Shiver Sweet (26 page)

Claire leaned over Brian’s shoulder and stared.  Her eyes widened in shock, not only because the website that earned her coin was five inches from her lover’s nose, but because her rival Christa filled the screen; dancing in suggestive motions in the shower as though slithering her body to a beat.  “Goodness!  I-I don’t know what it is.”  Claire unscrewed the whisky bottle and swallowed a huge gulp. 

Brian swivelled his head Claire’s way and furrowed his eyebrows.  “Why the hell is Christa showering on the internet?”  He bowed his head and rubbed his eyes.

Claire flexed her fingers, moved to touch Brian’s shoulder, then thought better of it and pulled away.  “Perhaps you don’t know her as well as you thought.”  She winced. 
Oh, how the hell do I get out of this?

“I can’t believe it!”  In a fluster, his eyes roamed the screen.  “Is this live?”  He nodded and pointed at words at the top corner.  “Yes.  Live feed.”

“Perhaps she does it to unwind,” Claire suggested, trying to think of what a person who was not involved in the running of the website would say.

Brian’s horrified eyes met Claire’s.  “You mean... she knows she’s being filmed?  Surely not.  How could you even think that?”

“Cool it.”  She raised a palm.  “Look, I’m as shocked as you are.” 

“She’s topless!  And her pants look painted on.”

Claire winced and fidgeted behind him.  She bit her lip so hard it hurt.  “What are you going to do?” 

Brian eyed the laptop, then Claire, in a pointed way.  “I can’t let this continue.”

Claire’s anxiety rocketed to a full-blown ten.  She downed more whisky and slammed the bottle on the coffee table.  Brian could not be allowed to breathe a word of this to anyone.  “How well do you really know her?”

“Well enough to know this isn’t like her.”  

“Maybe this is the
real
her.  She’s not who you think she is.”  Claire gnawed the inside of her cheek, working out how to play this down so Brian would forget it.  “Look, don’t judge her too harshly.  I mean, she’s only taking a shower.  She’s not even fully naked.” 

“That’s about as close as you can get.”

No doubt about it, this was the stuff that kept subscribers coming back for more; a sexy woman soaping herself and dancing in the shower.  The guys running the website would be doing a happy dance.  But moving so provocatively wasn’t something Claire had seen Christa do before.  Anytime Claire had watched Christa dance in the office, she resembled a wriggling caterpillar.  “Perhaps you should keep this to yourself.  I mean, it’s obviously something she wants to keep private or she’d have told you about it, right?  You should switch the laptop off.”

“Private?”  Brian cupped his chin and sat immersed in the footage.  “I’d hardly call being on the internet private.  God knows how many people are viewing this.”

“It’s disgusting that you’re watching this...
her
in my house.”  Claire poured a shot of whisky and passed it to him, searching her brain for a road out.  “Drink this.” 

“I can’t believe she’d parade herself like this.”  He drained the glass in one gulp.  “And yesterday, if... if I’d known this was what she does in her spare time then I’d not have...  Think I dodged a bullet there.”  He slammed the empty glass on the table.

“Sure did.”  Claire had already discerned that something happened between the two of them last night.  This confirmed it, and reduced her stomach to a free-spinning barrel of sickness.  

“Why would she do this?  She’s got a child for Christ’s sake.”

She stared blankly for a moment, suddenly fighting the urge to both laugh and cry.  Finally, after all this time, she’d unearthed the one thing that would turn Brian off Christa.  It should have been a hallelujah moment, but instead, it could get Brian killed and land the whole lot of them in jail.  If Dale knew Brian had seen this website he’d drive straight round and knock him unconscious whether Claire protested or not.  Fear for Brian’s life and her own freedom polluted her mind.  She had to find a way to keep Brian quiet.  But how?  “Well,” Claire winced and mumbled.  “Women as cheap as
that
just aren’t worth the trouble.” 

His voice stiffened.  “What?  You think she does this for money?”

“Either that or because she gets off on it.”

“Oh, Christ.”

“There are many ways to make cash online, but you wouldn’t catch me cheapening myself that way.  Tart,” Claire scoffed, then pressed her hand to her lips.  Regret rushed into her brain.  Had she made things better or worse? 

“I know Christa’s been strapped for cash lately... but
this
!  It’s outrageous.”

“Poor Sarah.  I wonder how
she’d
feel about it,” Claire said, hoping that Brian might keep this under wraps for her sake.

