All Strings Attached

by Miss Merikan

  All Strings Attached

  by Miss Merikan

  Acerbi & Villani ltd

  All Strings Attached

  Miss Merikan

  --- She found the perfect guy. But he hates her dolls. ---

  Anna is the weirdest girl Gavin has ever dated.

  He lost his arm in an accident, and his mohawk makes him stand out from the crowd, so he’s dated his share of weirdos, geeks, and freaks. Yet no one quite like Anna. She’s cute, hot, and has boobs Gavin wants to bury his face in, but she just won’t shut up about her limited edition Japanese doll collection, or whatever they’re called.

  So Gavin comes up with a perfect plan - a no strings attached relationship, so they can fool around without overcommitting. He’d get to have his pussy and eat it too.

  Anna thinks she’s met the perfect boyfriend in Gavin, but her pierced and tattooed prince of darkness turns out to be yet another disappointment relationship-wise. When he proposes a friends-with-benefits arrangement, Anna figures she might as well make the best of it and unleash all her kinky fantasies on the guy. After all, it’s not like he’ll be there to judge her in half a year’s time.

  Soon enough, there are more strings attached than any of them expected.

  WARNING Contains adult content: kinky sex, explicit language. Expect inappropriate behavior on the subway, at a cemetery, and in a room full of dolls.

  POSSIBLE SPOILERS:

  Themes: commitment, dollfie, unusual hobbies, alternative lifestyle, friends with benefits, love triangle, friend zone, goth, Paris, London, disability

  Genre: New Adult erotic romance comedy

  Length: ~ 60,000 words (Standalone novel, no cliffhanger.)

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living, dead, or undead, events, places or names is purely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transferred in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without a permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law.

  Text copyright © 2015 K.A. Merikan

  All Rights Reserved

  http://KAMerikan.com

  Editing by Kelly Hartigan (Xterra Web)

  http://editing.xterraweb.com/

  Cover design by

  Natasha Snow

  http://natashasnow.com

  Table of contents

  Foreword

  Glossary

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  About the Author

  Other Books

  Foreword

  All Strings Attached is a book very close to mine and Kat’s hearts because it’s about “our” kind of people: deeply involved in the stuff they’re interested in, alternative, sometimes awkward. Not on the fringe of society, but definitely not part of the mainstream. Those are the weird and wonderful people we associated with since our teens. We both had many hobbies, and it so happened that a lot of those revolved around Japanese culture. We both read manga, we both flirted with Japanese rock music and alternative fashions, such as Lolita. We both watched Japanese movies, and much later, we got into Asian ball-jointed dolls, commonly referred to as BJD or ABJD. We actually met, and became best friends thanks to these hobbies.

  While we never insert anyone we know into our books, a lot of the plot was inspired by real events and by people we met. Certain things might seem strange if you’re not familiar with the hobby, or simply with people who don’t always follow social norms, but we hope you’ll enjoy the characters and their journey by looking at the world through their eyes. Isn’t that what books are all about?

  Glossary

  (you can read it, or be as clueless as Gavin)

  Ball-jointed dolls - also known as Asian ball-jointed dolls or dollfie (it’s actually a specific type of doll produced by the company Volks, but some people use it as an umbrella term). This type of doll is made of a special kind of resin, and its joints allow a wide range of poses. Those features make BJDs highly customizable, which in turn attracts many people in need of an artistic outlet. Owners can alter their doll’s features by working into the resin, they can paint them in various ways, create unique outfits, or use them in photo shoots. Everyone wants their doll to be unique, suited to their taste, and so owners frequently commission artists to modify or paint their dolls accordingly.

  Lolita fashion - an alternative style born in Japan. While there are many variations of it, ranging from scary to too cute for words, on the basic level the aim is to look like a nineteenth century porcelain doll. The typical outfit consists of a frilly dress or skirt worn over pantaloons and layers of puffy petticoats. Popular accessories include knee-high socks with lace, bonnets, wigs with long locks.

  J-Rock - an umbrella term used for a variety of musical styles native to Japan. Many of the popular J-Rock bands are known for an eccentric image, but the music can range from heavy metal, to indie, to soft rock. A subgenre is called ‘Visual Kei’ and resembles glam rock, with heavy makeup and outrageous outfits.

  Manga/Anime - manga are Japanese comics and graphic novels, frequently associated with a certain drawing style, but there’s lots of variety. They are read by people of all ages and professions. Anime is the term for Japanese animation.

