Lee glanced at the dashboard clock. 3:46. Strange, he didn't think that much time had passed already. Stranger still, he didn't resent spending the night staking out the Smithton Sweets factory. Must be the company he was keeping. The brown-eyed, long-legged company.
A slurping sound announced Amanda had finished her cherry coke. Fortunately, the diner down the street was open all night. Around 2:30 he’d walked the block and a half to get them both burgers, fries, and caffeine.
“So, tell me something else about you that I don’t know.” Amanda peeled the lid off her Styrofoam cup and crunched a mouthful of ice chips.
“Let’s see if I can think of anything else that isn’t classified.” Lee waited until she looked at him before giving his best dimpled grin and wink. “Okay, how ‘bout this?. Would you believe the Colonel signed me up for dance lessons when I was eleven?”
“Dance lessons? Really?”
“I swear. Of course I caused so much trouble that I was kicked out after four lessons. They even changed their policy and refunded the full tuition, just to get me out of there.”
“What kind of dance was it anyway?" She grinned. "I bet you looked pretty darn cute in a tutu.”
“I thought you said my legs were just 'okay'?” Lee raised his eyebrows.
“Well, maybe a little better than okay.”
“About time you admitted it.”
“You’ve been stewing about that for over two years? I only said it to annoy you.”
“I know. I knew I’d wear down your defenses sooner or later. Your turn. Tell me something new.”
“After all those background checks you ran on me, I think you already know everything.”
“Uh-uh. You’re not weasling out of this. I told you about dance. I need to hear something really good.”
Amanda reached into her drink and plucked out the cherry. She twirled it between her fingers, letting the last drop of soda drip back into her cup. “Hmm, let me see.” Taking the cherry between her teeth, she pulled out the stem and bit into the cherry. A drop of juice quivered on her lip, threatening to plop to her chest. Lee felt his heartbeat faster as her tongue darted out and licked away the drop.
What was it about this woman that made him tell his most embarrassing stories, and long to hear all of hers? He pushed away the question and scanned the perimeter of the building. Nothing had changed from the last hundred times he’d looked.
“When I was a junior in high school, I went to visit my cousin Sally in Chicago. She was going to college there. Her boyfriend got me a fake id, and took us to a toga party.”
“White sheet and all?”
“Yep. There was great music, and lots of alcohol. I ended up dancing with this really tall blond guy.”
“Should I run a background check on him?”
“That would be fine, if I’d ever asked his name.” Amanda smiled at him, then averted her eyes.
Lee knew his own eyes must’ve been big as saucers as he wondered how much of a wild side the woman next to him had. “Go on.”
“Well, the frat house had a widow's peak, and after a few dances we climbed up there.”
“You actually went up there with him? Alone?”
“Okay, who’s telling this story?” Amanda looked at him pointedly. “We were probably the first to see the lights from the police cars. I think he knew I was underage and didn’t want to get caught with me so he jumped down through the trap door before I could even stand up.”
“STAND UP? What were you doing lying down with him?” Lee didn’t know if he really wanted to hear what she was doing with some drunk stranger.
Amanda studied her fingernails. “When the door slammed shut, it also locked.”
Lee couldn’t help but laugh.
“Hey, I was scared to death.”
He turned the laugh into a poor imitation of a cough. "So what happened?"
“Well. I had two choices, I could yell for help, and be hauled away by the police, or I could hide there and try to figure out a way down.”
“Let me guess, you waited?”
“Yeah. I knew I’d be in big trouble if the police called my aunt and uncle, or even worse, my parents. So I waited, and waited, and waited. As soon as there was enough light I shimmied down the roof to a big oak tree and climbed down.”
“What happened to your cousin?”
“She heard the sirens and ran out the back. I found her passed out in her dorm room.”
He tsked his tongue. “Amanda King, evading the authorities.”
“Working with you, I’m sure it won’t be the last time.”
A comfortable silence enveloped the car. Lee realized that his hand was covering hers. When did he do that? Touching Amanda seemed so natural lately. Reaching for her hand while they walked down the street. Guiding her with a hand at the small of her back as they moved through the bullpen. Wishing, as he did right now, that he could put his arm around her.
