Never Too Rich (52 page)

He averted his head just in time.

“
Stop it!” Tears were streaming
down her face now. “I said please,
please
stop it,” she
sobbed.

It was her tears, not her screams and struggles,
that caused Duncan to hesitate and slide halfway out. He couldn’t
bear to see his beloved in such terror and pain. He wanted to make
love to her, not force her like the brutal Neanderthals who had
caused her so much hurt and anguish. He stayed poised, his pelvis
hovering indecisively.

“
Just promise me one thing
...” Her words, spoken just minutes ago, played back in his head.
“. .
.no
matter bow much I fight it, you won’t stop.
. . .”

So she had said. But had she truly meant it?

He was torn between keeping his promise and giving
in to her struggles.

I can’t force her, not when she’s fighting against
me so violently . . .

He was about to withdraw completely when he suddenly
became aware that her fists and heels had stopped pummeling, that
her cries had abruptly stilled. Her hips, instead of battling him,
were—could it be? . . . was it possible? . . . yes!—rising to meet
his and bury him inside her up to the hilt!

“
Doc?” she whispered, an inner
light glowing from her eyes. “Why are you stopping?”

His eyes went into hers, and suddenly he understood.
The bottled-up passions she had lived with for so long had risen
like a torrent within her.

“
Who said I’m stopping?” he
whispered back, and now, his penis buried so deep inside her that
he could actually feel her womb, he began to move in and out of her
in slow rhythmic thrusts.

“
Yes!” she moaned, her breathing
coming faster and faster as her hips rose and lowered greedily,
moving ever quicker and more relentlessly to devour him. “Oh, God,
yes!”

Forgotten now were the nightmare images and sexual
terrors. They were discarded, buried, never to haunt her again. A
powerful loving passion had replaced them, substituting the horrors
with the pleasures of giving and taking, reaffirming her womanhood
and her trust in men—at least in one man—once and for all.

What had just moments ago been screams of sheer
terror were now moans of magnificent release and pleasure; what had
been pummeling fists and bashing heels had turned into exploring,
clutching grasps. Like two demons possessed, they went at it with
an oceanic fury, moving in a mad unison until neither of their
bodies could stand holding back any longer. Together they tensed,
arched, and clung to each other for dear life as, with thunder
clapping and lightning flashing, they burst to orgasm together.

Panting and spent, they collapsed limply against
each other, their arms still entwined. When awareness slowly
returned, a sense of wonder shone in Billie’s face. Leaning up on
an elbow, she stared down at him. “Oh, Doc, Doc!” she whispered
forcefully, the tears wet in her eyes. “You’ve done it! You’ve
freed me! You’ve made me whole again!”

“
If anyone deserves to take the
credit for that,” he whispered in return, “it’s you.”

She shook her head. “It’s
us.”

He smiled with bleary pleasure.

“
Doc?”

“
Hmmmm?” He sat up, his fingers
tracing the profile of her face.

Her eyes were sparkling. “Can we do it again?
Now?”

“
Already!” he muttered with mock
despair, and pretended to collapse.

She shook him by the shoulders. “Come on, Doc,” she
cajoled huskily, her warm hand sliding across his penis. “We’ve got
months and months of lovemaking to catch up on.”

He rose to the challenge and pulled her to him. “In
that case,” he said softly, “we’d best get started.”

And they did.

Chapter 53

“
Ma! I can’t go
alone!”
Hallelujah wailed, fixing her mother with giant, cajoling, tawny
eyes.

The subject under discussion was a friend’s party,
and Hallelujah had been waiting just inside the front door, ready
to pounce.

Edwina kicked off her Bennis/Edwards heels,
four-hundred-dollar shoes covered in a yellow fabric with giant
magenta tulips, shoes guaranteed to turn Imelda Marcos chartreuse
with envy, tore off her cinch-waisted yellow plaid jacket, and
unbuttoned her yellow silk blouse halfway. Then, heaving a sigh of
delicious release, she let herself fall backward into a sofa and
sprawled there, legs and arms spread limply, like a life-size,
slack-limbed, frazzled rag doll. She had just finished putting in
eleven—or had it been twelve? . . . she was too tired to
remember—grueling hours of work, and she was beat.

