Night Games (19 page)

Imagined.
Brian knew his gaze was mocking. “Don't play games, sweetheart. We both know I'll be the man in your book. And when I'm fantasizing, I'll sure as hell be picturing you.”

He watched her cheeks turn pink.

“Fine. Now that the gloves are off, I'd like to suggest something else. I'd like to actually try the foreplay stuff, to get a clear focus on my feelings. I can do a lot better job with the emotions in my book if I've really experienced them.”

“You must have a lot of faith in my self-control, babe.” He hoped it wasn't misplaced.

She cocked her head to study him. “From what I've heard, your control is legendary. But one thing puzzles me. I'm playing devil's advocate here, but what would be so terrible about breaking that one clause in your contract? No real harm would be done, and I don't think the Old One would throw you off her team. You're too valuable. In fact, she wouldn't have any way of knowing if you broke the clause unless you told her.”

“The contract is a promise. I never break promises.”
Leave it alone.
Brian knew he shouldn't say anything else, but something drove him on. “My mother left me in a spaceport when I was a little kid. The last thing she said to me was that she'd be right back. She broke her promise. I lived on the streets until I was sixteen. I lied, stole, and did things you don't need to know, but
I never broke a promise.”
Except for that one time. And I've paid for it. God, how I've paid for it.
He felt a moment of despair. How could she understand where he was coming from? Now she'd ask a lot of questions he didn't want to answer.

She glanced down at her pen again, hiding her expression. “Is there anything that would make you break a promise?”

“It would have to be something more important than anything else that's ever happened in my life.” And nothing had ever been more important than what happened in that spaceport so many years ago.
Except for his one broken promise.

Ally nodded, but she didn't ask another question. When she raised her head he saw tears glittering in her eyes.

“Hell.” His comment was succinct and expressed his feelings exactly.

Her smile was a little watery. “Okay. Blinking madly so I won't embarrass you any more than I have already.” Her smile faded. “Look, if you think acting out the foreplay will threaten your control, we don't have to do it.”

Brian's face relaxed into a smile. He had enough male ego to reject her doubts about his self-control. “My control is in good shape, babe.” And he'd prove it even if it killed him. “Maybe we could start with a sensual massage.”

Ally nodded. “Sounds good, but I want it within the context of a sexual fantasy.” She bit her lip as she thought. Then her expression
brightened. “A harem. That's it. Harems have sensual connotations.”

Brian lowered his lids on his mental picture. He smiled. “You're sure you really want to act it out?” He didn't want to think about his disappointment if she said no. He'd never given a massage, but anything that got his hands on Ally's bare body had to be good. He stopped smiling. Painful, but good.

“Yes. This is something I need to do. I'll write down my impressions as soon as we're finished.” She glanced around the wagon. “I guess the bed's the only place with enough room. We—”

She was interrupted by wild scratching on the door accompanied by feline yowls that began as guttural expressions of outrage and climbed the scale to screams that threatened eardrum damage.

It was now Brian's turn to drag his fingers through his hair. “She won't give up. I'll have to talk to her.”

“Sure.” Ally glanced at him, then let her gaze skitter away.

No wonder Ally looked uncertain. He was steamed, and he didn't bother hiding it. Striding to the door, he flung it open.

“We need to talk.” Without breaking stride, he scooped the angry calico fur ball into his arms and leaped to the ground. Brian stopped when he got far enough away from the wagon so Ally wouldn't have to listen to a grown man yelling at a cat. He plunked Her Bossiness onto a rock wall,
then sat beside her so they could communicate eye to eye. “When Jupe comes back, I'm having him add something to that incentive clause he's negotiating.”

The Old One's gaze turned cautious.

What the hell had he said? He exhaled sharply. Fine. Time for complete honesty. He wanted to have sex with Ally O'Neill. And the only way his personal code of honor would allow it was if he changed the no-sex clause in his contract.
What about your other reasons for not having sex while you're here?
Brian pushed the thought aside. He wanted Ally enough to ignore anything that would stop him. And that was scary because he'd never wanted a woman so badly.

