Shipping Sharon Read online

  As Keller's hands began to explore, Maisy drew in a deep breath, just as Keller did as Maisy's fingers traveled along his neck, back, and his backside.

  "Oh, God, Maisy," Keller whispered into her ear as he held her close. "You make me absolutely crazy. Do you know that?"

  "Yeah," Maisy said, laughing throatily. "You make me crazy, too."

  "And I want you." He scooped her close and kissed her neck. "I want you so much I can hardly stand it, Maisy."

  "You do--really? Gee," she chuckled, "maybe Norman was right after all."

  "Norman?" Keller pulled back a bit and scratched his head. "Pray tell, what does your nutty boss have to do with what's going on here, hmmm?"

  "He . . . he tried to tell me that sex could be . . . different." Keller slanted her an odd look. "Different than it was with John, I mean," Maisy said as she blanched and suddenly went as stiff as a board.

  "Maisy, what is it . . . what's the matter?"

  * * *

  Chapter Twenty-One

  "Keller, John was my first--and . . . my only. I was a virgin when I married him," Maisy confessed. "What I learned about sex from John was that it was something rushed, coarse, brutal and ugly." She took a deep breath. "And since I've never been with anyone else since John, that's all I have to base my opinion on. I never wanted to have sex again after what that man did to me." "Aw, sweetheart, I'm so sorry," Keller said, pulling Maisy close and holding her to his chest. "You poor thing. I guess it's going to be up to me to show you that sex with the right person can be something beautiful and exquisite."

  "Oh Keller, I really want to believe that. And I love the kissing and caressing part--it's just what comes after that makes me . . . well . . ."

  He lifted her chin and smiled warmly. "I love you, Mazel Lynn Morganfield. It's important that you know that before we go any further. I love you with all of my heart."

  Maisy's eyes filled with tears and she held Keller close. "I can't believe you really love me--after everything that's happened. I love you, too, Keller. More than you can imagine."

  "Good. Then everything's going to work out perfectly." He kissed the tip of her nose. "When we make love together, Maisy--and we will," he beamed a bright grin, "we'll take it slow--I'll let you set the pace. I promise I won't hurt you and I'll stop if you ask me to, okay?" She smiled and nodded. Keller cupped her face in his hands and brushed his lips against hers. "I'll show you that when two people who really love each other come together to make love, it can be fun and enjoyable, and superbly passionate. Will you put your trust in me?"

  "Yes, Keller. I trust you completely."

  "Great! Got on those fancy undies?"

  "What?" Laughing, Maisy felt herself blush.

  "Well, do you?"

  "Yes. Well, not the same ones I was wearing last night, of course." She laughed. "Um . . . why?"

  "I want you to take off your clothes and strip down to those lacy undies you've been so eager for me to see." Looking back at Maisy, Keller winked and laughed.

  "Wow. You certainly don't waste any time, do you, Keller? I thought you said we were going to take this slow."

  "Don't worry, it's not what you think, Maisy." He reveled in laughter as he pulled Maisy into deeper into the cave-like room to another adjoining room--where a giant vat stood, filled with grapes. Keller turned to Maisy with a definite twinkle in his eye. "Feel adventurous?"

  Maisy looked from the vat of grapes to Keller and laughed. "You mean . . ."

  "Yup. We're going to crush grapes the old fashioned way."

  "We are?" Maisy said, beaming a bright smile, and Keller nodded enthusiastically. "Wow! I've wanted to do this ever since I saw Lucy do it on I Love Lucy."

  "Great! I've wanted to do this with you ever since that picnic we went on."

  "How do we do this, Keller?" she said, starting to unbutton her shirt.

  "I have no idea," Keller admitted. "Except, of course, from what I saw on that same episode of I Love Lucy. This will be a first for both of us. I put this together this morning. That vat is an old hot tub that was in here. I drained out the water and replaced it with grapes. Stop," he said, "don't go any further."

  "Stop what?" Maisy froze in place. "What do you mean?"

  Keller stepped close to her and removed Maisy's fingers from her shirt. "Let me have the pleasure," he said, slowly unbuttoning her shirt. Maisy moaned as his fingers brushed over her breasts, aching to have him touch her. She reciprocated by unfastening the buttons on Keller's shirt, delighting in running her cool hand across the warmth of his rock-hard, sculpted chest.