After doing a visual search of the area around the factory, he caught Amanda’s reflection in the rear view mirror, her face illuminated by the streetlamp. What in the world was she doing? Was she doing what he thought she was doing?
Yes, she was.
He saw the telltale movement of her tongue pushing against her cheek. She was trying to tie a cherry stem into a knot in her mouth. He’d seen a girl do it back in college. It took that girl about ten minutes to get it done.
Amanda apparently had more talent. After a couple of minutes, the stem, neatly knotted, popped out of her mouth and into her palm. With a smile she placed the knot back in her mouth.
Lee was glad the driver’s seat was in the shadows. He didn’t want her to see how her little bar trick affected him. He felt sweat form on his brow, but didn’t dare wipe it off, for fear that she might notice he was watching her.
Images flooded his mind of every near miss kiss they had almost shared. The night of the block party, wearing the W.C. Fields mask . . . in the swamp, until they heard Sacker's goons . . . in the motel room before Francine barged in . . .on Amanda's couch, after the Salee case and just before her mother's ill-timed return.
Why did everyone have such a lousy sense of timing?
No, he couldn't blame Sacker or Francine or even Dotty West. He had been tempted many times to kiss Amanda, but something always held him back. Now he had a hard time figuring out what that something was. The scenes in his mind changed, from things that they had done together to more, much more. These scenes were erotic, embellished with new fantasies about Amanda and what else she might be able to do with her talented tongue.
The moment she spit the double-knotted cherry stem into her palm, his heart pumped an aching amount of blood through his body and into his penis. He wished he hadn’t worn such tight jeans. And he felt a little voyeuristic, watching Amanda perform her feat, unaware that she was being watched.
Lee clamped his jaw shut when Amanda finally looked at him. He hoped she didn’t realize he had been staring.
She followed his gaze to the double-knotted cherry stem and held it up in the dim light.
“Where did you learn that?”
“Back in college. My roommate and I would take study breaks and go to a little soda shop down the street for fountain cherry Cokes. We’d heard about people tying the stems that way, so we tried it.”
“How do you do it?”
“I don’t know if I can explain it very well. Here. Eat your cherry and we’ll see if you can do it.” She lifted the lid off his cup and dug out the cherry. With one hand under the cherry, catching the drips, she lifted the cherry by its stem to his lips. He opened his mouth, and she placed the cherry between his teeth. He leaned forward, taking the cherry deeper into his mouth and causing Amanda’s fingertips to graze his lips. He closed his lips around the stem as Amanda pulled the stem out of his mouth. He could barely muster enough saliva to swallow the cherry.
Her light touch left him feeling giddy. Or maybe that dizziness was the result of the blood rushing from his head to other parts of his anatomy. If he opened his mouth and let her pop the stem in, he didn't think he could stop himself from kissing her fingertip . . . and then her lips, luscious with cherry red lipstick . . . Deciding on the safe route, he held out his hand, accepted the stem, and tossed it into his mouth. “Okay, now what?”
“Well, let me see.” Her cheek bulged slightly, as she moved her tongue inside her mouth. “First, roll the stem around, make it a little more pliable.”
Lee rolled and bent the stem with his tongue and teeth.
“Not too hard. You don’t want to crease it too much.”
Lee nodded his head and tried to speak, without losing the stem. “Now what?”
“Move the stem so it makes kind of a circle and one end overlaps the other.”
“Huh?”
Amanda made a circle with her right index finger lying over her left. “See?”
“Yeah.” Lee frowned. “Crap, it moved.”
“Sorry. I won’t ask you any more questions.” Amanda’s soft laughter echoed in his ears. “Now use your tongue to push the end that's on top, underneath and up through the circle.”
Lee scrunched his forehead and stared at her.
“I know, it’s easier said than done. I told you it was hard to explain. You kind of maneuver the end under as you push the stem up against your teeth.”
Lee unconsciously raised his right hand up to aid in the task.
Amanda grabbed his hand and pulled it down to his thigh, leaving hers on top. “No cheating. It only counts if you just use your tongue.”
He slid his hand out from underneath and covered hers, pushing her hand tighter against him. How the hell was he supposed to concentrate with her hand on his thigh? Not that he wanted her to move it.
