Chapter 10
The two of them stood in the shower while the warm water poured over their naked bodies. Never had Arthur Webb known such contentment until he met Terry. The last few hours had been the happiest of his whole life. But soon he would have to leave her and return home, for there was a limit to how much he dared defy Thelma. At least until he had worked out his plan to perfection.
Then things would be different.
Instead of possessing Terry for a few stolen hours, she would be his forever. Every day would be as marvelous as the one he had just spent with her.
It had all been such fun! Moments of passionate lovemaking, then falling to sleep in each others arms. More of the same when they awoke. Even taking a shower with her was a thrilling new experience. Happiness was made up of such simple things as this.
As the water poured over them, Arthur drew her into his arms. He lost himself in the closeness of her charming body, the wonder of her mouth.
When they finally broke off the kiss to gasp for air, he looked down and saw two watery jets pouring off the pointed tips of her breasts. He ran his hands over the smooth curve of her back, down to her buttocks.
She turned her body to the side, allowing his hand to plunge between her legs. Arthur heard her gasps of pleasure and saw the sensual delight that was etched on her face. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted, baring the edge of her teeth. Her body began to sway and press against the gentle torment of his reaching fingers.
"I love that, darling-" she murmured. "It reels so wicked. Make me hotter. I want to be on fire when you take me to bed-"
Arthur was panting heavily himself as he continued to toy with her. The shower spray beat upon his face as he lowered his head and seized one of her throbbing breasts with his gaping mouth.
He kissed the swollen mound of flesh, teasing the nipple until she moaned and clawed at his back.
"Oh, baby, I'm on fire-" she sobbed. Her hips began to thrust in animal desperation. "Take me to "bed now. I've got to have you-"
Somehow he managed to turn off the water. They did not bother to towel off, but ran through the house in frenzied eagerness.
Terry was a step ahead of him. She dove onto the bed, then rolled over and held up her arms, awaiting him, beckoning to him. Her eyes were wide and bright with anticipation, her lips pursed for kissing.
For just one instant Arthur paused to look down at her. Her heavy breathing caused her breasts to roll excitingly. The bright pink nipples jutted up, inviting him to feast upon them. The muscles of her flat little stomach rippled with clutching expectancy.
Drunk with desire and emotion, Arthur fell upon the bed and clutched her warm tingling body in his arms. His face fell almost naturally upon the pillows of her breasts, and he showered them with tender kisses.
Pagan hungers twisted in his guts, overpowering urges welled up inside him. He moved downward upon her writhing body, drawn hypnotically by her naked loveliness.
Then his lips were there, caressing the soft quivering dome of her belly, moving boldly lower.
Terry caught her breath when his lips made contact. She gave a cry of delight as her fingers clawed his hair. With a sudden motion, she turned herself around until she too was facing his middle.
Arthur shivered with the knowledge of what was going to happen next. He felt the warmth of her breath before he felt her caressing lips. The touch of her mouth was cool for an instant, then breath-takingly warm.
With a greedy cry she clung to him, kissing him frenziedly, causing wild sensations to jolt through his body. Heat surged through him, turning his blood to molten lava.
Gasping excitedly, stimulated by what was happening to him, Arthur devoured her with kisses. He felt her small hands tighten on his hips while she made love to him with hungering frenzy.
Arthur's body throbbed with explosive fury as violent tremors ripped through him. He trembled through a moment of wild delirium, then shuddered and fell away as a blissful sensation of total contentment descended upon him.
Terry went limp in his arms, and she too lay gasping from the violence of her release. With his eyes closed, he felt the weight of her body lift away. And then he was drifting off to sleep in serene contentment.
When Arthur awoke, he saw Terry stretched out beside him on the bed. Her eyes were closed and her breath purred softly through her full lips. He stared for a moment in awe at the smooth splendor of her curvaceous body, the fullness of her red-tipped breasts and the female voluptuousness of her thighs.
An overpowering tenderness clutched at his chest. In that instant he knew that he had to have her. Not just now and then, but forever. Nothing else would do. He would not settle for anything less.
But of course that left one tremendous problem to be solved. The disposal of a tyrannical, unwanted wife.
As much as he hated Thelma for all the misery she had delt him, he knew that it would take a powerful act of will to commit murder. He had always been a peaceable man, and it would be very difficult to change the habits of a lifetime overnight.
Climbing off the bed, he left Terry sleeping and walked into the living room, carrying his clothes with him so he would not disturb her.
He slipped on his shirt and trousers, then sat down to tie his shoes.
Darkness had fallen outside. A block away he could see the solid mass of lighted windows of the apartment house where he lived. Behind one of those windows was a woman whose existence made his life unbearable.
That woman was going to die.
It had to be done. It was a question of his happiness his and Terry's. Thelma had brought it on herself by being mean and vicious and continually domineering. A man could only take so much before he rebelled.
If Thelma had been a halfway decent wife, the kind a man deserved, it might not have come to this. He might have been contented to spend the rest of his life with her. If she had been a real companion to him, a good bed partner, then he would never have felt a need to find himself a mistress. He would never have fallen in love with Terry.
