Beauty Queen (17 page)

Rebecca lowered her hands as Matt handed the guy a wad of cash. Keep it, he said, and took the Styrofoam containers the guy handed him, rolled up the window, and turned and deposited the containers on her lap. Try not to pass out on those, will you? Im really hungry.

Rebecca blinked at the white containers and laughed desperately. Oh, Mattie, this is not what you think! she said dramatically and dismissively while her mushy brain pinged around, trying to think of what, exactly, this was.

What I think is that you need a steak and a bed, he said in that bossy way of his.

I just slipped. Havent you ever slipped? she asked, elbowing him in the ribs.

Yes. In fact, I think I might have slipped right off my rocker, he said with a smile. And either you have a strange method of trying to get in my pants, or youre seriously inebriated, he said as he put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.

As if she snorted, folding her arms beneath her breasts. And Im not seriously inebriated, only a little, she said, holding up thumb and forefinger together to show him just how little. And if I wanted in your pants, Big Pants, Id be a whole lot more .. . more ... Now here was a good questionshed be a whole lot more what?

Careful? he suggested.

Interested, she said, pleased that she actually thought of a word.

Matt laughed at that. How much more interested can you be than a face plant, I ask you? He stopped at a red light and grinned at her. Admit it. You dont even know what youd be.

I know, she insisted, drumming on top of the Styro-foam containers. But Im not going to tell you, because the last thing I would ever want from you is sex. Gawd!

Matt was still grinning as the light changed. Hey, sex with me is not half bad, if I do say so myself. But okay, lets just pretend that you did want in my pants. How would you get there?

A better question was, how were they having this conversation? Rebecca felt pretty certain that the words sex and Matt were a dangerous combination, and lifted her chin. That is none of your beeswax, mister!

You know what I think? Matt continued, clearly ignoring her. I think youd smile that little smile of yours, he said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. You know, that pretty little come hither smile you have.

Puh-leez, Rebecca said, swaying too far and bumping into him when he turned a corner. I dont have a come hither smile.

You do he insisted as he turned into a parking garage. Youve even shot it at me a couple of times, and dont lie, he said as he coasted into a reserved spot.

Oh my God, you honestly think that? she exclaimed, almost dumping the containers in her determination to set him straight. Whatever I flashed at you was not a come hither smile, Mattie Popinjay, she said with all authority. Because I smile all the time and I havent had sex in four years Something in her Chablis-soaked brain stopped hershe sure hadnt meant to say that out loud.

For his part, Matt didnt even move, just stared bug-eyed at the concrete wall in front of them. Did you ... did you just say what I think you said? he asked at last, his voice full of awe. I mean, / was just kidding around. So were you, right? Right, Rebecca?

Where are we? she asked, trying to change the subject.

Ohmigod, how is that possible? He turned to look at her now with the same morbid fascination of viewing a wreck on the highway. How can someone go four years without having sex?

Well, its not easy! she snapped, fumbling to open the

car door, which she could not, for the life of her, figure out.

Not easy? Id say it was goddamn near impossible, he said, shaking his head, and got out of the car. He ducked his head back inside. You really are an alien, arent you? he asked, then disappeared.

An alien ... But before Rebecca had a chance to collect her many wild and loose thoughts, Matt was at the passenger door, relieving her of the Styrofoam containers as he simultaneously grabbed her elbow to pull her out.

She stumbled out of the car, but as everything was sort of swimming around her, she caught the door to steady herself and very cautiously dipped down to retrieve her bag.

Are you all right? I mean, besides . .. you know ... that? he asked, gesturing vaguely at her. His question didnt really sink in, however, because Rebecca had noticed his face was looming large in front of her, still smiling, and he seemed a little softer now, not all hard edges, and she was a little taken aback by how handsome he was. So handsome that she unthinkingly reached up and touched his cheek to feel his five oclock shadow. You know, you really are cute.

With a roll of his eyes, he shut the door behind her. So you said. He put an arm around her waist, and pulled her into his side as he balanced the steak containers. Okay, one foot in front of the next.

