Night Games (15 page)

He grinned.

Damn, she'd forgotten her question. She scrambled into the wagon before he could expand upon oversized penises.

Katy met her with hands on hips and nagging ready. “Took you long enough. I had to put the sandwich stuff away, and the soup's cold.”

Ally looked at the Old One, who sat on a chair beside Katy. She wore the same expression as Katy, in a whiskery kind of way. “Don't tell me you're making the Old One into your clone.”

Katy and the Old One exchanged meaningful glances. “Females of a certain age have a better understanding of things. It's all about experience.” She walked toward the door, the Old One by her side. “Think I'll try out Brian's fancy new bathroom. The Old One can show me the ropes.”

Ally didn't comment as she retrieved the ham and cheese from the fridge, then made herself a sandwich. Maybe she should warn Katy, but Katy loved surprises. Wouldn't want to spoil her first experience with a space-age toilet. She'd just started to heat up the soup when Brian entered
the wagon. He looked fresh, and she surmised he'd used his bathroom to clean up.

“Your great-aunt just went into the bathroom. I told her to use the top button, but I have a feeling she'll be in there a while pushing them all.” Sitting on the plush red velvet bench seat, he watched her work.

“How about a sandwich and some soup?” When he nodded, she made an extra sandwich, put it on a paper plate, and handed it to him.

His fingers slid over hers and remained there as he took the plate. She started to smile. Present and future connected by a ham sandwich. Was that deep, or what? Her smile faded as the heat of his hand seeped into her, made her consider the connection she'd feel if the rest of his body covered her.

“Thank you.” His voice indicated a level of appreciation that seemed too intense for a mere sandwich.

“It was nothing.” She felt like fidgeting under his intense stare.

“Sure it was.” He looked away, and she felt a sense of release. “No one ever made me a hamand-cheese sandwich before.”

She smiled. “Probably because no one eats ham-and-cheese sandwiches in 2502.”

He glanced back at her, but he didn't return her smile. “That, too. But I meant that people do things for me because I pay them to. We're not talking random acts of kindness here.”

She sat down next to him, but didn't bite into
her sandwich as she thought about what he'd said. “You can't tell me there aren't thousands of women who'd do things for you free of charge if you gave them a chance.” The thought made her frown.

Brian shook his head. “Women would always expect to be paid, either with my body or my wealth.”

Now Ally was really looking at him. “For someone who's king of the universe, you don't have a high level of self-esteem.”

He shrugged. “Just being realistic. Everyone wants something.” His smile returned. “Except you. You had no ulterior motive with that sandwich.”

Wouldn't count on it.
She didn't want to dwell on that last thought. Time to get serious about research for Mavis's idea of the perfect night of single bliss. “Katy's gone for a little while. Maybe we should talk about the book.”

“Right. The book.” He took a bite of his sandwich and chewed while he thought. Beside him, Ally did the same. He noted the small gulping sound as she swallowed. Brian smiled. The old ham and cheese wasn't going down too easily. She was nervous. Good. Because he was working in virgin territory himself. He knew the two-minute drill, but that wasn't what Ally wanted. “So what we're looking for is the perfect night of sex.”

She nodded. “This has to be
New York Times
spectacular. It has to be erotically perfect, but
still something the reading public can believe I actually experienced.”

“Hey, no pressure.” This “experience” would obviously have to last more than two minutes. Well, hell. “You know there is no ‘perfect' sexual experience.”

Ally frowned. “Of course there is, and I'm going to write about it.” She bit her lip in concentration as she stared at him. “If you don't know what the perfect sexual experience is, then who does?”

He shrugged. “I give great orgasms, but I don't spend any extended time on foreplay. Just guessing here, but I think your reading public will be looking for the complete package. And everyone has a different idea of what makes for perfect sex.”

“Really?” She looked like the thought had never occurred to her.

Leaning over, Brian closed his lips on her earlobe, then gently nipped it.

