Alive

by Victoria Johns

  The more I thought about how we were so comfortably at ease and compatible, the more it worked to bring my dick to life, and I knew my thoughts would be obvious in less than a minute. They would be stabbing the hell out of her back.

  The beeping began again and I remembered the new cell phone. Only three people had that number and each of them was important enough to talk to. “I need to get that,” I whispered into her hair. “Try to go back to sleep.” I left the most comfortable position in the world and pulled the cell free of its charger. Resting my elbows on my knees after I’d sat up, I saw the evidence of my morning delight poking up at me, straining my boxers, and there was no way on earth I was going to be able to stretch them high enough to get it back under cover.

  Knowing the beauty that was behind me, I wanted nothing more than to let him loose. The piercing in the end of my dick was already feeling heavy and making the urge so much worse. I could see the glistening beginnings of pre-cum on my metal piercing and there was no way I was bending him to hide it now. I just had to stay put and hope she’d stay asleep long enough for it to go down.

  My cell was flooded with what looked like police department mug shots and a message asking if I’d seen them during my time with Rebecca.

  I recognized about half of them as door men from Mansion’s. The very last picture was of a young guy who could have been Mansion from a different era. The picture was old, as was the camera’s exposure, but there was something different about this guy. The skin palette wasn’t quite right and the eyes, although the same color, told a different story.

  Me:

  Looking at the photos of the grizzly, ugly men had the desired effect on my morning wood problem. It was already receding nicely. My cell rang in my hand. “I’m here,” I said quietly.

  “Why are you whispering?” Jonas asked.

  “Rebecca’s asleep.”

  “And how the fuck would you know that?”

  “You called?” I cut him off, deadening that line of enquiry immediately.

  “For fuck’s sake. In. Your. Fucking. Pants,” he growled back at me.

  “It is and has been. Now, do you have something to tell me?”

  “That last photo, you think it could be him?”

  “Could be. Who is he?”

  “Just a wildcard I threw in there on the off chance and not someone you want on your tail. Change of plan. Head to Rockton. I’ll send you the address.”

  “Okay. What’s in Rockton?”

  “Answers. Maybe,” he replied in frustration.

  “Why not come home?”

  “Containment and the family. If there’s a possibility that Mansion is onto you, I don’t want him here.”

  “Got it. Uh… you heard from Jack?” I had to ask. He’d been avoiding all my calls and texts, but I knew he couldn’t avoid Jonas.

  “Licking his wounds.”

  “Shit.” It still gutted me that he wouldn’t just take it out on me, but if he was being that way in front of Jonas then he clearly still had a big issue.

  “Get moving, Jake,” was the last thing Jonas said to me before hanging up the call.

  Rebecca

  I always knew there was a difference between love and lust. After all, when I worked at Sunset Strip, I saw men lust after my fellow strip-mates, but it didn’t mean they loved them. Many had wives that held that title. The confusion always came from the parties involved and how you saw your place, which was usually at odds with how they viewed you.

  Can you love someone out of a sense of duty?

  I mean, Jake had saved me and maybe I was having something like that Stockholm Syndrome thing, but in reverse. Not falling for my captor, but falling for my rescuer.

  I wondered whether I was confusing it all with lust because I’d had my hands on his skin last night. It was so silky and smooth over his tight muscles and I thought maybe I was sex starved. It had been a while and even when I’d had sex, it had been a no strings, two people letting off steam thing. I had this arrangement with Harvey, one of the bar managers at Mansion’s. It was our thing and we never spoke to anyone about it. One night he pushed his luck in the liquor cellar and it went from there. It was a mutual need that had just happened, and kept happening when we felt like we both needed it.

  The curved structure of Jake’s ass cheeks hinted at him operating with some serious man meat down there. Thinking about him made me shudder… in the best way. I was sure he’d go for it when I accidentally let my hand wander in the night, and was shocked when he moved it. I hadn’t discovered whether he had someone at home yet, though, or maybe it was just that he took his job seriously and that was all I was to him—a job.

  Jake left the bed really quickly after getting that phone call. I’d pretended to be dozing while he spoke to see if I could get a hint of what was going on, but Jake was almost as brief as the voice on the other end of the line.

  We left the motel in the same silence we’d both become used to and swapped the rental car again before we left town. The expense of all this had to be racking up and I didn’t know whether I was supposed to be paying for it or paying someone at the end. Was this like a business, or a case for a firm that employed heroes and saints?

  We got breakfast at the first drive-through diner we found and ordered a mixture of hot and cold food to cover a couple of meals. As I tucked into the feast, he began to drive again and I fed him bits every now and then, all in the continued comfort of nothingness.

  Hours later, I was over the road trip and needed a break. Thankfully, Jake didn’t sound bothered when I suggested we stop to eat some of the cold sandwiches. “Yeah, okay, I’ll find a place off the road, just in case.”

