Pillow Talk

by Hailey North

  And reason sure wasn't ruling his body. He shifted, knowing full well his arousal had to be more than evident, as he awaited her response.

  Instead of answering with a yes or no, she got up from the loveseat, moving almost in slow motion. Without a word, she crossed to the door.

  Parker could have kicked himself.

  Then she shut it and turned the key.

  Meg faced Parker, her back to the door, hands by her side. She didn't think of herself as impulsive. But when she wanted something, she wasn't one to hide from the desire. Not too many people she knew would have taken Jules up on his offer.

  Of course, she couldn't imagine any woman turning Parker down.

  He walked toward her now, his eyes fixed on hers. He needed, Meg realized with a sudden insight, reassurance. Parker wanted her to want him.

  That thought made her almost dizzy. She opened her arms and he pulled her into his embrace.

  "There's just something about you," he said between kisses, "that is special."

  Meg kissed him, savoring the feel of his arms around hers, the hint of a beard but nothing close to icky stubble on his face, the faintest hint of that same cologne she'd liked so much the other night.

  "Forgive me if this isn't right," he went on, "but I want you."

  She nodded, her head moving against his chest. He was waltzing them slowly toward the middle of the large room. Beside the children's tent of blankets and chairs, he paused.

  "I could use another lesson in make believe," he said.

  A gust of wind and rain hit the windows lining the far side of the room. Meg savored how protected she felt within Parker's arms. Maybe she'd addled her brain because she should be feeling anxious and nervous and worrying about what he'd think of her in the morning.

  He kissed her neck, trailing his lips to the point where the skin was blocked by the cotton of her t-shirt. Reaching down, he worked her shirt up over her legs, past her hips, to her waist. Meg caught her breath. "The way make-believe works," she said, "is you use parts of reality and blend them with what you want to happen in your mind."

  "I see," Parker said as he lifted her shirt from her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Then he knelt in front of her.

  Meg's tummy fluttered as he kissed her belly button. Then, as he shimmied her tights from her legs, more than her tummy danced. She hadn't been naked with a man in so long. And she hadn't been naked with a man other than Ted ever.

  She clutched his head and eased her shoes off as his hands skimmed her ankles.

  Parker leaned back and gazed up and down at her body. All she had on was her bra and panties. Thankful she hadn't worn her old scrubbies, Meg watched nervously as he studied her.

  “You are so beautiful,” he said, a look almost of awe on his face.

  Meg laughed a half-laugh. “Now I know you're already into make-believe. I'm far from beautiful."

  “Oh, no," Parker said. “I don't think you give yourself nearly enough credit." He traced a finger up the inside of one leg, starting at the ankle and winding his way slowly past her strong calf, circling the back of her knee until she gasped, then moving up her inner thigh. “Beautiful."

  “I've had three children and with each one my hips grew about a mile."

  Parker leaned towards her and kissed the side of each hip. “Perfect."

  She sighed. “Maybe I should play make-believe more often."

  Parker rose. He held out his hand and she took it.

  "Come with me," he said, and led her to a massive mirror that dominated the wall behind Parker's desk.

  “When Teensy put this up," Parker said, stopping behind her so that her back was to him, her body facing the mirror, "I objected."

  "But now," he said as he tipped her face up to meet her reflection in the mirror, "I'm very, very thankful."

  Meg barely recognized the woman in the mirror. She wore only a bra and panties and leaned back against the most handsome man she'd ever met. Parker's expression was serious as he watched her study herself.

  He kissed her shoulder. "Mmm, delicious," he said. He cupped her breasts gently. "Perfect," he said.

  Meg wriggled against him, the touch of his hands on her breasts loosing an explosive desire within her. She started to turn, instinctively seeking his embrace.

  Parker held her gently enough, but she could tell he wasn't letting her move from her position in front of the mirror.

  One hand moved lower, the other remained on her breast, heating it through the lace of her bra. "My hips are too wide," she said though her heart wasn't in her objections anymore. "And my breasts sag."

