Free The Sweet Wife by Charles Arnold

head and parted her lips. His open mouth covered hers. Their tongues touched. She closed her eyes and felt only his warm lips and the taste of his mouth.
    The kiss was just as she’d remembered and had longed for these past weeks. His size and strength frightened and also aroused her. The smell of his sweat also excited her. It was strong yet not unpleasant. She breathed him in as she moved her tongue against his. His soft puffy black lips slid over hers. She felt almost drawn out of herself. The barroom and the others disappeared. This was why she took the Christmas money. This was why she came here tonight.
    As he pulled away, she heard herself whispering, “Please honey, oh, please!”
    She tried to pull his head back toward hers. Roughly, he grabbed her wrists and forced her back down onto the stool.
    Sammy leaned across the bar, “Wheee!” he cried, “She one hot little bitch now!”
    Travis chuckled, “Yeah, I knew after the first kiss in her fuckin house that this one was gonna give it up to me and keep on givin it up to me.”
    Roy shouted, “That right? You gonna keep on givin it up to old Travis?”
    Maureen placed both hands on the bar and stared down at them. She’d forgotten to take off the gold band of her wedding ring. She remembered the beautiful ceremony and Brian placing it on her finger. She was still breathing heavily. Without looking up she said, “Yes, I’m going to keep giving it up to Travis.”
    Travis put his hand under her chin, forcing her to look up at him, “You come to me when I want you. You do what I tell you.”
    She could feel the warm secretions oozing along her slit, “I’ll come when you want me. I’ll do what you tell me.”
    At the far end of the bar sat an old skinny black man who had not spoken all evening although he’d stood up to look at Maureen when she was in the spotlight. “Hey, Goose!” Travis yelled, “How you like this hot young white woman I got here?”
    The old man pulled at his crotch as he peered down the bar. His rheumy eyes were sunk deep into his skull. His bald head was ringed with a fringe of gray hair that hung over his ears. His wide mouth stretched into a grin revealing purple gums and a few broken teeth. His lips were dry and badly cracked. “She damn pretty, Trav,” he cackled.
    “What if I told you she don’t kiss or fuck nobody but black men,” Travis shouted.
    Goose thought a moment, “Well, I guess that be good for black men.”
    “She just told me she feels sorry for you and she’d like to give you a big wet kiss.” Travis said. Everyone whooped and hollered.
    Maureen quickly grabbed Travis’s hand with both of hers. She looked up at him pleading, “Oh, God no! I can’t. I can’t do that. I really can’t.”
    “You just said you gonna do what your black lover tells you to do. I’m tellin you to get your ass down there and give my old friend a nice wet tongue kiss.”
    The crowd had suddenly become quiet. They waited silently their eyes on Maureen. Not moving, she stared ahead across the bar. Travis took her purse and found her make-up kit inside it. He handed the lipstick tube to her and a small mirror. She looked up at him, her eyes tearing again. He shook his head. The four quarters he’d placed on the bar earlier were still there. She glanced at the phone in the corner. Travis leaned close to her ear. “Do what your fuckin told,” he whispered.
    She propped the mirror up and, with trembling fingers, coated her lips, then spread a sheen of gloss over them. When she finished, she looked at Travis who nodded in approval.
    Unsteady in the stilettos she walked the length of the bar to where the old man sat grinning idiotically. The only sound was of her heels clicking on the bare floor. When she reached him, he shouted down to Travis, “Can I play with her titties, Trav?”
    The crowd remained silent. Travis nodded, “Yeah, Goose, do what you want. Feel her up…her tits, her ass whatever you want. She’s hot to give