“
Hal,” she begged. “Sweetie,
supersweetie,
please.
Not now. I’m at my last gasp, at
death’s very door.”

“
So? I can’t be the
only
unchaperoned guest!” Hallelujah went on, pacing in front of the
couch. “I mean, Maaaaa!” She stopped pacing and held out her arms
beseechingly. “You’re gonna put me in a totally freakazoid
position!”

“
You?”
Edwina said, unable
to repress a smile. “No way.”

“
I’m serious, Ma! You’ve
got
to say yes! An’ there’s no time to argue! The party’s like . . .
tomorrow!”

“
What kind of party is it, anyway?
A get-together for the offspring of Parents Without
Partners?”

“
Fun-nee.”
Hallelujah rolled
her eyes.

“
Hal, my love, give me time to
think!
I just walked in the door, and you know that at this
late hour I can’t take more than one thing at a time. Tomorrow, you
said. Now, let me see . . . tomorrow . . . tomorrow . . . I’m
certain I’ve got
something
already planned for tomorrow.
Damn—I don’t remember what. I’ll have to check my Filofax.” Edwina
sighed feebly as she felt her entire body, from her limp frizz of
hair to the aching soles of her feet, shutting down, bone-weary and
bleary, for the night. “Tell you what. Why don’t you scare up your
tuckered, overworked mother a nice ice-cold martoonie just the way
she likes them? And then, while you’re at it, maybe you could give
her cramping, callused feet one of your special toe-snapping
massages too?” Edwina eyed her hopefully and wiggled her toes. “In
other words, revive me, dear heart.
Revive
me.”

“
You’re always tired lately,”
Hallelujah accused.

“
That’s right, pardner. That’s
because your mother’s been slaving her tushie off, or haven’t you
noticed?”

“
Yeah?” Hallelujah tipped her head
to one side and eyed her narrowly. “Is that why you don’t
act
like a mother when I havta come up with a
parent?”

Edwina gazed at her with weary guilt. The trouble
was, there was so much to do, and so little time to do it all in.
Starting up and running your own business didn’t give you the
luxury of dashing home at five and playing Supermom.

She yawned sleepily and felt her drowsy eyelids
beginning to droop.

Hallelujah stood there shuffling her feet, waiting.
She could outwait Godot if she had to. Not that she usually had
trouble getting her mother to see things her way. Most of the time
her ma had her act together—better than any of her friends’
parents. The thing was, this business kick she was on was getting
totally out of hand. “Well?” she persisted after a while. “I mean,
are you gonna be my Ma, or should I just write you off?”

“
I know!” Edwina suggested. “Ruby
can take you!”

“
Maaaaa! Ruby’s not my
mother!”

“
Your Daddy, then?” Edwina
suggested brightly. “What’s healthier than fathers and daughters
doing things together?”

“
Much as I love Daddy, lately I’ve
been doin’
everything
with him. And ‘sides, he’s busy
tomorrow.”

“
Then what if . . . if you don’t go
with anybody? I’ll simply arrange for my car to get you there and
back and wait for you while the party’s going on!”

“
Thanks a
lot,
Ma.”
Hallelujah picked morosely at her fingerless black lace
gloves.

“
Sweetie! I’m not saying you can’t
go!”

“
Look, why don’t we just forget it?
Okay? It’s not s’if I’ve got a mother anymore anyway. Like she
disappeared as soon as this Leo Flood guy came into her life,
y’know?” Head hanging, she started moving dejectedly across the
carpet, but her sly eyes slid alertly sideways.

“
Hal! Wait!”

Hallelujah hid her smile. “Yeah?” She turned around
slowly, too wily to show her triumph just yet.

“
Here.” Edwina patted the couch
cushion beside her. “What do you say you sit down next to your
remorseful ma here and we’ll discuss this girl-to-girl.”

Hallelujah looked at her suspiciously. “What’s to
discuss?”

“
Well, for starters you
could
tell me about this party. For instance, which of your
friends is having it?”

Hallelujah looked outraged. “What d’ya mean, ‘which’
of my friends? Ma! You don’t even
know
any of my friends
anymore!”

