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"She's had enough," Rick declares.
I giggle and hiccup. "Okay-okay, I'm done."
"Glad to hear it." Rick sets the bottle on the table.
I wag a finger at Dexter. "Oh now, Dexy, you naughty boy. Tell Rick what he wants to know. He won't give up until you do. And he won't take me to our room and screw me for hours and hours until you tell him about your bookie thingy. He's fabulous in the sack, so I'm dying for him to shag me again. Isn't that just the cutest word for sex? Shag. Shagging. Shagged. Shaggeth? No, that doesn't sound right."
Did I say all that out loud?
Rick gapes at me.
Okay, guess I did say that out loud.
Dexter busts out laughing.
"This is not amusing," Rick says. "You've enabled her to get drunk. I should've stopped this before you gave her more cognac."
"All right, don't have kittens about it," Dexter says. He pulls out the drawer in the little table beside his chair and brings out a big stack of letter-size sheets of paper. Setting that on his lap, he lays a hand atop the stack. "Here's the manuscript. It's a work of carnivalesque erotica titledUnder the Satyr's Moon, which explores the sexual appetites of a group of people who meet at a fete in a small English village and proceed to turn it into a devilish festival of lust."
Rick stares at Dex. He doesn't blink—or breathe, it seems like. He just sits there with his hands clamped over his knees, bent forward slightly. "Carnivalesque what?"
"Erotica." Dex offers the manuscript to Rick. "Take your time reading it."
"Is this a joke?" he asks as he gingerly takes the stack of papers, setting it on his lap.
"No joke. It's what I've written."
I giggle again, but it mutates into all-out guffaws with a few more hiccups in there too. Now I'm laughing so hard my stomach muscles start to cramp up, and I collapse against the sofa with tears streaming down my cheeks.
"Best take her to bed," Dex announces. "She needs a good lie-in."
Though my tears blur my vision, I can tell Rick is still looking shell-shocked.
I intend to lean toward Rick, but instead, I fall over and wind up with my face in his lap. Yeah, I've face-planted on that manuscript. It smells nice. "Please, take me to bed, Rrrrrick."
Why that syllable comes out so long, I have no idea.
"Yes, I think it is Maddie's bedtime," Rick says.
"I asked Ilsa to make sure a room would be ready for you two," Dexter replies. "Just in case."
My eyes drift closed. He pulls the manuscript out from under my face, and I hear a rustling sound, but I have no idea what it is. He's jostling me too, but only a teeny bit.
He picks me up and stands. "Could you point me in the right direction?"
"Up the stairs, third door on the left."
"Thank you. Good night, Dexter."
As he carries me away, I fling out an arm to wave at our host, with my eyes still closed. I'm guessing about which direction to wave. "Nightie-night, Dexy."
He chuckles. "Good night, Maddie."
I throw my arm around Rick's neck. The other arm seems to be stuck, trapped between his body and mine. "Make love to me, Rrrrrick."
"Yes, Rick, you do that," Dexter says.
A door slams shut. I think that might mean Rick slammed the sitting-room door. Oh, whatever. I feel like liquid sex now, all hot and soft and… What was I thinking about?