Her sudden intake of breath encouraged further experimentation. He blew into her ear, and she jerked away.

He straightened and smiled at her. “You like the nipping but not the blowing. The blowing excites some women.” He shrugged. “Different women find different things erotic.”

She still looked uncertain. “What about men? Not in your time, but mine. Do they find different things erotic?”

“Grass growing is erotic to men in your time,
babe.” Hey, he was excited sitting here eating a ham-and-cheese sandwich.

She tightened her lips and straightened her spine. Every tasty inch of her said she'd come to a decision. “Okay, I can deal with this. I'll have to put every possible erotic detail into this book so no one feels left out.”

“You'll run out of consulting time, sweetheart. I have three weeks. You'll need a lifetime.”

Ally widened her eyes. “I don't believe that. Bodies have a limited number of parts.” Her gaze turned thoughtful. “I'll have to figure out a way to keep readers engaged so they'll finish the book. It can't read like a how-to manual. It'll have to have emotion.
Heart.
”

Brian didn't know about the heart part. He'd done just fine without all the emotional stuff. But then, what did he know about women in this time? He was a quick learner, though. It might be fun finding out.
From Ally.

“It's not just about body parts.” Did he say that? His whole adult life had been dedicated to the premise that it was
all
about body parts. During competition, nothing else mattered. So why did he think it would be different with Ally? And this
was
about Ally. When he discussed her book, he'd be picturing her, not a faceless reading public. “It's about what comes before. The preparation.” What would come before? He'd never had to seduce a woman with fantasies, with any senses beyond touch. What would a woman in
this time expect from him? He'd have to think about this.

A line of concentration formed between Ally's eyes. “You're right. We need preparation. Okay, so we have the usual foreplay, and there's always some generic sex talk. But we have to come up with something that goes beyond the same-oldsame-old.” Her gaze turned thoughtful. “Do
you
need any preparation?”

At the beginning of his career he'd needed nothing but the sight of a woman. Lately? He'd had to resort to fantasies. Interesting sidebar. He sure didn't need any fantasy with Ally.

Brian shook his head. “I'm a hot talent, babe. But believe me, the rest of the world needs preparation.” He waited expectantly for her reaction.

“Hot talent? Try huge ego. I don't know what kind of women you have in your time, but women in 2002 are tougher. It takes more than two minutes to satisfy us.” She almost vibrated with outrage.

Brian shifted his gaze to her breasts, waited hopefully for some outraged heaving. Too bad. No heaving, just vibrating. “Sure sounds like a challenge to me. Are you including yourself in the collective ‘us'?”

Caution crept into her eyes. “No. Well, maybe.” Her expression cleared. “Why am I arguing with you? This isn't about life in your time. It's about one fictitious night in the life of a woman from 2002. So use your imagination. What do you think would happen first? Run some ideas past
me, then I'll choose one I like and enlarge on it.”

Tough. Since he had no point of reference, he'd go with what would make sense in his time. “I'll leave the initial small talk to you. Small talk isn't a high-level skill with me.” He closed his eyes, concentrating. With his eyes still closed, he could feel Ally's gaze moving over him: warm,
hungry.
And he allowed himself a moment of complete truthfulness.

He wanted to have sex with Ally O'Neill, but he wanted it to last a lot longer than two minutes. And for once in his life, he wanted to explore all his senses, steep himself in the full spectrum of sexual enjoyment.
Without a scoreboard in sight
.

Brian opened his eyes, and she shifted her gaze from him. He wouldn't do it, because nothing had really changed. He was still going home in a few weeks. But maybe he'd come back each year during the off-season. Something about this time felt more like home to him than 2502 did.

He still had kids depending on his support. But he had investments that would support all his kids for quite a few years.

What in the blood-of-Boren was he thinking about? Staying in the year 2002 and having sex with Ally O'Neill? Abandoning everything now that he was at the top of his career? Making an incredibly stupid mistake because he'd found a woman who attracted him more than just sexually?

