Talk of the Town (14 page)

Sam got up and did what he always did to re
lieve the stress of his relationships, or any other stress he managed to create in his life. He took his clothes off. He left a trail of tuxedo parts strewn across the room as he walked.

He dimmed the apartment lights even more, leaving just enough to see. He slid back a set of shoji screens at the far end of the living room and stepped onto the black stone surface surrounding his lap pool.

There were low, underwater lights that just barely illuminated the long, narrow pool. He dove noiselessly into the warm water and glided half the length before taking up a smooth stroke, then another.

Kelly took three steps out toward the sidewalk thinking the rain was letting up, only to have the sky open more violently and dump on her. She jumped back under the narrow eaves.

Thunder and lightning now came directly together with no room to count the seconds in between, which she had been mindlessly occupying herself doing in an attempt to stop her stupid thoughts. She jumped about a foot when the sky lit up around her.

Sam loved her. She was a grown woman, and they would work everything out. He would help her prove she hadn’t killed Raymond, and they’d figure out what to do with the money un
der her bed. He would know she hadn’t killed Raymond.

Suddenly she ached for him even more than before. She was in trouble. She and her soaking-wet velvet dress and the rain dripping off the end of her nose. She needed Sam.

Kelly turned around and went back through the door. Thank heavens it wasn’t locked. She stepped into the elevator. Why was she forever crying or screaming in elevators? Her life transitions seemed to take place in elevators. Maybe this would be the last one.

The doors opened on the seventh floor and she walked quietly through Sam’s front door. He was such a trusting person—he never locked any doors.

She was overwhelmed for a minute with her feelings for this amazing man. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the confession she had practiced a hundred times. He would understand.

The lights were so low she had to wait for her eyes to adjust. As she slowly walked across the room, leaving soggy footprints all over the floor, she could hear the pouring rain outside, and a sound like splashing water over in the far corner. She approached as silently as possible.

Peering through the darkness past the open screens, she caught sight of Sam as he rounded
the end of the dark pool and started toward the other end again.

His magnificent shoulders and back were revealed by the dancing underwater lights. She watched his powerful strokes propel him through the water, letting her glimpse portions of his completely naked body. It was truly the most seductive thing she had ever seen in her life. His form was perfection. He hardly broke the water as he swam. She was mesmerized. Slipping into a dark corner, she leaned against the wall and watched him.

On his next turn, Sam lifted his head slightly and caught sight of her red dress. He stopped and came up to the end of the pool closest to her. She was shivering, soaking-wet, her hair hanging in dripping strands. She clung to the wall. Her eyes flashed wild as she met his gaze.

“Come here,” he commanded.

She came slowly over to him. He stood up waist high in the water on the built-in stone steps. He put his hands softly on her ankles and slid them down to her shoes.

She flinched at his first touch, and held on to the stair rails for support. With two swift moves he slid the shoes off her feet and threw them aside. Her wet velvet dress dripped all over him. He took one step up and ran his hands up
her bare legs, then his mouth up her wild rose tattoo. She shivered—with pleasure this time, it seemed.

He let go and brought himself up next to her. She gasped and started to speak, but he put his fingers against her lips for a moment, then covered her mouth with a deep, probing kiss that said everything he was feeling. He left her for one second, reached his fallen clothes, and came back with his erection sheathed in a condom.

He unzipped her wet dress and peeled it off of her. He looked into her eyes and saw hunger and need burning through her gaze. She leaned against his arms as he ran his mouth down her neck. With one hand he unhooked her black strapless bra. As it fell away he cupped her breast in his hand gently and circled it with his tongue.

He would have her. She would be his. A dark, heated blackness overcame him.

She let out a low moan as his mouth burned and teased her breasts. All she could do was feel. He slid her dress and panties all the way off and she reached down with one hand to step out of them.

Her touch moved up his muscular thigh and pressed against his throbbing, full-blown erection. She moved her gaze down his body to drink in the gloriousness of him.

She stroked him softly with her fingertips until a deep, primal sound escaped his lips. He dropped to his knees on the smooth black stone floor and let his hands and mouth caress her everywhere, holding her from behind, until she swayed with the pleasure and grabbed his shoulders, screaming his name.

