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murmured and smiled at him. “Did you come to tuck me in?”
    â€œYes.” He cupped her face and looked deeply into her eyes. “I love you, Julianna. I always have. Since the first time I met you. Did you know that?”
    Even now, after all these years of playacting, she experienced a moment of alarm. A tiny explosion of panic in the pit of her stomach.
    He bent closer and pressed his lips to her temple. “I brought you something.”
    â€œYou did?”
    â€œMmm-hmm.”
    Feigning childish excitement, she scooted up in the bed. “What is it?”
    He laid his hands on her shoulders. “Were you a good girl while I was gone?”
    She nodded, the past and the present blending, creating a weird sensation of fear and excitement, discomfort and pleasure deep in her gut.
    â€œAre you my good little girl now?”
    She nodded again, beginning to tremble.
    â€œI can’t stay away, Julianna.” He stroked her hair. “I’ve tried but I can’t, not anymore. You’re mine. You always have been. Always will be. Do you understand?”
    â€œWhat…do you mean?”
    â€œYou’ll understand. Soon.” A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “You will, I promise.”
    He carefully drew the covers away, murmuring his satisfaction. “Pretty,” he whispered, rubbing the fuzzy fabric between his fingers. “So pretty and sweet.”
    â€œJohn?” she said, working to sound young and frightened.
    â€œIt’s all right, love. Show John how much you love him.” He applied gentle pressure, forcing her back to the mattress. “Show him what a good girl you can be.”
    So, she did. She lay absolutely still, the way he liked it, as he ran his hands over her, gently at first, then with more urgency.
    He didn’t undress himself; he wouldn’t penetrate her, she knew. He rarely did. Instead, he concentrated on gentling and pleasuring her, first with his hands, then his mouth.
    Only when she had climaxed, arching up, crying out as with stunned uncertainty, then falling back to the bed and whimpering meekly like a kitten, did he press himself against her. He was sweating and short of breath, as if he had just finished a ten-mile run. He quivered with the force of his own unfulfilled needs, with excitement.
    â€œMy sweet, sweet Julianna. What would I do without you?”
    She turned her face to his and kissed him, thinking of their baby, allowing herself a moment’s fantasy about how John would take her news. “I love you, John.” She smiled and kissed him again. “I love you.”
    â€œShow me how much, love.” He caught her hand and brought it to his erection. “Show me.”
    Julianna did. She rubbed and stroked and massaged him, curling her hand around his penis, pumping him to orgasm.
    Â 
    Julianna jumped as a burst of raucous laughter came from the apartment next door. She blinked, momentarily disoriented, then realized she had to go to the bathroom. Had to go so badly she wondered if she was going to be able to make it.
    She dragged herself out of bed and padded to the john, the wooden floor cold and gritty beneath her bare feet. The mirror above the vanity was cloudy with age, a crack ran diagonally through its center, warping her reflection by causing the two sides of her face to not quite fit together.
    She stared at her misshapen image, breath catching, hardly recognizing herself. She turned to the side, bringing her hands to her swollen belly. Pathetic, she thought, recalling what the other waitresses had said earlier that day. Rejected. Without options.
    â€œYou’re not going to make it. You or your little bastard.”
    It hurt to look at herself, and Julianna turned away from her reflection. Why was she doing this? Why was she here, alone and pregnant? She didn’t want to be a mother, did she? She didn’t want to be one of those hollow-eyed women who came into