The Quest of Perkins Vale

by L. B. Dunbar

  I woke with a start, feeling as if I was suddenly missing something. I searched my room, which was dark from the early onset of night on the first day of November. I decided the sensation must be from a lack of Hollister in my bed. We had hardly spent nights apart and I missed her. So many things had happened in twenty-four hours. I lay on my back staring up at the ceiling, a smile crossing my lips as I felt like a teenager recalling Hollister’s touch on me and finally tasting her. It wasn’t an unpleasant experience. In fact, it was one I planned to do again and again.

  I was instantly ready for her and I had to relieve myself, guiltily, as the pressure was too great. I realized, however, it was never going to be the same as having her hands on me. I reached for my phone when I was cleaned up and hastily sent a short text of hello. She was often quick to answer me, but tonight she didn’t. I tried not to think anything of it, but after fifteen minutes, I tried again. With no reply, I went to play the drums.

  I worked my way through a whole set of Nights’ songs, and memories of Arturo flooded my head. Concerts. Rehearsals. Meetings. Arturo had led us all. I followed. I went where I was told. I played what I was asked. I wasn’t a minion, but I definitely did not call the shots. We were scheduled to have another meeting soon to discuss the band’s future. I hadn’t wanted to have the conversation at Elaine Corbin’s, even though Kaye Sirs, our manager, tried to mention it. I didn’t want to think about the possibility that Arturo King might really be dead. To me, that meant the band was too. We couldn’t carry on without him. I had faith in Lansing, Tristan and my musical talent, but it wouldn’t be the same. We needed Arturo. We wanted Arturo.

  I finished on that thought and had a longing for Hollister. I tried her again. It was growing toward midnight, and she had to work overnight. I was beginning to worry at her lack of response. I didn’t have another way to contact her, unless I went to the shelter, which I suddenly decided I needed to do.

  Another hunt …

  [Hollister]

  I was bone tired. I had hardly slept in the car ride back to the city. Perk’s quiet was eerie to me, and I was tempted to stay with him. I felt he needed me, but he kept insisting he was fine. I began to think he didn’t want me around. I had to return to the shelter anyway. Two days off was too many, and Marie deserved a break.

  The epitome of calm, my French protectress was busy planning for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast. We opened our doors to more women than we housed on that day, offering a good meal and a warm blanket. There were many we couldn’t take and we’d have to refer them to another shelter, a safe house for the night, or a warming center. I couldn’t save them all; I had to remind myself.

  That night there was another soft knock at our back door, which was the place that most runaways entered. It was some unknown code that those sent directly to us should enter to the rear instead of the side door, which was the kitchen. As I opened the door nothing prepared me for who I saw standing on the stoop.

  Michael McMann. Fr. Mike.

  I attempted to slam the door, but his polished dark shoe stopped it as he winced. He wasn’t a strong man, but his toe was now a wedge preventing the door from closing. His broad hand was on the inside of the wood as well, and I would have to cut off his wrist in order to shut the door.

  “What do you want?” I growled low, in hopes no one would hear. I should have had another member come to the door with me.

  “Five minutes?” His voice was that same soothing tone he’d used with me as a young teenager.

  My touch will heal you. My touch will absolve you. My touch will free you.

  It had never done any such thing.

  “You have less than three,” I countered.

  “Holli, you’ve grown rather bold. I might dare say I like it.” His tone turned a bit sinister, and I shivered in repulsion. I didn’t want to think what he would want from me, now that I was older. As a teenager, he never took things as far as Jordan. He said that would be a sin, and I was unclean as I had been taken by another man, not my husband. I shuddered again at the thought of his touch. What a fool I had been to believe him, to believe in him. There was no one who could save me.

  My thoughts immediately envisioned Perk. He was so innocent and sweet. He loved me, I was certain of it. It showed in his dark eyes every time he looked at me. He was patient and kind. He was waiting for me. I continued to glare at Michael.

  “I think you’re in trouble. I’ve heard rumors that there’s someone looking for you. You have something that belongs to him, and he wants it returned.”

