Sweet Revenge [Anthology]

MIDNIGHT SHOWCASE Erotic-ahh Digest Vol. 05-03 Sweet Revenge

MIDNIGHT SHOWCASE www.midnightshowcase.com

Published by MIDNIGHT SHOWCASE PO Box 726 Lusk, WY 82225-0726 www.midnightshowcase.com BITTERSWEET MEMORY Copyright © 2005 by J.M. Cornwell BEDRIDDEN Copyright © 2005 by Laura Bacchi MOVING ON Copyright © 2005 by Marguerite Turnley PHANTOM VINDICATION Copyright © 2005 by Bridghid Parkinson WHEN MAGGIE LOVED PATRICK…THEN JOHN Copyright © 2005 by Nancy Pirri SALT FOR HIS WOUNDS Copyright © 2005 by I.G. Frederick THE ANNIVERSARY GIFT Copyright © 2005 by Herbert Grosshans A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME Copyright © 2005 by Imari Jade BETRAYAL—A LOVE STORY Copyright © 2005 by Marcella SCREWED Copyright © 2005 by Cynthia Rayne

Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISSN #1555-5496

Credits Cover Artist: Scott Carpenter Editor: Nikita Gordyn Copyeditor: Regan Taylor Printed in the United States of America

SWEET REVENGE

To our valued readers, At Midnight Showcase, we offer some of the best reads around. When deciding which stories we wanted to add to the EROTIC-AHH SWEET REVENGE DIGEST, two other stories stood out, but they were not erotica. We decided to offer them as well. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Sincerely, Jewel Adams and Bev Haynes, Co-Publishers Midnight Showcase

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marguerite Turnley lives in country Victoria, Australia. Two dogs, two cats, three children and one grandchild, plus one long suffering husband and one boarder share her log house in a six acre paddock. She loves to write, any genre is fair game including speculative fiction, children books, poetry, adventure. She is the author of a published romance novel entitled Primal Man with Rocky River Romance in Australia. It is a mixture of romance, crime, adventure and dinosaur fossils. Marguerite would like to write crime stories using forensic science but doesn’t want to give anyone ideas so sometimes she keeps the stories short. She also likes to paint landscapes and cook, using her own recipes. Sewing is also on the menu. Anyone who wishes to communicate via email may do so. Comments are welcome. [email protected]

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Moving On By Marguerite Turnley The man’s hot, greedy gaze was on the woman as she retrieved groceries from her car. His mouth watered and his hands clenched as some indefinable emotion overtook him. Hunger ate him alive. It was a taste for forbidden fruit, only forbidden because a judge made it so. He’d gotten rid of the judge, time well spent. No one connected the disappearance with him, and they never would. Any dirt people could dig up would be a complete waste of time. It proved handy to have friends in the funeral business. Money to pay them was a little harder to come by, but he’d managed to turn a talent for fraud and computer hacking into a profitable enterprise. Libraries were a free source of knowledge and equipment, so he used them well. He waited weeks for this chance and no city woman was going to deny him, especially one, who long ago forfeited her right to respectability. She left her lawful husband, denying him his God given rights, making accusations of brutality on his part to the police. All lies. The restraining order against him was the last straw. Now he wanted justice, his own brand. She turned her car lights off and went inside the house. With his car parked down the street, he was certain she didn’t see him. Too bad if she had. There was no one around to interfere. She was his property. Nothing could stop him taking what he wanted. He could see her in the window, turning lights on, pulling 3

SWEET REVENGE down blinds. She would have locked the door. No matter, he could easily get back inside. Picking locks was a talent he’d acquired at the governor’s expense. He'd left a calling card in her kitchen, just to make her nervous. The idea that she was scared turned Jerry on. It was the only thing that did these days. Years locked away with the same species as himself made him a different man. He thought about that and acknowledged, that he’d always been a man of two minds. The right hand didn't always know what the left hand got up to. It was more fun that way. He smiled. There was no reason to deny himself anything at all. He’d already paid, now he would collect. **** Susan put her milk in the fridge, taking out the steak she planned to marinate. Turning to put it on the bench, she took out a knife to slice up the meat, but then she paused, her mind telling her that something was wrong. The kitchen didn’t smell right. Then she realised what it was. Cigarettes. She’d given up the habit when Jerry went to jail and been clean ever since. Then she saw the flowers on the table. Violets. Susan hated cut flowers. They made her think of funerals and her ex-husband's best friend Tony, who disappeared after a party she attended with Jerry in the dark past when she and her husband were still civil to each other. Tony had been kind to her, and stood up for her when Jerry used his fists to show her who was boss. Then Tony left without a word. His car had been found at the airport and everyone assumed he went on holiday, until no record of him was found on passenger lists. The mystery still remained unsolved and Tony’s funeral home business was now run by his wife. When Susan looked closer at the table, she discovered something. Her mouth went dry and her skin began to crawl, as if tiny insects were infesting the pores. The flowers were all dead. First smoke fumes then deceased 4

SWEET REVENGE flowers. What was next? A note was lying on the table. Susan picked it up with trembling hands. It read, ‘Sorry I missed you Sue. Next time I won’t. Love and kisses, J.’ Susan stopped moving. She almost stopped breathing too, her stomach like a stone as she involuntarily crumpled up the note and dropped it. He’d found her. It was time to find another town, make another life, reinvent herself yet again. But this time, she’d change more than her name. Plastic surgery began to look like more than an idea. It was a necessity. It was then that she heard footsteps on the wooden veranda, the scrape of something in the lock. Deep inside she knew. It was too late, too late for her, too late for Jerry. Running away or hiding was no longer an option. Even the phone in the living room was too far away for her to phone the police. She picked up a knife and, turning toward the hallway, she stepped toward the opening door. Jerry slipped inside and looked around, his actions furtive and his intention clear. Revenge was his agenda and it looked obvious that he didn’t care how he got it. Susan never saw him so poleaxed as when he saw her standing in the entry to the kitchen with her favourite skinning knife in her hands. He immediately lost all colour. To see that glimmer of weakness was worth all the trouble he caused her, all the pain and anguish of his betrayal with his best friend Tony’s wife, not to mention how he beat and belittled his own wife. No wonder Tony had been removed from the picture. He was also in the way of Jerry’s plan to take over the funeral home, an extremely lucrative business. Jerry looked so confused she could almost feel sorry for him. Then she looked into his eyes and saw the nature of the beast. It was ravenous and would do anything to win. She knew this would be her last chance. If she failed to escape her husband now he would destroy her. He kicked the door shut and walked forward, trying to pre5

SWEET REVENGE tend he’d surprised her. His shaking hands and voice tremors gave the game away “Hello, Darling. Cooking are we?” Jerry asked, keeping out of range of the knife. He'd always been afraid of knives. A left over from his childhood with a father whose business was butchery and terrifying his children with his toys of trade. Jerry's own mother became a victim and it seemed the pattern of violence was repeated in his son. “I’m not cooking yet, honey,” she replied, her voice silky but determined. “I was waiting for you.” “Really?” he said as he tried to move around her. “I didn’t know I was expected. What are we having?” “Roast skunk.” Susan grinned. Jerry stopped moving when he realised his vulnerable position, his pale complexion turning anaemic green. “Anyone I know?” he asked. “Look in the mirror.” The knife rose and in an instant the would-be predator became a drooling, defeated shadow of his former self. The battle was over. The battered wife had become the avenging angel. Jerry was lying on the floor, cowering, begging for mercy as his wrists were tied with Susan’s apron strings. She cut them with the knife and felt no remorse at their loss. Then she phoned the police. It was time her husband found out who wore the pants in the family. It certainly wasn’t him, not any more. Emasculation was complete.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. M. Cornwell is a nationally syndicated freelance journalist and author who lives in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Up where the air is thin and the winds and sunshine fierce, she writes stories of mystery, mayhem, horror, real life and the occasional article about all things political, religious, erotic and people-oriented. In short, she writes for whatever muse and curiosity strike her at the moment. Ms. Cornwell spent several years editing and then designing the web site for The Rose & Thorn literary e-zine, writing several articles, stories and profiles of well known, and not so well known, authors. She has also been published in The New York Times, New Woman, Columbus Monthly, Woman's Day, and many other print publications, as well as mainstream and alternative newspapers, breaking the story on the truth behind the closing of Ohio State University's "Big Ear," which was part of the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) program. She is one of the reviewers for Author Link online and her reviews of horror, mainstream, non-fiction and fiction of all flavors can be read at The Celebrity Café online. Ms. Cornwell also maintains four blogs online and can be found lurking on Google when she isn't listed among the erotica of the latest issue of Midnight Showcase.

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Bittersweet Memory By J. M. Cornwell As Lila stirred the batter, she thought about David. How he loved her brownies: moist, chewy, dark and sweet with pecans instead of walnuts, thickly shaved dark curls of Mexican chocolate that left warm bittersweet pockets that melted on the tongue and a dusting of powdered sugar on top. She laughed as she remembered the powdered sugar on David’s nose and caught in his little Hitler mustache as he’d say, “Chocolate heaven sprinkled with fairy dust, ” every time he took the first bite. She never tired of hearing his words, but David doesn’t talk about her brownies any more. He doesn’t say anything any more. He’s gone. He left Lila for another woman, left her with three small children, no child support, and only bitterness where the sweetness used to be. Arm aching as she beat the thick batter, Lila held back the tears she’d kept inside every time she explained to the boys why they didn’t get a birthday or Christmas card from their father, why David didn’t call, and why the boys couldn’t call their father to tell him about a good grade on a paper at school or a field trip or that they loved and missed their dad. After five long years, it was getting harder and harder to excuse his callous disregard. Lila beat the batter harder, forcing the wooden spoon around and around, melding chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar, and flour until every last vestige of white was gone and the batter was smooth and satiny, the simple separate ingredients married into a better whole. Marriage felt like that at first before circumstance and old habits took over and separated them, forced them apart. Putting the bowl on the counter, Lila scooped up thick curls of bittersweet chocolate and sprinkled them into the bowl, folding them into 8

SWEET REVENGE the batter slowly and carefully so as not to break them into small pieces. They had to remain as whole as possible. Whole. She wasn’t whole and she never would be again. Lila lost something when she married David; she lost herself. She gave David and their marriage everything she had; how could she not? The night they told Lila’s parents she was pregnant, her mother, Gina became furious, slapping Lila hard across the face and screaming at her to go to her room, Gina literally spit in her fury. David, always quiet and respectful, caught Gina’s hand when she raised it to slap Lila again. “Don’t you ever slap her again. Not ever,” David said, his voice low, intense, and full of desire to protect Lila. Thomas, Lila’s father, pulled Gina back against his chest and faced David. “If you want to walk out of here, don’t touch my wife again.” Thomas’s face turned red, his eyes hooded and gleaming with anger. Before David grabbed Gina’s wrist, Thomas leaned against the wall next to the door to the dining room watching the argument in the hall, silent as always. Gina handled all family matters and Thomas gave silent approval; he never interfered—until that night. He hated David after that, hated him for destroying his daughter’s promising future by getting her pregnant. All dreams and hopes for college and a life better than the one Thomas knew, were gone like eggs in a batter. Lila added the pecans, resisting the urge to stick her hands in the batter and force the nuts into position. Instead she carefully and lightly mixed them in. Nuts, rocky road ice cream…rocky roads, and surprises in dark places, like finding David kissing her best friend or strange phone numbers in his pockets or smelling the musky perfume of sex on his clothes and skin as he walked in the door from work and straight to the bathroom to “take a shower because I feel grimy.” Pouring the batter carefully into the rectangular pan, Lila scraped the bowl and smoothed the thick, lumpy batter until it evenly filled every inch of the pan. She put the spoon and bowl in the sink and turned on the water. While the bowl filled, Lila put the pan into the hot oven, closed the door, and set the timer before she turned back to the sink and began washing up. “No,” she said to the silent deepening shadows while she scrubbed the wooden spoon with an SOS pad, “you can’t wash away the evidence.” Like brownie batter on a wooden spoon, a trace remains in the 9

SWEET REVENGE cracks and fissures, a memory of the past. David could wash off the perfume and the sweaty, musky smell of unfaithful love, but he could never wash away the moments he spent giving someone else what he couldn’t or wouldn’t give to his wife, to the woman who became so much a part of him that she lost herself. She became a wife and a mother, but never a partner, never a separate individual ingredient, when they married. Lila finished the dishes and wiped down the counter. She laid the sponge aside and walked to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet to take out the penicillin tablets she kept for when she got a bout of strep throat. How David worried about having penicillin in the house. He constantly checked the label on Lila’s pills, counting them obsessively, keeping his aspirin in his sock drawer far from the medicine cabinet because he feared he would take one of her penicillin tablets by mistake. David was allergic to penicillin, almost as allergic as he was to fidelity, but Lila’s chronic bouts with strep would respond to nothing else. Twice a year like clockwork Lila came down with strep throat, her doctor wrote refills for her original prescription so she could get the pills whenever she needed, without going through an office visit she could no longer afford. She shook the pills out into the marble mortar then set the empty bottle aside. Pounding the white tablets with the wooden pestle, Lila ground out her anger and hurt and disappointment and, hopefully, the love that still soaked her pillow and kept her awake at nights when the boys were asleep. “How could you? How could you?” she cried past the lump in her throat that grew bigger and bigger from the dead weight of her heart. It wasn’t as if Lila didn’t know David was unfaithful; he became famous for it. He slept with his friends’ wives when his friends were away on temporary duty or when his friends were posted for a year-long tour of duty and forced to leave their wives and families behind; no one seemed to mind. No one but me, she thought. Lila’s dreams lost the first flush of blind teenage love the night she found out David slept with Carla, her middle sister, the one who got pregnant and had a baby when she was twelve. At least the baby wasn’t David’s. Lila had been spared that much at least. But the act was his and the knowledge became Lila’s, a drunken secret that slipped out during an argument. She made his favorite brown10

SWEET REVENGE ies, a recipe concocted of bittersweet sadness to smooth over her inability to respond to him the night before. “Carla was a better lay than you,” he spat at her as he methodically packed his clothes to leave for six weeks’ temporary duty in Thailand. “You’re a fool if you think you can get away with sleeping with your commanding officer’s wife.” David laughed at her. “Not that Carla. Your sister.” Lila hadn’t known whether to laugh or cry or claw the smirk off his face. “How could you? Isn’t it bad enough you’re servicing half the women on the base without going after my sister?” “She started it,” he countered as though that justified his betrayal. For a brief moment Lila’s mind filled with all the sly glances and secret smiles Carla shot at David and David’s constant complaints about spending another holiday in Carla’s fancy home with her label and money conscious husband. Lila thought it was her sister and brother-inlaw’s smug and self-satisfied attitudes that David objected to, not that he was covering up another infidelity so close to home, an almost incestuous relationship that still made her skin crawl. Why did she try to stop him after that? Why hadn’t she packed her bags and left right then and there? Why couldn’t she leave?” Lila pulverized the last tablet. She knew the answer: because she couldn’t back out no matter how much she wanted to. David was hers for better or worse until death. The worse just kept getting worse and there was seldom any better, except when she baked his favorite brownies. That was the only time he smiled at her, praised her and kissed her, once again the charming and loving man she fell in love with the very first time they met. Too bad you couldn’t build a marriage or a life on brownies. David wasn’t handsome or tall or wealthy or overtly charming most of the time—unless he was intent on romancing someone new. He looked like a short, pudgy Hitler at the end of a dirty day’s work. But when he smiled at her for the very first time in high school and his short, square mustache bristled between his dimples, Lila couldn’t resist him. David could be witty and vulnerable and open, completely opposite to her family that forged secrets like poisoned darts to shoot when your back was turned and your defenses were down. It had all been an act. David knew all about poison and how to use it to the best effect, but it took Lila until after their first child, Scotty, was 11

SWEET REVENGE born to find out how secretive David could be and how calmly and easily he deceived her even when faced with the truth. They say opposites attract; Lila and David were as opposite as two people could be. Lila was open and giving, where David was guarded, offering his friendship only when it would ultimately benefit him. David and Lila stopped attracting each other after Scotty’s birth and the chores and demands of raising a child became the center of their lives. Lila gave as much time to David as she ever did, but it wasn’t enough, not as long as she focused on Scotty’s needs and wasn’t available for David’s every spontaneous whim and fantasy. With each of the boys the distance between them grew until only angry recriminations and snide, sharp cuts at parties remained. Sarcastic, witty whips that left their friends howling with glee, never knowing the barbs were planted deep and meant to leave bloody wounds and lasting scars. Their love life didn’t change that much, but no matter how much Lila offered it was never enough. David came home later and later, smelling of dirt and sweat and, more often than not, sex, his uniform creased and sooty from the flight line, his eyes vivid with the excitement of newly discovered passion just as when Lila and David met the first time. The glint in his hazel eyes wasn’t for Lila, not any more; it was for someone else or—as she later discovered—several someones. The excitement of each new conquest dimmed over time just as it dimmed for her, but then David would come home late from work and the old twinkle would be back. He’d found someone new, someone who excited his passion and his desire, someone who wasn’t Lila, anyone who wasn’t Lila. Another secret romance, but this last time the romance didn’t stay secret long. David paraded his love affair in front of their friends and Lila without batting an eyelash. No more secrets. “I have a secret now,” Lila said as she took the box of powdered sugar from the cabinet, opened it and poured it into the sifter and then added the pulverized penicillin. The timer went off and Lila took the brownies out of the oven and set the pan on the cooling rack before she went back to sifting the powdered sugar and penicillin together into a bowl, pouring it back into the sifter and sifting the mixture again. Marriage was bitter and sweet like the bitterness of penicillin and the sweetness of sugar, but sometimes the sweet doesn’t completely cover the 12

SWEET REVENGE taste of the bitter. Lila added more powdered sugar and sifted the mixture one more time just as the boys burst through the door. “Mom, Grandpa let us ride the horses all weekend,” Scotty crowed, Dana and Lee crowding close behind. “We got to feed them and curry them and even put the saddle on before we went for our rides,” they breathed, settling into a fit of coughing. “We want a horse,” they chorused, wheezing and coughing. The boys’ faces were flushed, their wheat-colored curls damply wreathing their round faces, three pairs of gem bright eyes glittering with avid excitement and childish greed for life. They just didn’t understand that a wallet full of blank checks and a credit card didn’t mean she had money to spend. They were too poor to afford a bigger apartment or a new car that didn’t break down when they needed it most; they certainly wouldn’t understand how her father could have horses but they couldn’t. They were still so young and full of hope and dreams. “Whew! You stink,” Lila told her flush-faced trio, gathering them in her arms and touching her lips to each sweaty brow to gauge their fevers. They were far too warm and it wasn’t just excitement; she felt that deep in her mother’s heart. “Dad?” she asked as she rose to take the boys’ overnight bag from her father. “I took them to see Dr. Stewart. He said it’s strep and that you have an open prescription you can use.” “Why didn’t you call?” Lila tossed the jackets on the couch and gathered her boys closer, each crowding the others out like blind puppies groping for warmth and nourishment. “You need a little time alone without these brutes nipping at your heels all the time,” he said, laughing and ruffling the boys’ hair. “Everyone needs a break now and then. It’s the least I can do.” Lila smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Dad.” “They’re young. They’ll mend,” he said as he placed a wad of bills on the bookcase. Her mother would have a fit if she knew of her father’s generosity, Lila thought as she palmed the money and tucked it into her pants pocket, reaching up to kiss her father’s white whiskered cheek. It wasn’t much, but it helped, it always did. Her father seemed to know when she was at the ragged end of her fraying rope. 13

SWEET REVENGE “All right now,” she said as she turned toward the boys. “Go get a shower and don’t leave the wet towels all over the floor. And keep the shower curtain inside the tub,” she said as she ushered them to their room. Scotty took the overnight bag and dropped it on the lower bunk where he slept. He was going to be taller than his father, Lila mused, but he still had his father’s look, softened a little around the edges by Lila’s wide, thick fringed charcoal eyelashes and broad shoulders. Each of the boys carried Lila’s stamp: wide blue eyes, thick, dark curling lashes, and a certain evenness of temper, but they were undoubtedly their father’s sons, in spite of her mother-in-law’s protestations that they could belong to any one of a hundred different men. The boys were too excited to smell the fresh baked brownies. The less they knew the better off they’d be. “Something smells good,” her father said, bringing her back to reality and to her plans. “Well, you can’t have any. They’re a surprise.” “Well, someone’s a very lucky man,” Thomas said with a wink as he walked toward the kitchen. “The lucky man isn’t you. Just a gift to an old friend.” Lila took her father’s arm and he hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “Gotta go. You know how your mother hates waiting.” After kissing her father goodbye, Lila stood in the living room listening to Dana and Lee singing in the shower and wondering how they would react at the news of their father’s death. They were still young, their emotions bright and quick as a meteor flash on a summer night, sad one moment and burbling with happiness the next. At least with their father’s death their futures would be secure even if the present was cramped and tight most of the time. Lila wanted them all to go to college, to have the life she threw away with a few awkward and painful moments of passion. Grants would help, but what she really needed was a guaranteed source of funding, like David’s life insurance. At least David put the boys as his sole beneficiary, but David was in no danger of dying any time soon, despite his recent heart attack. Back in the kitchen, Lila sifted fine white bittersweet powder over the cooled pan of brownies. One taste of these brownies and David 14

