Nick dragged himself from bed and breathed in the flowery odor that still hovered in the room from Eve and Alice's perfume. He shook his head and felt the deadly hangover pound at it and at his stomach.
He kicked away an empty bottle of scotch as he stumbled into the bathroom, and the bottle rolled noisily across the room and hit the wall with a thud. He vaguely remembered the girls leaving early that morning. And then the scene with Julie came back to him like a sharp pain in the head.
He brushed his teeth and realized his hand was shaking, and when he finished and stared into the mirror, he shuddered at the bloodshot, puffy eyes that stared back.
He splashed cold water on his face and walked into the living room, and kicked another bottle of scotch. He walked to the window and looked at the deep snow and knew that Eve and Alice were the first in a long line of women who would help him blot out everything. Julie had said he'd go back to the gutter, and by God, she'd been right.
The phone rang, and Nick dashed over and jerked the receiver up. "Hello," he gasped.
"Nick, this is Sally Lewis," the soft, husky voice said.
"Oh, hello Sally," Nick said, and the disappointment hit him hard and he leaned against the wall.
"I found out what happened," she said. "And I want to thank you for going to bat for me the way you did."
"Well, it didn't do much good," he said. "Now we're both out of a job."
"I'm sorry to think it happened because of me," she said. "But I think frankly you're better off being out of that situation, Nick. I saw what it was doing to you, particularly the way the little bitch was running you ragged."
"I know, you're right," he said. "But it all came so suddenly, it's difficult to accept it. I'm in a sort of daze and have no idea what I'm going to do."
"What a coincidence, Nick," she said. "I don't have any plans either. Especially no plans for tonight, Nick. Why not let me show you that there's more to me than typing and shorthand."
Nick pictured Sally's dazzling smile and devilish green eyes and rust-brown hair and the fantastic body he had often stared at in the office. He could now accept the invitation she had been extending to explore that body in the comfortable surroundings of his apartment, rather than the usual, less pleasurable environment of his office. But then again, he didn't want to encourage her. He had the feeling that once they'd gone out together, or met at his apartment, he would start hearing a lot from her. And right now, he didn't want to see a lot of anyone.
"Sounds great," he replied. "But not tonight. I just don't feel like it…"
"I understand," Sally replied. "But I'll keep trying."
"You do that," he said. "And if there's anything I can do to help you find a new job…"
"I'll call," she giggled. "Bye now. And if you change your mind, call me."
"Fine," Nick mumbled, and hung up.
He went into the kitchen and fixed coffee and had two glasses of cold tomato juice. Then he sipped the scalding coffee and felt his stomach whirling around.
It seemed that getting drunk and being hung over were getting to be regular parts of his life. Drink and sex and blot out everything, he told himself, and burned his tongue on the coffee.
Self-loathing permeated his weary, aching body and he stood up and stumbled into the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. He kept thinking of what Julie had said about his going back to the gutter. God, she would love to see me now, he told himself.
He ran hot water and started shaving, and at one point he wondered, not just casually, how it would be to slit his throat. He finished shaving and splashed on after-shave and felt much better.
Then he studied his face in the mirror. A few days ago, he'd have looked at himself and smiled knowing he had everything and could go no place but up.
Then he laughed grimly, because he was in the gutter, so in a different way, there was nowhere to go but up.
God, snap out of this self-pity and self-loathing, he told himself aloud. Do something, he chanted to himself. That had always been his motto when he was young and poor. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, do something.
Nick ran a hot shower and stayed a long time under the burning spray, and he felt like a new man when he stepped out. He hurried into the bedroom and got dressed and left the apartment quickly.
Because he knew now what he was going to do. He raced down the stairs and out into the snow and started walking down the icy sidewalk. Several cabs passed, but he felt good walking, and the chilling wind helped snap him from the deadly hangover.
He had one gambit left, and by God, he was going to play it. He might be dead with agencies in this town. But he still had one shot at something big.
He walked against a red light, ignoring the shouts of outraged drivers, and turned right and walked faster down Park Avenue. And he told himself that even if Frances Dennison did not buy his plans for the advertising campaign, at least he could talk to her. And since he no longer had Holly, it would feel good to just get his misery off his chest.
