The Deception

by Marina Martindale

  "Did that feel good, baby girl? There's more where that came from. You really are a beautiful woman, Carrie. In fact, you look good enough to eat."

  He kissed the inside of her thighs. Her moans grew louder as she felt him licking her between her legs. Her body began writhing uncontrollably. She'd never experienced anything so intense before. Scott kept massaging her, inside and out, with his finger and his tongue. Her moans grew louder as she continued to writhe.

  "Yes, Scott," she groaned, "yes, yes, yes."

  Just as she was about to climax he stopped licking her and removed his finger. He quickly thrust himself into her. She wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him, as she pushed and rubbed herself against him as hard as she could, crying out in her ecstasy. Her pitch reached a crescendo as she climaxed, again and again and again. Once she'd finally exhausted herself it would be his turn. She kept her arms and legs tightly wrapped around him. He thrust himself back and forth as hard as he could until she felt him pulsating deep inside her. Reaching his release, he slowly collapsed onto the floor in a state of blissful exhaustion, resting his head on the inside of her thigh. Neither one moved or spoke for several minutes. Finally, he opened his eyes. He noticed her legs were still wide open. He leaned forward, gently kissing her before climbing up to lay down across the bed next her. He began running his fingers through her hair as he whispered in her ear.

  "Carrie, you were incredible."

  She began wondering what she'd gotten herself into. She knew their relationship wouldn't be long-term, but she also knew it was going much too fast. She looked into his eyes. He smiled back and gently kissed her again. He'd been upfront from the beginning. It would be a fling, nothing more. Perhaps his intention was to get the most out of it in whatever time they'd have together. Once it was over, she hoped she'd ready to move on to a more lasting relationship. She let out a sigh as she sat up.

  "I need to take a shower, and then we'll have dessert."

  "Darling, don't you know? You are the dessert."

  "Would you like to spend the night, Scott? It's getting late, so what would you say to staying over and having breakfast together?"

  "I wish I could, but I can't." He began to stroke the side of her face. "Believe it or not, I have to be at the office early tomorrow morning for phone conference with a foreign client. But we'll definitely be getting together again, soon."

  Once he was dressed, he stopped to give her long, passionate goodnight kiss before heading off to his car. Arriving home, he was happy to find Maggie out like a light in front of the television set in the family room. He left her where she was as he silently headed upstairs to check on the kids. Afterwards, he got ready for bed, relieved that Maggie still hadn't come upstairs. He hoped she'd stay where she was for the rest of the night. Before climbing into bed he stopped to admire the nude photos of Carrie.

  "Wow. Not only did I get to have a really great piece of ass, I get to have keepsake mementos to remember it by. It doesn't get any better than this."

  Ten

  "I've fallen head over heals in lust. Deep, dirty, carnal, lust."

  Carrie was spending the afternoon at the mall with Allison. They'd just sat down at a table in the food court and were trying to decide what to have for lunch.

  "Okay," said Allison, "I was about to suggest the hot dog place, but after hearing that I think maybe the chicken teriyaki bowls would be a whole lot safer. Does that sound good to you?"

  Carrie nodded, waiting at their table while Allison went to get their food. She returned a few minutes later, setting the tray down and taking her seat.

  "All right, so who's the lucky guy? Anyone I know?"

  "Yep," said Carrie as Allison handed a rice bowl to her. "Your friend, Scott Andrews."

  "I see. That's what I figured you'd say. I seem to recall you mentioning that you'd gone out with him once or twice, but I didn't realize it had gotten, well..." Allison wasn't quite sure how to finish her sentence.

  "I know. All I can say is he's a wild man, Allie. He may come across as this quiet, conservative guy, but there's a whole 'nother side to him. He's nothing like Doug was. Doug took his time, and then, when things got... intimate, Doug did it in a kind, gentle, and loving way. With Scott, it's more like a 'wham bam thank you ma'am.' He's a really fast mover. We went all the way to third base on our first date."