SWEET REVENGE would be gone and the future would be assured for their boys. Even if David didn’t care, she did and she’d make sure he did right by them. Lila would wrap box of brownies in brown paper. She better wear gloves. She would send them from the town his mother lived in. David was so greedy he wouldn’t question the lack of return address and in the chaos of his death no one would think twice about the brownies. It would be so easy and all her worries over the boys’ future would be over. There was brown paper in the hall closet and a box big enough for the brownies. It would be so easy. Scotty rushed into the kitchen. “Brownies, my favorite,” he said, wrapping his arms around his mother and pulling her down to his height to kiss her cheek. “You really must have missed us.” “I did,” Lila said quietly. She cut the brownies into two-inch squares and scooped them out of the pan, carefully stacking them on a platter. Dana and Lee rushed into the kitchen still wet from their shower, their clothes twisted and clinging to their damp skin, curls dripping water down their necks. “We want some, too.” “No,” Lila said firmly. “These are a gift for someone.” “But we never get anything good,” they whined. Lila raised an eyebrow and looked down at them. “Now boys,” she warned. “Aww, Mom,” Scotty said, hugging her again and looking up into her eyes. “They won’t miss a few.” Lila lifted three brownies from the pyramid on the platter and offered them to the boys. “Mmmm,” they chorused. “Bittersweet heaven sprinkled with fairy dust.” Scotty coughed and took another bite. “Well, at least sit down at the table instead of standing there like savages,” Lila said as she pulled three glasses from the drain board and filled them with milk. While the boys drank their milk, each finishing off another brownie, Lila smiled sadly, covering the platter with plastic and putting it in the cupboard. They were David’s sons all right, but they were also hers. They shared her bouts of strep throat and her bright-eyed belief in the future—and she had another prescription and a few extra dollars in her pocket. She put the empty prescription bottle in her pocket. The penicil15

SWEET REVENGE lin was still being used in a good cause, to make her children healthy and whole. The sweet made the bitter go down easier and somehow she’d find a way to pay for college, no matter what it took, as long as she didn’t have to keep any secrets—except her recipe for bittersweet memory.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR *** Heat with sweet – Erotic romance from exciting new author, Laura Bacchi *** THE HEART OF A HUNTER ISBN 1-59426-520-8 (Electronic) Science-Fiction Short He claimed he was an alien. Asher's mission is simple: locate the Earth woman named Raine Thompson and bring her back to his home planet. Raine's lush body and aptitude for passion make her the perfect mate for his older brother, Imari. But Asher can't resist the sensual woman he's sworn to escort across the galaxy. She claimed his heart. Raine has a mission of her own: to sleep with as many men as possible before she turns 30 and forget her ex in the process. Things look pretty grim until a hot guy from outer space shows up at her favorite bar. Raine just wants a night of uninhibited sex, but when an Earth woman on the rebound and an honor-bound Turmian male travel through the cosmos, anything's possible. Maybe even love.... A July bestseller from Phaze.com Second Place Winner in the Phaze.com Phaze One Writing Challenge "Superior" (5 Stars) - "...Over too soon, this enjoyable read is written with smooth style." - Reviewed by Deb at MayReviews.com Read an excerpt at http://www.laurabacchi.com/book_heart.html CHELLA’S QUEST ISBN 1-59279-390-8 (Electronic) 17

SWEET REVENGE Futuristic Short After Dr. Chella Ter-Berron develops a powerful new drug that will make pain a thing of the past, she'll do anything to find the thief who stole her research – even sleep with the prime suspect. But when the man in question is a hot Cruthian male, her task quickly becomes more about pleasure and less about work. Kain Suvan might be a thief, but Chella's research has since been stolen from him. Kain needs the brilliant scientist he's been lusting after to help him track down the missing file and return it to the High Council for safekeeping. Together, they journey to the edge of the galaxy in a search that yields more questions than answers. And some of those questions can only be answered by the heart. A 2005 Amber Heat Wave Winner 5 Stars - "...Ms. Bacchi is definitely an author I will be looking for in the future." Reviewed by Francesca Hayne at Just Erotic Romance Reviews Read an excerpt at http://www.laurabacchi.com/book_chella.html

For more about Laura, visit www.laurabacchi.blogspot.com or www.laurabacchi.com.

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Bedridden by Laura Bacchi I never really wished for anything bad to happen to Todd. Truly, I hadn’t. But catch your man banging your best friend, and the revenge fantasies come easily. So when I heard he was injured in a huge pile-up on I-95, a smirk stayed on my face all morning. My conscience, however, made an appearance that afternoon. I called his mom. He was in traction with all four limbs broken, she said, but it could have been worse. She even encouraged me to pay him a visit, saying that Amanda, his wife and my former best friend, had been reading to him every day to pass the time. I told his mom I’d drop by and tried not to snicker as I hung up the phone. I grabbed a dog-eared paperback from my bookcase, got dressed, and hopped in the car. The chaos at Richmond Medical Center overwhelmed me. I strained to hear his room number over the ringing phones and crying babies, then caught an elevator to his floor. A quick check at the nurses’ station assured me that he was alone. I barged into his room and dragged a chair over to barricade the door. Arms and legs dangled precariously from wires, as if he’d pissed off some insane puppeteer. “Hi, Toddy.” I grinned. “I’ve come to cheer you up.” Garbled sounds of protest sputtered from a hole in his gauze mask. I pulled the book from a pocket and let my coat fall to the floor. That shut him up. Thank God the leather corset still fit. It had been his favorite. “Your mom said Amanda’s been reading to you.” I leaned forward to give him a generous view of my tits—the ones he swore he’d suck un19

SWEET REVENGE til the day he died. His eyes widened in the tiny openings of his mask. “I thought I’d have a go.” I turned to the story of Princess Domme. Now, an authentic reading of this erotic fairytale required some props to torment poor Toddy. But I wasn’t spending any of my money on that bastard, no matter how much I’d enjoy slipping a dildo up his ass. I climbed onto the bed and lowered myself into a 69 as I read. My thong-covered pussy hovered above his face. When his pale blue gown lifted an inch or two, I pulled it aside to take him in my mouth. I hadn’t planned to let him come. I wanted his balls to ache all night from blow job interruptus, but his cock tasted so right against my tongue. I sucked him like a pro, stopping only for an occasional swirl around the tip. He rewarded me with a gush of salty pre-come. “Wish I could ride it.” The words slipped out in rushed whisper, before I could stop them. He grunted, and I turned to see his reaction. His fingers wiggled toward a box of exam gloves by the sink. I sprang from the tiny bed and snapped one from the box. It was a tight fit, but I managed to get his chubby shaft inside the glove’s middle finger. Back on the bed, I faced him and guided his eager cock into my wetness. His prick pulsed against the walls of my cunt. My right hand went south in search of my clit, and my left grabbed the metal headboard. I rode him and strummed, clenching my pussy around him to choke every spasm from his cock. His limbs swayed with abandon when I exploded above him, and he moaned like a mummy in a horror flick. I climbed down, shrugged on my coat, and placed the book face down on a plastered thigh. Then I yanked the hospital gown up to his neck and tapped his limp, latex-covered prick. Come oozed onto his sac. “Bye, hon,” I chuckled, planting a bright red kiss on his bandaged forehead. “Come see me when you get better.” I pictured his agony as he tried to knock the book off of his leg. Amanda would find it eventually, and then he’d have to explain how a tattered paperback of naughty bedtime stories with my name inside ended up in his room. A few months later, I bumped into a mutual friend of ours who mentioned Todd was back at home, recuperating. I couldn’t resist and rang him that very night. “So how’d you like your story?” “Huh?” 20

SWEET REVENGE I laughed. “Too many Demerols, eh? Want me to refresh your memory?” “Uh, sure. Just make it quick. Amanda’s coming up the drive.” “You in traction. Me in a corset.” He gave no response. “Your cock in my mouth.” “Chelsea, what are you talking about?” I started to reply, but a knock at the door startled me. “Someone’s here–” “Good. Go suck their dick.” Click. I slammed down the phone and stomped to the door. When I cracked it open, I came face-to-face with a stunningly handsome stranger, whose only flaw was a long pink scar across one cheekbone. “Chelsea Brooks?” “Yes?” He smiled, and my toes curled in their fuzzy slippers. “I found your address on the Internet.” He held out my book. My brow wrinkled in confusion. “Where’d you get this?” “You, um, left it in my hospital room a while back.” When I didn’t reply, he added, “Room 619?” I gave him an unhindered view of all my dental work. “There’s been a terrible mistake–” “Please don’t say that.” Sadness darkened his features. “The accident was hell. The only thing that kept me going was your offer to do this again when I got out. I even bought the things in the story.” A large black bag lay at his feet. What was in the story? A dildo, cuffs, spreader bars... Naturally, I invited him in. “Nice place.” I smiled at his compliment. “I’ve got some coffee. And some green tea, I think. What would you like?” He looked down at the book in his hand and grinned. “How about a bedtime story?”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR “Phantom Vindication’ is one of my first romance or erotic stories to be published and I’m delighted that it’s been published by Midnight Showcase. I’m originally from the Texas Hill country, although I am now living on the Delmarva Peninsula. I enjoy writing romance stories in Suspense, Paranormal, Wicca, Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. You can visit my site to see the news of any other stories: www.bridghidparkinson.blogspirit.com

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Phantom Vindication By Bridghid Parkinson “Ma’am…I don’t think you understand, it’s haunted.” the clerk insisted. “I’m telling you, I don’t care!” I said impatiently. The owner of the Bed and Breakfast, Ben Dupree, approached the counter wearing a crisp suit jacket over a light turtleneck sweater, which looked comfortable for spring weather, “We normally don’t rent this room out except to older couples, for some reason they are never bothered. There is a…sexually aggressive ghost or poltergeist…it annoys women…especially single women, who later claim we have a deviant employee and we’ve had to prove that no one could enter the room with video cameras. Surveillance cameras focus on the front of the house, and the hallway on the second floor. Tomorrow night we have a spare room, but…I can go ahead and let you have this room as long as you are aware of this…haunting. We have only one person on staff at night, and the main gates are locked at midnight but you can use your electronic key for access.” “That is fine, I’ll take it.” I wondered if he could read the disbelief on my face. I’d enjoyed different ghost stories around the campfire in Girl Scouts. Now that I’m grown, what I have seen and what I believed about ghosts would fit on the head of a pin. I don’t care if someone tells me a house is haunted. The owner scrawled a note across the bottom of the boarding slip, Explained previous haunting episodes, Room 13,and video surveillance WAIVED. I nearly laughed, but I knew the documentation covered him if I tried to sue. More amusing was the fact that I just rented room number 13. “Thanks to the science fiction convention in town, this is the only room I can get around here and if I don’t lie down soon, I am going to be asleep on my feet. If a ghost thinks it would be fun to haunt me, he has another thing coming. Not much can compare to my ex-husband. I’m exhausted enough to laugh, fart, roll over and go back to sleep.” The man finally laughed. 23

SWEET REVENGE I signed the papers, registered for the room in my maiden name of Rose Harland with my mother’s home address, and followed him upstairs with my bag. The manager explained that this bed and breakfast consisted of two historic houses that had been modified into one big house with the owner and his wife living in a third house. He unlocked the door to the room, handed me the electronic key, and passed me a booklet regarding the houses, shopping and attractions. The room was adorable, with flowers and ruffles in the same way you would expect of an older Victorian house. The owners decorated the room with a blue theme; a fancy rug covered glistening hard wood floors, an upholstered chair, to the covers on the bed. I felt so tired that I would have taken four bare walls and a mattress on the floor. “Would you like a sandwich? I don’t know if you have had time to eat yet.” My stomach turned. The value-menu burger and fries I just ate sat in my stomach like a lead brick. “No, I’m fine, thank you. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” “Do you wish for us to hold phone calls?” “Yes…just take a message. I don’t want to be disturbed. My mother has my cell phone number. I’ll catch up with my friends tomorrow.” “Breakfast is served from 8 to 10 a.m., and your key will work in the gate if you need to leave during the night.” “Thank you, Mr. Dupree.” Please, leave me alone, now. I gave him five dollars because I didn’t want to appear rude. My little clothing bag on my shoulder felt like the heaviest bag I’d ever carried. I just dumped it on the bed. The rest of my things were locked in the trunk, but these were the items I couldn’t do without: good clothes; toiletries; jewelry and my purse. I stripped off my clothes once he left and crawled into the free side of the king sized bed. It amazed me how drastically my life changed in just a few hours and I tried to quiet my mind and settle into sleep. **** Robby came home drunk last night and I told him I wasn’t taking anymore of his crap. This time he was so drunk, he couldn’t get an erection, but he made a hip thrusting motion as if he was trying to screw me senseless, which he had never been successful doing, except for the first 24

SWEET REVENGE few weeks we dated. I don’t even think he knew he was still dressed. Yeah. Good one, knucklehead, that’s my knee. The fumes of the bourbon started to overcome my senses. He finally passed out and I decided to pack up and get out. I’d been very patient and his drinking and bad attitude only got worse. I wasn’t willing to see if he might hit me or make good on any of his threats to kill me if I ever left him. I’d done worse than three hours of sleep in a night and I also knew I could sleep at Mom’s house. It was 6 a.m. when I got out the door and Robby never stirred. It would take me six hours to get from Atlantic City, New Jersey to her house in Pennsylvania. I had time to think while I drove. At times, I couldn’t stop crying, but other times I laughed. I’m free! I’d made the threat too often before and I needed to finally do it. Robby wasn’t going to change. He didn’t hit me—yet—but his attitude was belligerent and he made it clear that he considered me his property and that my time and resources were to serve his purposes. My marriage didn’t even last a year and I looked at him with revulsion. It was time to get out and make it final. Once I knew Mom was awake, I called her and told her I was on my way. I also called my boss a few hours later. He tried to get me to take a leave of absence for a family emergency, but I knew I wouldn’t return to Atlantic City because Robby threatened me in the past. He was sorry to see me go, but he understood the dire situation. He mentioned I accrued over three weeks vacation time and he would authorize it for me, too. He told me if I ever wanted my old job back, he’d hire me immediately then went on to explain the company policy regarding this. The best part of the conversation regarded my last check, it would be over five weeks pay. I went to my mother’s house first, but she already worked herself into a panic by the time I arrived. Robby woke up around ten in the morning and, when he discovered I left, he called her with ugly threats. She didn’t want to tell me about it while I was driving. “He says he’s coming here and, if he can’t have you, he’s got his gun and no one will have you!” My mother went with me to the police. We were able to file a complaint for the threats and the sergeant alerted the squad to Robby’s de25

SWEET REVENGE scription and the make his car. He also cautioned Mom about locking all doors and immediately calling the police if there was any suspicious activity. The officer told me, “I would highly recommend that you go someplace he would not expect you to be, get lost in the big city for a while if you can.” Mom patted my hand, “I’ve got something for you that may help.” I nodded. I’m glad she has a plan…I had less than a thousand dollars in my savings account, thanks to that lush, and only because I’d stuck tips in the account from the days I worked the slots floor at the casino. He didn’t even know about the account, a fact I’d deliberately planned—I knew this was coming. My last paychecks were going to be deposited—as usual—into a joint bank account and other than my 401K, I was broke. My mother did have a plan. She’d set aside college fund money for me, but I didn’t go to a traditional college. I went to trade school for computer hardware, which I paid for myself, from my earnings from working as a waitress in Atlantic City. I started working in casinos and married Robby when I turned twenty-five. Mom planned to give me the money when I wanted to buy a house. She admitted she didn’t like Robby and she didn’t want to give me the money when she knew he would toss it to the wind. She took me to the bank, we withdrew two thousand dollars in a traveler’s check bankcard that worked just like a regular credit card, and I could withdraw cash from an ATM. Over lunch, my mother told me, “Go to Baltimore. I’ll make it sound like you went to New York if Robby corners me and the information will send him in the other direction. Get lost in the city, go see Washington D.C. and check out the Smithsonian—whatever your heart desires. I can transfer more money if you need it. We will figure out something for the rest of this…” Unfortunately, when I arrived in Baltimore four major hotels in the same area were booked for a science fiction convention. I stopped for dinner at a fast food stop, but I was almost sick from the stress and I just wanted to get on the highway and find another hotel so I could sleep. My mother kept calling me to inform me that Robby hadn’t called or showed up, yet. When I drove away from the burger joint, I saw the directional sign for the Dupree Bed and Breakfast. I figured this was a sign 26

SWEET REVENGE from God so I pulled in to see if they had an open room. **** My thoughts finally gave up and my body rested. I came in, stripped myself naked, and didn’t even touch a zipper on my bag. The soft mattress was all I needed, I didn’t even care that I was naked—in fact, I enjoyed it. I slept hard for the first several hours but stirred awake from a cramp in my back. I made it to the bathroom, used the facilities, and stretched out the knotted muscle. When I came back to the bed, I saw a bundle of towels by my luggage that I hadn’t notice when I came in to the room. I didn’t remember the maid entering the room. Maybe it was here when I came in… It’d been a while since I afforded myself the luxury of sleeping naked. If I was naked, Robby thought it was an invitation to sex. I started buying little pajama sets that buttoned up all the way to my neck just so he wouldn’t annoy me in the middle of the night. I do have to admit I love the freedom of a soft sheet against my bare skin and not strangling in the middle of the night by a shirt that won’t stay in place. I drifted off to a normal sleep this time and started dreaming about the beach again. I enjoyed the resort areas on the Jersey Shore. The lifestyle was a bit more expensive than in small town Pennsylvania but I enjoyed going jogging in the morning on the beach while the waves blocked out noise of traffic. In my dream, I saw a handsome man who dared to jog with me. Unlike the Jersey Shore, this beach was quiet. He didn’t interrupt my run and soon we were walking along some of the shops in town. Suddenly, instead of jogging clothes, we are both wearing formal attire on the patio of a hotel room overlooking the beach. It was only a dream, although a vivid one, so I figured I should relax and enjoy it. The man was very good looking with light colored hair that curled softly, but I couldn’t tell if it was natural or bleached. His blue eyes were mesmerizing. “I’m sorry,” I said to him. “I don’t know your name.” “Jay,” but he said nothing else. He bent forward and kissed me in a way that would have melted my socks had it been real. In the dream state, it felt just as good. I didn’t really need to know any more. In real life, I would have 27

SWEET REVENGE known something more about him before accepting a fancy date but this wasn’t real life. I was engulfed in arms that rivaled most weightlifters. My mouth tingled in the kiss and my body was on fire. I didn’t want to know anymore. Like most dreams, I was naked in a flash, but I saw a huge bed with silk sheets and candles all around the room. The last time I dreamed about being naked, I dreamt I was at work. I considered this an improvement. He picked me up and carried me over to the bed. I have to admit, Jay was stacked in almost comic book proportions. Had it not looked so tantalizing in my aroused state, I would have thought the enormous penis, with testicles the size of oranges, comical. His mouth moved over my breasts and made me shiver before he dove down to my legs. His mouth was hot and he knew all of the tender folds of skin to lick over until I shuddered. He got down to business against my clit and it sent tingles through me. I have never been licked so thoroughly and it felt like he was driving his tongue as deep as his penis until I realized he must have been using his finger. I didn’t care what he was using because he was using it in all the right places. I dug my heels into the bed and pushed my hips up to meet his mouth. I was on fire and all I could think about was grinding the tender skin against his tongue. His fingers wiggled inside and I started to loose control. There is a difference between being horny and being greedy for orgasm, and I crossed the line to greedy months ago, but my attempts at masturbating were never enough. I wanted tight arms and hips that pumped slowly, but Robby’s drunken spasms left me frustrated. Right now, Jay was being slow and deliberate with his tongue and all I could do was pump my hips to try relieving that need. Jay’s fingers matched the gyrating of my hips. My mind lost focus of everything except the exquisite feel of my butt coming off the bed and my heart starting to thump in my chest. The wiggling fingers balanced the urges to grind myself over his face because I didn’t want to mess up what he was doing. My clit started tingling and I was giving in to the rhythms and panting for air while my heart thumped in my chest. The pressure against my inner walls was faster. I knew I’d make a mess, but I didn’t care. The tingling became a warm sensation that began to fill my insides. “Come on, baby…do it! Let it go.” 28

SWEET REVENGE Yes. My body exploded. My legs, hips and back became stiff and I couldn’t move. I had handfuls of the sheets that I could have ripped to pieces. Jay slowed, but he didn’t stop. My legs were starting to shake, but I finally relaxed when the wiggles of his fingers became a slow circle before stopping. I had not been pleasured like that in over two years. My sweet dream lover faded into darkness. My body felt his comforts as if I drifted to sleep in his arms. Calm. Warm. Satisfied. **** Later, my eyes fluttered open. I couldn’t tell why I woke up, but I stirred enough to realize a trip to the bathroom was in order. I still held a very pleasant feeling that remained from the dream and thought how nice it would be to be able to spend a couple days in bed with a lover, humping ourselves into exhaustion. Scented massage oils, room service, no clothes and a need to pound out one sticky orgasm after another. When I came back to the bed, I realized there was a wet spot on the dark bottom sheet from my earlier orgasm. At least I knew I wasn’t crazy and could enjoy the smile on my face. I pulled up the covers and walked around to the other side of the bed, putting my bag on the floor beside the bed. I crawled under the cotton sheets and the blankets. I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a bed this much in a long time. I determined when I settled down from all this, wherever that might be, I would have to find a good bed and spend some money on luxurious blankets and soft, patterned sheets. It feels wonderful. This neighborhood, in spite of the fact this was a large city, sounded quiet. We weren’t on the highway. When I came here, I wouldn’t have cared if it were a truck stop. I heard an occasional siren, but it wasn’t as loud as I’d already put up with in Jersey. Having a small bed and breakfast with an available room was serendipity. I looked at the clock: 12:17 a.m. I looked forward to sleeping in, restful for once, without the worries. It wasn’t just sleep; it was security for me. It didn’t take much to drift off once I lay on my tummy because the worst stress in my life faded to a memory. I could enjoy a couple of days because I felt safe. I closed my eyes and just let myself drift into darkness. I soon noticed the flicker of the candles again. I opened my eyes and I still lay on my tummy, but on top of Jay, with my head on his chest. I 29

