Chapter 2
Jeff drove directly to the Copeland home and parked his car in front. The long, wide driveway was packed with cars. Apparently no one had gone home.
The front door opened and Jeff caught the silhouette of a woman's figure in the momentary light. Closing the door behind her, the woman stepped outside. He heard the click of her heels as she came down the walk. As she came into sight, he said, "Hi." It was a banal greeting. His stomach had suddenly knotted. A big drum pounded inside him.
Peggy Copeland stopped. "So, you came back."
"Hell, yes." He tried to say it lightly.
"What happened? Did your wife get turned off by what was going to happen?"
"Something like that."
"And you'd like to play?"
He wanted to repeat what he had just said but realized that it would sound stupid. Instead, he asked, "Would you like to go for a ride?" Then that sounded just as stupid.
He was not at all sure that he liked Peggy Copeland. She had a way of making him feel uneasy, unsure of himself. Then he remembered her legs-those long beautiful legs that he had been able to see so little of.
She said no to his question about the ride.
He felt like a deflated fool. He had thought her eyes had shown an interest in him. But this attempt at two-timing was new to him and he was not at all sure of how the other person should react. Maybe there should be a different approach. He rummaged around in his brain for something to say.
"But I'd like to go for a walk," she said. "I'd like to show you the grounds." She smiled a little as she spoke; her voice, a touch on the haunting side, vaguely like a proposition.
She guided him around the house toward the back, following a shrubbery-lined path of flagstones. The Copeland's had a huge lot, more like an acreage, and behind the house there was an over-size swimming pool.
"We could take a swim," she said, indicating the water with a casual movement of her hand.
He shook his head. Her tone said she did not really mean it. "You started out to show me the grounds," he said, his words strained against the tightness of his throat. The last thing he wanted now was to be cooled off by a swim.
"You might be interested in this," she said. She led him to a pergola at the rear of the grounds. It was a three-sided affair. Honeysuckle massed on its open-beamed roof. The moonlight came through a thin cover of diffused clouds, and the scent of the vines was heavy on the air. A wooden bench ran along the three sides of the arbor, and a barbecue oven stood at the far end.
"Nice spot," he said. "Do you use it very much?"
"We used to. Sometimes we'd have as many as a hundred or more guests but those days have more or less disappeared." The words were flat, but he thought he caught a tinge of bitterness in them. "It's so ... so suburban, isn't it? Everyone does it so the novelty has worn off." She sat down.
He joined her on the bench. He lit a cigarette for her. It was dark under the covering of vines, but she was there and he was well aware of her presence. Her perfume, mingling with the scents of the spacious garden, was strong in his nose. He felt the twinge in his groin as he inhaled the intoxicating aroma and caught a glimpse of the luscious mounds that protruded from her dress. Had he had the nerve, he would have reached out and put his hands on them.
The back of the house was dark. She said, "Some of them won't get up until morning." The pale oval of her face was turned toward him. "I drew Jim Howard." At his lack of response, she added, "You know. The little bald-headed man. He was too terrified to do anything."
Her bluntness was a surprise to him. He was not used to talking so openly about a matter of such seriousness. But he was grateful she had broached the subject because the knot in his pants was growing harder by the minute.
She laughed. It was a harsh burst of sound. "Grant was about as lucky. He wound up with Cissy. From what I've heard, she's about worn out."
Jeff was silent for a moment. "I've never been to a party like that."
"I thought as much. It showed," she said dryly. "Nothing's simple, nothing's honest anymore, Jeff. You're probably wondering why we do such things. Well, everyone wonders at times. Everyone has to find a hundred reasons to justify himself, find the answer. You were looking at a lot of reasons."
It could have been just a reflection on her part. It also could have been a challenge. He accepted it as the latter. He took the cigarette from her fingers and flipped it into the grass, watching the tiny glow as it landed some distance away. "I don't need any reason for what I want," he said, pushing himself to boldness. "Unless it's this." He took her hand and put it on his cock.
He took her in his arms. She came willingly. Her mouth was soft and moist and very hungry. This was not an acquiescent woman; this was a demanding woman. A man had to gallop to keep up with her. He kissed her savagely, trying to draw the breath from her. Her body melted against his, her breasts pressing against his chest.
He raised his head to look at her. She gave him a little smile. "Why, Jeff," she said softly, "you surprise me." She squeezed the stiff length in his pants.