  "Wow." An astonished Allison paused for a moment to take it all in. "I've known Scott for years, and he never struck me as the aggressive type. He was always more the quiet type, but then again, they say you need to watch out for the quiet ones. He's not forcing you into doing anything you don't want to do, is he?"

  "No, not really. It's just that it happened so fast. We both agreed that it wouldn't be any kind of long-term thing, but still, he moved like lightening. I guess I threw caution to the wind."

  Allison was concerned. Carrie was still emotionally vulnerable and she didn't want her being taken advantage of.

  "Okay, so tell me, once you're done, does he stay the rest of the night with you?"

  "So far he hasn't," replied Carrie. "On our second date, after we'd finished, you know, I asked him to spend the night, but he said he couldn't. He said he had to be at the office early the next morning, even though it was a Sunday. He mentioned something about an overseas client."

  "What about your third date?"

  "That hasn't happened yet. And that's the other funny thing. We had our first date, then he canceled the next two at the last minute, so I didn't get to see him again for almost a month. We finally had our second date two weeks ago. We were keeping in touch by email, but I haven't heard from him in awhile, and I've not sent him an email since the morning after our second date."

  "What's keeping him so busy?"

  "Work. He works long hours. Apparently, he's on call, or something. It seems he's always getting called into the office for one emergency or another."

  "I see." Carrie heard the skepticism in Allison's voice. "So tell me, where did you guys go on the first two dates?"

  "We went hiking at Lake Pleasant on our first date, and on the second, he took me to this really nice restaurant on the far west side of town. It was near the Arizona Cardinals stadium."

  "Really? That's odd," said Allison.

  "How so?"

  "Do you know where Scott lives, Carrie?"

  "No. I've never asked. Come to think of it, I don't think he's ever told me where he lives."

  "Mesa," replied Allison, matter-of-factly. "Scott lives in Mesa. I've never been to his house, but I know it's only a half-mile or so from where Steve and I live. So why would a guy who lives on the far east end of town only be taking you to places on the far west side?"

  "He says he likes adventure."

  "Did he now? You know, Carrie, I think it may be time for you to move on."

  "I thought he was your friend."

  "No." Allison, shook her head. "He's really more of an acquaintance. I only know him from the library. I know he enjoys working with kids, so I just assumed he was a decent guy, but now I'm thinking he may not be the best boyfriend material for you after all. I'm starting to get a really bad feeling about this. You've had your post-Doug fling. Now I'd like to see you with someone who genuinely cares for you, instead of someone who's only interested in using you for sex."

  "But I don't know if I'm ready for another serious relationship yet."

  "Just saying."

  Allison decided to steer the conversation to a safer topic, but the bad feeling she was getting about Scott continued to gnaw at her for the rest of the day. That night, after she went to bed, she had trouble falling asleep. She woke up in the middle of the night, anxiously tossing and turning.

  "Okay," a half-awake Steve finally mumbled. "What's up?"

  "It's Carrie. I'm really worried about her."

  "How come?"

  "For the past few weeks she's been seeing Scott, but something just isn't adding up."

  "Like what?"

  Allison let
out a sigh. "First of all, he's much too aggressive with her sexually. Then he cancels most of their dates at the last minute. He keeps telling her it's an emergency at the office, which is a crock. He writes the software they use in the elementary schools. He's not the guy Morton-Evans would call whenever they have an emergency. Then, when he finally does take her out, it's someplace way on the other side of town."

  "He's married."

  "What?"

  "He's married," repeated Steve with a yawn. "I get these guys in my office all the time. They have to change their will or family trust because they got caught having an affair, so now the wife has filed for divorce. Sometimes they'll talk to me about their mistresses. Some of them even like to brag about how they tricked them into thinking they weren't married. They did all the things that Scott's doing, like canceling dates at the last minute, or taking them out on the other side of town. They figure there's less chance of accidentally bumping into someone they know. Carrie needs to dump the guy, fast, before his wife finds out about her."