He stood, picked her up in his arms, and stepped back down into the water.

Leaning up against the poolside he expertly and smoothly guided her, lowering her onto him until she felt the incredible heat and gloriousness of his manhood slide deep within her. She almost fainted with the pleasure, and leaned against his broad chest for a minute. Then she moved on him.

The water rushed around them. He held her and moved her until together they were like music.

The sound and sensations of their lovemaking rushed into her head and made her crazy, just crazy with lust. Their bodies were part of the water, and the water flowed with their movements.

He raised her and took her breast in his hot mouth, and suddenly she was spinning into the darkness, stars exploding behind her eyes. As he held her she arched backward against him and let go of everything holding her back. She dug her fingernails into his strong shoulders and
cried out his name again and again. At that moment, he howled like an animal as he reached his release, a throbbing explosion inside her that made her release come all over again. Then she fell back against him, and he held her close.

She sobbed and put her forehead against his shoulder, letting the tears slide down into the water. He put his arms around her, picked her up, and carried her out of the pool to a wooden platform covered with thick black towels.

He dried her off gently for a minute, then quickly dried himself and carried her to his bed.

They lay closely together in the dark. He stroked her hair and her forehead until she fell asleep in his arms all night long.

It was cold where the back of her body stuck out of the covers. Kelly opened one eye, then the other. Sam had most of the covers slung over him. Early-morning light filtered through the billowy silk curtains of Sam’s bedroom windows.

She quietly pulled the silky cotton duvet around her shoulders and burrowed into his bed. Sam’s warm back was against her, and she held very still, savoring the feel of him. His essence was all around her.

Whatever she supposed was the rightness or wrongness of her actions, she didn’t care right
now. She would sort all that out in her mind later. Right now all she knew was that she belonged here next to Sam. Like she was filling a space that was intended just for her. She went back to sleep pressed up against him.

There was a knock at the door that made both of them sit straight up in bed. Kelly instinctively clutched the covers to her front. Sam bolted out of bed naked.

He grabbed a pair of silk boxers out of a drawer, and danced into them, walking at the same time. A huge grin started across her mouth, and she stuffed her face in the pillow to laugh.

She heard him stop and probably look out the view hole to the hall, she guessed. There was a long silence. Then Sam opened the door. Now, who rated a peek at Sam in his boxers?

She stopped laughing and almost got up to find out, but he quickly reappeared in the bedroom carrying an enormous basket.

He stood there, basket in hand, and looked at her for a moment. He tipped his head to the right, then the left, as if trying to focus on her face. A very, very amused look came over him.

“Very funny, Grayson. Well, this is what I look like in the morning when I sleep on wet hair. What’s with the basket?”

“It seems there are no secrets in Paradise.” He
came over, set down the basket on the night-stand, and eased himself back into bed, taking her in his arms.

His kisses started softly against her neck, then turned sensual and hot. She wrapped her arms around his broad, muscular back and luxuriated in his passion until she was mindless.

They made love with the heat of the sun streaming in on them.

Sometime later, Kelly stretched languidly, rousing Sam from his half-draped-over-her position. He was toying with her wild hair.

“The basket?” she murmured.

“Here’s the card.” He reached for it and read:

“Boy, the old ladies in Paradise are a little different than what I am used to!”

“I assume this means I have their blessing to seduce you repeatedly.” Sam ran his hand down her side and over her hip.

“Not until I brush my teeth. Do you have a spare toothbrush? I seem to have no clothes, no shoes, and no equipment.”

“That will get you service around here for sure. There’s a new one in the medicine cabinet.”

Kelly slid out of bed and padded naked to the adjoining bath.

“So tell me, what’s in there? I’m starving,” she called through the door.

“Here’s a list on the back of the card. Dottie’s orange-currant scones, Cora sent a thermos of coffee, and homemade biscuits, and wild clover honey. Hey, I can think of a few uses for that. Mrs. P. put in fresh squeezed orange juice. Myrtle put in…a can of whipped cream. Hmmmm, I wonder what that’s for?”