"Sometimes I surprise myself," he murmured. His lips moved along her neck, down onto her throat. His hand moved cautiously to compress one breast, and he felt an electric shock run through his body. He tried to slip the strap of her gown from her shoulder.
"Ooh, you move fast, big man," she said. "Wait."
He knew a surge of disappointment. How often had he tried to make love to his wife and been denied at this moment?
She struggled out of his arms and stood up. "Men are always so clumsy about things like this," she said.
He heard the small rasp of a zipper. She pulled the dress over her head. He had been right. Her body was beautiful. He wished he had a long time to study her. A man could spend hours doing this sort of thing. And it had been so long since he had seen a naked woman. Too long. Maria had never let him see her except in the darkness of their bed. He longed to see her completely naked, lying beside him or walking about the room. Men liked to see naked woman much more than women liked to see naked men. Nature, that's what it was.
Peggy turned her back to him. "Unhook it," she said calmly.
He traced his fingers down her spine. She wiggled. He gave her hips a friendly pat and the firmness of the flesh surprised him. She had beautiful lines, her back tapering to a trim waist and the waist swelling into the fullness of the hips. He already knew what her legs looked like. He must have taken too long with his study, for she turned her head over her shoulder and asked, "Do you like what you see?"
"Yes," he said, looking down at her firm ass-cheeks. He patted each one lightly. "Very nice."
He unhooked the bra on the first try. She laughed. "You did that very well. You must have a lot of experience."
He almost laughed. His response was to reach around her and cup each breast and press his hard, hot rod into the deep ravine between the cheeks of her ass. He heard the long suck of her breath as she squirmed against him, centering his stiff erection securely in the tight cleft. "Ooh, you're so hard already."
"It's been about half up ever since I first saw you," he lied.
His hands moved down her sides in a stroking, caressing motion, then his fingers dug into the fullness of her belly. A low moaning started deep in her throat, and she threw her head back on his shoulder. Her breathing was becoming heavier, her body moving against him, then away.
With a gentle movement, he took her shoulders and turned her around slowly, holding her away from him so he could look at her for a moment. Then he kissed her lips, her throat, her neck. He trailed his lips down until they came to the swollen hummocks of her breasts. He lingered on them before going to the first nipple, and when he did, he heard her moans increase to a muffled crescendo and he smelled the rich odor of an aroused female animal mingled with the deodorants and perfumes of civilization. He sucked hungrily on a nipple, then slid his wet lips to the other and drew it between his lips. His tongue lashed at the rubbery knob and his teeth nipped at it.
"Ooooohhhhh ... dear-rrr," she sighed. "You're as good as I thought you'd be."
He raised his head and stared at her. A sense of triumph surged through him. He had found sex without the help of the Colonel. Everything else in his life had been arranged by his father-in-law, but this was one thing he had been able to do on his own. And he did not need Maria, either. No, he could do this very nicely on his own.
She opened her eyes, and that secret laughter filled them. "It hardly seems fair," she murmured.
"What?"
"The way you are-standing there with your clothes on and me like this. We don't match. Either I'll have to get dressed or you'll have to take yours off." She giggled at that.
Without a word, he stripped the clothing from his body. He was proud of his shoulder and arm muscles but sorry about how little use he had given his cock. He had always heard that a woman liked a big one. What a shame to have let so many years go by without some woman-or many women-enjoy that powerful piece of meat between his legs.
She ran her hand over his shoulders and arms and entangled her fingers in the hair of his chest. All the while she made a soft, crooning sound, so low he could hardly hear, but it was a pleasant sound, one of contentment. And a sound he had not heard ever, from Maria. It thrilled him. He was able to do something for a woman that genuinely pleased her.
His prick was stiff and erect, pressing into her. She writhed against him, making the torrid rod roll against her soft flesh. On the underside of his shaft, he could feel the silkiness of her hair and the warmth of her pussy, a steaming valley that exuded the sweet and exciting aroma of sex.
She lifted her face to him. It shone with a kind of luminous radiance. "Oh, I need someone like you," she sighed. "I was so excited tonight, thinking I might get to be with you, but then you left and I was stuck with that silly little Mr. Howard."
"Please, let's not talk about anyone else," he said.
"All right, darling. But I want you ... so bad."
A brave compulsion swept over him as he fondled her. "Do you like to fuck?" he asked, almost gulping.
"Oh, yess-ss."