SWEET REVENGE could feel Jay’s arms around me with his hands running down my back to squeeze my butt and come back up. This dream was as vivid as it was before. I looked around, saw the same satin sheets rumpled beneath us and felt the enormous penis pressed against my belly. Mmmm hard as a rock… it’s just a dream…no pregnancy no worries…all fun…go for it. I looked up and saw the same eyes and welcoming smile, just like the comfort of an old friend, maybe better. The difference in the dream state was our bodies felt almost weightless. I was aroused, but I wasn’t greedy like before, I wanted to straddle his hips, bury him inside and pump for hours until we screamed. “Hello, Angel.” “Hi.” I pushed myself upwards using my hands on his chest. He shifted upward against the pillows and we both just giggled. I trapped his penis with my legs. It wouldn’t take much to drive the monster inside, but I didn’t want to be impolite. “I’m happy to see you, too.” I leaned forward to kiss him and his lips were just as tender as before, but hungry, as his tongue brushed against my teeth. His hands cupped my breasts, using his thumbs against the nipples and it sent warmth through my entire breast. He wouldn’t need to do that for long before I got into a delirious state. I rocked my hips forward and rubbed against his straining penis, bringing delightful tingles as my clit made contact. I rocked back and pushed the head in, but rather than splitting me in half, his penis stretched me comfortably. It felt wonderful as I pushed it deeper and he made contact with my cervix, sending shivers through my body. I needed to return the pleasure to Jay and pleasure myself in the process. I never thought about anything but driving both of us to orgasms that would leave us panting and sweaty. It seemed like we were floating on clouds as I rocked on top of him. I was close to peaking, we turned effortlessly and he was driving into me. I enjoyed my muscle contractions against him, but I wasn’t ready to orgasm. “Ah…sweet, tiny hugs.” Jay kept control and watched me. I was determined. He wrapped his arms around me, but my movement was uninhibited. I pulled him close and enjoyed the sensations of rubbing my breasts over his chest. I looked for any signs that he was giving in, but he only thrust faster and pushed deep inside. We were both 30

SWEET REVENGE panting for air. I hoped I could hold out long enough to see him lose control, but my body tightened and I was afraid of going over the edge. “Let it come…let it tighten.” Jay used his hands on my hips, I felt my stomach muscles responding, and it wouldn’t be long before I lost control. “Yes…sweet pulses, the lily pulls my passions. I’ll mix your honey with cream.” “Yes, fill me.” My heart began pounding and I was intrigued with the way he used poetic references. Jay gave me the impression he was holding back. He wanted my orgasm and I was close but I wanted his, too. My body started to get tighter and I knew I would soon give him his wish. When he groaned, I couldn’t hold back any longer and started trembling. The spasms sent me over the edge, but he started to tremble and show signs he would orgasm, too, as he pushed faster. A final thrust pushed deep inside and he erupted with a groan. Jay held me close, still entwined together, until we both calmed. I was delighted to feel his arms around me and still feel him inside. I have often thought this was the way sex should be. I didn’t think about anything, and I was calm. I lay on the bed with Jay snuggled next to me and thought about the blissful sleep to come and the hope that I might even see him again before dawn. I’m not sure what triggered my realization, but I looked up at him and asked, “You are the spirit they tried to tell me about, aren’t you?” “James Morrison Larimore, at your service,” he answered. “What year were you born?” “1823.” “How did you die?” “I don’t know.” he looked like he laughed. “My last cognizant memory of human life was in 1854, I felt ill after I returned from a trip to Boston. There are memories I don’t understand and then I haven’t been able to leave this house since. I didn’t even realize I might be dead until 1870. I stay here because this was my master bedroom. I know that most people don’t stay in this room, so it’s quiet.” “What did you enjoy doing in life?” “I was a lawyer, but I liked reading and I enjoyed the company of my lady friends. I was greatly fond of Aristotle’s Masterpiece and I fancied myself knowledgeable, finding a couple women that were agreeable 31

SWEET REVENGE to practice and permitted me to explore their pleasures. When I got married, God played a cruel joke on me. I fancied a woman that would not share my bed until after the wedding ceremony, but even after that, she was still reserved and proper. She did not like me to see her without clothing. I remember the frustration, trying to make her understand that love was not for an outhouse, but it’s one of my last memories.” “I agree with you.” “Several young women have taken offense at any advances I’ve made. I regret it, but what’s a man to think with a beautiful unmarried woman in his bedroom? I would try to talk with them first. Some enjoy as long as they are certain it’s a dream. You are the first to talk with me.” “I won’t be talking long, I need to sleep.” I looked around the room again, it was the same way I saw it when I checked-in. The candles were gone, the satin sheets were gone, but Jay wrapped his arm around me and it seemed nothing like a dream. “I’m running from my former husband and I enjoyed the diversion, but I need to prepare for the worst. He could find me.” “You can come again.” “Oh, yeah.” My thoughts were getting foggy. “Sleep.” I couldn’t argue. My mind was halfway to mush already. As soon as he said it, if felt like a command that my body must follow. A peaceful darkness closed around me. When I awoke again, it was 4 a.m. If I were going to sleep much more it would be indulgent. I felt strong arms around me. Jay was spooned behind me and I was comfortable. I just closed my eyes and drifted off again. I dreamt about this house. I hadn’t seen much of the main house, only the outside and the lobby. There were different muted colors of paint over the woodwork, but I hadn’t even paid much attention to the lobby when I came through the door. This time, the dream looked as if it were daylight. Jay stood in front of me in a tailored suit reminding me of the 1800s but I couldn’t tell the types of details I saw. He was quite handsome, seemed to be in his mid 20s, with his hair trimmed and just brushing the top of his shoulders. He simply bowed low and extended his arm to me, “I thought we could walk in the garden this morning…” “But…” 32

SWEET REVENGE “I can show you almost anything.” “Lead the way, sir.” The house was very different from what I remembered. It helped to think of this as a different house than the one I had seen last night, and for all practical purposes, it was. Now, the woodwork glowed pristine and new. I saw detailed carvings, with fresh flowers in the halls and tapestries on the wall, but I couldn’t see the colors unless I focused on a detail. As we came to the stairs, it appeared the same as I remembered, but it was new and the wood felt strong. As I looked down, I realized I wore a long skirt and costume to match the period clothes Jay wore. The lace was black over a dark red fabric. I used one hand to gather the skirts up and found I was wearing a high boot with tiny pearl buttons. Jay smiled and waited patiently. “It is a different time from what you are accustomed to, I think there have been many improvements, but some of the traditions are lost.” We walked down the stairs, and what I saw as a lobby last night, was an elaborate parlor with a fancy piano, fireplace and stuffed furnishings. We continued out the front door. Many of the features of the house never changed, but were modernized. I can’t say I was—before now— fond of Victorian structures, but I filled with delight to see this house when it was new. Jay led me outside to an ornate garden settee with a table and tea service. Before us were plates of biscuits and fruit covered with a gauzy fabric. In the dream, at least, we started to eat. “Tell me about your former husband.” “Not much to tell, he spends most of his nights in bars. He comes home rowdy and mean, acts like he owns me…” “Even I know that slavery is unlawful.” “I guess you have time to keep up with your law journals.” “Yes, before the house became a hotel, it was a law office. I was delighted to absorb the material available and, now that some information is on the internet, I can get inside a computer and find news of the latest rulings.” I had to laugh. I never thought of a spirit being able to use a computer. I usually thought of ghosts as anguished spirits. 33

SWEET REVENGE Jay just smiled, “I don’t use it as you do, a person might never know that I have been at their machine. I do enjoy law practice and see the huge changes over the last century. But, I cannot get my knowledge out to a practicing lawyer. I have seen cases where I know the prosecution could have benefited from some older laws that are still on the books, but I can’t get the information to them. I cannot interact with any person that does not have some personal object of mine with them, or they must be in the house.” “What about me?” Jay stopped and stared. “You would do that?” “There are ways to do almost anything. If you just need a human to interact with the outside world, I can do that. I need to find a good job to support myself because I’m going to be living off my savings. I’m sure there is a small house in the area I could rent.” “I will arrange something. I have a couple chests that were sealed into the basement. I can bring out an item that you could carry with you. When you awaken next, look…there is a loose board under the window, near the door to the patio, you will know it is from me.” I didn’t have the chance to respond, the garden faded into the darkness and I thought it best to just doze until six or seven in the morning, and allow myself the luxury of sleeping in. When I awoke at six-thirty, I considered getting up, but when I rolled over, it felt as if someone held me down with a hand over my belly button. It was an odd sensation and I didn’t see anyone. Trust me. I heard it, but it came from inside my head. It was Jay, I knew it, but I was wide-awake. I looked around the room just to be sure, but there was no one else around. I lay back against the pillows and looked up to the ceiling. All settled? “Yes.” I can do something special for you when you are awake, with your permission. “Go for it.” The first sensation started with my breasts, like a finger or tongue flicking around each nipple and causing it to get hard. I flung back the covers, but I didn’t see anything, just my nipple standing out, as big as 34

SWEET REVENGE the end of my little finger. The sensations increased and it felt as if his mouth sucked both nipples at the same time, massaging gently over my entire breast. I closed my eyes and focused on the feeling. It was wonderful. There are many pleasurable means. Do you have any objections? “Pain.” I understand. He started with a massage over my labia and the tender folds, but there was a sensation like a slow vibrator. It was nothing like my attempts to relieve frustration at home. This was a warm sensation of a massage, but I started to feel it inside, too, like a finger slowly penetrating, probing deeper and even becoming larger. I could tell my body wasn’t moving. This was all happening inside of me. It was lovely, odd, and sensual. I felt he was still immaterial, but inside my body. The nerves can be stimulated. The sensation focused on my nipples, my clit and then my cervix, but it spread even further into my backside. Trust me. He sensed my initial reservation. My heart rate began to rise, but it felt like I might lose control of a few body functions. I tried to protest, but I couldn’t get the words out. Good. You need it and many more. “Oh, yeah.” I felt the contractions start and I gave in to it. My hips were pumping by themselves and the orgasm built just like before, when I rocked with him. Yes, let it grow, let it explode. My body felt stuffed. I started to tingle. The contractions came quicker until my body exploded again. Yes, I need it. I started to feel normal as I calmed down. I lay on the bed and it felt like Jay stroked my head as my breathing returned to a normal rate. Go. Get a drink of water, come back, recline and relax. I have something I need to take care of, but I will be back soon. Oh, and check under the board, it’s for you. Just like that, he disappeared and I felt alone. It was odd not feeling him because his presence had been so comforting. I was curious about what he hid in the board. When I got up, I dared to turn on the bathroom light. The face look35

SWEET REVENGE ing back at me in the mirror wore a pleasant smile. Hi, nice to see you again. I honestly didn’t think I would smile so soon, but leaving Robby had been easier than I imagined. He’d already promised to make my life hell if I tried to leave so I felt sure I could be in for problems, but this was a welcome break. I walked from the bathroom and to the wall under the window. I turned on the lamp and checked the spot Jay described. I found the loose board. There were no nails holding it in place, but it was a short piece wedged under the molding. I got a fingernail into the crack and it wiggled, but I couldn’t lift it. Allow me. The end of the board raised up just enough that I could get a finger under the edge and lift it out. Underneath I saw a small space and a couple pieces of scrap wood. It was very dusty and difficult to see because of the shadows. A small, carved box raised into the air. It was dusty and covered with cobwebs. I reached for the box and the board shifted back into place by itself. When I was alive, this was to be my gift to my wife when our first child came. That never happened, but I don’t wonder why. I have known more pleasures with you than I could imagine. I opened the box and found a stunning ring. I couldn’t speak. It was gold and in the center sat a sapphire surrounded with diamonds. It looked much older than rings I’d seen before. The gold crown trims on the sides were hand hammered and the diamonds weren’t of even sizes. I didn’t think women wore stones like this in the 1840’s. Originally, it was called a ‘comet brooch,’ Haley’s comet was visible in 1835. I had it made into a ring. “I can’t accept something like this!” It’s been sitting for 150 years, please, there has never been a woman gracing my life that could outshine its beauty until you came. “This ring will help you communicate with me, even if I am not here?” Yes. I took the ring from the box and put it on my right hand. It was beautiful, even with a bit of dust. 36

SWEET REVENGE We also have a problem. “What’s wrong?” Your ex-husband is outside the gate. The gates will open at seven. “He couldn’t have found me! My mother doesn’t even know I am here.” He’s tall, with a beard, glasses…and his blood comes from a bourbon bottle? I nodded. I stared at the floor in shock. “How could he have found me?” Something about a tracking system in your car. “Son of a bitch! The GPS! I didn’t even think about it. The locator service probably gave him directions right to the hotel. I didn’t notify them not to tell him.” Terror filled me as I remembered my mother’s caution that he had his gun. I have an idea…I can protect you. He won’t come in here with a gun showing or the clerk will call the police. Let him come in. We can give him a show that he will never forget, and just as he is writhing in anger, I can get him. He’d wish he never set foot in this state. I didn’t understand what he suggested. Get the sheet from the bed. I pulled the coverlet from the bed and pulled the top sheet. The top sheet was a floral but the bottom sheet was a dark navy blue. Flick it into the air, as if you’ll lay it back on the bed. I tossed it outward and held onto the hem. As it floated down it settled onto Jay and it looked like a tall kid running around in a sheet at Halloween. I snickered to think about a ghost wearing a flowered sheet. You have a sense of humor too, that’s cute. I gave in to the laughter. I couldn’t help it. My body started pulsating and with all of the stressful things that had happened to me recently, I was happy to enjoy laughter. I prefer this view. He pulled the sheet around his waist and showed off his erection. I laughed so hard that my eyes were beginning to water. It occurred to me what Jay might have planned. If Robby walked in to a scene of Jay and me on the bed, he wouldn’t be able to see who lay under the sheet, but he would be able to tell someone was there. It was an incredible plan and it would make Robby nuts. I nodded as I wiped my eyes. 37

SWEET REVENGE You catch on fast. Is there anything Robby liked, sexually, that you didn’t enjoy? “Yeah. Talking dirty to him, but I can’t stand it.” I don’t think it’s necessary, either. I prefer the poetic. Could you do it? “Oh, yeah.” Good. He will hear me the same way you do, but no one else will hear it. I am going up the ante on this, with your permission. “Of course.” I want to love you wildly. If you say anything, I want it to be sincere. Grunt, moan, and tell me any detail. I can control him. Once he comes in the door, I will make sure he won’t be able to move or speak. He will have no choice but to watch the entire gory scene. “Good.” I was still a bit excited from our last encounter and I wasn’t sure how much of the dream encounters were real. “You had something else in mind for him, too?” I can scare him. Once you are moaning and quivering, and thoroughly satiated, I’ll disappear from under the sheet. It will just fall over you. You remember what I did to pleasure you earlier? I can do similar things to him, but cause him great pain and embarrassment. I’ll tell you when it’s time to call the authorities. I wasn’t sure what he had planned in exact detail, but I liked the idea. Several pains from Robby were still fresh enough that I didn’t mind lashing out at him, just once. They are opening the gates. He’ll be here soon. Are you sure about doing this? “Yes, definitely.” Except for the sheet, I still couldn’t see Jay, but I didn’t need to see what I could feel. His arms felt real around me, as did his erection pressed against my belly. Because I could see where he was with the sheet, I could hug him. I realized I left the lamp on, but we needed it so all the wild details could be seen. My bag and the coverlet were still on the floor, but it looked cast off during a wild and passionate night with the towels and my clothes. I lay back on the bed and the sheet moved over me. I draped it so that it covered the top of his head and it would look like two real humans were having a very passionate romp in bed. I will admit to being scared, but I already knew what Robby was ca38

SWEET REVENGE pable of doing, and the possibility he carried a gun. Quiet now, I’ll disable the gun when he comes in. I am sure it has a safety. Now I felt better. I closed my eyes and imagined what I knew of Jay as he leaned over me. I knew if I opened my eyes, it might be alarming to see only the sheet, but I could feel Jay as he knelt between my legs. The tingling sensations started again in my breasts. I was glad to have the prospect of a fourth orgasm during a single night. The gates are open, but he’s not coming on the property, yet. He’s cautious and doesn’t want it to look out of place. He’s drunk and it seems he has a taste for opiates. He spent most of the night in the car, and ate junk food from the place down the road. That sounded like Robby. He’d probably choke on a healthy meal. He drank bourbon the way most people drink sodas. I felt the tingling grow to my insides again and I enjoyed the sensations. Jay was adept at distracting me and I was getting a throbbing sensation near my cervix. It reminded me of a penis pulsating during ejaculation. My mind flashed to the memory of my dream last night where I gave in with wanton abandon until he erupted. Oh yes, Angel. The hair parted at my labia and I felt the rubbing across my clit. It was a real sensation, of a penis pushing forward. I raised my legs, bringing my feet into the air near his hips and he pushed forward until he filled me. The dream had been good but right now, I felt stuffed. It has been so long… “Yes, it’s so good.” I tightened my legs around him and the head pushed against my cervix. Jay began making short, slow strokes deep into my body. It felt real to me because he ground his pubic bone down at the end of each thrust, sending shivers through my body when he rubbed my clit. He quickened the pace and my pelvis felt warm as I matched his rhythm. I still kept my eyes closed, but there was nothing that would tell me it wasn’t real and a large penis was plunging against tightening muscles. I fear I could surrender to this, already. “Good…you are not a mere mortal…you can keep going…” Yes. Jay’s thrusting inside of me became fast and greedy. “Give it to me, fill me. Keep going. Make me scream!” I knew his 39

SWEET REVENGE desperation. Yes, for your beauty I shall give it. For you. He pressed against my cervix until I tingled but he thrust forward and I felt the surging again. Oh, my Angel Rose, you bring me to the Gates of Heaven. Ahh… “Don’t stop. Keep it going!” Jay kept moving with a slow thrust. He wasn’t as desperate as I and he focused on me. It was slow, tantalizing and easy. My insides felt warm and I was eager for more. He’s here. Jay said and I heard a clicking noise of the door. I kept my eyes closed. “Good baby, don’t stop! Come in me again!” This was also something that I wouldn’t let Robby do. I couldn’t take birth control pills so he needed to wear a condom and if I had an idea he was close to orgasm, I made him pull out. Yes, you’re so tight. You are squeezing it out of me. Jay started thrusting harder and my feet bounced with him under the sheet. “I’m going to come again, soon. Get ready for me. Drive your big dick deep!” I think the exhibitionism of the incident made me hot, plus the fact that Jay was gorgeous, hung, educated and considerate. I’m sure this was a sight that would rival most adult movies. My pulse picked up speed, but I couldn’t believe such things were coming out of my mouth. I was sure I could have made a porn star blush as I moaned things like, “yeah, fuck me!” but Jay did as I asked and the head of his penis thrust upward to meet my cervix. I’m sure it was a wild show, and when my body tightened, I knew it was working for me and I would come soon. Good. Come for me, make it squeeze and I will give you every drop… “Oh, God! Easy, I’m going to spurt all over you!” This was something Robby investigated when we first started dating and he felt certain it was a myth, but I became certain it was a lack of skill. Good. Good. I want it. Jay rammed harder. “Oh, God, yes, fuck me hard!” my orgasm was starting in my belly, but spread outward. I thought for a minute that I was going to give Jay a spurt of my own, but my muscles clamped down on him furiously and I just started groaning with every thrust. That’s it get ready. I’m going to pump a load and fill you. Oh yes, come for me baby, squeeze it hard, you want that load! “Yes, spurt it hard, come in me!” and I meant every word. 40

SWEET REVENGE Ahh…Yes! Jay thrust forward and I felt the surges again. I finally started to settle because Jay stopped the hardest thrusting. It wasn’t the cuddling I expected with Jay but, as he mentioned, the sheet over us just suddenly fell over my waist. “Bitch!” Robby growled. I gathered the sheet around me and scooted to the headboard, sitting up, but a small glimmer of light began to move around him. He couldn’t say anything else and they started to fight. That little flash was Jay. He whirled the coverlet over Robby and, as I watched, Robby began to struggle to free himself. I have a few tricks for him to enjoy, go ahead and call the police. I reached for the hotel phone and dialed zero for the front desk. “I need the police! My ex-husband has broken into my room! He has a gun! Yes, I need the cops now! Room 13!” I turned back just in time to see Robby wet himself. The spot in his jeans grew. Oops, can’t waste any of this. I might get my chair replaced after all. I hate that chair and that damned rug! I heard the sirens on the street, “They’re coming!” Slowly Robby turned, reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew the handgun. Trust me. The gun leveled and fired into the wall over my head. Robby never stopped trying to take control of his body. The look of hate never left his face, either. Had I seen one ounce of remorse, I would have stopped Jay, but I doubt it ever crossed Robby’s mind. I didn’t doubt that he could have killed me. Jay held the gun lazily aimed at the bed when three police officers broke into the room. When I heard the sound of the door being kicked in, I screamed and huddled into a little ball against the pillows at the top of the bed. “Freeze! Drop the gun!” He didn’t need to break in the door! That door was unlocked! God, I hate cops! I was still cowered by the headboard, but I kept the sheet up to my face to hide my smiling face. Robby didn’t move at first, the look of fury was still on his face, but he finally opened his hand and let the gun fall to 41

SWEET REVENGE the floor. The officers took quick action in getting the gun and attempting to restrain Robby. “Geez! Any bets he blows a two?” The poor officer looked like his eyes were watering. Rubber gloves started coming out and were being passed around. “No bet on that one. I can’t figure out how he’s still standing.” The other officers began checking Robby for other weapons, “Call the truck. I’m not putting him in my car!” and the other officers agreed. “Wallet. Jersey Driver’s license, bag that.” “Whoa! Hold up! What do we have here?” One of the officers pulled something from the inside of Robby’s leather jacket. He held a large plastic bag aloft with little white bags inside, “You know what they call this? Possession with intent to distribute! We also have you for attempted murder, drunk and disorderly, terrorist threats, attempted rape and you may get federal time for stalking because you chased her from New Jersey. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…” The third officer came up to me to ask, “Ma’am, are you OK?” I nodded. “I need clothes.” “Ok, let’s get your bag, we can get you dressed and we can take your statement out on the patio.” I kept the sheet around me, but dashed into the bathroom with my clothes bag, handed to me by the officer. I dressed in jeans and a light sweater, brushed my hair out and tried to make myself look neat. I sprayed myself heavily with perfume and started to take the bottle out to the room to cover the bourbon odor. Jay gave up controlling Robby, and I heard him starting to swear and scuffle. He screamed about me having a wild affair and that he caught me on the bed with a blonde-haired person. I heard something like a dull pop as I reached for the bathroom door. The officers started screaming, “Get down!” It seemed they were forcing him to the floor. I wondered how much Robby could or could not see. He knew Jay was blond. “That’s resisting arrest and assaulting an officer!” I stepped out of the bathroom after I heard the handcuffs and followed an officer onto a small patio. 42

