By Micki L. Bailey

"What?"

Roger had finally looked up at Maggie to find her gawking blankly at him. He’d walked into their loft, scanning the den area out of mere habit, and eventually glanced over to the kitchen where his companion stood, open-mouthed, wide-eyed, and holding a huge knife in mid-air.

When she didn’t move or answer him, Roger advanced towards her, slightly alarmed. "What’s the problem, baby?" He quickly looked over his shoulder to make sure nothing had followed him in from the hallway.

Maggie’s eyes, the only part of her not frozen, roamed over him slowly. And then she smiled. "Nothing’s wrong, sweetheart…………..You just look so…………..Where’ve ya been?"

Her voice came out breathily, with more heat than sound, he noticed. He also noticed the hungry way she stared at him, all of him, from head to toe, with that lustful gleam in her warm, teal eyes. The same purposeful look he knew he’d given out before to lots of women in the past. Hell, even to this woman. Especially to this woman.

He moved another step closer. "Just down at that shooting range Earl Ray located………Why?" Unconsciously, he lowered his own voice to match hers.

Still devouring him with her eyes, Maggie put the knife down and expelled a gush of air from her lungs. "Who dressed you, Roger?…………My god……….You’re mesmerizing……..in that black garb……….with your Saints cap on backwards………..the leather jacket……….the dark boots……….those leather gloves……….and, Jesus, holding that rifle like ya are……..Whew, this image is all I need……..huhh…."

She could have been filming a porno movie with that pure, unmasked desire in her tone and that carnal little moan, Roger thought. He felt definite stirrings in his groin.

Glancing down at the rifle for a second, he stared back at her and gave her a small snarl. "Something ‘bout this ensemble works for ya, baby?"

Maggie licked her lips and let out another sigh. "Yeah………the fact that you’re in it." She started around the bar, slowly, with her eyes glued to him still.

"I can get out of it." His voice was almost only a whisper now.

"Ahhh, honey……..lemme just savor this…….oh……..delicious moment."

She was in front of him then, so close he could feel her heavy breathing on his face. She pressed her soft, cushiony crotch against his hardening one and caressed the leather jacket on his chest as she inhaled deeply and audibly.

Then she reached up and touched the bit of his hair that showed through the gap in the cap. "Even this is sexy," she purred quietly, from her throat.

Clutching the gun, Roger eased his right arm around her and brushed the cool steel of the firearm down her back and over her ass. She arched against him in response. With his left hand, he grazed a leather-bound index finger across tiny perspiration droplets on her upper lip. Seductively, she kissed the finger, the leather.

"Your cheeks are flushed, sweetheart," he whispered. Her scent was filling up his head, and he pushed her closer to his body with the long, rigid gun.

"It’s so……….damn………hot………in here, Roger." Her moist hand was inside his black shirt now, over his beating heart.

"Hmmm……." he muttered while running his gloved hand from her face down her neck, and over each of her pert nipples. Then he plunged it into her sweatpants and between her legs.

Maggie gasped and jumped as the warm leather gently slipped into her nectar. She leaned on him, panting, as his fingers expertly massaged her ultra-sensitive spot.

"It’s hotter in here……….and swollen too."

"You’re gonna make me………………oh, Roger." She groaned and rotated herself on his hand.

"Hang, on, baby," he whispered in her ear, stroking the tender, wet swelling.

Then, with the rifle against her ass and Roger’s leather-gloved fingers inside her and on her trigger, Maggie lost herself and exploded violently with a long-overdue orgasm, shuddering helplessly into his neck.

He held his fingers on her convulsing muscles, pressing softly for every last little sensation he could squeeze from her, while he laid the gun down on the bar. With his now-free right hand, he brushed her hair off her sweaty face as she panted still.

"Somebody was aching for a little action," he said quietly.

Kissing his throat, she answered, "That outfit you’re wearing, honey………It drives me up the damn wall." She was standing up straight again and touched that patch of his hair that peaked through the cap.

"How ‘bout you shed those pants and lemme do s’more driving? Hmm?"

She shivered dramatically and grinned. "Eew! There’s more?" she asked while she yanked off her sweatpants and her drenched panties.

