The Insiders

And Lonnie? He'd done just that. Gone with her, leaving his girl flat. He'd taken Francie out into the hills someplace, and they'd screwed over and over, with her wild and willing this time, and eager to learn much more.

After that, it had been Lonnie, and his friends, and his friends' friends, too, as word got around. One of them got her a prescription for the Pill, and she had it made.

Remembering became all mixed up with the present, and the pleasure and the pain of what Brant was doing to her.

"Hurt me, give it to me!" Francie heard herself scream as Iris fingers dug deeply into her flesh and he seemed to swell inside her. It was better than it had ever been for her before.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EVE HAD NOT been able to help noticing that Marti was getting quieter and quieter and drinking more. But now she did her drinking in the privacy of her own room or in the more fashionable gay bars, where she would go soon after her afternoon's work, returning home very late.

Sometimes Stella came over, and then Marti would smile again, but not for long, for Stella was seeing a lot of George Coxe these days, and not bothering to hide the fact any longer. Already in the society pages of the newspapers, their names were being linked. Tycoon George Coxe and attractive legal secretary Stella Ger-vin. Stella was attractive, especially in the new clothes that suddenly appeared in her wardrobe. There was a certain shy reserve about her that her new admirer found irresistible—he was used to women who succumbed to him easily, and this Stella would not do.

"I'm afraid I'm old-fashioned," she would smile. "After my unhappy marriage, I really haven't cared to date too often, George. If you want someone easy, why, I'm sure there are hundreds of women who would be more than glad to accommodate you."

George was finding out, though, that it wasn't the other, easy women he wanted—it was Stella. And the most she had ever allowed him to do with her was kiss her goodnight. She was frightened—he could sense that sometimes, when he held her too close or too tightly. She'd as much as admitted to him that her husband had been a sadist who had taken pleasure in giving her pain, beating her badly. How could he blame her for being afraid? The possibility that there might be a different reason for Stella's reticence had not even entered his mind.

She was not as reticent with David, who had become her confidant and adviser as the affair with George progressed. David had never liked Marti or quite approved of Stella's relationship with her. Now he encouraged Stella to keep seeing George, reminding her that here was her chance to make something of her life.

What started off one day as a routine dictation session ended up in the end as a kind of encounter group— for two.

"Stel, you're really a lovely woman; there's no reason for you to settle for life in the half-world. Keep George, and if you really want to, and can be discreet about it, keep your other women on the side."

Stella wondered fleetingly if this was David's own philosophy that he was quoting to her. It probably was. She knew, via Marti, that Eve was far from happy these days. And she also knew about Gloria.

"I—I really need someone to talk to, you know," Stella faltered, looking across at David. Gathering her courage, she admitted that the one thing that really scared her was how she'd react to George's embraces when the time came.

"He's been hinting about marriage. And he's being so darned nice to me, so sweet, that I can't keep him at arm's length forever. What shall I do? I don't know if I can make it with a man—or even if I'll be able to pretend well enough."

"There's one way to find out, if you don't mind my being blunt. Go to bed with a man."

Stella could feel herself blush. Did he mean what she thought he did? She found her boss attractive; she always had. And it had piqued her in the beginning that he hadn't tried to make a pass at her. He'd been friendly and informal, and she'd trusted him enough to tell him about Marti, even take him to the party where he'd met Eve. But why hadn't David shown some interest in her as a woman? And was he trying to make up for that now?

David got up and walked around the desk to her. Suddenly, Stella was glad that Gloria wasn't around that day. She and Howard had gone to Tahoe with friends and wouldn't be back until the beginning of the following week.

"Stella, I really meant what I just said, you know. It's something you should at least try, for your own sake. Christ, you don't need a psychiatrist to tell you that. You're an intelligent woman."

He put his hand on her shoulder, and she felt its warmth through her thin blouse. David was really a warm person, she felt. And he was interested in her; he had always been her friend. Of all the men she'd known, David came the closest to making her feel— Stella looked up at him and felt his hand tighten. He was so good-looking—there was no mistaking that. And she had the feeling that he could be very gentle and tender —and discreet. They both had a lot to lose if anyone found out.

"I—I think you're right, David. I have to find out."

They separated after work that evening. She left her car in one of the city's big parking lots, and he picked her up there in his car. His apartment was warm and friendly—like David himself.

Stella didn't feel any guilt when she thought about Marti, or even about Eve. Marti was acting kind of cold and withdrawn these days, anyhow; and Eve—Stella knew Eve went out a lot. Not always with David, either. But this wasn't the time to tell him.

This was the time to find out if she could respond to a man or not. She wondered how it would feel, how he would begin. But David, she discovered, believed in taking his time. And when it finally happened, what with the wine and his very gentle caresses that led up to what happened later, Stella couldn't imagine what she'd been afraid of.

The first time, before he entered her, he went down on her. And before that, he explored every inch of her body with his tongue and fingers, making her writhe and moan as she begged for release.

David himself enjoyed this part of lovemaking as much as he enjoyed the final explosion of himself in a warm, tight cunt. He had the gift of being able to detach himself and yet enjoy what he was doing—the squirming and the sighs and the opening up for him; the stage where a woman lost her reserve and control and let go, crying out with pleasure and begging for more.

Consciously and carefully, he acted as if Stella were a virgin, and w

as very slow, very cautious with her until she began to relax, and then at last to give in to her own body's reactions. She had a really lovely body, beautifully proportioned for her size, and he enjoyed making love to her, although he had to be very careful not to go too deeply into her because she was so small and tight.

The second time around, David taught Stella how to go down on him. By now, the wine they had been drinking had made them both high and very relaxed with each other. He found it terribly exciting to actually teach a woman how—God, he thought, had he ever had a woman who had never done this? He felt like some sort of a teacher as he explained to her that he had to be gentle, and told her what tricks could excite a man almost to bursting point.

After her initial reluctance, she proved a good pupil. She told him she hadn't read any of the sex manuals like The Joy of Sex. She knew how in theory, of course, but