Showdown at Lizard Rock (13 page)

The rest of the day passed in a whirl. Kaylyn no longer tried to resist King’s attention. Inviting him to the celebration had been based on two expectations: one, that he’d meet the residents and see how important the springs were to their well-being; and two, that the residents would see him for the commercial entrepreneur he was.

He met the residents, maybe not all of the twelve hundred and fifty official residents of Pretty Springs, but many of them, and he fit right in. They didn’t see him as a greedy entrepreneur. And the nursing-home residents liked him almost as much as she did. Nothing had worked out as she’d planned.

Holding hands, they listened to the speeches and ate hot dogs and sweet red watermelon, the juice of which ran down King’s chin. They danced for hours in the moonlight on the street, made slick by a generous application of cornmeal. By the time they found a spot on the grass to watch the fireworks,
Kaylyn had given up all pretense at being proper. She sat between his legs with her back against his chest, clasping the arms folded beneath her breasts.

On signal from the fire chief, the city engineer doused the streetlights on the square, and the night went black. When the first spray of color hit the sky, Kaylyn caught her breath and let out a little gasp of pleasure.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Not as beautiful as you,” King whispered, nuzzling her ear in the darkness.

“Oh, King, stop it. After today it won’t be just the nursing-home residents who will be planning our wedding.…” Her voice trailed off. “I mean … well, you know how small towns are. They’ll expect you to—”

Another burst of color mushroomed in the sky. “To what? Make an honest woman out of you?” He waited for the light to die down so that he could slip his fingers beneath her arm, capture her breast, and expose it for a quick kiss before the next flash of light.

“Well, no, not immediately,” she said. “But you’ve staked your claim, and in Pretty Springs that normally means that we would get married.” She adjusted the top of her sundress and tried to find a position that didn’t allow him such freedom. It didn’t work. The finding of the position only made her more aware of the body pressed intimately against her.

“And you don’t think that I’m the marrying kind, do you?” he asked.

“Obviously not. After all, you’re what—thirty-four, thirty-five? And you’ve managed to …” She sat up
straight and looked back at the man who was melting her body into a mass of churning lava. “You’re not married, are you?”

He turned her back into the circle of his arms. “I’m thirty-four and available, very available. I’m what Luther calls ripe for the picking—just like you.”

She snuggled against him, unable to control her need to be close to the man. “What did he mean, just like me?”

“Luther has a theory. He thinks you need a man to shower your attention on. He says that you’ve about run out of causes to crusade for in Pretty Springs. The geriatric set is afraid you’ll get bored and move on. They’re trying to find you a man so that you’ll be satisfied to stay here with them.”

“And what makes them think you’d be a prime candidate?”

“Because we’re good together, Kaylyn Smith. You know it and I know it. We just haven’t proved it yet.”

Around them the oohs and ahhhs signaled the grand finale of the display, and slivers of brilliant-colored fire danced across the sky. Afterward the watchers began a weary trek back to their cars.

He was right, Kaylyn thought as they walked along with the others. He knew it and she knew it. All the way back to his car, her body clamored for proof. She didn’t know what to say. His final statement had gone unanswered.

He helped her inside the car and gave her one quick kiss before he hurried to the driver’s side and started the engine. Because he’d parked near the exit, they had left long before the rest of the crowd.

“It’s okay, darlin’. I know that this is new to you. Minnie had a few instructions for me too. I’m to go
slow and not scare you to death. You’re inexperienced. Even if you look like Helen of Troy and Cleopatra all rolled up into one, you’re not. I’m to court you slowly. But I think I should tell you, the jackpot in the pool is the wedding. It pays twenty-five bucks.”

“Wedding?” King was out of his mind, she thought. The fall during the three-legged race had scrambled his brains. He was talking about weddings as if he might even be half serious.

“Yes,” he went on calmly, heading the car toward the springs. “The date is set for Christmas, in the chapel at the Pretty Springs Nursing Home. New Year’s Eve is second choice, but the money isn’t as good.”

“How’d they get so much money in the pool?”

“Well, I have to admit that I put in a few bucks myself.”

“Where are you going, King?”

