"No kidding, Max, sometimes I wonder if I'm oversexed or something," she told him. "I just sit around all day, dripping and oozing that stuff all over everything."

"There's nothing wrong with you," he assured her. "You've just got a hot, hungry body. It's the best kind to have, to my way of thinking."

"You're sweet," she said softly. "And just for that, I'll give you a little taste!"

She looked around to make sure no other cars were near, then lifted the hem of her dress and darted her right hand beneath it. She slid her index finger past the legband of her panties, dipped it into her simmering snatch, then drew out the wet, glistening finger.

"Here, sweet pussy-lover," she murmured, extending her finger. "Have a sample!"

Max brought her hand to his mouth, sniffed delicately, then closed his lips around the glistening digit. Jackie shuddered with delight, finding even so infantile and ineffectual a gesture as this an incitement to more vigorous pursuits. For a moment she contemplated asking Max to pull off on a side road and find a deserted spot where she could satisfy her cravings in straightforward fashion.

But then she shook off that desire. They were less than a mile from the Hudgins' apartment complex, and already five minutes late. She sat back and tried to ignore the pulsations that radiated from the junction of her thighs, pulsations that seemed to grow stronger, not weaker.

They arrived just in time to keep Jackie from changing her mind. Priscilla was out in the building's patio, checking on the smoking charcoal in a Hibachi.

"Hi, Bensons!" she greeted them as they walked out of the parking lot. "You're just in time for drinks."

"A gin and tonic all around would be a world-beater," Max told her.

"I'll go along with that," Jackie agreed. "Can I help you do something?"

"No. I was just checking the charcoal," Priscilla said. "Come on in for a moment and I'll fix the drinks. Hal's finishing up a shower. You can meet him too."