She barely had time to feed him, they lingered among the sheets so long the next day. But she wouldn't let him go until she had given him a late breakfast, and then she tucked into the Healy a bag containing several sandwiches and fresh peaches. 'Call me so I know you're back safe,' she said to him, kissing him sweetly on the back porch where no one could see them.
He nodded, kissed her back long and hard, and fondled her butt. 'Be good, angel face,' he said as he walked off the porch and climbed into the car.
'I only want to be bad with you, Devlin,' she told him, and waved him off as he backed out of her drive and roared down Founders Way. Well, that wasn't one hundred percent true, the afterthought struck her. She liked being bad with her duke. But the duke wasn't real. He was a fantasy lover. She wondered if she would take other fantasy lovers now that her writing had taken a turn for the hotter. The Channel offered such safe sex. No unexpected pregnancies. No STDs. Just utter incredible bliss. It wasn't real, but it certainly seemed like it was real when you were experiencing it. Going back into the house, she considered having the Channel tonight, but it seemed almost disloyal to Devlin to get it so soon. Couldn't she live without sex for a single night? She grinned. Now that she knew what it was all about, she wasn't sure she could.
He called her around four to say he was back in his apartment, and the Healy garaged. 'It prefers your driveway to its space in the building,' he told her.
'My Healy misses yours,' she teased. 'She liked being nose-to-nose with your Healy in the drive. How was the traffic?'
'Good, but thickening as I got near town,' he said.
They talked for a few more minutes, and then he rang off, telling her, 'Now playtime is over, angel face. Get back to work. I'll call you in a few days.'
'Okay,' she said. 'And I'll see you next weekend.'
'You bet you will,' he promised.
Emily hung up, and then, considering the time, she dialed Savannah's cell number. It wasn't that late in England, and Sava was a night owl anyway.
'Hallo?'
'He went back to the city, and I'm alone,' Emily said.
'Well, you've had a month of him now. Not tired? Not bored?' Savannah asked.
'I will never be tired or bored with Devlin,' Emily answered honestly.
Savannah laughed. 'I'm so glad you finally know what love really is, pet. And the sex? Still incredible? I always heard he was the best.'
'God, yes!' Emily sighed. 'Oh, I know that because he's my first and only lover, some people might say I didn't know what I was talking about, but I do. I guess it's an instinct, Sava. The duke may look like him, but he isn't at all like him in either personality or in the boudoir. Does that sound crazy?'
'Not to me,' Savannah replied. 'The gentlemen on the Channel seem to have their own personalities. I don't really understand it, but I also don't want to question it.'
'I'm coming to England next month. Devlin goes to Frankfurt, and then we're meeting. We'll come down to Barrow and spend a few days. Make me a reservation at the inn in the village, will you? The best they have to offer.'
'You'll stay with us,' Savannah protested.
'Not this time,' Emily said. 'We want a romantic interlude, and we can hardly have one at the manor. Besides, you listen at keyholes, and don't deny it.'
Savannah giggled. 'That's how I gained my first knowledge of sex,' she admitted. 'Mama used to bed my father's brother every chance she could. Of course, she was a widow, but Uncle Dorian was married. Mama always left her bedroom door open except when Uncle Dorian came. I wondered why. I certainly got an eyeful and earful that first time I peeked. My nanny caught me and hauled me away, muttering about bad girls coming to bad ends.' Savannah laughed. 'Thank God for the Channel, for I seem to have my mama's wild libido! But I would never embarrass Reg. I do love him.'
'You'll make the reservation then?'
'For when?' Savannah asked.
'We'll get there October tenth. He's leaving the fourteenth. I'll come up to the manor house then until the sixteenth, if that's all right with you,' Emily said.
'That would be super,' Savannah agreed. 'Reg goes up to London a few days a month, and we'll have girl time while he's gone. The Channel is trying something new here in England and France, and it's a perfect time to use it.'
'What is it?' Emily asked.
'It's a new channel changer. You know how they replaced our old ones with one that got us in by simply pressing the enter button? Well, now there's a new one that you can program to allow two women to enter the same fantasy at the same time! And I've been working on a wonderful idea about a Victorian bordello. You know how prim and proper the Victorians are said to have been. Well, sexually they were animals, darling! While old Reg is up in London we can indulge our most wicked little selves at the Cock and Cunt. That's what I call the place.' Savannah chuckled.
'Sounds very wicked,' Emily said slowly. 'I don't know if that's my style, Sava. You are far more adventurous than I am.'
'Emily, we hold the power in the Channel. That's what makes it so ideal for experimentation. If you say stop, it stops. Not like real life, where, when a man gets past the point of no return, you can't say, 'Whoa, Nellie,' ' Savannah reminded Emily. 'I know these last few months you've been a participant in the Channel and not an observer, but I also know you've probably played it safe. Try something new and maybe just a little dangerous. We'll be together, darling. Aren't you just the least bit curious to know what it would be like to have multiple partners at the same time? Or to spend the night entertaining several different cocks in your pussy? Come on, admit it. Every woman thinks about it, and given the right circumstances most of them would attempt it at least once. I've created a really fun group of gentlemen. There's Bertie and Willie, Freddie and St. Albans. And several others. More than enough to go around. Don't make a decision now. Wait until you get here. I'm really excited about this. Imagine being able to go into the Channel with your best friend.'
'It is tempting,' Emily considered thoughtfully.
'Devlin will be on a plane flying back to the States. Old Reg will be up in London, and you and I will be in our fantasy getting ourselves fucked to distraction. I know it's not the correct period for you, but sex is sex. You might pick up something you could use in
'I might,' Emily said.
Savannah laughed. 'You are intrigued, aren't you?'
'I admit it,' Emily said.
'Then we'll have to do it, darling,' Savannah decided for them.
'I expect we'll be doing it a whole lot that night,' Emily riposted back.
'Gracious, what a wicked thrust,' Savannah said drolly.
'There will be lots of wicked thrusts that night, won't there, Sava?'
Savannah laughed. 'God, I hope so! I haven't had a good orgy in ages, and you haven't had one at all. I do so want your first orgy to be fun, darling.'
'I'm going to ring off, Sava,' Emily said. 'I'll talk to you before I come. Have the inn e-mail me a confirmation.'
'Of course. I'll tell old Reg you sent kisses,' Savannah replied. 'You know he would fuck you if you let him, Emily. He's always fancied you.'
'Well, I wouldn't fuck him. Not my best friend's husband,' Emily said, a bit shocked. 'Give William and little Selena a kiss for me, will you?'
'Well, just thought I'd ask now that you're well broken in and all. It's his birthday in a few weeks, and you would really make a terrific gift. I mean, another consumer something is so predictable, after all.'
'Savannah! You are a dreadful woman,' Emily said, half laughing. 'The one woman in this world you will never
