When, at the age of twenty-three, she had fallen in love with Ralph and lost some of her reticence, he had tried to explain to her that her mother was wrong. But the damage was too complete, and no matter how logical or loving he was, he couldn't dent the mother's insidious teachings which by then had seeped into Lisa's subconscious and controlled her basic emotions. The result had been that she'd remained untouched until her wedding night, and if she'd had her way, would have continued undefiled afterwards. Love was pure, sex was ugly… and the two could never be joined.

"Be kind, Ralph," she pleaded that first night together. "Please, be gentle with me."

And Ralph had been gentle and kind with her. But in the double bed with him, Lisa's eyes filled with tears, and when he caressed her breasts through the transparency of her honeymoon nightgown, her whole curvaceous body had shuddered uncontrollably. She sucked in her breath convulsively when he slid the negligee up over her naked body and began kissing the pink nipples of her breasts, making them harden and distend with involuntary desire. She could recall after all these years every clear detail of his strong hands sliding over her nude skin in the darkness of the motel bedroom, and the way her flesh had betrayed her mind by responding with shivery goose bumps of delight. His fingers moved slowly lower, until at last they teased softly over the curly silken hairs of her pubic mound. Then down deeper… to find their way gently into the tight valley between her tender vaginal lips…

Now, staring sightlessly down at the pile of work on her desk, Lisa Hamilton fought to erase the memories which still haunted her, but without success. The painful recollections of her marriage were too vividly seared on her mind to ever be forgotten, or forgiven. She unconsciously trailed her eyes down her conservative woolen dress, thinking how Ralph had traveled the length and breadth of her naked body that first night and on many subsequent nights after that. And she recalled the unwanted sensations he had caused to ripple through her exposed loins, now so correctly covered from blatant exhibition…