Roger was busy unzipping his black jeans. "Turn that ass ‘round here to me and shut up." He was more than ready for her.

Hurriedly and excitedly, Maggie did just that. She bent over the bar and spread her legs slightly, giving him the target he wanted. Not bothering to remove even his gloves, he pressed the stiff head of his "driving force" teasingly against her little opening, feeling the heat emanating from her. He fought back an animalistic urge to ram her brutally.

"C’mon, Roger. Don’t fuck around. You know you’re aching for it too."

So, grabbing her hips and closing his eyes, he submerged himself in her fiery inner regions, shoving in up to the hilt.

"Damn, Maggie," he said gutturally. Her steamy juices washed over him as she swallowed him up.

"Perfect fit," she gasped.

"You’re gonna squeeze the life outta me, baby." He’d begun slowly driving in and out of her, holding her hips tightly.

"Not the life……..huh……..but a whole lotta something else…………..How long’s it been, sweetheart?"

"Four days," he said quickly. He had been counting. And now he felt the cataclysmic rumblings building in him already.

"Fuck me, Roger."

And he did, forgetting everything else except pounding into the tight, moist hole that was sucking him into its burning center. God, she felt good, meeting his every thrust with her firm, upturned butt. He dug the leather gloves into her soft flesh and heard her moan.

"Goddamnit!" he whispered viciously when he could hold back no longer and unleashed a gushing torrent inside her welcoming body.

Maggie, he knew, had gotten herself off again, with her own fingers this time, and he slumped over her now and felt more convulsing going on inside her. "Sorry I couldn’t make it last longer, sweets," he whispered against her back.

"I didn’t need much, darling………….with you in that dangerous sniper drag and all………….Jeez, you look good."

She turned around after he slipped out of her and eyed him up and down again. He’d taken off the cap and was wiping his brow. "That was some kinda fun, Roger."

"I thought you’d cut yourself when I walked in………the way you were ogling me," he said as he tucked himself back into his jeans and zipped them.

She had picked up her clothes and was walking off to the bathroom. She needed a little more cleanup than he had required – she already felt warm, sticky fluid beginning to leak down her inner thighs. But she stopped first to kiss him squarely on the mouth. "You and your guns………..I just can’t freaking resist, Roger."

As she traipsed off, he called out to her. "Hey, baby. I almost forgot……..Your ex-husband’s dropping by later……….Shall I share this little episode with him?………..Your latest little turnon?"

"No, Roger. Not unless you wanna hear a little story or two of his. He has some, ya know. And I’m sure he’d be glad to share ‘em with ya." She kept walking.

* * *

When Earl Ray arrived later, Maggie was sitting on the bar with her feet dangling down. She and Roger had been discussing dinner plans.

After Roger let their guest in, he sauntered back over to her at the bar. "Ya wanna beer, Michaels?"

"Of course he wants a beer, honey. Go ahead and get ‘im one. Hey, Earl Ray. Whassup?"

"Sounds like you are, babe. What’s with the good mood?" He sat down in one of the bar chairs beside her.

From the refrigerator, Roger said, "She’s pumped." And he laughed quietly.

Maggie shot him a nasty look over her shoulder. "Shut up, Roger. He didn’t ask for your smartass remarks."

"Thanks, man." Earl Ray took the Molson from Roger. "Whatcha pumped ‘bout, Maggie?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Roger’s just trying to be cute. Don’t pay him any attention. How’s Deena?"

"Aw, she’s okay." He didn’t sound as enthusiastic as Maggie had expected. And somehow she felt glad about that inside.

"She’s a good catch, Earl Ray," she continued, probing his feelings. Roger had reappeared at her side and playfully pinched her ass, which she ignored.

Earl Ray shrugged. "I’ve done worse. I can tellya that."

"Did you find a buyer for that MG yet?" Roger asked him, changing the subject, and Maggie wondered if it was her imagination that she could still smell sexual "afterglow" in the room.

"Yeah. Some guy over at the gun shop wants her," Earl Ray said.