  "Oh my God, Keller."

  "What?" he said, nuzzling her ear.

  "This is better than my dreams--you know, the ones where you're naked." She laughed. "Mmmm, real life is so-o-o-o much better."

  Keller opened Maisy's shirt and looked at her satin and lace-clad bosom. "Speaking of dreams, I've dreamed about those beautiful breasts of yours, Maisy."

  "You have?"

  "Mmm-hmm," Keller said, planting a kiss at the top of each creamy mound.

  "Oh my-- " Maisy began to breathe hard as she became aware of a delicious warmth coursing through her veins.

  "And," Keller continued, "I've dreamed of savoring every inch of you."

  A tingling wave zapped through Maisy's system and she did a long, slow blink. "I have a feeling I might like that," she whispered.

  Keller pulled her close, hugging her and telling her that he loved her again, and then, before going any further, he stopped and pulled back a bit.

  "No, don't stop, Keller. Please. I love it when you touch me."

  Keller scooped her up in his arms and kissed her so fervently that she thought maybe she had, indeed, died and gone to heaven. No, this was going to be nothing like sex with John. Nothing at all.

  She sighed dreamily--and in the next instant, she was falling into the vat of grapes and Keller was plunging in after her.

  "Keller!" she shrieked.

  The two of them sat there giggling and doing their best to right themselves and stand in the vat. Finally, they were both on their feet and Maisy started dancing around the vat, ala Lucy, with her hands on her hips, laughing all the while. Keller followed suit, doing his own exaggerated dance.

  "I'm coming to get you, Maisy," he said, teasingly, as he charged after her.

  "Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do when you catch me?" she teased back.

  "I'm going to rip off those fancy undies of yours and savor every inch of your beautiful, voluptuous body, that's what," he said. "And I'm going to show you what great sex is all about." As he started after her, he slipped, and landed on his butt.

  Pointing at the fallen Keller, Maisy burst out laughing and added insult to injury by throwing bunches of grapes at him. Keller then dove beneath the heap of grapes, and yanked Maisy's feet out from under her, catching her in his arms as she fell back. They played back and forth, smashing grapes in each other's faces and having a ball, and then the playing suddenly stopped. They gazed into each other's eyes for long moment before embracing again and then lingering over a long, passionate kiss.

  "Mmmm," Maisy murmured. "luscious, like smooth, velvety chocolate."

  After returning the kiss, savoring her mouth at length, he said, "If you think that was good, wait till you experience it when I'm inside of you."

  "Yup," Maisy said, nodding vigorously, "I think that Norman was definitely right about sex afterall."

  Feeling brave, she then tentatively slipped her hand between Keller's legs and cupped the bulge there.

  "Oh my. No Thumbkin here, I see," Maisy said.

  "Thumbkin?" Keller lifted Maisy's face and peered into her eyes with a strange expression. "Did you say thumbkin? As in the kids game--with the thumb?" He wiggled his thumb back and forth.

  Maisy nodded. "That's what I used to call John's . . . um . . ."

  "Penis?"

  Maisy giggled just a bit and held her finger and thumb about two inches apart. "Yes, his itsy-bitsy penis. We'll, I ne
ver called it Thumbkin to his face, of course," she laughed as she took in Keller's bewildered expression. "That was my private little secret name for him. And," she lowered her gaze to study the impressive size of Keller's member, "I can tell you that old Thumbkin NEVER looked anywhere close to the size of yours. Are you sure that'll fit inside of me?"

  "Quite sure. In fact, I think it will be a perfect match. But you know what?"

  "What?"

  "Let's wait until we get out of these grapes and clean up. Then we'll have some wine, bread and cheese. And after that we'll make passionate love upstairs in my bed--for hours."

  "Hours? You mean it's not just a two-minute thing with you?"

  Keller laughed soundly. "Well, not if I can help it, Maisy. But I can tell you, you've got me so hot that it's going to be hard to last very long. But," he paused to kiss the tops of her breasts, "we've got all night."

  "So, we're going to do it more than once?"

  "Uh-huh. Definitely. Come on," he said, lifting her in his arms, "I think you'll enjoy it much more in my bed. And I want it to be right and beautiful for you the first time we make love." He leaned his head back and groaned as Maisy cupped him gently again. "Now Maisy that's not fair. I'm not made of iron, you know."