  My face must have showed my puzzlement.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have anything that anyone could possibly want.”

  Michael’s face transformed before me. He went from the heavenly father to a seductive grin in seconds.

  “You have something many men desire,” he said, his voice again in that soothing tone I now found sinister.

  “Less than two minutes,” I warned.

  “I’ve been looking after you. You didn’t know that, did you? It took a while to find you, but I knew you would return. The city calls to you. You’re needed to serve others. To make amends for your sins.”

  He was not going to take me there. I had done nothing wrong. I had been the one kidnapped. I had been the one taken against my will: to serve a higher power, to serve a crazy man. I refused to be tempted into thinking that Fr. Mike could absolve me. I had nothing to be guilty of. Shamed, yes. Guilt, no.

  “Who’s after me?” I boldly asked.

  Michael stepped toward me, crowding my personal space. I didn’t want him to know that the closeness of his body repulsed me. I gripped the door so hard my nails actually dug into the wood. I tried to hold still, keeping my fear inside.

  “I’ll tell you, if you give it to me instead. Let me take your burden, Holli.”

  Don’t call me that, I thought. I actually wanted to scream it, but I bit my tongue in a struggle of will.

  “I would never give it to you,” I hissed. Michael’s brows rose.

  “So you do have it,” he whispered and that seductive smile turned to an evil grin. “I knew you did.” He stepped closer and his warm breath crossed my face. I stepped back, which allowed Michael space to set a foot inside the door.

  “We’re done,” I breathed as I began to close it. His hard soled shoes blocked the second slam I attempted, and his hands moved swiftly from his long trench coat pockets to grip the door.

  “We will never be done,” he threatened.

  “Ms. SanGrael? Is everything all right?” Martha’s concerned voice spoke behind me.

  “I was just giving this man some directions to the men’s shelter down the street,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. I could feel Martha’s presence behind me, but I didn’t dare break eye contact with Michael.

  “We don’t allow men,” Martha said, as if I hadn’t clarified that already. Her voice was closer and she spoke again over my shoulder.

  “Don’t I know you?” she asked. Then her breathed sucked in. “Aren’t you that…” She let her voice trail off.

  “Aren’t I who, child?” he said in that soothing tone he had.

  “Never mind,” she whispered. “I’m mistaken.” I sensed Martha retreat a few spaces back from me, but it was clear that she had not left me alone with Michael.

  “Until we meet again, Holli,” he warned me with a smile, nodding once, and stepping back from the doorframe. I shut the door slowly, closing him off from my view, but my racing heart could not escape the image of him in my mind.

  Within the hour, Marie had told me to leave for the night. She said she would cover for me, as the night was slow. We closed in the evenings. We only took cases during the night that seemed desperate, cases that included any noticeable physical harm. It was a relatively quiet evening, and I shivered as I processed that it was All Soul’s Night. The dead were roaming, and the living hid.

  Marie called me a cab, thinking it would be safer than
taking public transportation. She wanted me to go to a hotel for the night. I could have gone to my cousin Elaine’s, but I didn’t need the family to worry. I could have called Perkins, but I knew he’d worry, too. I tried to focus my thoughts on Perkins: his scruff face, his sweet smile, his warm lips, and those lips on me. My mind kept jumbling, attempting to cloud with other disturbing images, but I would reel it back to Perkins.

  As I entered the cab, something pulled my thoughts to look back at the shelter. It was like I was Lot’s wife. I worried I’d turn to salt, but I had to look. I shouldn’t have. Instead of salt, I turned to ice. Cold spilled through me. Under the street lamplight, watching my retreat stood Jordan Waters.

  The hunt undone…

  [Perkins]

  When I didn’t find Hollister at the shelter, I questioned Marie. She was avoiding me with her eyes and wringing her hands. There was something she wasn’t saying, as she explained that Hollister wasn’t there. She didn’t tell me where she went or when she would be back. I mentioned that I had tried to call her, but Marie laughed it off, saying I should know by now that Hollister was bad at keeping her cell phone charged. I wasn’t taking that excuse.

