Rev Me Twice (8 page)

She thought about Lisa and how contented she was. In a few
years she’d be soft and happy with kids running around the yard. Crystal looked
back into the mirror. In a few years lines would begin to form around her eyes.
A younger model would replace her on her weather segment. Men didn’t like old
strippers. They wanted them under age twenty-eight and not fully ripened.
Sexist, but a reality of her business.

Once again, that odd feeling of restlessness hit her. It
chafed her insides like a wool sweater against skin. Crystal didn’t know when
or why she’d started to change, but something was happening to her.

She looked down at her bare left hand. She might be Crystal
Diamond, the famous stripping weathergirl, but Lisa Gibson was the one who wore
the shiny ring.

The production assistants came and went at alarming speeds
at the studio. They switched jobs, got married, moved out of state or changed
college majors to something more stable than entertainment. It was Sandra’s day
off, and so a new girl, Conchetta, took the terrycloth robe Crystal slipped off
her shoulders and then adjusted her microphone. Crystal smoothed her hair and
looked nervously around the set. Yvette would arrive with Tomas any minute and
she wondered what they would discover.

Gunther had sprayed Crystal’s body with a faint patina of
silver glitter for tonight’s performance. She wore silver spangled pasties on
her nipples and a matching thong of hand-beaded sequins and bugle beads that
must have cost the studio hundreds. A sheer hip-length, power blue robe covered
the costume. The robe was tied with eight tiny ribbons that she would release
at intervals until it fell from her body.

With extended rain in the forecast, Marv wanted Crystal to
look wet and welcoming when she issued the gloomy weather report. He was
convinced her costuming would make the news go down easier. Marv was probably
right. That’s what made him such a successful producer.

Tomas strolled onto the studio set with cups of coffee and
donuts for Marv and Harry, with Yvette by his side. Her landlord smiled and
offered Crystal an enthusiastic wave, as if she were excited to be on a
television set. Crystal waved back, but her heart pounded. Maybe Yvette should
have come after her taping, so her presence wouldn’t be such a distraction.
Would Yvette recognize the person who had ransacked her home?

Tomas blew her a kiss after handing over the snacks to her
bosses. Crystal calmed down a bit when he followed the kiss with a thumbs-up
and a big smile. He led Yvette out of the filming area, probably to her
dressing room. Crystal breathed a sigh of relief. Tomas always knew how to
handle her moods. That’s one of the things she liked best about him.

The lighting crew adjusted the stage lamps. The sound crew
checked microphones. Then the director waited while the Barbie and Ken news
team took their seats at the desk. “In three, two, one…” Harry whispered into
their earpieces. “You’re on.”

The lighting went dim around the crew while it brightened on
stage. Crystal waited by the weather chart for her turn at reporting.

When Sal turned the camera her way, she looked deep into the
lens and licked her mouth. Then she shook her head and said, “Sorry, viewers,
the forecast calls for slick, wet conditions the next five days. A Nor’easter
is heading our way.” She emphasized the words
slick
and
wet
and
untied the first ribbon on her filmy robe. The neckline fell open.

Crystal raised her hand to the area map to explain, when a
deafening
crack
filled the stage like a gunshot, shooting terror through
her. Crystal covered her mouth with her hands, looked straight at the camera
crew and screamed bloody murder.

“Go to a commercial break!” Harry shouted. He rushed on
stage to Crystal, where she was shaking like a leaf and fighting back tears.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Harry said. “I should have told you we added thunder and
lightning sound effects to your segment. We thought it would add drama to your
report.” His expression turned chagrined. “Guess we were right.”

“Sound effects?” Crystal looked around the studio. “Are you
fucking kidding me? After all I’ve been through, you wanted
drama
? I
thought someone shot at me!” She wanted to scratch Harry’s eyes out.

Marv rushed up behind them. “My fault. My call. It was last
minute. But you gotta admit, it grabbed viewers’ attention!”

“I’d like to grab your balls and twist them until they’re
blue, Marv. How’s that?” Crystal suddenly didn’t care whether or not she got
fired.

Marv looked momentarily flummoxed, but recovered and burst
out laughing. “You’re terrific, Crystal. Just great. Look, ratings will go
through the roof on this show. Go back on stage and finish your report. Tell
the audience why you screamed. Let’s face it, subscribers have been hearing
about your, uh, difficulties for days. Talk to them. They’ll eat it up.”

“That’s all you care about, isn’t it, Marv? Ratings.” Her
voice had turned flat.