Holly, he said, and just repeating the name warmed him, and he knew that so long as he lived, he would compare any woman he ever touched with the memory of the golden girl that could have been his.
His heart was racing as he turned into the elaborate apartment house where Frances Dennison lived. And on the way up in the elevator, his spurt of courage began to sputter and he began to wonder if Mrs. Dennison wouldn't think him rude and forward to burst in on her this way.
But he knew he could not back out now, or it would be to an endless rut of drinking and self-pity.
The elevator door slid open and Nick stepped out onto the thick carpeting and moved slowly down the long hallway. He paused outside the door then pushed the bell.
The butler answered immediately and was very cordial and Nick was surprised when he said Mrs. Dennison was expecting him. Nick followed the butler down the corridor and into the massive ornate living room.
Frances Dennison got up from her chair and put her tea cup down. "Well, young man, I'm glad to see you again," she said.
"Pardon me for barging in on you this way," Nick said.
"Don't be silly," she said. "You said you'd have my ad campaign ready in two days, so I've been expecting you."
"Well, I have an idea," he said. "But I'm afraid I no longer have an agency."
She picked up her cup and took a sip. "Oh, yes, I know all about that," she said. "Marshall Connors called. I imagine he's called everyone he can think of by now. He only told me he fired you, but that you had done terrible things to his daughter and that she had broken the engagement."
"That's not exactly how it happened," Nick said. "I broke the engagement and I wasn't fired, I quit. But it's important to me that you know I'm capable of coming up with an imaginative campaign, and on the deadline."
"I never really doubted that you would," she said, and leaned over and pulled a heavy cord, and in an instant the butler appeared in the door. "Get this young man a double scotch with water, and fill my cup. And bring in a bottle of scotch and a bottle of gin and leave them."
The butler took her cup and left the room and Mrs. Dennison sat down again, and motioned to a chair for Nick.
"We have a great deal to discuss, young man," she said. "Of course, I'm anxious to hear your plans for my wretched beer. But if you don't mind an old lady prying, there are other things you ought to know."
"I appreciate your interest," Nick said and leaned forward.
"Well, I think you're a damn fool," she said. "Though the fact that you had enough sense to throw over that silly, frigid Connors girl gives me hope. I assume it was because of Holly."
"Yes, Mrs. Dennison," Nick said. "I was an utter fool about Holly. It was a mistake that will cloud the rest of my life. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at another woman without thinking of Holly and the brief time with her."
The butler brought the drinks and put the two bottles on the carved table beside Mrs. Dennison's chair. They drank silently for a moment. Then Mrs. Dennison smiled deeply, the heavy wrinkles creasing her face.
"I'm taking my account from Connors and Ross," she said. "I would like you to come to work for me as my advertising director. You can decide which agency will handle your proposed plan."
Nick was so stunned it took him a full minute to reply, and all the time, she sat there smiling and taking dainty sips of gin.
"Mrs. Dennison, I don't know how to thank you," he said. "I would consider it an honor to work for you. And I promise that you won't regret the decision."
"Oh, I'm sure I won't," she said. "But that's not the main thing I wanted to tell you. I mean the most important thing."
"What could possibly be more important," he asked.
"Oh, come now," she said. "I know the job is important, but be honest. What do you most want more than any job in the world?"
"Is it really possible, Mrs. Dennison," Nick asked. "Where is she? I'd go to the ends of the earth to find her but I don't even know her last name."
"You only have to go a few doors down the hall," Mrs. Dennison said. "When she heard you were coming, she refused to stay and see you. So you might have some trouble."
"But how did she get here," Nick asked. "When I left your apartment, I knew perfectly well she was going to leave," Mrs. Dennison said. "And I knew she wouldn't have any money. So I waited for her and brought her here. And she's brightened this dingy old apartment and made the past couple of days the most pleasant I've had in a very long time."
"Can I go to her now," Nick asked.
"Of course," she said. "And you convince her of the way you feel, and you spend as much time as necessary. And when you get out of bed, we'll have dinner and you can explain your campaign to me. She is in the fourth room down the hall."
