by Carmen Faye
She smiled, raising her eyes to me. She didn’t seem as nervous or embarrassed upon seeing that I had a similar thought as she had. She appeared to be debating following where our conversation should go from here and how to respond to me.
I stepped closer until there were just a few inches of space between us.
“Like I told you, I’m not going to do anything unless you ask me to,” I said.
She looked a combination of things that made me want to wrap myself around her. She looked tired, and I wanted to be the jolt to rouse her awake. Her full lips looked wanting; I wanted to feed them. As she flexed a leg slightly and raised her heel, her toes were pointed. I wanted to make them curl and tighten every muscle up her calf and thigh. Everything about her body seemed to be asking for my touch to soothe some need. Her eyes held something I couldn’t name that I had never seen in anyone else.
“I wouldn’t know where to begin, what to ask, or how to phrase it,” she said, “but I want to.”
Chapter 4
Annie
“You just did,” Tarek said.
With that, he closed the distance between us. I thought he would act like most guys do and ease me into the idea of being physical by kissing, but he continued to be unlike any other person I had encountered. He kneeled in front of me and took his shirt off. Then he ran his fingertips up the sides of my legs to my hips. He gripped each side and grunted, pulling my body to him.
“I just needed to hear you say you want me. You should never ask someone to ride who doesn’t say they want to first,” he said.
“What about me riding Sheba?” I asked
“Emergencies get special rules. I would have fucked you in that supply closet if you had said something,” he said with a rough laugh.
He hunched his back putting his face level to my navel as he raised my shirt an inch or two. He smiled and made an approving hum sound at the site of my black and white underwear. It was basically a small black and white animal print triangle at the front, and a larger triangle for the back held together on each side with a similar print half-inch band. He placed a hand on my stomach and let his fingertips run down the front. When they caught the fabric, he continued to pull it lower until he could see where my entry began.
“I enjoy kissing a woman with full lips,” he said, looking up at me.
I was already breathing heavy. I had one hand on Tarek’s shoulder, helping to brace me after he pulled me forward, and the other was holding my shirt where he raised it.
“So, kiss me,” I replied, the words coming out as more of a whisper.
I can only imagine he read my lips, but he followed my instruction readily. He placed his hands back on my hips and quickly removed my panties. He hoisted me off the ground and wrapped my legs around him. He kept a hungry focus on my lips as he carried me to the dining area and sat me at the head of the table. My legs were still spread wide, as he pulled the chair back and sat before me.
“If I’m going to eat something sweet, I should unwrap it first,” Tarek said.
He placed both hands at the collar of my shirt and slowly moved them to the first button. When they got there, he paused for the briefest second and then gripped the shirt, pulling it apart in one swift move. Buttons spilled and scattered on the floor of the room.
He didn’t remove the shirt. He opened it wide, looking at me. He inhaled deeply while licking his lips. Then he lowered the sleeves and top of the shirt so it hung below my elbows and the middle of my back. He kept his grip on the fabric to use it as a tool like a strap, keeping me close and to help hold my upper body at whatever angle he desired as he helped himself to my body.
I didn’t even try to stifle my moaning as he wrapped his mouth around my clit, sucking and gnawing. First, I released a moan of surprise followed by another of pleasure. I squirmed and wriggled, and he wrapped his hands and arms around my hips and thighs, keeping me pulled to him. He countered and pressed his mouth and tongue harder into me and against me. He kissed my body deeply like I initially imagined him claiming my mouth.
“I wouldn’t want to break the table, but if you wanted to take things upstairs, I wouldn’t mind. Then there would be room for me to do things for you too,” I offered.
Tarek slowed his work to a stop and looked up at me. I ran the back of a finger along his chin to clean the mess I had started to make. Tarek just bit his lip, gazing at me silently.
“Nah, let’s go vertical,” he replied, standing up in his seat.
“What?” I asked.
He pushed his chair back with his foot and stepped back to allow me room to step down. Then he gripped my hand and led me to the balcony. I stopped him just before he pulled me outside.
“I’m naked. Someone could see me,” I told him.
He wasn’t fazed. He untied his boots and stepped out of them. Then he removed his socks and jeans. He stepped beyond the sliding door and looked back inside at me.
“Let them see. They can choose whether to keep looking,” Tarek replied with a dismissive shrug.
It was nearly dawn. I could see the sky brightening, but the sun wasn’t up yet. I continued to look around as I stepped through the sliding door, joining Tarek. He didn’t seem to mind my amazement and stepped back to watch me take it all in.
Once I was beyond the door, I made my way to the edge of the balcony, looking out at the other buildings.