  A ball-jointed doll. Photo by Kat.

  Chapter 1

  He lost an arm. He lost the job he loved. And now he was facing the reality of being un-dateable. Gavin’s life was going completely off the rails.

  “And then, I messed up the address and sent the customer the normal MSD TenshiDoll Sara head instead of the sleeping version,” said Anna, bombarding Gavin with words as foreign to him as pretty much anything in ancient Egyptian. “She was horrified! She actually thought I opened her doll’s eyes.” Anna kept brushing her pale pink fringe aside as she talked.

  Gavin’s eyes kept roaming over the pretty young face framed by hair the color of strawberries with a lot of cream. Her hair color was in stark contrast to her wearing almost no makeup. All Gavin recognized on her face was mascara making her freakishly huge brown eyes look even bigger, and a bit of lip gloss, now smeared slightly over the small piercing under the left side of Anna’s pouty mouth. Didn’t they say people who played with their mouths and talked a lot had an oral fixation? That was the one thing Gavin remembered from Intro to Psychology in college. He would certainly not mind having those cute lips around his cock. At least it would make his date shut up about the freaking dolls.

  Was this how low he fell? He loses an arm and all of a sudden he drops to the bottom of the dating pile? Not that he was ever at the top with the amount of piercings in his face, but still ... really? A blind date with this girl? Andrea should have known better when she gave him Anna’s number. Sure, technically she was his type: cute, alternative, with big boobs, and at first, Gavin felt certain he had hit the jackpot. Especially since Andrea used to go out with Anna some time ago, and they were still friends.

  “Oh.” He managed a small smile, even though he had no idea what the girl was talking about. It’d been all right for the first half an hour. Anna chose a casual Japanese restaurant and seemed strangely enthusiastic about him considering she was an eight, while Gav
in wore tons of goth makeup and was missing one of his arms. So from one topic to another, Gavin threw in a casual question about hobbies, and then all hell broke loose. Anna claimed friends knew her as Annashi, or BJA, which Gavin hopefully believed to be an abbreviation from Blow Job Authority ... which it wasn’t, and that she made a living off doll modification. That he could understand, but Anna’s interest in toys didn’t lie in the money only. She was a collector, and once she started talking about dolls, she just wouldn’t close her mouth, showering Gavin with words he didn’t understand. He should have known something was up when she complimented his red contact lenses while casually mentioning she’d love to just mix and match eyes without much hassle, ‘just like her dolls could.’

  That had to be how Andrea met Anna. She owned several dolls herself. She had them shipped from somewhere in Asia, but considerate as she was, she kept the girly stuff to herself. Anna didn’t seem to comprehend that Gavin wasn’t a doll-loving creep and just kept talking.

  “I gave her a refund. I need to keep my customers happy, don’t I?” She flashed Gavin a smile so adorable he almost forgot the topic at hand.

  “So, open-eyed dolls are considered better than the closed eyed ones?” Gavin tried with caution. Anna was really cute, so he was willing to put up with a bit of this crap to end the night at her place. Especially because since the accident, any dates he’d had ended on a kiss. If he were lucky. It’s been over a year now, and his self-esteem was hitting rock bottom.

  “Depends.” Anna swallowed a gulp of air and made a rolling gesture with her never-resting hand. “Closed eyes MSD TenshiDoll Sara is a LE, so she’s rare and more expensive on the market now that TenshiDoll stopped production. But some companies produce all their dolls in open eyes, half-closed, and sleepy versions. Depends on the preference then. Some even have winking faces! I like them all,” she concluded with a huge grin. Then, before Gavin could stop her, she reached into the pocket of her rabbit-eared hoodie and fished out her phone. “I’ll show you the difference. I love the SD Martin mold so much I got all three face types.”

  Gavin hoped Anna wouldn’t see the twitch of his eye. The fuck? Three different doll heads because the eyes were different? Was this a test of what he would put up with for sex? And looking at that phone, he was about to be subjected to photos. Yay! Not.

  Anna got up from her chair and circled the table to park her perky ass next to Gavin’s, bringing their shoulders together. And her smell, very fresh and sweet at the same time, distracted Gavin enough for him to forget about the dolls for a split second yet again. The cell Anna pretty much shoved in his face brought him back to earth. An oddly realistic male face looked at him from the screen: white and perfectly smooth like matte porcelain. With its pink eyes focused on the viewer and pale lavender hair, the doll looked like it could move at any second.