"Mrs. Dennison, you're some girl," Nick said and stood up. He walked from the room and down the corridor to the fourth door and knocked. There was no answer, so he knocked louder.
"Who is it," Holly called.
Just the sound of her voice made Nick go warm. He started to answer, then opened the door and went in and closed the door behind him.
Holly turned from the window and the sight of her blue eyes and golden body made Nick catch in his breath. She wore only a pair of thin, blue, shortie pajamas, and Nick's breath came in rushes as he looked up and down the hills and valleys of her body.
"I don't want to see you," she snapped and reached over and picked up a robe. She put the robe on and turned back to look from the window.
Nick walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, but she twisted away. "I love you, Holly," he said softly. "I love you more than anything in the world. And I want to marry you."
"Your confession of feeling comes a little late, Nick," she said. "You have a fiancee and a very important job."
"Didn't Mrs. Dennison tell you?" he asked.
"Tell me what?" she said. "She only told me to expect you over today."
"I no longer have a job with Connors and Ross and I no longer have a fiancee," Nick said.
Holly turned from the window and stared at him, her blue eyes narrowed.
"When did all this happen?" she asked.
"Yesterday," Nick said. "When you left and I realized how I felt about you, I went through sheer agony, Holly. And when I saw Julie again, and realized what I had lost, I told her to go to hell."
"Well, you can go to hell yourself, Nick Harrison," Holly said and walked past him.
Nick stood fascinated at the sight of her rounded buttocks beneath the tight robe and pajamas, and he licked his lips and started over to her.
"I'm not going to get involved with you again, Nick," she said. "Not after what you put me through before, and what you said to me."
Nick's heart sank as Holly reached for the handle. She turned the handle and then shoved at the door.
"It's locked," she said as Nick came to her.
He tried the handle too, and the door was definitely locked. "Be quiet a minute," he said and pressed his ear against the door. "Hear that?"
"I hear something," she said. "But I don't know what it is."
Nick grinned. "I know what it is," he said. "It's an old lady laughing."
Holly grinned too. "By God, she's locked us in here," she said.
"She's not taking any chances," Nick said.
"Damn her and damn you," Holly said. "She knows if I spend just a few minutes alone with you, we'll wind up in bed."
"Holly, I love you and I would do anything to make up for the misery I caused you," he said. "But I'm half crazy with desire, and half crazy with fear I'll lose you again. And so I'm afraid you're dealing with a crazy man who is in no mood for a debate."
Nick put his hands on Holly's waist and she stiffened, but she did not pull away. He pulled her to him, and when her lush, warm body pressed against him he went warm all over.
He lowered his head and kissed her soft, damp lips and slid his hands down to cup her luscious buttocks through the sheer material. She made no response and he shoved her body harder against his and drove the kiss harder and marveled at the texture of her lips.
Then he pulled from her lips and stepped back a moment. She stared up at him, her blue eyes wide and without expression. Nick slowly pulled her robe off and then slipped the shortie pajamas off. And still she made no move or sound.
Fever raced over his body when he looked at her, looked down to the enormous breasts, with the huge nipples, down the narrow waist to the flare of her hips, and over the whole expanse of copper toned skin.
Tentatively, he touched her thigh with trembling fingers and the fever surged until he felt sweat pour from his body. Gently he rubbed the burning-smooth thigh. Then gently, he kissed her lips and felt her breath pour warm against his cheek.
She twisted from his gentle kiss and cocked her head up at him. And then she smiled slightly. "Nick darling, I hope you're well rested," she said. "Because if not, baby, God help you."
"Oh Holly," he smiled. "I want you so much."
Holly sat down on the bed, staring at him as he ripped off his clothes. His prick was hard when he slipped down his briefs and kicked them off. He could hardly wait to feel her naked body crushed against his, feel her honey-warm flesh in his hands and her heavy breasts pressed against his chest.
"I've been looking forward to this moment for so long," he said as he stepped toward the bed.
"So have I, Nick," she whispered, still staring down at his crotch, watching his stiff cock wave up and down as he walked.