He still had a contract. But the no-sex clause only specified the complete sex act. There were
other avenues to fulfillment. Maybe that would be enough.

“You're awful quiet, Byrne. Is that good or bad?” She stood, then peered out the back window. “I think I see Katy coming.” She glanced at her watch. “I didn't realize how late it was. It's almost dark out there.” She returned her gaze to the window. “Strange. I thought I saw someone go into the keep. This is pretty late for tourists to be wandering around.”

“Probably Jupe.” He took a deep, cleansing breath.
Think straight.
Staying in this time with Ally O'Neill wasn't an option. And even though he wouldn't have sex with Ally, he could enjoy being with her, touching her, because he was the complete master of his sexual impulses. No woman could make him lose control. He felt better now.

“I like the idea of starting with a warm shower. Together. It relaxes muscles, loosens inhibitions. What do you think?” Just the thought loosened a lot of things in him. Namely his brains. And now that they were loose, they were doing a free fall to his groin, where they'd probably set up a command post.

“Okay, I can go with that.” She still didn't turn from the window. “Um, maybe we could experiment. See if it really works. I have to make this book as honest as I can. Within limits.” She finally turned to face him, and he silently saluted her for letting him see her flush.

Brian smiled and hoped it wasn't too predatory.
“Thought we already had, sweetheart. Don't know about you, but the shower we shared at the bed-and-breakfast is still fresh in my mind.”

Her flush deepened. “That was
not
relaxing.”

Relaxing was way overrated.

“Besides, I still had my clothes on.”

“You're right. Maybe we should explore the whole skin-to-skin thing.”
Imagine.
Warm, smooth skin moving over his body from chest to groin. Hot water sluicing down his back. Ally reaching between their bodies to slide her fingers the length of his erection. What would it feel like to have a woman touching
him,
exploring
his
body?

He pulled his thoughts from his groin, which was now totally engaged in the conversation. “Maybe it's just me, but I could've sworn your original plan was for a hands-off consultation. Aren't you afraid this will degenerate into an unplanned sexual experience?”

She offered him a cool smile at odds with the heat in her gaze. “No. I have complete trust in your ability to control the situation. You're a sexual expert, remember.”

Something was wrong here. Somewhere along the line she'd changed her game plan, and he wondered why. “Watch out for misplaced trust, babe.”

She nodded. “So what would come next?”

“You might—”

Katy flung open the door and swept into the wagon. The Old One squeezed in beside her.

“Haven't had that much fun in a bathroom since Padraic locked me into the one at the hotel we stayed at for our honeymoon. Had his way with me in a tub full of bubbles. Almost drowned me, but we were young and the hormones were ragin'. Ragin' hormones make you do silly things.” She peered at Ally. “Ever let your hormones jump any fences?”

“No.” Ally turned away, but not before Brian caught a glimpse of her smile.

“Hmmph.” Katy's expression said what she thought of people who had repressed hormones. She glanced at Brian. “Don't have to ask about your hormones. A little redirection would probably do them good.”

“Redirection?” Brian glanced down at the Old One, and she looked back at him. Neither had a clue what Katy meant.

Katy didn't give them time to figure it out. “Saw that championship game you just won. How do you stay hard all that—”

“I'm sure Brian would love to explain everything for you, but I bet he's tired and wants to get some sleep. In fact, I bet he's leaving right now.” Ally's pointed glare suggested that life as he knew it would end if he didn't leave.

For once he agreed with Ally. He scooped up the Old One and headed for the door.

“Wait.” Katy grabbed his arm. “When I was getting ready to come in, I saw something moving up by the castle. Bet it's Black Liam. Maybe he appears earlier because of daylight saving
time.” She paused. “Do they have daylight saving time here? Anyway, I want to take a look. I'll walk you up to your place, and you can explain about what you do to those women to make them—”

“I'll go with you.” Ally looked frantic. “And I think you should wear your headlight, whether Black Liam likes it or not.”

Katy nodded, giving Ally a small victory.