that Annie was attracted to him. The feeling was mutual. But he murmured softly, 'I told the driver to take me back to the hotel.'
'Ask him to return to the Brass Pelican and wait for Paul,' she said. 'Tell him that you will walk back to the St. Charles.'
The lie seemed pretty apparent to Longarm, but at least it would allow Annie to keep up appearances. He moved to the front of the carriage and looked up at the driver. 'You can head on back to the club and wait for Mr. Clement, old son,' he told the man. 'It's a nice night, so I think I'll walk over to my hotel from here.'
'As you wish, suh,' said the driver as he took up his reins once more. 'Good evenin' to yuh.'
With a gentle flick of the reins, the driver got the team moving again, and the carriage rolled on around the drive and back through the gate onto Chartres Street. Longarm turned around and looked at Annie, who was standing at the door underneath the small lamp that had been left burning there. In its soft yellow glow, she looked incredibly lovely. She lifted a hand, held it out toward Longarm.
He went to her, clasping her hand, and she led him into the house.
Inside, the mansion matched its opulent exterior. Hand in hand, Longarm and Annie moved through a foyer with gilt-edged mirrors on both walls that opened into a large, airy room with a high ceiling. When Longarm glanced up, he saw that the chamber extended all the way to a large domed skylight in the mansion's roof. A curving staircase with an alabaster rail led up to a balcony that ran completely around the center of the room. He could see a third- floor balcony as well. Annie tugged him toward the stairs, a little impatient now.
'I thought I was supposed to walk back to the St. Charles,' he said dryly.
'Don't toy with me, Custis,' she said. 'We both know why I asked you to come in. My bedroom is on the third floor.'
'Usually in cases like this, it's the lady who says something about how things are moving sort of fast.'
She laughed, a liquid, sensual sound. 'As I told you, don't toy with me. I want you, Custis Parker, and I intend to have YOU.'
As they reached the bottom of the staircase and Annie took a step up, Longarm said, 'Your brother...'
She whirled back toward him, her features taut and unreadable. 'Don't talk about Paul,' she said. 'Don't even mention him. Not tonight.'
Longarm frowned. He wasn't sure what had come over Annie. Earlier in the evening, she had seemed devoted to her brother, even though she was a little bored by his gambling. Now she acted almost as if she hated him.
But that was none of his business, Longarm told himself. He had been lucky enough to meet this beautiful woman, and now she wanted him in her bed and was completely unabashed about her desires. His chance acquaintance with Annie and Paul Clement had already paid a considerable dividend in the job he had landed with Jasper Millard. Now he seemed to be on the verge of collecting another dividend.
The fact that she was standing on the first step while he was still on the floor brought their faces close to the same level. Suddenly, Annie leaned forward, and her lips found his in an urgent kiss. Longarm slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him.
His tongue darted between her lips as she opened herself to him, and he explored the hot, wet cavern of her mouth for several moments. Her tongue replied in kind, circling his, fencing with it. Her breasts prodded softly against his chest, and her arms tightened around his neck as she hugged him.
They stood that way for a long moment, straining against each other. Then Annie broke the kiss. 'Come!' she said urgently. She reached down to catch hold of his hand. 'Come with me.'
Longarm went.
A few minutes later, he found himself in an elegantly furnished bedchamber on the third floor of the mansion. There were lace curtains on the windows and a thick rug on the floor. The room was dominated by the large, four- poster, canopied bed that was its main piece of furniture, but there was also a long dressing table with a mirror above it and a tall wardrobe with gold handles on its doors. Annie tugged him eagerly toward the bed.
Longarm stopped her and turned her around so that her back was toward him. His fingers went to the buttons of the gown and began unfastening them. With all the buttons behind her like this, he knew she hadn't done up this gown herself; she must have had help, and that made him wonder about servants. He leaned closer to her and whispered into her ear, 'Any hired help in the house?'
She closed her eyes and leaned back against him as she shook her head. 'They've all gone home for the night. None of them stay here. We have the house to ourselves.'
Longarm went back to what he was doing, which was unfastening the final button in the row that ran down her spine. He spread the dress open, revealing the smooth, honey-colored expanse of her back all the way down to the sensual twin dimples just above the cleft of her buttocks. He gathered up the thick masses of her hair and lifted them to expose the nape of her neck, and that was where he planted his lips in a long, lingering kiss that slowly slid down her back. Annie shivered and made a noise deep in her throat. He heard her whisper his name.
When he reached the small of her back, he stopped and let his tongue play over the smooth skin and downy hairs he found there. After a moment in which her breathing became noticeably heavier, Annie moved a step away from him and turned. Longarm stayed where he was, kneeling on the soft rug beside the bed. He looked up at her as she pulled the dress over her shoulders and then slowly lowered it in front of her. Her firm, apple-shaped breasts came into view. They rode high and proud on her chest, and the large brown nipples were pebbled and erect.
She pushed the gown on past her hips, taking her petticoats with it. As the frilly undergarments fell around her ankles, she stood nude before him. Longarm gloried in her loveliness, his heart beating heavily in his chest. He stood slowly and stepped over to her. She held out her arms to receive him. He kissed her again, savoring the erotic sensation of cradling her naked form against him while he was still fully dressed.
That situation didn't last long. Her fingers fairly flew over his body as she began taking his clothes off, unbuttoning here, tugging there, her movements becoming more urgent as she stripped away the layers of fabric separating his skin from hers. Finally, her hand closed around the huge pole of flesh that jutted out from his groin, and she sighed as her eyes widened in wonder.
Her back was to the bed, and as Longarm rested his hands on her bare shoulders and pressed down gently, she went eagerly, reclining and pulling him down with her. Her thighs parted and his hand found her core, which was already drenched in her juices. She clutched his shaft with both hands, making milking motions along it as his