“I don’t know whether to be grateful or mortified.” Kelly emerged from the bathroom naked and ran for the covers. “Sam, I’m naked.”

“I noticed.” He warmed her. “You can borrow my pajama tops like Claudette Colbert in
It Happened One Night
, or I can just keep you warm.”

“How about both?” Kelly reached over him and grabbed a pear out of the basket. Sam got up out of bed, letting her browse over his fine body once again. She hadn’t noticed the muscles on his legs last night; they were amazing. And since he’d lost his silk boxers again—there was that great behind of his.

As he headed across the room he glanced behind him and caught her looking at him. He smiled and winked.

Sam managed to find her a pajama top and even set up their goodies enough to take a huge tray back to bed. The coffee was still steaming, and Kelly put whipped cream in hers.

She fed him bites of pear and a piece of scone with honey, which he licked off her fingers. Pretty soon she was deeply involved in his ability to devour honey and whipped cream off of her midriff, and then Sam got very creative, and then she got very creative back, and then he got more creative. Between moans of pleasure, she begged him to stop.

The day moved into night and Kelly stood at the kitchen window, having reclaimed “her” pajama top, to watch the sun slide behind the hills. She didn’t care about anything anymore except being happy with Sam.

Sam came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and held her in his warmth. She could feel the strength of his bare chest. She had never felt this safe in her life. She turned around to face him and melted into his kiss, then put her cheek against his chest.

“Can we just stay here forever?” she murmured.

“Let’s see, this is Sunday. I think we can have at least today without the outside world disturbing us.”

She lifted her face and looked in his eyes.
Let’s curl up in bed and watch old movies. You do like old movies, don’t you?”

“Musical, Western, or drama?”

“Comedy…love, you know, chick movies.”

“I’m willing to sacrifice for a good cause. You check my film archives and see what’s available.”

“Sam?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Sam kissed her again, slowly, lovingly, in answer. Then he took her hand and led her to the movie cabinet in his bedroom. She was amazed at the range of movies he had. He went back to the kitchen while she browsed.

Kelly decided to test Sam’s resolve and picked
Music Man
, a nice sappy musical. She went over to the TV and started deciphering the remotes.

“That one with the purple buttons runs everything,” Sam called from the kitchen.

She heard popcorn beginning to pop. “Psychic guy, huh?”

Sam rummaged in the freezer for ice cubes and clinked a few in two glasses. He pulled a couple sodas from the fridge and got a bowl for the popcorn. He leaned against the counter, waiting for the popcorn to finish.

He felt a deep satisfaction in his body. Their lovemaking was incredible. Maybe he had tamed
the skittish cat at last. Now she was in his blood, and even thinking of her, her silky skin, her long legs, made his head rush and his body respond.

He wanted to see her in his bed every morning. For as long as he could, anyway. All he had to do was be cool and take it slow. Cats always stay where they’re fed.

He took the popcorn out of the microwave and emptied the bag into the bowl. He was going to have to call out for some dinner pretty soon. Catnip and salmon. He balanced the soda glasses and bowl of popcorn in his arms and headed for the bedroom. The familiar strains of “River City” were wafting out of his bedroom, his sister’s favorite movie. Sacrifice. He groaned. Good cause. He kept walking.

“Sam, I have no clothes.” Kelly stood at the window wrapped in Sam’s silk curtains as the Monday morning light streamed in beside her.

“I suppose people might talk if we took you out in the red velvet gown.”

“Not to mention I think it shrank.”

“Hmm, this is an interesting dilemma. How about a pair of my sweats and a sweatshirt?”

“Well, hell, that might get me out to your car and over to Myrtle’s. Bring ’em on.”

Sam pulled a clean pair of gray sweats and his Penn State sweatshirt out of a dresser drawer.
Kelly climbed into them, naked underneath.

“I don’t think my clothes have ever been this happy.” Sam reached out for her.

“It’s just a damn good thing they are big on me, ’cause I don’t date guys that wear smaller sizes than I do. Okay, I’m all set. You’ve got your swim class tonight, and me, I’m…”