Banjo Man

by Sally Goldenbaum

  “But it is wonderful,” she protested, her eyes huge and pleading.

  “That it is!” He laughed, making everything all right. “Hey, I forgot to give you your present.” Rocking back on his heels, he crouched for a moment, head bent, his shoulders heaving, and then he looked up at her and flashed that heart-stopping grin of his. “Did you think I came to your party empty-handed?”

  “I thought your heart was gift enough,” she whispered.

  The earth rocked beneath Rick’s feet. He covered his eyes with one hand for a moment, then smiled at her, his dark eyes blazing.

  Laurie’s face was washed in the same glow of happiness. There was a moment of exquisite pleasure between them, and then Laurie said, “Well, sir, about this present you mentioned …”

  He was gone for a second, then came back and knelt beside her. He held out a thin square box tied with a huge bow. “For you.”

  She unwrapped it, opened the white tissue, and gave a soft little cry of happiness. “Oh, it’s beautiful, beautiful!”

  It was a large silk scarf, shimmering with a rainbow of colors against a peacock-blue background. A look of delight lit her face as she lifted the silk square and rubbed her face against it. “Oh, I love it, Rick. Thank you!”

  She stood, naked except for her bra and panties, and tied the scarf around her neck without a hint of shyness. The long ends fluttered against her bare skin, the colors catching the light in the candle-glow.

  Rick smiled and got to his feet, watching her with pleasure. “Here, let’s try this.…”

  He untied the scarf and retied it first around her waist, its silken folds circling her in iridescent hues, then over her shoulders, then gypsy style around her hips, seemingly unaware of how his touch brushed fire against her bare skin. “Nice.” He grinned, stepping back each time to admire his handiwork. “You certainly do something for that little piece of silk!”

  “I’m glad. And now you can do something for me, Mr. Westin. Kiss me again.”

  He narrowed his eyes, studying her flushed face. “But you know what that will lead to, Ms. O’Neill,” he whispered.

  “I certainly hope so!” she answered.

  He stepped close, cupped her lovely face in his hands, and kissed her.

  With a quiver of pure delight, Laurie circled his back with her hands, tracing patterns on his warm skin. Sliding her palms down to the waistband of his slacks, she moved her hands around to his front.

  She felt him tense, his kiss deepening, his body straining toward hers.

  Pulling her lips away just a fraction of an inch, she whispered against his mouth, “May I?”

  He groaned in response, a harsh sound of pure desire.

  Giggling, her head spinning, she unsnapped the button. “Incredible!”

  “You bet!” He laughed, and stepped back. “Okay, now the zipper.”

  “Oh, I can’t!”

  “Sure you can; here—” he directed, and, catching hold of her hand, he placed it against the front of his body and helped her guide the zipper down its track.

  Laurie thought she was going to die! Faint! Melt away into a little puddle of excitement. She was shaking with nervous laughter, but Rick wouldn’t let her go. Instead, grinning like the devil, he caught her other hand in his and made her help tug his slacks down over the sharp angles of his hips. Then he stepped out of them, and out of his scant briefs as well.

  “Oh, my.” Laurie gulped.

  “Oh, my, what?” Rick teased, watching with brash, dark eyes as her gaze traveled over his body.

  “Oh, my goodness! You … you are so beautiful.”

  “Glad you think so, ’cause what you see is what you get.”

  Their mingled laughter swept through the room like a tempest. In the midst of it, Rick lifted her in his arms and headed for the hide-a-bed. “Damn thing!” he cursed, hating to put her down, hating to let her go even for a second.

  When it was open, the cushions strewn across the floor, they stood on opposite sides, seeming to pause for a moment. But the hesitation was only in Laurie’s mind. Actually, everything happened very quickly.

  With a keen laugh, Rick jumped into the middle of the bed and opened his arms. “Come on, darlin’. Cover me up!”

  Laurie slipped neatly in beside him, but he was having none of that. In one swift move he lifted her on top of him, wrapping his arms and legs around her. She felt his flesh, his hair, the hardness and heat and power of him, all in that moment of contact. It was wonderful! She kissed him, rubbing her mouth across his, kissing his eyes and nose and chin. He kissed her back hungrily, tangling his fingers in her hair, nipping at the tender lobe of her ear. “Darlin’ … oh, darlin’, how I love you! Let me love you.”

