Love Game (15 page)

And then she felt it, the insistent but miserly push of male invasion. When she instinctively bore down, he countered with an equal withdrawal.

“So compliant,” he murmured. “Perhaps I was wrong and should spare you the rod.”

“No! No, I deserve it. I am the bad girl that you say.”

“Shame on you,” he scolded her in a low, sharp whisper and dealt her the first velvet stroke of the leather. Hardly more than a brush, he mated it with a small thrust. “But more the shame on me if I don’t make you see the error of your ways. Such a pert little ass you have, saucy as that mouth of yours that has a tendency to talk back. Only, you’re so quiet now…not even a choice name for me? Or is it that you realize no other man could ever care for you the way that I do? One confession made, are you prepared to make the other?”

At his slight withdrawal, she instantly said, “Bastard. You cocky bastard—” and moaned in delight at the teasing sting between her cheeks, the feel of him entering her with such stunning force she lost her balance. But there were his hands, steady on her hips as he slowly eased out to where he had been before.

“‘Cocky bastard,’ is it? So far I’ve been lenient. Too lenient, I believe. Take back what you said, or you’ll have to suffer the consequences for your disrespect.”

“Never, you son
of a—” Her breath rushed out at the caress of his thumb. Then came several light lashes, the twist of his wrist applying equal chastisements to either side of her bucking derriere as he began to hump her in earnest.

“You bad girl. You beautiful, wicked girl. You deserve this for making me love you, need you, and refusing to love or need me back. Sweet Jesus, you’re wet. At least you need this much from me. Need it more…more.
More
.”

Even in the midst of his furious possession, some part of her mind wondered how much of his avowed love and need was fantasy, how much was truth wrenched free in the heat of the moment. But the heat of the moment was such, she didn’t care. She felt loved, consumed by the magnitude of it, as his mad rutting kept time with the delicate dance of the whip.

Suddenly, she winced. A single snap laid a stinging path across her buttocks and she cried, “Roses!”

Immediately, she heard the whip hit the floor. Just as immediately, he gentled his thrusting.

The password spoken, Chris was sorry to end their game and yet she was stunned by the wonder of the bond she felt with him. It was intimacy beyond her comprehension. A shriek of release formed in his name won his ultimate generosity.

He felled her to the ground and, with a lift of her hips, pressed until she was full of him. Buried inside her to the hilt, she felt his kisses to her hair, heard his ragged groans as he came and came.

Ecstasy gloved by ecstasy, his chest slumped against her back. Her cheek to the floor, her eyes wide open, Chris stared at the silhouette of their joined shadows while the red mist of unbridled passion slowly receded, amazement and confusion stealing into its place.

She didn’t understand
what had happened, but it was something subtly momentous.

“What have we done?” she whispered.

Greg rolled off her, cradled her in his arms to share the aftermath of a savagery that was strangely bittersweet. He knew what had happened. And though he hadn’t won the war, he’d gotten a fair share of the spoils he’d been after.

“You feel good tucked against me like this.” Better than good, she felt perfect. Stroking back her hair, he kissed her softly, soundly, then whispered, “Did I hurt you?”

“No. Except for the last one. It stung.”

“When I heard you yelp, I was ready to get rid of the crop before you could say ‘Roses.’ I’d never hurt you for the world. Tell me you know that, Chris.”

“If I didn’t believe it, I never would have agreed to the fantasy.” She went very still. “It was a fantasy, wasn’t it?”

“Yes and no. We did what we did and now it’s part of who we are.”

“But what did we do? You didn’t answer me when I asked, but I get the feeling you know something I don’t.”

“I think I do.” Slipping off the condom he had loathed to put on, Greg wondered how much he should say. This was terra incognita for her, but in lots of ways for him, too.

“Well? Are you going to tell me or not?” she pressed.

“You know, babe, I like it when you get pushy with me. You’ve got that rare ability to go after what you want, once you decide you want it and not come off like a bitch. Just one of the reasons I’m so crazy about you.”

“Greg…” she said in that warning tone he found irresistibly cute. He couldn’t imagine a kid being sufficiently intimidated by it to straighten up and behave. He’d be good at putting his foot down, balancing discipline with a generous quota of back pats and hugs. Between him and Chris, they could make a fine team of parents; he just needed more practice like he’d had today. The only problem was convincing Chris.

“Okay,” he said slowly, painfully aware of his limited time to do much convincing. “It was an object lesson. The whip, or cat, was the teaching tool—for both of us. What it
wasn’t
was a kinky bit of S & M, because that’s shallow. What happened between us goes a lot deeper than that. We discovered magic.”

“Magic?”

“Magic and more,” he
confirmed. “Your trust in me had to go beyond the ordinary and my protectiveness toward you had to be greater than my desire. The game was a means to an end, a search for a deeper intimacy than most people are comfortable with. I wonder…has this left you feeling uncomfortable or disturbed?”

“A part of me says that’s exactly how I should be feeling, but…” He felt her head shake a “No” against his chest, the fan of her breath there as she confided, “But that’s not how I feel.”

