The Stephen F. Austin Hotel

It was supposed to be a business meeting. He had flown in from Australia to meet with her publisher. She was merely a junior assistant, first reader of the slush pile, but she

had

passed his manuscript on to the higher-ups, so he guessed he owed her one.

They met at the Stephen F. Austin hotel, a quiet cocktail bar, two strangers who had only spoken by E-mail and phone, but somehow he knew this would be a special night.

Beth stepped silently into the bar, almost catlike, her feet seeming not to touch the ground as she wafted across the floor toward him smiling.

"Peter Mitchell?" she inquired, and he smiled back. "Your description was accurate, and it is nice to see that the real you matches the picture on your web site," she continued. "So many people post their ideal, not their reality." She laughed, moving to his side, and slipping onto the bar stool next to him. "Welcome to Texas."

Peter instantly felt himself enveloped by her perfume. "You must be Beth." He held out his hand, but she ignored it and softly kissed his cheek.

"In Texas," Beth said with a sultry look, "a woman kisses her welcome and introduction."

She was wearing a black lace blouse and a long red velvet skirt. He found himself wondering what lay beneath it....

#

After that initial chaste kiss, she leaned back on her stool.

God, I hope that wasn't too forward.

"We are still part of the South, y'know." She fluttered her eyelashes at him with a teasing smile. "I am so glad that you could meet me tonight. I have been reading the new manuscripts you sent me, and they are brilliant work."

Peter grinned. "They aren't

that

good, but thanks for thinking so. Can I get you something?"

Beth turned to the bartender. "Amaretto sour, please." She took the drink with a nod, and lifted the decorative cherry out of the glass. She twirled the stem idly between her fingers. "I just had to meet someone who could create such powerful characters, and such compelling plots."

Peter's eyes were drawn to the twisting cherry stem. "You write a pretty good line yourself. I liked the poetry you sent me."

Beth slipped the fruit into her mouth and sucked the amaretto from it. Slowly, she pulled the stem loose and bit the cherry in half. All the while, her eyes were locked with his. She knew what she was doing, but she couldn't believe her audacity. This was the first time she had ever deliberately set out to seduce a man before, but this man...his words had touched her soul so deeply that she felt like he had read her very thoughts. She wanted him to fulfill the promise his words had made to her.

Damn, I wish I could do that little knot thing with the stem like Amy can...but I do know a few other ways to use my tongue....

Peter chuckled. "What are you thinking just now?"

"Why?" she asked, startled out of her reverie.

"Because your cheeks are filling with the most extraordinary color." He lifted the back of his hand and brushed it across her cheek. The touch left a fire trail across her face, and she felt the warmth spread all the way down to her groin.

She wished she had left another button undone on the blouse.

How can I show him what I want without making a fool of myself?

#

As Peter sat talking with Beth, he was overwhelmed by her beauty. He blushed slightly as she toyed seductively with the cherry from her amaretto sour. Her hands appeared so delicate, her figures so long and sensual. He wished he were that cherry.

But now, as he chatted on with her, breathing in the scent of her perfume, seeing his face reflected in her eyes, he felt a tightening in his loins. A dull ache. He was reminded of the famous line from actress Mae West—"Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?" He shuffled nervously on the bar stool, reached into his pocket and casually adjusted his erection, hoping Beth would not notice.

As he looked at her again, he saw a cheeky glint in her eye, and knew that his attempt at playing a quick game of pocket billiards had not gone unseen.

His hand still felt the glow of her cheek. Why he had brushed it against her was beyond him. Yet he had, and had done so almost without thinking. It had just seemed like a natural reaction.

Peter gazed at this goddess sitting so close to him. He wished she had undone another button on her blouse, and hoped she could not read his thoughts. He was tempted to reach out and unbutton it himself, for the hint of cleavage Beth displayed had become an utter distraction

#

"I'll just be a minute...unless you want to join me?" His invitation lingered in the air between them, and Beth felt her heart race.

"I'll...just wait here..."

Peter stepped into the bathroom and shut the door.

Beth stepped to the bed and sat on the edge of it. It was hard, yet yielding. She closed her eyes as she ran her hands along the spread and imagined lying back on that surface, and looking up as Peter knelt over her. She bit her lip.

What am I doing here?

She chuckled throatily to herself...

just taking a little of Mama's advice and "going for it." She always did tell me to pursue my dreams...and Peter Marshall is all I've dreamed about for weeks.

She opened her eyes and saw his jacket on the bed beside her. Sweeping it up, Beth cradled it to her breasts, taking a deep whiff of the scent of him.

