Filed to story: Love on the Sidelines (Natalie & Karl)
And his comment was all it took. Suddenly I was bombarded by memories. Jenna chasing Hugh in grade school, telling me how cute he was. Her laughing with him in junior high, and later, getting upset when she found out I was dating him to cover my relationship with Karl. Her reaction after graduation when she found out Hugh had married me. All the nights Hugh hadn’t come home, nights when I hadn’t been able to reach Jenna either. And most damning of all, the expression on her face Sunday evening when I’d jokingly accused her of having an affair without telling me. The same night I thought I’d heard someone sneaking out her front door.
I stumbled as the knowledge slammed into me, and came to an abrupt staggering halt. “Oh, my God.”
“Natalie? What’s wrong?” Karl’s voice sounded worried, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off Hugh and Jenna.
“Oh, my God,” I repeated, stunned. “It was Jenna. All this time, she was the other woman.”
“You can’t know that.”
But I did. I knew it right down to my soul, couldn’t understand how I’d missed it all those years. Instinctively, mindlessly, my feet took a step back. Almost as if my stare had drawn her attention, Jenna looked around and our eyes met. The blood drained from her face and she pushed Hugh away as though he’d burned her. I saw her lips form my name as she started toward me.
I took yet another step back, then another. “No,” I whispered. Until then, I’d been in shock, but now equal measures of pain and anger hammered into me. If I had to confront her now, I didn’t know what I’d do. So even as Karl moved to block her from reaching me, I turned and ran.
Someone called my name, but I didn’t slow. I plowed through the crowd, pushing people out of my way with a strength born of desperation. I had to get out, get away from her, for both our sakes. I had to breathe.
Panting like a marathon runner at the end of a race, I jumped into the Chevy and tore out of the parking lot, slinging gravel behind me as the rear end fishtailed. I was pushing the old car harder than I ever had before, and if I’d been thinking straight I would have known better.
Ten minutes later, just as I reached the skeletal remains of the Star-Vu Drive-In, the Chevy hiccupped, stalled, caught again, and then died with a strangled wheeze.
Cursing under my breath, tears streaming down my face, I wrestled the steering wheel around and let the car glide to a stop near the ancient screen. It was the last straw.
I was so far gone I didn’t pay any attention to the lights from Karl’s truck, illuminating the rows of headless metal stands, as he pulled into the lot. In a rage, I jumped out of the Chevy and kicked it as the headlights behind me went out. Then kicked it again and again, teeth clenched together to stop the screams that were fighting to get out. When I started beating the hood with my fists, Karl grabbed me from behind, pinned my arms to my sides and lifted me off my feet.
Itonlymadethingsworse.”Goddamnit!Letmego,”Iscreamedinfury, struggling with all my might.
“You’re going to hurt yourself.” He turned me to face him without releasing his hold. “If you need to hit something, hit me.”
I lost control, totally and completely. Furiously, I pounded on his chest, sobs tearing my throat raw. He never even flinched, just stood there like a block of granite until I wore myself out. Slowly, my blows weakened, came farther apart. And then I was in his arms, my mouth on his.
“Make love to me,” I whispered.
“Natalie, you’re too upset-“
I cut his words off with another kiss. “I need you, damn it. Now shut up and make love to me.”
A low growl started in the back of his throat as I trailed hot kisses over his jaw, down his neck. Frantically, nearly tearing the material in my haste, I unbuttoned his shirt, desperate for the feel of his skin. His hands slid to my bottom, cradled and lifted me until I was pinned between his body and the car. When he reclaimed my mouth, took control, I wrapped my legs around his waist like a heat-seeking missile, doing my best to get closer to the flames.
I was vaguely aware of the sounds of traffic from the highway, but the old theater screen blocked us, hid us from the view of passersby. And even if it hadn’t, I honestly don’t think I would have cared. I was lost in Karl’s scent, the feel of his body moving with agonizing friction against the material that separated us.
Mindless with the sensations coursing through me, I felt him shove my jacket down my arms, felt his hands move under my tank top as I arched my back. Then we were in the backseat of the Chevy, clothes flying in every direction as we strained to rediscover territory that had once been so familiar.
The night was hot and sweat slicked our bodies as we moved together, silk sliding on silk. With hands and lips we fought each other for dominance, wanting to be the first to torment, to please. My whimpers echoed in the night as Karl rasped a continuous stream of love words, expressions of desire so heated they served to inflame me even more.
Countless times we drove each other to the ragged edge of completion, only to pull back at the last second, wanting the sweet torture to last. When Karl finally joined our bodies together, we were both crazed from the erotic battle we’d waged, a battle in which each of us would be the winner.
With the heady odor of lovemaking surrounding us in the enclosed space, with Karl’s mouth ravenous on mine, with his hardness filling me in a way I’d despaired of ever knowing again, I finally found release. It was so cataclysmic that I cried out, my body shaking with the rapture that consumed me. Karl captured my cries, held me and kept me safe as I convulsed. Then as my tremors began to ease, he stiffened, and I held him as he emptied his passion into my waiting body.
Joy like I’d never known before, as strong as the physical victory I’d found, settled around my heart like a warm blanket. I wanted to stay here forever, never let go of him again.
He must have been feeling something similar, because he made no effort to move away. Quietly, we clung to each other, a hand occasionally moving, soothing the tics and twitches of aftershocks as our breathing settled back to normal.
“Christ,” he whispered, voice still husky with desire. “If this is another dream, I hope to God I never wake up.”
“It’s no dream.” My hand slid down the long hard muscles of his back. “Do you realize the last time we made love was in this same place?”
“I know.”
“But this time it’s going to be different.”
He levered his weight up on his elbows and threaded his fingers tenderly through my hair as he gazed down at me. “How?”
“This time, I’m not going to let you leave. I want you to stay with me tonight.” A smile curved his lips. “You don’t hear me arguing, do you?” It took us almost an hour to find all of our clothes, sort out what belonged to whom in the darkness, and then assist each other in dressing. The last was more hindrance than help, since we used it as an excuse to renew our teasing, touching, torment. All our inhibitions had vanished like a puff of smoke in a high wind. We positively wallowed in the pleasure brought on by the knowledge that we were free to do anything we desired to the other’s body. And each action built the desire anew, rekindled the thirst we’d so recently slaked.
Back at my room in the barn, we made love again and again. Slower now that the first frenzy had been sated. And between times, we’d talk.
Once I asked him, “Does this make me an adulteress? My divorce isn’t final until tomorrow, so technically, I’m still married to Hugh.” Karl had his head propped on one hand, the other tracing light patterns on my stomach, then between my breasts. We’d left a small lamp on, so I had no trouble seeing his gray eyes shift to mine.
“No.”