Read Online 69 Barrow Street by Lawrence Block - Free Book Online

glued together. He had one hand under her skirt.
    “I want you,” she said. “I want you bad.”
    He lowered his head and began kissing her on the breasts.
    “Oh, God,” she said. “I can’t wait, David.”
    “Neither can I.”
    “Then come on.”
    “Where? There’s somebody in the bedroom and the bathroom door’s locked.”
    “What’s the matter with right here?”
    “Here?”
    “Sure.”
    “Here? On the couch?”
    “Why not?”
    “People’ll be watching.”
    “I don’t care.”
    “You sure?”
    “Of course I’m sure,” she said. “I don’t give a damn if the whole world is watching.”
    “What the hell,” he said. “Let ’em watch.”
    Maria stood in the middle of the living room. She took off all her clothes and stood completely naked.
    Nobody seemed to notice her.
    “God damn it,” she shouted. “Doesn’t anybody want to make it Greek style?”
    Nobody said anything.
    “God damn it!”
    Everybody ignored her.
    “What a dull party,” she said. “What a stinking dull party!”
    She sat down on the floor and rested her head on her knees and started to cry.
    Jimmy and Roger walked out of the bathroom. “Well? Did you like it?”
    “It was a scene,” Jimmy admitted.
    “Yeah.”
    “I like it better with women, of course.”
    “Naturally. So do I.”
    “But it’s another way to make it.”
    “That’s how I look at it.”
    “And everything’s worth a go at some time or other.”
    “That’s the way I feel.”
    “Yeah,” Jimmy said. “Well.”
    Sally was breathing deeply. She snuggled her head against Larry’s chest and kissed him.
    “Well, I’ll be damned,” she said. “I’ll be double-damned.”
    “I told you it would happen. All you had to do was give it a chance.”
    “You were right.”
    “See? There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re as normal as anybody else. It was just a question of giving yourself enough time.”
    She fell silent.
    Then she said: “Could I come and live with you?”
    “Why?”
    “I like it with you.”
    “How about Roger?”
    “To hell with Roger.”
    He thought for a minute. “Okay. I’ll tell Maria to move out. I was getting tired of her anyway.”
    “Good,” she said.
    “We’re pretty good together,” he said. “Maybe it’ll work out okay.”
    Elaine Jordan seemed to be in a trance. Ralph held her still, his mind wandering into another world. The pot had hit him harder than he had expected and he wanted nothing more than what he had—his hands on Elaine’s lovely breasts and his mind floating through space and time.
    Slowly he began to come back to reality. His hands continued their play with her breasts but now the process was beginning to excite him.
    He wanted her.
    Gently he slipped his hands around her waist and unbuckled her skirt. It dropped to the floor. Then he hooked his fingers under the elastic band of her pink silk panties and pushed them down over her hips and thighs. They dropped to the floor also.
    He ran his hands the full length of her body, realizing for the first time what a truly beautiful woman she was. His fingers explored every area of her.
    He wanted her. He couldn’t wait.
    “Elaine,” he said. “Elaine.”
    She was still in a trance.
    “Elaine.”
    She mumbled something unintelligible.
    “Elaine,” he said. “Bend over, Elaine.”
    Maria was crying.
    Jimmy sat down beside her, slipped an arm over her shoulder. “Hey,” he said. “Why the waterworks?”
    She looked up. “I want to make it and nobody wants to make it with me.”
    “You shoulda asked me.”
    Her eyes brightened. “You wanta make it?”
    “Why not?”
    “Greek style?”
    “Sure,” he said. “Why not?”
    They walked toward the bedroom.
    “Only one thing,” he said. “Why Greek style? Isn’t that pretty painful for a woman?”
    “Of course,” she said, puzzled. “Why else do you think I want to do it that way?”
    The party didn’t break up until 5:30 in the morning.

Chapter Five
    I T WAS WELL PAST NOON