SWEET REVENGE “What happened?” the officer asked. I explained the full story of how I left Robby yesterday, he threatened my mother and me, and a statement about that was on file in Pennsylvania, “and I think he might have followed me using the GPS locator service in my car.” “You didn’t notify the service not to give him directions.” “No, I didn’t even think about it. I was alone last night, there wasn’t a single living soul with me. There was no one else here. I just needed sleep. I think the proprietor has video tapes that could prove that.” I took comfort that it was the absolute truth. The officer wrote his notes as fast as I could speak. “I woke up to see Robby, I don’t know how long he was there. Then, he went wild, he was angry about some hallucination of me having a wild affair. It was weird, he started getting sick but it looked like it was on purpose because he got it on the chair and the rug. I don’t think he hit my bag. He just went nuts. He started waiving the gun at me, but it fired into the wall.” “Well, that bullet went through the wall. They may make it two counts of attempted murder, or a reckless endangerment for the people in the other room. They’re fine, he was in the bathroom when the shot was fired. The owner is talking with them now.” We don’t want him getting off by claiming temporary insanity. “How long has he been strung out on coke?” “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. That was a little gift from me. Unfortunately, he used heavily before. It came in from a guest, I hid it and I‘m glad we could put it to good use. “He’s wired so we have to get him detoxed before we can charge him—48 to 72 hours—are you going to be in town for a few days?” I nodded. “We also need to take your suitcase for testing.” I protested this action. “That’s my clothes! It’s all I have here! He didn’t touch them for some reason.” “I can let you remove a couple personal items but that is part of the crime scene, but we need to look for evidence.” Don’t worry, we can replace your clothes and toiletries. Let them take it. I nodded. I was thankful that my most important of my personal be43

SWEET REVENGE longings were still in the trunk of my car. I had been too tired to carry it in last night. The owner of the B&B, Mr. Dupree, found me outside. “Are you alright, dear?” I nodded. “It’s been a wild morning.” “This was at the front desk for you, I thought it might be important.” He handed me a big manila envelope. I opened the clasp on the back, I could tell from the feel it was just papers. I double-checked the front, just to be sure, and ‘Rose H.’ was written in a flourished script that definitely was not Robby’s handwriting. “Don’t worry, we know this isn’t your fault,” he said. “We are adding our own charges for the damages of the property. He made a mess in there! The police are taking the chair and rug as evidence.” Oh, my…how terrible! What a pity…Would they like the wallpaper too? It was everything I could do not to laugh. “I need to stay in town while they charge him. How much for a full week on that room?” “A full week you say?” he asked. Two weeks? “Maybe it should be two.” “For Room 13?” he stared at me as if I had said something bizarre. I nodded. “We need to get it cleaned up dear.” “I understand. I would like to go to the museum and will be gone most of the day.” “I’ll get the papers! We’ll be happy to have you and we will have the room ready.” I opened the envelope. My name was on the front, and there were several papers inside that looked like legal briefs. I was able to set up a Foundation for the times I could interact with the real world. What I was holding was some papers to a house and something that named me a trustee. It’s just down the street, so I’ll show you as we leave. A law firm is renting the house now, but there is a cottage on the property that you could fix up and live in. 44

SWEET REVENGE One of the officers approached to get my contact information. I gave him my cell phone number and explained that this was the best way to reach me because I wanted to see Baltimore and the Washington D.C. area. They were in the process of bringing Robby out the front door and he was still cussing and fighting. “Where are you going today, ma’am?” the officer asked. Where shall we go? “Smithsonian in D.C. I have some history to catch up on…after breakfast.”

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SWEET REVENGE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nancy Pirri ROUGH EDGES ISBN: 0-9754589-7-3 (Electronic)

Thirty-five year old Stone Mitchell, Texas 'cowboy' extraordinaire, and owner of Falcon's Ridge Ranch, is looking for an image change. Now that he's got his ranch up and running he decides it's time he settle down and get married. He once was a Texas Ranger, but gave up the hazardous occupation when he fell victim to a madman with a knife. He conceals his facial scars with a full beard and mustache, mostly because he knows his appearance will scare off the fairer sex. From the moment Gina meets the tall, beastly cowboy she knows she has her work cut out for her. She soon meets with opposition from him when she suggests he shave off his beard. But as she works with him, she finds she's growing more attracted to him each passing day. But when he starts interfering in her life, including making important decisions for her, she decides he's no better than the previous two men in her life. When she breaks off their working and personal relationship because of his domineering ways he knows the only way he can convince her of his love and of his desire to marry her is to 'reveal' himself to her. A Romance At Heart Publication 5 Star Review from Fallen Angels Reviews Read excerpt and review at: www.fallenangelreviews.com/March2005/DonnaRoughEdges.htm _______________________________________

Visit Nancy’s Website www.nancypirri.com

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SWEET REVENGE

When Maggie Loved Patrick…Then John By Nancy Pirri “Damn him!” Maggie Hansen groaned, tears welling in her eyes as she neared her fiancé’s house. There, parked in Patrick Galloway’s driveway, was his secretary’s car, an electric blue late-model Malibu. She walked softly across the dewy grass and made her way to his bedroom window. Usually, he left the blinds open, but not tonight. He’d closed them down to the sill. Inside, she could hear the unmistakable sounds of a man and woman making love—no, having sex, that’s all it was, she told herself. Simple, rutting, blissful, heavenly sex. He’d done it again; cheated on her, for the third time in as many months. No more she vowed; no more would she allow the man whom she thought was the love of her life hurt her. He’d pay, but she had no idea how…yet. Satisfaction soared through her heart and soul that she’d opted for a lengthy engagement. Still, it didn’t lessen her heartache at the moment especially when she heard that slut, Angelina Kirk, scream “Yes, yes, yes, do me good, boss!” announcing to the entire neighborhood she was on the verge of an earth-shattering climax. She scowled as she tried peering in the window, thinking that Patrick hadn’t provoked even a tiny climax out of her yet, even after a year long engagement of making love. Not so much as a single tremor or ripple had she experienced. Of course, there was the fact that Angelina might be faking it. Then she heard Patrick’s grunting and groaning and finally, within an embarrassingly short time his bellowing like a bull, as he too reached orgasm. Swiftly, she left the yard retracing her steps across the grass and down the street until she reached her car. It was a cold, early October, 47

SWEET REVENGE Minnesota evening and a chill raced through her hand when she touched the metal door handle. Suddenly, shivers went up and down her spine, not due to the cold but because she felt someone behind her. She gasped when a warm, gloved hand settled over hers. Then she froze at the unmistakable feel of a man’s hard, strong body pressing her against the side of her car. “Miss Hansen? We need to talk.” She breathed a relieved sigh and scowled, recognizing the voice but couldn’t place it. “Who are you?” “Angelina’s fiancé, John Grayson.” Maggie couldn’t help the eruption of ironic laughter from deep inside her as she sank against her car, more tears streaming down her cheeks. “You’re too late,” she managed to say. “I’ll kill the bastard,” he snapped in a low, menacing voice, “then her.” He moved away from her and she turned to see his tall, muscular frame; saw the impatience and dejection in his broad, leather-clad back, his hands jammed on his hips while he stared at Patrick’s house. “You know, neither of them is worth our time and effort. Is this your first time?” she asked as she came up beside him. He looked at her in confusion. “What?” “Is this the first time you’ve caught them together?” “For crissakes! You mean to tell me it’s happened before?” “Yes, this is the third time that I know of.” “Why in the hell didn’t you call me about this? Why didn’t you break off with the jerk? What are you, a martyr, or what?” She raised her brow. “Look Grayson, we are merely acquaintances. Would you have believed me if I’d told you?” After a long, intense moment of silence he said, “Good point. Maggie sighed. “Well, then that’s that I guess. Good luck.” She took one step back and squeaked when a long arm wound around her waist and yanked her back. She found herself pressed against his chest, looking up in wide-eyed amazement at the handsome man before her. “Listen, what kind of woman are you anyway? You’ve been scorned damn it; hell, we’ve both been scorned. Don’t you want at least a taste of revenge?” 48

SWEET REVENGE “I’ve thought about it, yes, revenge would be sweet. But I’ve no idea how to accomplish the deed. Have you?” He eased his grip on her but kept her tight against his side. “Let’s go have a beer and talk about it.” She narrowed her eyes on him. Was he serious? Should she go with him? Good grief, he might have murder on his mind and of that, she wanted no part. Sure, she was pissed and hurt. Hell, her entire future had crumbled tonight because she’d made the decision to leave Patrick…finally. But her idea of revenge which amounted to toilet-papering someone’s front yard would be vastly different from what this angry man might have in mind. Yet, she couldn’t resist at least hearing his idea. **** “So, how about it?” Biting her lower lip, Maggie looked away. “I don’t know.” “Well, I think the plan will give us both some satisfaction, don’t you?” Satisfaction. Maggie coughed and beer sprayed out of her mouth and onto the table in front of her. Cold and hot shivers raced up and down her spine as she thought of his suggestion. And then of course, there was that damned dampness between her thighs she couldn’t ignore. Still, she found herself lying, “No, it’ll never work. I could never go along with this.” “Why not?” “Read my lips, John. We’re strangers,” she mouthed the words slowly. As she gazed at his handsome, rugged visage, she decided it would be no hardship to get to know him better though. With a thoroughly devilish grin and a determined, sexier than hell look in his eyes he said, “Yeah, but not for long.” Then he wiggled his eyebrows, reminding her of Groucho Marx. She sank back in the booth as she laughed. It took her a moment to realize his expression had changed from humorous to downright sensuous, his eyes slumberous as he continued to stare. Her laughter faded as she thought that Angelina was a fool. “I can pretend as well as the next woman I guess.” “Only if you want things that way,” he insinuated.

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SWEET REVENGE She set her glass down unable to believe he might be coming on to her, especially since he hadn’t broken off his engagement to Angelina yet. “Like I said, we are strangers so, yes, I think we’d better keep things cool.” “It’s your call lady.” **** The following Saturday evening just after Maggie climbed into bed, the insistent ringing of the doorbell prompted her to answer it. She peered out the window first and saw John Grayson on her doorstep. A prickly sensation, as though something momentous was about to happen made her pause. “Open up, Maggie. Hurry!” She yanked open the door and he stepped inside, forcing her to back up a step. Then he locked the door and peered out between the curtains. “Good,” he said after a moment, “they’re here.” Maggie grumbled, yanked her white terry robe closed to her neck and tightened the belt. “What’s going on?” He faced her, mouth open to reply but he didn’t. Instead, his darkeyed gaze traveled from the top of her tousled blonde hair, settled on her blue eyes a moment before caressing her body from head to toe, taking in every curve and crevice. She felt heat seeping into her cheeks and asked, “John? What’s happened?” He shook his head as though clearing his thoughts. “Remember how I said on a moment’s notice I’d show up with our intendeds?” He grinned, “Didn’t take long, did it?” “You mean they’re here?” she choked. “Yes. I was downtown at Mitch’s having a beer and mouthing off about our secret ‘love life’ to the bartender. Word got around the place fast, though I’d been dropping hints all over town during the week too, so that helped.” Maggie’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you bandied my name around!” “Hell no,” he growled. “I’d never divulge your name but it sure as hell instilled suspicion in Patrick and Angelina.” 50

SWEET REVENGE He pulled the curtain back enough for Maggie to see Patrick’s and Angelina’s cars parked across the street from the house next door. Stepping back from the window he went from lamp to lamp dimming them. “Okay, show me the way to your bedroom. We need to get undressed fast.” “What!” He frowned. “Remember? You agreed to this plan last week.” Maggie blustered, “Yes, well I assumed we’d be keeping our clothes on.” He raised his brow. “Really? And I assumed we’d be undressed before going to bed for the first time.” Gritting her teeth, Maggie said, “We’re pretending.” Dismissively he waved his hand. “True, but things will look realistic if we’re undressed. We’re consenting adults. There’s no reason to be embarrassed, after all, neither of us are virgins. Besides, nothing we do would shock me. I’m a marriage counselor.” Maggie’s eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding.” She regretted her words as soon as she saw his look of embarrassment. “Afraid so,” he said. “Yeah, I should have known better.” She sighed. “You’re human. How could you know Angelina was cheating on you?” “I should have known. I’ve an instinct for that kind of thing. Felt it, but ignored it.” Gently, Maggie said, “Sometimes ignoring things is easier than facing the truth.” He gave her an assessing look. “You’re a smart woman, I’ll give you that. But I’ve not changed my mind; you’re a martyr.” “Unfortunately, yes. I inherited the trait from my mother who put up with my father and his antics during forty years of marriage.” “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely, “but we’ve got to get into your bed before the two of them arrive at the window, which could be any moment.” He peered out between the curtains. “Damn. They’re not in their cars.” “Forget about this, John. I can’t do it. Let’s just go on out there and tell them we know about them, and break off the engagements.” “No.” She couldn’t mistake the steely tone in his voice. 51

SWEET REVENGE “I…I can’t go through with it,” she stated again. “You will,” he insisted. “I spent a week making the two of them suspicious while you avoided them. You owe me lady, and its payback time for the two-timing jerks.” Maggie bit her lip thoughtfully. He was right. She’d agreed to the terms. They’d decided to arouse suspicion in the culprits, hoping they’d take the bait and arrive at Maggie’s house, catching them together making love—rather, pretending to make love. These were terms she’d agreed upon a week ago. But then, a week ago she’d been devastated. Now in hindsight, she realized she must not have loved Patrick all that much for she had hardly shed a single tear the rest of the week. She had spent more of her time enjoying her own pursuits instead of worrying about how to please her very ‘hard to please’ fiancé. Just the thought of the two-timing Patrick peering through the window as he watched John make love to her was thrilling, not to mention positively titillating. But that was last week and this is now; at the time she’d been upset and saddened by Patrick’s cheating and likely would have agreed to just about anything. John had spent the better part of the week setting Patrick and Angelina up to believe she and John were having an affair. They hadn’t been of course, though little prickly sensations and thoughts entered Maggie’s head from time to time during the last few days as she thought what it would be like to be in John’s arms. She shook her head to clear it then pierced him with a narrow-eyed look. “I’m not happy about this, but since the two of them are outside we may as well go ahead with the plan.” “Exactly!” he enthused as he took her hand and pulled her down the hall. “Your bedroom is right here at the front of the house, isn’t it?” Maggie decided her arm socket would never be the same. “Yes,” she said, catching her breath. “Stop, it’s right here.” He came to a dead halt, opened her door and ushered her inside. He turned on the bedroom light and squinted against its brilliance, but then he dimmed it. “Excellent,” he murmured, watching her move swiftly around the room, lighting several candles, illuminating the room to a soft, exotic glow. “You did say lots of candles,” she replied. He flashed a devastatingly devilish grin at her that caused her heart 52

SWEET REVENGE to trip. “Sure did. There’s nothing like a bit of ambiance to set the scene.” …and to mask my imperfections. While she was no prude she wasn’t a sweet young eighteen-year-old with tiny curves. She was a curvaceous twenty-five-year—hell, a woman in her prime ready for some maturewoman sex in her life. She wondered just how good a lover John would be. Patrick hadn’t cared about satisfying her, only taking his own satisfaction. It’s just the way it had always been between them. “Uh, John? Other than revenge what will we gain from this?” John’s brow rose. “Revenge, satisfaction, justice, what else is there?” Maggie sank to her bed with a sigh. “Well, somehow a week ago it all sounded like it was enough, but now I just don’t think it is.” “You’ve got something on your mind so spit it out.” She met his eyes now filled with annoyance, concern, and if she guessed right—desire. She shrugged and whispered, “I know we talked about pretending to make love but I’ve changed my mind. I want something more—much more.” His jaw tightened and his eyes glinted silver from the moon’s rays coming through the slits between the curtains. He heaved a deep sigh. “Changed your mind as a woman does upon occasion, but I’m not sure I’m following your thinking.” She rose from the bed, walking sultrily towards him. “Oh boy, have I been thinking,” she said as she reached up and wound her arms around his neck. She met the stunned look in his eyes and added, “Thinking how I don’t want any damned pretending; I want the real thing, John.” He wound his arms around her. “You sure about this?” “As sure as I’ve ever been about anything in my life,” she purred. John reached behind her and yanked open the curtains, allowing a big fat ray of moonlight inside. Then he dipped his head and kissed her. Maggie’s senses were fully concentrated on the kiss that rocked her world; all sensations—sight, hearing and consciousness diminished. Only the feel of being in John’s strong arms held her attention. Her heart stalled when his right hand slid from around her waist, moved to her hip, then over her buttocks. Through the fluffy texture of her robe she felt the heat of his touch and she gasped when his fingers slid down the cleft of her buttocks. It was a light, sensuous touch that 53

SWEET REVENGE prompted her to part her legs and allow him further intrusion. She’d never been touched quite so intimately, and especially not there! It felt hedonistic and glorious. They both stilled when they heard a branch snap. John whispered in her ear, “Ah, it’s about damned time they showed up.” Easily he lifted her in his arms, moved to her bed and settled her in the center. Then he straightened up, staring down at her as he unbuckled his belt. She gave him a shy smile and sat up and reached for his hands. “Allow me.” His eyes went from silver to dark and his nostrils flared. He held his arms away from his body. “I’m all yours, baby.” Maggie laughed and quickly undressed him, her hands growing increasingly unsteady as she revealed more and more of his magnificent body. Finally, when he stood before her utterly nude, his manhood thrusting out and up away from his body, she thrilled at the sight, knowing he was more than ready for her. Knowing that he was attracted to her gave her a sense of power, something she’d never felt with Patrick. She could barely wait for him to join her in her bed. She took his wrists and leaning back at the same time she pulled him down. He sat beside her. “This won’t do at all.” He untied her belt and spread her robe open. Maggie felt the intense heat from his gaze, though she couldn’t see it clearly because of the dimness. She saw the slight dipping of his head and knew he was gazing upon her breasts, navel, then lower, to the pale curls between her thighs. His hands trembled as he reached down and circled one nipple. Maggie groaned softly when it immediately hardened and puckered. Then he caressed every inch or her body. She liked how he paused at each spot he touched, seemingly gauging her reaction without words. She liked that a lot. Patrick had never cared about how she felt. Satisfaction filled Maggie’s soul at the sounds outside her window, muffled voices followed by outraged gasps. A low aching sensation filled her nether regions, her desire growing stronger at the thought that others watched them. God, she’d never thought she’d enjoy others looking at her under such intimate circumstances and normally she wouldn’t. But this was re54

SWEET REVENGE venge, plain and simple and she’d enjoy every single moment, imagining Patrick’s face turning florid at the sight of her making love with another man. She closed her eyes and smiled. Yes, revenge was sweet. Then all thought fled when something as light as a feather flicked across her womanhood, stunning her. She gasped, looked down to find John had slid down her body. “Thought that would bring you back to me,” he murmured. “They’re out there you know, watching us.” “Yes,” she breathed softly. “I heard them.” “Let’s really give them an eyeful then,” he said, ducking his head. She nearly shot off the bed when his tongue flicked across her throbbing bud of desire. She squirmed but he held her in place, his big hand stretched across her stomach. Then Maggie’s entire world and reason for existence dimmed as he concentrated on giving her pleasure unlike any she’d ever received—at least at the hands and mouth of a man. All she could think as she heard herself groaning was that John’s tongue was equal...no, make that better than her best vibrator. **** All thoughts, including the lurkers outside Maggie’s window, escaped John. He gave his full attention to the gorgeous blonde splayed on the bed like a sacrificial lamb—just for him. He’d had dreams about Maggie; dreams that had left him dripping sweat and trembling with hot desire to possess her over the past week. He’d known all along, deep down in his heart that Angelina wasn’t the right woman for him. But she’d been determined to catch him and she had, even managing to coerce a marriage proposal out of him; one he realized he truly hadn’t meant. He’d learned much about Angelina during their engagement, especially how she enjoyed attention from lots of men—besides him. But he’d always thought her just flirtatious and would never cheat on him. He’d met Maggie months ago at Patrick’s house, at a New Year’s Eve party. He’d accompanied Angelina, but had had a difficult time keeping his eyes off the enchanting blonde who happened to be Patrick’s fiancé. He guessed he would have pursued Maggie if neither of them had been engaged. But now with their engagements soon to be broken, he’d have his fill of her. 55

SWEET REVENGE Softly he blew on the blonde curls between her legs and grasped her hips, steadying her. While he experienced strong feelings for this woman, he wouldn’t be so quick to ask her to marry him as he had done with Angelina. He’d learned his lesson. They’d get to know each other very well first. Hell, maybe they’d live together to see how their relationship fared. John lifted his head at the sound of Maggie’s groans, then an outraged shriek split the silence of the night and he knew it had come from Angelina. He was still at the foot of the bed, between Maggie’s legs when he grasped her ankles and raised her legs high, eliciting more angry sounds from outside. After he planted her thighs over his shoulders he raised himself up to his knees and gazed down at the creamy golden-colored skin fetchingly displayed for him. He hated how the two-timers at the window had a perfect view of what they were doing, yet knew they couldn’t stop now. Reaching down he tweaked one distended pink nipple, prompting Maggie to gasp, “Ohmygod.” “Have you ever experienced foreplay like this, sweetheart?” he purred. He cocked his head toward the window mouthing the words, make it good! “Never. I’ve never experienced anything like this but now I will, thanks to you, darling.” Then he said softly, but loud enough so that the two outside heard him, “Then get set for the ride of your life. It’s going to get a little rough.” With a loud groan she said, “Do me good, John!” And John did. With her legs still over his shoulders he easily slid deep inside her. She shrieked when at the same time, he pressed his thumb down on her center and rubbed tiny circles across her pearl. “Ohmygod, ohmygod,” Maggie’s litany sounded as she closed her eyes and concentrated on the havoc he played upon her body; only John’s presence in her life mattered at the moment. Her climax came on so suddenly it stunned her. She stiffened, gasping for breath even as her body jerked in time with her convulsions. 56

