Who's That Lady? (13 page)

Key shrugged. “I was tired of waiting in the parking lot.”

He tested the temperature of the water in the carafe on the counter and pulled a clean cup from the shelf above.

Crystal gaped at him in shock. “You were watching me?”

“Just coming by to say hello. Didn’t look like lover boy was leaving any time soon.” He dropped a tea bag into the cup and poured hot water into it. He swished a moment and then looked up at her with feigned innocence. “Oh, did I interrupt something?”

“Get out!” she yelled, launching into furious motion. She strode across the room and smacked him on the arm. “Get out of my house this instant and don’t ever let me catch you spying on me again.”

Key moved back and sipped his tea. “Can’t do that, Shortcake. I have to watch out for you.”

“Watch out for me?” She pressed both hands to her chest. “I’m not your child, Emerson!”

“I want to make sure you don’t let some guy take advantage of you.”

“I think I can take care of myself!”

“If you keep running around looking like that, you’ll get more than you bargained for.”

“You are disgusting!” Why did he always think the worst of her? She’d be damned if she’d let him see her vulnerability.

His eyes burned into her while his hand kept dunking the teabag rhythmically up and down in the cup. “You’re running around here in your short skirts, your hair begging me to grab it, that perfume you wear making me drunk—”

Her heart started a slow, heavy thud in time with the plunging of his hand. Heat flushed her entire body, pooling in her belly.

“What are you saying?” she whispered in a strangled voice.

“You know what old Bernard was probably thinking when I walked in here? I’ll bet he was thinking how he’d like to kiss you and put his hands under your dress and touch the silk of your panties over that round soft ass. What kind of panties do you wear, Taylor?”

She was mesmerized by the sound of his voice, seduced by his words. “J—just regular.”

“You should wear thongs. Let that ass be free, so when a man cups it with his hands he feels the heat and he can let his thumb slip under that strap and touch you where it’s dark and tight.”

She remembered to breathe and sucked oxygen noisily. “Emerson, why are you talking to me this way?”

His expression closed again. “Because I want you to know that any man,
any
man, can be tempted by you. They’ll lie and betray you later, but they’ll promise you anything to get what they want now.”

She hugged her arms around her body, shivering, confused. “Is that what you’d do?”

“Not to you. We’re friends.” His voice was a harsh rasp. He dropped an unseeing stare into the cup where the label of the tea bag had slipped. He dabbed for it in the hot liquid with thumb and forefinger, then let it go. As if without thinking, he lifted the wet finger to his lips, sucked it into his mouth for a thorough, unhurried taste.

Crystal’s female core clenched in a sexual tsunami. Panicked, she lashed out. “We both know what you do with your friends when you get drunk!”

He slammed the cup on the counter and crossed the room so fast, she gasped and rocked back in momentary fear. He loomed over her, so close she could smell his body sweat, feel the heat of his anger crackling off his skin. A vein beat a violent pulse in his neck. “I’m not drunk now,” he said between gritted teeth. “And neither are you.”

He grabbed her hand and forced it against the hard swelling between his legs. “Feel that? That’s not for anybody but you, dammit. You!”

He flung her away from him, turning his back, putting his hand to the top of his head. “I don’t know what you’re doing to me, Taylor. I can’t be around you without burning to touch you. The thought of another man with his hands on you…I wanted to kick the door down and smash that bastard’s face in.”

Crystal inhaled slowly, carefully, feeling the heat building in her body as she watched the flex of his shoulders underneath the jacket he wore.

Unable to stop herself, she leaned against his back, letting her hands slide up and around, fingering his chest. He groaned and drew one hand upward to nuzzle his mouth into her palm. Shivering with need, her blood raced through her veins.

He turned and caught her against his chest, pressing his face against the top of her head.

Stroking the side of her face, he muttered, “Crystal, don’t do this unless you’re sure it’s what you want. There’s a limit to how much I can take.”

“Shh…” She placed a kiss in the middle of his chest. “No more talking, Emerson. No more thinking. Come with me.”

She twisted out of his hold to pull him toward the stairs. A giggle of wild recklessness escaped her throat as they padded upstairs. She knew she was out of her mind, but she didn’t care any more. In a couple of minutes, they were inside her darkened bedroom, lit only by shafts of moonlight coming through the shuttered windows.

