. She wanted to, and for one wild instant she was tempted, but then the logical part of her mind started thinking about consequences, and that sent her up the stairs. She slid her hand along the banister, still tasting Matt on her mouth, her breasts throbbing from the hard pressure of his chest against them. She stopped at the very top of the stairway and looked down.

  Matt was standing there, bareheaded, a cigarette in one hand, his eyes intent on her, his stance rigid.

  She lifted her fingers to her lips and impulsively blew him a kiss. And he smiled.

  It took all her strength to go on to bed. She knew suddenly and deliciously that Matt was as vulnerable as she was. He wanted her. That gave her a weapon to fight back with, and she was going to use it. Matt wasn’t going to win this time. She was. At last she could escape his domination. But did she really want to?

  Chapter Five

  It was hard to sleep and in the morning it was even harder for Catherine to get on her clothes and go down to breakfast. Everything seemed different. Matt had changed from a wickedly teasing stepcousin into a sensuous stranger. She didn’t know how to handle the side of him she’d glimpsed last night, and she couldn’t begin to guess at the reason for his behavior. He wasn’t looking for permanent ties; he’d made that very plain. Why, then? Just to keep her at home? That didn’t seem likely. He wouldn’t like her hanging around mooning over him all the time. Maybe he’d had a fight with the real estate agent from Laredo and was just biding his time, playing with her until his ladylove got over her anger.

  She still hadn’t worked it out when she went downstairs, half excited and half apprehensive about seeing Matt again. She was wearing a green shirtwaist dress with high heels, her hair in a neat French twist, and Matt’s eyes came up immediately when he saw her at the doorway of the dining room. She almost jumped at the impact of the level, probing stare, but she didn’t look away.

  Betty was just finishing her own breakfast. “Good morning, darling,” she called gaily. “I’m just off to Jane’s for a coffee. That Barnes girl is getting married, you know, and we’re all taking turns with the fetes. I’ll be back about noon. We can have lunch in town if Matt can spare you.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Matt said with a meaningful smile at Catherine. He was looking smart in denim jeans with a chambray shirt open at his chest, and Catherine had to force her eyes away.

  “That would be lovely,” she told her mother with a bright smile.

  Betty kissed her cheek as she passed, neat in her oyster-colored suit. “See you later. Bye, Matt. Don’t the two of you overdo it.”

  “We won’t,” he promised, chuckling at Catherine’s blush.

  She filled her plate, then sat opposite him, ignoring him, vaguely aware of the sound of Betty’s car as she drove away.

  “I won’t go away,” he said dryly.

  She glanced up as he sipped black coffee. “I should hope not,” she said nonchalantly. “You’d break the Laredo real estate agent’s heart!”

  “How safe is your own, Catherine Melinda?” he asked gently.

  Her green eyes searched his. “Safe enough.”

  “I wonder.” He put down his coffee cup. “I want you.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “That’s right,” he said, reading the shock in her face, “I want you.”<
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  “Well, I’m not up for grabs,” she began hesitantly.

  “I’m going to get you, too,” he continued quietly, the threat in his eyes, in his mocking smile. “Run, if you like, and I’ll be two steps behind. Until I catch you.”

  “I’ll get pregnant!” she burst out.

  His eyebrows shot up. “Not damned likely,” he returned. “Not with strolling birth control on patrol.”

  “I will not go to any more movies with you!” she flashed.

  He sighed wearily. “Well, in that case, we’re in a lot of trouble. Because if we stay alone together for longer than two minutes, you know as well as I do where it will end.”

  “Not in your bed,” she said firmly.

  “It’s better on the carpet,” he returned outrageously. “More adventurous.”

  The familiar line made her choke on her coffee. Her wet eyes accused him, but he only grinned.

  “I’m going to New York to be a public relations person,” she told him.

  “Not until you finish my sale, you aren’t,” he replied easily. He leaned back in his chair, watching her, and slowly flicked open yet another button on his shirt.

  Her eyes widened as that broad expanse of deeply tanned skin and thick, curling hair peeked out. She swallowed, dragging her gaze to her plate.

  “Do I disturb you, Kit?” he murmured. “I can’t imagine why. You’ve seen me without a shirt before.”

  Sure she had, and she’d gone wobbling off on weak knees every single time; Matt without a shirt on was enough to have that effect on an eighty-year-old manhater. He was perfect.

  “We’ll be late getting to the office,” she said in a choked tone, then finished her bacon and sipped her coffee.

  “I’m the boss, remember?”

  She dabbed her lips and got up. “I’ll just freshen my makeup—”

  “Not yet.” He cocked his head and looked her up and down with an expression in his dark eyes that made rubber out of her knees. “Come here.”

  “Matt…”

  “Come here, Kit,” he said in a tone that would have tamed a charging elephant.

  Her legs rebelled. They took her to him, unresisting.