Chapter 2

JUD WAS AWAKENED BY VIOLA'S VOICE, AND somehow he knew she'd intended it.

"Sam!" she said throatily. "Let's make love. Come on, Sam!"

"Shhhh!" Jud heard Sam say. But at the same time he could hear the other man's hoarse breathing.

Jud worked his arm out of his sleeping bag. A glance at his watch told him it was just before midnight; he'd been asleep a little over an hour. There was a clear sky, and the moon was almost full. The night was crisp rather than cold. Just at his back, not ten feet away, Viola was nestled in the other sleeping bag with Sam. A sardonic grin crossed Jud's face as he remembered that he'd offered to sleep outside so they could have the privacy of the tent. But Viola had said she wanted to sleep outside, too, and under the guise of protection in closeness-protection from what, Jud didn't know she'd insisted that Sam spread their sleeping bag near Jud's.

"Oh, Sam!" Jud heard her purr.

"Shhhh!"

"He can't hear us," Viola rasped. "He's sound asleep."

For a moment or two there was silence, followed by a stirring and rustling Jud presumed to be the two bodies shifting position in the bag. He pulled the flaps of his own bag around his ears, snuggling up and closing his eyes again.

"Oh, baby!" he heard Sam whisper.

Then he became aware of another sound, very rhythmic-something rubbing against cloth.

"Oh, yeah!" Sam said again, something in the tone of his voice reflecting all the conceit and egoism Jud remembered so well.

"Do you like that?" Viola whispered teasingly.

The sounds continued, and the velocity of the motion increased. Jud didn't have much trouble figuring out what she was doing to him.

"Yeah, I like it," Sam answered in something like a stage whisper.

Then the rhythmic motion slowed, and finally stopped completely. Sam gave a tense sigh.

"I don't want to cheat myself," Jud heard Viola explain. This was followed by the sound of the sleeping bag's zipper opening.

"Now what?" Sam asked with impatience.

"I don't think we can very well take our clothes off without getting out of this damn bag. Do you?"

"Jeesus!" Sam said. "What do you have to take your clothes off now for? I tried to get you to earlier, and you said it was too cold. Hell, just pull your britches down."

Jud remembered that she'd said it was so cold they ought to sleep in their clothes. So that had been calculated too, just like everything else she'd done tonight. It was all part of her plan.

"I don't know about you, brother," Viola growled, "but if I'm going to make it, I want to be naked all the way. There's a little more to it from a woman's angle than just what's between her legs."

"Show some class."

"Baby, you wouldn't know class if it grabbed you by the balls!"

Jud couldn't hold back snicker. It was followed by a dead silence which lasted, he was sure, a full minute. "Did you hear that?" Sam asked at length. "What?"

"Jud. I think he's awake."

"No, Sam, he's sleeping like a log."

"Jud?" Sam whispered loudly. Then he repeated it, a little above a whisper. "Jud!"

Right then he should have rolled over, rubbing his eyes, and pretended to have been awakened. That would have cooked her good. Sam would have gone cold on her, and the whole thing would have been frustration. That's what he should have done, but he didn't. He shifted restlessly, as if he'd been disturbed but not quite awakened. And he wondered with a taste of disgust if he didn't want to listen to them.

"He's asleep," Viola said.

Sam sighed. "I guess you're right."

There was more rustling as Viola got out of the sleeping bag, then the sounds of her taking her clothes off.

And Jud remembered another college night, when Sam was still living in the dorm and they'd come over to spend the night at Jud's place, which was nothing but a bedroom, a kitchen and a bath. He'd given them the bed and spread himself a pallet on the floor. He'd been drinking, so he fell asleep quickly. Viola had almost stumbled over him on the way to the bathroom. She'd been naked, and she'd just stood there in a shaft of moonlight that filtered through the window. She'd stared down at him, a daring smile on her face, her body glistening. Finally she'd gone on to the can, then back to bed and made love as loud as he'd ever heard, never once letting on to Sam that she knew Jud was awake. And he knew she'd awakened him on purpose, just as she had tonight.

"Take yours off too," he heard Viola say now. "And hurry up, baby; my little bare ass is freezing."

He could hear Sam shifting around in the bag, working his trousers off, and he knew Viola was standing there naked in the moonlight, waiting for him to look around. And he wanted to look, but he held himself back, forced himself to continue to pretend sleep.

"All right, I'm coming in," she said.

Jud heard her slide back into the bag, heard their bodies shifting around again.

"Feel how cold I am," she said huskily. "Feel my nipples; they're frozen hard. Feel that?"

For a moment neither of them spoke, but their breathing became increasingly loud, and Jud could feel his own craving build involuntarily with theirs.

"Let me on top," he heard Viola plead, and he knew the tremble in her voice was the one thing that wasn't fabricated for his ears.

There was more shifting of bodies, then: "You just be still, Sam baby. Let me do the whole thing, huh?"

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "Yeah."

She gave a little cry, then a series of animal sounds escaped from her. There was a pleading and urgency to these cries, and then a little sigh of relief escaped her, and it was complemented by a similar sigh from Sam. That was followed by a hush, and Jud knew they'd made their contact.

The hush lasted only an instant. Then again there was stirring, slow at first, smoothly rhythmic. The motion of their bodies was accented by purring sounds from Viola.

With each stroke, the motion built, and the noises that came from her throat also increased. Jud tried to close his ears, but he couldn't. He had to listen. "Oh, Sam!" Viola wailed.

The motion was building toward a crescendo, and their breathing reflected the abandon of their pleasure. "Oh, yes! Sam!"

Suddenly Jud's head turned. He hadn't been able to stop it. He had to see.

The sleeping bag was still open. Viola was in a squat on top of Sam, and her body held the top of the bag up, giving Jud a perfect view. She was rocking madly, lifting and letting herself fall, her loins pounding furiously against Sam's. Her breasts dangled in his face, and one hand cupped one of them as the other dug into her hip.

And now, as they reached the peak, they were completely oblivious of Jud. He could watch with impunity now, even if his craving for her did disgust him.

"Oh, please!" Viola screamed.

She buried her head in Sam's shoulder, whimpering in her pleasure. He arched his body up and she rotated her hips in wild contortions. The motions hit their peak, and following one last delirious cry, Viola sighed with relief and pleasure. Her body fell limp; her full breasts flattened against Sam's broad, muscular chest. And she looked over at Jud.

Her eyes met his, and for a moment they just stared at each other. Then he rolled over and buried himself deep in the lonely warmth of his sleeping bag. Viola was one up on him.

It was a long time before he went to sleep.