morning. 'Aaron and Kirk's cottage,' she said, reaching for a jelly stick. 'The boys are going to Italy in August. They've rented a place in Tuscany for a couple of weeks on a friend's recommendation. And Aaron wants to go to Capri for a few days. Kirk says it's a zoo in August, but you know how he indulges my brother's little whims. I'll call Aaron today, and then he can call Mr. Hot Stuff. They can make their own arrangements. And speaking of your editor, when is he coming again?'
'He's coming every weekend for the time being. Not next weekend, though. It's the long one, and he's flying to London to check up on his tenant. He has a house there, and he's let it out to an American for a year,' Emily explained.
'Will you miss the sex?' Rina asked frankly. 'Oh, Sam says you dodged the bullet this time, but to be careful, and start on the pill.'
'I won't have time to miss anything,' Emily told her friend. 'I have to start writing. Today. And please thank Dr. Sam for me.' She leaned over and hugged the older woman. 'And thank you for not telling me what an idiot I am.'
'The grans never said a thing to you?' Rina was surprised. Katya Shanski was, of course, a reserved woman, but Emily O hadn't seemed like that at all.
'Sex was definitely taboo in both houses. I think they were still trying to get past the fact that their kids had sex once, and I was the result. They were both pushing fifty when I was born, and the grandfathers were over fifty. It had been a bad year too. Joe's big brother had been killed in 'Nam, and Grandpa Frank went into a decline that killed him before I was three. I don't even remember him.'
'Yeah, Frank Shanski really loved his older son. Nothing Joe did after that pleased him either. I remember Frank was always saying, 'Well, Frankie would have done it better, or faster,' or whatever. The truth was, Frankie was a big dumb jock, and it was Joe who had all the brains. Water under the bridge.' Rina sighed. 'So how did you learn what little you knew about sex?'
'We had to take a health ed class in high school,' Emily said. 'I found it embarrassing. I just learned what I needed to pass the course, and then forgot it.'
'You weren't curious beyond that?' Rina was amazed. It had been all she could do to keep her kids from asking and reading about sex. And doing a little hands on investigation as well.
Emily shook her head. 'I was afraid of being like Katy and Joe and disappointing the grans,' she admitted.
'Well,' Rina said with a sigh, 'they did a wonderful job raising you, even if they weren't perfect. And Michael Devlin must be one hell of a lover, sweetie. I've never seen you glow like you are right now.'
'Rina,' Emily said slowly, 'what if I fall in love with him?'
Rina shrugged. 'Then you do,' she said fatalistically. 'What's the worst that could happen? You end up with a broken heart. Hearts mend. Trust me. I know.'
'I don't think I could have sex with him if I didn't like him. And, Rina, I really do like him so much,' Emily said softly.
'Don't let him know that, sweetie. The second you go all mushy on a guy like your Mr. Devlin, he'll panic, bolt and run. He's a wily bachelor, a ladies' man. Only if he tells you that he likes you first can you suggest that the feeling might-just might-possibly be mutual,' Rina advised.
Emily went home. She climbed up into the widow's walk of the house, where she had her office and library. She used a computer as a word processor, but wasn't connected to the Internet. Now she sat in front of the large flat- paneled screen and stared. Finally, knowing that the only way to start a novel was to put her fingers on the keyboard of her PC and write, she did so. She centered the title:
For the entire week and into the first official weekend of the summer, Emily worked. Essie, her housekeeper, saw that she was fed, and even left food in the freezer for the weekend. To her annoyance Devlin called only twice: on Monday morning to thank her for the weekend, and on Thursday to tell her he was off to England and would give her a ring on Tuesday when he was back in the office. He told her to thank Rina for her suggestion: He had rented Aaron and Kirk's cottage August through Labor Day, when they would be away in Italy.
'Don't you want to know what I'm doing?' she asked him Thursday.
'Working that cute little butt off on your book, I hope,' he said.
'I'm in bikini panties, and a lace bra,' she said teasingly. 'The ones you made me take off last Saturday before we went out to eat. Remember?'
'Umm, I have a faint recollection,' he admitted. 'Pull the panties down, Emily.' They were on his cell, and he felt safe speaking with her this way.
'Why?' she asked softly.
'Because I want you to play with that naughty little clit of yours, and tell me exactly what you are doing and how it feels,' he said in a husky voice.
'I've got them off, Devlin,' she murmured low. 'I'm brushing my right hand over my pubic curls. It's almost, but not quite, as if you were here.'
'Touch yourself,' he told her. 'Tell me which finger you're using.'
'The middle finger. Ohh, I'm getting wet already, Devlin. I wish it were your tongue there. Ohh. Ohhh, that is so nice. Are you getting a hard-on?'
'Yes,' he admitted.
'And I'm not there to soothe it away,' she murmured. 'Will you teach me to suck your cock next time, Devlin? Ohhhhh. Ummmm. That feels soooo good. Not quite as good as your tongue, but it will do for now.'
He groaned. 'When I get my hands on you, Emily, you will regret teasing me like this,' he threatened.
'I've taken my bra off, Devlin. I'm totally naked up here in my office. I'm cupping my tits in my hands, and the nipples are all puckered because I'm imagining you sucking on them.'
'Put your hands back on your cunt,' he said. 'Play with yourself again, Emily. I want you to come. I want you to think about my cock inside of you, thrusting and thrusting, hitting that little spot that sets you afire, making you scream. I'm going to bring you a present from England to help you relax when I'm away from you. There's a shop in London that carries some very wicked sex toys, and I'm going to find a special one just for you, Emily.'
'Ummmmmm.' She sighed into the telephone as she gave herself a delicious little clitoral orgasm. 'Nice, Devlin, but not as nice as you,' she told him. 'Yes, bring me a toy. I've never had one.'
'Good-bye, angel face,' he said, and the line went dead.
Irritation had raced through her. She had wanted more dirty talk from him. She hoped his hard-on lasted for half an hour, Emily thought, piqued. And now it was two a.m. Sunday morning, and she missed Devlin. And she missed the unbridled sex that they had enjoyed last weekend. Getting up, she went downstairs to her bedroom and, finding the channel changer, picked it up. She had ordered the Channel for the entire weekend earlier in the day. Because she was a single woman she could get it like that. There was no danger of some young girl flicking it on and finding her fantasy in her face before she was ready for it. Emily hit the correct numbers and clicked enter. She was immediately within the candlelit bedroom.
Yes, it was perfect, she thought, but shouldn't the velvet curtains be green, and not red? And with the thought the curtains and bed hangings were a perfect forest green, with heavy tasseled gold ropes holding them back. She was wearing pants and riding boots, and her cape was wet with the rain outside the windows.
'Oh, m'lady!' The duchess's maid ran into the room. She was a young girl, as opposed to an older, more seasoned woman. 'The duke arrived an hour ago. I told him I didn't know if you would be down to dinner, as you weren't feeling well.'
'Well-done, Mary!' the duchess replied. 'Help me out of these wet garments.'
