She sighed. "Jack...this is so nice. Thank you."Jack, chuckling over Bogart's great line when questioned as to his nationality... "I'm a drunkard",agreed.

This wasnice .* * * * *For Daphne, it was more than nice. She'd used the word when what she really wanted to tell him was that it was d.a.m.n close to her idea of paradise.

Cuddled close to his chest, fingers b.u.t.tery with popcorn, in a darkened movie theater watching one of the cla.s.sics...well, darn. It just didn't get much better.

Or so she thought.

Then Jack picked up her hand and casually put it in his mouth, licking the sticky residue off her skin.

The rasp of his tongue up and down her fingers, one at a time, made the breath catch in the back of her

throat, and she turned her head slowly, watching him in amazement.

He did it so naturally, without any fuss or bother, like it was something everybody did all the time. Well- here's a newsflash, anchorman! It had never happened to Daphne before. And she liked it. A lot.

She couldn't stop the slight tremble that ran through her as Jack found her little finger and sucked on it, cleaning it thoroughly, running his lips and his tongue over it like it was the tastiest morsel he'd ever enjoyed.

Oh h.e.l.l.

She fidgeted, feeling a flood of dampness between her legs. She wasn't used to this kind of sensualattention, and the way she responded to it almost scared her."Mmm. Hot b.u.t.tered Daphne." He whispered the words into her ear.Hot was right. The b.u.t.ter was gone, but the hot Daphne was still here."Jack..." she sighed. "OhJack .""You don't like that?""No, I do. I mean yes I do. I mean..." She shook her head a little. "You do things that surprise me."His lips curled up in that adorable grin. "Good."Rick and Ilsa were busy falling in love in Paris, and Daphne did her best to concentrate on the movie, but failed. Jack was just too much man, too warm, too...everything."Pa.s.s me the Junior Mints, will you?" Jack squeezed her lightly."Okay."He popped one in his mouth. "C'mere."The words were mumbled and Daphne blinked. He cupped her head and pulled her face to his.OhmiG.o.d.He kissed her, a deep open-mouthed kiss that let her share the chocolate-mint taste melting on his tongue. It was...delicious. Mint creme, dark chocolate-and Jack.She pulled back, savoring the taste."Good, huh?" His eyes gleamed wickedly in the flickering light from the screen.Voiceless, she nodded.Jack ate another candy. "Better make sure," he mumbled.Once again his lips found hers. Ready this time, she eagerly opened her mouth and sought out his tongue, moving hers around and over and squirming to get closer. His arms held her tightly against his chest, and

she let her own slide around his neck, angling her face to just the right position.

There. Just there...she could barely breathe but it was...right. Who cared about stupid things like breathing anyway, when someone like Jack was darting his chocolate-minty tongue into her mouth and she was darting her own right back?

Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were beginning to ache from something as simple as a kiss. Although Daphne dimly realized there was nothing simple about Jack's kisses. They were...intense.

He put everything he had into them. His body moved against hers, his hands slid through her hair and around her neck, and he kissed her like there was nothing else in the world he'd rather do right at this moment.

And she wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment.

Finally, their lips parted, and Daphne sucked in badly needed air, tasting the cool rush of mint as she didso."I like mints." Jack gazed at her."Me too." She stared back, unable to look away from his face. It was heated, his eyelids heavy and a little pulse thudded at the base of his neck. She knew her own pulse was thudding in a similar rhythm, and obeying some instinct she leaned forward and daringly pressed her lips to the quivering spot just inside his collar.

His response was immediate.He grasped her and pulled her onto his lap, letting her legs dangle over the padded arm of the seat."Jack...what are you...someone will see..."His chuckle sounded in her ear. "No they won't. Remember where we are. In our own private bird's nest. No one even knows we're up here. As long as we're quiet..."

And he was right. Daphne darted a glance around her and could see nothing of the other theatergoers below them, just the darkened boxes jutting from the opposite wall.

"So we just keep very quiet, right?" He slid his hands to her legs and proceeded to run one palm beneath

her skirt to her knee.She gasped."Sshhh."Right. She had tosshhh when his hand was on her leg and moving upwards. Slowly. So darn slowly it was killing her.

