Chapter 16
Cal's breath was hard and fast against Carol's soft cheek. "Get out of them clothes," he whispered.
"Take 'em off," she teased.
He kissed a pulsating vein in the firm column of her throat. "You little bitch," he said. He reached for her chin, tilting her face up, pulling her to him. Their lips sealed.
She could smell the faint aroma of aftershave lotion on his damp face. His warm, muscular body crushed against her. She felt the strength in his hand as it groped for her thigh. He yanked her to him and kissed her hard, his tongue darting into her mouth. Slipping the straps of her dress from her shoulders, he unsnapped her bra, freeing her breasts. He smelled the scent of her body, the perfumed traces in her blonde hair. He lowered his head and opened his mouth over the pointed tips of her silken breast.
A shoulder shot forward as Carol uttered a sigh at the tickling sensation of his long eyelashes flitting across her mounds.
He looked into her eyes. His were wild with excitement: deep, dark, gleaming with lust; and in the pools of his pupils she saw her own reflection being swallowed whole.
He felt the sleek material of her dress, and his hands gripped the firm cheeks of her buttocks, pressing her toward him.
She felt him rub against her, and she gasped as he lifted her and brought her to him. She took his lips eagerly, then pulled back to stare at his naked body.
"You know," she whispered. "That's one of the things I'll always remember about you."
"What?" he grunted.
"This." Her fingers traced through the curly mass of black hair, down his belly, down to the deep, soft hair on his groin, between the muscular, hairy thighs, to the swelling bulk that was framed there.
"It's yours, babe," he told her. "Anytime you want the damn thing, it's yours."
Carol couldn't take her eyes from the swaying organ. She fondled him, her other hand reached under to grasp the heavy silken pouch. "It's so beautiful, Cal. So beautiful."
"You really like that, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Then show me. Get out of that damn dress.
She shifted her weight, swung her feet off the bed and got up. Slowly she began to peel off her clothes. Finally, when she got down to her black, nylon panties, he reached over and his anxious hands tore the panties from her.
"Cal!"
"Oh, baby, baby," he whispered, his hands at the sides of her curvy hips. He brought his head down into the soft forest below. "Hell," he muttered, "I could eat you all night." He sank his face between her soft thighs, his flaming tongue darting into her.
Carol felt her knees crumble. His strong hands held her tight as he made passionate smacking sounds below.
She pulled his head up, and he got to his feet. They embraced, then he guided her to the bed where he lifted her in his arms and gently laid her down upon the soft sheets.
He took a cigarette and lit it, then settled on top of the bed and stared at her body.
Her blonde hair framed the beautiful oval face against the white pillow. Her heavy, black lashes cast a long shadow over her cheek.
A knockout, he thought, a real woman, with those slanted eyes, high cheekbones, that tilted nose and sensual mouth. He swallowed and caught his breath at the sight of the immense breasts-gleaming, glowing-and the soft, pink nipples. His eyes took in the velvet-smooth stomach, traveled the length of the tempting hips, past the long, slender, glossy legs, to the tips of her crinkled, rose-colored toes. Yeah, he thought, this babe really turns me on.
He bent over her. "What are you studyin' about, baby?"
There was a long silence. "Her," she said.
"What about her?"
"She's on to me, Cal."
His eyes widened.
She caught the look. "Oh, I don't think Charlotte knows it's you. She knows it's somebody. She knows I'm restless, and she knows I don't want her to touch me anymore."
"Kid, I told you to play it cool."
"I try. Believe me, I try. But I'm the one that lives in that big house with her, not you. It's tough, believe me. Every time she touches me I want to die."
"Yeah, but the stakes, baby. Think of what you can get."
"Hell," she said, "by the time I receive it, I'll be past needing it. Besides, there's me to consider. I mean, I can't force myself to do something I don't want to do."
"You liked it before."
"That was before I met you," she purred.
His eyes flashed darkly. "And the pool guy and Abraham."
Her body bolted upright in the bed.
"Yeah, I know," he told her. "Don't look so surprised. I know a hell of a lot about you. Men tell each other things. You scared holy hell out of Abraham. The guy has nothing but this job, and he was afraid you'd muck it up for him. He wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot pole." He laughed long and loud. "Which is just about what he claims he's got."
"Stop laughing," she said.
"Why? You're funny. Honey, you're a nympho. I can see you right now staring at Abraham's crotch-measuring it."
She raised her hand and slapped him across the cheek.
"You want to play rough again?" he asked in a tight voice.