  "Let me be the judge of that," he murmured. He dipped a finger beneath the line of her panty. His hips pushed forward and she felt his arousal pressing against her buttocks as he circled his fingers around her pubic mound.

  She thought she'd scream from his teasing touch. Instead, she answered his need with a slow circular motion of her hips against his. He withdrew his hand from her panties and moved it behind her back.

  She felt her bra loosen as he slipped the clasp in the back. Meg nuzzled her head back on his chest, unconsciously rubbing herself up and down against his body. Her eyes must have closed because she heard him whisper, "Open your eyes, Meg."

  When she did, she found herself watching Parker ease the straps of her bra over her shoulders. He had one arm around her waist. The tops of her breasts were revealed, then as he slipped the bra lower and let it fall off her arms to the floor, she heard him catch his breath.

  "Tell me that's not a beautiful sight," he said, his voice almost a growl.

  Meg ran her tongue over her lips. They felt full and pouty, and she experienced a sexual power she'd never known possible.

  She'd never once looked at herself full-length naked in the presence of a man. Plenty of times she'd done so alone, always critically, inspecting for flaws, for stretchmarks that never disappeared, for a belly that wouldn't quite flatten.

  When he gathered her breasts in his hands, the heat of his touch was almost more than she could bear. He leaned over her shoulder and circled one swollen nipple with his tongue. As he did, she reached up and filled her hands with his hair, drawing him down to her. His tongue flicked and danced and teased and she cried out.

  He freed one hand and yanked at his belt buckle. This time when Meg turned to face him he didn't try to stop her. She unfastened the buttons of his shirt as he kicked off his shoes and stripped his pants and briefs from his legs.

  She tried to keep her eyes on his broad chest and strong arms, or at least on the narrow hips and long legs that belied that this man spent so many hours behind a desk. He had to spend just as many working out.

  But try as she would, her gaze drifted lower. Oh, he wanted her, all right. Feeling suddenly shy, Meg whispered, “Did I do that to you?"

  Parker smiled and opened his arms. She mewed into them and they stood. He turned them slightly towards the mirror. "Oh, yes," he said, his body burning as he pressed her closer. "You did that to me."

  "Good," she said, and kissed first one nipple, then the other.

  Parker groaned and took care of the only garment she still wore by dropping to his knees and skimming her panties down her legs. She stepped free of them and he said, "You know how you said make-believe comes from using parts of reality?"

  "Mm mm."

  "Well, I think I felt some rain drops just a minute ago."

  “You did? Where?" Meg seemed unwilling to tear her attention from the sweet torture she was inflicting on his chest.

  He laughed softly. "Make-believe, remember?"

  "Oh, right." She glanced around. "If we're going to be caught in a rainstorm, maybe we'd better find shelter."

  "Exactly what I was thinking," Parker said. He pointed to the children's tent. "I think I see a nice warm, dry place right over there."

  He took her hand and naked, they crossed the room toward the tent. Meg looked so alive and so young Parker's heart twisted. Moving as one, they dropped to t
heir hands and knees and crawled inside the tent and onto the loveseat cushions.

  "What a lovely shelter," Meg said.

  "And there's some light, too," Parker said, his hand closing around the flashlight and flicking it on. Its beam danced against the low overhang of one of Teensy's cashmere blankets, filling the tent with flickering shadows. "The better to see you with," he said, lowering himself beside her on the cushions.

  Outside the storm gathered strength, rattling the windows with gusts of wind and water. Safe and warm inside their shelter, Meg in his arms, Parker could have cared less if it rained for forty days and forty nights.

  He kissed her breasts. She sighed and lifted her arms over her head. While he tasted her, he eased one hand up to touch her between her legs. She was wet and hot and, unable to restrain himself, he slipped one finger inside. She gasped and arched against his touch.

  "It's been so long," she murmured.

  That statement didn't make too much sense to Parker, but he was beyond reason. His mind had given up control to his body. He lowered his mouth to where he stroked her with his finger.

  "Sweet, sweet, Meg," he said, then tasted her.