He lowered her to the bench. The radiance grew brighter on her face. He dropped beside her, his hand immediately going to her legs, feeling the silken smoothness of the skin and the delicate texture of her pussy hair. He moved his hands over her as though smoothing a blanket with the tiniest of wrinkles in it, carefully avoiding the heaven nestled between her legs. He crept closer until he felt the tight coils of her hair brush the back of his hand. Then he touched the quivering lips and ran his finger lightly down one side, then up the other.
The lips of her pussy lay open, like the petals of the deep-colored flower, and he dabbed at them lightly, feeling their delicate moistness and feeling, too, the slight rise of her hips to increase the pressure of his touch. He probed at the hair-swept garden of her womanhood and entered the sodden sweetness with the tip of one finger. She gasped, spread her legs slightly, then bit his arm gently as he caressed the tiny knob that stood on the high plateau like a lone sentinel.
"Oooh, baby ... ba-bee," she groaned. "Put it in ... I can't wait any longer ... "
He crawled atop her on the narrow bench and felt his stiff cock against her delicious patch of hair. She reached down and spread the petals of her flower for him. He touched the torrid membranes with the head of his prick, savoring the delicious moment, then moved forward into the haunting interior until his shaft had completely burrowed into her. The world exploded in a blinding moment of raw animal passion then, a need for greater blending, when already the blending was as complete as possible. He could feel strange, sucking movements inside her as her inner muscles grasped him, caressing the shaft lovingly, then releasing as he withdrew and felt the entire depth of her as he slid out. Then he sank into her again. The tempo was slow, the rhythm perfect. She came to meet him, then let him retreat from the fiery furnace of her chapel of love. Her hips worked in a slow, circular motion, grinding at his probing shaft as he plunged in and out of her.
For Jeff, it was the most beautiful sensation he had ever experienced in his life. The four years with Maria were engulfed in the blur of his passion at this moment. He could not remember that anything had ever felt so good with her. But he could not dwell on the subject of his wife, lest he topple from the cloud of lust on which he now floated. He brushed her quickly from his mind.
"God, you're really something," he panted.
The soft walls of her love channel pressed tighter against his slippery spear. Her hips moved like a well-tuned machine. But she was no machine. She was a warm, loving human being, a female to the utmost degree, and he united himself with her, adjusting his movements to hers and answering her moans and sighs of pleasure with those of his own. He had the vague impression he had died and gone to heaven.
He did not know how long it lasted-a fleeting second, or an eternity. He fought the tide that was pounding inside him, not wanting it to wash him from his high mountain of ecstasy quite so soon, perhaps never. He wanted to continue in that mad, dizzying vortex forever, if possible.
His muscles suddenly went flaccid. He slumped against her. He shook his head as though the gesture would clear the haze from his eyes. His breathing came in ragged gasps. He felt a stinging fire in a dozen places on his back. Her fingernails had been busy. He rested for a few moments more, then began the slow movements that would send him crashing into the abyss of total ecstasy.
Then it came, like a rushing river gone wild. With the first spurt, he drove violently into her and heard her almost scream with delight. The hot liquid spewed into the chamber, virtually flooding it. Then a series of lesser spurts followed, each splashing into her until his movements made a soft squishing sound. Then he began the slow withdrawal as tiny spasms jerked his agitated cock a few more times. She was loose now, his sperm having spurted the cavern into a slippery, slimy river.
"Ohh ... man ... " he groaned.
She had ridden the same skyrocket, and she smiled. It was a true smile of fulfillment. She studied him through the smile, then said, "You've been a long time without, haven't you?"
He was embarrassed for a moment and turned away to wipe his sagging organ with his handkerchief. He wanted to tell her about his love life at home, yet he did not. It was an old line. A guy goes out and fools around because-as he always puts it-he does not get what he wants at home. He had never used it himself because he had never tried to get it outside his home. But he had heard other men use it. Peggy was too smart to fall for that one. Yet, Peggy was not just an ordinary woman. He had not tricked her into screwing him.
"Yeah, it seems like I have to put in a written request in triplicate to get anything at home, anymore," he said.
"You're quite a man. I'm surprised your wife doesn't want more of it."
"Don't ask me. I've tried everything I can think of but I seem to get nowhere. By the way, that bench is a hell of a place for something like this." He stooped to rub his knees.
"You nearly drove me through it," she said. She reached under and massaged the flesh of her buttocks. "But it was good," she added hastily.
"Cigarette?"
She nodded.
She arched her eyebrows, looked up at him inquiringly. "Will there be a next time?" she asked.
He looked down at her, then said gravely, "Of course there will. That is, if you want it." The hard passion was gone; he felt a tenderness toward her now.
