Passionate Pleasures (9 page)

She felt the thick, long cock throbbing within her. She wanted to climax with him this one final time. She couldn’t help it if he looked like someone she knew. She began to ride him, and very quickly, without warning they both reached a screaming climax.

“Good night, Rapunzel,” Prince Everhard said.

Kathryn St. John felt her pleasure washing over her like a warm blanket as she fell into a deep sleep. Her last conscious thought was that she didn’t understand why Prince Everhard had looked like Timothy Blair. Certainly she hadn’t done that deliberately.

And when she awoke in the morning she was still questioning herself. The prince in her Rapunzel fantasy had always just been a handsome generic man with large genitals. He had never before had the face of anyone she knew, and she didn’t understand it at all.

She didn’t put the faces of men she knew on her fantasy lovers. For one thing there were no men she desired enough to do so; and for another all the men she knew were taken. Besides, how the hell could she look any man in Egret Pointe in the eye under such circumstances? Well, the Rapunzel fantasy was out for the interim.

And to add to her discomfort Timothy Blair came to the library that day to borrow a few books. He popped his head into her office to say hello. “You’ve got a terrific popular commercial fiction section,” he said, complimenting her.

“Best in the state,” Mavis, who had tagged along behind him, said. “Kathy says all fiction has its uses even if it isn’t a classic.”

“You never know who’ll be considered a classic one day,” Timothy Blair agreed. “Why, Charles Dickens was considered a yellow journalist in his day, and not particularly respected.”

“I didn’t know that,” Mavis said. “Did you know that, Kathy?”

There was nothing for it. She was going to have to look up. She felt her cheeks growing warm as she did. “Yes, I did know that, Mavis,” she said in what she hoped passed for a cool and impartial voice. She tried very hard not to look directly at Timothy Blair as she spoke, but to her horror her eyes stared briefly at his crotch before she forced them away. Oh my God! Had he noticed?

“We have a bestselling romance author here in Egret Pointe. Emilie Shann,” Mavis nattered on. “She’s such a doll. She married her editor a few years ago. They have a cute little boy, and she’s expecting again, twins!”

“I don’t read romance,” Timothy Blair said.

“Most men don’t, although there are a few who do,” Mavis told him chattily.

“Mavis, I have to get this budget straightened out,” Kathryn St. John said. “I don’t mean to be rude, Mr. Blair, but keeping us within our budget is important.”

“Of course, Miss Kathy,” he responded pleasantly. “I know all about budgets. I hope the next time we meet you’ll call me Tim. Everyone does.”

“Come on, and I’ll check you out,” Mavis said, and when she had she returned to her boss’s office. “You hardly said a word, and practically tossed the man out physically. What’s the matter, Kathy? Are you all right?”

She had to tell Mavis. Mavis was her one confidante, and had been since they were kids together. “Shut the door,” Kathryn St. John said. “Then come sit down.”

“This must be bad,” Mavis replied, shutting the door and making herself comfortable in the chair opposite the librarian’s desk.

“Last night I ordered up my Rapunzel fantasy,” Kathryn began.

“The one that’s just mindless sex, right?” Mavis wondered what would come next, and she leaned forward. “So, what happened?”

“That’s the one, and what happened was, when I finally got around to looking at the prince’s face, it was
his
face,” Kathryn said.

“Whose face?” Mavis looked puzzled, and then she gasped. “Oh my God! Mr. Middle School Principal? Why, Kathy St. John, you slut!” And Mavis laughed.

“It’s not funny, Mavis! I never put the faces of men I know on the fantasy men in The Channel, for a lot of reasons, but probably looking them in the eye is the best reason. And then just now I caught myself looking at his crotch! And I wondered if his dick was like the prince’s in the Rapunzel fantasy.”

Mavis couldn’t help it. Her sides shook with laughter. “I knew you liked him the first time you met him,” she finally said.

“I neither like nor dislike Mr. Blair,” Kathryn St. John said.

“Poppycock, to use my dad’s old expression,” Mavis replied. “Whether you realize it or not, you’re interested in the man. If you weren’t, he wouldn’t have been in the Rapunzel fantasy, Kathy. You’ve never put the face of any man you know or have known on a fantasy lover. I suspect most women don’t, and for the same reasons you don’t. Maybe this was a onetime thing, but if Tim Blair begins to show up in your other fantasies, then you’re going to have to admit you’re interested in him. It’s the only reasonable explanation for it.”