Her eyes dropped closed as he lowered himself onto the bed. She fell into his arms and he kissed her hard on the lips. Her tits were burning against his body, her flesh radiating as he ran his hand along her back. Her tongue edged into his mouth and he chased it back into her mouth with his tongue, then took hold of one of her tits and worked it around in his hand.
She tried to push him down on his back, but instead he urged her down. Her eyes opened when she was lying on her back, and she saw him slipping between her legs and lowering his head to her belly. Her eyes closed again, her breath quickening in anticipation. Her belly was rolling, her hips swirling even before his lips met her thighs.
Nick shoved her golden legs apart and kissed her belly on the soft bed of tan just above her blonde bush. He shot his tongue out and curled it in her navel, then moved it down to her bush and through it. His hands pressed against her thighs, a finger from each hand reached into her pussy and spread her cunt lips apart.
She winced the moment his fingers met her cunt. Nick immediately pressed his face against her spread gash and slashed his tongue into her love hole, then licked along the slice until he had her clit at the end of his tongue. She was already wailing so loudly he knew Mrs. Dennison could hear her if she were still outside the door.
Using his nose and cheeks to press her cunt lips open, Nick let go of her thighs and slid his hands under her body, sinking his fingers into the steamy softness of her buttocks. His tongue lashed and lapped, his lips nibbled and sucked, his teeth grated and scraped against her clit as he felt her quivering all over from his caresses.
Still tonguing her clit, he worked a finger through her legs from behind and slid it into her pussy. She screamed as the digit filled her, he added a second finger and then sucked her clit into his mouth as the two fingers began pumping steadily into her sopping chasm. He was so turned on by her excitement that he thought he'd come if he pressed his hard prick against the mattress.
But Holly hadn't forgotten that cock either. As he continued to thrill her, he felt her hand on his back, then felt her body shift as she leaned up to pull on his legs. He caught on. With his face still perched above her blonde cunt, he twisted his body around so that he straddled her face then lowered his hips toward her.
But she rolled over on her side, and Nick managed to keep his head between her legs as he too rolled over. Her warm thighs pressed against his cheeks as he tongued her hole, her belly rolling with pleasure.
He felt her hand around his cock, squeezing it, bending it. He knew without looking that she'd opened her eyes and was looking at his prick, examining every inch of it. And he certainly didn't have to look to know that she was sliding the cockhead through her soft, sultry lips.
Nick moaned into her bush as he felt the warmth surrounding his bloated cockhead. Then he felt her lips move slowly down his shaft, stopping, then moving further until he felt her lips at the base of his cock, and his crown pushing against the back of her throat.
She rose to the cap and licked around the bulb, then plunged again. Gism shot like lightning toward his rod, he knew that a few more of her caresses would send his seed spurting into her mouth, no matter what he tried to do to stop it. And he had no intention of coming until he'd savored her luscious young cunt again.
He had the feeling that she too was drawing close to her end as he sucked her clitoris into his mouth and drove his fingers into her snug tunnel. He heard her gasp, then felt her lips move quickly down his shaft again, taking it in to the hilt. When her tongue shot out and caressed his balls, he knew he couldn't last much longer.
He slid his fingers from her pussy and inserted his tongue, using his fingers now to stroke her clit. Her cunt contracted, pulling his tongue into her body. She jolted as if she'd just received an electric shock.
"Oh Nick!" she screamed, pulling her lips away from his prick. "I-I feel it…"
Before she finished, he twisted his body around again and lowered himself between her thighs. Her legs shot open readily, then closed around his back. He reached down for his prick frantically as she squirmed and screamed underneath him, unable to wait even the five seconds it would take to fill her pussy with his manhood.
She winced and howled in his ear when he rubbed his cockhead along her pussy lips. He slid the tip of his rod through the wet portals and lunged smoothly. Their bodies came together, flesh against flesh, her arms closed around his neck and his balls swung into her ass.
Slowly, gently, he eased his prick back until the crown alone was left inside her, then twisted his hips to bend the shaft and press it against her clit. She sank her fingers into his buttocks and pushed him down, his cock sliced deeply into her cunt again.
"You feel so good," Holly murmured, licking into his ear. "So deep, so thick…"
"Oh Holly," he gasped, lunging into her again.