SWEET REVENGE John’s brow dripped sweat as he lowered Maggie’s legs. She heard the rustling of fabric then spoke softly, “Sheath me, sweetheart.” She did, thankful he had the forethought to be prepared. Soon he drove into her time and time again. Within moments his body tightened then he shouted out his own release, clutching her to him, thinking he was half in love with a woman he barely knew. **** It took John a moment to realize someone was banging on Maggie’s front door. Gently he lifted himself off her body, smiled when he saw the satisfied look on her face. She frowned then and started to sit up. “Stay here. It’s them. I’ll take care of things.” Maggie shook her head as she sat up. “No. We’ll both take care of things.” He looked at her carefully as he pulled on his jeans but didn’t take the time to put on his shirt. “You sure you’re up for this?” “Absolutely,” she said briskly. She reached to the foot of the bed where she found her robe and donned it. “Let’s go.” John walked down the hallway to the front door, Maggie behind him. He held her hand the entire way, until they stood before the door. “You two-timing bastard! Open this damned door!” Angelina shouted from without. Maggie gave him a panicked look. “Oh, hurry! She’ll wake up my neighbors.” John nodded and opened the door. Angelina came stumbling across the threshold, Patrick right behind her. Angelina’s expression was furious while Patrick looked embarrassed. Patrick looked at Maggie. “You heard me and Angelina at my place, didn’t you?” “How’d you guess?” Maggie snapped. Dryly, he said, “Do me good, John? Come on Maggie. That’s not you talking. That’s Angelina. Can we talk privately?” “Sure.” She led the way to the kitchen. They sat down at Maggie’s kitchen table, across from each other. “You start,” Patrick said. Maggie shook her head. “Uh-uh. I think the ball’s in your court, buddy.” 57

SWEET REVENGE He sighed. “You’re right, of course. I’m a two-timing bastard.” He gave her a sad look. “You deserve a hell of a lot better than me.” “You’re right,” Maggie said, sinking against the back of her seat. “I deserve better. Even though we haven’t talked through things yet, I believe John and I will do well together. Now tell me why you did it.” He shrugged. “Can’t really tell you except that Angelina’s quite a woman.” Maggie grimaced as tears came to her eyes. Quickly, he amended, “So are you! It’s just that your calm serene personality left something lacking between us.” “So, you’d rather listen to a lifetime of that caterwauling going on out there right now?” Angelina was screeching off and on, loud enough the neighbors would hear everything. So much for keeping things quiet—she mused in disgust, feeling sorry for John. “She’s not like that all the time. She’s an exciting, vivacious woman. We suit each other.” “Then why didn’t you come out and be honest with me instead of going behind my back?” He swiped an unsteady hand through his hair. “Cause I wasn’t sure how to tell you, didn’t know what to say.” “Well,” she said as she came to her feet. “You won’t have to say a damned thing after all.” “How’d you find out?” “Each time we went out together you behaved more like a brother than a lover. And, you were finding excuses not to see me so I made a couple late night jaunts to your house and found Angelina’s car parked outside. Do you know I actually stood right outside your bedroom window?” A pained look crossed his face. “Grayson, too I imagine?” “We ran into each at your house about a week ago.” He groaned, “I should have been more discreet.” “You should have told me the truth,” she snapped. “Leave, Patrick. I’ve nothing further to say to you. Needless to say, you’re free of me and the wedding is off.” “No, it’s not.” 58

SWEET REVENGE Both of them turned to find John slouched in the kitchen doorway. Patrick rose slowly. “Where’s Angelina?” “Waiting in her car.” “What do you mean the wedding isn’t off?” said Patrick. “Are you saying Angelina’s still marrying you?” “Hell no!” John growled as he straightened and moved to Maggie’s side. Taking her hand, he pulled her towards him, “A wedding is in mine and Maggie’s future. As a matter of fact, I can’t see any reason why she’d need to change the date, the hall or any of the plans—except for replacing my name with yours.” He smiled down into Maggie’s eyes. “You didn’t have the invitations made up did you?” She gulped and shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. Wanting to believe it but wondering how it was possible to fall in love with someone in one night’s time, but she had. Big time, big fall, and had, had the best sex she’d ever experienced. John turned to Patrick who was edging toward the doorway. “Yes, leave,” he said casually, pulling Maggie closer to his side. “Go to Angelina, with my blessings. You’ve no idea what you’ve lost man, no idea.” Patrick frowned and stared at Maggie, confusion on his face, but then he swiveled on his heel muttering, “Hope you’re happy, Maggie.” They watched him leave and when John grinned down at Maggie again pulling her into his arms, she said, “Do you mean it, John? You weren’t pretending?” He ducked his head, kissed the throbbing pulse in her neck, moving up to her jaw-line with feathery kisses that made her shiver. She giggled—until his firm but gentle lips covered hers. He slanted his mouth across hers, his tongue stabbing inside. She felt his tongue swirl along the edges of her teeth before he finally released her. He stroked her hair. “God, I love this long blonde stuff. I knew you were a true blonde from the moment I saw you. Tonight confirmed it.” Maggie blushed to the very roots of her blonde hair. “John! Please, you’re embarrassing me,” knowing well to what he referred. “No pretending, you said?” “That’s right. No pretending sweetheart. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any woman, though I’ve got to admit it surprised the hell out of me. Especially since when I arrived here a short while ago, I had 59

SWEET REVENGE to tell myself to slow down with you and not make the same mistake I’d made with Angelina. I know what you’re thinking; we don’t really know each other; we just met and all of the other excuses, but you can’t deny there’s a mutual attraction and desire between us can you?” “No, I won’t deny it.” She gave him a shy smile. “I’m glad you said it because you’ve done so quite nicely, while I’d likely have stumbled around for the right words to say.” “You will marry me then, won’t you?” “Oh yes, John Grayson.” She laughed. “I rather like the name, Maggie Grayson.” His chest expanded and his eyes turned darker. Maggie’s heart, beat in double-time at the possessive look on his face, knowing he wanted her as much as she wanted him. She gave a little joyous shriek when he easily lifted her in his arms and started walking back to her bedroom. Grinning mischievously, he pretended to drop her and she tightened her grip and shrieked again. Then, leaning close she nibbled on his earlobe. She loved how he tightened his grip on her and held her even closer. Once in her bedroom he lowered her to the bed, following her down, laying beside her and he spread her robe wide. His eyes feasted on her body for a long while until Maggie felt somewhat embarrassed, realizing her legs were splayed. She made to close them but he placed his hands on her thighs and said, “Don’t close yourself to me sweetheart. I’ll be your husband soon. I can’t wait for the wedding date you’d established with Patrick. Five more months is too long for me to wait.” Maggie gulped and nodded, unable to think of a reply. He stood and pulled down his zipper. Her eyes followed his hand’s movement as heat seeped into her body. Casually, he said, “You know what? It just dawned on me I’ve no idea what you do for a living.” Maggie gave him a saucy grin, rolled to her side and faced him as she took up the sexiest position she could muster. “Remember when you told me that you’re a marriage counselor?” He nodded as he sank to the bed and faced her, his body nearly touching hers Maggie’s body prepared itself for her lover as she grew aware of the gathering moisture between her thighs. 60

SWEET REVENGE He ran one finger down her nose, crossed her lips, then moved down the pulse in her neck once more. Once he reached one pert pink nipple, she said, “I’m a divorce attorney.” She smiled when he threw back his dark head, laughed and growled, “I adore you.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SALT FOR HIS WOUNDS In twenty-seven years as a professional writer, I.G. Frederick has produced news and feature stories, editorials, reviews, public relations materials, brochure and advertising copy, novels, short stories, and poems. She has won five awards for her short fiction and her stories have appeared in Hustler Fantasies and Forum (UK) among others. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and can be reached at: [email protected].

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SALT FOR HIS WOUNDS By I.G. Frederick I opened the front door and had to hang onto it for support. My exhusband stood on the porch with a little-boy-lost look on his face that did nothing to enhance his forty-five-year-old features. Geez, he even had flowers in his hands—red roses, my favorites. Too bad he had never brought me any when we were still married. “What do you want?” I peered into the soulful brown eyes that used to send shivers down my spine, relieved that I still felt nothing. He held out the flowers. “Could I come in?” He looked a bit leaner than when we parted for the last time, almost a year ago. His beard showed a little more grey, but the hair fringing his naked scalp was still almost all black. “No.” I ignored the roses. “Please, Eleanor.” His voice whined and grated. “I made a mistake. I’m sorry. Can’t we talk?” “I have nothing I want to talk about with you.” My voice was as cold as my heart. I wasn’t angry, I didn’t hate him; I just didn’t care anything about him anymore. I don’t know when I stopped loving him. At some point, after fifteen years, I realized I just didn’t anymore. I broke the news to him one rainy Sunday afternoon in January. He didn’t take it well. I suggested we get counseling, to try and figure out what went wrong. He didn’t entertain that suggestion for even a minute. “If you don’t love me, what’s the point?” Now here he stood on my porch in the afternoon sun wanting “to talk.” “Look, I know we should have had this conversation a year ago.” His voice had lost the grating edge, but it still jolted me out of my memories. “But I was just so hurt when you told me you didn’t love me anymore.” Well, I suppose he was. But maybe I hurt, too. Maybe I was tired of being taken for granted and endless sexual frustration. “You were the woman I planned to spend the rest of my life with. I reacted 63

SWEET REVENGE badly. Please, Eleanor, give me another chance.” I sighed. “I’ve moved on with my life, Donald. It’s time for you to do the same.” I had, too, in a big way. I had packed up everything and left Portland where I’d spent most of my life. Now I lived a hundred and fifty miles away in a tiny little town on the central Oregon coast. I had found a cozy townhouse overlooking the ocean and bought it for cash with my half of the marital assets. I was quite content doing freelance graphic design work from home, making just enough to pay the bills. I didn’t miss our high-stress, big-house-in-the-west-hills lifestyle. “I can’t, Eleanor, not without you.” A tear crept down his cheek. “Well, you’re going to have to find a way to build a new life for yourself. We’re divorced now, remember? I told you if we ended the relationship it would be permanent and complete. I have no room in my life for you now.” Living by myself, although lonely, was a definite improvement over what living with Donald had become. I had no interest in going back. “Look, I understand you don’t love me anymore. But surely you miss Portland—the theater, the restaurants, the excitement? You could move back in with me. We could have our old life back.” Maybe, if he’d suggested this a year ago...but now I wouldn’t consider his offer for even a second. “No, Donald, I don’t miss Portland. And, I don’t miss you.” He winced. “Have you found someone else?” The pain in his eyes almost made me feel sorry for him. Almost. “That’s none of your business.” I hadn’t—you don’t meet too many men if the only time you leave the house is to walk on the beach alone or go to the grocery store—but I wasn’t about to let him know that. I thought he would cry and I didn’t want to see it. “Go back to Portland, Donald.” I closed the door and returned to work. Engrossed in coding HTML, I forgot about Donald. But about an hour later, when I emerged from my spare-bedroom/office to get a soda, I looked out the window to see he still sat in the corner of the porch, the roses across his knees. “Shit,” I thought. “He’s going to start stalking me now.” I carried my soda back to the office and pondered the situation for a few minutes. Donald had always been stubborn. He truly had been a forever kind of guy. The only way to get him off my porch was to convince 64

SWEET REVENGE him that I had found another man. I picked up the phone and dialed my next-door neighbor’s number. “Mick,” I said when he answered. “I need a REALLY big favor.” Mick worked out of his home also—for a high-tech firm in the San Francisco Bay area. His company and his job, had survived all the cutbacks and the recession. He was probably fifteen years younger than I. We met the day I moved in although I had seen him before, when I first looked at the place. He had helped me unpack and install my computer and some other electronics. Since then we had become pretty good friends. He fed my cats when I visited my folks in Portland; I took care of his dog when he traveled on business. We often shared meals and even occasionally went up to Newport for an evening out. Although we seemed to have a lot in common, I knew we would never share more than friendship. The guy was drop-dead gorgeous; green eyes that reminded me of emeralds, thick dark blond hair that swept his shoulders, and a physique that would make any woman wet with desire. His arms and chest rippled with muscles and he had the legs of an athlete. At one time, I had seriously considered drilling a hole through our adjoining walls so I could see what he had inside his shorts. In all our conversations about every topic under the sun, the one I avoided scrupulously was relationships. I didn’t want to know anything about his love life. “What’s up?” he asked. His light tone indicated that the interruption was not an imposition. We had, I realized, become a little dependent on each other. I relied on Mick to fix my computer when it went haywire and he occasionally needed me to help him with the numerous PowerPoint slides he had to generate for work. But was this too much to ask? “See that guy sitting on my porch?” I waited while Mick wandered into his kitchen with his portable phone. “A suitor?” His tone teased. Mick knew I was divorced, but that was all he knew. “No, my ex.” “Is he bothering you?” He sounded concerned. “Do you want me to scare him off?” That wouldn’t be hard for Mick; he was at least half a foot taller than Donald and much more muscular. Donald was pudgy and not terribly strong. But I knew that physical intimidation would not have the same effect of the scheme I had concocted. 65

SWEET REVENGE “Well, yes and no.” I hesitated. I must have lost my senses, asking Mick to do this. He would think I was coming on to him and laugh in my face. I’m not ugly, but I’m not a young beauty anymore either. My auburn hair has several grey streaks and I probably could stand to lose another ten pounds. Giving up my sixty-hour-a-week, high-stress, web design job had allowed me the time to start working out again. I had lost twenty pounds and toned up quite a bit since I left Portland. Mick had converted his one-car garage into a mini-gym—no health club in our little town—and let me use it as much as I wanted. Not eating lunch and dinner at restaurants almost every day helped too. Still, I always felt dowdy next to Mick. “I was wondering if you would be willing to come over here and pretend you’re my lover.” I rushed the words out before I could change my mind. “I think that’s the only thing that’s going to convince him to leave and not come back.” The other end of the phone was silent for a long time. At least he wasn’t laughing. Probably thinking of a polite way to turn me down. “Look, forget it,” I said, ashamed I had even asked. I could feel the heat on my cheeks and knew my face was beet red. “It was a stupid idea anyway. If I ignore him, he’ll go away eventually.” “No, I think you’re right.” Mick’s voice had a funny hitch in it. He probably agreed to go along with me against his better judgment, a true friend. “It’s probably the best way to make him realize he has no future with you. I assume that’s the message you want to deliver?” “Yes.” “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” The phone went dead with a click. Oh geez, I thought, what have I done now? I ducked into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and regretted my impulsive invitation. I wore my standard work clothes of sweats and an old t-shirt. I wanted to change into something sexy, but realized if I did, Donald would likely notice and he might figure out my scheme. Besides, Mick knew what I wore to work. We had lunch together often enough. I didn’t want him to think I looked for more than a ruse to get rid of my ex-husband. When I heard his knock, I went back to the kitchen. Mick stood at the door, gorgeous as ever. Donald, at the far end of the porch, glared at him. “I decided to take the rest of the afternoon off,” he said, as if we 66

SWEET REVENGE hadn’t spoken on the phone a minute ago. Mick leaned down, kissed me, and wrapped his arms around my waist. Then he stood up straight so my feet dangled, and walked into the house with me pressed against his chest. He pushed the door closed with his back. My arms had found their way around his neck and my fingers ran through his glorious silky hair. I realized I was breathing heavily and Mick’s tongue was in my mouth. I could taste the coffee that he consumed by the gallon. Mick set me on the kitchen counter but didn’t release me. Standing between my legs, he held me tight with one arm while the other hand found its way to my head. He wove his fingers through my hair as he pressed my mouth harder against his. This boy knew how to pretend. My eyes were closed, but I looked out through my lashes and saw Donald pressed against the window, a hand on either side of his eyes so he could see inside. Let’s give the man a show, I thought. I let my hands drift down, enjoying the feel of Mick’s muscular back. From this position I could barely reach his ass, but I stretched to grab his cheeks and squeezed. He pressed himself against me and I was surprised to feel he was hard under his denim shorts. Maybe poor Mick hadn’t gotten any for a while. I wondered if pretending turned him on enough, whether he would settle for me in a pinch. Mick’s mouth had left my lips and drifted down my neck. I let my head fall back, reveling in the silky touch of his tongue. “Wrap your legs around me,” he whispered, his breath hot on my sensitive skin. I did, sliding my arms up out of the way and back around his neck. He started toward the bedroom with me attached to his chest. Oh well, show’s over. When we reached my bedroom, I reluctantly let my legs slip down Mick’s backside and prepared for him to release me. But his lips still traveled up and down my neck and his hand reached under my t-shirt for my breast. “You can stop pretending now,” my voice was hoarse. “Donald can’t see us in here.” “Who’s pretending?” His voice had that funny hitch in it again. Mick lifted my shirt over my breasts and buried his face in my rather ample cleavage. His fingers fumbled behind my back with the clasp of my bra. I was panting. “I don’t have any protection.” I knew I didn’t want him to stop, but I also was afraid his regret afterwards would end our friendship. As much 67

SWEET REVENGE as I wanted Mick to make love to me, I didn’t want to lose him as a friend. The lack of birth control would give him an easy out. With my bra undone, Mick pushed the fabric up so he could reach my nipple with his mouth. He still had one arm around my waist, holding me tight against him, while he fumbled in the pocket of his shorts with the other. His hand came out with a strip of six condoms. If he hadn’t been holding me I would have fallen to the floor. This was not a case of physical contact getting out of hand. Men might carry a rubber in their wallets, but they don’t run around with a pocket full. Sensing my knees had given out, Mick picked me up and gently laid me on my bed, pulling my bra and t-shirt over my head. He kicked off his shoes and stretched out beside me, a hand on one breast and his mouth firmly attached to the other. As his tongue rolled my hardening nipple around in his mouth, his other hand played with my hair, his thumb caressing my face and lips. I moaned. At least two years had passed since a man had made love to me—Donald gave up sex long before we decided to separate. My skin burned everywhere Mick touched me. I tried to unbutton his shirt, I wanted to feel Mick’s skin against mine, but I couldn’t get my fingers to work. Mick chuckled and got off the bed. My body cried out in agony for his touch. One by one, he undid the buttons of his shirt and let it fall to the floor. Then he reached for his shorts. He had a wicked glint in his eye as if he knew I enjoyed the show. He unbuttoned the waistband and lowered the zipper so slowly I wanted to scream. Finally he opened it and pushed his shorts and briefs down his hips and legs. His dick jumped out and I reached out my hand, wanting so much just to touch it. As beautiful as the rest of him, it was long and thick with a wonderfully smooth head. Pushing my hand away, Mick knelt beside the bed and put his mouth back on my breast. Then his lips slid down across my chest and stomach as his hands pulled my sweats and panties out of his mouth’s way. I lifted my hips so he could get them off and gasped when his tongue found its way between my legs. He pulled one leg over his shoulder and pushing into my cunt with his tongue, teasing my clitoris, driving me mad. I had three orgasms before he kissed his way back up to my breasts. He slipped his sheathed cock inside me. Somehow, he had managed to get a rubber on while I was too busy coming to notice. I moaned. He 68

SWEET REVENGE was big and being full felt so good. Mick was probably twice as thick and half again as long as Donald—who always expected me to put it in for him—and I could feel the head pushing against my cervix. When Mick was all the way inside me, he stayed there for a minute, letting me get used to the glorious feeling. I wrapped my legs around his waist. Then he pulled back until only the head was inside and thrust it in again, his balls slapping my ass and his pelvis grinding into my clit. I could feel another climax starting to build as Mick slammed into me over and over. This time I screamed. If Donald still waited out on the porch, I’m sure he got an earful to go with the eyeful he had gotten earlier. I came hard, and my head bounced up and down on the pillow. Mick kept pumping into me and my orgasm wouldn’t stop. I just kept coming until I couldn’t hold on anymore and my legs and arms slipped back down onto the bed. At that moment, Mick’s eyes closed and his lips clamped down on mine as he shot his load. Even with my pussy still pulsing I could feel his cock throbbing inside me. I sucked greedily on his tongue until he collapsed onto me. He still had most of his weight on his forearms, but his chest pressed against mine. He kissed my eyes, my nose, my cheeks, my lips. I looked into those beautiful green eyes and I was amazed at the passion I saw. Mick stayed on top of me, kissing me, until he started to slip out. Then he grabbed his rubber, pulled it off, tied a knot in the end, and tossed it into the wastebasket on the other side of the room. He lay back down beside me and cradled me in his arms. I waited for him to fall asleep, or get up and get dressed to leave, but he didn’t. He just held me, my head on his shoulder, his arms pulling me tight against his side. I didn’t want to break the spell, but I had to know. “What just happened here?” “That’s not a very nice question to ask a man who just made love to you for an hour.” Mick smiled. I looked at the clock. I hadn’t realized that much time had passed. “I wasn’t referring to your lovemaking. That was wonderful.” I lifted my head and kissed him on his lips. I had only intended to give him a grateful smack, but before I knew it I had stretched out across his chest, his arms holding me against him, and our tongues dancing in each other’s mouths. Better yet, I could feel him getting hard again between my legs. Donald’s idea of a sex life—before he lost interest entirely— 69

