Chapter 11
There were still cantinas open when they walked through the plaza. There was raucous laughter and the loud blare of Mexican music. They went into the bar where she had left her suitcase and Kenny carried it for her.
She had been lugging it around for days, and now it was nice to have Kenny do it for her. She felt protected with him, more than with most men she had been with. It was wonderful to have a shoulder to lean on, someone to share her troubles.
And from the reception she had received at Warren Lasswell's house tonight, she was going to have trouble even seeing Brenda, let alone getting her away from the man who was destroying her.
The sad part about it, Brenda didn't want her to interfere, resented it bitterly in fact. But she would have to help Brenda in spite of herself.
They had been walking through a crisscross of narrow alleyways. And then the street they were on opened up into a small plaza, one side of which was formed by the wall of a church.
"We're almost there," Kenny said.
"I'm glad," she replied with a sigh. "After that bus ride from Monterrey, I'm bushed."
"We'll have you to bed in no time."
Again a tremor of suspicion shot through her. Was he taking her to his place for just what he could get out of her? She had been too easy where men were concerned. Too willing. In fact she was the worst kind of sucker, for when they had gotten from her what they wanted, they were through with her.
But she was changing all that. She had made up her mind. If she continued the way she had been going, she would soon be wallowing in filth and utter degradation, just as Lola was most likely doing this very moment.
She wanted more than that out of life. She wanted the affection and respect of a man. Someone like Kenny. The whole idea of doing anything for kicks was just so much romantic rot. The kind of thinking that could be found only in the gray world of the beatniks.
It was worse than rot. It was disgusting and stupid and destructive. It was destroying Lola and Brenda, but she wasn't going to let it destroy her.
So she had made up her mind to sleep tonight in Kenny's pad, because there was nothing else she could do. But she was going to keep it on her own level. Not another man was going to touch her until he had proven that he wanted her for herself, and not just for the pleasure of her body.
That included Kenny Ricketts.
Most especially Kenny.
"This is it," he said, taking her arm and steering her to a solid door between a couple of storefronts.
He pulled a key from his pocket and clicked it in the lock. They went in, climbed a flight of narrow stairs. At the top was a small patio with a few flowers and a small fountain. The roof was open to the sky.
Around the patio were a half dozen doors. Kenny unlocked one of them and followed her in.
It was a nice little place, very clean. So much cleaner than the hotel room she had slept in at Monterrey, she thought with a shudder of remembrance.
There was a very small kitchenette, a larger room with both a bed and a couch, also a small dinner table. An open door led to the bathroom, which was decorated with blue and white tile.
"You like it?" Kenny asked.
"It's very nice." She looked up at him. "You haven't told me what you do...."
"I guess I haven't," he replied with a smile.
"Are you an artist?"
"Nothing so romantic as that," he grinned "In fact I'm sort of a bum. Right now, anyhow. I was on a plane that cracked up when I was stationed with the Air Force in Germany. Spent a year in the hospital, and got a disability discharge. I'm living down here on the pension checks. I like it. You learn to enjoy a lot of things after lying on your back for a year in a hospital bed."
"You seem healthy enough," Elaine said.
"I'm fine now, except for a slight limp and a few pains in my back when the weather gets cold. Another reason for my living in Mexico."
He put her suitcase down beside the bed and moved toward her. When he reached out his hand she backed away, suddenly seized by confusion and a vague, gnawing fear.
"I'm sorry, Elaine," he said quickly. "I won't touch you. You must have had a bad experience to react like that."
"I've made a damned fool of myself over men," she said grimly. "And I've promised myself it won't happen again."
"Were you mistreated?" be said softly.
"No. Just used-"
"I understand." He gave her a warm smile that was reassuring. "I won't use you, Elaine. Of course I'm attracted to you. You're a pretty girl. I'll bet you're a beauty when you get fixed up and shed those grimy clothes."
She felt herself blushing. All at once she was ashamed of her appearance. She wanted Kenny to see her in a dress, to see her with her hair combed and her face made up. A month ago she would have thought it sounded square. But now she wanted to fix up for a man and see the appreciation in his eyes.
"I'm not afraid of you, Kenny," she said with assurance. "You seem like a nice guy."
"I try to be. You can stay here as long as you want, and I promise you'll be as safe as if you were my sister. Unless...."
"Unless I make the first move?" she asked quickly.
He nodded, still smiling down at her. There was something about his friendly smiling face that did things to her, soft things inside that she hadn't experienced for a long time.
"Would you like to clean up?" he asked.
"Would I?"
He motioned toward the bathroom. "Help yourself."
"Would you mind carrying my suitcase for me," she asked. "I really am tired of lugging it."
"Sure-" He set it on the bathroom floor. "Meanwhile I'll brew up some coffee and scramble a few eggs."
"Sounds great," she said brightly. "I'm starved."
She closed the door and climbed out of her dirty clothes. She'd been wanting a bath for a long time. Maybe it would wash off some of the filth she had wallowed in along with the dust she had picked up on the road.
