by Hope Stone
I hadn’t been to this park before. It wasn’t exactly my normal hangout, but I lucked out when I saw that there was a shelter space with wooden picnic benches. Grabbing the food out of the passenger seat of my truck, I shrugged out of my jacket. The leather was great to protect from potential road rash, but on a sunny day like this, it was too hot for hanging around outside.
Erica was already sitting at a picnic table with a can of soda in her hand. There was a happy smile on her face as she watched Dominic running around, climbing like a monkey on the playground equipment. She was so damn beautiful. Even in the shade, she seemed to shine somehow, as if her inner beauty was showing through.
When she spotted me walking her way, she waved me over, ignoring the two other mothers sitting nearby that shot me pensive looks. I was used to it. People thought I was scary. It was nothing but a superficial assessment. I tried not to take it personally. I was just glad that Erica either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“You brought food?” she asked as I set both bags down on the table.
“Dinner,” I said, first straddling the bench seat across from her, then swinging my leg over and sitting properly. “From Tiny’s.”
“You’re the best.”
“How was your day?” I asked.
She chatted about her day while I set up the food, telling me about her yoga classes and the reading she’d done on meditation going hand in hand with her work. It was nothing especially significant, but I liked listening to her. It was nice to have someone to talk to about nothing over dinner. I wasn’t sure how I’d lasted so many years eating my meals alone and silent.
Dominic joined us as soon as he saw the food laid out on the table. “Are the chicken tenders for me?” he asked excitedly.
“Yep. Unless you want my catfish?” I asked jokingly. I’d gotten to know him well enough to know that the only fish he would eat was tuna casserole. He was a typical picky kid, but I figured I’d be safe going with chicken tenders and fries. What kid didn’t like that?
“Ew,” he grimaced and stuck out his tongue.
“Chicken it is.” I placed the food in front of him, then gave Erica hers. “And for the lady.”
“Grilled chicken breast. How do you remember these things?”
I shrugged. “It sounds like a lame dating profile characteristic, but I really am a good listener.”
“Do you enjoy walks on the beach, too?” she teased.
“Very funny. As a matter of fact, I do not.”
“What?” Dominic asked around a mouthful of food. “Who doesn’t like the beach?”
“A man with a big old beard that has a tendency to trap sand.”
“No beach, huh?” Erica asked, shaking her head. “And here I thought you might just be perfect.”
“Afraid not,” I said, but the sentiment made something warm fill my chest.
Dominic spent the entire time we were eating talking about his day, telling me stories about children at his daycare and TV shows he liked watching. I found that he was usually rather repetitive, but I didn’t mind. Erica was a real champion, though. She listened to every word that he said, asking follow-up questions and making him seem like the most interesting person on earth. The woman had kid-listening skills.
“Hey, Trainer? Do you want to play catch with me? I brought my baseball and an extra glove.”
We had just finished eating, and I would have preferred to digest for a bit while sitting with Erica, but I couldn’t say no to an offer like that.
“Sure thing.” I took the spare glove from him. It was adult sized, but still a little small for me. I shoved my hand into it as best as I could and followed him to a patch of grass beside the playground. We were in the shade of a large tree, and I had a surreal moment as I looked around at the happy children and the idyllic surroundings. This wasn’t my kind of thing normally, but maybe it could be.
Dominic and I stood about twenty feet apart, and I held up my glove.
“Okay, throw it right to me.”
Dominic’s first throw went wide, and I had to chase it down. When I returned to my spot, he was staring at the ground, looking like he was close to tears.
What the fuck?
I jogged over to him and knelt at eye level. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t mean to do that,” he said miserably.
I was confused. One wide throw wasn’t a reason to go to pieces.
Then I looked up and met Erica’s concerned gaze. Suddenly, I felt like an idiot. It was his dad, that was the reason he was so upset. An ugly hatred for a man I didn’t even know churned in my belly.
“Hey, listen to me. I don’t mind. You can throw them all like that, and I’ll just chase ‘em down. I could probably use the exercise.” Dominic laughed. It wasn’t a completely joyful sound, but it was better than that the misery he was showing before. I handed him the ball. “Here. Try again.”
I went back to my position, and Dominic threw again. This time it came right to me.
“Good job.”
Dominic smiled. We threw the ball back and forth a few more times, getting into a rhythm.
“You know, I’ve never done this before,” I told him.
“Never?” he asked, amazed.
“Nope.”
“My dad made me do it,” he said, frowning. “He always wanted me to be an athlete.”
I thought about his words for a moment. The next time he threw the ball, I caught and held it.
“So do you not enjoy this?”
“I’m having fun with you,” he said quickly.
“I’m having fun with you, too.” I walked closer to him until only a few feet separated us. “But we can have fun doing something else.”
“Dad always said that when I went to the park, I had to practice playing ball. That’s why I brought these.” He gestured to the gloves.
“Well, we’ve practiced. What else would you like to do?”
“I like to look for bugs.”
He looked thoroughly embarrassed as he admitted it to me, which made me believe that his father probably ridiculed that interest.