SWEET REVENGE was twice a month. I don’t think we ever did it more than once in the same day, even when we were first married. I decided Mick deserved a taste of his own medicine, so I reluctantly pulled my lips from his and let my mouth explore his wonderful, muscular body. I lingered a bit to tease his hardened nipples and was rewarded with a soft, pleasurable sigh. His chest was practically hairless, just a little patch of blond bristles between his nipples and a trace leading down to his pubic hair. By the time I got there, he pointed straight up and I covered his pole and balls with kisses. The sigh was louder this time. I licked the full length of the shaft, up and down until I had worked my way in a complete circle, careful to overlap so I wouldn’t miss an inch of him, slurping in his sticky sweetness. Then I took the head in my mouth and slowly eased my lips as far down his length as I could go. This time he moaned. Raking my teeth gently along his shaft as I rose up, I paused to nibble the head. Then I started working my mouth up and down his length, tonguing the head on the up stroke. His hips moved with my rhythm and his fingers played with my hair. He tried to pull my ass up to his face, but I resisted. I’ve never liked sixty-nine. When I have a face in my pussy I want to lay back and enjoy it. When I’ve got a dick in my mouth I want to concentrate on pleasing it. With Donald, this was never an issue. I don’t think he went down on me more than a dozen times in the fifteen years we were married. I stopped giving him head when I realized he had no intention of reciprocating and I had forgotten just how good a mouthful of cock tasted. The muscles in Mick’s legs and ass tightened and he tugged on my hair, trying to get me to stop. “I don’t want to come without you,” he said through gritted teeth. I spotted the rest of the condoms on the floor and grabbed the strip. Pulling one wrapper open I took out the sheath and rolled it down over Mick’s massive cock. Then I positioned my hips over his and lowered myself onto him. We both moaned as the exquisite sensation overwhelmed us. Mick reached up and fondled my breasts. I leaned forward on my arms and began sliding up and down his long pole, rubbing my clit against him in between strokes. I watched Mick’s face. His eyes were partially open, but I could only see the whites. His lips parted and his nostrils flared. He raised and lowered his hips, thrusting up into my down stroke. I could feel my orgasm building, but I didn’t want to come yet. The delicious sensation of 70

SWEET REVENGE mounting tension, combined with the glorious hardness of his cock filling my wet pussy, felt too good. I stopped moving for a moment and sat up. I clenched and unclenched my pussy muscles around Mick’s cock. A big grin spread across his face and he looked up at me with eyes glazed over by lust. Releasing my breasts, he sat up and wrapped his arms around me. He started rocking back and forth. Now I rolled my eyes back inside my head. My clit was getting over stimulated and I lost all control. I think this orgasm lasted longer than the one before. When I started coming, Mick slid his legs over the edge of the bed and lifted me up and down on his cock. I was still coming when he exploded inside me. The two of us held onto each other until my throbbing stopped. I couldn’t move. Mick laid me back across the bed, got rid of the condom and then took me in his arms again. I would have been perfectly happy to just stay like this forever. “To answer your question...” Mick paused. Talk about a delayed reaction, I thought. “I’ve wanted you from the first day you moved in here. At the time, I thought you might still be getting over your divorce. You didn’t talk about it much and I figured maybe you were still kind of raw, so I gave you some time.” I managed to get my head off his shoulder long enough to look him in the eye. He was serious. This hunk of a man was attracted to me. How had I missed that? “Then we started to become friends and, well, you never seemed interested in going any further than that. I was afraid if I made a pass at you and you turned me down you would be reluctant to continue our friendship.” Mick stroked my hair with one hand while the other played with my tit. “You don’t know how many times I jacked off pretending I was playing with these.” He squeezed my breast. “Anyway, when you called today, at first I was afraid I couldn’t help you. I didn’t think I could pretend to be your lover without getting carried away.” He leaned over and planted a quick kiss on my nipple. “Then I realized you’d just handed me the perfect opportunity. Worst case scenario, if you weren’t interested you’d let me know and I would apologize for getting into my role too much and we’d be able to continue where we left off. But if by any chance you might be attracted to me, this was my one hope of finding out.” He shifted slightly and gently pressed his lips 71

SWEET REVENGE to mine for a moment. “I should send your ex-husband a thank you card.” “That would be rubbing salt in his wounds,” I scolded. But, I had to admit, I was grateful Donald had showed up. To think, Mick and I been fantasizing about each other all this time. For all I knew, we could have been having mutual orgasms without even realizing it. I lay in Mick’s arms without speaking. I was drifting, almost asleep, when Mick cleared his throat. “Eleanor, I know you haven’t seen anyone since you moved here.” I looked at him in alarm. Had he been spying on me? “You almost never leave your house except when you walk on the beach and the only visitors I’ve seen until today were your folks.” I guess we live close enough to know each other’s business. I was well aware that he never had women over, but I just figured he went to their places—and I didn’t really want to know anyway. He was right about my social life, though. I had turned into a hermit. He probably was the only person in town with whom I had exchanged more than four words at a time. I settled back onto his shoulder. “Was this just because you haven’t had sex in so long?” He swallowed. “I mean, you never expressed any interest in me before.” I lifted my head once more and looked at him in amazement. I wanted to cry. He looked so vulnerable, as if he had bared his soul to me and was afraid I would slash it open. “One of the reasons I bought this place is because I liked the scenery,” I ran my hand up and down the muscular expanse of his chest, “and I’m not referring to the ocean view.” Mick had been working on his truck, naked from the waist up, the day the realtor showed me my townhouse for the first time. Whenever I looked at other places, I couldn’t get that picture out of my mind. “I’ve had the hots for you from the first moment I saw you, but I always figured I was too old for you. I kept my feelings to myself because I didn’t need another rejection.” Nothing like having her own husband turn her down to smash a woman’s self esteem. His eyes lit up with delight and all traces of vulnerability disappeared. “You’ve got to be kidding. Just how young do you think I am?” “I figure you can’t be more than twenty five.” My hand still roamed across the muscles of his chest. His breathing was even, but his nipples had hardened again. 72

SWEET REVENGE “I’m thirty-one, silly.” Okay, so he was only nine years younger than me, not fifteen. “The same age as you.” My hand stopped and I looked into his amazing eyes. “Wherever did you get the idea that I was thirty-one?” I suppose I should be flattered, but now I could only worry how he would react to the difference in our ages. “Aren’t you? I mean your hair’s a little grey, but being married to an old fuddy-duddy like Donald could do that to you.” Mick shifted his weight so he was on his side looking down at me. “You don’t have any wrinkles.” He traced my eyes and my lips with his fingers. “And you’re in great shape. I don’t like women who are so skinny their bones press into you when you make love to them.” His hand slid down my neck, along my breasts, and across my belly. “Women are supposed to be soft.” I may as well get this over with, I thought, it was nice while it lasted. “I’m thirty-nine years old, Mick, I’ll be forty in three months.” His expression didn’t change; his hand kept wandering, exploring my body with long, soft fingers. “Nope, not a day over thirty-one,” he said as if he hadn’t heard my confession. I started to protest, but he covered my mouth with his—a soft, gentle kiss with only a hint of the passion we had shared such a short while ago. His lips worked their way down my jaw to my neck. “Aren’t we a pair of fools?” His hot breath caressing my skin. A few moments passed before it sank in—he didn’t care one little bit how old I was. His mouth found its way back to my breast and we both started breathing heavily. I tangled my fingers in his silky hair and pulled his face toward mine. “I guess we’ll just have to work harder to make up for lost time,” I whispered before our mouths clamped together again.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I’ve been writing all my life. Mainly Sci-fi, some Fantasy. Most of my stories contain Erotica. I used to read a lot, but not anymore as much. Now I’d rather write than read. Writing for me is fun. I love creating new worlds and populating them with ordinary and not so ordinary characters (humans, aliens, and exotic animals). I write everything first the old-fashioned way--with pen and paper. Lots of my stuff is still in that stage. The reason for this is simple: writing is not my profession. I am selfemployed and if my lunch hours are a little longer than necessary, it’s because that is when I write. In the evening at home I transfer my writing into my computer, as time permits. My first editing is done at that time. My major works have been written in the last five years. In addition to my 126,000 word Sci-fi novel ‘Seeds of Chaos’, of which I’ve sent the first three chapters to an agent (I’m still waiting for an answer -August 2005-), I just finished a 195,000+ word Sci-fi novel (2 books) ‘The Xandra: Daughter of the Dark, Mother of Light’. Right now I’m working on a Space Opera/Romance novel ‘The Stardogs’. Actually, I wanted to keep the sex out of this one, but I’ve already changed my mind. It will include some Erotica. We’ll see. The short-story ‘The Anniversary Gift’ is based on a chapter from a Mystery/Action novel of mine, as yet without a title. (Now, of course, I have to rewrite that chapter completely). I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Herbert Grosshans 74

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The Anniversary Gift By Herbert Grosshans The once majestic oak trees threw dark shadows across the long gravel driveway as Robert drove through the gate toward the ancient two-story house. Looking up at the small window of the attic—barely visible among the vines that covered most of the front of the house—he thought he saw the face of a woman looking out, but he knew it was just his imagination. Nobody ever went up into the attic. When they bought the house a couple years back, people in the neighborhood told them the house was haunted. It was the reason they were able to buy that big house for such a bargain, but he didn’t believe in ghosts. Only Suzan did. He didn’t bother driving the car into the garage. He was too tired to lift the heavy wooden door. Some day they’d install an automatic dooropener. Maybe. The door needs a paintjob, he thought as he opened the small side door. The rusted hinges made a squeaky grinding sound when he closed the door again. And the hinges a few drops of oil. Maybe some day he’d get around to it. “Honey, I’m home,” he called, chuckling to himself. Even after ten years of marriage he still got a kick saying it. He put down his briefcase, stood quiet for a moment, inhaling the familiar old-wood smell of the house. The oak floorboards creaked as Suzan came out of the living room to greet him. Tall and slim, her auburn hair falling in soft curls down to her shoulders, she looked as beautiful as always. Her green eyes sparkled mischievously as she brushed her full lips against his. “Glad you’re home,” she said, smiling. It was her standard answer, but it sounded good to his ears every time she said it, especially today. Today was their anniversary. 75

SWEET REVENGE “Had a good day?” she asked, taking his briefcase to put it into the closet. She always did that; she hated it when he left it standing in the back hall. “The usual. Got a bit of a headache. I’m glad the week is over,” he answered. “A nice hot shower will fix you up, honey.” She smiled and steered him toward the bathroom. “I’ve got your robe already laid out for you.” “You’re the best,” he said and put an arm around her. “I know.” Before she closed the door behind him, she said, “Enjoy your shower, but don’t take too long. I have a surprise for you.” “A surprise?” he called, but she didn’t answer. He undressed, folded his pants and put them on the counter. His shirt he hung on a hook behind the door, beside his robe. He even folded his underwear and laid it neatly on top of his pants. Again he smiled. There had been a time when he would have dropped everything into an untidy heap onto the floor. That was before Suzan. She had gradually changed him, without him even being aware of it. Suzan had made this neat person out of him. And he liked it. She was a terrific woman. He loved her. And yet…there seemed to be something missing—some excitement. Their sex life had always been great, except lately it had become somewhat stale, almost a routine. Weekends, maybe Tuesdays and Wednesdays, just like clockwork. Only when he was out-of-town on business, then they made love the day he came home. As far as he knew, she had never cheated on him, but he had. Those hotel rooms were lonely places, and sometimes he had invited a waitress, or some other woman he had met at the bar, up to his room. But those women had meant nothing to him. Those encounters were never really satisfying, just a quick release, forgotten the next day. Although, he had to admit, some of those women, or rather young girls, had given him quite a good fuck. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Tall, muscular, his stomach like a washboard, at 35 he presented a handsome figure of a man. Picking up women had never been a problem for him.

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SWEET REVENGE When he went to college, his reputation as a stud had given him access to a circle of beautiful girls. There had been times when he had fucked a different girl every night. Sighing, he entered the shower stall. The warm water felt good on his skin and he closed his eyes thinking of all those hot pussies and beautiful girls and women he had known. **** When he stepped out of the shower, he sported a tremendous hardon. He dried hurriedly and didn’t even bother with his robe. The door to the bedroom was slightly ajar. He noticed the flickering light. Grinning, he walked into the dimly lit room. The scent of incense was heavy in the air. Suzan must have been trying to evoke the spirits of the house again. She stood in front of the large mirror. On the dresser burned a couple of candles. In their pale diffused light he saw that she wore a black lacy outfit. Black stockings, a black garter belt, no panties. “I thought you’d never get out of there,” she pouted. “I’ve been ready for ages.” She looked at his erection and giggled. “You must have been thinking something naughty,” she purred. He looked at her bare pear-shaped breasts. Still nice after all this time, he thought and dropped his gaze to her fluffy triangle. She was quite hairy. Her pussy was covered with thick auburn hair. She had a glass filled with red wine in her hand. “Open your mouth,” she said, laughing. He did and she poured the wine into his mouth. He swallowed, let the smooth liquid soothe his throat, wondering if it was such a good idea to drink this much wine, since he hadn’t really eaten anything since lunch. The glass was empty when she took it away. She pressed her body against his, kissed him on the lips. “This should enhance your mood even more,” she said with a husky voice, curling her warm fingers around his penis. “I promised you a surprise.” She pulled him toward the large bed. Since the bed was partially in darkness, he had to let his eyes adjust for a moment. Then he stepped back. “What’s going on?” he asked and stared. There on the bed lay another person. A woman. Her face was hidden in the shadows with the lower half of her body was covered by a thin 77

SWEET REVENGE blanket; her bare breasts were clearly visible. They were small, but had a nice shape to them. “Meet Mai Ling.” Suzan smiled and pushed him toward the bed. “Go on. She’s ready.” “Now, wait a minute,” Robert protested. “Just like that you want me to screw another woman? In front of you? Why?” “I thought we needed some spice in our lives—our sex lives, I mean. Or don’t you agree?” “Well…” He hesitated. “I admit it has become somewhat strained lately, but I figured we’re just going through a phase. It’ll get better.” “It will,” Suzan said. “Tonight. Or can’t you handle two women at the same time?” “Of course I can…I mean, I probably could.” He grabbed her and kissed her hard. She responded passionately, but then she pushed him gently away. “Maybe you’ll need something to convince you that I’m serious about this. Something to turn you on a little more. So, just watch!” She joined the other woman on the bed. They embraced and began to kiss each other. At first Robert was a little angry, but the longer he watched the more excited he became. Two women kissing and fondling each other—now, that was something to see. If there would have been another man, he wasn’t sure if he could handle that. Mai Ling pushed away the blanket and moved on top of Suzan. The quick flash of a strutting penis below Mai Ling’s belly made Robert hold his breath for a second, but then he relaxed and chuckled. A dildo. Of course! Suzan moaned and spread her legs. Very gently Mai Ling began pushing and Robert watched as the artificial penis slowly disappeared in his wife’s pussy and listened in amazement to Suzan’s cries of pleasure. Robert was so turned on by the spectacle, he found himself stroking his painfully erect penis. When he became aware of it, he cursed silently and stopped. What the Hell! He hadn’t masturbated since he was in his teens, and he wasn’t about to do it now. Especially not now!

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SWEET REVENGE Mai Ling had pulled out of Suzan and was kneeling between her open legs. Her mouth was glued to Suzan’s pussy and her pale buttocks were sticking up high. Robert could see the swollen lips of her hairless vagina below her round cheeks. Driven by desire, he moved to the edge of the bed. Mai Ling’s beautiful ass was just at the right height. He grabbed her hips, and stabbing frantically, he finally found what he wanted and needed. With a loud satisfying grunt he pushed his stiff penis deep into Mai Ling’s warm and moist canal. She was soft and extremely tight, but he slid easily into her. Mai Ling must have anticipated him, because the moment he grabbed her hips, she arched her back to give him easier access. After his entry she began rotating her hips, and he could feel her inner muscles milking his swollen member. He was ready to explode, but he had learned to control that urge. And he was going to prolong fucking this beautiful Asian girl as long as possible. His hands searched for Mai Ling’s breasts, cupped them gently. They were soft and pliable. His engorged penis moved like a hot rod inside her velvet sheath, in and out, in and out. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the wet soft vice holding him prisoner. Mai Ling cried out and doused him with her warm discharge. He heard Suzan’s loud moans blending with Mai Ling’s cries of pleasure and realized while he was fucking Mai Ling, she was fucking Suzan at the same time. Sandwiched between him and his wife, Mai Ling expertly snapped her pelvis back and forth. It was clear to Robert, the girl had done this before. Just thinking about it made him lose his control and with a hoarse shout he let go. His penis seemed to pump forever, and with every pulsing throb he growled deep in this throat, like a savage animal. Mai Ling arched her back higher and pressed her pussy into his groin. His shaft was buried to the root inside her sucking sheath and the mewling sounds she made as she experienced another orgasm made him delirious with pleasure. When he finally pulled out, he tried to roll onto his back, but stopped when he saw another woman lying beside them. “Hi,” she said. “I am Katja.” 79

SWEET REVENGE The candles flickered, flared up, as if by a gust of wind. He stared at her naked thin body. Her legs were open. A dark triangle below a wrinkled belly covered her genital region. “Come,” she whispered and opened her arms. Drunk with lust, his body still tingling from the encounter with Mai Ling, he slipped into her arms, crushed his chest against her small, flabby breasts. He didn’t care, her body was warm and yielding. She kissed him hungrily. She tasted of musk and strawberry wine and old linens. Her hands touched his penis, stroked him into hardness. He entered her inviting sheath with a wild shout, found her ready and soft. She gasped, when he drove his hard organ deep into her. Beside them, Mai Ling and Suzan were thrashing on the bed, their bodies entwined like a pair of boneless serpents. Their panting cries fueled the lust possessing his body, and like a berserker he pumped his lower body between the strange woman’s clutching thighs. Creaking loudly, the springs of the old iron bed protested at the punishment they received. Grease, we need grease, they seemed to scream inside his head. The wine and the incense made his mind fuzzy, his thoughts were incoherent and without reason. His penis burned inside the woman’s throbbing sheath and with mindless determination he hammered it into her. Her breath was hot on his face and her long fingernails dug into his buttocks, as she gyrated underneath him. “Shoot it into me,” she whispered into his ear, her voice breathless, almost a croak. “Give me satisfaction.” He came with a roar, heard her loud ecstatic screams as she received his gushing hot fluid. Searching his lips, she closed her mouth over his, probed his cavity with a long tongue, drawing the air out of his lungs. He tore his mouth away, gasped for breath. His penis was still pumping inside her greedily sucking body. Her sudden laughter sounded hollow in his ears. From the living room chimed the gong of the ancient Grandfather clock. It had been part of all the other antique furniture that had come with the house. At the stroke of twelve the witch will disappear, he didn’t know why he thought that. His befuddled mind managed to count to eight, but the old clock wasn’t finished. Underneath him, the woman sighed. Her thighs opened, her digging fingers released their hold on his buttocks. He left her, slipped off the 80

SWEET REVENGE bed and walked over to the mirror, found the bottle and put it to his mouth. The wine tasted dry and musky, like everything else in this house. When he looked toward the bed, he saw only Suzan and Mai Ling. The other woman was gone. Probably went to the bathroom, he thought and watched as Mai Ling disengaged herself from Suzan. The flickering light of the candles revealed a face of great beauty, Asian as he had assumed. She saw him look at her, smiled and winked with one eye. She threw a sarong around her hips and came toward him. “Hi,” she said and put a finger on his nose. Laughing throatily, she said, “I don’t think Suzan is finished with you yet, lover-boy. She still has plans for you.” He took another gulp of wine, offered the bottle to her. She shook her head. “I don’t drink alcohol.” Suzan was still lying on the bed. She opened and closed her legs with slow movements, looking at him with half-closed eyes. Her pink slit, covered by her auburn bush, beckoned invitingly. He walked to the bed, the bottle still in his hand. Smiling, he poured some of the wine onto her belly and into the thick triangle. Getting to his knees, he bent down, began licking her belly, moved down to her pussy. His tongue found the slit, entered it. Suzan squirmed, moaned and grabbed his head. “That’s it,” she cried out, grinding her lower body into his face. He became aware of two arms embracing him from behind and a warm naked body pressing against his back. Warm breath caressed his neck, as soft breasts touched his skin. A hand reached around him and gently began stroking his semi-erect penis. Then something warm and slippery slid between his buttocks, pressed against his anus. He tried to squirm away, but the pressure increased. He felt a hard, yet pliable object slowly enter him. The hand that stroked his penis increased its tempo. “Let it happen,” he heard Mai Ling’s voice whisper into his ear. He struggled, but she was strong, pinned him into Suzan’s clutching thighs. Suzan was holding his head, her fingers entangled in his hair. I don’t want a dildo up my ass, he wanted to shout, but his lips were glued to Suzan’s wet pussy. Mai Ling had both of her hands wrapped around his hard penis. The hard object filled him completely, and very 81

SWEET REVENGE slowly Mai Ling began moving it in out of him. His penis throbbed in her hands and her breasts were warm and soft in his back. “Relax,” she whispered breathlessly. Against his will he pushed his buttocks up. She let go of his penis, grabbed his hips and smashed her belly into his buttocks as she increased the tempo of her lower body. Suzan pulled away from under him, changed her position. Crouching in front of him on the bed, she sucked his penis into her mouth and let her tongue play around the swollen head. She didn’t pull away when he came, swallowed his stuff, something she had never done before. He was only dimly aware that Mai Ling had stopped moving behind him. Her belly was pressed hard against his buttocks and the sharp nails of her fingers dug into his hips. The object she had pushed into him seemed to have grown. He felt it throb and pulsate and with every shuddering pulse it shot a stream of warm liquid into his interior. Mai Ling’s teeth bit painfully into his shoulder, trying to stifle her ragged screams. Suzan released him then, looked up at him with an innocent look in her green eyes. The thing inside his anus had shrunk and it slipped out of him with a soft ’plop’. He turned around, looked at Mai Ling, stared at the limp rope-like thing hanging below her belly. “No dildo,” he said weakly and sat down at the edge of the bed. Mai Ling smiled. “No dildo,” she agreed and touched her penis. “This is the real thing.” “But you have breasts and a vagina. How…?” She shrugged. “Even though I think of myself as a woman, I am actually what is called a hermaphrodite. I was blessed with a male and female organs.” She chuckled. “Some people might say I’m a freak, but it sure opens up all kinds of possibilities. Don’t you think so?” Suzan wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Did you have a nice climax?” she asked. “More than one. I didn’t think it was possible.” He looked around. “Where is the other woman?” The candles flickered again. Robert thought he heard subdued laughter coming from the living room. Then the old clock chimed once. 82