“Here's the deal, Boss. I'm taking the no-sex clause from my contract and putting it into the incentive deal. If I have sex outside the game, then you don't have to pay me any bonuses. It's a win-win situation for you.”

The Old One blinked her big yellow eyes at him. He could almost read her mind. She liked the idea of not having to pay him, but still feared that sex with someone from this time could lead to him wanting to stay here.

“Don't worry. I give you my word I'll be back with the Monarchs next season. I don't belong here.” Then why did he feel so at ease, so alive in this time?

But he really wasn't considering staying here. He had too much going on in 2502.
Like what?
His kids. The wealth he channeled into supporting
his kids was important, but he liked touching their lives in other ways. A placement in a loving home, a start in a good career . . .

Why was he even having these thoughts? He just wanted to have sex with Ally, get her out of his system, then move on. “Accept this, Boss. It's the way things are going to be.”

She turned her head to study a bird that showed really bad judgment in landing on the rock wall not far from her. Brian knew she wasn't thinking about the bird, but his ultimatum. He didn't underestimate the Old One for a second. She'd accept his terms because she wanted to hang on to him, but that wouldn't stop her from trying to make sure he didn't stay here. He'd leave, all right, only not before he had sex with Ally.

But that wouldn't happen today. First, he wanted to work through her foreplay fantasies. Slowly. Savoring all the senses, the things he'd never allowed himself to enjoy before. Right now he felt freer than he had in years. But if he wanted to move slowly, he would need to do something physically draining. If he went back to the wagon now, he might rush Ally into something she wasn't ready for.

Glancing toward the castle, he spotted Nebula seated lotus fashion doing her communing. She'd just have to finish later because he was ready for his workout.

Ally watched Brian walk toward the keep. Why
hadn't he come back to the wagon? What had he said to the Old One?

The Old One turned her head to study Ally, then leaped from the wall and padded over to look up at her. The cat turned toward the spaceage bathroom, then glanced over her shoulder. When Ally only blinked, she walked a few feet then stared back again.

“Okay, you want me to follow you. I get that. But why?”

The Old One wasn't answering questions.

Curious, Ally followed her into the bathroom. Ally used the bathroom when necessary, but she'd controlled any urge to explore. She felt like a coward, but she didn't want to face any more evidence of Brian's life in 2502.

The Old One led her to a corner where there was something that looked like a waterbed enclosed in glass. Even as Ally watched, she could see the surface of the bed undulate. She forced her gaze away . . . and saw the sign. Reality experience: Sex Super Bowl.

Drawing a startled breath, Ally glanced at the Old One. The cat's yellow eyes gleamed with a challenge Ally knew she didn't want to accept. Where had this come from? It hadn't been here the last time she'd visited. She couldn't have missed this.

Jupe? Of course. He had a Constructor and could modify this building if he chose. But why?

The Old One fixed her with one last hard stare, then padded from the room. The door swung shut behind her.

Leaving Ally alone with her decision.

 

 

 

 

To wimp out or not to wimp out? This was Ally's chance to glimpse the future. If it hadn't involved Brian, she wouldn't hesitate.

Ally took a deep breath. She should see this. If it turned her off Brian, so be it. Wouldn't that be better in the long run? She could get his help with her book and still maintain her emotional distance. She didn't want any regrets when he returned to his time.

How real would it be? Could she handle it?
Give me a break, I'll still be wearing clothes.
Anyway, how long could it last? Two minutes? Ally smiled grimly. No matter what Brian did to the women of his time in two minutes, it wouldn't affect her. Women in 2002 expected a little more.

Opening the door, she stepped in before she could think of more reasons to run the other way.
The quiet click of the door behind her seemed ominous.

Get real.
She'd been to an IMAX theater. This would feel like that.