She turned to him, her heart pounding in expectation.

He waited motionless near the shadowy door. Crystal closed her eyes, trying to slow her tumultuous breathing, order her thoughts. She had tried to deny it, but she wanted him with a desperate hungry yearning. Knowing he wanted her as much made her dizzy with desire. Her nipples grew stiff with need. She knew he was waiting for a sign from her.

She unzipped the front of the dress, pulled her arms free and pushed it down to her feet where she stepped out of it.

Key moaned and swayed toward her. In a flash he stripped off his clothing and stood naked and powerful against her.

Crystal cried out, clinging to him in a desperate effort to merge herself into his body. His hands, trembling, slid down her body, forcing her to slow down, to relax. He unhooked her bra with gentle, sure fingers and dropped it to the floor. Leaning back, he ran his hands down her sides and back up to cup her breasts.

She tried to bite back the moan that escaped as he rolled the ball of his thumb over her stiffened nipple, but it escaped with a shudder.

“My God,” he murmured. “These are so beautiful. So beautiful.”

He pushed her back onto the bed and reached for her panties. When he stopped, Crystal held her breath. She could make out his expression in the dim lighting, saw it change from surprise to wonder as his fingertips skimmed her naked pelvic bones and the bare skin of her yielding buttocks.

“Yes!” he whispered, triumph trembling in his voice.

He peeled the thong panties off with one fluid motion, his lips following the path the lingerie took. She dug her fingers into the bed as his mouth placed kisses along her abdomen, her downy mound and then back up, holding his body poised over hers while the warmth of his breath stroked her skin.

“Please,” she whispered, aching to have him inside her.

Lowering himself next to her, he captured her mouth with his. His tongue stroked and teased hers in rhythm with his exploring hand. Pushing her legs apart for easier access, he took possession of the hidden warmth of her womanhood.

Caught up in the magic his mouth was working, Crystal relaxed as he began to stroke her. Easing her legs farther apart, he slipped his finger inside.

She squirmed as the heat in the pit of her stomach whirled into a red hot spiral of fire. Her body cried out for more. Another whimper escaped.

Rolling her head from side to side, her breathing shallow, she clutched Key’s arms, digging her nails into him.

He kissed her mouth, cheeks, neck, and suckled on her breasts. When he paused, she opened her eyes and saw that he was fumbling with a foil packet. Gratified that he’d remembered, she sat up to take the latex from his fingers. Putting it on him became an erotic dance of foreplay.

She stroked him with her hands and lips until he quivered on the brink of control.

“Key,” she whispered. “I need you. Now.”

“Not yet.” His voice was a barely audible wheeze. He slipped down her body, leaving a trail of fire with his lips. Crystal convulsed with anticipation and almost came off the bed when his mouth nuzzled in her wet mound. Key held her down with his big strong hands on her thighs, manipulating her nub with his tongue, a well-mastered tool. Time grew meaningless, swirling her up into a vortex until she exploded. Before she could recover, he was back over her, guiding his surging erection into her.

“Take me, sweetheart, take all of me.”

She was half-aware of massive size and strength penetrating, breaching her with unleashed masculine ardor. The deep well of her femininity opened to enfold him in a perfect mating. Thrusting deep inside, he captured her cries with his mouth.

Wild to take more of him, Crystal heaved against his body. He captured her knees with his arms and thrust deep into her, then set a deliberate pace which Crystal met with fervent impatience. Her knees pressed high against his sides, she pushed him into a faster rhythm. With a low moan he paused, then pumped harder and faster.

“Open your eyes. I want to see your eyes.” His breath was hot on her face.

Opening her eyes, she saw Key’s face come into focus as he moved on top of her.

The moonlit room swirled around her and her breathing was short and rapid. “Oh, God,” she cried. “
Key
!” She squeezed his shoulders tight as her muscles contracted convulsively around him.

He shouted and his body shuddered and shook. “Oh, God,” he moaned, then lay still, his chest heaving with his breathing. Holding onto her, he rolled over onto his back, taking her with him.

There was nothing but the sound of their breathing for a few minutes. Awed, Crystal grew aware of a swelling between her thighs again. She lifted her head to gaze at him in laughing disbelief. Key flashed her a grin and undulated his hips.