  "We don't need the bed, Keller. Let's do it here, right on this nice soft, squishy bed of plump, juicy grapes." "I want to feel you inside of me now, Keller. Now." She leaned fully against him and, grunting, Keller pulled Maisy even closer. She instinctively wrapped her legs around him and Keller captured her lips with his, kissing her deeply, ardently, before stopping at the edge of the vat and depositing Maisy outside of it on the floor.

  "You're very bad, Mazel Lynn," he said through labored breaths. "You're a vixen and a temptress. But, dammit, we're going to do this right--if it kills me." He bowed his head to his chest and laughed as he held onto the rim of the vat.

  * * *

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  "See? Didn't I tell you it would be wonderful?" "Mmm-hmm." Maisy rested her head against Keller's chest and moved the sheet to explore the richly sculpted hills and valleys of Keller's chest and abdomen. "Sex with you is just what I'd always hoped it would be--but even better, if that's possible. With you, Keller, it's the way I've seen it portrayed in romantic movies and books. Beautiful. Just . . . beautiful." She reached up and kissed his cheek.

  "What we did tonight was more than sex, Maisy. We made love--in the truest sense."

  "And it was for hours--just like you said. Wow. And did you notice, Keller, that I had no trouble limiting myself to two glasses of wine and that I didn't get inebriated?" She motioned to the nearly empty glass of cabernet on the nightstand.

  Laughing, Keller propped himself up on his elbow and kissed the tip of Maisy's nose. "You were ever-so-slightly tipsy, but, yes, you managed your wine perfectly."

  "A little tipsy is okay." Maisy propped herself up into a partial sitting position against two overstuffed goose down pillows and turned to Keller. "I want you to know that I like your body very much, Keller. It's so . . . um . . . manly."

  He laughed again. "Well, I should hope so!"

  "No, I mean, it's really strong and muscular and," she ran her hand across his torso and rested it at his crotch, "firm." She grinned, winking, as she gently squeezed the significant bulge beneath her hand.

  "You mean again?"

  With a sparkle in her eye, Maisy nodded. "Uh-huh. Can we?"

  Keller pulled her back down to a full reclining position as he got on top of her and playfully fondled her breasts. "You're going to kill me Maisy--but what a way to go." He laughed.

  "And you, Maisy, have the sort of full, voluptuous, womanly body that men fantasize about. You're a beautiful, passionate, and very sexy woman--and you're all mine." He grinned and jiggled his eyebrows as he prepared to make love to her again.

  "You know, Keller, I've decided that making love with you rates just below chocolate--a very close second. In fact, it's almost better than chocolate."

  Keller burst out laughing. "So I come in below chocolate, huh? Gee, thanks a lot, Maisy." He scratched his head. "I'm not quite sure how I feel about being number two to a Snickers bar."

  "Don't be silly, Keller," she said, waving her hand in a dismissive fashion. "Obviously you have no idea what a great honor I've just bestowed on you. When I tell you that making love with you is almost better than chocolate, believe me, that's extraordinary."

  "I think I might know of a way to eek into first place." Keller jumped up and headed for the door. "Be right back."

  In a few minutes he returned--brandishing a plastic squeeze bottle of chocolate syrup, and jiggling his eyebrows in a devilish manner. He and Maisy dissolved into laughter as he hopped back into the bed.

  Handing the bottle of chocolate syrup to Maisy, Keller positioned himself in a prone position, spread his arms and smiled. "I'm your love slave, Maisy. Do what you will to me with the chocolate syrup . . . and your tongue." He jiggled his eyebrows again and grinned.

  "Mmmm, the perfect dessert. And it's fat free, too," she said with a giggle. Then, as Maisy removed the cap from the bottle, blissfully preparing to glaze parts of Keller's body to savor, the ringing phone rudely interrupted them and they both sighed.

  Keller looked at the clock beside the bed. "Six o'clock in the morning," he said, shaking his head. "I'm just letting it ring," Keller said. "The machine can pick it up. Now, where were we?"

  When the answering machine picked up, it was Norman's voice:

  "Hey Keller, you there? Maisy? Hey, are you guys there? If you are, pick up. I've got important news about Wilson and Sharon."