“She’d be mortified.  Sarah, bless her, can never find out about this.”

Bingo.

He got to his feet and stood face to face with Claire.  “Thanks.”

“What for?”  God, she could stare into his gorgeous blue eyes for an eternity.

“For bringing the laptop here.  Did you know what was on it?”

“Oh, I er...” Claire fumbled for words that wouldn’t make him suspicious of her.  “Yes.  Sort of.  I wanted to show it to you, but...”

“I know.  It’s been a heck of a day.  Thanks.”

Claire bit her lip.   Had she said the right thing?

“If Sarah had gotten hold of it she’d be devastated.”  His face scrunched.  “I’ll find out which sleaze bag owns this laptop.  Christa will know.  It’s second hand.”

Yeah, by accident.
  Claire stroked his arm then reached up to turn his face toward her. 
Ahr, you smell so good. 
“You deserve better than someone who flaunts themselves like that.  Look what you’ve been through today, and who’s here looking after you?  Me, that’s who.”  This was a man stupefied in shock, broken, and she had to fix him.

“I know.  You’ve been great, Claire.  I really appreciate it.  But I don’t want you to take it the wrong way.”

“You’re great.”  Brushing wayward hair out of her eyes, she stepped forward, reducing the space between them to a mere foot.  “And
we’re
great together.  I know how much you love Sarah, and perhaps you’re confused, but you don’t need to be with Christa to have Sarah in your life.”

“I know that.  That’s not what it’s about.”  He recoiled from her touch, his eyes dark, tortured and guarded.

“I’d give up everything to be with you,” Claire said, gesturing to the website.  She gulped, instantly realising what horrors could have slipped out.  She gently touched his hand.  “You’ve had such a rough day.  I can make you feel better.”

“Claire... I... the thing is...”  He glanced down at the laptop, a thoughtful, faraway look in his eyes.

Let me soothe you. 
“I know how much you want your own family.  I can give that to you.”  She looked longingly at him, then flattened her palm on his partly open shirt and ran her hand down the rest of the buttons.

He glanced down.  “Claire.  What are you doing?”

“I know girls like Christa, scratch the surface and all kinds of horrors pop up.  Forget about her.  I’m here for you.  I can take care of you, and I know what you need.”  Her eyes drifted to his lips, desperate to kiss them.  The invisible line connecting them started twisting back together, hard as a whipcord. 

Brian captured the left side of her jaw in his hand.  He narrowed his eyes, gazing as though weighing up his options.  “No.  I’m sorry, but-“

“Hush.”  Claire pushed up on tiptoes and crushed her lips onto his. 

Brian flinched.  “Whoa!”

Claire slithered a hand around his neck and held him in place.  She kissed him again, trying to prise his lips apart with her tongue. 

Brian turned away.  “No, Claire.”   A look of discomfort flashed across his face and he nudged her hips away with both hands.  “I don’t want to upset you, but this isn’t right.”

“The hell it isn’t.”  She pulled his head down again and kissed him.  “I want you.  Now,” she whispered into his mouth, then tugged his shirt out of his trousers.  While Brian stood rigid, she kissed his neck, trailing her lips right down to where the open buttons exposed a few hairs on his chest.  Then, noticing he’d scrunched his eyes closed, clearly fighting against loving her touch, she slowly ran her fingernails up and down his back, just how he liked it.

His chest heaved beneath her lips and he put his hands on her shoulders.  “Don’t, Claire.  We can’t.”

Claire rubbed a light hand over his groin and then moved up to kiss him on the mouth.

Abruptly, Brian’s demeanor changed.  Eyes glinting, he wrapped his hand around Claire’s waist, pulling her hips against his thighs.  They deepened the kiss, tongues twirling in a passionate dance. 

All the pain in her heart fizzled away.  She had him!

Brian moved his hands down her back.  He hitched her skirt up above her hips, exposing her panties, and cupped her bottom.  He lifted Claire up.  “Put your legs around my waist.”  Gladly, she did, and then he carried her across the room to the back wall. 

Sandwiched between Brian and the wall at the side of the fireplace, Claire, riotously happy, let her lips melt around his.  A soft, low moan escaped her throat as she writhed under his touch.  God, it felt soooo incredibly good to be in his arms and Claire ached to have his fullness inside her. 