She felt like a queen. Moving with deliberation and watching his face, she ran her hands over his lightly furred groin and belly. He shivered. “Oh, Crystal, please,” he begged in a hoarse whisper.

Locked together, their bodies moved as one in a primeval rhythm. She had never known such incredible joy and love. Her whole body hummed with fulfillment. Their lovemaking was a song crescendoing higher and higher until it reached a note that shattered the universe around them.

She sank against him, hearing their ragged breathing harmonizing. Gradually she slipped against his side and drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER 12

Crystal stretched against Key’s velvety length, enjoying the sense of indulgence. Waking up next to him without a hangover, knowing she had the right to turn over and touch him, was sheer luxury. Smiling, she opened her eyes. He was propped on one elbow, gazing down at her.

Crystal flinched, tightening up in self-conscious awareness.

“What? Am I snoring?”

He shook his head slightly, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. “I enjoy watching you sleep.”

Crystal’s whole body melted as a rush of warmth went to her groin. She turned into him, pulled his head down to her, and threw one leg over his body.

Key purred contentedly, but didn’t totally relax. He put his forehead against hers. “That feels good, but I have a question first.”

“Oh?” She didn’t see how anything could be as important as that delicious little curve where his shoulder met his neck and the indentation that she tickled with her tongue.

He shivered and squirmed away from her. “Yeah,” he insisted. “Are we ready to tell Shonté about us?”

Crystal froze. Then she eased back against the mattress and rubbed her face with one hand. “Oh, lord, I don’t think I’m ready for that.” She looked at him. “Do you think we should?”

“I’ll let you decide. But if you don’t want her to know, I’ve got to bounce outta here.”

He rolled off the bed to his feet. In the shadowy darkness, Crystal watched him find his clothes and get dressed with quick energy. Her mattress sank under his weight when he sat down on the edge to put his shoes on.

“Crystal?”

“Hm?” She was already drifting off again.

“There is an
us
, isn’t there?”

Something in his quiet tone jerked her wide awake. In answer, Crystal surged up to her knees and threw her arms around him. He twisted to embrace her.

“Oh, Emerson. I want there to be. I don’t think I can resist you.”

He kissed her with a gentle suckle of her lips. “Good,” he whispered. “Don’t analyze it. Just feel it, baby. Because I want you too.”

Tasting his mouth, she pressed her body closer to him, longing to feel him inside her again. His hand traveled up and down her naked back, but then he pulled himself away. He trailed one hand along her jawline, whispered a soft, “I know, sweetheart. Later,” he promised and then he slipped from the room.

She listened to his footsteps pound down the stairs and to the opening and closing of the front door.

* * *

Key phoned her in the early morning while she was still in bed. It was Saturday, so there was no rush to get ready for work. They talked for almost an hour about nothing in particular, simply making up for the weeks when they had been unable to be fully open with one another.

He had to go out of town with his team today, but promised to call again later.

Hanging up, she indulged in a few minutes of smiling to herself over memories of the previous night. God, they were good together. She craved him more now than she had before. With gratitude, she realized Key was her best friend and sex hadn’t changed that. So far.

Crystal’s smile faded. And what was their future? Immediately she scolded herself for not being content.

Don’t analyze it. Just feel it,
Key had told her.

She inhaled and exhaled with yoga-like deliberation. Still, the doubts pressed in. They came with memories of the man she’d lost her virginity to back in college. She’d liked him a lot, but sex with him had been a serious disappointment. Now she knew it was because he was on the down low, hiding his homosexuality. The discovery had been a shocking blow to her femininity, she now realized. A few years later, her second serious relationship had not been very exciting either. They went together for over a year before becoming intimate. After he graduated and moved away, they corresponded for awhile, he visited once, and then nothing.

She moved on to analyze her last serious relationship. She shuddered. Relationship, nothing. She’d met Gary Clapton shortly after she began her first job and it was lust at first sight. She’d lived in a dream-like fog for three months of brainless freakiness. They never went out on a real date, barely had a conversation. Being apart from him was always a relief but she kept going back like a moth to a flame, an addict to crack.