“Bugs, huh? You like to study them and all that?”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “I checked out a book from the library once all about them. My mom helped me make paper butterflies and moths to hang in my room based on the pictures in the book, but Dad didn’t like them.”
I wanted to change the subject from his dad, despite the anger I felt every time Dominic mentioned the man.
“Well, bug hunting sounds like fun to me. Want to get your mom in on it?”
“Yeah!”
Dominic ran off to Erica as fast as his little legs would carry him. His excitement was obvious, and I didn’t understand how his dad could have stifled such a thing.
There were trees surrounding the outskirts of the park, and the three of us headed that way. We spent the next hour hunting for bugs to observe, finding ladybugs, a praying mantis, and two butterflies. Dominic loved it. I couldn’t help thinking that we were like a family, and it felt good.
It reminded me of the days that they’d stayed at my apartment. It was great, and I missed it. By the time we left the park at dusk, I was thinking it might be a good idea to ask Erica to move in with me when the time was right.
Dominic was exhausted by the time we returned to the duplex. Erica said it was a little early for his bedtime, but he seemed happy to go to bed. Erica was only in his room for ten minutes, and by the time she came out, he was already asleep.
“Thanks for that today,” she said, taking a seat beside me on her couch. “The whole insect thing used to be a big interest of his, but he hasn’t talked about it in a while. I thought he had just moved on to something else, the way kids do, but I guess it was Jeff’s influence. I should have known.”
“I’m glad that he had a good time. But I’m not going to lie. I’m even happier that I get you to myself for a bit.”
I trailed my fingers along her bare arm, smirking as I watched
her shiver. Her eyes met mine, and her green orbs were liquid pools of desire. I let my lust take over, propelling me forward to take her mouth in a hard kiss. The couch creaked under my weight as I shifted my position, pulling my shirt over my head. Erica’s small hands ran over my bare skin, tracing my muscles, going lower and lower until she dipped her fingers into the waistband of my jeans.
I broke our kiss to trail my lips along her jawline and down her neck. She tasted so sweet, and I needed more.
Our limbs became a flurry of movement as we stripped each other, pulling and touching until we were both naked. The only light in the room came from a lamp, and her pale skin was beautifully illuminated in the faint glow. I was sitting on the edge of the couch while she stood before me. My mouth went to her chest, desperate to lick and suck. Erica threw her head back, gasping, but keeping quiet. We were both aware that there was a child sleeping upstairs, and this would have to be a silent fuck. For me, that knowledge made it hotter; knowing that she was going to have to suppress moans of deep pleasure caused my cock to throb.
God, I was like a horny adolescent again, a slave to the needs of my body. She brought that out of me, a need that I hadn’t felt in so long. Like I might die if I didn’t take her.
I grabbed her ass as I switched my mouth to her other nipple, teasing it with my tongue until it was hard, then biting it very lightly. Erica’s hands had tightened on my shoulders as she rotated her hips, as if searching for something to relieve the ache between her legs.
I finally pulled away from her chest to tell her to get on her hands and knees, but she didn’t give me a chance. With surprising strength, she used the palm of her hand to push against my chest until I was leaning against the back of the couch. Then she was straddling me.
“I think I’ll go for a wild ride tonight,” she said, and I bucked my hips to show her just how wild it could get.
She kissed me, softer this time, but her tongue went right into my mouth, tasting me as it swirled around my own. While I was tongue-tied, she reached down between us and gripped my cock. Her touch was warm and soft, but it felt like I’d been zapped by electricity as tingling ran up my spine. A single drop of liquid appeared at the tip, and Erica gathered it up with her thumb before rubbing it around the head of my erection, making me slick and so ready for her. I silently thanked God that she’d started the birth control pill, so there didn't have to be anything separating us.
“Erica, I need you, baby. Right fucking now.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. Lifting her hips, she positioned herself over my quivering cock. I liked this take-charge thing she had going on, so I grabbed ahold of the couch cushions on either side of me and held on, letting her do whatever she wanted to me. I wanted her to unleash her passion for me.
Holding herself steady by hanging on to the back of the couch, she lowered herself onto me slowly, stretching herself as she took my entire length in one go. I ground my teeth to keep from groaning loudly, my chest pumping up and down with my heavy breathing.
The feeling of her warm pussy was like coming home.
She didn’t give me much time to brace myself before she started moving. It was a wild ride, indeed. Erica bounced herself up and down on top of me with such vigor that her breasts bobbed in my face.
Fuck. How could one woman be this hot?
She didn’t even have to try; the sexiness poured out of her. It was in the way she rocked her hips and bit her lip, the way her breathy moans were barely audible but still enough to heighten my pleasure even further. It was in the way her tight channel got wetter and wetter as she got closer and closer to her orgasm.
Then she did the final thing that pushed me right over the edge and free falling into a pool of ecstasy.
Dirty. Talk.
“Do you feel that, baby? The way that you fill me up with every thick inch,” she was whispering in my ear as our pelvises slapped together repeatedly. “You make me want to come all over your cock.”