Her eyes brushed across his, then moved away. "That's up to you."
He lit the cigarette for her. The small light touched her nose, mouth and throat. He moved the match lower so that the light washed her breasts, outlining them in a golden glow that sent a thrill racing up his spine. What a way to look at a woman built like she was! The breasts were standing erect, golden spires, with little shadows forming where they met her body. He bent and kissed the valley between them. "You're beautiful," he said softly.
"Thank you," she said earnestly. "You're built pretty well yourself."
"You referring to me or this?" He took his semi-erect cock and waved it limply at her. He was feeling more than brave tonight.
"Both," she said, giggling a little. "You want me to make it stand up again? I can help it along a little."
"I doubt if it needs much help," he said. "It starts to grow as soon as I look at your beautiful body."
"Especially my titties, huh?"
"Yes especially your titties. That was the first thing I noticed about you. They gave me an instant appetite."
"Yes, I thought I noticed you drooling," she laughed.
He bent to kiss one of her nipples but she caught his head in both hands and eased him away. "Wait, it's too hard on this bench. There are some lounges over by the pool. Let's go over there." She got up and stood in front of him a moment. Then she reached out and took his cock and started to walk away. "Come on, stud, let me lead you away from this awful place."
They found lounges and sat side by side, her head on his shoulder, her hand on his cock, gently toying with it as she talked. He, in turn, let one hand rove over her breasts, running his fingers lightly over the hard nipples. Occasionally, he would bend his down to kiss or lick them gently.
Her fingers moved, too, and he was aware of her tiny, caressing strokes on his cock and balls. His cock was erect again. Her hand gripped it, squeezed, then moved the sheath of skin back and forth slowly, her thumb on the slit on its head, feeling the tiny droplets which occasionally oozed from it.
Jeff felt at peace with the world. He thought of Maria only fleetingly, but without any sense of guilt. He felt completely justified in sitting here with a naked woman at his side, taking liberties with her body that belonged only to the married.
"Tell me about yourself," she said.
He laughed a little, shook his head.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"No one ever wants to know about me," he said, sounding glum. "Guess I'm just the dull type."
She studied him momentarily. "Don't tell me the Colonel has done that to you, too."
"What do you mean?"
"Stripped you. He's a dominator. He tries to beat everyone down to his size. It appears as though he's done a pretty good job on you. You sound so ... so defeated."
"I didn't know it showed," he said. "Maybe I should tell you about myself. Maybe it would help. Yes, I do feel defeated. When I first started in the building trades, my one goal was to be independent. I built my first house on a shoestring and it sold." He neglected to tell of the sweating hours, the tortures, the sacrifices, while he had waited for the house to sell. "I was a small builder when I met Maria, but I was growing. I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world, going to work for her father. He had the land, and he told me of the big things he was going to do with it. He was going to give me a free hand, he was going ... " His voice trailed off. Nothing Colonel Drake had promised him had come true. Maria was like her father. Her promises were equally false.
"So you weren't the luckiest guy in the world after all?"
"Hah! I feel like a prisoner!"
"You have to be born into that family to get anything out of Colonel Drake. Everything he has will go to Arthur."
Jeff turned to look at her. Arthur was Maria's brother. Peggy seemed to know a great deal about the Drakes.
He had said all he intended to say. "It's your turn now."
Her voice went flat. "I married Grant twelve years ago. That was when he still had his hair and his waistline. I, like you, thought I was the luckiest person alive. Two months later, I knew he was running around. But mother and father were divorced, and I had sworn that when I married, I'd make a go of it, I'd really work at it." She paused a moment, then said, "More?"
"Go ahead."
She sighed in good-humored resignation. "A man always has to hear the details of what makes a woman bad. Well, I tried. I shut my eyes to his running around." Her voice became harsh, like a wind suddenly shifting directions and bringing with it a chill instead of warmth. "Grant is a hog. He has a tremendous appetite-but always for something new. He's an expert at beating a woman down. Not physically. He's crueler than that. Have you ever been rejected on the grounds that you were no good?" Her eyes closed and for a moment she was silent. "You shrivel under treatment like that."
He silently agreed with her. His treatment by Maria fell into a similar classification. The lack of affection he had endured at her hands had its emasculating effect.
He said, "Grant is a damn fool."