He pursed his lips as he tried to push the end through, and the stem flew out of his mouth. Amanda reached out and grabbed it with her right hand before it landed on the dashboard.
“This is hard.”
“Do you want to keep trying?”
“Yep. We’ll be here for a few more hours. I might as well learn.” He opened his mouth and nodded toward the stem.
She leaned across the console and placed the stem back in his mouth. He closed his lips around the stem, and her finger. He watched as her eyes moved between his lips and eyes. She pulled her finger out of his mouth and leaned back against the seat, looking down at her lap. Was a flush rising up her cheeks? Could that have turned her on as much as it did him?
He tried to banish the thought as he moved his hips, hoping to relieve the pressure of his jeans.
He continued trying to get the stem into a knot, but just didn’t seem to have the knack. When he closed his eyes to concentrate, his mind began to wander. The daydream was familiar, one he had spent months trying squelch, but recently longed to continue. The location was always different; the outcome was always the same.
This time, he and Amanda walk arm in arm in the moonlight. He feels her shiver in the cool breeze. Pulling her close, he wraps his arms around her. Her eyelids flutter as her beautiful brown eyes rise to meet his gaze. His hand caresses her cheek, and she leans into his touch. They move toward each other, both intent on the same destination. The fantasy usually ends here, just before their lips meet.
Sometimes, as he sleeps, the dream goes on. They kiss, tentatively at first, then with a passion he’s never felt before. Suddenly they are in his apartment. He feels her hands on his chest, under the lapels of his tux. She raises her hands to his shoulders, pushing the jacket off. Her arms circle his waist. She grabs his dress shirt, tugging it up and out from under the waistband of his pants. Her fingernails rake around his midsection as she works her way around to his stomach. The feel of the fabric of his dress shirt sliding away from his skin is erotic, the touch of her fingers much more so.
She moves to his bow tie. Mesmerized, he watches her every move. Her fingers deftly unbutton his shirt and it slides off. Cool, graceful, her hands dance down his stomach to unhook his pants. Her fingers graze his member as she glides the zipper down. His pants slide down his legs, along with his boxers. He stands naked before her.
As he reaches toward her, she shakes her head and steps back. He notices for the first time what she's wearing. Her hair is piled on top of her head; diamond drop earrings dangle from her ears and her heart necklace graces her neck. Her dress is a deep, shimmery red. Strapless, held up only by the curve of her breasts. It hugs every curve of her body and rains down to brush the floor. The slit on the left side shows ivory skin all the way up to the middle of her thigh. She reaches behind her back, arching, sending her breasts toward him. As she brings her arms back to her sides, the dress drops like a waterfall to the ground, leaving her standing, radiant, before him, with no shame at her nakedness. He reaches out to her, and she steps into his embrace. Her arms encircle his neck, her fingers splay through his hair. His arms caress the velvety skin of her back as they kiss with passion that could parallel the hottest scene from any movie ever made. Her nipples crush against his chest as his manhood presses against her stomach--
A sigh from Amanda brought him out of his dream. She was staring out the side window, absentmindedly twirling her cherry stem in her fingers.
He spat out the still unknotted stem and cleared his throat.
The object of his affection looked up at him.
“So?” She nodded toward the stem in his fingers. “Did you give up?”
“Um, yeah . . . maybe I need some more, uh . . . practice first.” He felt himself lean towards her.
Was she moving forward, too? Did she long to kiss him, as deeply as he longed for her? There was only one way to find out.
Suddenly, a movement caught his eye. He grabbed the binoculars from the dash and looked at a black-clad trio who had grabbed his attention.
“Call Billy.”
With reluctance, Lee switched into agent mode, pushing his desire to kiss Amanda to the back of his mind. It was still there. It was always there. Hell, the next time the urge came upon him, he'd kiss her until she couldn’t see straight. Nothing would stop him. Damn it if he was going to let the bad guys, her family, or the Agency get in his way again.
The End
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and make no money from this story.
Notes: Thank you to Cheryl, Taya and the MEAP team for great beta jobs. Thanks also to Taya for a great title. Thanks gals, you’re the greatest!
Notes: Thank you to Cheryl, Taya and the MEAP team for great beta jobs. Thanks also to Taya for a great title. Thanks gals, you’re the greatest!