“I’m taking you home, darlin’.”

“I—I had intended to stay in my trailer tonight.”

“Not a chance, Kaylyn Smith. I want you in my arms, and I don’t want to see windows filled with observers keeping score.”

“I’m not going to sleep with you, King.”

“I’ve already told you that I don’t have sleeping in mind.”

He drove through the construction site entrance, passed the Lizard, and parked near the blue-and-white trailer. He walked slowly around the car, opened Kaylyn’s door, and caught her hand. “Come inside with me, Kaylyn. Let me make love to you. Please? Forget about Luther and Minnie’s expectations. I’ve never thought about getting married. I’ve never had
much faith in the institution. All I know is that I want you, and for me this is a new kind of wanting.”

Kaylyn hesitated. She understood what he was saying. She understood too well. When he brought her hand to his mouth and planted a kiss on the delicate skin of her wrist, she felt herself weaken. What was the point of pretending? She wanted him too. Every time she was around him she became a tongue-tied idiot with a body that seemed to be circulating hot water. And when he kissed her, she turned into one of those fireworks they’d just watched that zinged off into space and shattered into a million pieces.

“This is hard for me to say, King. Luther is right. I am inexperienced with men. I’ve never slept with a man before. I don’t know how to … oh, King! I’m afraid.”

“I’m afraid, too, darlin’, afraid that I won’t please you. It’s never mattered before. It matters now.”

Suddenly she was in his arms and they were kissing each other. The night turned into a beautiful, shimmering swirl of emotions that fueled the fire between them. Then they were inside King’s trailer, touching, kissing. Her soft skin came against his hair-roughened body, and the explosion of sensation was as stupendous as the grand finale, except they weren’t spectators in this explosion. They were the nucleus.

Kaylyn was lying on King’s bed, and she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there. She shivered with intense pleasure as King held her against him, finding for the first time just how well men and women were designed to fit together. His hands skimmed her body, touching, memorizing, pressing. His lips
followed as if they, too, needed to inventory her for some memory bank that cataloged every millimeter.

At first timidly, then more boldly, she followed his example. She didn’t know what was expected of her. Caught up in the maelstrom of passion, she allowed herself to go where her emotions led her. Her hands rimmed his tiny nipples, almost hidden by thick, soft chest hair. She felt them harden and quiver beneath her touch.

Downward her fingers moved. She was lying half beneath King. One of his legs was thrown across her lower body and pressed intimately between her legs. His lips were assaulting her mouth, and his tongue was exciting her with its intrusion. The involuntary flexing of the muscles in his stomach drew her hand on. Down into the heavier, wiry thatch of hair that surrounded …

“My goodness! King!”

He gasped. “Dammit, woman, don’t do that, or I won’t be any good to you.” But he’d already begun to move involuntarily against the hand exploring him with such maddening timidity.

“You won’t?” With one fingertip she skimmed the length of him.

“If you’re going to touch me, woman, then touch me! Don’t make little forays across my body and then retreat. You’re driving me to the brink of …”

“What exactly am I doing?”

“You can’t be that innocent.” He gasped, jerking her hand away before she’d pushed him too far.

Kaylyn became very still. She’d offended him but didn’t know why. He’d been touching her everywhere. And she hadn’t known that her actions would affect
him so violently. He was still lying over her, breathing raggedly.

“I’m sorry,” she managed to say huskily.

“Darlin’ Kaylyn, you haven’t done anything wrong. I think we’d better stop and talk for a second. I never thought to ask, but you are protected?”

“Protected? Oh!” She blushed as she realized the meaning of his question. “No. I didn’t think …”

He groaned.

“I’m sorry, King. I’ve never …”

“Don’t be sorry, darlin’. I’ll take care of everything—always. Just wait one second.”

He rolled across the bed, and she heard a drawer open. Even in the dark she was embarrassed. What was he doing? What was she doing? She shouldn’t be here, in King’s bed. She’d just …

“Kaylyn.” He rolled back across the bed, finding her now rigid body. “It’s all right, love. You don’t have to be afraid, and you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Just let me hold you.”

