Down to the Bone Read online

  “She studies human evolution and osteology,” Jarrett added proudly.

  “Bones,” Frankie murmured before his father could even ask and his gaze flickered over to Jarrett with interest, almost wonder. “It’s the study of bones. That’s cool.” He smiled at Liddy.

  “Only prehistoric bones,” she demurred.

  “You mean like ape-man stuff?” Jarrett’s father was not impressed.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Don’t suppose there’s much money to be made doing that,” he muttered, and Jarrett felt his stomach drop. Maybe introductions hadn’t been such a good idea.

  Liddy could fairly smell the disapproval when Mr. Evans said, “Don’t suppose there’s much money to be made doing that.” It was an all-too-familiar criticism, one she’d learned to take in stride. Most people didn’t see any point in digging up the past and understanding it. Usually, she just shrugged her shoulders when someone pointed that out, but she could see that Jarrett was mortified by his father’s rudeness.

  “No, sir,” she said to indicate that she wasn’t offended. “I’m pretty much aiming for a job at some museum of natural history. I’ll work in obscurity and probably scrape by. But I count it a blessing that I’m good at what I like doing. I think that’s better than not liking what I’m good at, or not being good at what I’d really like to do.”

  Jarrett’s father twitched and his face darkened. Oh dear. She’d hit a nerve. In more ways than one it seemed, as brother Frankie was gawking at her. She didn’t know if it was because she’d dared to speak to his dad that way, or if she’d said something profound. Time to beat a hasty retreat.

  “I’ll see you later, Jarrett.” She offered him a quick smile before hurrying off. Inside, her stomach flipped. She knew she had the socializing problem common to geeks: a tendency to blurt out inappropriate things at inappropriate moments. Had she just done that? She hoped Jarrett wasn’t angry with her.

  That, she found herself reflecting, was yet another new development in a month of new developments; back when she’d first met Jarrett, she hadn’t cared if she made him angry. Now she did because, well, his opinion mattered to her. A lot.

  True, their relationship was still uneven with her doing most of the talking when it came to prehistoric topics, but he was an incredibly quick study and catching up fast. Besides, he’d more than balanced out the scales with his fun lessons on football, also with his thoughtfulness. He insisted on buying her coffee or lunch whenever they ran into each other at the commissary and always carried her books for her. And she no longer spent her nights alone, watching television or working on papers. Instead, she had long, warm talks with Jarrett on the phone, or went out to his games to cheer him on.

  There was now more to her life than ancient bones, and that was all thanks to Jarrett—Jarrett who had become far, far more to her than just a desirable male of her species.

  Their friendship, Liddy mused as she headed across campus on that windy, October evening, had evolved, was still evolving, changing her life and changing her. And she couldn’t wait to see what developed next.

  LATE OCTOBER

  Let her be here! Jarrett wished, his rubber soled shoes squeaking across the polished stone floors of the library. He hurried up the short stairs into the airy, vaulted catalogue area with its periodicals, computers and old desks. Past the librarian’s station decorated with carved pumpkins. Past the arched Victorian windows, windblown tree branches banging against the panes, shedding the last of their red and brown leaves.

  He rushed between study groups and couples whispering at tables to the narrow back staircase, his computer bag pounding against his side. First landing, a swing about the wrought-iron rail, more stairs, second landing, another flight, third. Finally, he darted through the almost deserted, third-floor stacks to the nearly invisible wooden staircase leading up to one of the library’s four towered tops. The familiar perfume of old books wafted down as he came up into the yellow lighting.

  Let her be here!

  She was seated at her favorite desk and dressed for the season in a harvest orange sweater and a black skirt. Her flint eyes, magnified behind her glasses, came up as Jarrett crossed to the table. There was that familiar disbelieving frown, as if he’d woken her from sleep.

  “I got an A+.”

  Liddy pushed at her glasses. “Come again?”

  Jarrett slipped onto a chair across from her and pulled open his bag. He tossed his biology paper onto the table. A large, red A+ marked the top.