I know, she said, even though she was stumbling along beside him. And she was concentrating so hard on walking straight that she didnt even notice where they were until they were in an elevator and he punched the P. She hiccupped. Tried to think of what Peeeeeee stood for. Where are we again? she asked.

Matt sighed loud and long.

When the elevator door opened onto a carpeted corridor, Matt grabbed her hand and stepped out, pulling her along with him, and causing her very large bag to bang against him and almost topple the containers. There were no doors in the hallway, just one on either end of the long, long corridor. Matt pulled her along to the door at the end, stuck a

key into it, and pushed the door open. Then he pushed Rebecca through it.

She stumbled into a large room painted white, with gray tile floors covered with Pottery Barn rugs (she had studied the catalogs at length during periods of raging insomnia). The furniture was black and chrome; the light fixtures were chrome, too. It was like walking into a page from Architectural Digest. Clean. Stark. Uninhabitable. Wait a minute ... what is this place? she asked, turning around slowly so as not to make her head swim any more than it already was.

My place, Matt said, depositing the Styrofoam containers on a granite bar. Welcome to Chez Parrish, he said, shrugging out of his coat.

Chez Parrish. Whoa. How had they ended up here? Wait a minute, bucko

Ach! Matt said, throwing up a hand and stopping her before she could begin. Not getting in your pants, remember? But youre too intoxicated to drive, and I am sure as hell not driving you all the way out to Ruby Falls. Why the hell are you living in a retirement community anyway?

Why are you living in a ... a sanitary penthouse? she shot back.

Matt put his hands on his waist and frowned at her. Okay, Mork, time to put some steak in there and soak up that barrel of Chablis.

Im not hungry! she stubbornly protested, and lurched toward the full plate glass windows that formed one wall of his apartment.

At least now I understand what it is with you, he said, loosening his tie as he followed her to the windows.

What do you mean?

Just that Id be a little uptight, too, if Id been in the desert for four years. Judas Priest, he said, shaking his head again with that bewildered look as they stood, side by side, looking out over the lights of the city. Or the huge blurry blob of light as it were. Why havent you? he asked after a long moment.

Why havent I what?

With a chuckle, Matt looked at her. You know what, Rebecca Lear? Youre a mess, he said with a warm smile. Im asking why someone as beautiful as you hasnt had sex in four years.

Dear God, was that her heart thumping in her ears? Because, Einstein, she said, folding her arms across her middle to steady herself, I was married to a jerk, and then I wasnt. You cant just order sex up from the yellow pages, you know.

Actually, you can, he responded, and flashed a sexy, George Clooney smile as his eyes wandered the length of her, from the top of her hair, down to the tips of her toes. I have to say thats a real shame, he uttered, lifting his gaze to hers, his smile now shining through his smoky gray eyes. I would think the vast majority of men on this planet would think they had died and gone to heaven if they had a chance to be with you.

The unexpected sentiment unhinged her. She wanted to say that Bud sure hadnt wanted to be with her, and at present, she wasnt exactly turning them away from her door and that really, in spite of what everyone seemed to think, men rarely approached her. But damn, Matt was standing there looking so handsome, so ... manly man, that for a moment, Rebecca couldnt remember why she didnt like him. And to make matters worse, the new Rebeccathe saucy drunk one reminded the old Rebecca that it had indeed been FOUR YEARS. Four long years. Boring years. Achy years.

What? he demanded of her casual perusal, still grinning.

Would you? she asked in a whisper, and through no conscious thought, stepped forward, stepped into him, stepped so close that her breasts brushed against him, and she lifted her hand, laid it against the hard wall of his chest. Would you want to be with me?

Matts gaze drifted to her hand, her breasts. I dont know, he said softly. Ive never made love to an alien before. Rebecca smiled dreamily. And besides, he

added as he lifted his hand to brush hair from her eyes, youre drunk.

No, Im not. Im free, she corrected him, amazed at how free she did suddenly feel. Come on, Mattie ... you owe me a favor, remember? she murmured, and closed her eyes.

Nothing happened.

She felt a tug of disappointment and the world spinning furiously beneath her, and just as she was about to let go and fall into the vortex, she felt the slightest whisper of breath against her lips.