Her tits were burning against his chest her thighs were warm against his side. He caressed her neck, then licked at her nipples as his hips continued to flail, his balls continued to bound against her ass. Gism again filled his prick. This time, he knew he couldn't stop it.
His strokes quickened, her squirming and screaming grew more frantic. He wasn't sure if she was coming or not as his prick gorged with semen and prepared to erupt inside her.
He cried out as his cock slid back, then barged into her channel again. Holding her in a tight embrace, he screwed his tool into her twitching cunt and exploded.
If Nick had any doubts about her orgasm, they vanished when he began squirting. The warmth of his semen set her off, she writhed wildly under him as his rapid strokes brought his cock in and out of her creaming cunt, brought spurt after long spurt of his spunk into the tightness of her pussy.
She was still squirming when he came to rest on top of her. Her hand moved down his back her finger slid into the crack of his ass. Nick was amazed to feel his prick growing hard again inside her almost as soon as it had grown limp.
He fondled her tits and kissed her lips until he felt his organ at full stiffness. Then he began pumping into her again. In five seconds she was back at the peak of her pleasure, squirming under him and wailing in his ear.
Nick's body was covered with sweat as he screwed into her. Five minutes, ten minutes. They were rocking so hard the bed was creaking and sliding along the floor.
Nick was gasping for breath, Holly was as hot as a frying pan, when he rolled her over on her belly, lifted her ass, and sliced his prick into her cunt from behind. Five minutes in that position brought Holly to two more orgasms, and left her buttocks red from the pounding of his hips.
Then Holly took the initiative, pushing him onto his back and sitting on his prick. He let her do the work for five minutes, watching her body bounce up and down on top of him, watching her tits dancing in front of his eyes, watching her face contort with pleasure, watching his cock slice up into her cunt as she dropped to his crotch again. Slowly, he felt another orgasm gathering momentum within him.
He pulled her down on top of him and rolled over. Her legs closed around his back, and he took her in his arms and drilled his cock into her with all the speed his hips could muster. Five minutes later, they were both covered with sweat, and Nick's cock was gorging with another load of seed. Nick buried his face in her lush tits as his cock tensed in her pussy. He screwed in again, but still the member remained poised for orgasm. And then, with another lunge, he felt it blast open, heard himself groaning as he came.
It took them five minutes to catch their breath. Finally Nick slid his prick from her pussy and rolled over on his back, pulling her into an embrace and kissing her lips.
"Holly, you're terrific," he murmured. "And I love you."
"I love you too, Nick," she smiled. "I loved you all along."
"And I should have known it."
"If it wasn't for Mrs. Dennison…" Holly began.
"Yes, I know," Nick said. "And I shudder to think what might have happened. And I shudder to think of living as Julie's husband. Especially after I've known you."
"We won't mention Julie's name again, will we Nick?"
He kissed her. "Never again."
Nick rubbed his hands gently over Holly's glowing, damp body, and thought of the endless night of possessing that body and of being enclosed in a screaming driving world of honey.
Holly kissed his nose and then smiled. "You know, Nick," she said. "One thing about the name Frances. It can be used for our first child whether it's a boy or a girl."
"Yes, that's perfect," he said, and stroked her hair. "You know, I forgot to tell you, but Mrs. Dennison hired me today as her advertising director."
"Congratulations darling," she said and kissed his ear. "I knew she was going to give you some kind of a job."
"I'll need a really good secretary," he said. "The girl I had at Connors and Ross got the axe because of me. I think I'll give her the job."
"Um, that's nice," Holly said and nibbled at his ear.
"She's a very attractive girl," Nick said. "Julie was convinced something was happening between us. How will you feel about my having an attractive secretary?"
Holly slid her fingers down and tickled and Nick gasped. Then she kissed his lips and licked around the lips as she pulled away.
"Nick, when I finish with you each night and each morning, you may not have enough strength left even to get to work," she said. "I hardly think I'll have to worry about something happening at the office."
"I see what you mean," he said.
"You'll see even more clearly in a minute, darling," she said.
"Holly, I couldn't, not again," he said.
"Sure you can," Holly grinned. "Let me show you."