  “It’s from the prehistory class.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “No.” He reached across and caught her hand. He felt hot, on fire almost. “You don’t understand. I’ve never gotten an A+ in my life—not outside of phys ed. B+ was the best. And I know this is an easy class and it might not seem all that impressive to you, but it is to me. I had to come tell you.”

  “It’s wonderful and I’m really flattered, Jet,” she shook her head, “but I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “Yes, you did. You had everything to do with it.” He felt himself flush. Even though they’d been seeing a lot of each other, this was the first time she’d called him Jet, and it sounded magical coming from her lips. “All those talks we’ve been having. I’m doing better in all my classes. It’s like my mind was rusted and you oiled it up and got it working again.”

  “So maybe this isn’t so extraordinary.” She smiled. “Maybe you were always an A student. You were just badly coached.”

  “Maybe.” He’d hardly winded himself on his way up, but his heart was racing. He was suddenly aware of her hand under his, so small and fine. The table wasn’t that wide, at least not for him. He rose half out of his seat and leaned forward, seeing his reflection in her glasses approaching.

  Liddy had imagined kissing Jarrett, dreamed of it, but the real kiss was so very different. He had warm lips, and there was a hint of stubble on his chin that scratched just a little. She was the first to open her mouth, to reach forth her tongue. He yielded and the kiss deepened. The feeling he sent down her was like a swallow of hot, sweet tea. It spread through her chest, all the way down to her crotch.

  Jarrett pulled back, amazed. He’d never experienced a kiss so tender, so natural. Did Liddy feel the same? She was gazing at him intently, as if trying to examine his bones. She pushed back and out of her chair.

  “Come on,” she said, flashing him an unexpectedly wicked smile. Her hand grabbed his and she pulled him through the stacks.

  “Where are we going?” The shelving was so narrow it brushed his shoulders. He tried to move sideways. “Liddy—?” He stopped. They’d reached an ancient pair of bookcases at right angles. There was a gap between them. Liddy stepped through it.

  What the—? He followed her, just barely fitting between. There was a corner, and a door. One of the bookcases was up against a storage room.

  Liddy opened the door and reached up to pull a cord, switching on a low-watt bulb. It revealed a long-out-of-use janitor’s closet. Jarrett gaped. It was quite clear that generations of students had decorated and used this forgotten place. The one exposed wall and angled ceiling had been painted with swirling, psychedelic colors and the mattress on the floor was piled with pillows from four or more different decades. On the shelves were bongo drums, a Rubik’s Cube, a cheap alarm clock, and a peaceful looking Buddha complete with incense burner; also comic books and several paperbacks including Stranger in a Strange Land and Neuromancer and Harry Potter. The place reeked of sandalwood, marijuana, beer and...other things.

  There was, in fact, a corkboard with condom packets pinned to it.

  Liddy pulled Jarrett in, placed a hotel “Do not disturb” sign on the knob, then shut the door and secured it with a hook and eye lock.

  “What the fuck!” Jarrett had to bend so as not to bump his head. He settled onto the mattress. Much to his relief it seemed to be fairly firm and new. Evidently, the students regularly replaced the bedding.

 
“Welcome to ‘The Cave.’” Liddy took a moment to remove her boots. “The secret closet of us rare, reserved history and archeology book readers.”

  “Do the other towers have one of these, too?” Jarrett asked, following her lead and getting off his shoes and jacket.

  “The other Geek Retreats? Oh, yeah. I had a very interesting time in the philosophy and religion closet once. They call it ‘The Monk’s Cell.’” She settled down on her knees and put aside her glasses. Then, with a cross of her arms, she pulled off her sweater.

  “Um—” Jarrett didn’t quite know what to say. Liddy revealed olive skin, a black bra...and the skull tattoo. He’d never forgotten about that tat, but he’d never asked her about it either. Maybe, he thought, while gazing at her soft and inviting figure, it was time to give that illustration a closer look.

  Liddy hadn’t thought twice when she’d dragged Jarrett to the cave, nor when she’d removed her sweater. Now, seeing his eyes widen, she did.