"Hey, Earl Ray. What’s with the fatigues?" Maggie interjected. "I never see you in those anymore. First, Roger dons his evil, dark sharpshooter costume, and now you break out the Green Beret attire. What gives?"

He swallowed his beer and then looked up at her, surprised. "We’re going hunting………Gotta give that new Expedition of mine a worthy initiation………..Didn’t your old man tell ya?"

Maggie was floored. Her eyes narrowed. "Hunting?" She peered at Roger who had his head down. "No! He didn’t tell me. And I find that so damn hard to believe!"

"I was getting to it, baby," Roger said. He cut his eyes over to Earl Ray. "I told ya she wouldn’t be jumping up and down, man."

Earl Ray laughed. "What’s the big deal, Mags? I used to go hunting all the time. And Roger’s an expert marksman."

"That’s precisely the problem," Maggie said. "I won’t be cooking or eating any damn deer meat, Roger. You can forget that bullshit."

"Aw, that’s not the point, darling. If we shoot something, we’ll just give the fucker away to some asshole that can’t hit the side of a barn…………like I used to……..Remember? It’s just cool to spend a few days with nature." Earl Ray added a smile, hoping to softening her.

It didn’t work. "Spare me the horse crap, Earl Ray. You two just wanna go out in the woods and get drunk and talk ‘bout whores and cars and stuff."

"So what’s wrong with that?"

"Yeah, baby?" Roger laughed his quiet laugh again, and she hit him.

"And so what the hell am I supposed to do while all this very heart-warming male bonding shit is going on? Huh?"

"You still got Benjamin, Maggie. He sure as hell won’t be joining us." Roger chuckled.

"He probably wouldn’t even know what the fuck we meant by ‘hunting.’" Earl Ray laughed too.

"Get off Benjamin’s case, both of you………..And when is this little spend-the-night party supposed to happen?"

"This weekend," Earl Ray answered. "For a couple of nights."

"THIS weekend? Like tomorrow? And when exactly was I gonna be clued in, Roger? As you walked out the damn door?" She glared at her husband who had sucked in his cheeks.

"Tonight, I guess, Maggie. I didn’t know you’d get so damn pissed."

She huffed and pretended to pout. "I’m not pissed…………I’ll just be……..I’ll miss you……..I do remember his hunting trips." She darted her eyes in Earl Ray’s direction.

"It’s just a short little outing, Mags. I’ll make sure he gets back to ya in one piece." Earl Ray winked at her.

"I’ll bring you a souvenir," Roger offered.

She wrinkled up her nose. "No. No souvenirs, please……….And when you get back, Roger, you gotta take FOUR showers before you touch me again. You understand?"

"Okay, baby. If that’s what it takes."

* * *

"So what’s Maggie doing while you’re gone? Hanging out at that Palisades place, or what?" Earl Ray asked Roger the first night of their "outing."

After trekking through some woods about an hour outside Portland all day, they’d set up tents and built a fire in a suitable clearing they’d found. Both outfitted like survivalists with solid fatigues, heavily-padded jackets, and black boots, they had just been basically having fun with some role-playing and target practice during the daylight hours. Now they relaxed by the warm fire discussing their vintage auto business and reminiscing about Vietnam.

Until Maggie, the most intimate, most common subject between them, came up.

Roger snarled. "Yeah, I think so. She was gonna spend some time with Katz’s girlfriend too. The woman’s a shrink in town. You met ‘er?"

"Naw, but Maggie mentioned her. Sounded like she was excited ’bout talking to a head doctor."

"Sometimes she says she might need one for real," Roger said quietly. "She gets depressed sometimes."

Earl Ray watched him intently. "Since you guys left town?"

"Yeah………I do what I can for her, and so far she’s been okay."

"She finally told me ‘bout all that bullshit Sahndra did………especially how she came onto you. Hell, I shoulda dumped her pathetic ass long before I finally did."

Roger sneered at the distasteful memory. "I NEVER tried to take that one away from ya, man……….That’s one woman that did NOTHING for me…………What a whore she turned out to be……….and such a lying bitch …………Sorry, man, it worked out like it did."