  His hands met at the back of her bra and he snapped it open. Slowly, so slowly, he drew his hands around her ribs and gathered her breasts in his palms, his thumbs circling slowly over her nipples.

  She drew a quick breath in through clenched teeth, the sound hissing like steam from a kettle on the boil. Never, never had she dreamt it would be like this. No one had told her, warned her. Maybe no one else knew! Maybe this was a special magic only Rick could perform!

  Feeling the fever pitch of her excitement, he cocked one leg and rolled them both over so that he was on top, his body stretched along hers. Then, pushing himself straight up on his hands, so his chest was off her, he grinned down into her huge gray eyes. They were shot with gold and shining. But her hands still clutched her bra to her breasts.

  With a sharp, wild laugh he leaped from the bed, found the silk scarf, and draped it over her. “Okay, darlin’, so much for modesty!” And he pulled the bra away, and slipped her panties off, and lay down next to her.

  She had turned her head to watch him, and he saw the way her lips were parted; her breath was coming quick and shallow, her eyes were glazed with rapture. Leaning on one elbow, he let his eyes roam over the curves of her body, taking in her naked beauty beneath the shimmering silk. And then, with a quiver of delight rocketing up his arm to his heart, he touched her, stroking with his hand along all the silken curves of her body, across all her secret places.

  She moaned, crying his name, and he pulled the scarf away and covered her with his eager body, and she wrapped her legs around him, whispering soft love words against his hungry mouth. He made love to her then with a controlled and supple power, until his own body hit fever pitch and beyond and he exploded, taking her with him on a ride to the moon.

  Later they pulled the covers up over their damp, exhausted bodies and nestled together. She lay with her head on his arm, and when she rolled onto her side, her nipples brushed his chest. “Ummmm.” She sighed. “No wonder people spend so much time talking about this. It’s quite wonderful!”

  “Hmmmm, glad you think so,” he whispered lovingly, dusting kisses across her face. “Maybe we’d better try it again, just to keep in practice.”

  Twelve

  Pancakes … bacon … hot coffee …

  The smells wafted from the tiny kitchen to Laurie, who was snuggled in the warmth of the tangled sheets.

  “Mornin’, my darling,” Rick whispered, leaning over the curled body on the bed.

  Laurie lazily opened one eye. “It’s morning now, is it?” A contented smile curved her lips.

  “Uh-huh.” Rick’s finger traced a path from her unclouded brow down to the tip of her nose. “But not for much longer, sweet thing; it’s almost noon.”

  Laurie reached her bare arms up and circled his neck, drawing his face down to hers. “Come back here, then, Westin. Let me give you a good-morning kiss. And then soon I can give you an afternoon kiss, and an evening kiss, and—”

  As his lips met and clung to hers, Rick felt his desire rise in him again like a flame, fierce and consuming. The smell of her, the taste of her mouth, the feel of her silken skin, drove him wild.

  Reluctantly, Rick pulled away, and sat down beside her. He kissed the one bare shoulder that edged above the sheets and then smiled at her,
his dark eyes engraving forever on his memory the way she looked at that moment—fresh and ripe and filled with the bloom of their lovemaking.

  Behind the smile and the forced calm, Rick felt a twinge of fear as sharp and surprising as the delight he had felt the night before. Then, in the dappled moonlight, Laurie had given her love completely, matching his passion with her own. Now he feared the intrusion of the morning and its bright, uncompromising light. Would her fears and insecurities come tumbling back, an artificial judgment on their love?

  “Why are you so still?” she murmured, opening one sleepy eye.

  “Words don’t matter right now, sweet thing. All that matters is you”—he kissed the top of her head—“and me”—his body slipped farther down, pulling with it the cotton sheets that covered her—“and the incredible love we’ve shared.”

  Slipping his hand beneath her shoulders, he pulled her toward him carefully, until the graceful curve of her naked body pressed against him. “Are you happy, Laurie?” he asked.

  Laurie felt the pounding of his heart. “Rick, I …” She shyly met his eyes and felt her own sting with tears. “I don’t exactly know what I should say. I feel so—”

  Rick’s dark gaze was intense. “What? Tell me. How do you feel, darlin’?”