Sliding the suitcase into the far corner away from the shower, she opened it. There was a dress. She had almost forgotten that she'd packed it. She decided to put it on for Kenny.
She wanted to watch the sparks light up in his eyes when he saw her looking like a woman instead of a road bum.
Eagerly she climbed into the shower and scrubbed herself almost raw. Then she toweled off, combed out her hair, and pulled on the dress.
It was only printed cotton, and it was wrinkled from being folded so long in the suitcase, but it made her look a million times better.
When she was satisfied with her appearance, she opened the door and stepped out. He stared at her for a long moment in silence, not undressing her with his eyes, just looking at her with a kind of tender yearning.
He made her feel that she was not so utterly depraved after all, that there was something good inside her, despite all the wanton, foolish things she had done.
"You're lovely," he said at last in a voice that was very calm and gentle.
She didn't know what to say. She merely blushed without replying. And then she felt a warm tenderness at his touch as he took her arm and led her to the table that was already set for two.
She was famished. She hadn't realized that she was so hungry until she started eating. When the eggs and toast were all gone, they continued to sit at the table and drink coffee. They said very little, though they looked at each other with a silent communion.
There was no awkwardness and no embarrassment, just mutual understanding, and perhaps the beginning of something else.
"Still hungry?" he said at last, "No, thanks. It was delicious."
"But you're tired...."
"Not now. Really," she said. And it was true. All at once the tiredness had left her, and she dreaded the thought of climbing into the bed alone. She felt like talking some more with Kenny. Perhaps all night.
"You should sleep," he said tenderly. "Tomorrow we have to get up early and start trying to help your sister."
She sighed.
"I suppose you're right-"
"Do you have pajamas or a nightgown?"
"No," she said with a laugh. "I've been laboring under the delusion that such things are hopelessly square."
"I'll lend you a pair of mine...."
"I don't need them. Really. They'd probably only annoy me. I'm in the habit of sleeping in the raw."
"Whatever you say," he replied gently. "I'll wait in the bathroom while you peel off and climb into bed."
"I'm not really that modest. If you'll just turn your back, it'll only take a second."
He smiled and gathered the dishes from the table. While he was stacking them in the kitchen, she slipped the dress over her head and climbed between the sheets.
Then he went to the closet and took a blanket down from the shelf. He was making himself a bed on the couch when she felt a strange longing, a yearning sensation of tenderness and affection.
She wanted to give herself to Kenny out of appreciation for the kindness he had shown her. She wanted to lie in his arms and get to know him better.
She tried to speak, then she swallowed dryly, knowing that her voice would quaver.
"Kenny-" It was almost a whisper.
He turned around and looked at her with warmth and sympathy in his soft gray eyes.
"What?"
She swallowed and lowered her gaze. Her face was actually flushed with embarrassment.
"I don't want to sleep alone," she murmured. "And I don't want you to have to sleep alone either."
"It's not very pleasant," he replied gently. "I know. I've done a lot of it the last few years...."
She felt her body trembling beneath the sheets, throbbing from the wild pulse of excitement that had suddenly come over her. She wanted him, and there was no denying it. She wanted him more than she had ever wanted another man in her life. And she knew that this time it would be something different, not the wanton coupling of two bodies for pure, physical pleasure.
"Come to bed with me...."
His eyes looked softly at her.
"You're making the first move?"
"Yes," she murmured, nodding her head.
He didn't rush to her, but very deliberately refolded the blanket and put it back on the shelf. Then he turned out the lights and undressed silently beside the bed.
When he crawled beneath the sheets, she felt a shudder run the length of her spine. The warm contact of his body to hers caused her to gasp and cling to him.
He slipped his arm around her waist and the other beneath her back, moving very slowly and gently as though he were afraid of startling or frightening her.
She felt his hand move caressingly up her side until it found her bare breast. His fingers squeezed gently, sending waves of tingling pleasure along her back and into every part of her trembling body.
The room, which had appeared dark as a cave the moment the lights went out, was beginning to brighten. She could see Kenny's face now in the pale light that filtered through the lattice work of the wooden shutters.
There was tenderness written on his face, not the fierce grimace of lust. She reached up and stroked his cheek, then pulled his head down to her.
Their lips touched tentatively at first, and then his mouth closed over hers. It was a warm kiss, full of feeling. For a long time he caressed her lips gently, and then his tongue moved out and sought to enter her mouth.
She opened her lips to him. Their tongues touched delicately, then almost fiercely as a quick passion mounted in both of them.
His hands moved up and down her naked body as his lips clung to hers, warm and firm. She felt a shudder course through him when his hand found and closed over her breast.
His lips were moving against hers, nibbling as they would nibble at ripe fruit. His tongue slipped once more through her lips, joined her tongue in her mouth.
Finally he pulled away and looked down at her as she lay on her back beneath him, trembling in anticipaiion.