“Maybe my remote is broken,” Kathryn St. John said hopefully.

Mavis snorted. “Those things don’t break,” she replied. Even the letters on the remote don’t smudge away like they do on a regular remote. It’s you, Kathy. Somewhere deep down this guy has caught your fancy.”

“I don’t want him to
catch my fancy
,” Kathryn St. John said.

“Why not?” Mavis demanded. “You’re not gay. You like sex, but your whole life you’ve avoided not just commitment to anything but the library, but to men in general.

“I know you grew up in a male-dominated household, but you knew just how to manipulate your grandfather and father. You’re good at handling difficulty, and difficult people, Kathy. But I have never known you to let loose. Your dad and grandfather are gone now. Who the heck would care if you decided to dance naked in the rain?”

“My brother,” Kathryn St. John said. “Hallock Kimborough St. John the bloody Fifth of that name. Mavis, you’re right. When I realized how it was in my house, I learned to work around the ‘Old Boy’ network. I even had the houseman, Mr. Todd, eating out of my hand, but not my brother. He took his place as the St. John scion very seriously. I couldn’t get around him like I could the others because we were siblings, and he
knew
what I was doing.”

“But he never told on you,” Mavis considered thoughtfully.

“No, he never did. As long as I behaved the way a proper St. John female was expected to behave, he wouldn’t tell, because it gave him a certain power over me, and Hallock liked that. Why do you think it took him so long to marry? He had to wait until he could find a woman who could be precisely schooled into becoming the kind of wife he wanted. And he found her. In England.

“Debora is the daughter of distant cousins of ours in Devon. She had gone to an Anglican convent school, and then attended a school for nannies. She looked after the toddlers of a local marquis. Hallock met her when she was seventeen. And married her when she was twenty. I think when they married she had only been to London twice in all her life, and both had been class trips from convent school. She was unspoiled, and obedient. And she had been raised to believe that being some man’s wife and the mother of his children was the pinnacle of achievement. She was perfect for him, and still is,” Kathryn said. “I don’t want to be like my sister-in-law.”

“You’re nothing like Debora,” Mavis declared vehemently. “Not that she isn’t a darling girl, because she is, but you’re not her.”

“But despite all of my achievements I feel my brother always looking over my shoulder, Mavis. I’m a grown woman pushing fifty, and no one, or nothing, intimidates me. But I can’t stop being a proper St. John woman. Despite my quiet rebellion I turned out exactly the way they wanted me to turn out. At least publicly. Getting involved with a real-live man would only bring me difficulties that I really don’t want. And as long as I have The Channel, I don’t need to have a boyfriend, a gentleman friend, whatever they call it today.”

“That’s just plain crazy!” Mavis said. “Tim Blair is a nice man, and I think he’s interested in you.”

“He’s five years younger than I am, Mavis. I don’t need a boy toy,” Kathryn answered her friend.

“How do you know how old he is?”

“I have my sources,” Kathryn said with a little smile.

“You wouldn’t be checking out those sources if you weren’t interested,” Mavis said with a grin. “I’m not going to give up on you, Kathy. I’m not! And I’ll bet Tim Blair doesn’t give up on you either.”

“He’s wasting his time, Mavis, and so are you,” Kathryn St. John replied.

“We’ll see,” Mavis responded, chuckling. “We’ll just see.”

Labor Day came and went. The summer people went home. The school year began, and life in Egret Pointe took on a comfortable pattern of days just the way Kathryn St. John liked it. But every time Timothy Blair came to the library to return and borrow books he always stuck his head into her office for a quick hello. As long as it was nothing more than that, Kathryn St. John could manage.

Two weeks after Labor Day Joe Pietro d’Angelo came into her office. “I found some stuff out about the new principal I thought might interest you,” he said, sitting down without an invitation. “You still interested?” When she hesitated he chuckled. “Yeah, you’re still interested. Well the reason he isn’t married is because his fiancée was killed in a hit-and-run by a drunk driver, crossing the street two days before their wedding. That was ten years ago. There hasn’t been anyone since. He’s dated occasionally, mainly for school charity functions where he was expected to put in an appearance.”

“Who did he bring?” Kathryn said, and wondered why she had asked.