But he had fallen for her hard.
And Thelma was more in the way than ever. She was no longer merely a disagreeable bitch of a wife. She was an obstacle to his happiness.
He lit a cigarette and leaned back in the chair, staring across at the lighted bank of windows. He found himself obsessed by this fierce need to get free from his wife. And yet he did not have the first idea of how he should go about it. He did not even have the beginning of a plan.
It had to be done in such a way that nobody would suspect a thing. It had to appear like an accident, in other words.
This was essential.
If there were even the slightest hint of foul play, then suspicion would naturally fall upon him. He was the only person who had a real motive for murdering his wife. She had few friends or enemies. There was nobody who hated her enough to want to kill her.
Nobody but him, of course.
So that was why he had to be extremely careful, to plan everything in the most minute detail. For this reason alone, poison would never do. It would be too easy to detect, and it would most certainly point the finger at him.
Any kind of violent death was out, for the same reason. Violence always brought suspicion and thorough investigation. He was not certain that he would be able to stand up under a grueling inquest.
He could not use a gun or a knife, even with planted evidence that the apartment had been invaded by a burglar who was surprised by his wife. This kind of thing did happen now and then, but it was still pretty far-fetched. Anyhow, the police would expect to find fingerprints or some kind of tangible evidence. And there would be none.
That kind of situation could lead to some very pointed questions. And Arthur was not certain he would be able to answer them without tripping himself up.
Of course he could contrive to have her fall out a window. But suppose somebody across the way happened to be watching through binoculars at that precise instant? That idea was definitely out.
For another thing, he had to remember that Thelma was a powerful woman. He would have to take her completely by surprise. Because if she suspected his intentions, she could defend herself against him with no trouble at all.
What he really needed was some kind of plan involving a domestic accident. It was possible that she might be electrocuted. But that was not very-likely without tampering with the wiring of some electrical device. And of course that would mean leaving evidence.
Or she could drown in the bathtub, perhaps even slip and crack her head.
Arthur took a drag on his cigarette and exhaled the smoke slowly. He closed his eyes and thought about it for a moment. The glimmer of an idea began to take shape in his mind. He turned it over and over examining it from every angle.
Then he nodded with satisfaction. It was just the kind of plan that should work without a hitch. Many wives had drowned in their bathtubs before, and it was obvious that not all of the cases had been accidental.
He snuffed out his cigarette and stood up. Everything was settled, except for a few minor details which would still have to be worked out. That could all be done between now and tomorrow.
He had decided that it must happen tomorrow. The sooner the better for a number of reasons. First of all, he might lose his nerve. And with the memory of Terry's torrid love-making so fresh in his mind, the incentive would certainly still be there.
For another thing, the longer he deliberated, the more chance there was that Thelma would begin to suspect that something was going to happen. She was a shrewd woman, and it was impossible to fool her for long.
Also, if he spent too much time preparing for the murder, then it would tend to seem less like an accident. Accidents must look spontaneous.
Probably the biggest reason for getting it over with had to do with patience. He was so fed up with Thelma that he might not be able to put up with her for even a few more days. The change which had come over him lately might suddenly turn into raw violence. If he should lose control of his temper and kill her in rage then the whole thing would have been done in vain. He would lose Terry, his freedom everything.
Pausing before the bedroom mirror, he adjusted his tie and examined his clothes for any telltale hint of what he had been up to all day. Now was no time to be rousing Thelma's suspicions. She was going to be angry enough when he returned home. He only hoped that she would believe the story he had made up
that he had met some old college chums and had spent the day with them, talking over old times.
Well, let her blow a fuse. He could stand up to her wrath one more time, knowing that it would be the last, knowing that tomorrow she would die.
He smiled at his image in the mirror. . And then he walked over to the bed, where Terry lay sleeping. He sat down gently. She stirred when he put his hand on her shoulder. Then she rolled over and sat up, yawning.
He felt a sudden revival of longing at the sight of her ripe young breasts swaying heavily. She rubbed her eyes, then smiled at him. When she noticed his clothes, her smile turned to a scowl.
"You're dressed-"
"I have to leave now," he explained.
"Go home and face the music-" she giggled.
"There'll be some hell raised, but it was worth it," he replied, slipping his arm around her waist and drawing her closer.
She tilted her head. Her lips pursed, seeking his mouth. With a brazen thrust she shot her tongue deep. Her arms wound around his neck possessively.
Arthur felt the familiar stirring deep down. He longed to undress and give himself up once more to the thrill of her seductive body. But it had to come to an end, at least for a little while.
He pushed away from her and stood up. There was a pout on her lips when she looked up at him.
"When will I see you again, darling?"
"Not tomorrow," he said. "I'll be very busy tomorrow. But I'll phone you soon. It won't be long-"
He hurried away from the bed before he weakened and changed his mind. When he turned at the door she blew him a kiss. Temptation almost got the best of him, but he rushed through the door, closing it behind him.
Going down on the elevator, he tried to prepare himself for the tongue lashing he would receive from Thelma when he walked in the door. In a way he almost welcomed it because it would make everything so much easier tomorrow.