She backed up against the pillows. "The way you treat me ... talk to me ... anybody listening would think I was ... what you said.
It's the way you think about me that gets me so mad."
"Nobody slaps me like that," he whispered, rising from the bed.
"You've had too much to drink," she told him. "Sit down and cool off."
He went to his trousers and loosened the belt from the loops.
"Cal," she muttered. "I didn't mean to slap you. You know that."
His lips curled back into a snarl as he advanced toward her.
"No, Cal! I won't do that again, I swear I won't!"
He stared down at her, the cigarette between his lips, his face contorted. His arm shot up, and he brought the belt down against her thighs.
"Cal!" she screamed. "Don't!"
Again his arm streaked up, then down, lashing across her hip.
Carol screamed in pain.
Cal curled the belt tighter around his hand, raised the belt and hurled it down across her upturned breasts. Carol lifted her hands to protect herself from another lash. She saw the belt blur down and felt it sting across her bare buttocks. Then her face, wild with pain, suddenly started to change. Her lips parted, her half-closed eyes were misty with tears, and she emitted little gasping sounds as she breathed. She straightened her body and got to her knees. No longer did she protect her breasts or any other part of her body. She turned to him, a look of contorted ecstasy on her face.
Again Cal lashed down with the black belt. Now he put more strength behind his aim. The strap made a slapping sound as it cut into Carol's soft flesh.
A moaning, guttural, animal-like cry tore from her throat, and she threw herself on her stomach exposing her curvy rump in rapture, offering it to be strapped. She grimaced in an agony of pleasure as the strap beat down on her buttocks.
Cal stopped, put out the cigarette and got on the bed. Throwing the belt aside he reached for her.
"Hey, baby, baby," he whispered, his lips running over the red streaks of her buttocks. "Was it the way you liked it, baby?"
She turned over and faced him. Tears welled in her eyes and she moaned.
"Was it the way I did it before? I hurt just enough, didn't I?" he asked. His caress was gentle.
"Yes, Cal," she breathed against his mouth. "Just the way I wanted."
He kissed her hard. "Oh, baby. You go the whole route. We're always finding out good things to do in bed. Oh, doll, I can't get enough of you."
She felt his jutting manhood against her thigh-felt it swell. She lay back against the pillows, spread her legs and waited.
Cal knelt before her.
Carol felt Cal's lips on her breasts, then his warm, moist tongue trailed down her stomach. Then a long finger probed, gently easing its way inward. She opened her thighs even more and felt him enter, gradually, slowly. She lay there trembling, then her arms reached up to his neck. She thrust forward and immediately was answered by a grinding push. She felt the hard belly hit the softness of her own. She reached up and kissed his eyes, his lips, his bearded cheek. She ran her hands down his hard, strong arms and swelling chest to his slim hips. Now she was panting harder, her body writhing, as she felt his rough, calloused hands circling her breasts. He squeezed the tips of her nipples and kneaded the silken skin. She cried out for him to take her. Her breasts were heaving as her body thrashed about. Her whole body shuddered and surged toward him, her fingers entwining his coal-black hair; clutching, pulling, twisting.
Cal felt sweat pouring from his body with each thrusting movement. He caught her lips, his teeth gnawing, his tongue plunging, twisting.
"Now ... now!" she cried out, crushing herself against his sinewy body. Her firm, pliant, almost boneless torso stretched out in complete surrender. Then she surged upward, her sharp teeth biting into the muscles of his arm, her long fingernails piercing like needles along his back.
Marshaling every muscle of his body, he imprisoned her. His strong legs clamped together over her frame; only the tips of his toes touched the bed. He heard the deep, coarse, almost cruel sound come tearing from her throat. This was it-the payoff.
The moment came-the miraculous, violent, uncontrollable passion came, and Carol's sobs cut the silence of the bedroom, dying to a soft murmuring as her laboring body, now spent, sank into the lethargy of contentment.
Later, Cal lit a cigarette and handed it to her. After a few puffs she handed it back to him. He put his arm around her shoulders and lay on his back next to her.
Carol rose, leaned over and rested her weight on her arm. She ran a finger around the outline of his lips.
Then she heard the noise.
It wasn't a loud noise, but it was an important sound. like the snapping of a twig. Her eyes darted to the window. The shadowy figure she saw startled her enough to force a small cry from her throat.
Cal shot upright, looked at her, then quickly turned to the window.
"What was it?" he asked.
"Cal," she whispered, fright written across her face. "I think it was Charlotte!"