I.
"I don't think I'm going to like this." Lucy sat at the edge of the bed, legs crossed, as she fastened the strap on one of her shoes.
Ricky straightened his tie and smiled. "It's just for publicity, honey. Jerry set it up, I din't even know anythin' about it until it was done."
Lucy stood up and smoothed her hands over the front of her peach colored cocktail dress. She twisted her neck to inspect the backs of her legs to make sure there were no runs in her silk stockings. "What kind of publicity are you going to get by dancing the rumba with a bunch of U.S.O. girls?"
Ricky turned around and sighed as he watched his wife lift her skirt slightly to straighten the garter on her thigh. "Why do you say that as if they were gonna be prettier than you? Anyway, it's good to do a U.S.O. event, right? Doin' my part for the war effort and everythin'." He paused thoughtfully. "I need to do thin's like this, 'specially because I'm new to this country."
She sighed. He was right, of course, and far be it from her to be unpatriotic. "You're right," she said. She turned in front of the mirror and walked up to him. "But they better not be prettier than me." She scowled at him playfully.
He took her hand as he led her from the room. "Impossible."
II.
When Ricky and Lucy arrived at the very crowded local U.S.O. Club downtown, there was a large bandstand with musicians of almost every instrument imaginable. The Junior Hostesses were all over the ballroom, dressed similarly to Lucy. She smiled when she saw them; they were all about her age and they were eager to entertain the many soldiers who were in attendance. It seemed the men would be shipping out the next day, which added some poignancy to the event.
When the organizers saw Ricky, they converged on him and ushered him to another part of the ballroom. "I'll find you later," he called to Lucy as they dragged him away.
She shook her head, smiling. In the two years that they'd been married, she'd grown used to the fact that some people treated her husband as a commodity. They took him from her with hardly an acknowledgement and then returned him when he had finished his task. He took all of these things in stride and always graciously.
Lucy stood where Ricky left her and she looked around at the grand room, decorated in banners of red, white and blue. The music was bright and everyone mingled together, talking and dancing.
She walked along the perimeter of the room and stood against the wall, close to the stage.
After a brief time, a woman in a WAC uniform walked in front of the band on the stage and stood at a tall microphone. She waited for the din of the ballroom to quiet before speaking. "Ladies and gentleman, we have a special treat for you this evening. For the next hour, we have two very special guests. Mr. Ricky Ricardo from The Tropicana Club and Miss Lola Ramirez from The Copacabana Club will be hosting our rumba dance, performed by our own U.S.O. band!"
As the band began to play, the men and women flocked to dance with Ricky and the dancer from a rival club, both local celebrities. Lucy found herself amused as she watched her husband dance with the giggling, swooning girls who seemed to pass him about like a shared toy.
The men, meanwhile, waited in line like schoolboys for their turn with the attractive female dancer.
As she had watched the goings on for quite a while, one young woman walked up to where Lucy stood and leaned against the wall next to her. She was catching her breath, presumably from just having danced. She looked over at Lucy and smiled as she smoothed a hand over the stocking on one of her legs, prompting a whistle from one of the nearby soldiers. "You ain't dancing? That Ricky Ricardo is something!"
Lucy looked straight out at the dance floor in time to see Ricky get handed off to a blonde who attached herself to him eagerly. "I'll have a chance to dance with him later."
The girl snickered. "Who are you? Cinderella? If you wanna dance with him, you better get over there." She followed Lucy's gaze out to the dance floor and to Ricky. "He's dreamy. I wouldn't mind if he took me out to the alley…"
Lucy blinked. The alley behind the U.S.O. Club was notorious for being a trysting place for the soldiers who wanted those last, passionate moments with a woman before being deployed. She didn't know quite how to respond to this girl's comment.
Before Lucy could formulate any response, the girl continued. "I mean, LOOK at that guy." She leaned closer to Lucy and her voice lowered to a hush. "Confidentially, I would love to wrap my legs around that, wouldn't you?"
Lucy felt hot with anger that this girl was talking to her this way about her husband. She clenched her teeth unconsciously, but after a moment, she calmed. This girl wasn't talking to Lucy any differently than Lucy and her girlfriends had spoken to each other in the past. And this girl had no idea, clearly, that she was Ricky's wife.
And so, instead of blowing up in the rage that she easily felt, she decided to humor the girl. "Do you think a man like Ricky Ricardo would ever go for a girl like me?"
The girl looked Lucy up and down. "Depends on the kind of girl you are. Somebody like Ricky Ricardo, I figure he's got all kinds of girls just waiting on him. He's probably a playboy, you know the type. You're certainly pretty enough, but if you're too goody-goody for him, he might not go for ya."
Lucy nodded. "You're probably right. So I should go over there and really knock his socks off. Right?"
The girl narrowed her eyes. "I think you missed your chance, doll, they're done dancing…"
Indeed, when Lucy looked back over to the dance floor, Ricky and his counterpart were talking to one of the organizers, while the woman in the WAC uniform began to announce the free dancing. The soldiers and the hostesses began to mingle with each other again as the band began to play new music.