  Her slow smile was radiant. She placed one palm against his chest, her naked breasts trembling slightly with the gesture. “I feel… I feel different; I really do! As if there was a part of me locked away that I never even knew was there. And you found it! And allowed it to be free. I never imagined a sharing that could be so incredibly lovely.” She nuzzled her head against the roughness of his unshaven cheek, then gently nibbled on his ear. “You’ve unleashed a wildness in me, Rick Westin; now what are you going to do about it?”

  Rick’s heart swelled. She was quite wonderful, his Laurie O’Neill. His fears vanished.

  Running a hand along her cheek, he looked at her lovingly. “What am I going to do about it? Well, darlin’, I’ll show you what I’m going to do about it.…”

  He released her only long enough to slip out of his jeans and tear his T-shirt over his head. Then he was back beside her on the rumpled bed, his lean body stretched along the sun-drenched sheet. “I’m going to nurture your wildness. Kindle it!” He pulled her close against his naked chest and ran his hands over the tightening swell of her breasts. “I’m going to savor it.” He wriggled down and brushed his lips lightly over her nipples; the rapid beating of her heart was a gentle drumming love song in his ears.

  “But Rick,” Laurie said with a gasp, her voice a faint echo, “the bacon!”

  His husky laugh tickled her belly as he dropped soft kisses along the smooth skin. “My darling, I’m going to capture your wildness and we’re going to ride away on it, so far away you won’t even smell the bacon!” He wound one leg around hers, capturing it lovingly. “I’m going to love you, Laurie O’Neill.…”

  The next few weeks flew by in a blur for Laurie, a wonderful wild blend of living and loving. The new feelings Rick Westin had fueled totally consumed her. She couldn’t get enough of him.

  “Rick, it’s crazy!” She wound her fingers through his own, then pressed his hand to her heart. “Do you feel this? It’s like this all day long, every time I think of you. I’m going to fall over dead in Senator Murphy’s office if it doesn’t slow down. ‘IRISH LASS DIES IN SENATOR’S OFFICE OF LOVE OVERDOSE!’ ” She laughed softly into his shoulder as they walked slowly down a tree-shaded Georgetown street.

  “Hey, darlin’, I could write a song about it.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, hugged her close, and began to hum loudly into the early-evening air.

  “Don’t you dare!” Laurie laughed breathlessly as she struggled to keep up with Rick’s long strides. “People are already beginning to look at us!”

  “Do you think they … know?” Rick whispered conspiratorially.

  “I’m sure of it. How could they help it? I’m sure everyone knows! I can’t keep this silly grin off my face, and I can’t seem to sit still for longer than eight minutes at a time. Paula keeps looking at me with a strange smile I’ve never seen before, and nods a lot when I mention your name. And when I come in looking as if I haven’t slept all night, she no longer asks me if I’m getting sick; she just winks!”

  Rick laughed heartily as he guided her around the corner of M Street. “Well, my sweet, wanton thing, where do you want to eat?” He waved a hand at several restaurants fronting the bustling business section of Georgetown.

  Laurie’s smile wilted.

  “What’s the matter?” Rick lifted her chin with two fingers, his brows drawing together in puzzled concern.

  Laurie shook her head briskly. “Nothing. Nothing.” She forced a smile. “Anywhere you want to eat is fine.”

  “No, Laurie, tell me. Didn’t you want to have dinner with me tonight?”

  His anxious thoughts raced. They’d been together nearly every minute for the past three weeks. If he had a performance Laurie was there, sitting at the front table, her shining eyes leading him from song to song. He met her every day on the steps of her office building, and the evenings and weekends were spent laughing and talking, and loving each other into delicious oblivion.

  He’d tried to be so gentle, so careful, so positive. He didn’t want anything to shake her confidence or cause her a moment’s doubt. But maybe he was rushing things a bit; maybe she was feeling too crowded, too overcome by emotion. Maybe she needed a little space.

  He’d back off. He’d slow down. Damn! He’d do anything for her!