“Erica.” Her name spilled from my mouth with a hiss as I lost all control. My climax took me, and I lost all sense of time and place. All I knew was pleasure, and it intensified as Erica found her release. I felt her core convulsing around me, and I had to grab her hips just to ground myself, otherwise I felt like I might float away.
It was several minutes before my climax fully passed. I finally relaxed as Erica collapsed on my chest, her body curling into me. We were still connected at the hips, but even more importantly, I could feel the strongest emotional connection of my entire life. I didn’t give a shit if it made me a sap. As I put my arms around the woman that had just completely rocked my world, I was sure that I had found the one.
Erica
My fake IDs were ready. I’d missed a call from Hawk during one of my advanced yoga classes, but his voicemail informed me that he would be at The Blue Dog in the evening. So after my last class of the day, I cleaned up quickly before walking across the street.
The Blue Dog looked the same as always: bikers at the bar, civilians playing pool, a basketball game on TV. I was starting to get used to being here by now and found it almost comfortable.
Hawk was easy to spot, sitting in the same corner as the day I met him. This time he was alone, and there was a sealed brown envelope on the table next to his beer. I sat down at the table across from him, and he slid the envelope over.
“It’s all there,” he said, taking a swig of his beer. “Driver’s licenses, passports, even social security cards.”
I opened the envelope and pulled out the contents. He was right. It was all here, and it looked legit.
“This will hold up to scrutiny from cops? Employers?” I asked, staring down at my smiling face on the driver’s license.
“Yep. You’re golden.”
I smiled. This was exactly what I needed, and well worth the price. I could officially live as Erica Mills now. I could stay in La Playa.
“Thanks,” I said, starting to stand.
“Just curious,” Hawk said before I got the chance to walk away. “Does Trainer know about this?”
I was surprised by his question. He must have seen me around the Outlaw Souls apartment complex when we were staying with Trainer. Had he talked to his friend in the club about me? I felt almost giddy at the thought, like a love-sick teenager.
“About the fake IDs?” I asked.
“That Erica Mills isn’t your real name. I don’t need to know what you’re running from, but he should.”
“He does,” I said. “He’s the only one who knows, so-”
“Don’t worry about me. I don’t air other people’s shit.”
That was good to know.
“See you around,” I said.
Walking out of The Blue Dog, I gripped the brown envelope tightly in my hand. This was my ticket to freedom. It should keep Jeff from finding us.
I picked Dominic up from the babysitter and listened to him tell me all about his day on the way home.
“Hey, Dominic”—I waited until there was a lull in his dialogue to get his attention—“how would you like to go to public school this fall?”
“Really?” he asked brightly. “We’re going to stay here?”
“I think so.” I didn’t want to make any promises.
“Can I get a Spider-Man backpack?”
I chuckled. “Sure.”
“Then, yeah. I wanna go.”
“I’ll look into getting you registered.”
I pulled up in front of the duplex, letting Dominic go in ahead of me. I dropped my gym bag next to the door, resolving to go through it later and do a load of laundry.
“Can I have a snack?” Dominic asked, already heading toward the kitchen.
“Something small, like an apple. I don’t want you filling up on junk and ruining your dinner.”
I had stopped walking halfway through the living room. Something was off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was at first, but for some reason, there was trepidation in my steps, fueled by a
powerful sense of unease.
Finally, I realized that the things in the living room, the knick-knacks and picture frames, had all been moved slightly. They were still technically in the same spot, like the photo of Dominic and me on the coffee table, but they were slightly altered. The picture was facing the wrong direction. Someone had been in my home and moved my things.
“Mom?”
Dominic’s voice held undisguised panic. I snapped my head in his direction and saw that he was frozen in the kitchen doorway, his back to me as he stared into the room at something I couldn’t see. I flat-out ran to him, alarm bells going off in my head.
I didn’t stop until I was standing in front of him, blocking Dominic from the thing in the kitchen that had him so scared. It was the thing I feared most.
My heart seemed to stop completely as I stood there, staring at Jeff. He looked cool as a cucumber, watching me with the eyes of a predator as he leaned against my kitchen sink with his arms folded across his chest.
I wanted to run. The need was so strong that my hands shook, and my knees felt weak. But I couldn’t get away, not when he was already inside my home. I heard Gizmo enter the kitchen behind us.
Some guard dog.
“Dominic, I need you to take the dog outside and stay with him until I tell you to come in.” My voice was higher-pitched than normal, containing the faint edge of hysteria.
“But Mom-”
“Now,” I interrupted. “Go.”
He did as I said, walking through the kitchen to the back door. There was a moment, when he passed by Jeff, that a deep-rooted fear engulfed me. Nothing was more terrifying to me than the possibility that Jeff could hurt Dominic the way he’d hurt me.
But Jeff let him go, staying in his leaning position against the kitchen sink the whole time until both Dominic and Gizmo were out the door. There was a sliver of relief amid my overwhelming anxiety. This was going to get ugly, and Dominic didn’t need to see that.
“H-how did you find me?” I couldn’t resist asking. I’d tried so hard to keep him off my trail.