“Tell me,” he whispered.

“Close. So very close to you. I guess if anything disturbs me, that’s what it is. And to tell the truth, it’s beyond me how something so…sexually beyond the pale can seem so emotionally holy.”

Holy. To hear her say it, what hope it gave him. She was quiet for a while, but then he heard a catching little sniffle. “I—I don’t think I’ll ever be able to see a rose again and not remember this.”

“Good.” He tilted her face up and brushed aside a single tear. “And while you’re at it, remember something else. We don’t just have sex—we have sacred sex.” Swallowing hard, he forced himself to say the hardest words he’d ever
said in his life: “When you get back to Lubbock and go in search of that father you don’t think I can be, it might be a good idea for you to sleep with another man or two.”

Her expression stricken, she said, “How can you talk about our sex being sacred in one breath and push me toward another man’s bed in the next?”

“With great difficulty, that’s how. It’s agony for me to even think about, but I figure it’s the surest way for you to realize that what we’ve got together, no other relationship could ever compete with.” He touched her cheek and she turned away.

“Greg. I want you to stop.”

“Only if you say the password.”

Her watery gaze meeting his, she whispered,
“Roses.”

“O
H
, M
AMA, PLEE-EASE
? Please
let me have it.” Audrey looped her arms around the big stuffed giraffe standing guard at the toy-store entrance.

Chris glanced at the price tag. “Sorry, sugar. It’s way out of our price range. Let’s go in and see what else we can find for the trip home tomorrow.” Her voice caught on the last words. She didn’t want to think about it. If she did, she’d totally humiliate herself by giving in to the tears she’d been fighting all day.

“Okay,” Audrey said with a sigh. “Maybe we can find some colors and a colorin’ book—one with mommies and daddies and flowers and stuff.”

Mommies and daddies and flowers and stuff. Chris wasn’t sure what bothered her more—Audrey’s mention of “daddies” or her easy acquiescence to forgo what she really wanted. She was such an obedient child, so eager to please. Chris had always thought it a positive quality, but now she wasn’t so sure. Life could be hard and kids who didn’t know how to fight back were at a disadvantage once their overly protective parents weren’t there to tough out their battles for them.

God, she was starting to think like Greg, she realized. Damn him,
anyway, for putting such ideas in her head. Audrey was perfectly fine just the way she was. Sure, she needed a father, but her mother’s love life had no bearing whatsoever on the provision of a stable home. Audrey had to come first, just as she always had, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

Shuffling through a pile of coloring books, Chris pushed aside one with a family on the front, a little girl wearing a big frown and the mother holding a newborn just beneath the heading: Oh, No! A New Baby Brother—What About Me?

“Look, Audrey, here’s one with Barbie. Let’s get this one, okay?”

“Okay. But can I have this one, too?”

Chris silently groaned as Audrey flipped through the pages of the baby-brother book. And then she groaned aloud when she glimpsed the giraffe loping their way. Guided by none other than—

“Special delivery for Audrey Nicholson,” he called loudly when Chris tried to hustle her in the opposite direction. “Is there an Audrey Nicholson in the store? Please come and claim your stray animal. He’s loose and eating all the candy!”

“Look!” Audrey shrieked, breaking free from Chris’s urgent grip and racing toward the giraffe that reared up in greeting. But rather than wrap her little arms around its neck, she latched on to Greg’s as he bent down, smiling broadly. She gave a big kiss to the cheek Chris wanted to slap.

How dare he?
How dare he waltz in and try to buy Audrey’s affection? She was just an innocent little girl who couldn’t possibly realize she was a bargaining chip in an adults-only game.

Marching over, Chris said sharply, “I’m sorry, Audrey, but you can’t accept gifts from…from strangers.”

“But he’s not a stranger,” she protested,
tightening her hold when Chris attempted to reclaim her daughter.
Her
daughter, damn it. “He’s your friend. And he’s my friend, too. Aren’tcha, Greg?”

“You bet I am,” he assured her, returning Chris’s glare with a level stare. “Say, sweetheart, if it’s okay with your mom, why don’t you call me Uncle Greg? I’m not a member of the family, but I sure wish that I was.”

“Me, too!” As Audrey turned Mark’s somber eyes on her mother, Chris saw a spark of defiance light up her gaze. “I wanna call you that. And it’s okay with Mama…Uncle Greg.”

Chris silently counted to ten and told herself that after they left the store—minus the giraffe and the infuriating man who was now the proud owner of it—she would straighten things out with Audrey.

“Audrey…sugar. Mom wants to talk to her ‘friend’ alone for a few minutes. Why don’t you go find a few treats to eat on the way home tomorrow? We’ll probably be leaving in a rush and won’t have time to stop on the way.”

“Can Uncle Greg come with us?” Before Chris could grind out a “No,” Audrey put the question to him. “Can you?”

“I wish I could, sweetheart. But I have to get on a plane and fly to where I live. It’s a long way from here.”