  He reminded me once again that I needed to keep my head in the game. I was running from trouble and not just on a scenic road trip with a hot guy for the fun of it. It was embarrassing that it constantly slipped my mind and he was having to remind me of why we were together in this crazy situation. I watched as he played with the screen on the navigation system and drove towards a large lake and nature reserve. A nature reserve sounded like the perfect way to waste a few hours. I was desperate for exercise and all this down time and junk food were doing nothing for my body. So, when we finally reached the lake, I’d made up my mind I was going for a walk or swim, or… something. Jake jumped out of the car, clearly wanting fresh air, too, and as he wandered off, I knew he expected me to follow.

  “Don’t forget the food,” he shouted, and remembering I had, I doubled back to collect it.

  When I left the car a second time, I lost sight of him until I rounded a clump of trees and saw him sat on the grass looking out over a peaceful expanse of water, just taking in the scenery.

  Even from behind he was a handsome guy.

  “Food, woman,” he shouted, making me feel like an idiot for being caught daydreaming and ogling him like a horny teenager. I rushed over and sat cross-legged on the floor next to him. I shared out the selection of sandwiches and chips, and handed him a soda pop as he leant back on an elbow to tuck in.

  “It’s pretty here and so quiet,” I said, desperate to break the silence.

  “Yeah,” he mumbled around a mouthful of food.

  “Do you know where we are?”

  “Sure. We’re where the GPS says we are.” Jake still wasn’t looking at me but gazing out over the water.

  “What are you thinking about?” I asked, finally feeling brave enough to see what had him so occupied.

  “Sorry, just tired. What’s your favorite dance?”

  “Freestyle,” I answered without hesitation. “Moving your body to music should be spontaneous. Like you can’t keep it inside you. Like if you don’t move with that rhythm you’ll know you missed out on the chance to create something beautiful.” Jake was staring at me while I rambled on. “Sorry, don’t get me started on dance. I could talk about it for hours. It’s my passion.”
r />   “I see that.”

  “What your passion?” I asked him.

  “Good question. How old were you when you started?”

  “As soon as I could walk I was getting my jam on. It was the one thing no one could control about me. Well, at least until someone decided to fuck up their life, get in a shit load of debt and then make me dance it off as payment. Sorry, I’m ranting.”

  “You’re entitled.”

  “So, your passion?” I tried again.

  “Dance films,” he interrupted. “Do you watch them or critique them?”

  It was the second time he’d swerved my question and I wasn’t going to bother asking him anything again. Something was on his mind and he’d share when he was ready… or not.

  “Both. Some moves are so creative you’ve got to try them out. Some moves are so staged it’s laughable. The sequence, everything is doomed to fail unless they’re edited for film.”

  We carried on eating, and for the first time the silence no longer felt comfortable. It was awkward. I hurried to finish my food, needing an escape. The lake looked tempting enough to provide it and I thought perhaps he needed some space, too. “Have we got time for me to have a quick paddle?”

  He only nodded at me as he continued to eat his sandwich.

  I quickly kicked off my flats and whipped my T-shirt up and off, folding it neatly and then doing the same with my leggings. In just a pair of sporty boy briefs and a bra, I wandered to the edge. Completely aware that he was watching me, I knew I couldn’t back out now. The water looked calm and a little cloudy, so I dipped my toe in and flicked it around, watching the reeds weave about below the surface. I could feel his eyes on me and I desperately wanted to impress him, so without really thinking, I moved to where there was a short clearing in the side bushes and jumped in.

  Christ! It was cold, like a million pins being poked into my nerve endings all at once. I surfaced and screamed, “Fuck! It’s so cold,” to Jake who was now busy putting our food wrappers in a trash can. I watched as he strolled to where my clothes were and continued to just stare off into the water, under the weight of some unspoken worry that seemed to be getting heavier and heavier by the minute.

  Unable to look at him any longer, I dived under the water and felt something touch my foot. I couldn’t see what it was, and the more I paddled round, the cloudier and more disturbed the water become until it was murky and dark. For a second time, I felt something jab at my ankle bone and then my calf. It wasn’t painful, but it unnerved me enough to start a crazy panic. I bobbed up out of the water, screaming a garbled and watery, “Jake!”

  At that point, my foot got tangled in a reed and I couldn’t swim any further. I ducked down again, clawing at my foot and trying to free it with my head upturned just level with the water’s surface. “Jake, help!” I wailed again, convinced I was going to die a watery death. All the crazy things to have come at me in my life and it would be a stupid little paddle that would finally finish me off.

  I felt hands reach under my arms and yank me up sharply. The action caused me to swallow a mouthful of water and in a flash, I was being hauled out onto the bank, where I lay wet, shaking and coughing, desperately trying to find air to soothe my lungs.

  When I gathered myself enough to look up, I was faced with Jake, wearing just boxers and looking so angry I thought he might explode. “What the fucking fuck, Rebecca?” he roared.

  “I felt something,” I stuttered, still coughing and spluttering.

  “What? Water? You felt the goddamn water?” he shouted again, making me feel five years old and really starting to piss me off.

  “No! I thought I felt a fish nibbling at my feet and then I got caught in the reeds.” I lay back on the grass breathing hard, still trying to convince myself I hadn’t been drowning.

