9781631050183CrossingBoundariesValiereNC (5 page)

“Playing food detective, are we?”

“It’s fun. You know I like to cook.”

When they walked in the door of the restaurant, Todd had his arm around Cassie’s shoulders. There was no mistaking the fact that they were a couple, rather than two business associates or some other more innocuous combination. An irascible-looking fellow with what appeared to be a permanent scowl sat at a table near the door. He looked up and saw them, and his scowl deepened.

“I wonder if that’s your buddy Gene,” Todd speculated.

“I’m sure there are others who share his attitude,” Cassie replied with a sigh. “If Gene and his attitude were unique, the world would be a much happier place.”

The maitre d’ seated them, saying, “Max will be your server. He’ll be with you shortly.” He handed them menus.

Cassie perused hers. “Ooooh, they have lobster Newburg!” she squealed excitedly when she saw it was one of the daily specials.

Todd didn’t even open his menu. “I know what I’m having,” he said. “But how about an appetizer? Would you like to split a plate of cherrystone clams?”

“How about the clams oreganata?”

“How about we get both and share both and make absolute pigs of ourselves?” Todd suggested happily. “I’ll order the six-clam plate of cherrystones instead of the nine-clam plate.”

When Max, the waiter, showed up at the table, he asked, “Would you care for something from the bar first?”

“No, thank you,” Todd said politely, “but we’ve got our mouths set on goodies from the kitchen.”

“What would the lady like for an appetizer?” Max looked at Cassie.

Todd spoke up. “We’re going to share two appetizers,” he said. “The cherrystones—a plate of six, please—and the clams oreganata.”

“Very good,” Max said. “And did you want to give me your main course order now?” He trained his gaze on Cassie.

“I’ll have the lobster Newburg, please,” she said, feeling her eyes glimmer expectantly. “And the potatoes au gratin, and the side salad.”

“And I’ll have the shrimp à la Morgana,” Todd piped up. “With Spanish rice, please, and curried peas.”

“Very good,” Max said again. Then, as Cassie and Todd handed him their menus, he said, “Thank you,” collected the two menus, and pivoted briskly away from the table.

“We’ll both be stuffed,” Cassie said with a giggle. “I’ll bet we each gain five pounds tonight. It’s a good thing I’m not watching my weight.”

“You don’t need to. You’re perfect as you are. Anyhow we can work it off each other when we get back home.” He winked at her.

They talked about goings-on at the station, and about the fact that one of the other engineers had heard from Jack after his first day at his new job in Topeka, where he was settling in happily to both his new job and his new apartment. By and by their appetizers came. Both Cassie and Todd dug into the clams with gusto. Cassie had four of the clams oreganata and two of the raw cherrystones. Todd had four of the cherrystones and two of the others. Both pronounced themselves satisfied so far with how the dinner was going. “I can’t wait till my lobster gets here!” Cassie said, squirming excitedly like a child.

“How is everything so far?” Max asked when he came to clear the appetizer plates.

“Fine, thank you,” Todd said.

“Yum,” Cassie said.

“Good. I’ll be back shortly,” Max said, vanishing with the used plates.

They continued their talk about happenings around the station. WAAA had a TV station too. “Would you like to work there someday?” Cassie asked.

“Sure. Why not? I like learning new things,” Todd answered.

Chalk up another point in his favor,
Cassie thought.

Not too long thereafter, Max returned with their main courses. “Lobster for the lady,” he said, putting the plate down in front of her. “And shrimp for the gentleman.” He placed Todd’s dinner in front of him. “Enjoy your meal. I’ll be back to see if you need anything.”

Todd and Cassie dug in with gusto, each pronouncing the meal perfect. Todd gave Cassie a taste of his shrimp so she could see if she could identify the secret ingredient.

“Turmeric, rosemary—and there’s another spice too, but I’m not sure what it is,” she said. “Maybe coriander?” She was far from certain. “Not cumin. Not cardamom. Not celery seed or mustard seed.”

“Have another taste,” Todd urged, and she gladly took another nibble from his fork, but she still couldn’t be sure.

“Well, I’ll try it again at home with turmeric, rosemary, and coriander,” he said.

“Want to taste mine? Turnabout is fair play,” Cassie offered, proffering a forkful of lobster Newburg toward him.