  "Oh my," Meg said breathily, her hips lifting to him.

  He caught them up with his hands and drove his tongue deeper, then pulled back, flicking so lightly around her outer lips and inner thighs that she panted. He loved the way she wanted more and he dipped his tongue to give her what she sought.

  Tonight, he wanted to give her everything.

  Meg gave herself up to the sensations Parker was creating within her body. With every stroke of his tongue, she spiraled higher. In the shifting shadow light, through eyes half-closed from ecstasy, she watched Parker.

  She could see only part of his face, but as she gazed and gave herself up to passion, he glanced up. He smiled with his eyes.

  That moment of connection pushed Meg over the edge. The sweet swirling sensations within her caught her up and she cried out softly as her body accepted the invitation to surrender to Parker's incredible touch.

  "Oh my," she said, laughing softly. "That was so perfect."

  Parker kissed her inner thigh, then moved to her other leg. He was grinning. "I think you liked it.”

  "Liked it?" Meg smiled and lifted her arms. "Oh, Parker, I—"

  "Good," he said, fitting himself above her, smiling down at her, then easing himself inside where she still throbbed and trembled from the joyous release he'd given her. He began to move, slowly at first, then with growing intensity. "Good," he said, "because tonight you're mine."

  Meg met his every thrust with a hunger she hadn't known she possessed. When Parker reached beneath her and drew her buttocks up, claiming her even more deeply, she went wild. She must have called out his name, over and over again, and as she gave herself up to the rhythm, she felt the surge and shudder of his release.

  "Oh, Parker," she said, clutching his hair and holding him tight, her arms and knees wrapped around him as if she'd never let go. "It has never been like this for me."

  After a very long moment, he stirred and lifted his head. His eyes were still smiling, and so was his mouth. He traced the line of her throat down to the hollow between her breasts. A trickle of perspiration dotted her body there. He dipped his finger, then licked and tasted it.

  "I'm glad, and if this is make-believe," he said, "I never want to return to reality."

  Nineteen

  The problem with reality, Meg thought the next morning, was that it didn't go away. Not even after nights like last night.

  Especially not after nights as magical as that.

  She and Parker had fallen asleep curled in one another's arms. Sometime before dawn, she'd awakened and slipped from the tent. She hated to leave him there, but she had to get back upstairs before the children woke up. She'd found her clothing, dressed, and tiptoed upstairs.

  She'd spent the next two hours daydreaming, reliving every moment with Parker.

  Then Samantha woke up cranky. And Ellen woke up, talkative as ever. It didn't take long for Teddy, with Gus hanging back only slightly, to appear in the doorway.

  While the kids got dressed and brushed their teeth, Meg listened to the convoluted dream Ellen was describing, and kept one ear open for any indication Parker might be coming their way.

  Maybe she should have awakened him before she crept out of the room, but he'd been sleeping so soundly.

  And, too, she'd been slightly embarrassed. She'd given herself to him so freely, so easily, that she began to worry what he might think of her in the clear light of the next day. Once she shuffled the kids into the kitchen, she planned to peek into the library. It was better to face him without the children as witnesses.

  He wasn't in the library. The tent was there, exactly as she'd left it in the wee hours of the morning. Meg glanced in the mirror and found herself drawn towards it.

  She gazed at her image, now fully clothed, of course, and wondered how she could be the same woman who'd stood so openly and freely naked with Parker's arms around her. Had she left Parker sleeping because of the children or because she was afraid—afraid of what he'd awakened within her?

  He'd given her a taste of paradise and the punishment for her deal with Jules was knowing Parker lived in this world and not being able to have him in her life.

  If she told him the truth about her arrangement with Jules, she knew he'd be repulsed. Three days for thirty thousand dollars sounded so mercenary. He'd take her for a fortune hunter.

  They were both too proud for that.

  "Looking for me?"

  Meg lifted her eyes and saw him in the mirror. Images of the evening before filled her mind. Parker advanced, and the way he gazed at her told her that despite her leggings and tunic, he was seeing her naked once again.