  “You scared the fucking shit out of me. You said a quick paddle.”

  Okay, now he was really grating on my nerves. Then I noticed his state of undress. “I didn’t scare you that much. You had time to undress.”

  “Because you were trying to drown yourself in four foot of water. You were screaming and splashing enough to attract a gator. And I’ll remind you, with your head out of the fucking water!” He leaned in, forcing his words out through gritted teeth.

  At the mention of the word gator, I completely freaked out and jumped up off the bank before stepping into him and launching myself at his body. Before he could argue, I was wrapped around him, clinging to his body for dear life. “You saw a gator?”

  “No! You fucking crazy ass woman.” He sighed, and then put his arms around me.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Jake managed to hold me to him like I weighed nothing. I could feel his heart beating against my chest and I was certain he’d put me down like a hot brick as soon as he realized how close we were. “You really fucking scared me.”

  I leaned back, cupping his head in my hands so I could see him to check the sincerity of his words in his eyes.

  He wasn’t lying.

  The connection I felt with him in that moment was so powerful that I moved closer into him and kissed him gently. I watched as his eyes went wide in shock and his lips parted, showing me the tip of a perfect tongue. I wanted to feel that tongue so badly and touch the tip of it with my own.

  I reached for his lips again and kissed the corner, slowing making my way to the center. Jake was solid but still holding me in place, locked against him. With his mouth still open, I sneaked my tongue into the gap and was rewarded with movement. I’d finally caused a reaction in him.

  Before long, his tongue was wrapping around my own and it was demanding attention. Jake had taken over and was leading this dance, and I was too far gone to slow it down. We were both still wet and I could feel my body reacting as I was climbing up and down his front, enjoying the sensation of wet material against my lower lips and center. That, combined with the lace of my bra scraping over my nipples, felt divine.

  Jake started to move and I felt the thickness of his cock grinding up my front. I’d missed sexual attention and I was hungry for it. The growl of satisfaction in his throat only made me try to move in closer, until I realized he had put a knee to the floor and was lowering my back to the ground. Our kissing became more frenzied and I was sure I might overheat with need, even though I was soaking wet and cold from the water.

  I whimpered when I felt his fingers pull down my left bra cup and his palm fondle my breast. “Yes,” I whispered and felt my nerves spasm and my spine arch when he pinched my nipple roughly.

  I lost his mouth then and saw the top of his wet, messy hair move down my body, feeling his stubble on my skin as his tongue worked my nipples in a rhythm that had me clawing at his back. Jake quickly freed my other breast, too, and started to pinch that one, working his tongue, teeth and fingertips between them both. I no longer cared that we were in public. I needed all his attentions right now.

  The sensations were becoming too much and I knew I needed to orgasm. Anything less would have been a cruel punishment. “Fingers, Jake, I need your fingers in me.”

  I watched as he looked up at me, his mind in some turmoil, but his body gave him away. I knew he wanted this, if only he could overcome what was inside his head.

  “Please,” I whispered.

  And in a rushed movement, like he might change his own mind at any second, he pushed his hand into my panties and spread my lips open, feeling for my erect center.

  “There, Jake, there!” I pleaded as his mouth fastened back to mine again and he slowly inserted a thick finger inside me, testing my readiness before roughly adding a second.

  He stopped kissing me then, his face only inches from mine, and began to watch what he was doing to me. He was working me fast and hard and then slow and soft, his change in pace causing the same change in my erratic breathing.

  I could hear how wet he was making me. The sound of him working my body was doing crazy things to my equilibrium. “Do it. Finish me,” I begged, and with a f
ast pump of his fingers and a final push on my clit, I gasped, shuddered and covered his hand in more juice than my body had ever released before.

  I felt Jake leave our tangled session in a harsh movement. He was erect and swollen, but seemed to be really bothered by what we’d just done. The whole experience had caused him some confusion that I didn’t understand. “Jake?” I questioned.

  “That shouldn’t have happened,” was his pained answer as he grabbed his clothes and stormed off back to the car.

  Jake

  My mind was spinning in violent circles. It was like being on a ride at a fairground and no matter how much I begged, it wouldn’t stop so I could get off and straighten myself out.

  It was awkward, but amazing.

  It was most definitely stupid, but sensational.

  It was unquestionably reckless, but fucking raunchy as hell.

  Every word of explanation I could come up with to categorize what happened between Rebecca and I had a wonderful opposite that my brain wanted to focus on instead.

  What I did to her on that lakeside shouldn’t have happened, but my restraint was being constantly tested. It was by far the best sexual experience I’d ever had and I didn’t even get my dick inside her. I still wasn’t sure how I hadn’t creamed in my pants the very minute she’d slipped out of her clothes.

  I nearly had a heart attack when I thought she was drowning then I was so fucking angry with her. I’d never thought about a girl in terms of real feelings; it was always ‘fuck and run’. I knew I was confused about her the minute I sensed she wasn’t close enough to touch. When touching and sucking her tit suddenly felt very right and feeling inside her wet, warm walls felt like coming home.