Chapter 4
With Marilyn away he wanted a woman. His only thought was of the mysterious, dark-eyed Tina and suddenly she loomed as one of the big rocks of strength in his life. He was a damn fool at times. New dames always looked like exquisite paintings. Beauty only intruded its historic mystery, softening resistance with strange smells of lust and craving.
When she opened the door and saw him she stared contemptuously, as if he were squash. "Oh, it's you. Come on in-if you want," she said indifferently.
When she closed the door behind he turned swiftly and grabbed her. She pretended to push back. He ran his hands hotly down the inside of her opened dress.
"Easy-uptown," she sneered.
He looked worried. "I need you, Tina. I need you very much," he moaned.
They walked to the center of the room. "Help me off with my sweater," she said, lifting her arms.
He groped hurriedly and pulled off her sweater. She watched him drop it on the floor.
"Pick it up and fold it neatly and put it on top of the dresser," she commanded coldly.
He hesitated a brief instant and cursed her wildly under his breath.
But he did exactly what she told him, and when he reached for her bra, she stepped back.
"The skirt must by all means come first," she said.
He unzipped the skirt and it slipped to the floor.
"Pick it up and do the same thing."
He started to take a step toward her with clenched fist and he felt his muscles suddenly tighten. Then he thought better and smiled back at her with satisfied eyes. "Sure Tina, why not?" he said as he repeated the folding of the skirt and placing it neatly atop the dresser. He swallowed dryly feeling anger sweep over him. So he would play along with her. Christ, a dame like her was worth....
When he released her bra he folded it neatly and did as he was expected to without being told again. When he turned her he saw that favorite smile of hers curving her mouth.
"You are a fast learner, aren't you?"
He shrugged. "It's my schooling, maybe."
She pointed to her panties and snapped the elastic.
"Damn," Lou muttered, and grabbed the panties and started to yank downward.
"Easy, baby-" she said sweetly.
His fingers lingered over the inside of her thighs as he worked her panties down and he thought again how ripe and velvety was this girl's skin. As if she never saw the sun. She stepped from her panties and walked to the bed and sat down. He was at her side breathing heavily.
"Didn't you forget something?" she asked.
"I did?"
She raised a well-shaped leg. "My stockings. Don't your uptown girl friends wear hosiery?" Everything was blurring into a lot of incongrous things. He felt like he was pouring brandy into a glass that never filled. Nothing he did or wanted seemed to make much sense to her. He muttered "dirty bitch" under his breath and his warm breath spilled out as he slid his aching fingers over her legs and rolled the stockings down. Then he looked up at her and saw a face wrapped in an enigma-almost expressionless.
"That's better, Lou, now you can do whatever you want with me and your uptown friends will never know," she said with a smile.
Her words pulled him to reality and he knew her heart for some strange reason was full of hate and he stared at her, his mind reeling. He was all sweat and shaking as he moved toward her.
She spread her hand stiffly toward him. "There's one thing more," she said.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Don't push any more, Tina," he said in a low, menacing voice.
She smiled. "Oh, you must have forgotten. I told you last time you would have to say please." And she leaned back and stretched her small body lazily.
He stopped like in the middle of a stroke. He cursed and swallowed a lump. "Sure, Tina, please," he heard himself confess.
For a moment she stared at him. A soggy cigarette dangled from her red lips and she looked raw and hard at him. He knew from here on in she was playing it by ear.
Suddenly she stubbed out her cigarette and lay back on the bed and opened her arms wide for him and her dark features were spread by a smile as big as a canvas.
This time her response electrified him by the way she kissed him until he tried to spread her only to find she would not let him pry her apart. He felt like a broken cat-a one-armed theater seat-and he was hot and fevered and his pulse reacted quickly.
"Open up, damn you," he shouted at her.
"Say, I want you, Tina," she said huskily, her body twisting beneath him. "Say I need you, Tina."
What makes a woman desirable in bed, he wondered. Style-only style, and she had it all. The way she worked at it, changing and shifting course and doing it each time differently. He shrugged.
"Of course, Tina, I want you-I need you," he gasped.
After he said it he felt ejected from the world like a cartridge. No woman before had ever caused a feeling of debasement so profound and he felt like a gurgling sewer.
Then suddenly she let him spread her-wider and wider-a thin smile lighting her face. She slid toward him and pressed hotly against his surging body. He gasped and pulled her lips to him. But she forced her lips past his and bit him savagely on the shoulder. He felt her wriggling and started to impale her. He was ready to explode when she gently pushed his face away.
"Please, Tina, please-let me-," he begged.
She put a thin finger on his hot lips. "Now say, I love you, Tina," she said.
He nodded in desperation. "Yes-yes-I love you, Tina, I love you, I want you, I need you, Tina."
She relaxed and closed her eyes, waiting for him. He caught his breath and gasped as he inched toward her and entered the tightness of her thighs. He felt her crude wriggling beneath him and he was tantalized by the squirming touch. Then he was lost in a blinding sensation that ripped through him like a hundred sunsets. Suddenly she was urgent to him, sweet and warm and she bore an important relation to this new, strange world.
He lay with his head beside her on the bed and he gasped for breath. She reached over and pulled the sheets around them. He closed his eyes. "Sleep well, baby," she whispered softly. He could feel her move closer to him and curl her leg around his thighs. But before he drifted off he told himself this must positively be the very last time with her. He was jeopardizing his job and everything he valued. His real world was Marilyn's bed. He felt like sobbing from his tense doubts.