Crystal burrowed her face in her pillow in an attempt to wipe out the memories. After he moved away, she’d vowed she was never going to lose control of herself like that again. She had learned a lot about sex, but had virtually lost herself. Thank God, it wasn’t like that with Key.

She got out of bed, preparing to shower and get dressed. Recalling the wild affair with Gary, she realized that she had the same passion for Key but that it didn’t leave her feeling as if she lost herself. Instead, she was more than whole this morning and couldn’t wait to see him again.

She paused as she heard the vacuum start to hum in Shonté’s room across the hall.

How was she going to reveal this to Shonté? Her friend was going through a difficult transition herself, breaking up with Graham and untangling herself from Trevor. Somehow the idea of being a couple in front of Shonté made Crystal uncomfortable. Of course, Shonté
would tease them both mercilessly. The two girls always talked to one another about their love life, but how could she do that when her lover was Shonté’s brother?
Ewww
. Crystal felt a silly giggle bubble up in her chest.

She pulled herself together with a dismissive sigh. There was plenty of time to reveal the news to Shonté. Key would be gone till tomorrow. She’d wait until they could do it together.

She and Shonté talked only briefly before Crystal took her turn at the household grocery shopping. By the time she returned, Shonté had already left for rehearsal. Crystal guessed the rehearsals must be getting pretty intense since the play was scheduled to open this coming weekend.

How to tell Shonté?
The question wouldn’t be quieted no matter how she tried to busy herself. By the middle of the afternoon, bored, she decided to go to the theater to watch rehearsal. Maybe afterwards they’d have a chance to talk and she could work around to the news about her and Key.

On arrival at the theater, she was surprised to find a lone stagehand unlocking the building and turning on the lights.

“Where’s Shont
é Emerson?” she asked.

“She should be here shortly. We’re supposed to start rehearsing at five.”

“Oh.”

Shonté had left home over three hours ago. Realization that Shonté was still seeing Trevor hit Crystal like a door slammed in her face. Shonté hadn’t mentioned Trevor for a while. Crystal had assumed that the relationship with Trevor was over. The thought that she and Shonté were keeping secrets about their love life from one another wounded her.

“I’ve seen you,” the stagehand said in a friendly voice. “You’re her friend. You can wait inside if you want to.”

She followed him in without a word and waited as the actors and crew trickled in.

Just before four o’clock, Shonté and Trevor came in, wrapped in one another’s arms and laughing together. Crystal stood in the center aisle and waited until they saw her.

Trevor stumbled at sight of her and Shonté
stiffened, her eyebrows lifting.

“Crystal. What are you doing here?”

Crystal met her gaze levelly. “I thought I’d surprise you, watch rehearsal, maybe take you to dinner.”

Shonté’s cheeks flushed. “You were spying on me!”

“Actually I wasn’t. As it turns out I’m the one who got the surprise.”

“Well, go ahead and lecture me,” Shonté said in a sullen tone.

Crystal let her gaze travel up and down her friend. Sadness welled up inside her. “I don’t have anything to say to you. It’s your life.”

Shonté blinked, her expression disbelieving. She looked at Trevor, then back at Crystal.

“Okay. I guess I’ll get started.”

She turned to Trevor with a brief kiss and eased past Crystal toward the stage. Crystal watched her friend join the other actors and the director on the stage. She longed to have the words that would penetrate her friend’s stubborn, self-destructive streak. Since she hadn’t been successful at it in all these years, she wondered if it would take some kind of professional intervention. But would Shonté accept that?

“Hey, there, new Crystal.”

She jumped slightly. She had completely forgotten Trevor Devlin standing behind her. She turned and gazed at him as if he were a bug on a slide in her microscope.

“Excuse me, Dr. Devlin.” She made a move to pass him, but he sidestepped into her path.

“Call me Trevor.” He pulled off his glasses to give her the full effect of his soulful bedroom gaze. “You know I can’t help noticing that you’re looking most delectable lately.”

“Thank Shonté for that,” she said through clenched lips. She’d like to tell him what she really thought of him.

“She definitely deserves some accolades. I like the improvements.” His gaze swept her body and then he grinned at her. “Why don’t you have coffee with me sometime?”

Crystal was repulsed. Why couldn’t Shonté see what a slimy specimen Trevor was?