  Steve rolled over and went back to sleep. Allison stayed awake. She finally got up and wandered into the living room, taking a seat on the sofa. Steve came looking for her about an hour later.

  "What's wrong?" He sat down next to her.

  "This is all my fault, Steve."

  "How so?"

  "That night, when Carrie first met Scott, she asked me if he was single. I told her yes he was, and that he was a decent guy too. She trusted me, and now I've thrown her under the bus. So what does that make me?"

  "I was at the gallery that night too." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. "I thought he was single as well. Some of these guys are really, really good liars so it's not your fault, Allie. Scott lied to you, just like he's lying to her. What you need to do, right now, is come back to bed and get some sleep. Then tomorrow you'll need to call her and have a long, serious talk with her. After that it's up to her. If she decides she wants to stay with him, fine, but from that point on anything that happens won't be your fault."

  Steve kissed her on the forehead and led her back into their bedroom. Once she settled back in bed she somehow managed to go back to sleep. The following morning, after breakfast, she picked up her cell phone and went out to the patio. She made herself comfortable on the chaise lounge and punched in Carrie's number.

  "Hey, Allie."

  "Morning Carrie. You sound kind of tired this morning."

  "Yeah. I didn't sleep very well last night."

  "Me neither. I was up half the night worrying about you. Steve and I talked it over. We're both getting a really bad feeling about you and Scott."

  "I know," agreed Carrie. "I've been thinking about it too. I'm pretty sure he has another girlfriend. I think he was only seeing me whenever he was on the outs with her. I think the reason why I haven't heard from him lately is because they're working out whatever it is they need to work out, and I guess I'm okay with it. Just to be fair, he said from the get-go it wouldn't be anything permanent. I guess I just went along to boost my own ego."

  Allison decided to not to mention she and Steve suspected it was probably a wife and not a girlfriend. Carrie, however, seemed to have the situation under control and she appeared to be handling it well. There was no reason to upset her any further.

  "So, what do you plan on doing about it?"

  "Not much. Like I said yesterday, I sent him an email after our last date, and I'd decided to not contact him again until I hear back. So now, if he does respond, I'll just say, 'Hey thanks, it was fun, but now it's time for me to move on and have a good life.' However, my gut tells me I probably won't be hearing from him."

  "I'm really sorry about the way it all worked out. I really thought that he was a decent guy. I had no idea that he had another girlfriend. You know if I'd known--"

  "Don't even go there, Allie. We both thought he was single and unattached. It's not your fault so I'm not putting any of this you. Besides, Louise told me that night the first one after a big break up is never a keeper, and to enjoy it for what it is."

  "And it looks like she was right," agreed Allison. "But you know, I'm also getting a feeling that the next one who comes along really is going to be a keeper. I think he'll even be the one."

  "We'll see, anyway, no harm done with Scott. He'll just be a fond memory."

  "And a twinkle in your eye," added Allison and they both had a good laugh.

  Eleven

  Maggie Andrews' favorite hour of day was in the morning, right after Scott went to work and the kids left for school. It was her special time to pour herself a second cup of coffee, go into the den, turn on her computer and read her email. She'd just settled in front of her screen to retrieve her email when something went wrong. Her computer suddenly crashed. She tried rebooting it, but she kept getting error messages. She picked up the phone to call Scott. After punching a few buttons to reach his extension, she was relieved to hear his voice when he picked up. She hated landing in his voice mailbox. He rarely returned her calls.

  "Scott, I'm so sorry, but something's wrong with my computer and for some weird reason I can't seem to get it to reboot. Can you fix it for me?"

  Scott bit his tongue, reminding himself that it would all be over soon. Until that time, he needed to act as normal as possible.

  "Sure, Maggie, no problem. I've been telling you for months that you were overdue for an update, so now I guess the time has come. I'll work on it as soon as I get home."

  "Thanks, sweetie. Meantime, can I borrow your laptop? I just need to read my email."

  "Of course."