Lucy returned her gaze to the girl. "I bet it doesn't matter. I'll bet you I could walk right up to that Ricky Ricardo right now and he'll spend the rest of the night with me."
The girl laughed. "You're a daffy duck! I bet you can't and he won't!"
Lucy smiled broadly. "Come on, then." She began to walk confidently in Ricky's direction.
The girl followed her, equally confident that Lucy couldn't possibly pull off what she'd suggested.
Just as Lucy reached Ricky, he turned and smiled. She spoke quickly, preventing him from tipping the girl off to the fact that they were already acquainted. "Are you here with someone, Mr. Ricardo?"
Ricky looked at her strangely for a moment, then noticed the girl behind her. He had danced with her earlier, he remembered. He didn't know what Lucy was up to, but he decided to play along. A sly grin crossed his face. "I was. But for you, I'm not anymore. Call me Ricky."
Lucy returned his grin and winked at him. "How'd you like to be here with me?"
Ricky put his hands in his pockets, his voice sounding like a growl. "What's your name, sweetheart?"
"Lucy." She touched one of the curls that rested on her shoulder gently, then slipped her fingertip teasingly down over her decollate.
Ricky's eyes flashed, genuinely excited by whatever game she was playing. "Well…Lucy…I'd like to be just about anywhere with you, if you know what I mean."
Lucy reached out and slipped her hand along his shoulder and down one of his arms. "But I'm afraid I missed the opportunity to dance with you, Mr. Ricardo…I mean, Ricky."
He took his hands out of his pockets and put his arms around her, pulling her closer to him than any of the girls had been that night. He did it so purposefully that it took her breath away. "I'd love to dance with you. How about after we're done dancin', we get married."
Lucy giggled, regretting only that she couldn't see the look on the face of the girl behind her, who by now could not have picked her jaw up from the floor if she'd tried. "Oh, Ricky, this is so sudden."
With that, Ricky leaned into her and took her lips into kiss of heated, unparalleled passion.
"I can't believe it," the girl stammered as she turned and walked away in defeat.
Their kiss parted gently and Lucy laughed. Ricky smiled, watching the girl leave them before turning back to his wife and pulling her to the floor to dance with him. "What was that all about?"
Lucy continued to laugh softly as she began to sway with him, her fingertips delicately teasing the hair at the nape of his neck. "That was one of your admirers. She told me some…things…while we were standing over there, so I decided to have a little fun with her."
Ricky raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What thin's?"
Lucy responded by pretending to scold him. "Are you wearing a wedding ring, Mr. Ricardo?"
He turned the hand which held hers as they danced, flashing the gold band in her direction. "I always do."
She smirked. "Well, it's not working! That girl would love for you to take her out to the alley so she can wrap her legs around you."
Ricky's eyes widened. "She said that?"
Lucy nodded. "And what's more, I think the feeling is mutual for all the girls in this room."
His eyes drifted upward at the colorful decorations above them, the lovely music carrying them and the other dancers around them. At the moment, the girls who had previously been enamored of him were coupled tightly with the soldiers for whom the dance was meant. His eyes returned to gaze at his wife. "They probably felt that way for a little while, but if they end up with anyone in the alley tonight, it'll be these guys."
"And as for you?" Lucy's voice was soft as Ricky's arm tightened around her. "Where will you end up tonight?"
Ricky leaned closer to her face and whispered in such a way that the words sent shivers down her spine. "With your legs around me, I hope."
III.
It was late when the dance ended and Lucy and Ricky were among the couples who left the U.S.O. Club to finish the evening privately.
They walked silently down the street, hands clasped, passing under the soft light of the street lamps. The sound of their footsteps mingled with passing traffic and conversations from others on the street and on the balconies of the buildings they passed.
They came across a small café that had a few people sitting at comfortable tables inside. Ricky smiled. "Want a cup of coffee?"
Lucy nodded. "Sure." She smiled as she followed him inside, happy any time they had some time to do something like this together.
Once inside, it was apparent that there were more patrons there than were visible from the outside. Ricky spotted a small table next to the front window where no one was sitting and pointed to it. "Honey, sit there and I'll get us some coffee."
Lucy hurried over to the table before someone else could grab it and she sat. She crossed her legs as she customarily did, not realizing that in her haste to sit, her skirt had risen slightly, giving the passersby on the street a view of her thigh and the garter and the top of her silk stocking.
She looked around, getting familiar with the café and watching the people sitting nearby as she waited for Ricky to return. After a moment, a tall young man walked in from the street and walked straight to the table where Lucy sat. He sat in the chair across from her as she looked at him, stunned. She looked around, not know what to say as he sat quietly. "Um…I…excuse me, I'm sorry, but…"
The man interrupted her. "I know this is very forward," he said in a low voice. "But I think you're gorgeous and I couldn't keep walking when I saw you in the window."
Lucy looked quickly for Ricky, but she'd lost sight of him in that moment. "I…sir, I'm sorry, I…"
"Answer this question before you say anything else. I'm only in town for tonight, I go back to Boston tomorrow. Come back to my hotel, spend the night with me. You're a living doll, I have to have you." The man sat back in the chair smugly, waiting for what he was sure would be a positive response to his proposal.