SWEET REVENGE “What other woman?” Suzan asked and slipped from the bed to face him.. “She said her name was Katja.” Robert looked from Suzan to Mai Ling, who shook her head. “There was no other woman,” Mai Ling said. “Just Suzan and I.” “Well…who did I…?” Robert rubbed his forehead. He could feel the beginning of a headache. “I didn’t imagine her. I swear there was another woman. Lying right beside us on the bed.” “What did she look like?” Suzan asked. Robert shrugged. “I never saw her face, just her body. She was thin. Small, sagging breasts.” The wine he had consumed seemed to be rushing to his head. His face was burning. Maybe he shouldn’t tell them that he had sex with a woman who might turn out to be a product of his imagination. “Did you say her name was Katja?” Mai Ling asked. Nodding, he said, “That’s what she told me.” With a quick glance at Suzan, Mai Ling studied him thoughtfully. “You know, I am somewhat familiar with the history of this house. At one time a Russian woman named Katja was a resident here. The story goes that she used to invite gentlemen to her house, usually strangers who traveled through town. When they didn’t satisfy her sexual cravings she murdered them by putting poison into their wine. Buried their bodies in the backyard. One of the gentlemen stayed alive long enough to strangle her. Now her ghost roams the house, waiting. She’s still looking for a man to satisfy her.” Robert gave a choked laugh. “Come on, now you talk just like Suzan. There are no ghosts in this house. Besides, how do you know so much about it?” Mai Ling smiled. “I live only a few blocks away from here. I’m one of your neighbors. This house of yours has quite a history. Maybe some day you should get interested in it. You may be surprised what you find. By the way, once she attaches herself to a man, she will visit him night after night and fuck him until he dies of exhaustion.” Robert snorted, smiled crookedly. “Not really a bad way to go.” “You think so? Apparently, the last two owners of this house died of a heart attack. Both were young men.” 83

SWEET REVENGE “Let’s assume ghosts really exist and this story is true. What would make this woman appear?” Mai Ling looked at Suzan; her eyes glanced at something on the night table. “She’d appear if someone were to summon her, someone who had the knowledge to do so.” Robert followed Mai Ling’s eyes, stared at the open deck of Tarot cards on the night table, and then at Suzan, saw her watching him. “Did you do your voodoo-stuff again?” he asked her. “It’s not voodoo,” Suzan said. “It’s witchcraft.” “Same thing. Did you?” Her green eyes were large when she looked at him. “Do you love me, Robert?” “You know I do.” “So why do you cheat on me?” She lifted a hand. “No, don’t try to deny it. I know about your little affairs. It only means one thing; I don’t satisfy your sexual cravings. Mai Ling told me about Katja, so I thought I should let you meet her. Two people who can’t seem to get satisfaction, doesn’t that sound like poetic justice?” She smiled. “Did she satisfy you? Watch me satisfy Mai Ling.” She bent forward, steadied herself against the dresser and pushed up her rump. Mai Ling moved behind her. Below her flat belly, her penis had grown stiff. She put it between Suzan’s fleshy cheeks, let it touch the puffy vagina-lips and with deliberate slowness she pushed it into her. Suzan moaned, began to rotate her pelvis. Mai Ling’s hips slammed into Suzan’s pumping buttocks. Suzan cried out as an orgasm shook her body. Robert put his hands to his ears and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the millions of tiny crickets inside his head. This is a nightmare, he thought. He felt cool fingers fondling his penis. Against his will his body reacted. Keeping his eyes closed, he mumbled, “Let me wake up, please, let me wake up. This can’t be happening.” Someone straddled him, sank into his lap. Naked soft breasts pressed into his chest. A hand grabbed his penis, guiding it through a thick mass of hair. Fire raced through his body as his rigid organ was sucked deep into a tight sheath of hot flesh. 84

SWEET REVENGE When he opened his eyes, he looked into a woman’s lined face. She smiled and asked, “Are you the one who will satisfy me?” Then she crushed her lips against his, forced her tongue into his mouth. She tasted of musk and strawberries and old linen. Through the tangled mass of the woman’s gray-streaked hair he could see Suzan’s smiling face. “Happy Anniversary, honey,” she said softly.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Imari Jade, is New Orleans newest emergent of romantic erotica. From contemporary to the paranormal, join her as she weaves her tales of hot passion mixed with a pinch of Cajun Spice that tantalizes the senses, unbridles your emotions and that will send you running for a cold shower. Author of the award-winning tale Old Adages and Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number.

Midnight Showcase, A Rose By Any Other Name. Visit her at her website at http://imarijade.bravehost.com

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A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME by Imari Jade The room was dimly lit, but the glow from the streetlight outside allowed her a good look at the action taking place in the motel room directly across the courtyard from where she sat. She never considered herself a voyeur, but at the moment she was intrigued by what she saw. The muscles in Maceio’s back rippled like waves in the ocean as he moved his hips back and forth. Her eyes drifted down slowly to his tight and muscular behind. Sweat rolled down his back as he struggled to hold up the woman’s generous hips and thighs. She felt her own body come alive with need as he moved. He always had that effect on her. All she had to do was take one look at his nice tight body and she got all wet between the legs. She lowered the binoculars just enough so she could free herself of her underwear. She touched herself and moaned. Her clitoris was big and thick like a mini penis, and it grew larger as she moved her index finger slowly against it. She raised the binoculars again with her free hand. Maceio slowly shifted positions so that the woman’s behind and legs rested against his stomach and her feet rested against both sides of his collarbones. He plunged deep inside her hole until it looked as though he was trying to get both his balls inside. She swallowed. The sight of his big thick balls bouncing rhythmically against the bottom of the woman’s behind made her stomach tighten. She could not hear the conversation, but she could imagine the words that were whispered in the darkened room as Maceio’s long, thick penis slid inside the woman’s quivering wet hole. He slowly withdrew, allowing only the bulb of his erection to remain inside. He moved his narrow hips slowly back and forth, teasing the 87

SWEET REVENGE woman with such sweet pleasure. Her legs trembled with each movement and then she saw the muscles in Maceio’s behind tighten as he tried not to climax. Keisha slid a finger deep inside of herself. It was a poor substitute. She pushed a second one inside. This added width, but she needed length to reach the real ache. She needed something. Lucky for her she never traveled too far without her trusted arsenal. She took her sticky fingers out of her vagina and reached down for her bag. Maceio was still struggling to keep from exploding as he lubricated the other woman’s anus with lube. She searched frantically through the bag until her hand hit her traveling vibrator. She pulled it out, turned it on and eased it inside her swollen lips as Maceio slid his condomcovered erection inside of the woman. She saw the woman stiffen. Serves her right, she thought. I hope he splits her in two. Maceio slammed into the woman again. The move was just a little too much. She shoved the vibrator deeper. It just wasn’t fair that she had to masturbate while the other woman enjoyed being impaled on Maceio’s thickly veined cock. Her body shook with need. It had been so long since he touched her or made love to her. She had suspected for some time now that he sought other outside interests, and this was what led her to be where she was now, in a cheap motel room spying on him to prove that her instincts were right. Waves of passion overtook her at the same time that Maceio’s body tensed and shook. Keisha sat back exhausted in the chair. The vibe eased itself out, leaving her quivering. She sighed. This was not the way to have a healthy relationship. **** “What’s up babe?” Maceio asked her when he came home later that evening. His clothes were a bit wrinkled, but he had sense enough to shower before he came home to her. She had known him most of her life, but it wasn’t until that very moment that she saw him for what he really was…a lousy, scheming, two-timing asshole. And there he was smiling in her face like she was supposed to be none the wiser as to what he had been up to earlier that evening. “Nothing much,” she replied as she removed her glasses from her eyes, and pushed the novel she was reading aside. “What’s up with you?” she asked like she expected him to confess. 88

SWEET REVENGE “Nothing much. What’s for dinner?” He asked that question countless times in the five years they lived together, and for the first time she wanted to tell him, shit.. Her being a gourmet chef in her own restaurant kept his stomach full, and paid all the bills. She guessed that was the problem. She was too stupid to realize until now that Maceio was lazy and a whore-monger, and by her doing everything for him only enabled him to continue his lifestyle of being a louse. “Gumbo,” she said as she watched him slide onto the sofa. “Dish me up some,” he said as he reached for the remote control. He turned the television on and shrugged out of his suit jacket and loosened his tie. She rose from the chair and looked down at him as she passed on the way to the kitchen. This was it, the final straw. She would feed his lazy ass this time, but no more. She had had it with him. **** Maceio showered again and moved into the bedroom, and was flipping through the television stations when she came into the room. She showered quickly and then eased herself into a slinky black negligee that she had purchased on a whim. She slipped her feet into a pair of three inched black-laced slippers and stepped out of the bathroom. She purposely walked in front of the television so he could see her. She felt his eyes as they ran territorially over her body. She was not vain, but she knew she had a spectacular body, and she gotten more than one or two appreciative glances in her lifetime, but at the moment she only wanted him to see her. The gown dipped incredibly low in the front, exposing the ripe curves of her brown breasts. The back plunged low just above the rounded curves of her behind. She walked slowly so he could get the full impact. “Damn, you look good,” he said, taking his eyes off the television. She giggled and walked over to her side of the bed. She slid beneath the covers and he rolled over to her side, wrapping his arms around her possessively, and inhaling in the freshness of her hair. She felt the stiffness of erection as it rose. He pushed it near her buttocks. He lifted her hair and kissed her on the neck.

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SWEET REVENGE “Not tonight,” she said. “I have a headache.” There was no way she was going to let him touch her after screwing some slut. She heard him groan and he flipped over on his side. **** “Are you going to be late tonight?” Maceio asked her as she dressed to go to work. He wore a white tee shirt and a pair of blue drawstring pajama pants, and he sat at the table shoveling cereal into his mouth while simultaneously reading the sports section of the newspaper. “Yes,” she said. “We’re hosting a big political event, and you know how those things are?” Of course he didn’t since he was never interested in that aspect of the business. Her restaurant “Lexis” was fine enough to visit when he wanted to entertain his no account, ex-high school football player friends, but let her suggest that he wash a plate or bus a table and he quickly reminded her that the restaurant was her thing and not his. Well until he found a job he wouldn’t have a thing. He had been trying to find himself for six years since he graduated from college. What good was a degree in journalism if he didn’t put it to use. He had mentioned something recently about having an interview with a local magazine, but never said when or where. Both his mother and hers tried to warn her, but at the time she was so much in love with him that she did not see his imperfections. Now she realized he had many, one being he loved to chase other women. She finished her coffee, reached for her keys and left out of the back door. **** Keisha didn’t recognize the car that was parked in her driveway she returned home later that night. She thought that it was probably one of Maceio’s friends who often dropped by to watch a game or something. The benefit ended earlier than she expected, but she was tired and needed a good night’s sleep, so she hoped they wouldn’t keep her up with all that noise. She entered the house. The first thing that caught her attention was that most of the downstairs lights were off. The second thing that caught her attention was a pair of whitelaced bikini panties on the table in her kitchen. She eased the door closed and tiptoed through the house like a thief in the night. She eased her way up the stairs, egged on by muffled sounds of pleasure. 90

SWEET REVENGE She followed the sound down the hall to the guest bedroom and found Maceio down on his knees with his face buried between the legs of some woman, whose hands were tied to the headboard of the bed. Neither of them heard nor saw her as she crept away from the door and downstairs to wait. She wished he could have seen the look on his face when he saw her standing in the kitchen holding up the panties with the edge of a pencil. “I can explain everything,” he said. His giggling partner in crime came up on the side of him. She wasn’t much to look at nude, kind of cute, with big boobs and wide hips. Her red-blonde cornrows were in bad need of rebraiding, and she had a nasty little tattoo of a tiger’s paw on her right breast. “Whose this bitch?” the woman asked Maceio. Maceio tried to silence her. “I’m the bitch who owns this house, and whose man you just got finished screwing.” The woman took a step back, like her life had been threatened. She made no attempt to get at either of them, but she just stood there waving the panties in the air. “I suppose these trifling things are yours?” She tossed them at the young woman. Maceio stood there, wide-eyed and cock-sure like he had been caught with his hands in the cookie jar, but was going to get away with it because she was foolish enough to fall for his charms. “You told me that this was your house,” the young woman said. “It is baby,” he said. “Go put some clothes on while I smooth this over.” The young woman sneered at her and tossed her braids with an attitude like she had won something, and went in search of the rest of her clothes. “I can explain,” Maceio said. “Save it,” Keisha said. “Just get that bitch out of my house.” **** Two days later she caught the two of them again, and this time they were in her bed. “I want you out of my house,” Keisha told him. “Tonight.” Apparently he thought she was playing. He seemed shocked to find his things outside on the sidewalk when he returned. It took the locksmith a few minutes to arrive and re-key the locks while he was gone, and only a few more minutes for her to cancel every credit card she fool91

SWEET REVENGE ishly got for him in her name. He hollered, ranted and raved for nearly an hour before he took the hint that he wasn’t getting back inside. He tossed his things into his jeep and drove off. She didn’t care where he went, just as long as it wasn’t in her house. **** A couple of days passed before she spoke to him. He called to apologize and tried to worm his way back into her heart and her home. “Thanks, but no thanks,” she said, and then she hung up the phone. He tried to talk to her a couple more times that week, but she ignored him. He tried to tell her that he had an interview set up, and she continued to ignore him. She was not happy or pleased with him, and there was nothing he could do to help the situation. She supposed she should have just gone on with her life and forget about him, but it wasn’t in her nature. All she thought about the last couple of days was exacting some type of revenge on him. Screwing one of his friends was not an option, since she despised most of them, and she wasn’t whorish enough to pick up some stranger in the street. She was glad that she had not married him, and even gladder that they had always practiced safe sex. She had no idea how many other women he had been with, but at least she knew she wasn’t going to be a statistic just because he couldn’t keep it in his pants. **** He had the gall to show up at her restaurant the next day accompanied by his mother. She guessed he thought she would fall apart and forgive him if his mother was there to make it right. She had to admit that he did look good in the black suit she had given him, and he had accented it with a red dress shirt that looked good against his creamy brown skin. His hair was freshly cut, and he was clean-shaven, and reminded her a lot of the Maceio she fell in love with years ago, but the table turned on him when his mother just sat there eating her dinner instead of helping him plead his case. She said goodbye to Eleanor as they rose to leave, and appreciated the wink the older woman gave her for coming to her senses. As sort of revenge, Maceio returned the next night with the corn rowed slut, and a couple of his friends, but instead of anger she felt sad that he would stoop to such tactics to make her jealous. 92

SWEET REVENGE She didn’t realize how lonely the night could be. She reached for the remote control and tried to find something on the television, but it wasn’t until she saw a couple making out on the screen that she realized that she had turned on the DVD instead of the television. It was probably Maceio’s tape, since she never owned or rented porno, or had ever seen a porno movie. She had always been curious, so she cranked up the volume and settled back. Okay, she thought ten minutes later, watching the tape hadn’t been a smart thing, now she was alone, depressed and seriously horny. She reached for her arsenal, lubed herself up and went to work to put out the roaring fire between her legs. Sometimes during the wee hours of the morning she drifted off in an exhausted sleep. **** “This is Rose,” Maceio said, introducing the young woman to her at the restaurant. “Her father owns Majesty Magazine.” “Nice to meet you, Rose,” Keisha said. This one was pretty and dressed for success. She could see Maceio trying to make a face behind Rose’s back like he was pleading for her not to tell on him. “Keisha’s an old friend,” he said. “And she’s one of the best chefs in town.” He never complimented her on her cooking, so Rose must have been someone special to him, or someone he was trying to use. And what was this old friend thing? She offered them two menus. “I’ll send a waiter over for your orders,” she said. “I have to get back to the kitchen.” She reached out to shake the young woman’s hand, and Rose squeezed hers and smiled at her. After dinner Rose came to the kitchen to compliment her on the meal, and to give her a card. “The food is exquisite,” she said. She smiled again, taking Keisha’s hand in hers, and then she left. Keisha shook her head and put the card in her pocket without looking at it. She pulled it out a few days later. Rose was a food critic for her father’s magazine. She scribbled her cell phone number on one side of the card, and wrote, “Call me” on the back. Maybe it was the way Rose smiled at her, or the way she touched her hand, but there was something different about the young woman. She picked up the telephone and dialed the number. “I was hoping you’d call,” Rose said. “I’d like to feature your restaurant in our magazine.” 93

SWEET REVENGE Keisha was not one to turn down free advertisement, especially since it could draw paying customers into her restaurant. “What would it involve?” she asked. “Just an interview and some pictures,” Rose said. “You pick the time and the place.” “I’m flexible,” Keisha said. “Fine. Would it be okay if I bring a camera crew in tomorrow to watch you prepare meals?” “Sounds fine,” Keisha said. “About sevenish?” ”We’ll be there,” Rose said. **** The guests didn’t seem to mind the cameras, so Keisha went about her business like they weren’t there. Later, over dinner she and Rose talked, and she found out that the two of them had a lot in common. One such thing was Maceio. Apparently the two of them had been dating for a number of months. So that’s where the “an old friend” line had come from. He never told Rose about his involvement with her. She snickered. She would play along to see where it led, especially since Rose didn’t seem like the kind to let a man walk all over her. The next day the two of them had lunch together. Rose chose the place, a cozy little family owned Italian restaurant in the French Quarters. The food was delicious and the two of them laughed and talked like they were old friends. “I think Maceio is cheating on me,” she said. Keisha nearly choked on the food she had in her mouth. “Why would you think a thing like that?” “There’s been signs and unexplained phone calls,” she said. “Have you confronted him?” Keisha asked as they left the restaurant. “No, not yet, but you’re an old friend of his, do you think he’s capable of cheating?” “Anything’s possible,” Keisha said. Rose started to cry. Keisha put her arms around the young woman. “I think we need to talk.” **** She felt kind of bad for filling Rose in on Maceio’s sorted past, but it wasn’t fair for her to subject another young woman to his cheating ways. She suspected he had taken up with Ms. Cornrows again, 94

SWEET REVENGE and now here she was in a motel room again, spying on him for Rose. He didn’t even have the decency to pick a different motel, or chose another room. He and the woman stepped inside the same room as last time. Keisha went in and rented the same room she had previously occupied and waited for Rose to arrive. “What are we doing here?” Rose asked. “You’ll see,” Keisha said. “Just sit right here and look through these.” She handed her binoculars. A few minutes later she heard Rose gasped. “That’s Maceio, “ she said. “And he’s with some woman.” “Keep watching,” Keisha said as she pulled a second chair up to the window and raised her binoculars. “He’s removing his clothes,” Rose said. She lowered her binoculars. “I think I’ve seen enough,” she said. “Nonsense,” Keisha said. “The good part is just starting.” Rose raised her binoculars. “I feel so wicked,” she said. “And pissed off.” “Yeah,” I know what you mean,” Keisha said with a triumphant smile on her face. She didn’t think Maceio was going to get that job at the magazine. “And to think I was going to put in a good word for him with daddy,” she said. Nope, Keisha thought. I don’t think he’s going to get it. “I want to boil him in oil,” Rose said as she watched him screw the other woman. “I’m glad that I found out about him before I did anything foolish. And to think I was about to offer him a key to my apartment.” She lowered the binoculars. “I want to get even with him,” she said. “You already have,” Keisha said. And she couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he learned that he wasn’t going to get that job, and that she was the one who told Rose about his escapades. “It’s hot in here,” Rose said. She kept on hand on the binoculars and opened a couple of buttons at the top of her blouse. Keisha felt a wave of emotions go through her body at the sight of Rose’s rounded breasts, along with Rose’s hand on her leg. “Have you ever been with a woman?” Rose asked, allowing her hand to go even higher. 95

SWEET REVENGE “No,” Keisha said. “But I’ve been curious about what it would be like.” She paused as Roses fingers fiddled with the elastic at the leg of her panties. “Have you?” “Many times,” Rose said. Keisha’s head went back as Rose’s fingers found their mark. A few minutes later they lay at each ends of the bed with their faces buried between each other’s legs. Keisha supposed she should have been freaked out by the entire situation, but the fact was that she enjoyed the way Rose’s tongue caressed her lips and sensually worked its way inside of her. She had no idea what she was supposed to do, so she repeated Rose’s actions. Rose quivered and flooded her face and mouth with her sweet juices. Keisha licked her lips. Rose tasted delicious. “Your turn,” Rose said, joining her at the top of the bed. She reached into her big purse and brought out a tube of lubrication and a strap on penis. Keisha giggled. The fact that another young woman had a traveling arsenal made her feel less like a freak. Moments later Rose shoved the dildo so far up inside of her that she exploded on contact. Rose held her and kissed her until the waves subsided. “Is it always this good?” Keisha asked once her breathing returned to normal. “Always,” Rose said. “And to think we have Maceio’s cheating ass to thank.” Keisha sighed and snuggled up next to Rose. “Maecio who?” she asked.