  Maggie hung up and went over to the Mac sitting on the other desk. She booted it up and entered Scott's password. After she finished reading her email her curiosity got the better of her. Their seventeenth wedding anniversary was coming up and she wondered what Scott might have picked out for her. She clicked on the history tab in the browser menu to see what she could find out. What she found was that Scott had a second email account, one that she knew nothing about. She clicked on the link. When the login page loaded, she tried Scott's password. It worked. She was in. She noticed all the messages in the inbox had come from a single sender, someone named Carrie Daniels. The message that grabbed her attention the most was the last one. The words, "About Last Night," appeared in the subject line. Maggie anxiously clicked on the link and began to read the message.

  "I'm still recovering from last night and it's a night I'll always remember. Let's just say I've never experienced anything quite like it before, but next time please stay and spend the rest of the night with me, okay?"

  Maggie's stomach coiled into a knot. A choking sob welled up her throat. Tears flowed down her face as she let loose and sobbed like a child. She cried, uncontrollably, for several minutes before finally reaching for a tissue. Once she began to calm down she decided she'd better find out who this Carrie Daniels was. She read all of the email, both in the inbox and in the sent folder, and as she did, she began to piece the puzzle together. Scott met Carrie Daniels at Louise Dickenson's show at Hanson Sisters. They'd gone out twice and Scott had been having sex with her. However, Carrie seemed to have disappeared sometime after their second date, or had she? Perhaps they'd just stopped emailing. Maggie knew that if she wanted to save her marriage, and her comfortable lifestyle, she'd better find out more about Carrie, and fast.

  "Okay, Maggie. So what's your plan?"

  She copied the domain name in Carrie's email address and pasted it into the browser address bar. The Carrie Daniels Photography website immediately loaded. So, Carrie was also a photographer. Her attending Louise Dickenson's show at Hanson Sisters made sense. Maggie clicked on the About Us page and what she saw nearly made her fall out of her chair. There was a full-color headshot of Ms. Carrie Daniels and she was a strikingly beautiful woman. Reading the bio, she discovered that Carrie had once been the Mercer's Markets girl.

  "I remember those ads, and you were certainly an annoying little bitch, weren't you? Yo
ur mommy may have shopped at Mercer's Markets, but your mommy sure as hell didn't teach you any manners now did she? I guess she never told you that having sex with another woman's husband isn't very nice."

  As Maggie studied Carrie's face more closely something else suddenly occurred to her.

  "What the hell?"

  She raced upstairs to the master bedroom. Hanging on the wall, right above her bed, was Carrie Daniels in the flesh. She'd been in Scott's line of sight every time they'd made love. No wonder Scott had been more amorous than usual lately.

  "Son of a bitch!"

  Maggie let out a loud shriek as she ripped one of the photos off the wall and hurled it across the room as hard as she could. She heard the gratifying sound of the shattering glass as the photo crashed onto ceramic tile floor.

  "You bitch! You whore! You belong in the centerfold of Gentry Magazine and not on my bedroom wall! You're nothing but slut, a cheap little trollop and a--" She abruptly stopped her rant in the middle of her sentence. The wheels were beginning to turn in her head. Her face lit up as it slowly began to dawn on her. "My God, Maggie, you're brilliant. It's the perfect plan."

  She yanked opened the bottom drawer of Scott's nightstand and began rifling through the contents. She soon found what she was searching for. She pulled out the latest issue of Gentry Magazine and flipped through the pages until she found it. Every month Gentry Magazine invited readers to submit nude photos for its amateur photo contest, and they would publish the best of the best in each issue, with handsome cash prizes to boot.

  She set the magazine aside and walked up to the spot where the photo had landed. She carefully picked it up. The glass was completely shattered, the frame was dented and scratched, but the undamaged full-frontal view of a bare-naked Carrie Daniels, kneeling on top of a four-poster bed, was beautifully shot. It would undoubtedly be the winner. She turned it over. As expected, Louise Dickenson's copyright notice and usage restrictions were adhered to the back of the frame.