Free Deuce's Dancer by Patricia Green Page A

percussive volley, the snapping sounds lost in her cries.
    "No!"
    "I can't make you trust me," he pointed out. "But you're not giving yourself time to get there on your own. You have to stop running away."
    "Yes! Yes, sssir!" Her hiss was predicated on a long series of smacks. Pilar's bottom was getting quite pink and warm to his touch as he paused to glide his hand across the globes.
    Deuce concentrated his spanks on the underside of her cheeks and she started to cry. He told himself that crying would be good for her—cathartic. That she needed to release her guilty feelings. He wanted what was best for her, and he felt objective enough to see what she couldn't see for herself. She needed his emotional support; her life was too tumultuous and the security he could give her would help her deal with her issues.
    He slapped the strap down her thighs and back up again and she arched and kicked, squirming vigorously.
    "Feet down."
    "Please stop!"
    Her pitiful cries and sobs were getting to him, but he wanted to make his point, leaving no doubt behind that she'd misbehaved. "Feet down!"
    Pilar wriggled harder, but her feet stayed down. "Please, please, please, Deuce!"
    The pink of her bottom had turned a livid red, right down to the middle of her thighs. A few more spanks and he'd relent.
    "Don't be so hasty in the future to kill a good thing," he told her, finishing up the spanking with several more hard whacks. "Okay. Done."
    He gave her a few moments to stop squirming, then gathered her up in his arms. She ouched and ow'd herself onto his lap, sobbing and sniffling, her eyes puffy and nose red. Still, she was beautiful, and, as long as he could manage it, she was his.

Chapter 5
    On Saturday morning, they spent a long time in the shower together, staying until the hot water was a distant memory. Afterward, they dried each other off, and wrapped up in towels. Pilar reached up and cupped Deuce's face, admiring the black stubble there before encouraging him to share one more lingering kiss with her.
    "I have to go out for most of the day," he told her as she pressed her face against his cooling chest.
    "Okay. What's up?"
    "I'm taking Eddie to a ballgame."
    "Eddie's the little boy from the picture, right?"
    "Ah-ha. He's a real baseball nut and we often go to the Astros games together."
    Pilar wanted to ask him if Eddie's mother was going along, too, but she was afraid of the answer, so she kept her question to herself. "I hope you have a good time."
    "I'd invite you along, sugar, but-"
    "No need to explain, Deuce. Guy stuff." Or was it? Maybe she'd do herself a favor to ask about Stacy. Maybe she needed to know in order to protect her heart. She gave him another squeeze and then moved away to the mirror to brush her wet hair out.
    "Deuce…"
    He was leaving the bathroom, combed but not shaven. "Yeah, sugar?"
    "Is…umm…is Stacy going with you?"
    He frowned. As she toweled the fog off the mirror, he was reflected clearly. "You don't have anything to be jealous of, Pilar."
    It didn't answer her question. Stacy's behavior the day before had certainly indicated that she was more to Deuce than just Eddie's mother. And Pilar still didn’t know if Eddie was Deuce's son or not. She bit her lip, indecisive about asking.
    "Eddie looks like you," she hinted.
    He turned away to put his towel on a rack. "A little." Walking away, he called back to her. "You can spend the day here, if you want. I'll be home after an early dinner. Probably around 5:30 or 6:00."
    "No, that's okay," she told him. "I've got errands to run."
    "How about I come pick you up tonight and we'll go dancing?"
    Dancing. She loved dancing, but it revealed so much about her. "I'm kinda sore from last night."
    "Oh. Okay. Well, we can go to a movie."
    "Sitting down…"
    "Right. You can come back here and we can watch a movie on the TV while you sit on pillows."
    She laughed. "Okay. I'll make popcorn."
    "It's a deal."
    Within the hour, she left to go back to her apartment.