Earl Ray laughed although none of the past he was remembering was funny. "Aw, I’m over it all now……….We had a good time or two……….I just hate how she turned on Maggie and betrayed her………..Maggie took it hard, I know."

Throwing a twig into the fire, Roger said, "Maggie almost went under………..with all that worthless cunt’s bullshit and the sudden move………….She, uh, didn’t do so good with it………… She’s a lot better now, but she still lets it get to her once in awhile………That’s why I looked you up, man."

Earl Ray let a moment of silence pass. Then he continued. "She’s really pretty damn strong, ya know."

Roger stared into the flames, thinking. "Hey, Earl Ray…………….I’m sorry it happened like it did."

"Aw, it ain’t your fault…………Sahndra was a pig………….Who knew?" Earl Ray shrugged.

"No, man. Not that………..I mean with Maggie………It’s a shame it had to be you or me."

"It was up to her, Roger. Her choice, not ours……….And she made it………..I just wanna see her happy."

Quietly, almost inaudible, Roger replied, "Yeah, me too, man……… I’m doing my dead-level best."

"You got nothing to worry ‘bout……….She’s happy………She couldn’t make it without ya, Lococco."

"Ya think?"

"I know. It’s obvious. She’s crazy ‘bout you, man."

Roger smiled to himself in the semi-darkness. He could almost hear her now.

* * *

When he arrived home to his loft two days later, Roger sensed instantly that something was absolutely wrong. It was wrong with Maggie, he saw when she walked in from the bedroom. She never even attempted to hide it.

Bustling in noisily behind him, Earl Ray hadn’t spotted her yet or he would have shut his loud banter immediately. He had come inside the building only because Roger had insisted.

"C’mon, man. She’s gonna wanna see you, not me."

"Ah, Michaels, she’ll be full of energy and bouncing off the walls. You gotta come in for a sec."

So Earl Ray had agreed. But the Maggie they found inside was far from "full of energy." And there was positively no "bouncing off the walls" going on here. She walked in slowly, ghost-like, trying to smile. They both recognized her heavy, swollen eyes.

"Hey, boys. Happy hunting?" she asked them with a thick voice.

Earl Ray caught a good look at her now and stopped in his tracks, saying nothing else. The atmosphere was dense and somber.

Roger dropped the one bag he carried and met her in the middle of the room. "Hey, sweetheart. What’s the matter?"

She glided silently into his arms and smiled her best fake smile. "Hey, honey. Didya catch anything?" She had dreamily, eerily disregarded his question.

Tired and on edge, he grabbed her shoulders roughly and held her out in front of him. "Stop playing games, Maggie! What the fuck’s wrong?" He knew he was reacting too sternly with her, but she was disturbing him.

She stared at him motionlessly for a moment or two before she blinked a huge teardrop out of each eye. As they rolled down her cheeks, she said softly, "Your friend called." But that was all.

Roger lost his patience. He shook her before he realized he was doing it. "What friend? Who was it, Maggie?"

She was pretty much lifeless in his strong grip. "That McPike guy…………Frank." But she stopped again, as if she was afraid. Not afraid of Roger, but of going on with what she had to say. In the background, Earl Ray watched.

Roger bristled. "What? McPike called here? What’d he want? Talk to me!" His voice contained little waves of panic rising and falling.

Maggie swallowed slowly and paroled two more tears to the outside world. "He wants you, baby………….to help ‘im out with some special project."

Roger realized suddenly he was squeezing her arms although she hadn’t shown any signs of complaining. His agitation was mounting inside him at warp speed.

"He told you this? Where the fuck is Terranova? When did he call?" He yelled at her, but she only blinked.

"He called last night…………and he never mentioned Vinnie………..We just kinda chatted……….Roger, please………don’t do this thing……….I……..I get an awfully spooky feeling ‘bout it………bad vibes of the worst kind………I’m begging, honey………Please turn it down this time."

Roger let go of her and took a deep breath. But, as if she needed to be touching him, Maggie latched onto him, hugging him with all of her strength, burying her face in his neck, showing some signs of life.

Instinctively and protectively, he enveloped her and drew her close to his body. "That bastard shouldn’t have bothered you with that shit, baby," he said quietly.