  “Is that it, Laurie? Tell me!” Rick grasped her shoulders and turned her so that she faced him directly, her eyes gazing right into his own. “It’s okay, darlin’—”

  “Oh, Rick.” Laurie’s eyelashes swept across her flushed cheeks as she tried to avoid his gaze.

  What would he think of her? What would he think if she told him his very presence swept her into such a tingling passion she could hardly keep her hands off him. She loved being with him, loved loving him! Loved the feel of his body, its beauty and secrets. She’d felt no regrets, no fears, nothing but pure, unadulterated joy! It was a world removed from reality, too wonderful to allow for recriminations, too thrilling to allow looking back … or ahead.

  “Rick,” she whispered in a voice so throaty and low that he had to bend his dark head closer, “I don’t want dinner. I want to go to bed with you!”

  Her face turned bright scarlet.

  Rick bit his bottom lip to restrain the husky shout of laughter that swelled in his chest. He couldn’t laugh; she was so damn serious! So wonderful … so incredibly special. Would he ever be able to anticipate Laurie O’Neill? To understand emotions so pure they nearly blinded him?

  He shook his head slowly and kissed the top of her sweet-smelling hair, aware of both the lump in his throat and the painful tightening in his loins.

  “Where to, sweet thing? Your place or mine?”

  Thirteen

  “Time to let the dog out,” Rick murmured across the soft mound of pillow, his breath tickling her cheek.

  “I don’t have a dog,” Laurie purred, feeling the delight of his nearness even as she woke.

  Rick stirred, slid one arm around her lovely, naked back, and drew her closer. Tucking his knees behind hers, he molded her gently and naturally into the curve of his body. Then he raised one heavy eyelid and squinted at the bright light that poured in the curtainless windows. “What is that horrible noise, darlin’?”

  The insistent, muffled ringing finally registered on Laurie’s consciousness. She rolled over, burying her face in his shoulder. “Oh, it’s the phone … darn. It must be buried somewhere under the cushions. Rick, don’t you want to get it?” Then she heard what she had said, and shot straight up in bed. “No! No, don’t you get it; I’ll get it! Hold on, I’m coming.”

  She swung her feet over the side and pulled the top blanket from the bed, wrapping it around her. But she lingered yet; sliding one hand back
over his chest, she twisted her fingers teasingly in the dark thatch of curly hair. “It’s morning, Banjo Man. How did it get to be morning so soon?”

  “The phone, Laurie …?”

  A tiny, contented smile touched her lips as she stood and glanced back over her shoulder at that gorgeous body sprawled across her bed. “Don’t go away, now.”

  With one final tug that released the blanket from where it was tucked into a corner, she wandered across the room and picked up the phone.

  Rick propped himself up on one elbow. The memory of their most recent lovemaking stirred him, and he watched her lazily, fantasizing about the slender, responsive body hidden under that lump of blanket. He imagined his hands gathering her rose-tipped breasts, tracing the curve of her waist, stroking her lovely naked flanks. “Ummmm …” He flung off the sheet and walked buck naked across the room to her.

  Stepping up close behind her, he slipped his hands beneath the cover and touched her skin.

  She wriggled against him, holding the phone between chin and shoulder, reaching up to push her fingers through his sleep-tousled hair. The blanket slid unnoticed to her feet.

  He kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose and she tipped her head to one side, talking into the receiver as she offered her neck instead.

  “Katy, is this what you woke me up for? You’re not talking sense. Of course I want to see you, and we’ll make some plans and—What?” He felt her stiffen. “What do you mean, ‘today’?” She gasped, spun, and pushed Rick away with a good, hard shove to the chest.

  “Holy Christopher!” she shouted with the gusto of a seasoned sailor.

  Rick shrugged and flopped back onto the bed, folding his arms behind his head. He grinned to himself, glad that her Irish temper wasn’t aimed his way.

  Laurie could barely control her voice, and she was gripping the phone as if to strangle it. “Katy, why didn’t you say this in the first place? This is absolutely the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done … and you’ve done your share! Don’t you know Daddy will have the Pope out looking for you! And what about Mother? She must be sick with worry. And, young lady, you’re not solving a solitary thing. Now, stop sniffling! Go sit in a corner of the bus station—and don’t talk to any strangers! I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”