"I do want you, Kenny," she whispered.
"And I want you, Elaine. I wanted you the first moment I saw you. But only if you were willing...."
"I'm willing now," she murmured. "You made me willing by not trying to take advantage of me."
He stared down at her for a moment, lost in deep contemplation. Then he drew the covers down carefully until her breasts were exposed to his view.
For a fraction of a second Elaine moved to cover herself with her arms, feeling a shyness that she had never felt with other men. And then she knew that it was right that he should see her, and she lifted her arms above her head, breathing deeply to raise her breasts into two jutting peaks, proud of the adoration she saw in his eyes.
Kenny stared down at the fullness of her breasts, at the smooth white texture, the crowning nipples of delicate pink. He looked for a long time, getting his fill, while she reached up and stroked his cheek with tenderness.
"They're lovely," he murmured at last, "Do you really like them, Kenny?"
He nodded, swallowing hard. Then he reached down with his hand and took her right breast, cupping it in his palm, lifting it a little as he squeezed with his fingers. Then he rubbed and massaged it with a rotary motion of his hand, stroking the nipple to hardness.
"I love that," she gasped. "Please don't stop-"
"I won't, Elaine."
"Kiss them, darling."
He made a sound in his throat, a kind of suppressed sigh. And then he lowered his head.
She gasped at the first contact of his lips on the shivering, excited nipple of the breast he had been caressing with his hand.
She reached up quickly and clung to his neck, forcing his open mouth harder against her feverish flesh.
As he kissed first one breast and then the other, stabbing the nipples into greater hardness with the point of his tongue, he squeezed them at the same time with his fingers, shaping the soft mounds, forming them into peaks over which he closed his eager lips.
The sensation was almost more than she could stand. She had a desire to give him pleasure as well, to increase his passion to the extent of her own.
Pulling one arm from around his neck, she reached down across the bare skin of his middle. A low moan came from his lips as he continued to tease and caress her breasts.
Shifting his body, he twisted to give her hand better access as it caressed him with a slow, deliberate rhythm.
Kenny gasped in response to the things she was doing to him with her tormenting hand. He commenced to bite the nipple of her breast, slowly and deliberately, causing her to tighten the grip of her hand in response.
He bit her nipple harder, ran his tongue around it in quick circles that sent delicious waves of electric excitement into the very depths of her.
With both hands he took her breasts and caressed them as his lips continued the devouring kisses that made her ache with passion, set her body on fire.
"I love that," she gasped.
His only response was to open his mouth wider, engulf more.
Her hand still gripped him, causing his lust to twist in excited maneuvers. She squeezed tighter with her fingers, which caused his body to shudder.
"You're sweet," he gasped, pulling his lips away from her. "You're beautiful, Elaine. Everything about you is beautiful...."
"Oh, Kenny," she sighed, sliding her arms around his neck, holding him close to her.
"This is good," he whispered against her ear. "Just the two of us. There's nothing wrong with this, Elaine."
"It's heavenly, Kenny," she replied.
She felt his hands come alive, slip up and down her body, along her sides, pressing her legs. His fingers slid under and squeezed the soft plumpness of her hips.
She felt shudder after shudder of desire course through her in continuous rippling waves.
She clung to his head, covered his face with kisses. At the same time her hips churned and tossed against the weight of his body, seeking him, hungry for him to begin to consummate the lovely, flaming passion that she felt.
He flung his arms around her, covered her mouth with his, smothered her with kisses.
Their bodies were twisting and churning violently in the ageless rhythm of love. Still her legs were together. Soon!
Yet she wanted to give in to him, to loosen her hold and join with him. Never in her life had she wanted so much to surrender to a man.
Slowly, naturally, she began to move her legs, felt him drop.
"Now," she whispered against his ear. "Love me now, Kenny. Take me now...."
"Yes, darling," he breathed in reply.
He moved his questing hand above hers. For a moment they looked into each other's eyes, both of them trembling with passion and desire.
After what seemed to her an unbearable moment of time, he lowered his body, seeking hers. She felt the warm contact.
And then he took her.
Her arms encircled him, tightened around his neck. He began to move his body, gently at first, then gradually faster. Until at last he was furiously to her, budding her passion into a brilliant flame.
"Oh, darling," she panted.
And then she cried aloud. For a moment he paused, fearing that he had hurt her. But she pushed then to meet him, a smile of contentment on her face. He moved with her then with increasing frenzy.
"Darling-darling," she cried insanely. "All so good. I've never enjoyed love so much. Never...."
She felt the panting of his breath as he lowered his face against hers. She heard the thrum of the bedsprings beneath them as the bed rocked and shook in an age-old rhythm.
And then it happened in the most perfect way possible-for both of them at the same instant She felt a blazing flame scorching her innermost depths, and at the same time saw him shudder within her circling arms.
And then it was over and they were floating, falling, drifting into a bottomless pit of exhaustion and welcome sleep.