“I’m busy,” she muttered and left the building.

It was only later that she realized she hadn’t told Shonté about her affair with Key. To her surprise, guilt didn’t disturb her. If Shonté could keep secrets, then so could she.

When Key called that night, she immediately spilled out her news. “Key, I went to tell Shonté about us and I caught her with Trevor.

“Who’s Trevor?” Key asked, his tone confused.

“Dr. Dawg.”

“Oh.”

“When she broke up with Graham I thought she was getting herself together. But no, she’s still on this path to self-destruction.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I know how much you care about Shonté. This must be eating you up inside. Listen, I hate to see her acting this way too, but she won’t listen to reason.”

Crystal closed her eyes, recognizing the truth of his words. “Key, what am I going to do?”

He gave a low growl of frustration. “Crystal, I keep telling you to let her make her own mistakes. You don’t have to take care of her all her life, you know.”

“I know. But she’s so easily hurt, Key.”

“Shonté?” His voice rang with incredulity.

Crystal sputtered on a laugh. “I know, Key, she seems all tough, but she’s been through so much.”

“What about what she’s put you through, Crystal? She takes advantage of you. I love my sister, I’d do anything for her if she asked. But I won’t let her use me. That’s what you do. Whenever she has a crisis, there you are to pick up the pieces.”

“What’s wrong with that? She’s my friend. I would hope I was there for her.”

“But is she going to be there when you need her?”

Crystal’s eyes widened. “Of course she will, Key.”

He started to say something, then broke it off. Instead he sighed. “Crystal, I don’t want to talk about her. I called to tell you how much I miss you.”

“Oh, Key!” A flood of pleasure warmed her. It was so incredible that this man seemed so into her. She had never thought of herself as sexy, but Key’s words and touches told her he found her irresistible. How could she regret this heady fulfillment? They talked about what they wanted to do to one another when he got home, getting gushy and giggly. Finally hanging up, Crystal was so horny she thought she would explode. She lay on the couch in a hazy daydream.

She was jerked out of her pleasure by the opening of the front door. Shonté
paused on the threshold before moving in and closing the door behind her. She started to walk past Crystal without a word.

“Aren’t you spending the night with Dr.
Dawg
?” Crystal asked with a sour edge.

“No.” Shonté’s voice was clipped. She kept walking.

“Do you know he tried to pick me up after you left us alone at the theater?” she called after her.

Shonté froze, then slowly turned to look at Crystal. Her jaw was so tight her cheekbones looked as if they were about to pop out of her skin.

Crystal regretted her words as soon as they were out of her mouth. On the other hand, Shonté should know how low Trevor was capable of going.

“Trevor Devlin is a dog and would cheat on you in a minute!”

Shonté’s eyebrows arched high on her forehead.

“Do you expect me to believe that?”

Crystal was affronted. “Why would I lie to you? Have I ever lied to you?”

Shonté’s face flushed with twisted anger, her eyes wild. “You’ve always been jealous of my relationship with Trevor! When was the last time you had a man? You’re jealous that I’m getting the best sex of my life while you turn into a dried-up old witch! Now you’re imagining that Trevor wants you. You? Hah!”

Crystal’s lashed out in retaliation. “How can you be so stupid! I can get a man of my own if I want to! As a matter of fact—”

“Oh please!” Shonté cut her off. “Are you talking about your one-night stand weeks ago? You’ve got some nerve lecturing me about Trevor. Is that all you’re capable of? You’re nothing but a whore!”

Crystal gasped with outrage. Her legs trembled so much she didn’t know if she could stand up.

Now Shonté eyed her with a pity. “To think I always looked up to you, Crystal. I thought you were so much better than me. But you’re just as flawed as I am. I will never listen to you again.”

She turned and walked up the stairs, her slim body held with dignity.

Reaction washed over Crystal in alternate waves of heat and cold, leaving her sick to her stomach. She dropped her face into her hands
. Oh my God. How could I have screwed up this badly?
The one thing she could be sure of was that she wasn’t about to tell Shonté about her relationship with her brother now. It would be awful for Shonté to learn that Key was her one-night stand.

* * *

When Key called late Sunday afternoon to tell her he was back from his trip, she went to his apartment.