Three Women Read Online Free Page A

key from the ledge above the door and let them in.
    He kicked the door closed and, standing in the darkness, grabbed her in his arms. She heard the soft thud as one of Jack's cats leaped off the radiator to the floor. Phil reached under her coat and pulled her to him, and his hands were warm, to her flesh. Her own senses began to swim and she released the mounting desire she felt. Her body went limp against the insistent force of his needing. He lifted her up, carried her to the bed, and gently put her down. She felt the weight of his body on her own and soon the touch of his flesh against her skin.
    "I love you," she murmured. "Love you... love... you."
    Her words merged with passion and the silent darkness was soon witness to their union.

CHAPTER 2
    In her own bed at last, Paula tossed fitfully, yearning for a sleep that would not come. It's all right, she kept insisting. It's all right because we're getting married. But it wasn't what she and Phil had done together that made her anxious. It was the insistent thought that soon she would have a husband, then children, and the routine of life would be carved out for her leaving her nothing she could do to change it.
    Just early yesterday, there had been nothing in the world more wonderful than to be Mrs. Carson. But suddenly it had become important to discover who she—Paula Temple—really was. Her life, her individual self, seemed terribly precious now. Could she paint? Could she dare to be ambitious for an existence different from being Phil's wife? If Byrne hadn't looked at her like that, if Byrne hadn't said with her eyes that Paula Temple might be a person worth considering...
    Byrne must have seen plenty of people in her time. She couldn't have looked at all of them the way she had looked at Paula.
    The night dragged on. Paula sought refuge in far off stars that glittered in the eternity of the black heavens. If only she had one particle of the time those stars seemed to have!
    No, she had to think of Phil.
    She would be crazy not to marry him. How could you have a man one day and the next day want to run madly around the world without him? Marriage had suddenly become a trap. And that was foolish. A woman was made to get married and bear her husband's children. That was maturity, that was being an adult. The rest of life was child's play.
    Then I'm a child, her mind screamed. I don't want to get married. Not yet! Not yet! I'm just beginning to live. And once again, Paula saw those slanting eyes that ever changed color and meaning as you looked at them. Dawn crept in. She heard Mike stir and his pillow fall to the floor. She sighed, grateful to know that soon she could get out of bed and not be alone with her thoughts for a while. Phil would call her. What would she say to him? What could she say that he would understand? She didn't understand herself what was driving her now.
    But Paula didn't care. She would let whatever it was force her on until some knowledge came, until she knew something that would make some sense out of this new and frightening fascination she had never felt before. And she understood that she could not marry Phil until that had happened.
    She waited until seven o'clock and then got out of bed. She tiptoed into her parents' room and put on her mother's robe. If only she were a kid again and could sit in that warm and comforting lap. But Paula knew that this was one problem she must solve completely alone. She pulled the bathrobe tighter around her body, wishing that it could give her the wisdom that all mothers seemed to have.
    In the kitchen she sat near the stove. The peacefulness of Sunday seemed to spread itself through the world. Families would sleep until late, then read the papers and watch television in the-afternoon. Some would go to church, maybe to confess their troubles. Others would visit grandparents and stuff themselves on a hearty dinner. Oh, none of it was for her now. Not for her. If only she could rip off her skin and dig out