Marv stared down at her like a wounded hound dog. “You’re
like a daughter to me. But I gotta be honest, ratings are the bottom line.”

Crystal let out a sigh of defeat. Marv was right. In show
business, ratings were everything.

“Will you finish your report? Please?” Marv asked gently.
“We only have ten seconds before the commercial break is over.”

Crystal nodded. “Sure. I’ll apologize to viewers for
screaming and explain why I’m so jumpy.” Crystal turned back to the weather
map. Harry spoke the word, “Action,” into her earpiece and she posed for the
camera. Crystal hoped her fake smile reached her eyes.

* * * * *

Tomas captured Crystal in his arms and hugged her tight when
she reached her dressing room. “I watched you on the monitor. You handled
yourself like a pro. Great job explaining to the audience why you screamed at
the sound effects.”

Crystal talked into his shoulder, comforted by the solid
feel of his body. “Truth is a convincing weapon.”

Tomas kissed the crown of her head. “Well said.” He released
her and turned to Yvette at the vanity chair. “I wish we had good news for you,
mi amor
, but Yvette didn’t see anyone she recognized on the set.”

Crystal chafed. “You’ve got to be kidding? I thought that’s
why you gave me the thumbs-up.” She met Yvette’s eyes. “No one?”

Yvette chewed her bottom lip and shrugged. “She wasn’t here,
Crystal. I’m sorry.”

Crystal moved on shaky legs to her daybed and sat down. Her
stomach roiled. When she tried to think, her mind went blank.

Tomas came to her side. “Whoever it was might have shown
Yvette old identification. You told me once that employees come and go here
pretty quickly.”

A detail flickered inside Crystal’s brain and came to life.
Her mind cleared. “Or maybe she had the day off.”

Tomas nodded. “Could be.”

Crystal murmured. “Sandra. She’s my primary production
assistant and comes to my dressing room all the time.” Crystal got up and went
to her bureau to root around. “She fits the description Yvette gave the police.
I might have a picture of her somewhere.” She sorted through a stack of
publicity shots taken of the staff at the WCNT company picnic. “Is this the
woman you saw?” she asked her friend.

Yvette studied the photo and frowned. “It might be. I’m not
sure.”

Crystal bit back her impatience. “Look again, Yvette.”

Yvette complied, and then handed back the photograph. “It
could be her, but she looks like other women her age in the photo. And they’re
all wearing WCNT t-shirts. I might recognize her voice and her face together,
though. In person.”

“Well, that won’t happen today. Not if it’s Sandra,” Crystal
replied. “Wait ‘til I get my hands on her. Believe me, I’ll get answers.”

Tomas stepped up beside her and put his arm around her
waist. “Let me handle that, sweetheart. Or the police. We’re trained to
question suspects.” He kissed her temple and squeezed her side. “Why don’t you
get cleaned up while I take Yvette home? By the time I come back, you’ll be
dressed and ready to go. I’ll take you out on the town. Wherever you want.”

Crystal didn’t argue. There was no point. Tomas would never
yield on this issue. He was a military cop and would do the right thing, no
matter how hard she protested. She gave him a peck on the lips. “I’ll be
ready.”

Yvette reached out for a hug. “Sorry I couldn’t be more
help.” She bussed Crystal’s cheek.

Crystal hid her disappointment and pasted on a smile.
“Thanks for trying.”

* * * * *

She needed sex like she needed air. Some women shopped to
relax, others liked to travel, gamble or party hop. Crystal did all those
things and more. But having a man… or two or three in her bed was the perfect
escape. If she couldn’t lose herself in sex, how else could she cope with the
events of the past week? Sex was the only release she knew.

Crystal stretched her nude, waxed, buffed and sculpted body
on the sky blue satin sheets of her king-sized bed, with her arms draped over
her head, and closed her eyes while she opened her thighs wider. The swarthy
man who lay between her legs lapped her swollen clitoris with expert precision,
nudging the waves of orgasm closer with each deliberate stroke. He licked and
sucked her pussy with the wild enthusiasm of a cunt connoisseur, and then
pressed his face tight against her sex as if gorging himself on her juices.

Tomas kneeled beside her and bent his head to hers for a
kiss while he kneaded her breasts. She opened her mouth as she lifted her hips,
tongue seeking his as the tongue on her clit circled in an intimate parody of
the one inside her mouth.