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Betrayal: A Love Story by Marcella

“Well, hello!” Surprised, I looked up, then took a moment to place the smiling face and the curly blond hair. “Phil!” He bowed. “At your service.” “When did you blow into town?” It had been five years since I had seen him. I heard he graduated from college last year, but hadn’t heard much since. “Just another fart in the wind, I guess,” he smiled. ‘Don’t say that! I bet you’re in grad school now, right? You were a pretty bright guy, as I remember... Hey, sit down, won’t you?” I was snuggled in the corner of a booth in The Rendezvous, an upscale lounge, nursing my drink and crossing and uncrossing my legs. It’s where Bill and I usually came—when he was home. They know me here, and nobody bothers me. Phil sat across from me. “You’re right about grad school.” Back in high school, Phil had been a bit of a nerd. At least, he was no partygoer, and was not afraid to be seen studying even when no exam was pending. Yet he and I had dated once in senior year. Nothing hot and heavy; just dinner and a bit of post-prandial parking. But I had not seen him since graduation, about five years ago. As he spoke, I remembered one thing I liked about him, his rich baritone voice, which resonated like a cello. “You enjoying it?” 97

SWEET REVENGE He nodded. “Yep.” Of course he would. Reading books, writing papers—right up his alley. But looking at him, I noticed he was kind of cute behind those glasses. “How about you, Marcella? What’re you doing now?” “I’m married. To Bill Summers. Remember him?” “Sure. Handsome guy. So how’s marriage?” Without thinking, I said, “It’s okay.” Phil looked at me. “I mean…Bill’s away a lot. You know, business.” I knew that when he came back, he would be loaded with clothes he had picked out for me. Usually clinging, revealing, clothes. “Oh. So what do you do when he’s not around?” “Survive day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.” I didn’t add that it was pretty much the same when Bill was around. I had married the guy everyone expected me to marry. You know, prom queen marries football captain. But I will say, Bill is a good provider. And for a few months, we had fun. “Bored?” “Let’s say ennuyé. It sounds more picturesque.” “No need to be. Life is possibility.” I felt a pained smile forming. “No, it’s not. It’s necessity.” When the sexy waitress came, Phil ordered a sour. Though she was stunning, he gave her only a glance, then turned his attention to me, kind of studying me. But there was no detachment in his appraisal. His gaze was intense—so intense that I felt a little uncomfortable…and flattered. I had to say something. “So I guess you’re not married or—anything?” “Nothing. Too busy to keep a romance going.” “That’s a pity.” “Don’t I know.” Phil and I continued to chat while downing a couple more drinks. Then we discovered that we didn’t want to part so soon. Carpe diem, I guess. Anyway, the upshot was that I found myself in Phil’s car, parked at the spot he had taken me that time we did go out. Back in Springer’s Woods, behind the Methodist church, of all places. Above us was a cathedral ceiling of arched oak branches, and beyond that, a full moon. 98

SWEET REVENGE Only when we parked did I wonder what I was doing here. But my feeling of disorientation was overcome by a sense of expectancy. Phil leaned back, opened the window. “Remember this place?” I nodded, smiling. “Yeah, when we dated.” “I consider that a missed opportunity.” I blushed, but said nothing. The scent of honeysuckle wafted in through the window. Then I realized that it was the odor I associated with Phil, going back to that time five years ago. I closed my eyes. Phil moved closer, and next thing I knew he was kissing me. After a momentary resistance (mainly because I was surprised), I got into it. Even though he never inserted his tongue, it was a pretty passionate kiss. Maybe he was making up for lost time. When he withdrew, we just looked at each other. “You know,” he said, I’ve always been in love with you.” My heart popped. “I—I never knew.” His melodious voice made the statement into something profound. I felt myself shiver a little, even though only the slightest spring chill was in the air. It was the merry month of May, like that first date. “I was a jerk. Except for that one date, about all I could do was worship you from afar. Even before I met you, I had an image of an ideal girl. And I was struck dumb—literally—when I first saw you at school. I was tongue-tied and weak-kneed in your presence, and that’s why I never asked you out again.” He shook his head. “I was such a clod.” I said nothing, but I did remember his open-mouthed stare when he first saw me. And I thought, That was then; this is now. He then bent over and kissed my left breast. At this I recoiled, and pushed his head away. “Hey, I’m married. Remember? So we can’t—shouldn’t—do, you know, anything.” “Okay, but may I see your breasts?” He grinned impishly. “What! You’re kidding, right? I mean—you know... I’m married,” I concluded lamely. “I’ve already seen them, you know”—smirking. I cast my mind back to that other night in his car. I remembered that no clothes had come off. “I don’t think so. When could you have seen them?” “Well, I’ve seen pictures of them.” 99

SWEET REVENGE “I don’t see how.” He smiled. “Did you forget that spread in Men’s Mag?” “Huh? Whoever it was, it wasn’t me.” “Well, then, it was a girl who looked exactly like you. Spit ‘n’ image. And she was named Marcella Summers.” A bolt of electricity shot through me, as I remembered posing topless for Bill in our bedroom. He had taken pictures from every angle. I buried my head in my hands. “Oh, God,” I moaned. “I didn’t know.” “I guess your husband...” I nodded. “Without your knowledge?” I nodded again. That son of a bitch! “He told me he just wanted something to remember my by when he was away.” Phil leaned back thoughtfully. With a sudden resolution, I undid my blouse, leaned forward, and unhooked my bra. Shedding both blouse and bra, I turned to Phil. “Well, since you’re already seen them...” “Wow! You know, the photo spread was called ‘A Perfect Pair.’ But they were only pictures. Wow!” He leaned over and gently, almost reverently, kissed both nipples. They responded with erections. Looking at me, as if for approval, he began to stroke my breasts—stroke, fondle, and caress. I leaned toward him. We embraced. This time, he did insert his tongue, and I reciprocated. After a minute or two, we broke apart—fortunately, I thought. An idea occurred to me. “I didn’t think you were the Men’s Mag type.” He smiled ruefully. “Remember I told you I had no time for romance? “ Then it hit me. “So you—pleasure yourself?” I thought of him masturbating as he drank in my C-cups. “I’m afraid so.” Then another, more devastating thought occurred. Just before he left, Bill had taken nude pictures of me. Stark naked. And “spread” would be the right word when they were published, as I’m sure they would be. That son of a bitch! I told Phil about Bill’s duplicity. Then added, “Would you like a sneak preview?” He replied in a voice I found more and more enchant100

SWEET REVENGE ing—enchanting and hypnotic, despite his kidding tone “Of course not! What do you take me for?” He smiled. “Er, you need some help with your skirt?” This time I sat up to let him take my skirt off. So there I sat, clad only in panties and heels, in the car of a guy not my husband, that son of a bitch. I now began to feel the passion behind Phil’s kisses, as his exploratory hands touched all the right buttons—all except the button. Small beads of perspiration stood out on Phil’s forehead. I looked down at my body. It was glistening. And goose bumps raced back and forth across my front. I quivered. I guess being pissed at a sneak of a husband can be a powerful aphrodisiac. But it was more than being pissed. It was a disenchantment. Now Phil began to slide my panties down—with agonizing slowness. As Phil worked on me, I began to put a few things together, like how Bill always bought me sexy clothes, and took me to upscale spots, where half the men feasted their eyes on me. At such moments, Bill was in his glory. I realized that I was a trophy wife. I sat up to let Phil pull my panties down my thighs, then down my calves, and finally off my feet. I was nervous, feeling exposed and vulnerable. But above all, I was excited. “God, Marcella, you’re so beautiful it hurts.” He sat back to get the full effect. I stopped thinking. I smiled, but said nothing. The truth of the matter is that I’m not bad looking, but I’m no Catherine Deneuve—or Jenna Jameson, for that matter. I think his remark was love speaking. I do know how to wear clothes, but of course that’s not the issue at the present moment. Then everything seemed to take place in slow motion. I watched a cloud sail across the moon. Phil looked at me. “I think you’re hiding something between your legs. Perhaps I should investigate.” “Maybe you should launch a probe.” He took me in his arms as his hand covered my crotch, his finger moving up and down on my labia. Then he inserted the finger. I flinched. I listened to the katydids, as Phil knelt in front of me, gently spread my thighs, and buried his face in my crotch. As his tongue flicked my pussy lips, I squirmed. This was a new experience. 101

SWEET REVENGE I needed something to hold onto, and I gripped Phil’s head for dear life. As I did, his tongue entered me, and I felt wide enough for him to put his head in. Without quite knowing what I was seeing, I looked up at the moon, as pleasure surged through me. Above, I thought I was seeing a giant pearl. The oak branches formed a chapel—and I was the goddess being worshipped. My pulse raced, yet I felt a deep inner peace, a high-pitched juncture of soul and body. Music welled up within me, but no words came. Instead, I did—one long spasm. I was drained. It felt right to sit next to Phil, fully exposed. I had always been faithful to Bill, but now a barrier had been crossed. As they used to say in high school, Phil and I were about to “go all the way.” Meeting no resistance, I unzipped him. He cooperatively sat up as I took down his pants and shorts, which wasn’t as easy as it sounds, because of certain physiological reactions Phil was experiencing. I pulled him down on top of me. His insertion was breathtaking. This was the point of no return. I liked his pacing—no furious pistoning in and out, but a steady stroking. And I felt him throbbing within me as he stroked. Our lips sealed together. I throbbed too, as I tightened on him. This was ecstasy. Afterward, Phil said, “Still think life is necessity?” “Yep. And I think this was necessary.” This time, my smile was unforced. I’m in love.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Cynthia Rayne has earned a B.A. in Sociology and a M.Ed in Counseling, but writing is her true passion. Visit Cynthia at her blog. http://www.livejournal.com/users/angeldevotee/

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Screwed by Cynthia Rayne Seducing a married man wasn’t something that Annie never ever thought she’d be doing. Yet, that was exactly what she’d planned tonight. Annie’s hands gripped the steering wheel, as she pulled into the driveway of her friend’s suburban home. Normally, she was a woman who didn’t think twice about giving in to her desires, but she suddenly felt assailed by second thoughts. After all, the married man in question belonged to Annie’s best friend, Julie Monroe. Annie held no doubt that Steven Monroe wanted her. They’d never spoken about it, but she knew that he was just as aware of her in a room as she was of him. And she wanted him, desperately. She wasn’t sure what it was about him exactly. The way his blue eyes seemed to hold a bit of mischief? Maybe it was his infectious laughter? Whatever it was, Annie wanted him and tonight she would have him. This was the only way they could be together. Annie had no illusions about what Steven wanted from her, and she certainly wasn’t in love with him. Blowing out a breath, Annie grabbed up her purse and got out of the car. Not even bothering to see if anyone was looking, she eased off her pink panties and tossed them on the front seat. She wouldn’t need them tonight. She found him at his desk down in the den. Steven was surrounded by a pile of bills and busily entering some figures into a calculator, which whirred every time he added the sum. His wire-framed glasses were perched on the end of his nose. He was impeccably dressed as ever, in his khaki trousers and button-down shirt. It was probably her imagination, but Annie thought his wedding band seemed to sparkle in the darkness. He was the very picture of a husband—someone else’s husband. 104

SWEET REVENGE Annie smoothed her long dark brown hair and licked her glossed lips. “Hello, Steven,” she said, making her voice a little softer than usual. “Hello there, Annie. What are doing over there, lurking in the dark?” Steven asked, eyeing her. Annie was a bombshell. She had a pretty face with big breasts and legs that wouldn’t quit. He’d had quite a few fantasies starring Annie. She wasn’t like the usual skanky girls, he’ been forced to fuck since he’d gotten married. Steven had been slumming for years because he couldn’t risk his wife finding out and divorcing him. Julie had an antiquated view of adult relationships. He’d be damned if he’d be taken to the cleaners for a hot piece of ass. “I’m not lurking. I’m looking,” she drawled. “And let me just say, you look very handsome tonight.” Steven was in his late thirties with salt and pepper hair and a physique that was in very good shape. Julie said that he ran every morning. “Well, thank you.” His eyes twinkled, but there was a hint of apprehension in his face. “You know, Julie’s gone for the weekend. She took the kids to her mother’s place upstate.” While he loved the occasional masturbation scenario involving Annie on her knees, he wasn’t willing to risk very much to make it happen. “I know.” Annie was only too aware of the fact. “She said I could borrow one of her dresses.” “Got a hot date?” Steven teased, surreptitiously sneaking a peek at her breasts, which were pressed up tight against her shirt. He wondered if she let anyone fuck those big melons. He bet she did, she seemed like a dirty girl underneath it all. “As a matter of fact, yes.” She grinned. “And I’m hoping he’ll take one look at me in the dress I plan on wearing and have at me.” “In that case, I hope you get it dry cleaned,” Steven said, with a haughty laugh. His mouth suddenly went a little dry. Something felt different tonight. Annie loved to flirt with him, too, but she seemed serious tonight. She bit her lower lip and studied her shoe. “Well, I guess I’d better get that dress.” Annie turned to go. “I’ll come with you. I could use a break,” Steven said, throwing his pencil down. He wondered what she was up too. Annie smiled as he hurried after her to the stairway. She made sure to wiggle her ass as she moved. She knew that he could see up her skirt 105

SWEET REVENGE from his vantage point behind her. Annie hoped he was enjoying the view. Especially since she’d forgone her panties just for him. “So, why didn’t you go with Julie?” she asked. When there was no response, she prompted. “Steven?” The sight of her tight ass and the enticing glimpse of her pussy had entranced Steven. It was so close, he could just reach out his hand and it would be inside that hot, sweet cavern. “Oh, sorry. Uh, Jules wanted me to relax. She said I should go golfing or play tennis.” “And you decided to pay bills instead?” Annie said incredulously. Not by choice. Julie nagged until he paid the bills. He planned on going to a gentlemen’s club later on in the evening, but Annie didn’t need to know that. “No rest for the stressed. There’s always something to be done around here,” Steven said, a little bitterly. Annie agreed with him. It was one of the reasons she’d decided to stay single. She was only twenty-nine, but she never had the intention of being tied down, at least in the marital sense. They entered the bedroom and Annie crossed to the windows. “I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to open the drapes. It’s a little musty in here.” “Not at all,” Steven replied, watching her closely. She crossed to the closet. “I’m supposed to borrow her red dress with the low neckline.” Steven remembered that dress well. His wife had bought it shortly after they were married. His first child had been conceived while she was wearing it. Or rather, while it was lying in a heap of hastily discarded clothes in the corner of the room. “Aha!” Annie triumphantly pulled it out of the closet. It was no worse for the wear despite the fact that his wife hadn’t worn it in years. It was a typical tits on toast dress that was meant to show off a woman’s body rather than cover it. “Mind if I try it on?” “Not at all,” Steven said, sitting down on his wife’s bed. He could use some more masturbation material. Annie used the attached master bathroom and deliberately left the door ajar. If Steven looked in the cheval glass mirror in the corner of the bedroom, he could see every inch of her. And of course he watched. How could he not? Annie made sure to really make a show of it. She bent down and pulled the dress up her long, tanned legs and 106

SWEET REVENGE shimmied the dress up her trim thighs and over her shapely ass. Then she pulled the straps up and over her shoulders. But then she turned slightly and lifted her breasts at just the right angle. When she walked out of the room, she found Steven trying to hide his erection with a throw pillow. She walked out and presented him with her back. “Can you zip me up?” Steven stood up carefully. He made sure to keep their hips apart. He drew the zipper up slowly, taking care not to pinch her skin and also surreptitiously caressing her back with the tips of his fingers. “There, you’re all set,” he said reluctantly releasing her. “What do you think?” Annie asked as she did a little twirl in the dress. “Very nice,” he croaked. Nice? What did he know about dresses? What the hell was she trying to pull? Was this national cock tease day? He sat down on the bed and covered himself with the throw pillow once more. She looked at herself in the mirror. “Hmmm, no, I need stockings with this.” She pulled a pair from Julie’s third drawer, as if she already knew where his wife kept them. This all seemed a little planned. Julie knew he had a weakness for women in stockings and she indulged his little fetish once upon a time. Now, he was forced to put fine silk on whores just to get it up. She put her foot next to his knee on the bed. “Can you help me put this on?” When Steven looked over, he could clearly see a little cloud of soft, dark hair nestled between her thighs. If she was his toy, he’d make her shave it. Her delicate pink pussy lips were glossy and open. She was dripping wet and begging for his touch. “W-what are you doing?” “I think that’s a little obvious.” “You’re going to have to be even more obvious.” Steven was having trouble believing what was happening. “I want you,” she said simply. “I’m married,” Steven said gruffly but he unable to take his eyes off of her. “I know. I was the maid of honor.” “So, we shouldn’t—“ ”Of course we should. You want me to fuck me, don’t you?” Bal107

SWEET REVENGE ancing herself carefully, she spread her thighs a bit wider and put one fingertip between her vaginal lips. She couldn’t help but moan a little as she traced a path between them. She withdrew her finger, which was gilded with her juices and brought it to Steven’s mouth. “Taste me.” Steven’s tongue involuntarily rimmed his lips, hungry for his first taste of Annie. He finally focused on her face with limpid eyes. “What if she finds out?” “I won’t tell, if you won’t.” Steven couldn’t believe his ears. “You would fuck your best friend’s husband and keep it from her?” “I will if you will.” ”Besides, I think if Julie were to ever find out, which she won’t, she would be happy it was me, instead of some stranger you met in a seedy bar. Or, worse yet, have an affair with some woman you’d come to care for. This way your needs are being met.” “So, you want to be my little fuck toy, huh? Have you dreamed about this, you dirty girl?” “I want you to fuck me. Hard,” Annie said deliberately, touching the moistened fingertip to his lip. Steven became unbearably aroused by her overt sexual overture and the promise of using her delectable body. Her fingertip slipped into his mouth and he sucked the sweetness from it. He’d wanted this for ages and to finally be able to have it was bliss. It was almost too good to be true. When he finished, she withdrew her finger and slowly brought it to her collarbone, tracing a wet line down between the twin mounds of her breasts to her navel. With a grin, she reached inside the dress and withdrew each big tit. She popped them over the top of the cups of her bra, displaying herself for him. Steven groaned at the sight. Her nipples were dusky pink and standing stiffly at attention. Her breasts looked like ripe, rosy fruit. He’d been yearning to put his cock between them since he met her. “Come here, let me suck those.” She put both legs on the floor and bent down slightly. Steven filled his hands with her tits. He sucked on the left breast hungrily, like a newborn deprived of milk. The other breast, he kneaded with his palm like it was dough. Annie cradled his head as he suckled her. When he’d sated 108

SWEET REVENGE himself with her breasts, she pushed aside the pillow on his lap. His monstrous erection was trapped behind his trousers. “You’re going to fuck me aren’t you, Steven?” “Shut up. I’m in charge now.” He stood up and pressed her down on the bed. Steven hurriedly unbuckled his belt and undid his jeans. He was eager to be free of the constrictive material before he came in his own pants. Annie was one hot piece of ass. “Open your thighs, I want to see that pink pussy.” Annie obediently opened her legs, thrilled by his erotic dominion over her. “I have a condom. You should—” “No, I’m not wasting a condom on that. I want nothing between me and your cunt.” He traced the pouting pussy lips that were begging for his touch. “I’ll pull out and come on your stomach.” “Just hurry, please. It’s been three months for me. I’m going through a dry spell.” Annie said, teeth tugging at her lower lip. “Stop talking.” Steven put his hand between her legs and she rubbed herself against him, like a small hungry animal. “Do you want me?” “Yes!” Steven groaned as he freed himself and placed his thick cock between her slippery lips. “Do you want this deep inside you?” “Don’t tease,” Annie cried. Steven impaled her with his cock and he sank in deep. She looked at him with drowsy eyes, focusing on him as he ground himself inside her, rubbing her with his cock. He barely retreated from her womb. Steven’s hips bucked against hers. It had been so long since he had a fresh pussy like hers, he wasn’t going to last. He couldn’t stop himself; it just felt too damn good. He pulled out at the last possible second and stained her white belly with his rich seed. Annie wasn’t even close to coming. He collapsed beside her on the bed. Finally, he opened his eyes. Steven dragged her body across the bed, closer to him. He placed a hand on one of her breasts. “You were an amazing fuck.” “I didn’t come.” “Maybe I’ll make you come next time.” “I was hoping you’d lick me.” 109

SWEET REVENGE He placed his hand between her legs. “I don’t go down on girls, but I love a good blow job. Are you any good?” “I think that’s a little unfair.” “Your first mistake was thinking, Annie. It isn’t your strong suit.” Annie’s eyes filled with rage, but it dissipated quickly. “Then, how about fingering me?” “Fine.” With that, his hand delved between her nether lips, seeking her sweet little gem. He found the spot and rotated his thumb against it, making her hips buck reflexively. “You like that?” “Yes!” Steven played a little more, before reaching over to blow on her clitoris. Annie shivered and ground her sex against his hand, seeking release. “Do you want to come, Annie?” “Please!” “Beg me.” “Please, Steven!” He brought her over the edge quickly. Annie now knew why so many people had affairs, the lure of the forbidden was a powerful aphrodisiac. When she was back to herself, she noticed that Steven was sporting another erection. “My turn again.” Just then, the phone rang. Steven picked up the phone and launched into his concerned husband act, when he realized his wife was on the phone. Annie watched his once-sided conversation with curious cat’s eyes. With practiced ease, he lied to his wife. “No, honey, I wasn’t doing anything. I was sleeping. I must have dozed off.” Annie rolled her eyes. Finally, Steven hung up the phone. “How about another round?” “Can’t. I have a date.” “I was right. You are a bad girl. Are you actually going to fuck two men in one night?” He laid down on the bed, tucking his arms under his head. “Whatever.” Annie stood up slowly, unashamed of her nudity. Steven couldn’t help but watch greedily as she dressed herself. She blew him a mocking kiss as she prepared to open the door. “Are you going to tell Julie?” “Am I going to tell her? Of course not” Annie shook her head and left. 110

SWEET REVENGE From the car, she picked up her cell phone and dialed. “You were right. He fell for it. I can’t believe that either. What was he thinking? No woman in her right mind do that to her best friend—at least not for an asshole like him.” She paused. “I know I had some sort of a sexual crush on him, but I’m so over it. God, he is such a misogynist. I know he’s good in bed, but he keeps talking and you just want him to shut up and do the deed.” She paused, listening. “Yeah, the private detective got plenty of photos. I even opened the drapes.” She laughed. “Don’t be silly, honey. Photos don’t lie. You’re going to get one hell of a settlement.” Annie, pulled out onto the road. “You should have divorced him years ago, Julie.”

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