  He hadn't shaved, and his hair was tousled. With the way she'd run her fingers through it during their lovemaking, that was no surprise. He wore a t-shirt and running sweats.

  She thought he'd never looked more gorgeous, except maybe last night when he'd stripped off his clothes and stood before her in front of the mirror, fully aroused.

  She swallowed and tried to find her tongue. "I—uh…" but for once she was speechless. Slowly she turned to face Parker, looking shyly up at him. "You're not upset I disappeared during the night, are you?"

  He shook his head and took her hands in his. "You're too good of a parent to let your children catch you playing the game we were playing."

  Relief flooded through her. He understood. She smiled at him and he leaned to kiss her.

  "Whoa!" Gus's voice ricocheted around the room.

  Meg and Parker jumped back, guilty as a couple of junior high kids.

  Gus looked from Parker to Meg, then nodded, as if satisfied by what he'd seen. "Ellen says she can beat me at FragZone and I say she can't. Can we use your computer to settle this?"

  "It's okay with me," Parker said, looking over at Meg.

  Meg nodded. She hoped Parker and the kids had forgotten the sentence they'd threatened to carry out in their sheik game. The computer challenge would divert them nicely. "After you've played for half an hour," she said, "we'll do lessons."

  Ellen groaned. Gus made a face. The two of them settled behind Parker's desk. Teddy wandered in, leading Jem. "Jem wants to go for a walk. May I take him?"

  "Sure," Gus said, intent on the screen.

  "Samantha and I will come too," Meg said.

  Horton appeared in the doorway, Meg's youngest dancing around his feet. "Horton Who!" she cried, then collapsed into giggles. Suddenly she stopped. Gazing up at Parker, she regarded him, intent and serious, then ran back to Horton.

  Parker rubbed his jaw. "I think I'd better excuse myself and go shave. I'm scaring Samantha." He smiled at Meg, a smile that promised he'd return. Then he left the room.

  Despite the combined commotion of the children and the dog, the room suddenly felt empty.

  Horton patted Samantha, who'd clamped herself on his leg, on t
he head. "Would you care for some breakfast, Miz Meg?"

  "I don't think I could eat a thing," she said, quite truthfully.

  Horton smiled, in a quietly wise way that reminded her of pictures of the sphinx. Meg colored, wondering if this ageless retainer knew all the secrets of the household.

  From behind the computer monitor, Ellen called out, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

  Shaking her head, Meg followed Horton from the room, Samantha, Teddy, and Jem in their wake.

  They were halfway across the central foyer when Jem halted. His tail rose, and he strained forward, sniffing the air and growling.

  "Oh, no," Teddy said, "it's Agamemnon!"

  Meg couldn't believe it. "Mrs. Fenniston brought the cat?"

  A streak of silvery gray fur slashed in front of their eyes. Jem bolted, his leash trailing, toward the smaller of the two parlors.

  "We had to, Mom," Teddy said. "He's never been boarded and the girl who keeps him was out of town. And Mrs. Fenniston said we had to leave in a hurry."

  Meg heard a crash of wood on wood and covered her ears. Then she remembered she was in charge of this traveling circus and sprang into action. "Go get that dog!"

  Teddy moved almost as fast as Jem had. Meg followed and found Jem in the front parlor whimpering in frustration. He'd knocked over a small table but the weight of the marble top had trapped the end of his leash.

  Agamemnon sat just out of range, licking his front paw and applying it to his face, all the while keeping a close eye on the dog.

  "Breakfast later," Meg called and set the table upright, then she herded Teddy, Samantha, and the dog to the side door.

  Parker told himself to leave the house by the seldom-used front door. The more he saw of Meg the more he wanted. And he had no business craving time alone with his brother's widow.

  Besides, he had a ton of work waiting for him at the office. There were the lawyers to deal with, and it was December, which meant the sugar cane fields were in the final stages of harvesting. Plus the international conglomerate that had been dangling after their commercial real estate holdings, the company Jules had been courting, had asked if Parker could meet with them that afternoon.