Rebecca froze; the feel of it was shockingly raw. Come back, her heart whispered. Come back, come back. For all she knew, she said it out loud, because the next thing she knew was the pressure of his lips on the skin of her neck, a pressure so softly demanding that it immediately fired down to her groin.

The sensation of it rocked her; it was a thousand-watt, searing jolt of life through her body, a sensation as deeply familiar and buried as it was new and fresh. Like silk against her skin, his lips slid to her mouth. Her heart and her body were instantly on fire, a raging inferno; Rebecca opened her mouth, and the pressure of his lips intensified as his tongue dipped into her mouth. Matts fingers tangled in her hair as he pulled her closer, lifting her to him. Held tightly against his chest, his scent filling her nostrils, his taste filling her mouth, she wondered if he could feel her heart pounding, because this was, she realized, the most exquisite feeling.

That feeling turned to fever, a fever that built in her chest, filling the space her pounding heart did not, then traveling fast and furious to her groin. Matt shifted, pressed his body tightly against hers, and Rebecca realized in that sensual fog that her body was eagerly curving into him, melting against the hard ridge of his desire. Matts hand drifted from her face to her breast, brushing his palm lightly across it, then cupping it, feeling the swell of it in his palm.

She felt herself melting away when his lips sought her

neck again, and she let her head fall back, felt her entire body melt into that oblivion of pure sensation, until she was floating and spinning below the weightlessness of his kiss.

They were moving, waltzing backward, or something close to it, Matt moving her, Matts hands on her back, lifting her, moving her. Her body was shimmering, pulsing around him, absolutely alive, and she drifted onto the leather couch when he gently pushed her into a sitting position. Smiling, her head lolling along the top of the couch, she felt him go down one knee before her, unbutton her blouse, his hand on her breast. Somewhere in her mind she thought to protest, but couldnt. Didnt want to.

Its unnatural, four years, he murmured. No one should have to go so long as that.

I should stop, she said breathlessly to the ceiling. Make me stop.

You want to stop? Or do you want to end the drought? he asked, his voice deep and soft. Rebecca ... do you want me to make you come?

Ooooh, she breathed. She could feel the dampness between her legs, and felt her alter ego, the new Rebecca, take firm control. Yes! she whispered, and lifted her head through the fog to smile dreamily at the man on his knees between her legs. Yes . . . make me come.

Matt did not hesitate; he surged upward so that his mouth was on hers, devouring hers, as his hands slipped into her filmy blouse, pulling her forward until he could slip it off her. She felt a cool burst of air on her back, felt the heat of him on her chest as his fingers sought the hook of her bra and released it. Her bra went slack and slid down one arm. She grabbed it, fumbled out of it, and tossed it somewhere, who knew, because Matts mouth was on her breast, devouring first one, then the other, and she couldnt move, couldnt think. Every flick of his tongue, every nip of his teeth shot down to the apex of her thighs. Her head lolling against the couch, she let the sensation of his mouth and hands wash over her in one hot tide, pulsing between her legs.

His hands were on her hips, pushing her skirt up, pushing

her legs apart, while she just sat there, the pulse racing between her legs now, beating out a desperate rhythm toward a climax her body had been denied for four years.

And then she felt his mouth over her panties, heard his strangled moan, and then the cry of pleasure that was hers. He moved against her, and she realized she was panting. The fabric of her panties suddenly disappeared, and she was shaken by the flawless and intense pressure of his tongue between the slick folds of her sex.

Rebecca cried out to the ceiling as her body seized around his head, quivering uncontrollably with the sensation that was rifling through her body. With his hands, Matt pulled her farther down, then held her hips steady as he slowly and deliberately licked the valley. Her panting turned to groans of pure bliss as the pressure in her groin built to an intolerable pulse. Make. Me. Come! she said through gritted teeth, grabbing onto his shoulders, his head, his hair, whatever she could grasp in the fog that surrounded her, unable to endure the torture of his lips or his tongue another moment. And suddenly, so suddenly she could not catch her breath, his lips closed around her flesh and he sucked it into his mouth.