Chapter 5
CABINS, the neon sign said, blinking on and off for emphasis.
Joey pulled the car onto the brightly lighted gravel path in front of the front cabin labeled OFFICE.
"I'll be right back," he said, getting out.
The land had flown swiftly past, and it was now midnight and they were within a few hours' drive of Miami. But Cindy Drucker wasn't thinking of that; her thoughts were of the more immediate future, when she and Joey got in the cabin together.
She began to feel frightened of what she had done-of what she was doing and now, especially, of what she was going to do. She liked Joey, but she hardly knew him. True, she'd already given in to him once-but running off with him like this was all too reminiscent of what her mother had done many years ago.
Fred Drucker had called his wife a no-good tramp for what she'd done. Would he call his stepdaughter the same?
Well, it was too late to think of that. The die had been cast. Tomorrow she'd see her mother, perhaps, and find out a lot of answers to what really happened.
Joey came back to the car. "We're in lucky seven," he announced.
He started the car and drove along the narrow path to the cabin with the huge seven painted on its side.
"What name did you give the man?" Cindy asked him.
"What?"
"When you registered us, what name did you give?"
Joey laughed. "I signed us in as 'Mr. and Mrs. Fred Drucker'."
Cindy wished she could join him in his laughter, for it did seem funny, but the laugh died in her throat. She wondered why he hadn't given his real name? Was it because he was ashamed to admit he was going to sleep with a strange woman? Or was this merely part of the game, standard practice when it came to motels and people who weren't married? She couldn't help but wonder how much experience Joey had in such matters.
He stopped the car beside the cabin, and they got out. Joey carried his suitcase and her small bag from the trunk. He opened the door and switched on the light.
The cabin was a single room lighted by a tall floor lamp beside the double bed which dominated the room. The walls were lined with plasterboard, and on one of them hung a large print of wild stallions. An open door at one corner of the room revealed a bathroom.
"Our honeymoon cottage," Joey said lightly, closing the door behind them.
The door clicked shut behind her, and she felt a sudden trapped sensation. She tried to calm herself but panic rose like ice water in her veins. Back home in Hurley it had not seemed so bad but now she was miles from home, in a strange town, in a locked room with a man she didn't know.
Cindy stared at Joey's face as he went past her, carrying their suitcases. It was a good face, nice-looking. But Joey was a male animal-he'd already proved that and she knew what he must be thinking: what fun it was going to be to make love to this eighteen-year-old girl!
Cindy had dreamed of a white knight in armor coming to Hurley, taking her away from the heat and dust of Texas. The romantic movies she'd seen in the local theater strengthened this resolve in her. But it was not to have been like this-sneaking away with a strange man to shack up in some motel by the side of the road.
"Hey," Joey said, "you look like you've lost your last friend."
"I hope not, Joey," she said. "I don't have very many."
"Well, you have me," he said.
He was beside her, reaching out and pulling her to him. Meekly, she let him draw her close, allowed his arms to surround her.
His lips closed upon hers, and his hands swept down the slope of her back to clutch her rounded buttocks and pull her closer to him.
She felt a momentary panic, and then her natural female instincts anticiptaed the maleness of him. His lips were alive on her lips, his tongue darting hotly into her mouth. He kissed her cheeks, her neck. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled the female smell of her, as his hands moved hotly over her blouse. His breath was short and hard, and she could feel his heart pounding to match hers.
His voice was hoarse in her ear. "Come on, baby. I can't wait any longer."
"Joey, no ... please, let's wait...."
Impatiently he shook his head. "You've got me so hot I can't stand still."
He grabbed her, pushed her down on the bed and threw himself beside her. His fingers busied themselves on her blouse, and the buttons parted. He forced the blouse from her body and with a deft, certain movement unhooked the bra. Her breasts fell free and he moved back for a moment to stare in wonder and appreciation at them.
"You've got a great pair of knockers, baby," he said.
Cindy was more annoyed with him than angry. He was moving too fast for her, and her head was swimming. "Joey, listen
"We can have conversations later, baby," he said. "Right now, mouths were made for more important things."
Quickly, he unzipped her jeans and worked them down over her hips, snagging the panties along the way and pulling them over her thighs and legs. He freed them from her squirming legs and threw them down beside the bed.
"Wow!" he said. "Everything about you is nice. Legs, hips, thighs. Everything"
Cindy blushed. She'd expected this to happen, of course. It would have been a miracle if it hadn't-but she wished he wouldn't be so fast about it. Take it slow and easy. And yet there was a seething undercurrent of emotion flowing through her which she couldn't still.
Joey was busy removing his clothes, kicking off the shoes in his eagerness, tossing his shirt aside, pulling down his trousers and letting them lie in a puddle of cloth on the floor. In a moment he was nude, standing by the bed.
Cindy looked at him in wonder. The mechanics of the male body had always fascinated her; she didn't know how it worked, but she was always amazed that it did. Joey had a good physique, almost beautiful, like a blonde Adonis. As he lay down beside her, she felt a shuddering anticipation. Her heart was pounding in her ribcage, and her blood was rushing hotly through her veins.
He pulled her to him.
"Oh, Joey," she murmured.
He covered her mouth with his, holding her face in his hands, and his tongue danced across her teeth into her warm mouth, darting in and out, across her lips, sending flames of desire shooting through her.
His hand moved down along her breasts, past the smooth, flat stomach, tracing a tingling pathway with his fingers. She closed her eyes and smiled happily, secure in the warmth flowing through her, excited with the tingling sensations caused by his probing. Her breathing steadied, became slow, rhythmic, matching his. A growing sence of urgency throbbed inside her, as he made love to her with his lips, his tongue, his practiced fingers, his entire male body. The pleasure of his touch was so great she wanted to cry out.
On impluse her arms went around him, pulling him eagerly to her, pressing the complete length of her twisting, tensing body tightly to him, delirious with the pleasure of his male body responding to her.
"Joey, Joey, Joey...." she found herself murmuring his name over and over and over.
She loved him, she knew that, and there was nothing wrong with the two of them being here together like this, man and woman, doing things that man and woman have done together since the beginnings of time.
His fingers gripped her shoulders and she cried out in pain as he buried his face in her hair and stiffened in a sudden spasm. An explosion of flesh began deep within her and slowly spread as she felt her female body responding in its own special way.
Afterward, he relaxed limp against her for a moment. Then he placed his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Oh, Joey, you were wonderful," she said.
He grinned his pleasure. "Thanks. You were pretty great yourself. I hope I can see you once in a while when we get to Miami."
"I hope so, Joey, I really do," she said.
"You could be habit forming," he said.
She smiled at him, and her heart felt light and gay. She'd thought way back in her mind that maybe he was just taking advantage of her the way some men did with a young girl who didn't know any better. But he did want to see her again. That was a start.
Perhaps her knight in armor had arrived, after all.