“He always went with one of the female teachers. Older women usually. Single women, widows. Ray says the women teachers adored him. He’s got the reputation of being a real gentleman, and a nice guy.”

“How would Ray know?” Again, why was she showing any interest?

“My cousin’s on the board at Kensington Academy,” Joe said. He grinned at her mischievously as he stood up. “Nice to see you interested in a man for a change, Kathy.”

“I am not interested in him, Joe! I was just curious,” Kathryn replied a little too vehemently, and her cheeks felt warm.

“Yeah, okay, if you say so, but you should know the girls on Ansley Court have been saying that he’d be a great match for you,” Joe told her.

“Wonderful! There’s gossip about me now. I’m sure my brother will be simply thrilled when he learns it,” Kathryn St. John said irritably.

“For God’s sake, Kathy, why do you care what Hallock thinks? He’s a damned stuffed shirt, and you know it. Besides, rumor has it that Debora is having twins again. He’s too busy digesting that news to be bothered with you,” Joe replied reassuringly.

“You don’t know Hallock,” Kathryn St. John said grimly as she waved Joe Pietro d’Angelo from her office.

And sure enough, Hallock Kimborough St. John V walked into his younger sibling’s office that same afternoon. He was a man of medium height, a touch portly although he worked out regularly at the gym. His hair was a dark auburn, cut short, and he had light brown eyes. Without asking, he closed her office door and sat down. “What is this I am hearing about you and this new Middle School principal, Kathryn?”

She was ready for him. “I have no idea to what you are referring, Hallock,” Kathryn St. John replied stiffly. “What is it you are hearing?”

“It has come to my ears that this man is interested in you, Kathryn. Please remember that you are a St. John, and have a reputation to consider,” her brother said.

She laughed. “The town has obviously been without fodder for its gossip mill, Hallock, although now that the word is out about your wife, Mr. Blair’s alleged interest in me will certainly be forgotten. Really, Hallock, twins? Again? A bit excessive and showy, considering that you already have five children, don’t you think?”

To her absolute delight, her older brother flushed. But he was not so easily diverted from his original subject. “How do you know this man?” he demanded.

“I’m the town librarian, Hallock. He is the Middle School principal. Our paths will cross now and again. He is a library patron. He complimented my summer reading program for the children in his school, and when he did Mavis was present. Hardly a scandalous assignation, brother. And speaking of summer reading, my eldest nephew did not participate in the program. Why is that?”

“You know HK was away at camp for eight weeks,” her brother answered.

“He had a week before he went, and two weeks after he came back. He could have read a minimum of three to five books in that time, Hallock. Being a St. John is no longer good enough in this fast-paced world. HK needs to be a well-read man.”

“I wasn’t,” her brother responded.

“I should not brag about it if I were you,” Kathryn said sharply.

“I continue to make money, sister. And my clients suffered only minor damage in the recession. St. John Investments is a sound company, just as grandfather and father left it to me,” he said. “You have not seen a drop in your income, have you?”

“No, and I do thank you for that, Hallock,” Kathryn told him. “But HK needs to read more. The twins come to the library regularly with Debora.”

“My wife is an outstanding mother,” he responded in pompous fashion.

“Are we through then, Hallock?” Kathryn asked.

“If you can assure me that there is nothing for me to be concerned about, Kathryn, we are through,” Hallock said. “I have taken up enough of your time, and you have your work to complete.” Her brother stood up, and leaning across her desk, placed a cold kiss upon her cheek. “Good afternoon, Kathryn,” he said as he opened the door and left.

“What did old sourpuss want?” Mavis asked, sticking her head through the door.

“He wanted reassurance that the rumors about his dear sister and the Middle School principal had no basis in fact,” Kathryn said.

“What rumors? There haven’t been any rumors. I would have heard them if there had been,” Mavis said.

“Well, he heard something from someone, and rushed to confront me. Do you understand now, Mavis? This is what I’ve been telling you. My brother has an inbred obligation to protect the family name from what he believes might be scandal. This is why I have lived my life the way I do. Do you know that he has control of the family trust? He can withhold my income. The library couldn’t afford to pay me a salary, Mavis. We’re a small facility in a little town. If they had to pay me, all of the staff would have to go, and I couldn’t do it alone. You know I’m not a coward, but if I step out of line as far as my brother is concerned, he can ruin me. I have to toe the St. John line.”