Magic City Read Online Free Page A

levers. Took him to the fourth floor. And he gave me two beautiful, green dollars.”
    Dell sat up. “He must have wanted something else,” he said flatly.
    Mary blushed again. “Naw. Just had money to burn. Oil rich.”
    â€œYou shouldn’t have taken it.”
    â€œI’m gonna buy me a scarf. Silk. Twist it around my neck. My waist, maybe. Like in the magazines. It’ll be pretty. Soft. Might even make me beautiful.”
    â€œYou’re pretty enough for me,” Dell said fiercely, clasping her neck.
    She gripped his hand. “Really?”
    â€œYou’re beautiful.” He pressed her backward, onto the blanket.
    â€œIt’s all right if I keep two dollars, isn’t it?” she said breathless. “Pa needn’t know. It’s all right to keep a little bit back. Isn’t it?”
    Dell straddled her, his knees locked against her thighs. “Yes.” He kissed her deeply.
    Mary clung, returning his kiss with all the passion nobody had ever claimed. Dell’s touch felt like sweet grace. A young man who lost his leg in the war got plenty of sympathy. An old maid got none. She hadn’t planned on not marrying, on not loving and being loved.
    Dell was murmuring into her hair. Mary didn’t care what he wassaying. Whatever it was, the answer was yes. Yes, because Dell’s touch was filling her with wonder.
    â€œThe two of us could make something of this farm, Mary.” His breath tickled her ear. “If we cleared those back acres, we could double the crop. Maybe get a tractor. Build onto the house.”
    â€œNot mine,” she murmured, feeling desire overwhelm her.
    â€œWe could work the land together. Imagine it.” He kneaded her thighs, nibbled at her breasts through cotton. “Make a good future. Feet up on the porch in the evenings. Maybe have kids.”
    â€œThe farm’s Jody’s when Pa dies.”
    â€œMe and you, Mary.” His hands hitched her skirt, his body rocked, rubbing hard against hers. Mary felt herself drowning, losing herself in a wealth of feeling. Trembling, she pulled back. “Stop, Dell.”
    Elbows locked, he looked down at her.
    â€œDell?” His eyes didn’t quite meet hers. Bewildered, she called softly, “Dell?”
    He was staring through her, his fingers digging into her arms. “Nobody’s going to marry Jody. Nobody. What woman would want a one-legged man? A cripple. Your Pa and me, we’ve already agreed.”
    â€œWhat’d you agree?”
    â€œYou and me, Mary. Our kids will inherit the farm.”
    The ground was hard. Beneath the blankets and straw, stones scratched at her back. Mary stared at the knotty wood, the frayed clothes hanging neatly on nails. The half-filled hayloft, crisscrossing beams scabbed with dung. Dell’s face was ugly. There wasn’t any magic.
    â€œI have things to do.”
    â€œNo, you don’t, Mary.”
    â€œI have to get breakfast. Go to work.”
    â€œNo breakfast. No working in town. I’ll take care of you.”
    â€œLiar.” She struggled to get up. “You don’t care about me. All you want is the farm.”
    â€œMary. Sweet Mary.” Dell’s torso collapsed, his arms pinioned hers, his mouth touched her ear.
    â€œLet me go, Dell.”
    â€œI’m a desperate man, Mary. Don’t you know that?”
    She didn’t know anything about him. Not even his last name. Or where he’d come from. Dell’s weight was suffocating. She couldn’tmove. This was her luck, her punishment for thinking a man might really want her.
    â€œStay with me today. Forget about work.”
    â€œPa’s counting on the money.”
    He squeezed her buttocks. “You like taking fat men up two floors? Having them watch your backside? Thinking you’re loose?”
    Dell was becoming aroused. “You take niggers up too, don’t you, Mary? No decent woman would risk