Strangewood by Christopher Golden Read Free Book Online Page A

of it. No matter
how many times Emily told herself that Thomas wasn't her husband anymore, it
still felt like cheating.
    The early morning sun slashed across the bed, a world of light
and shadow where she curled under a burgundy cotton sheet. Her legs were warm
in the sun, her left foot jutting out from the covers. But her upper body, her
face burrowed into her two thick pillows, was pleasantly cool in the shadow
that was all that remained of the dark.
    All that remained, except for Joe Hayes, the man she'd
accepted into her bed last night. Into the bed where she and Thomas had
conceived their only child, had made the baby boy they both loved so much.
    It felt like cheating.
    Emily kept her eyes closed for a time, long minutes after
she'd come fully awake. She didn't want to know, didn't want to think. She
enjoyed the cool morning breeze on her face, the warmth on her legs, and the
mere sensation of a presence next to her in bed. The weight of a man there.
    Finally, Emily turned, sheets rustling, and was relieved to
see that Joe was still sleeping. She watched him, the rise and fall of his
chest, the benevolent expression on his face, an innocence that belied the
power men had to crush a woman's soul without a single malicious intention. That
was the worst thing about them, Emily thought. So often, they wreaked havoc,
left destruction in their wake, all with only the best of intentions. They just
didn't think the same way.
    Well, maybe there were more similarities than Emily liked to
admit. After all, she'd ended up in bed with him. Joe was kind and sincere,
intelligent and funny; maybe a little arrogant, but she liked that in small
doses. Those things had been what convinced her that last night was the night
to consummate their budding relationship. But what attracted her to him in the
first place? What made her flirt with him that night the girls from work
dragged her out to "meet men?"
    He was really good looking, and he didn't seem to know it.
    And, yes, he was fully seven years her junior, and there was
something intoxicatingly unattainable about a man his age. Well, at least he'd
seemed unattainable the night they'd met. Apparently not.
    Suddenly overwhelmed by her attraction to him, Emily leaned
forward, the sheet slipping down to reveal her nakedness — and when was
the last time she'd slept naked? — and kissed Joe hard on the mouth. His
eyes flickered open instantly and he was returning her kiss seemingly before he
was fully awake. His arms came up and encircled her and she moved on top of him
in a languorous crawl. His body tensed a moment, a physical query as to her
motivations. But it wasn't sex she wanted just then; it was intimacy.
    She found it, and was delighted that Joe was able to give it
so well. He kissed her passionately, fingers twirling in her hair as her
breasts pressed against his chest. Then the kiss ended, and the lovers pressed
noses and grins together, and then parted, Emily almost falling away from him
onto the bed.
    Suddenly, and happily, it didn't feel like cheating anymore.
It felt like the best decision she'd made in a long, long time.
    "Good morning," Joe said huskily, sleep still in
his voice.
    "Yeah," Emily agreed. "It is. Although if
you'd gotten up before me and made breakfast, it would have been even
better."
    "Do I look like a houseboy to you?" he asked with
a smirk.
    "Well . . .” she teased, and he slapped her ass
lightly. Lightly enough that it felt good. "Oooh," she cooed,
"do it again."
    "Forget it," Joe said, feigning insult. "You
don't deserve my spankings."
    "Don't I?" she flirted.
    They were quiet then, just looking at one another.
    "I'm glad I didn't take off last night," he said.
    An alarm went off in Emily's head.
    "You were going to leave last night?" she asked, not
bothering to hide her hurt and annoyance.
    "I don't usually like to stick around till
morning," he replied matter-of-factly. "It's crossing a line, when
sex comes into things, and you never know if a woman's