Flesh

when he sucked.

Then his mouth went to her mouth and his arms went around her.

Alison fell sideways against the sofa back and stretched her legs under the table. Jake pushed his tongue into her mouth. She tugged the waistband of his pajamas. The snaps popped open and she pulled at the pajamas until he was bare against her, smooth and hard.

His tongue left her mouth. He kissed her lips, her chin, the side of her neck. His hands roamed, caressing her shoulder blades, gliding down, curling over her buttocks, moving up again.

They stayed away from the middle of her spine.

Gently clutching his hair, Alison eased his head away and looked into his eyes. “You never touch me… there.”

His eyebrows lifted slightly.

“Where it was.”

“I guess not,” he whispered. Alison could feel his penis shrinking against her thigh.

“Does it disgust you?”

“No. God, no. Nothing about you disgusts me.”

“It was in me.”

“Nothing’s in there, now. I watched the doctor clean the wound, and—”

“But you’re afraid to touch me there.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Scared you’ll catch something?”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“It’s healed. All but the scar.”

“You want me to touch it?”

“Not if you don’t want to.”

“It isn’t that,” he muttered, looking miserable.

“What is it?”

“I did it to you. I stabbed you, cut you open. I hurt you, and when I see the wound or touch it, it all comes back, how you cried out and jumped and dug your nails into the floor. It all comes back how much I hurt you.”

“You mean it’s guilt, just guilt?”

“You might say that.”

“Dipshit, you saved my life.” Alison pressed her cheek to his and held him tight. “I look at it in the mirror. It’s special, Jake. It’s you cutting into me and taking out the nightmare.”

The tips of Jake’s fingers trembled against the flesh of Alison’s wound. They gently followed the length of it. They tickled and she squirmed.

“Does it hurt?”

“No. Does this?”

Jake moaned.

“Let’s knock off all this small talk,” Alison said. “The popcorn’s getting cold and we’ve still got a double feature to watch.”

“What am I,” Jake asked, “the coming attraction?”

Alison laughed and swung a leg over his hip.

Rave Reviews for Richard Laymon!

“I’ve always been a Laymon fan. He manages to raise serious gooseflesh.”

—Bentley Little

“Laymon is incapable of writing a disappointing book.”

—New York Review of Science Fiction

“Laymon always takes it to the max. No one writes like him and you’re going to have a good time with anything he writes.”

—Dean Koontz

“If you’ve missed Laymon, you’ve missed a treat!”

—Stephen King

“A brilliant writer.”

—Sunday Express

“I’ve read every book of Laymon’s I could get my hands on. I’m absolutely a longtime fan.”

—Jack Ketchum, Author of Cover

More Praise for Richard Laymon!

“One of horror’s rarest talents.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Laymon is, was, and always will be king of the hill.”

—Horror World

“Laymon is an American writer of the highest caliber.”

—Time Out

“Laymon is unique. A phenomenon. A genius of the grisly and the grotesque.”

—Joe Citro, The Blood Review

“Laymon doesn’t pull any punches. Everything he writes keeps you on the edge of your seat.”

—Painted Rock Reviews

“One of the best, and most reliable, writers working today.”