Edwina blinked, and in a split second flashed on
reality. It was true! She
didn’t
know any of her daughter’s
friends anymore. In fact, she hadn’t met one in . . . Two months?
Three? And this in the age of crack, AIDS, and teenage pregnancy!
What was the matter with her? If mothers needed licenses, hers
should be revoked.

“
Aw, Sweetie, no wonder you’re
upset. You have every right to be.”

Hallelujah looked at her askance. “Yeah?”

“
Yeah. So tell me. Where’s this
shindig taking place?”

“
Oh, the Rainbow Room.”

Edwina burst into a coughing fit.

Hallelujah looked alarmed. “Ma! Are you gonna be all
right? Did you swallow the wrong way?”

Edwina motioned her to be silent. “Correct me if I’m
wrong,” she said weakly, gasping for air. “You
did
say the
Rainbow Room? The one atop Rockefeller Center?”

“
Like there’s another one in town?”
Hallelujah demanded.

“
But . . . but, Hal! You can’t go
there!”

Hallelujah narrowed her eyes to dangerous slits.
“Why not?” she demanded.

“
Because it’s . . . well, I mean
it’s ...” Edwina sighed resignedly. Whether it meant treading
dangerous ground or not, there was simply no way to break the news
gently. And break it she must. “Face it, cookie,” she said with
solemn sadness, “they’d never let you in the door.”

Hallelujah looked outraged. “Why?”

“
Well,
look
at you! Granted,
your attire may be considered fashionable among a certain youthful
downtown set, and even be appropriate for a Madonna concert at
Madison Square Garden, but I’m afraid it’s just not a Rainbow Room
getup.”

Hallelujah tossed her head with dignity. “So? Then
I’ll wear a dress.”

“
A dress? Did I hear the word
‘dress’?” Edwina sat bolt upright, suddenly wide-awake.

Hallelujah did another little shuffle in place. “I
said,” she growled softly, looking down at the carpet, “I’d wear a
dress.”

“
An . . . appropriate dress?”
Edwina asked, fixing Hallelujah with a disbelieving
look.

“
Whaddya think? Like I’m gonna show
up there just to be turned away? Gimme a break, Ma.
Okay?”

“
After I’ve caught my breath, I
might. Meanwhile, this is all too much for me to take in. Truly.
Okay, I believe my heart is almost back to normal. Now, about your
. . . yo
^l
ur hair.”

“
My haaaaiiiiiir?”

“
You must admit it
does
rather look as if you’ve stuck your finger into an electrical
outlet.”

“
You’re pressin’ your luck, Ma,”
she grumbled warningly. “Spiky hair, for your information, is
in.
I mean, you of all people should know that, bein’ all
wrapped up in the fashion scene the way you are.”

“
Yes, but yellow, purple,
and
magenta streaks?” Edwina shook her head. “Despite its
name, the Rainbow Room is just a mite conservative for
that.”

“
Uh . . . then I’ll just look geeky
an’
not
spray three colors in it tomorrow. That’s
all.”

Edwina couldn’t believe her ears. Would wonders
never cease? Popping happily to her feet, she literally threw
herself at Hallelujah and smothered her in a crushing bear hug.

Hallelujah screwed her features up and tried to push
her away.
“Maaaa!
Yuck! Will ya
stop
it?” She managed
to duck and squirm her way free. “Like I thought you were
tired!”

“
I was, kiddo, I was! But how can I
stay tired when you’re rejoining the ranks of humanity?” Edwina
stood back, took Hallelujah’s hands in her own, and regarded her
lovingly. “And yes. To answer your question, yes! I’ll go with you
to the party tomorrow. I’d
love
to go!”

“
You will?”

“
I’ll even take you shopping for a
new dress tomorrow. No. Make that two. Even three.”

“
Hey, wait a minute! Let’s not get
carried away.”

“
I won’t. You have my word. Cross
my heart and fingers and toes and eyes.”

“
Brilliant!”
This time it
was Hallelujah’s turn to launch herself at her mother, and she did
it with such spontaneous force and joy that Edwina had to fight
back the moisture that sprang to her eyes.