Lucy opened her mouth, intending to move quickly to turn him down. But before she had the chance to speak, Ricky came up to the side of the table and calmly placed two cups of coffee in front of them. He pulled an empty chair from another table and turned it backwards, straddling it as he sat.
The man seemed to grow indignant that Ricky had come in the middle of his proposition of this lovely creature. "What's the big idea, buddy, can't you see that I'm talking to this lady?"
Ricky ignored the man and smiled at Lucy. She smiled in return, wondering what he was doing. "I couldn't help overhearin' this man's offer. Before you tell him yes or no, I have an offer of my own."
The man leaned forward on the table. "What?!"
Ricky continued looking directly at Lucy, who picked up a cup of coffee and sipped it nonchalantly. "Go on…"
Ricky took a sip of coffee from the other cup, then looked at her intensely. "I know this is very forward," he said in a low voice. "But I think you're gorgeous. Come with me, spend the night with me. You're a livin' doll and I have to have you." His hand slipped under the table and he caressed her thigh. "I promise you that I'll make it so you won't want any other man but me, ever."
Lucy's breathing quickened, the touch of Ricky's hand teasing her thigh causing her heart to pound and a surge of moist desire to begin to course through her.
Meanwhile, the man sat on the other side of the table, mouth agape. He looked at them, expecting that Lucy would slap Ricky at any moment.
Instead, she exhaled a breath, took another sip of coffee and returned Ricky's intense gaze. "And after you've ruined all other men for me, what will I do?"
Ricky squeezed her thigh gently, eliciting a nearly inaudible yelp from Lucy's lips. "You'll just have to stay with me and marry me so I can keep it up every night for the rest of your life."
She uncrossed her legs as Ricky reluctantly took his hand away and she stood up from the table. "What did you say your name was again?"
Ricky grinned, his eyes dark as he looked up at her. "You can call me Ricky."
"Lead the way, Ricky."
Ricky stood up happily and returned the chair from where he'd gotten it. He took Lucy by the hand and began to lead her out of the café. He looked at the man, still sitting in disbelief of what he'd witnessed, and smiled. "See ya later…buddy."
The couple walked out of the café, laughing, and continued down the street once again with hands clasped. They walked quickly, Lucy's heart never having an opportunity to calm itself as she longed to feel Ricky's hands on her thighs again, and beyond.
With the apartment building where they lived coming into view, they rushed, laughing, to get inside. Ricky chased Lucy up the stairs and pressed against her from behind as she fumbled with the key, trying to open the door to the apartment as she trembled.
When she finally got the door open, she ran to the bedroom, giggling as Ricky went after her.
Having nowhere left to run, Lucy turned around to face Ricky as he slammed the bedroom door behind him and came at her. Her heart pounded as he grabbed her hungrily and pulled her toward him. "When can I feel those legs around me?"
"Right about the time you ruin me to all other men."
He pushed her gently to sit on the bed and she watched him excitedly as he shed his tuxedo jacket and shirt, throwing them to the floor in a heap. He pulled the belt from around his waist forcefully and she jumped when it made a snapping sound before he dropped it, too, to the floor.
Ricky approached her and moved her to lie on the bed before he crawled on top of her. His hands moved swiftly up her thighs, his fingers tracing against her silk stockings until he reached bare skin.
Lucy arched her back and he reached around unzip the back of her dress. He yanked it forcefully off of her slender figure, only half caring if it ripped to shreds from her body.
Without wasting a moment, he lowered his face to rest on the soft flesh of her breasts. She whimpered as his lips grazed one nipple, then the other, and her breathing grew shallow.
Ricky sat up and lifted one of legs straight up, revering the shape of it as he peeled the silk away from her skin. Discarding the stocking to the floor, he repeated the process with her other leg. He punctuated his actions by tearing the shear panties away from the last part of her bare body that hadn't been revealed to him.
He moved over her again and Lucy rewarded his work by surrounding him with her thighs firmly. She reached down to loosen the pants that separated her from what she wanted and Ricky smiled as he shook free of them.
He groaned as her hands moved over him freely, relishing his broad shoulders, strong arms and firm stomach. She felt his rigid, long shaft quivery has her fingers teased it.
Lucy further raised her knees around him. "Please, Ricky…please," she begged.
He responded by plunging into her with the full force of the tension that had simmered between them all evening. As he drilled her repeatedly, she cried out his name, her fingernails gripping his back and, no doubt, leaving scratch marks as though they were scars of their passionate battle.
Ricky smiled wickedly as he continued to penetrate her mercilessly. "A quien quieres? Dime, quien follarte y hacerte gritar asi? Quien?"
As Lucy arched her back, alternating between pleasured screams and breathless gasps for air, Ricky finally released his climax and flooded her.
He fell to her side in a sweat, the two fighting to catch their breaths and holding each other as he kissed her neck gently.
After a few moments, as they reached a level of calm, Lucy turned to Ricky and smiled. "I hope you didn't put runs in my stockings…they're rationed and that was my last pair."