  Oh, shit, she thought, feeling her face go hot. Jarrett was wearing that too familiar look, the expression she’d gotten from other non-geek guys when she’d approached them: like he was about to tell her this was all a big mistake, that he didn’t think of her like that.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, heart plummeting, and reached for her sweater. “When we kissed, I—well, I thought—”

  “Fine!” he blurted. “It’s fine—”

  “I guess I got the wrong idea,” she said at the same time. “Stupid—”

  “No.” He placed a hand on her arm and his hot touch raised goose bumps. “I just...didn’t expect to get so lucky,” he explained, and then he was kissing her again, and drawing her down on top of him.

  That was all the invitation Liddy needed. She fumbled with his jeans, tugging open both button and zipper to get at the stiff bulge underneath, then she pushed up his thermal shirt. He helped her get it off, exposing a chest as broad and ripped as she could have wished. Simply beautiful. Her hands stroked over those taut muscles, lingering on his nipples as they tightened under her fingers. There was a line of dark blond chest hair running down over his belly. Promising more below.

  Liddy was salivating now. She bunched up her skirt around her waist and pulled herself forward over his lap until she felt his bulge pressing up against her panties. Then she leaned in to nip at his large, strong neck.

  “Hmmm,” he said, stroking a hand over her bare shoulders, making her shiver.

  Biting and sucking at his warm throat and ears, she teased him till he moaned. Encouraged, she tracked on down, breathing in his fragrance, scraping his nipples with her teeth. One then the other.

  “Shit!” he gasped, hips jumping. His bulge nudged at her dampening cleft. Excited as that made her, she hoped he wasn’t too eager, or that he wouldn’t get her so riled that she rushed this. He was her first jock, and she wanted to study him. Intimately.

  My God! Jarrett thought. Bobby had been right. Geek girls knew what they were doing. His cock was in agony, trapped in his briefs yet feeling the tantalizing pressure of her warm pussy through the fabric. And she hadn’t let up on licking and kissing his sensitive skin. She was working over his ribs, leaving burning trails with her lips. She circled wetly about his navel.

  He had enough presence of mind to fumble with the zipper at the back of her skirt. It went down. She paused, standing up long enough to let it drop. Her pink underwear were thin and very evidently soaked at the crotch. She reached back, unsnapping the bra. Her breasts weren’t very large, but they had lovely nipples. A tug at the panties, and she had them off as well, exposing a patch of pubic hair.

  Her body, he reflected, wasn’t anything like those of the girls he’d had in the past. It was stubby rather than long, the dent of the waist barely there, the hips and thighs heavy instead of curvy. But her shape stirred Jarrett all the same. And unlike those other girls, Liddy made no attempt to arouse him with poses or sensuous teasing. She just grinned, comfortable in her nudity, and clearly ready to play.

  He grabbed her legs and pulled her back down on him. There wasn’t much room on the mattress, but he rolled them over and struggled to get his jeans and briefs off. Liddy helped, jerking them over his ass to his thighs. His cock sprung out, shiny and eager. Liddy, however, stayed away from that, her hands roaming over his backside with something close to wonder. It was as if he was some unique and fascinating specimen and with every touch or taste she found something new to investigate.

  Which made everything tightening up in him just get tighter: his balls, his muscles, even his breathing space. Every stroke and touch seared his skin, especially the feel of her breasts giving way against his hard chest. Bracing himself on elbows and forearms so as not to crush her, he set his mouth to one of those breasts, mouthing it, rubbing his face against it, and then finally, eagerly, sucking on a nipple.

  That wonderful button rolled sensuously over his tongue, and he heard Liddy cry out. Her body arched up against him, so hot and compact. Leaving her nipple, he licked under her breast, on down her soft, fluttering belly, then back up again.

  She slithered and gyrated against him, as lost in him as he was in her, utterly delicious, like a dessert warm from the oven.

  Liddy whimpered and writhed. She couldn’t believe this; she’d never been with anyone so muscled and strong, so metabolically on fire. His burning lips were pulling at her tit, his tongue flicking at it, which sent shocks of pleasure down her spine to her clit. Her pussy dripped with desire and she felt herself giving into the purest animal urge to have him. Here. Now.