Gingerly, she lowered herself onto the bed, then frowned. She didn't feel physical movement in the bed, but it was almost as if there were waves of energy. . . . She glanced around. Where the heck were the buttons to . . .

Ally's eyes widened and her breath caught as everything around her changed. The bed still remained, but now it rested in the center of a playing field with many similar beds. Screaming people packed the stadium, and along the sidelines male cheerleaders wearing what looked like cellophane briefs in their team's color urged on the fans. Sunlight poured through a clear domed roof. It bathed her body, touching her breasts, stomach, and thighs with warmth.

With a sigh of enjoyment she spread her legs to let the warmth touch her everywhere. Her nakedness didn't surprise her, and she felt no embarrassment. Only anticipation.

Her gaze drifted over the field. She felt satisfaction that today she'd be pleasured by the best. For a few brief moments Brian Byrne would cover her. Her orgasm would be intense, more powerful than anything she'd ever experienced, even though she came from an outer planet where men were still sexually alive. She never doubted her expectations would be met.

The crowd hushed, then broke into thunderous
applause as Brian strode toward her from the tunnel. The other players on the field seemed invisible when Brian was in the competition.

Out of her peripheral vision she could see the other players pouncing on their women, arms and legs tangling in a frantic groping they hoped would end with a climax.

But then she thought no more of the other players. Brian stood beside her bed, his powerful body thrown into shadow as he blocked out the sun. His muscular torso glistened with a damp sheen, drew her gaze to his legendary sexual assets, his tools of the game. His erection was as impressive as the man, and as she stared he ran his finger along its length, touched the head with its beaded moisture.

“Look what you do to me, woman.” His voice was soft, a male's admission that she had the strength to command his sexual reaction.

She felt powerful, primitive. The heated scent of a predatory male stirred her own hunter's instinct.

With a lithe, unhurried movement, he knelt on the bed and straddled her hips. Then he just looked at her. “Feed me with your passion. Take my body in payment.” His order was a harsh whisper.

She lifted her hips convulsively, her unexpected surge of emotion shaking her. She was dominator and dominated, every woman who would ever know these feelings.

Leaning forward, he touched her lips with his
tongue, traced their outline. She opened her lips to him, and he took her mouth with a hunger born of man's darkest need to plunder, to take all that a woman could give. She understood the need, welcomed it.

Too soon he lifted his mouth from hers, but before she could moan her disappointment, he lowered his head to her breasts and touched the tip of each nipple with his tongue.

She held her breath, waiting. But instead of drawing her nipple into his mouth, he shifted his hips, then touched each nipple with his erection. Caught in his erotic web, she couldn't tear her gaze from her nipple bathed in the proof of how much he wanted
her.

Only when he put his finger beneath her chin did she lift her gaze to his.

“Look into my eyes, woman. Know that whatever happens for the rest of our lives, this time was ours. There can never be another woman to fill this exact moment in my life. It will always be yours.”

Sitting back on his heels, he put his hand between her legs, touched the part of her that seemed to be the center of every sensation she'd ever feel. And in her last moment of coherent thought, she wondered how he'd known how much she needed to be the “only one,” if only for this short time.

He wasn't a gentle lover as he moved between her thighs and spread her legs farther apart. Lifting
her to meet his thrust, he plunged deeply, burying himself in her.

This was how she wanted it. Hard, with each powerful thrust filling her body as well as something far more elemental. Each new plunge renewed her womanhood.

As she clenched her muscles, tightening her flesh around his, her gaze followed the path of a single drop of moisture that slid down his neck and chest, then clung for a moment to his right nipple. She wanted to touch his nipple with her tongue as he'd touched hers, but it was against the rules.

How many other women had suffered this way, denied themselves the joy of sliding their fingers over his warm, slick flesh? She gritted her teeth. She wouldn't think of other women. This was
her
time.

The drop glided lower, across his hard stomach, down to his groin. Gazing at their joining dragged a moan of pleasure from her.