  I didn’t know where to even begin to find her. I could sense that my presence and inquisition was making Marie nervous. Furthermore, the young woman named Martha entered the kitchen and immediately retreated when she saw me. I drove the empty streets for an hour before deciding to return home. My adrenaline pumping as all kinds of wild thoughts raced through my mind.

  When I entered my warehouse, I slammed the door to my place, ready to beat the hell out of some skins. I had already dropped my coat as I crossed my living room and was pulling my t-shirt over my head as I entered my room, and froze. A movement in my bed stopped me, and I hit the switch filling the room into a beacon of light. Hollister sat up, a frightened expression on her face. I flipped the switch again, drowning us both in darkness.

  “Hollister?” I questioned. Maybe I had dreamt her. It was too dark to see.

  “Perkins,” she let out a breath as she said my name.

  I was collectively relieved and irritated. I’d been driving all over hell, and she’d been here the whole time. Why didn’t she call me, instead of traipsing here late at night under cover of darkness? Why did I have to feel like I couldn’t breathe without her? I felt like the wind was knocked out of me. I was breathing rapidly, holding the doorknob and the doorjamb for support, as I tried to release my anger and focus on the relief that she was here. I knew something wasn’t right.

  Marie’s avoidance. Martha’s surprise. Hollister’s fear.

  “I’m going to hit the drums,” I said with a shaky voice. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness as the light I constantly left on over the kitchen island reflected into the room. Hollister was sitting up, but when I spoke she crawled to her knees. She had on a dress shirt of mine. Something I hardly wore. The sleeves covered her arms and the buttons were askew, but she was covered in something that was mine. I let out a deep breath and hung my head. I was grateful she was safe.

  “I’ll be back, in a bit,” I said quietly. She moved forward on the bed, awkwardly on her knees, and then she said my name again. There was something in the way she said it. She was pleading with me. She was calling to me. For me. And dammit, I couldn’t refuse her.

  I lunged for the edge of the bed as she finished her race across it and we collided. My mouth was on hers, warm and fierce. I never wanted anything as much as I wanted those lips on mine. I never wanted anyone as much as I had always wanted her. We were a tangle of hands in hair and nails on skin. She gripped my neck as if she wished to wrestle me down. I let her pin me as I spun our bodies to land us on the bed. Her nails continued their assault over my head and down to my shoulder blades where her hands flattened to palms and they pressed as if she could not get me close enough to her. Her breasts crushed against me, but I wanted more.

  I rolled us, so she was under me. I sat back only enough to rip my shirt from her. One tug and I heard the buttons soar then hit the floor. My rough face marked a trail over her body as I kissed her neck, her collarbone and the space between her breasts. Her hands were still on my head and as if she were guiding me, she tugged me over to the right. I devoured her breast as I pressed myself into her core. There was nothing to separate us except her panties and my jeans. The jeans needed to go.

  I multitasked, as I unbuttoned my pants and moved to her left breast, giving it equal homage. I wiggled to get my jeans off without removing my mouth from her and she giggled. I felt that soft laugh travel to my most valued part. My heart.

  “I love the sound of that,” I said against her warm skin, now moist from my mouth. She giggled again as her fingers circled my ears. I pulled back to remove my jeans completely. My momentum slowing as I realized that there was only two thin pieces of cotton that separated me from something I had never had before. I was so hard I was forcing open the waistband of my boxer briefs.

  “We’ll only go as far as you’d like,” I said, as I stared down at her, smoothing back her hair that had gone wild with our rolling in all directions. She nodded once and lifted her head to capture my lips. We had both slowed, and I suddenly felt the sensation everywhere. Her soft lips on mine. Her delicate hands on the back of my neck. Her warm skin pressing against mine. Her moist core dampening the tip of me.

