Best Kept Secrets(115)

"Then, why did he offer him a job?"

"To wake you up, darling. He's only using Reede as a

subtle threat."

Junior promised her he'd do his best. But when he had

called Alex and asked her to have dinner with him, she'd

turned him down, saying she had a headache. She did agree

to meet him for lunch today. And then, when everything had

been going great, Reede had showed up and snatched her out

of his grasp again.

"Business, my ass," he muttered as he pulled into the



wide, circular driveway of the judge's home and brought the

car to a jarring halt. He jumped the flower bed and landed a

hard blow on the front door with his fist.

Stacey didn't get to the door quite fast enough to suit him.

He was practically frothing at the mouth by the time she

answered.

"Junior!" she exclaimed gladly when she saw him. "This

is a sur--"

"Shut up. Just shut up." He slammed the door behind

him, rattling every piece of china and glassware in the house.

Taking Stacey by both arms, he backed her into the wall of

the foyer and covered her stunned, gaping mouth with his.

He kissed her roughly while his hands attacked the buttons

on her blouse. They scattered like BBs across the marble floor

when he got too impatient to work them out of their holes

and ripped them open.

"Junior," she gasped, "what--"

"I gotta have you, Stacey," he mumbled, plunging his

face between her breasts. "Please, don't give me a hard time

about it. Everybody gives me a hard time about everything.

Just shut up and let me f*ck you."

He flipped up her skirt and slip, worked down her panty

hose, and then opened his trousers. He rammed into her dryly,

and she cried out.

He was causing her pain. While he knew it and hated

himself for hurting her when she didn't deserve it, he was

glad, in a dark part of his soul, that somebody else besides

himself was suffering. Why should he be the only person in

the whole freaking world to be miserable?

Everybody picked on him. It was time he got to pick on

somebody. Stacey was available . . . and he knew he could

get away with it.

Her dismay, her debasement made him feel powerful. His

release came from subjugating her, not from the sex itself.

When it was over, he collapsed against the wall, sandwiching

her between himself and the floral wallpaper.

He regained his breath and his reason gradually. He eased



away from her and stroked her cheek. "Stacey?" Slowly, she opened her eyes. He gave her a disarming smile and a soft kiss. Realizing that she was dressed up, he asked, "Did

I keep you from going somewhere?"

"A meeting at church."

The dimple in his cheek grew deeper as his smile widened.

Playfully, he tweaked an exposed breast. "You don't look

much like going to a church meeting now."

As he knew she would, she responded to his caresses,

which got bolder. "Junior," she whimpered breathlessly

when he pushed her blouse off her shoulders, yanked down

her brassiere, and fastened his mouth to her raised nipple.

She chanted his name, interspersing it with avowals of love.

He moved his head down her body, pushing aside clothing

as he went.

"Junior?" she asked timorously when he dropped to his

knees.

He smiled up at her beguilingly as he slipped his thumbs

between the lips of her sex and spread them apart.

"Junior! Don't. No. I can't. You . . . can't."

"Yes, I can, honey. What's more, you're just dying for

me to." He licked her lightly, enjoying the taste of himself

on her, the musky smell of aroused female, her uneasiness.

"Still want to go to church?" he whispered, nuzzling her

with his mouth. "Huh, Stacey?"

When her orgasmic sobs echoed off the walls of the empty

house, he pulled her down to straddle him as he lay on his

back on the cold marble floor. He emptied himself into her

again. Afterward, when she was curled against him like a rag

doll, he felt better than he had in weeks.

When he moved to sit up, Stacey clung to him. "Don't

go"

"Hey, Stacey," he said teasingly, "look what a mess I've

made of you. You'll have to spruce up, or the judge will

know the mischief you've been into while he was at work

today."

He stood, readjusted his clothing, smoothed back his hair.



"Besides, I've got work to do myself. If I stay a minute

longer, I'll cart you off to bed and waste the entire afternoon

there. Not that it would be a waste, mind you."

"Are you coming back?" she asked plaintively as she

trailed him to the door, covering her nakedness as best she

could.

"Of course."

"When?"