“I’ve never been on a plane. I’ve never been anywhere ’cept here and home. Know what? It kinda smells bad there sometimes. Sure wish I could go on a plane and way up in the sky where the angels and birds live.” With an oddly secret smile, she added, “But most of all, I’d like to be in the clouds. So close, I could touch ’em.”

Greg’s smile was an echo of Audrey’s as he tweaked her nose. “Tell you what, Audrey. No promises, mind you, but I’ll see what I can do to talk your mother into letting you fly way up in the sky from your home to mine and get as close to those clouds as you want.”

Audrey whispered something
in his ear and he whispered something back. Straining to hear, Chris felt the bite of exclusion. She knew it was childish, but still she resented them sharing a secret that didn’t include her.

Neither did she like Greg reaching into his pocket and plopping a load of change into Audrey’s palm. And she liked even less the way Audrey scampered off at a single “Vamoose” from Greg, stopping to flash him a grin without sparing a glance her mother’s way.

“Okay, she’s gone,” he said, rising. “Go ahead and let me have it, but try to keep your voice down to a low roar.”

“What are you doing here?” Chris demanded between clenched teeth. If she gritted them much harder, she’d probably have two more missing than Audrey. “What are you doing here and how did you find us?”

“I stopped by your place and Rick told me where I could find you. Have to confess I watched you for a while, but I was enjoying myself so I waited until I saw a chance to make points with Audrey. Which is obviously the reason I’m here.”

“Well,” she huffed, “you certainly didn’t earn any points with me. I can’t believe you! You—you—”

“Cocky bastard?” He laughed smugly as her cheeks flared red. “What’s wrong, Chris? Got some trouble dealing with your little girl hugging the man who put a whip to her mama’s bottom the night before?”

“Damn right, I do. What goes on between us is strictly that and has no place tainting my relationship with my daughter.”

“‘Tainting,’ is it?” he returned with a maddening control. “Funny, last night our tainted relationship was holy. Call me stupid, but I just don’t get it. Why is it that you believe your intimate life has to be this separate entity that has nothing to do with anything else?”

“Because…” She
searched for an explanation but couldn’t come up with anything except it was simply how she’d always viewed it. Certain he’d shoot a hole through that reasoning, she said self-righteously, “Because that’s the way it is and should be, that’s why.”

“My, but you sound sure of yourself. Just as sure as I am that nothing could be further from the truth. Especially since once you get hitched to…well…whoever, the two of you will sleep together, right?”

“Of course. But that won’t affect Audrey.”

“Oh, I disagree. While she certainly won’t be privy to what goes on behind closed doors, her parents’ private relationship is sure to affect the overall atmosphere at home. Especially if Mama’s tense and avoids her bedroom at night. And she just might notice that Mama would rather kiss and hug her than dear old Dad.”

Lips thin, Chris said tightly, “I hate it when you do this.”

“Do what?” he asked innocently.

“Twist and turn everything around so that you seem right and I’m wrong. How you do it, I don’t know. But you do it every time, damn you.”

Greg shrugged. “Hey, it’s not hard. After all, I am and you are. Right and wrong, that is.”

Oooohh.
Chris did a slow burn. Thumping the giraffe on its head, she demanded, “So, what are you going to do with this? Something tells me it won’t match your decor.”

“No, but it’ll look great in Audrey’s room. And just maybe she’ll think of Uncle Greg when she hugs it.”

“You can deep-six that idea. Audrey’s going to be crushed when she has to leave without this bribe of yours,” she snapped.

“It wasn’t a bribe,” he snapped back, his composure
suddenly slipping. “I gave it to her because I wanted her to have it. And I gave it to her because—because I never spoiled Arlene like that. It’s too late for me with her and this was my chance to see a little girl’s eyes light up the way Audrey’s did. And you know what? I loved it.” His Adam’s apple worked up and down. Before she could stop herself, Chris instinctively touched his hand.

“If you’re dead set on Audrey not having my gift, so be it,” he said, kissing her hand softly, then returning it to her side. “But Chris, you’ll have to be the one to explain why she can’t have what I gave her. This was my gift to Audrey, and hell can freeze over before I take it back.”

H
OW IN THE WORLD
did she end up carrying this thing while Audrey was perched on the “top row”—as Greg had called his shoulders?
Chris continued to wonder this as she awkwardly shifted the giraffe through the madhouse, otherwise known as a mall.

“How about a bite to eat, girls?” In minutes, Greg and Audrey had decided on their choice in the fast-food court. While they ate and talked, seeming not to notice Chris’s own absence of conversation, she again felt the nip of jealousy. Those two had something going and she wasn’t in on it.

Suddenly Chris wondered if she wasn’t falling victim to the same petulance Audrey had exhibited that day of their awful fight.
Grow up,
she told herself,
and be a good sport while you’re at it. They’re having fun and it won’t last long, so don’t spoil it for either of them while it lasts.

Tomorrow she and Audrey would be gone.

And so would “Uncle Greg.”