"I could say the same thing for your wife," she said. She squeezed his cock for emphasis. "You know, Grant took me to a party like this four years ago. I can honestly say I didn't know what kind it was or what I was getting into. I drank so much that when I found out, I didn't care. I woke up in bed with a strange man. I couldn't even remember his name. Only the first time is difficult. After that, it doesn't matter. At least it's something different. And you get back your ego. You find out men still want you, if for nothing else but sex. But then, that's really all men want out of a woman, anyway."
He was repelled and drawn to her at the same time. The mold of circumstances made people what they were. Still, a lot of people managed to break those molds. He felt that he was accusing her and apologizing to her in the same breath.
Aloud, he told her, "You could have left him."
"I was penniless when I married him," she said. She waved vaguely at the house. "I like all this." Her gesture and tone told him she was not about to turn loose of any part of it.
Her naked body was against his and he felt the sudden tremor in it. He recalled the wild, explosive moment, and remembered the peace and release afterward. She had offered him that rare gift-thrilling intimacy without emotional involvement. He turned her so that she faced him. He kissed and caressed her breasts, and her glad response was evident in her stormy breathing. She had busy, active hands that in turn explored his body. He was gentler and more prolonged this time. A barbarian gulped a meal, hardly knowing what he was tasting. A gourmet nibbled and sampled, savoring each bite for the delight it brought him.
The silence lasted for a long time. He said finally, "You're quite a woman ... a real woman."
Her response was another squeeze of his cock, which she had been toying with all through their conversation. He wondered what was running through her mind.
She looked up into his eyes. "I want you to remember this night, Jeff. I want to give you something to remember it by. Stand up."
He got to his feet. She took his hard prick in her hand, drew him nearer. She ran her lips over his stomach, nipping at the flesh and caressing it with her tongue. Her eyes were closed and she licked his skin like an animal slowly licking a wound. Then she moved down, down until her lips were in his pubic hair and the hot cock was against the side of her face. She kissed the tip lightly, put her lips around the head and her tongue licked furiously over the bulbous plum. She placed her thumb and forefinger on the base of the shaft, then brought it upward, milking the viscous fluid from the channel into her mouth.
His hands went to the back of her head, his fingers entwined in her hair, tugging lightly, then releasing. His hips began to move in a slow rhythm as she let the bludgeon sink deeper into her mouth. She swabbed over the slippery piece of thick meat with her tongue, coiling it around, then dabbing at the head.
Then, when she had taken as much into her as she could, she let it slide almost completely out, paused, then drove forward hungrily. Her motions were rapid now, her head bobbing up and down on the stiff staff.
And the feeling of completion came to him, too. The tiny tickling in his groin increased to a demanding sensation that drove his hips forward and increased the pressure of his hands on her head. He heard her gag, withdrew the slickened rod for a moment, then plunged it back into her mouth. Her lips were stretched and wet as the saliva collected in her mouth and oozed out the corners.
Finally, he could restrain himself no longer. The earthquake between his legs rose to a shuddering height, was suspended for a moment, then exploded.
Hungrily, she gulped and sucked as the hot, gooey liquid spurted into her eager mouth. She did not swallow. She waited until his spasms had quit and he stood over her, his nostrils flaring like a stallion. Then she carefully took the spent cock out of her mouth and swallowed noisily.
When she was through, she patted the deflating organ gently, and said, "There, that should be worth remembering."
"Oh, man ... " He groped for the lounge and sat down beside her.
He felt the probing of her eyes. He had taken a long step on a road that could lead to nothing but disaster, but he was reluctant to retrace his steps.
Finally, he said, "I'd better be going."
"Will I see you again?"
"I hope so," he said.
She sat on the lounge, her knees drawn up under her chin as she watched him dress. She said, "I'm going to sit out here for a while. It's too nice to go in yet."
He finished dressing, then came over to her and lifted her chin from her knees and kissed her upturned face. "I'll see you." It was a weak promise, he knew.
"Yes," she said. She shivered as she watched him cross the lawn. He had been so gentle, so tender for a big man.
Jeff refused to accept a feeling of guilt. He felt good. Peggy Copeland had done in one night what Maria had not been able to do in four years. She had satisfied him. She had done the one thing he had always wanted Maria to do-go down on him. She had accused him of being a pervert because he had suggested it. He had even tried to go down on her, but she had clamped her legs together and called him vile names. To make matters worse, he had almost believed her, thinking that he might, indeed, be some kind of sex pervert.
As he drove slowly home, Jeff realized he had made a sharp turn in his sex life. Things would be different from now on. He felt completely fulfilled and happy.