Lifting a hand to Tomas’ face while he kissed her, she caressed
his strong, magnificent jawline and let one finger play inside a dimpled cheek
as their lips parted. He smiled against her hand and kissed the inside of her
wrist with a tenderness that brought a sigh from her throat. She closed her
eyes and traced his cheekbone before bringing her hand to his ear and massaging
his earlobe between her thumb and forefinger just the way she knew he liked it.

As her fingers worked, he kissed her mouth again while he
pulled and pinched her swollen nipples. Her free hand reached for his long,
wide cock and began to stroke in smooth, even motions. He tensed and nipped her
bottom lip as she increased the pressure and tempo on his beautifully shaped
phallus. Tomas was a vision, a perfectly formed male and the only man who had
ever touched her heart—though she had never told him so.

As soon as a man knew your feelings for him, you lost
control of the relationship. Crystal felt like she was falling over a precipice
and she had to regain her footing.

Yet Crystal sensed she was running out of reasons to keep
Tomas at arm’s length. He’d stayed with her through her troubles and had been
not only a lover, but a friend. She’d relied on him more than she’d ever relied
on anyone and the world hadn’t come to an end. Despite growing closer as a
couple, he’d even shown up for their weekly ménage with her personal trainer
without balking. He knew how much she enjoyed their regular trysts.

Who could complain about such an unselfish boyfriend?

The man between her legs added a finger to stroke her vulva
and the tight opening of her pussy. Using quick, staccato jabs, he nudged the
tip of her clit with the point of his tongue, sending shockwaves through her
that made her writhe as she held back a moan. Giancarlo was a master of oral
pleasure.

Swirls, thrusts and parries of tongues and lips carried
Crystal higher as the seconds ticked by. Warm breath against her mouth and
rhythmic, hot breath against her pussy forced a moan that grew in volume and
intensity as her abdomen rippled and her chest heaved, pushing the sound from
her throat.

Her orgasm reached a crescendo and loomed, but she held it
back, as the tongue that laved her clit dragged to her entrance and thrust
inside her pussy to stroke her smooth, satiny inner walls. The mouth on hers
deepened its kiss. She entered a weightless space like suspended animation or
zero gravity, where her body seemed to float, while the localized pleasures
broadened and swelled until every cell in her body came alive.

Seconds before her climax brought her to bliss, she broke
the kiss and the contact on Tomas’ cock, and then touched the head of the man
who lay between her legs in a signal for him to stop.

“Now,” she said.

Tomas sat back on his heels, though his fingers continued
their play along the lines of her body. The man licking her pussy ceased and
rose up on his knees. Crystal studied his handsome Roman face and the dark hair
that covered his chest before forming a line to the darker thatch surrounding
his thick, erect cock. The deep rose pink of his cock’s wide, smooth head
tempted her to suck, but she was too close to climax for an unselfish delay.
His purpose was to bring her pleasure. Crystal pushed up from her reclining
position to sit between the men on the bed.

Tomas attempted to pull her to him, but she placed her hands
flat against his chest. “No.” She inclined her head in the opposite direction.
“Him.” She ignored the flash of anger and dismay in his midnight eyes as she
directed Tomas behind her. On all fours, she crawled toward Giancarlo and signaled
for him to lie on his back. He complied, after unrolling a condom over his
cock.

She straddled and mounted him before her urge to climax
dissolved. Holding his cock by the root, she plunged down, taking him in hard
and then shifting her weight until she found the spot she most wanted to
stimulate. Though his cock was of average length, his wide girth would make
orgasm easy to reach. Crystal clutched his hips and began to thrust and rock.

Tomas came up behind her to stroke the smooth skin of her
back, massage the halves of her ass and finger her slick anus while she rode
toward climax. Scents and sensations filled her consciousness. Fingertips
glided over her skin. The pungent smells of sex, sweat and arousal filled her
nostrils. The sounds of bodies clashing and groaning with frenzied pleasure
lifted her higher.

The cold, wet sensation of lubricant warmed the rim of her
anus. A smooth dildo replaced the finger that vibrated against the tight
entrance. The round, soft tip pressed in counterforce to the sphincter muscles,
opened her and whirred against the silken skin inside.

Crystal quickened her pace and threw her head back as the
man beneath her massaged her breasts and rolled the tips of her nipples between
his fingers. Her orgasm flashed over her like fast-igniting rocket fuel that
left her dry-mouthed and breathless. She threw herself forward and pounded down
a final time, letting the riptides pull her under as she pressed her pelvis
against her trainer’s. Inside her orgasmic haze she was dimly aware that he had
climaxed too. The dildo disappeared.