Todd held up a hand in a “stop” motion. “Thanks, but I’ve had the lobster Newburg here before. It’s wonderful and you’ll love it, but I don’t need a taste.” He smiled at her. “Do you want another bite of my shrimp?”

“Well, yes, but no thanks. I mean, I could eat the whole thing up, but I don’t want to run out of room for my lobster. I’ll pass.”

They fell silent, occasionally commenting on how good their dinners were but otherwise focusing on their food rather than conversation. Neither one could finish the whole dinner. There was some of everything left over when they both said, “Uncle!” and put their utensils down. There was shrimp, lobster, rice, potatoes, peas, and salad.

Max had already returned once to inquire if everything was all right, and now he returned to ask, “Do you want to take home the leftovers?”

“Yes, please,” Todd replied.

“Dessert? Coffee?” Max inquired.

Todd looked at Cassie, who gave a short laugh and shook her head.

“Just the check, please,” Todd requested.

Max returned in a few minutes with the check and a large bag imprinted with
POOCH-PAK FROM MORGANA’S. TOO GOOD FOR FIDO
. Reading the legend on the bag, Todd said, “I’ll say! Even if I had a dog, he wouldn’t get these.” Then, to Cassie, “Why don’t you take home all of it? You can have a little more of the shrimp that way.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t,” she protested, but he said, “I insist. Don’t fight me. You’ll lose. It’ll make a grand lunch. Just heat everything up except the salad.”

“Thank you,” she said graciously, placing the Pooch-Pak on her side of the table.

Max returned with the check, and Todd pulled out his debit card. “I don’t like to run up a big credit card bill,” he said to Cassie. “That way I can pay it in full when the bill comes, and I don’t have to pay interest.”

Cassie mentally chalked up another point in Todd’s favor.

They returned to Todd’s apartment, and Cassie stuck her leftovers in his fridge. “Don’t let me forget to take these home,” she said.

“If you forget, you can get them tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“I thought I’d take you to the jazz club tomorrow. How does that sound?”

For a minute Cassie thought of the laundry she had to do and the fact that her place needed cleaning. Then she said, “Sure.” Going to the jazz club with Todd—or doing
anything
with Todd—was more appealing than doing laundry or housecleaning.

They were standing in the kitchen. Todd bestowed a kiss on Cassie’s nose, then kissed his way to her ear, where he gave up kissing in favor of nibbling. He nibbled at her earlobe, then thrust his tongue in and out of her ear in rapid, insistent fuck-motions. Speaking in a low, compelling voice, he said, “I promised I’d work some of those calories off you. Let’s go to bed.”

“Why, sir,” she jested coyly in a super-sweet voice, “I suspect you of harboring dishonorable intentions.”

“You’ve got that right,” he growled.

“Good,” she said in her normal voice and whirled around quickly to exit the kitchen and head for the bedroom.

They each undressed. Todd pulled the covers back. Cassie plopped onto the edge of the bed and swung her feet up onto the sheet. She moved over to make room for Todd, who kissed her deeply and then progressed downward, his lips blazing a trail to her bush. He kissed all over her cunny, declaring she had the tastiest nectar he had ever had the pleasure of enjoying.

“Let’s sixty-nine for a warm-up,” she proposed, and they rearranged themselves so they were both on their sides, mouth to each other’s crotch.

Todd’s dick was more than halfway engorged already, and Cassie took it into her mouth, lovingly trilling her tongue up and down the flat underside as she softly sucked. She sucked and released, sucked and released, and ran her mouth up and down his swollen organ. Her lips compressed the flesh as her tongue worked magic on the underside. Todd groaned and squirmed, and his dick attained its full engorgement in her loving mouth.

Meanwhile Todd was giving equal attention to Cassie’s cunny, running his tongue up into the tunnel that exuded her spicy nectar. “My clit! Get my clit!” she begged. Todd complied, abandoning her tunnel in favor of her prominent clitty button, and licking it with swooping strokes that utilized the raspiest part of his tongue as he dragged it across her tender, receptive promontory.

Cassie squirmed, thrusting her pelvis sharply against Todd’s face as she ground away in coital motions, her fever spiraling ever higher. Todd’s insistent tongue flicked demandingly across her pleasure button, and she could feel her clit swelling as he continued to tongue her with great determination. No matter how wildly her body bucked, no matter how her pelvic thrusts jounced her around on the bed, Todd somehow managed to keep up with her and maintain his tongue’s contact with her throbbing clitoris.