He wriggled her around so that one arm lay behind his neck and the rest of her was available to him. Well

h.e.l.l . Daphne moved her head and astounded herself by nipping his earlobe.Two can play at this game.Jack groaned."Sshhh." Daphne whispered the word with a great deal of satisfaction as she felt a rather nice hardness stir beneath her b.u.t.t.But he got his own back by sliding further beneath her skirt and finding..."Daphne. You shock me. Stockings?" It was a harsh whisper in her ear, accompanied by the feel of his hot palm on her naked thigh. She'd tried to ignore the promptings of her newly discovered inner s.l.u.t when dressing for this date with Jack, but the siren's song of that wild lingerie buried in the back of her drawer had been too great. The silk hose had slid up her legs like a kiss, and the garter belt that went with them had made her feel...sensual.

Now she was extraordinarily glad she'd listened to that inner woman. Who was sitting back, grinning,and thinking to herself... "Wait 'til he discovers the matching thong."Chapter Nine Jack swallowed down a moan of pleasure as his fingers found heated skin and lace. For a man who'd spent a good portion of his adult years watching women in miniscule amounts of lingerie, filming women removing that lingerie and then getting themselves solidly f.u.c.ked, he was astounding himself with his reaction.

His c.o.c.k was harder than granite, threatening to bust through his fly at any moment, and all because of a sweet, warm armful of innocent librarian.

In s.e.xy underwear.

His hand traveled on and found-oh sweet Jesus-naked b.u.t.tock. His daring Daphne was wearing a thong.

He closed his eyes, letting his sense of touch tell him what his eyes could not see. He discovered a garter belt, edged with some soft stuff, lace probably, and the elastic garters were locked onto the tops of her stockings. The small thin strip of silk that comprised her thong nestled between her b.u.t.tocks, and he drove himself quietly insane by slipping his hand between the fabric and her flesh.

She gasped with pleasure as his fingers ran the length of her cleft and found her juices soaking the silk."What color?" His voice barely worked and he cleared his throat to try again. "What color is this stuff?"Daphne licked his jawline, making him shiver. "White.""Oh yeah..." He kissed her again, more pa.s.sionately this time, letting his tongue match the movements of his fingers against her p.u.s.s.y. "White is good."This time it was Daphne's turn to moan, and he hushed her with another kiss.She moved sinuously against him as he played with her and gently eased the thong away from her body.

She reached for his shirt.

"Not this time," he growled. He pulled her hand away from his body. "Touch me and I'm finished. This isfor you, babe."She blinked at him, obviously trying to make sense of his words. "Don't you want...""Oh yeah I do. Make no mistake. I want to, real bad." He grabbed her hand and pulled it to his crotch, shifting her off his lap for a few blessed moments and letting her feel his arousal.

f.u.c.king h.e.l.l. It was bad enough having her a.s.s heating it, but the touch of her hand was even worse. "Thiswill tell you how much I want to."It would probably tell half a city block if it gets any bigger.Just hang a sign from it. Guy about to lose it in his jeans. Please leave towels at the zipper.

"So why...?" Her question hung in the air between them.

"Because...because I want to make love to you, Daphne. I want to bury this..." He shifted slightly intoher hand. "...deep inside your body. Feel you coming around me like there's no tomorrow."Her fingers tightened around his c.o.c.k and he clenched his teeth. "But I'm not going to do it here.""No?"G.o.dd.a.m.n it to h.e.l.l. She sounded disappointed."No. You deserve better." Jack stuck to his guns and wondered how much it would cost him to get his back molars recapped after he cracked them. "You deserve soft sheets, a warm room and at least several hours."

"Oh...if you say so..." The words came out on a sigh."I do."And I'm so f.u.c.king nuts I should have myself committed . "So right now, you're just going tolet me play."

"I am?""Yep." Well, his fillings had held out so far. Perhaps dental surgery wouldn't be necessary after all."And I suppose you didn't think to bring any protection with you..." Her voice sounded thoughtful."Uh...well...I..." Jack's mind flew to the condom in his back pocket. "Just let me play for a while, okay?"An odd smile crossed her face. "Okay. I like it when you play with me, Jack."He was going to die.No two ways about it .She leaned back against him and slipped one arm around his waist, letting her legs fall apart slightly. It was an invitation he couldn't refuse, and he tugged at her thong, freeing it and pulling it slowly down and

away from her body.

She wriggled and kicked her way free, as his imagination blinded him with a vision of her p.u.s.s.y framed by her garter belt, stockings...and nothing else.

There were advantages to being in the darkness of a movie theater, Jack realized. He had to rely on other senses to fill his mind, and for once he let his fingers do the walking. Used to relying on his vision for so many things, it was a unique experience for him to "fly blind".