Coming to a quick decision, she slipped the last buttons of her blouse undone and dropped it on the bed, then reached behind her and unzipped the velvet skirt, letting it fall to the floor. She took a deep breath.

No turning back now

. "Just do it!" she whispered, biting her lip again.

The knob twisted beneath her hand, and she pushed the door open a crack. A wave of steam billowed out at her. It caressed her bare skin like a lover's kiss, and she shivered. Then she slipped inside the bathroom and closed the door softly. The water roared in the shower, and she felt her nipples tighten in anticipation. Silently, she stepped forward and pulled back the rear of the shower curtain.

Beth felt her heart pounding so fiercely in her breast that the world went a little gray around the edges. She saw his stare drift down, and freeze at her crotch. She grinned a little, catching her lip between her teeth, and then let the grin widen impishly as she slid her hand down her own thigh.

Peter stared back at her with an obvious interest that centered in the long, hard length of him. She panted, stepping toward him and feeling the hot beads of the shower caress her every pore. The sensual caress of the water took her back to their first lovemaking experience on the deck of the sunken ship.

"Welcome to Texas, Peter," she whispered huskily, her voice so thick with desire she could hardly force it from her throat. "And welcome to me...."

Peter held out his arms, and she stepped into the circle of them, tilting her head up to meet his lowering kiss. She could feel the iron tension of his cock pressing into her belly, and she rolled her hips lightly against it. He chuckled, the sound deepening into a growl as he laid claim to her lips. His mouth moved hungrily on hers, his tongue demanding entrance into her throat. She opened her lips willingly, greedily feeding upon his tongue as it explored her mouth, and then, tightening her arms about his neck, pulling his head still closer and probing back with her own tongue.

His arms tightened about her waist, and then she felt herself being lifted from the bottom of the tub. He placed his hands beneath her buttocks, and she arched upward.

Peter used his sensual fingers to reach underneath her and part the lips of her slit. She pulled her head back long enough to whisper. "Oh, yes, baby. Please. Please...." And then attacked his lips with increased fervor.

He raised her a little further, and then eased her down onto the hot, throbbing tip of his rigid penis. She sighed, arching backward to better the angle as it slid slowly into the core of her. Deeper...and deeper...until she wanted to scream with the intensity of it. He teased her deliberately, drawing out the penetration for as long as he possibly could, but when at last she felt the ridge of her pelvis meet his she could feel the tip of him resting deep inside her. Her body tightened around him automatically, and he groaned.

Locking her feet behind his waist, Beth slowly rotated her pelvis, feeling the shaft within her respond like a well-oiled gearshift. The water continued to pour down around them, blissfully warm, and it danced upon her breasts, toying with her taut nipples.

Carefully, she began to work herself up and down on the length of him. He filled her like the cork of a wine bottle, plugging her as if he were made for the task. The friction was heavenly torture, and she arched her back as he leaned back slightly to counterbalance her movements. She could feel a building tension. Suddenly, she could feel the crescendo building to a head, and she whimpered low in her throat.

"Go ahead and scream if you want to...no one will hear you," Peter urged, and thrust forward an extra fraction.

It was her undoing and scream she did. Long, incoherent babbling praises. She bucked against him, and he laughed.

"Careful, love, you'll spill us to the floor!"

But she didn't care...her mind was locked in red-hot flames. She pulled herself down as tightly as she could on the miracle of him, and ground her hips into his pelvis one more time.

He bit the side of her throat lightly with his teeth, suckling the flesh like a newborn kitten, and she felt him stiffen beneath her. "Your turn," she growled in his ear, nipping at the lobe as she redoubled her assault on his cock.

She felt him gulp, and then begin to thrust within her. She rode his thrusts, feeling the energy building again. After so long a starvation, she was not yet satisfied. As his strokes became faster and more urgent, she panted encouragement. "C'mon, baby. C'mon. Do it for me, come on...come on!"

Her panting grew louder and louder, as the scream gathered once more in her throat, but this time, she was not alone. He cried out with her. She felt him give one final jerk and thrust forward, and then she felt the hot spurting jets of his seed filling her like molten lead. He pinned her against the tile of the shower stall, crushing her mouth beneath his own, forcing his tongue deep into her throat once more, and kissing her hard.

She felt tears mixing with the hot water now...water beginning finally to cool, as if realizing that its purpose had been served. He crushed her to him, returning her kisses with equal passion.

"And that's how we say 'Hello' in Texas," she purred in his ear.