She resisted for a moment, then let him pull her back into his arms. They lay together for a time, listening to the sound of the springs through an open window. Little by little Kaylyn felt her body begin to tingle as if it were awakening. When he moved his hand and lifted her chin, turning her face toward his, she parted her lips and welcomed his kiss.

“Ah, Kaylyn, you are incredible.” For the next few minutes he touched her body and described every spot as though he’d been starved and she was rejuvenating his soul. His fingers worked their way between her legs, sending shock waves to the soles of her feet and the top of her skull. She felt the warm
moisture of her body welcome his intrusion, and the involuntary contractions of the muscles within went out of control.

Now all thought of refusal vanished. She was on fire. As she felt the great urge to press herself against his fingers she cried out, moaning her needs.

“Oh, Kaylyn, honey. Hold on. I know you want me. I can feel how ready you are. Just a second while I …” He pulled away, and the cool air caressed her hot body.

What had she done? she wondered. Had she offended him again with her loss of control?

“King, please … please don’t stop.”

He came back to her and moved over her, pausing for a second as he tried to still the threatening explosion within him. Think of ice, he told himself. Think of those springs, think of the ugliest woman you’ve ever seen. Desperately he tried to stop the great need his body seemed determined to satisfy.

Dammit, he wanted this to be good for her. No, not just good. He wanted it to be the culmination of all that was right between a man and a woman. Somehow he’d hold back until she was ready. She’d never been with a man before, so he’d have to be careful. Suppose he hurt her? He’d hold back a bit. Suppose …

And then the most incredible thing happened. She arched herself up toward him, wrapped her long legs around his back, and pulled him inside her. The thrust was deep and powerful, and she clung to him as sensation ripped through her.

Unable to stop himself, he moved inside her with deep, steady strokes until she began to shudder. “Oh, King. I feel like I’m going to … oh! Ahh!” And
he answered her with the powerful tremor of his own release.

Sometime later he heard her murmur, “Ah, Matilda …”

“Matilda? Not ‘darling,’ not ‘I love you’?”

She smiled in the darkness. There was something so right about the feeling that came from their being joined. They’d become one entity, sharing a beautiful experience, one more wonderful than anything she’d ever dreamed of. She was afraid to move, fearful it would end. How could she have gone twenty-seven years and never known what love was like. Love? Could she have fallen in love with this man? She didn’t know. For now she didn’t care.

“What about Matilda?” he asked, unwilling to bring the moment to an end.

“I was just thinking that she probably heard me—I mean, us. Do you think she knew what was happening?”

“I think she understood, all right.” He kissed her eyelids. “After all, we already know that she’s an experienced lady. And she’s a pretty smart donkey.”

“How can you tell?”

“She likes me.” He roused himself, pulling away from her. “Be still, Kaylyn. I’ll be right back.” He slid over the end of the bed and went into the bathroom. She heard the running of water, and seconds later he was back, lying beside her. She jumped at the unexpectedness of his touch. “What are you doing?”

“I’m bathing you, love.”

And he did. The gentleness of his touch was the most incredibly intimate experience of her life.

“I ought to be embarrassed,” she whispered. “I can’t believe that I’m not.”

“Why?”

“There’s so much of me,” she admitted honestly. “After all, I’m no lithe little thing.”

“Every inch of you is perfect, Kaylyn. And every inch of you is mine.”

“Really?” Her eyelids were growing heavy as her body seemed to stretch out and relax beneath his sweet touch. “I know that I’m not experienced, but it seems to me that there’s pretty much of you too.”

He pulled back the spread on one side of the oversize bed, lifted her easily, and deposited her on the silk sheet. “You remember how I told you that one day we’d be totally relaxed in this bed together?”

“Yes.”

He slid in beside her, and she allowed him to slip his arm beneath her neck and pull her into his embrace.

“Go to sleep, Kaylyn Smith. I want us to wake up together, still in each other’s arms.”

“Oh, are we all finished?” She snuggled against him, threading her leg through his with an intimacy that made him catch his breath and force his skittish heart to slow its beat.

“Not on your life, darlin’. We’re just resting for a while. I don’t want to abuse your body before it’s had a chance to adjust.”