  “I want to be closer,” I whispered and she nodded again. Shaky hands slid down her body, cupping the side of her breast, tracing the outline of her waist and slipping into the band at the edge of her underwear. I slowly dragged them down her thighs and calves, when she bent a knee to remove her feet and gently flick the thin fabric aside. My large hands dwarfed her shins as I retraced my trail, up her legs, over knees and around her thighs. I tugged each one aside so I could lie between them.

  “You next,” she said. Her voice was hoarse and low, and I blinked to make sure I’d heard her.

  “You next,” she repeated, as her hands traversed my biceps that bulged as I balanced over her. Her fingers slid across my chest and gently pressed on me. I rolled over onto my back and let her take the lead. I wanted her to be in control. I wanted her to know she was safe. We would do only what she was comfortable doing.

  After removing my briefs, she began her own exploration up my legs and over my private parts. She massaged me and squeezed me, and my mind relaxed as my body pulsed.

  “Keep that up and it’s going to be all over soon.” I tried to laugh, but she gripped me hard, and tugged. A spurt of moisture released from me and she used it to wet the tip. My body shook with desire and I tried to calm myself, or I wasn’t going to last.

  “Not yet,” she said as her warm mouth covered me and I jolted upward. She still held onto me and used a free hand to gently push on my chest, forcing me off my elbows. She didn’t take her concentration or her mouth off of me, and she sucked me hard. Her tongue danced over me, and I felt my legs shake. A sensation I recognized, and yet didn’t recognize, travelled up my core. My eyes rolled back and a tingling sensation crept up from my toes.

  “Hollister,” I warned, as I placed my hands on either side of her head. Still inside her mouth, she shook from side to side. She was stubborn and she wasn’t giving me up. I looked to see her dark hair cascading over my lower abdomen and heard a sweet suction sound. That’s all it took. I burst forth with a force I’d never felt before. I collapsed back and enjoyed the electric prickle that radiated through my body. She worked me for a second or two more before I couldn’t handle the power of her mouth on me. I gently tugged her to release me.

  She sat up, flipping her hair, the very image of seduction sat over me. A sweet smile, moist from me, crossed her lips and she used the back of her hand to delicately wipe at it. Her hair was wild again. As she straddled me, I knew there was never a sight more heavenly. I was surprised to find I was responding almost immediately to her. In a quick move, I grabbed her waist and flipped her over, covering her body again with mine.

  �
��You’re next.” I smiled mischievously as I slipped my large hand down her body and worked my fingers into her. She reacted instantly, pumping and grinding against me. Her own eyes closed in a drugged look of euphoria, and I thought she might be close when I withdrew my fingers. I was hard again and I gripped myself.

  “Let me feel you just once,” I pleaded softly, but I knew I didn’t need to plead. She separated her legs further, and I dragged myself across her. Her eyes closed with lazy pleasure, and I moaned at the sensation of her moist skin over me. Her hands slipped down to my ass and she squeezed me hard before pushing me upward.

  “Perkins?” she asked, her voice gravelly. Her head rolled slowly side-to-side, and I felt her hips wiggle as I continued to drag myself through her folds. I was going to explode outside of her.

  “Perkins,” she moaned, as I continued to stare at her beautiful face, gray eyes opened suddenly and she bit her lip that began to smile.

  “Now,” she said, her eyes gleaming.

  Now? This was the moment I’d been waiting for. Twenty-five years old. This was going to be it.

  I stared at her to be certain, then released myself and moved to reach off the bed for the bedside table drawer. Her hand gripped my forearm and slid to my wrist, halting me. I looked down at her face and she smiled sheepishly.

  “This is your first time?” she asked softly. She wasn’t trying to embarrass me, but I felt slightly ashamed. I twisted my lips and smirked at her, worrying that the moment was about to be lost. Her eyes held mine as she slowly slid her hand back up my arm and under it, then slipped down my chest.

  “If this is your first time,” she paused. “I want you to feel me.”

  I was slow to realize what she meant. Oh. OH. She grabbed me and positioned me at her entrance, then removed her hand to my ass. She tugged me forward, and I slipped into warmth I would never be able to describe in words. She continued to push and I continued to move forward until I felt I couldn’t go any farther. I paused.