"You feel so good...so soft...and wet..." He whispered the words, knowing they were turning her on.He could feel her moisture slicking over his fingers. "You know what I'd like, Daph?""Whaaat?" She choked as he found her swollen c.l.i.t and softly flicked it.

"Shhh." He grinned, painfully. Christ, this was turning him on as much as it was her."I'd like to have my mouth on you right now. Here." He cupped her mound and she gasped, her thighsjerking together.

"What?"

"Oh yeah. I want to taste you, Daph. I want to lick you and eat you and stick my tongue into these softp.u.s.s.y folds of yours...""Jaaaaack..."

"Has anybody ever done that to you, sweetheart?"

She shook her head, and Jack saw wide-eyed wonder in her brown gaze as the lights flickered across her face.

"I think you'd enjoy it, honey. I know I would. There's nothing like it." His hand continued to soothe and

stroke and fondle her. She was soaking wet now. He was getting to her butgood .A sharp pain reminded him he was getting to himself too. He shifted his hips slightly to ease the pressureof his fly on the telephone pole that had replaced his c.o.c.k sometime during the movie.

"I...don't know...it sounds...""Like fun? Like heaven? Resting your thighs on my shoulders as I lift your a.s.s in my hands and find this little spot...righthere ...with my tongue?" He found her c.l.i.t again and pressed gently next to it, letting herindrawn breath tell him of her delight."I'd stroke this with my tongue...fast at first...then slowly...just teasing you, you know?""Uhhh..." Daphne was boneless in his arms as he continued his a.s.sault on her senses. Her moisture flooded his hands and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were rising and falling rapidly as she panted on his lap.

He leaned forward and lightly sucked one taut nipple into his mouth through the thin cotton of her shirt,feeling the delicate lace of her bra yield to his touch.And let two fingers slide into her c.u.n.t."Aaahhh...G.o.d...Jaaaack..."He loved the way she breathed his name. The long, drawn-out "a" that sounded like a woman on the verge of o.r.g.a.s.m. He moved his fingers, learning her, feeling the folds of flesh surrounding him, sucking him inside her, begging for his touch.

He lost himself in the pleasure of giving...pleasure.

It was a unique moment of sheer bliss for Jack, and it almost stunned him with its intensity. His body seemed to come alive to each and every little shudder Daphne made. His focus was on her, her breathing, her scent, the softness of the skin between her thighs and the heat of her juices scalding his hand. It was, for one of the few times Jack could remember, all about giving. Freely, without restraint, no questions asked, nothing expected in return. Just giving.

And it was almost unbearably wonderful.

Daphne felt her body opening to accept Jack's touch like the proverbial rosebud opening after a

rainstorm.That she was producing the rainstorm herself didn't go unnoticed, as she could feel her own juicesslicking her skin and Jack's fingers. Dear heavens, he could turn heron .

The fact that Rick and Ilsa were negotiating the tricky waters of occupied Casablanca went over her head.

The fact that they were in a darkened movie theater box went unnoticed.Daphne's world had narrowed down to that extra-sensitive place between her legs, and the myriad ofincredible sensations caused by a man's hand rightthere .

She was torn.

Torn by the urge to scream-which she knew she couldn't-and torn by the urge to do something...anything...to let him know her pleasure.She reached up to his face and pulled it down to hers, daringly letting her tongue run over his lips.He groaned and opened his mouth, pressing it into hers and thrusting his tongue deep. He still tasted

divine-all chocolate-minty and Jack-and her senses swam as his movements mimicked those of hisfingers. The ones he'd buried inside her wet heat.

Oh good Lord above.What the man could do with his hands.Slowly at first, then more rapidly, Jack learned her body, teasing with light flickers and pressing with justthe right amount of force on places Daphne never knew existed. Let alone could send her into orbit whentouched just-so.

"Jack...I'm...you're...ohJaaaack ..."

He kissed her again, hard, capturing her moans and swallowing her breaths. She felt lightheaded, dizzy and electrified as her body began tingling all over.

He slipped a hand inside her shirt and cradled her breast, lacy bra and all, gently rubbing his thumb over

her hard nipple and making her gasp all over again. The dual a.s.sault on her senses was too much to withstand. He was pushing her inexorably over the edge.

And she wanted to fall."Let it happen, Daph. I'm here. I'm holding you..." His voice rasped softly in her ear. "I want to feel youcome in my arms. Around my hand. To know that I'm doing this to you. Just me. With my touch."

"I..." The words seized in her throat.