Norman Singer: The Hungry Husband

"David I assure you, these 'loved ones' would be much more seriously disturbed if you decided to stand me up."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I've always wanted to know what made your testicles tick, David Fortune, and at last the good Lord has answered my prayers. But if you should choose to blow it… (merely a figure of speech, my pet!)… I'll let Linda know how you tried to proposition me, you filthy blackguard…!"

He stared at her and moved back a step, thinking that he'd never in his life heard a woman state her desires so succinctly… thinking, too, that she was every bit as unprincipled as Brad had said… and how absurd it was that any woman who looked like this should have to stoop to blackmail in order to get him in bed, when dammit, he wanted her so much! Oooh yeah… wanted the taste of her and the feel of her…

But retaining the surface-stoicism, he tried: "Linda would neither believe nor thank you for that kind of information."

"On the contrary, she'd be highly indebted to me, dear boy, once she found out you were just as vulgar and lecherous as your old buddy Brad, whom she's always considered to be your most corrupt associate. And besides, she will know this private phone-number you sent me, and she will know the name of Thorndike, since, as you say, it was your Mummy's. That means I could really slip her this news anonymously, merely by sending her my computer-list, which would give her all the familiar data she'd need to know what you were up to…"

Oh man, listen to this serpent spit fire at me! "Brad might also be interested to know how you're going about recruiting strange men," he said.

"Nonsense!" she began to laugh again. "He couldn't care less. As a matter of fact, he tossed one of those questionnaires in my lap the last time he came to see the kids. I know he only meant it as a dirty joke, but I'm rather grateful to him-it should be kicks."

"But if he knows for sure that you've contacted one man in particular, he could use that to have you declared an unfit mother, and… take the children from you."

"And make orphans of them?" she said. "Oh my God, Brad would be the last person on earth to try and dirty my reputation since he knows the kids would get the worst of it. And besides, David, how could I be considered 'unfit,' simply because I'm a lonely divorcee who seeks a lifetime of happiness by subscribing to Computer Mate, Incorporated? I need a companion to share the sunset years of my life. What Judge would be shocked by that wholesome desire?"

David heaved a sigh of glorious defeat. "Oh wow, Joyce… looks like you've got me over a barrel…"

She giggled. "As long as I play the barrel, darling, it sounds utterly entrancing!"

He felt his cheeks go red and knew that she'd won, which made him fed pretty foolish and hangdog, because he also knew he hadn't really been fighting her.

"Incidentally, David," she said, leading him into the restaurant, "you'd lose Brad's friendship for good if you ever told him about this interlude, and I think you know that. You see dear, he'd expect this of me, but not you."

David recalled the many confidences he and Brad had shared lately, and remembered, too, the lofty opinion his friend had of him. "You're right, Joyce, I could never tell him about this. Brad has enough problems without my adding to them.

"Splendid!.. then come on, let's eat, you ripe and lovely one, I want a Chateaubriand so rare you can taste the blood!"

David knew just what she meant. He could taste it already.

David was much too agitated to remain at the office for very long that afternoon, despite the fact that his work had already begun to suffer. He left at three-thirty, on the pretext of having a dental appointment, although he felt a mental checkup might be more germane at the moment. Once out on the street, he found a booth and telephoned Joyce at her hotel to make sure she'd be available at this earlier hour.

"I just stepped out of the shower, darling," she said. "So if you hurry, we can apply your tongue in lieu of a towel…"

… JesusGod, listen to that!.. thought David, his throat going so dry he had to swallow several times before he could speak again. "I'll… I'll take a taxi, Joyce… I'm never any good at parking in a crisis…" He heard her irrepressible peal of laughter as he hung up.

Joyce greeted him gaily at the door, her bright lustrous hair hanging loose and full about her face, the halo-effect making her look even more piquant and tempting. Her sinuous body was draped in a sheer and clinging peignoir. With a fast, eye-smarting glance, David saw there was a bra and panties underneath, and felt a surge of relief, for he wasn't ready for too much illuminating nudity too soon. Since Linda had always insisted on undressing in the dark, he'd never really seen a naked woman before-a realization which, at this particular moment, made him feel only slightly less retarded than an imbecile.

He stood there in the doorway, staring and gulping. "Hi, Joyce, how've you been? Pretty cool weather for early September, isn't it?… I guess our Indian Summer's going to be late this year…"

"Oh for God's sake, David, shut up and come in!" she laughed, taking his hand and pulling him across the threshold. "You silly schoolboy, this isn't a cookie-jar you're raiding, it's a woman's apartment!" She eyed him with amusement as he reached behind and closed the door. "Honestly, David, you're gawking at me as if I were the Village Whore and you were Huckleberry Finn, now stop it!"

David restlessly edged his way deeper into the room, wishing she'd stop jeering at him and say something to ease his tension. "Pretty little hideaway you've got here," he said, giving the decor a sweeping glance. "Does it have a view?" He started to gallop towards the windows, but Joyce stepped in front of him, thwarting this evasion.

"Do you know, David, I didn't hear a word you were saying all through lunch today…"

"Oh? Why hot?"

"Because I was staring at your beautiful mouth, watching its every movement as you ate and spoke and drank… And whenever you licked your lips, I licked mine. Didn't you notice?"

He licked his lips and shook his head. "No…"

She smiled and slipped her hands up about his shoulders, slowly removing his jacket and letting it drop to the floor. He started to pick it up, then changed his mind as he felt her nails dig into his flesh.

"You're trembling, David."

"Umm…" he muttered; and that's not all, he thought, his heart racing, loins stirring.

"Kiss me while you're trembling, David. Kiss me now."

She reached her hands about his neck and pulled his face down to hers, hurling his lips fiercely down against her own. Her mouth softly parted, a budding fragrance, a succulent caress. Her tongue dabbed gently in against his teeth, and David groaned and opened to receive it, fervently sucking its hot, silky texture, crushing his mouth more deeply against hers, going braver and hungrier as he let his own tongue invade and prowl… Oooh God!.. here it was at last, first man-sized kiss at age twenty-seven, a live squirming woman in his mouth, and it was like the beginning of Time… the Big Dawning…

"Whew!" she gasped, pulling back and wistfully eyeing the reaching eagerness of his mouth. "My goodness, darling, you just went from Choir-Boy to Cannibal in a single kiss!" He loomed down at her for more, but she lightly tapped his lips with her fingers and moved away. "No, sweetie, that was just to light your burners, so you go sit over there on the divan and get your breath, while I mix us some drinks. Why don't you remove your tie and unbutton your collar? For starters, I mean…"

Apparently having arranged a bucket of ice and some setups from room service, Joyce busied herself for the next few moments. David watched her, his eyes as intimate as an embrace as they scanned her body… tiny waistline, supple, flaring hips, graceful curve of the shoulders, exquisite hands. He felt a tightness at the pit of his stomach, a sweltering agony creeping up his thighs, and even though he had the most painfully stiff erection he'd ever experienced with his pants on, he wanted to jump for joy and beat his chest and give a Tarzan-yell because he was hard-as-a-board and nobody had said "convivial!" He tried crossing his legs to hide his instant-blossom, but that maneuver only shoved the telltale bulge even higher. So he folded his hands over the throbbing mound and giddily grinned at Joyce as she approached him with their drinks.