  Jarrett, rumbling deep in his chest, his body rocking faster, his cock slick and nudging its way between her thighs, clearly felt the same.

  Before she knew it, he’d nabbed one of the condom packets off the corkboard and was gloved up. She already had herself angled for him, her hands fairly clawing at his ass. She was so sensitive at that moment that when his dick finally entered she felt its shape, the head firm and tapered, like a spear. She cried out in delight.

  Jarrett hadn’t meant to rush things, but his dick had its own ideas and he barely got it covered before it went right in, as if seeking the tight heat that only Liddy could provide. He shouted as that pulsing grip captured him. That his legs were still trapped in his jeans made it even more erotic, as if he were some sort of merman forced to wiggle up onto land in order to mate.

  His hips thrust helplessly, loving her uneven interior. On his ass, hips and ribs he felt her nails, raking and clawing as if to keep hold of him. Crissy had always been at his shoulder at such times, but Liddy, being smaller, latched onto his nipples. She bit them, sending jolts to his groin. He gasped and thrust harder.

  “Fuck, fuck!” he hissed as she came, sending waves up his cock. His nuts, already feeling ready to burst, went hard as stone, and he lost feeling in his thighs. He shot, his body jerking and shuddering, as if he were releasing some spark into the darkness. Liddy shouted in response and held tight to him.

  For what seemed a long while he couldn’t speak, couldn’t suck in air. Then he groaned. “Shit,” he gasped as his cock seemed to tremble with exhaustion and then collapsed within her.

  When his breath finally came back, Jarrett slipped out of her. There was a roll of paper towels near to hand, and he used that to clean up before sinking down beside Liddy, sweat beading his forehead and slicking his ribs. He couldn’t quite believe how shaky he felt given how short that had been. Yet he was. Climbing all those stairs hadn’t taken as much out of him.

  It was because he’d wanted this to be more than just a quickie, he realized. He may have been wild, even thoughtless during their lovemaking, but he’d given it his all. Even his primitive hindbrain, it seemed, knew Liddy deserved no less.

  After a moment, he grabbed blindly and tugged up his briefs and pants as best he could. They ended up half-on, half-off his ass. He was too tired to do more.

  “Didn’t expect that, huh?” Liddy combed back sweaty tendrils of hair from her face. She was feeli
ng both amused and tender, and wonderfully spent. So, that was what it was like to make love to a jock. Not bad, but she really wanted to give it another go. That had been over way too fast, as if Jarrett had been running for the goal line.

  “Um, no.” He sounded a little stunned.

  She gave him a smug kiss. “Not all geeks are virgins.”

  “So I’ve heard. Ask you something?” He shifted a little and brushed a hand down her left shoulder.

  “Anything,” she murmured, tracing fingers over his biceps. He smelled wonderfully ripe, all sweat and sex.

  “What’s with the skull?”

  “The skull?” For a moment Liddy wasn’t sure what he meant. Then she understood and was taken aback.

  Jarret smiled sheeplishly as Liddy’s brows went up.

  “We make love and that’s the first question to pop into your mind?” she demanded, but with a grin so he knew she wasn’t really upset.

  “Well, I’ve been meaning to ask you about it since that first time, when you had one of my books. No offense, but it’s not a very sexy skull.”

  “No,” she agreed, snuggling in. “It’s Sahelanthropus tchadensis. Commonly known as Toumaï. Discovered in the Sahara back in 2002. Some anthropologists believe this skull is the earliest hominid, marking our split from chimpanzees. Others think it’s just an ape.”

  “What you think?”

  “As I’ve got it permanently inked on my shoulder, I vote for early hominid.”

  Jarrett shook his head. At times like this, hearing the enthusiasm in her voice, he felt like Liddy and he were from different planets. “I’m afraid I just don’t get it, this fascination with old bones.”

  “Bones are it,” she insisted, coming up on an elbow. Her eyes, free of their glasses, sparkled. “People talk about getting to the heart of things, but it’s when you get down to the bone that you find out all a person’s secrets. The shape of their skeleton can tell you their sex, their age, their health. The breaks and fractures can tell you their occupation or lifestyle. Their teeth can tell you what they ate as a child!”