“I’ve never done anything like this. I don’t even have sex with the lights on,” I said, breathlessly enjoying my view.
Tarek laughed and came to my side at the rail. His erection bobbed as he moved. I would have taken in the site of him with pleasure if something lower hadn’t claimed my attention.
“What’s wrong?” Tarek asked, moving to take my arm as I stepped away from the edge. “You look scared. Do you not like heights?”
“They’re here,” I said, pointing at the street below.
We were a few stories up, but there was no mistaking what I saw. Several men were moving around below. Just like at Guastavino’s, they were in all black and had weapons. The few people who looked different from them seemed to be quickly making their way out of the area.
As Tarek was looking over the edge, a ringing sound came from inside. He looked at me, down at the men on the street, and ran inside to his phone. I followed.
Tarek grabbed his pants from the floor and reached into the pocket.
“This is Tarek,” he said, answering his phone.
In less time than it had taken to answer the call, it was over.
“Get dressed. We have time to get out before they find us,” he said, gathering up the rest of his clothes.
I didn’t waste any time on questions. I ran upstairs and put my top and skirt back on from where I had changed for bed. I carried my shoes back down in my hands and took the shirt I had borrowed, just in case.
When I made it back downstairs, Tarek was dressed and holding his motorcycle keys and the helmet he let me borrow for the ride here.
“Come on,” he said, beckoning me with the hand holding the keys. “We don’t have any time to lose.”
I followed as he turned to lead the way out. We reached the elevator to find it was already in motion. I guess, considering the time of morning it was, Tarek believed it would be unlikely that another resident would be moving about.
He turned suddenly and made his way to a door marked stairs, and used his hip and shoulders to push it open. Once he was inside the area, he began making his way downstairs. He took two at a time and glanced back every so often to make sure I was keeping up, and no one was behind me.
I shuffled down the stairs and rounded each twist and turn quickly, keeping pace pretty well. When we reached the landing a few floors down, Tarek stopped suddenly in front of me. I caught myself just before barreling into him, which would have caused him to fall. He had begun to hear sounds from below. I listened as well, and it was the sound of multiple feet climbing the stairs in our direction.
Tarek placed a finge
r to his lips, letting me know to be quiet. Then he gestured for me to follow him again. He remained on the landing where we were and opened the door to the hall area. He looked around quickly before stepping inside once he was certain the area was clear.
I joined him and looked at the elevator panel. It wasn’t lit up with any floor number, and I didn’t hear the hum of it moving. Tarek came to my side and pressed the down button to summon the elevator.
“I guarantee you that half of the goons after us were sent up in the elevator while the other half took the stairs,” he said.
I nodded in agreement. The logic behind Tarek’s statement made sense. They were covering both our escape paths, but us seeing them first from the balcony seemed to have spared our lives.
***
Tarek
“Get down!” I yelled to Annie just as the doors from the elevator began to open.
I thought I glimpsed something move as they split apart. She followed my command and as the door widened two men in black stepped out from either side of the elevator. One swung at me as the other raised his gun. I ducked the fist of the first and planted my own in the stomach of the second, but the first man cupped his fist in the opposite hand and brought it down on my back in the process. I hit the floor in the elevator, but not hard enough to be knocked unconscious.
I began to attempt scrambling to my feet before they could attack while I was down. I heard female grunting and shattering glass. As the man who had the gun roused and dove at me, I reared my fist back and let it connect. As he fell back to the floor before me, I looked up to see that Annie had cracked a decorative vase of flowers over our other assailant’s head.
She quickly joined me in the elevator, and we pushed their bodies out. As the doors closed we were both breathing heavily, but not for the pleasurable reasons we had experienced only minutes earlier.
“Let me out first,” I said as the elevator landed at the lobby.
I walked out casually and spied another man in black who must have been left to guard the lobby on his own. I was certain there would be at least one or two more at the front door.
The thug in the lobby was too distracted to notice me as a sudden crashing sound in the stairwell sent most of the people in the lobby racing. As he and the rest of the crowd gathered at the stairwell door, trying to be the first in to see the cause of the noise, I beckoned for Annie to follow me in the opposite direction toward the maintenance office. The door was unlocked and wide open as the maintenance man had heard the noise as well and rushed to ensure nothing he repaired had injured a tenant or guest.
The door leading from maintenance to the side alley where the dumpster was appeared to be locked.
“Give me a minute. I need to find something small and pointy to jimmy the lock on the door with,” I said to Annie as I began to search the drawers of the small desk in the room.
Once again, we were in a space filled with tools and janitorial supplies. We were in another crisis, but once again Annie seemed to keep her cool. I could tell she was scared, but I saw now that more than anything else she looked intent on survival.
