Eat Me (27 page)

Philippa raised her eyes, in which tiny, pearl-like tears had begun to well. ‘You mean?' she sniffled hopefully.

‘You're being a very silly little girl, now, aren't you? I think you should kneel for your sins. In front of me. That's it.'

Philippa knelt.

Cara held the paper up to her. The headline of the review read, ‘Spicy and Delicious, An Erotic Feast'. Philippa grinned despite herself and then, flushing, hung her head as Cara read aloud the rest of the article.

‘See,' said Cara, folding the newspaper and placing it safely on the table next to the sofa, ‘I told you that you shouldn't have taken it so much to heart that the girls haven't said a word. I'm sure, as I've told you a hundred times, that they haven't worked it out that Dick Pulse is your pen name. Maybe they haven't even seen the book. You should just tell them, you silly creature.' Cara shook her head. She reached over to the table and picked up the open box of Belgian chocolates. Studying its contents, she chose one in a conch shape. ‘Now what does this remind you of?' she asked, holding the shell briefly between her legs before popping it into her mouth.

Philippa smiled. ‘You know,' she said shyly, ‘you haven't told me what
you
thought of the book.'

‘You want to know my honest opinion?'

‘Of course.'

‘Well, it was all right.' Cara shrugged. ‘Oh, don't look so disappointed. You know me, the mistress of understatement. I liked it, I did. Really. There were a number of places where I laughed out loud. And natch, Chapter Five was my favourite. That was a particularly clever bit of cross-dressing, I thought.' Sitting very straight, she penetrated Philippa with her green-eyed gaze. ‘Of course, the sex in most of the other chapters was a bit too, oh, vanilla for my taste. And, if you don't mind my saying so, a bit too straight as well. Really, Philippa. Hairy necks and phalluses don't exactly put my knickers in a twist, as you know.'

‘What hairy necks?'

‘Oh, don't be so literal. You know what I mean. Men.'

‘Oh.'

‘Also I don't see why you had to fuck boys in the novel yourself. You don't really fuck boys, do you?' Cara asked in an ominous tone of voice.

‘Course not,' Philippa replied. ‘It was a narrative convenience. You know, to create a little more tension.'

Cara's eyes drilled into her. ‘You described hetero sex as though you knew it very well, however,' she sniffed.

‘I'm a novelist,' objected Philippa. ‘I read a lot and I've got a good imagination.' And, she thought to herself, there has been the odd boy on the side. Not that Cara's ever going to find out about that.

‘Hmm,' Cara replied, not entirely convinced but unwilling to press her on this point. ‘I've got to go home soon. I've got heaps of course-work to do this weekend. For my women's studies class with Ellen, in fact. So, are we going to sit here jabbering all day, slave, or are you going to eat me?'

‘Yes, mistress.' Philippa obediently bent down and pressed her lips to Cara's knees.