"He was calling you, Roger…………We just started talking…….He’s a nice guy, but—"

"But fuck it, Maggie. He shoulda kept his damn mouth shut. He didn’t havta worry ya like this………I’m sorry, baby."

"You won’t go, will ya, Roger?"

"I won’t go."

"Promise me, Roger. I’m serious. Something horrible might happen to you and I can’t………. I never felt this strongly ‘bout a vibe before………please."

"I won’t go, sweets."

They stood there, wrapped up in each other, until Roger remembered Earl Ray behind them. He kissed her hair and untangled himself from her. Then he lifted her chin up to see her face.

"I’ll call McPike and straighten this crap out. Okay?"

"You can’t go, Roger."

He sighed. "I ain’t going anywhere………except to take my four damn showers."

She had stopped crying, but her face was damp. He wiped her cheeks with the back of his hand. "Now stay here and entertain our guest, and I’ll be right back out……..Okay?"

Finally, she really smiled. "Okay………I love you."

"Yeah, yeah………So ya say." He brushed her lips quickly and then left for the bathroom.

Maggie now faced Earl Ray who remained standing dead still just inside the front door. She smiled again, for him. "The exciting everyday life of a secret agent man’s wife………Ain’t it great viewing material?"

"He’s not a secret agent man anymore, Mags…….He’s your husband."

She laughed sarcastically. "Once with the Agency…….."

"Don’t, Maggie…….He said he wouldn’t do this one……..…He won’t."

"I won’t let him this time, Earl Ray. I’ll fucking sit on him if I have to."

Earl Ray’s eyes shone as he smiled. "Hmmm……That’ll keep ‘im here for sure."

She was feeling much better now, more herself. "Cut it out, Earl Ray. You want some iced tea or something?"

"Sounds great. Can I use the phone to call Deena?"

With her back to him as she headed to the kitchen, Maggie wrinkled her nose and then silently scolded herself. "Sure. You know where it is."

* * *

"You’d sure as hell better be glad I can’t see you right now ‘cause I’d kick your measly little ass for ya, buckwheat." Roger was trying to control his voice and temper, but not trying very hard.

"Lococco, just chill out. What’s your big beef anyway?" Frank’s familiar drone came over the phone line.

"What’s my beef? You call my private residence and upset the hell outta my innocent wife for no good reason………..and then ask me what’s my beef? Are you a total imbecile, McPike, or what?"

"Maggie’s a wonderful gal, Roger. You got yourself a real gem there. I certainly didn’t mean to upset her."

"Well, ya did………big time……..Why’d ya havta tell her you wanted to "utilize" me again, Frank? Was that necessary?"

Roger heard Frank groan. "I didn’t leak anything important, if that’s what you mean. I just thought she might be proud that you’re in such demand, Lococco."

"Well, that’s just great." Roger matched the other man’s melodramatic, typical sarcasm. "But your little plan backfired, Frank. Instead, Maggie sees you as that ugly cloaked guy with the big sickle………Death itself come calling for me, you asshole."

"I didn’t say a damn thing to give her that impression, Roger…..Besides, Death couldn’t handle you anyway."

"I’m not working this one, Frank."

"Oh, c’mon, Roger. You don’t even know the details yet. And it’s—"

"It’s not happening, Frank. I told you in Jersey………I’m done."

"You’re needed, Roger."

"Get Terranova. I hear he’s pretty good at undercover work too."

"Vinnie’s plate is full right now. Help me out here, man." McPike attempted to sound contrite, to plead.

"Not this time, Frank………Not any time in the future either. Don’t call me anymore. And more importantly……..don’t fucking call Maggie again."

Frank paused a moment. "Vinnie says she’s a peach. I’d love to meet her."

"Then buy your ass a plane ticket out here to Portland. That’s where we live. And it better be a social visit. Otherwise, leave us the hell alone."

"Ya know why she’s such a gem, Lococco?"

Roger sighed impatiently into the phone. "I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, Frank."

"Because somehow……….she puts up with you."

"Yeah, whatever, Frank. Nice talking to you too."