Free Death and Deceit by Carol Marlene Smith Page A

existed.”
    Jessie’s eyes popped open and she pushed hard on his chest thrusting him backward. For a moment she had almost given in to temptation, right under her parents’ roof. “Get up, Kent,” she said.
    He obliged and standing above her, his hands on his hips, he smirked. “Oh, right. Not in your mother’s house.” He made a gesture now with both palms up in front of his chest. “Sorry. I got carried away. You...do that to me, you know.”
    She gave him a sideways smile. “So, you’ve been telling me,” she said, then bounced off the bed and smoothed it again.
    He laughed. “You’re a neat freak, aren’t you?”

She pushed him towards the door. “We’re getting out of this bedroom right now.”
    “Why? Are you afraid of temptation?”
    “I most certainly am. Come on, we’re going to meet my mother.”
    When Kent met her mother he realized what a fragile state she was in. It made him want to love and protect Jessie all the more. She was a fragile girl like her mother and her worries were now becoming his concerns.
    That night Jessie joined Kent in the hallway of her mother’s house. “I can’t sleep,” Jessie said. “If you want to turn in, it’s okay, go ahead.”
    He had been standing just outside of Alan’s bedroom. He turned to her and grinned. “I know a way to burn off some of that energy.”
    Jessie had to grin back. “No thanks.”
    “Oh, yeah. Not in your parents’ house. Right?”
    “That’s right, Kent.”
    “I understand,” he said. “I’m just teasing you, trying to get through that icy layer you’re wearing.”
    Her eyes flooded with tears. “I’m sorry, Kent. I’m just worried. Mom is so thin looking, and Alan and I aren’t getting along.” She bolted out the front door. The night was quiet and warm. A sweet breeze wafted gently over the land. Jessie sat on the lawn and gazed up at the star-filled night.
    Kent came to slip his arm around her waist. “I wish I could sleep with you tonight. I want so badly to hold you, to make you feel better.”
    She looked into his eyes. “Oh, Kent, do you really mean that?”
    “Of course I do. And that surprises you? What do I have to do to show you how I feel? I love you, Jessie.”
    A look of surprise crossed Jessie’s face. “Oh, Kent.” She kissed him softly and they fell into an embrace.
    “Let me love you, Jessie,” he whispered.
    “Kent, not here.”
    “No I know, not in your mother’s house.”
    “Then where?”
    “In the back yard — under the willow. It’s drooping arms will hide us, like a tent.”
    She kissed him again. “I love you, Kent.”
    He lifted her into his arms and carried her beneath the willow’s protective branches. Carefully, he laid her on the soft green carpet of grass. Pressing his body against hers, he rested beside her and caressed her gently. He could feel the tenseness melting away.
    The swaying branches allowed the high, bright summer moon to send shafts of light onto the pair, and as much as Jessie wanted Kent, she felt uncomfortable knowing that Sandra’s house was so near. What if she decided to take a walk?
    She pulled from him. “This is not safe, Kent. What if—”
    He placed a finger across her mouth. “Don’t worry, we’ll be quiet. Everyone around here is probably fast asleep by now.”
    His mouth covered hers in an attempt to silence her fears. When he let her go and pulled back to gaze into her beautiful night eyes, she no longer objected. She reached for him and pulled him close to her bosom, the hot drive of her kisses urged him to go on. He would make her forget her worries, at least for a little while. Suddenly his body had energized, the tiredness he’d felt in the living room was all but forgotten. No matter what Jessie had to face in the future, he was determined to give her something wonderful to remember tonight.
    She shivered at first, for there was a dampness to the ground, and she felt cold inside like a corpse would feel. But then a corpse