She could feel her love nectar sluicing down from her interior, bathing Todd’s face as he determinedly lapped and laved at her clit. Now he slipped three fingers up into her depths and finger-fucked her at the same time he was clit-lapping her. She drove her pelvis sharply against his face as she grew more and more frantically hot, and now he added fuel to the fire that was raging through her body as one hand made contact with one of her breasts and he gently squeezed her tender, pliant breast while thumbing her rubbery nubbin and making it grow stiff and pointy.

Cassie quivered under this sensory assault and determined she needed to have him inside her
now.
Rising up on her knees, she clambered around till they were face to face; then she pushed Todd flat onto his back. She knew now which night table drawer he kept the condoms in, and she reached for one, opened the packet, latexed his cock, and climbed aboard. Rising over him, she slowly settled her body down till she captured his cockhead between the folds of her cunny lips. Then she lowered her body even farther, and his cock slid easily up into her depths.

When she had all of his considerable length and girth captured within the confines of her cunny, she lowered her upper torso till she was flat against him. In this position she could kiss him while their bodies surged together and apart again, and she brought her lips to his and planted a searing kiss on his mouth. Todd put a hand to the back of her head and held her face tightly to his, bestowing a bruising kiss on her mouth. She relished that kiss. This was not just about sex. It was something more. Hot, yes, but tender too.

All the while their bodies were rising up and down, his dick sliding in and out of her tender center with wet sounds. Insinuating his left hand between their bodies, he slid it down till it had reached her cunny, and he used it to finger her clit as he continued to slide in and out of her. Her body went into overdrive at the feel of his finger insistently manipulating her clit while she rode him.

Her lips were still mashed against his, but he managed to murmur, “Come for me, baby. Come for me.” Her response was non-verbal, a series of gasps and groans as she strove to reach her climax and pounded hard against his bucking body. They kissed again, the tenderness of his lips’ encounter with hers a stark contrast to his body’s vibrant need. Oh, this was so wonderful, having her man within her, having his lips meshed with her lips, having their bodies blended so passionately, so intimately together.

She could feel his eagerness coursing through his body as every sinew tightened. Her own muscles were hard as marble as her body tightened in the effort to get off. She clenched her cunny muscles in a pythonlike squeeze around his rampaging cock and screeched as the first wave of orgasm overtook her. Her body surged against his and held the position. He continued slamming in and out of her. Then he grunted loudly, stiffened, and unleashed a torrent of sperm into the latex reservoir.

They held each other as the orgasmic storm thundered through both of their bodies. As the waves receded, their bodies relaxed into a limp puddle of tangled flesh.

“Thank you,” Cassie said, kissing him lightly on the cheek. “Oh! I’m totally wiped out.”

“Why don’t you spend the night here?” Todd offered. “It’s not like you have to go home to feed a cat or walk a dog. Stay with me. If you want to change clothes you can go home in the morning.”

Too contented and relaxed to want to get up, Cassie acceded readily. She slid off Todd’s body but kept one leg wedged between his two legs and one arm across his torso. “I could fall asleep in a minute,” she said through a yawn.

“I won’t be offended, sweets. Go to sleep. Do you need me to get you up at a particular time in the morning?”

“No, thanks,” she said, yawning again. “That’s one nice thing about real estate. If you don’t have any appointments for first thing in the morning, you don’t have to be anywhere at any specific time. I don't go into the office very much. I mostly work from home. As long as I have my cell phone turned on by eight o’clock I think I’m all right. Most people don’t call before nine, but there’s always someone who’ll feel safe calling any time after eight. I’ll get up whenever you do. I’m sure you’ll be up by eight.”

“Oh, definitely!” Todd reassured her. “I normally wake up around seven. I don’t set an alarm. I get up on my own. You’ll have your cell turned on in plenty of time.”

“I don’t set an alarm either,” Cassie murmured sleepily. “And I’m often up as early as six. I have morning metabolism. What I’m not good at is staying up really late. I crump out early. I was never meant for the nightlife.”

“Well, tomorrow night I’m taking you to the jazz club, but we’ll go early. The music starts by eight. It really heats up after eleven, but most nights I don’t stay that late. I’m really not much of a night owl myself. Even if I bring my sax and sit in with the band, I usually leave somewhere around ten. It’s rare for me to stay later.”