She began looking through the top of the desk while I was looking through the drawers. Neither of us was having much luck until Annie suddenly exclaimed loudly, “Ah, these should help!” She was holding something and smiling.
“What?” I asked, looking up.
“Keys,” she said excitedly, opening up her hand.
“It must be his spare set,” I replied. “We don’t have time to fiddle through a million keys.”
She waved me off and returned to the door.
“It’s process of elimination. Many of the keys have a similar shape. The great majority are probably spare keys to the apartments. There should only be a few that look significantly different – the front and back doors, one for roof access maybe, and any smaller keys for things like toolboxes, fuse boxes, or other maintenance related things,” she said, undiscouraged.
She was correct. She flipped through the keys. After only a few tries, she had success, and we were standing outside and out of view of our present danger. She immediately began running toward the parking garage where we left Sheba. I was right at her side.
We made it to the parking garage with no other trouble and even made it to our floor in the elevator. When the doors opened, Sheba sat waiting as we had left her. As Annie and I crossed the garage level, we heard the sound of a car cranking.
I did my best to shove Annie between two cars without hurting her. She landed roughly but stayed low without complaint, and seemed to understand my intention. I continued to look around in the open, hoping to spot which car was idling. Suddenly, I heard an engine rev and tires squall.
I began to run, but not toward Sheba. I weaved back and forth in the parking garage and between parked cars. A sporty, black two-door was gaining on me rapidly and swerving as they tried to follow my path.
I became bolder in my actions and slid across the hood of cars, and rolled underneath large trucks with raised suspensions, causing my pursuer to make equally bold maneuvers to try to take me down. After a few successful dodges, I heard the first bang of their car clipping another car.
I looked over my shoulder as I continued to run and saw the car overcorrect and hit a median in the parking complex. Apparently frustrated, the driver finally got out, slamming the door and holding an assault rifle pointed in my direction.
I had already rolled underneath another truck so he couldn’t see me. I, however, had a great view of him. I held my breath and hoped that Annie was still tucked away safely. I hoped that this guy wouldn’t use her to lure me out.
“Tarek,” he called out, taunting me. “Tarek, why don’t you come out here and talk to me? It seems we have a mutual friend. Well, I think they are feeling a little less friendly toward you so a better word might be acquaintance or associate.”
Suddenly, I heard the familiar sound of Sheba’s engine cranking and revving. I didn’t want to give up my location, but I didn’t want anything to happen to my bike. Banging a fist angrily on the truck above me, I slid from underneath just in time to see that Annie had somehow ended up with the keys and was attempting to slowly wheel Sheba out of her spot and through the parking level. Our attacker raised his gun and began trying to aim at this new moving target.
“Annie, no!” I yelled, and at that moment she floored the gas pedal.
She was screaming, but actually handling the bike well. I didn’t have time to admire because the gunman turned to me. As he released fire, Annie managed to round the corner whizzing past me and in our assailant’s direction. Instead of attempting to shoot her or the tires, he panicked and attempted to jump out of the way. She clipped him.
“My wrist!” he cried out.
As I ran past him to catch up to where Annie had stopped on the bike, I could see that he had landed on his wrist and broken it, possibly shattered. I grabbed his gun as Annie climbed off the bike and stood nearby, looking to see how much damage had been done. When I reached her and Sheba, I kissed her deeply.
“Let’s not get too caught up in the moment,” she said. “Even though our moment was interrupted.”
The helmet and shirt we had brought lay on the ground where we stood when we first heard the gunman crank the car he had wrecked. Annie climbed on the back of the bike without even glancing in their direction.
“I guess you’re a biker now,” I said, teasing Annie as I revved Sheba’s engine.
“I’m just going with fate,” she replied with a smile as she wrapped her arms around my waist. “You dropped the keys near me when you pushed me out of the way to safety. I figured that meant it was my turn to do what I could to help you again since you helped me.”
“Well, we can’t spend all our time together taking turns saving each other’s lives,” I laughed, beginning to drive us out of the garage.
“I don’t intend to,” she replied.
She held onto me as we made our way to the bottom of the parking garage
. I didn’t see anyone else who appeared to be after us as we joined the flurry of traffic out on the street.
“We need to regroup,” I called over my shoulder to Annie. “There is some place we have to go and it may make you uncomfortable. The people may make you uncomfortable.”
“Are we going to hide out with some of your brothers from your gang? Can they help us?” she asked, yelling forward into my ear over the wind.
“You’ll see when you get there,” I replied. “I really don’t have a good way to warn you or prepare you for what you might see or hear. I can only promise that I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I trust you,” she said in a normal tone, directly into my ear.
Chapter 5
