“What? No! I mean, I don’t think so.”
Alli looked down at herself. Had she been relaxing her diet too much lately? The Kindred Mother Ship was a terrible place to try and watch your weight. Mostly because the Kindred actually liked plus-sized women. They even had a special name for them—they called full-figured females “Elites.” In an environment like that, it was hard to say no when someone offered you a muffin or a dessert.
“Well, I think you might’ve.” Douglas’s frowned deepened. “It’s not healthy, you know,” he lectured. “And also, you do want to be sure you fit into your wedding dress next month, right? I thought most brides-to-be went on a kind of fasting and exercise routine the month before their wedding.”
Alli bit her lip and tried not to be irritated with him. She told herself Douglas only had her best interests at heart and that he was used to speaking his mind. Still, it couldn’t be denied that while she had been feeling sexy and desirable a moment ago, she was feeling neither of those things right now. But the ache between her legs remained—the lingering results of the dreams—and she was determined to scratch her itch.
“Douglas, honey—can we talk about this another time?” she asked. “This kind of conversation isn’t exactly conducive to a ‘conjugal visit.’ You know?”
“Oh…Oh, of course. I’m sorry, darling.” Douglas gave her am apologetic smile from behind his wire-rimmed glasses. “Just thinking of you on the big day, that’s all.”
“Of course you were.” Alli made herself smile at him. “Why don’t we get in bed now?”
“Certainly. Just let me turn out the lights.”
Douglas never made love with the lights on. Which, to be honest, was all right with Alli. For one thing, when she could see his face, it threw her off a little. That was because Douglas tended to go cross-eyed and make grunting noises when he was about to come, which had the unfortunate effect of making her want to laugh.
The other reason she didn’t mind was that with the lights off, she could let her imagination run wild. She knew it probably wasn’t a good thing that she was always fantasizing about someone or something else when she made love with her fiancé, but she just couldn’t help it. The minute they started, her mind began to wander to spicier subjects than Douglas in his calf-length black business socks grunting away on top of her.
Once the room was plunged into darkness, with just a few scattered moonbeams coming through the window blinds, they climbed into bed together and cuddled for a minute—but only a minute. Seriously—Alli had timed it by the luminous glow of the bedside clock several times.
One minute was the exact amount of time Douglas allocated for cuddling, even when they hadn’t seen each other all week. Personally, she would have liked this part to last a lot longer but, as with everything in his life, Douglas was all business when it came to making love.
So after Alli had rested in his arms for precisely sixty seconds, he rolled her over on her back and pulled down the top of her night shirt. Cupping her breasts in his hands, he tweaked her nipples exactly twice, which was barely enough to get her motor running.
At least, that was usually the case. But tonight, Alli was still thinking of the strange and frightening dream of the man with mirror eyes promising to fulfill all her darkest desires. Her fiancé’s perfunctory two tweaks actually got her going this time and she could feel how wet and hot she was getting between her legs.
“Douglas…” She shifted restlessly against him. “Could you…would you mind…going downtown tonight?”
It was another euphemism, one which she rarely used because—though Douglas had never actually come out and said it—she had the very strong feeling he didn’t exactly like this act. To be fair, he didn’t expect her to give him blow jobs much either, because he really just wasn’t that interested in sex.
This had worried Alli at first. She had tried tactfully to suggest that maybe he ought to have his testosterone levels checked, but Douglas had brushed off the idea. Everything was fine the way it was, he firmly explained. And besides, he really couldn’t take time out of his busy schedule for an unnecessary doctor’s appointment to cure what he considered was a nonexistent problem.
So that was the end of that.
“Well…I suppose I could go downtown.” Douglas’s voice was grudging in the darkness beside her. “If you really want me to.”
“I do,” Alli said, though part of her wanted to just tell him to forget it. It was hard to relax enough to enjoy this act with someone who really didn’t want to do it. “Do you mind?” she asked.
“I guess not,” Douglas replied, in a tone that clearly said otherwise. Still, he shuffled under the covers and after a great deal of fumbling, finally wound up between her legs.