The Pain of Others

“That actually sounds nice.”  He has, and he loves this about her—how she can go from psychobitch to DEFCON 5 in two nanoseconds.
“My cell phone’s charged,” he says, “so let’s think positive thoughts.  Maybe while we’re eating, we get a call from the inn, saying they’ve had a cancellation.  This whole thing might just work out.”
Jessica’s smile makes Ron slide his hand over the console, let it work down between her blue-jeaned thighs.
“Hey now,” she warns.  “You gotta earn that, big boy.”
“You think so?”
Apparently not, because she pulls his hand into her crotch and moves her hips forward and Ron undoes the button on her jeans and pushes his fingers between cotton and skin, until he feels the warm, wet slick, wondering if that’s been there since the rage, has a hunch it has.
She moans, stretching for the button on his slacks. Pulls his hand out of her pants and leans across the console into his lap.
He reaches down and finds the right button and the seat hums back, giving Jessica more headspace between his stomach and the steering wheel.
The windshield cracks.  Flinching, Ron’s eyes shoot open and Jessica bites down and then pops off, and they both say, “What the fuck?” in unison.
BLAKE CROUCH is the author of DESERT PLACES, LOCKED DOORS, and ABANDON, which was an IndieBound Notable Selection last summer, all published by St. Martin’s Press. His newest thriller, SNOWBOUND, also from St. Martin’s, was released in 2010. His short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Thriller 2, and other anthologies, including the new SHIVER VI anthology from Cemetery Dance. In 2009, he co-wrote “Serial” with J.A. Konrath, which has been downloaded over 250,000 times and topped the Kindle bestseller list for 4 weeks. That story and DESERT PLACES have also been optioned for film. Blake lives in Durango, Colorado. His website is www.blakecrouch.com.
 Blake Crouch’s Works Available on Kindle 
  
Andrew Z. Thomas thrillers
Desert Places
Locked Doors
Other works
Draculas with J.A. Konrath, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson
Abandon
Snowbound
Luminous Blue
Perfect Little Town (horror novella)
Serial Uncut with J.A. Konrath and Jack Kilborn
Bad Girl (short story)
Four Live Rounds (collected stories)
Shining Rock (short story)
*69 (short story)
On the Good, Red Road (short story)
Remaking (short story)
The Meteorologist (short story)
Coming soon...
Break You
Killers (with J.A. Konrath)
Killers Uncut (with J.A. Konrath)
Serial Killers Uncut (with J.A. Konrath)
Six in the Cylinder (collected stories)
Severe and Gentle Stories (complete short stories and novellas)
Stirred (with J.A. Konrath)
Visit Blake at www.BlakeCrouch.com