Her spine tingled, every follicle on her body stood to attention as Brian moved his lips south, nibbling and kissing his way down her throat to her cleavage.  Lost in the tickly shiver from his touch, totally vulnerable to him, Claire’s dark world and all its spinning shit fell away. 

Only their frantic breath disturbed the silence.  Hot and sweet anticipation spiralled through her body and pooled between her open thighs.  She pressed her sex hard against the rise in his trousers, tipped her head back against the wall and groaned while he nuzzled her breasts.  If he didn’t rip her panties off and enter her this minute, she’d surely burst.  “I love you, Brian.” 

Claire’s mobile started barking from atop the fireplace, startling them both.  From the melody, she knew it was Dale.   
Fuck.  Not now. 
The barks continued.  Hell, if she didn‘t answer it he might drive over.  Brian might mention the website and...  Her mind and heart wrestled.  Shit!  “Brian, I have to answer it.”

His lips left her skin.  He looked at her and suddenly thawed, his eyes traumatised, his spine rigid.  “Oh, sh-shit...  I’m sorry, Claire... I...”  He lowered her to her feet.

Claire looked from the phone to Brian and raised her index finger.  “Don’t move.  Just give me one minute.”  She snatched up the phone and glanced at it.  Yes.  Her brother.  Rotten timing.

Brian wiped his mouth and backed away.  “This... this... I don’t know what came over me.”

“What?  No!  Oh, Brian, please...”  With her free hand, Claire whipped her panties down and stepped out of them.  She stuffed them into Brian’s pocket, grabbed his belt, undid it then yanked the zip down on his trousers while he stood in a state of shock.  “You won’t be needing these again tonight.”

“I can’t do this.”  He brushed her hand away.

“You can.”  She grunted at the phone which still barked in her hand. 
Dale, I’m so mad with you right now.

“I’m sorry.”  Brian closed his eyes, turned and stumbled over to the window as though drugged.

Claire’s mobile stopped, then started barking again. 
Fucking hell, Dale!

Brian leaned a hand on the windowsill and bowed his head, looking severely troubled.  “Go ahead.  Answer it.”

Ahr!
  “Screw the phone.”  She chucked it onto the sofa.  “Get back here.”

He shook his head.  “I need to use the bathroom.”  He raced out of the room.

“Good idea.  Go and get undressed,” she said cynically.  “I’ll be right here waiting for ya.”  Claire turned and booted the wall.  With a low groan, she picked up the phone and accepted the call, putting it to her ear just as the bathroom door slammed shut.  “What?” she snapped.

“You watching this?”

“Huh?”  She stared into the hall, aching for Brian to dash out and ravish her.

“The website!  I’m sitting here with the guys, watching it.  Claire, are you listening?”

Oh, not you, too.
  “Y... yeah, I heard ya.  Can we talk about this later?”  Her body still hummed with hunger for Brian, her skin tingled from his kisses.

“Christa’s getting nearly as many hits as that overweight couple who’re making out on the sofa.”

“She’s really not that interesting, Dale.”

“I can see right through her panties.  Her nipples are like bullets.  This is good for business.”  A wolf whistle came through the phone, followed by the background hum of laughter.  No doubt Dale was drinking with a bunch of the guys, feet up, enjoying the show.  It made Claire go cold.

“Wonderful,” she mumbled, gritting her teeth.  On hearing water flow in the bathroom, she grabbed the whisky and raced into the kitchen so Brian wouldn’t overhear her when he came out.  “That bitch normally can’t dance to save her life.”

“Jealous?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

“Yeah.  Definitely jealous.”  Dale paused.  “If I’d known she’d keep the viewers
this
happy, I’d have offed her husband long ago.”  Someone laughed in the background again.

“Dale!  You shouldn’t joke about this stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Lighten up, sis.”

“And what’s with winding me up?  I thought you were on my side?” 

Silence rode the phone line.  Dale was intoxicated for sure, or he wouldn’t have teased her.

“So anyway,” Dale said.  “I haven’t seen much of Nicola this evening.  Any idea where she is?  If she’d join Christa in the shower then... my God.  Think Richard here would blow a gasket.”

Tsk!  “Whatever.  Get a life.”  Claire only half-listened to the rest.  The bathroom door clicked open and Brian crossed the hall to the lounge.  Claire’s heart clenched.  How could she turn this awkwardness around?  She padded along the hall and poked her head around the lounge door to spy, while Dale mumbled something about Nicola.