  Maisy bolted up on her knees and Keller scrambled over her and grabbed for the phone, falling off the bed in the process and landing on a heap of sheets and the comforter on the floor.

  "Yeah. Yeah, Norman. What's up?"

  "Is Maisy there with you?"

  "That's none of your business."

  "Good," Norman said, laughing, "I'm glad she's there." Keller shook his head and gave a resigned laugh. "Can you put me on speaker phone, Keller?"

  Keller complied. "Okay, you're on. Go ahead, Norman."

  "Hi Maisy."

  Maisy shook her head and laughed. "Hi Norman." She instinctively pulled the sheet up over her exposed breasts and held it, bunching the fabric in her fist.

  "I kind of figured I might catch you two together there."

  "Norman!" Maisy said, feeling her cheeks flame. "What about Sharon and Wilson?

  "She said yes, Maisy. Sharon said yes."

  "You mean, she and your cousin--" Keller started.

  "That's exactly what I mean. Wilson just called me. He was on his way to the airport to catch his plane for Texas. He and Sharon leave for Saudi Arabia in--get this, guys--in two weeks! Yeeehaaa!"

  Rising from the floor, Keller telegraphed a mile-wide grin, which Maisy mirrored. "Yeeehaaa!" they chorused back to Norman.

  "So, remember, Keller, you have to act completely surprised when Sharon tells you her big news about marrying Wilson and moving overseas."

  "Norman, I promise that I'll put on a performance that would make you proud."

  "Good boy. Maisy, I've penciled in a two-week vacation for you starting the day after Sharon leaves for Saudi Arabia. You can take a few extra days if you need to, but no more than three weeks, okay? That gets into our busy time."

  "Vacation?" Maisy cocked her head and frowned. "Why?"

  "For your honeymoon, of course."

  "Honeymoon! What honeymoon?"

  "Oops." Norman broke into his patented nervous giggle. "Keller--haven't you . . . uh . . . talked to Maisy yet?"

  Keller looked to Maisy, grinned, and scratched his head. "Uh . . . no--not yet, Norman."

  "Keller, what's Norman talking about?" Maisy said, trying desperately not to look too eager.

  "I was planning to wait until we had breakfast together, Maisy, but thanks to your bigmouth boss," he cupped his hands over his mouth to amplify the words over t
he telephone," I guess I'll have to change my plans." Keller plopped down on the edge of the bed and raked both hands through his hair as he laughed. "I swear to God, Norman--you're going to be worse than an in-law, you know that?"

  "Aw, don't worry, Keller," Norman said, "you'll be used to me before you know it. Won't he Maisy?"

  There was silence as Maisy looked skyward, shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  "Maisy?" Norman's giggle pierced the air.

  "Right, Norman," she finally said, shrugging as Keller laughed.

  "Okay, Norman," Keller said, "since you basically orchestrated this whole relationship with Maisy and me, I suppose it's only fitting that you hear the proposal."

  Ears perked, Maisy sat up arrow-straight. "Proposal?"

  "Yes!" Norman said.

  Keller walked to the other side of the bed where Maisy sat and paused, looking down at his naked form. "Wait, "he said. "There's something I have to do, first."

  "What?" Norman said.

  "None of your beeswax, Norman," Keller said, laughing, as he slipped into his jeans. He grabbed his shirt and pulled that on as well. "There. That's better." He beamed a broad grin. "Somehow it just wouldn't seem right the other way."

  "What other way?" Norman asked. "What's going on there?"

  "Oh gosh," Maisy said, suddenly clutching the sheet to her neck. "Me too." She padded to a nearby chair retrieved her shirt and jeans, and put them on. "Ready!" She sat back down on the edge of the bed, looking just like a kid on Christmas morning.

  Keller came to her side, smiled, cleared his throat, and got down on one knee.

  "Oh, Keller," Maisy said, her eyes filling with tears as he took her hand in his and cleared his throat again.

  "Maisy, I love you. I've never loved anyone as much as I love you and can't imagine feeling this way about anyone else in this lifetime or any other."

  "Oh, that was good, Keller," Norman said. "Really good."

  Keller closed his eyes and smiled. It seemed to Maisy as though he might be counting to ten.