  He couldn’t help but frown. He wasn’t sure anymore whether he actually wanted to see more, but he sure enjoyed the physical closeness. Was that strawberry shampoo that he could smell?

  “Oh that’s nice ...” And fucking creepy! Gavin wouldn’t want to wake up in a room full of dolls like that.

  “Isn’t he? I call him Drago.” Anna changed the picture with a swipe of her thumb, showing the same doll, only with its eyes closed as if it were sleeping. Or dead. “All three faces share that persona, because I can’t imagine this head being Drago’s twin or something like that.” Her doll-like eyes looked up at him with glee. “Aren’t they pretty? I did the faceups myself.”

  “Yeah, I suppose. But what did you do with them? Face-what?” Gavin fought back an urge to wrap an arm around her. She even positioned herself at his good side—the one with a complete arm. He was starting to obsess over her lips now that they were so close.

  “It’s like makeup, only faceups are designed to make the doll more lifelike. Most of the time.” Anna’s hand casually rested on Gavin’s knee. “Your makeup is awesome by the way. Is that white foundation, or do you use some kind of face paint or powder?”

  “Thanks. It’s white foundation, but I add some pale shades in there too. Not everyone can appreciate it.” Gavin didn’t wear black lipstick today since he knew they were going to be eating, but he went all out with the rest of his face, wanting to make an impression. After all, he wasn’t going to hide the way he liked to dress from a date. Either Anna would like it or run. She was oddly fascinated. At one point, Gavin could have sworn she reached out to touch the tiny silver chain connecting Gavin’s nose piercing with the rings in his ear, but she must have realized it would be inappropriate without asking.

  “This kind of look is very popular for dolls too.” Just when the mood became a bit more intimate, Anna was back to her favorite topic. “The skin is called rose white, moon white, and so on. If pale resin didn’t change color so quickly, I would have even more of those.” She bit her pink lower lip, studying Gavin’s face like she wanted to say something, but didn’t know how. This, Gavin already noticed, was not typical of her. “You know, now that I look at you, it makes me think I should get a goth doll.”

  “And do what with it? Voodoo?” Gavin laughed, but it came out a lot more nervous than he would have wished. He was beginning to wonder if he did actually want to go to Anna’s house. But then again, the small room he rented wasn’t a place he could invite anyone over to. It was now becoming clear why someone as good looking as Anna was enthusiastic about a cripple. A creepy hobby like hers and an inability to shut her mouth about it would make even the prettiest girl un-dateable.

  “No. I could introduce it into my photo story on DoA, or just look at how gorgeous it turned out.” Anna swallowed, locking her eyes with him.

  “Photo story? On where?” Gavin was totally out of his depth, but couldn’t look away from those big chocolate eyes.

  “Den of Angels. That’s the largest BJD community on the Internet.” Anna swallowed a big breath, taking the wooden chopsticks out of the paper sheath when the waitress approached them. She waited for her to leave before continuing. “I’m quite popular on there, you know.”

  “I can imagine.” Gavin hoped it didn’t sound snide. “BJD, BJA ...” Whatever they meant, they sounded similar.

  “Ball-jointed dolls are the proper name for them. That’s why my forum nickname is Ball-Jointed-Annashi,” Anna told him with pride, digging into her sushi board. The waitress left both meals on Gavin’s side of the table, which meant Anna wouldn’t be returning to her original place anytime soon.

  Gavin had been afraid sushi would get problematic for him if he didn’t use the chopsticks correctly, and with no left hand to help, he’d end up making a mess. So he went for some gyoza.

  “What does it mean that they’re ‘ball-jointed?’” That’s right, Gavin, just go with it, be a good listener.

  “It means they’re fully articulated. A few companies even produce doll hands with adjustable fingers. Some of mine have them. I could show you, if you like.” Anna stuffed her mouth full of a maki.

  “Oh, yeah, that’d be cool.” Or creeptastic! But maybe it was just her way to invite him over. They would not be actually looking at dolls, would they?

  Anna’s eyes twinkled. She pressed even closer, and for a moment, all Gavin could think about was the softness of her breasts against his arm. She rolled her eyes, seemingly frustrated with not being able to say anything with her mouth full, and Gavin’s face flushed. It was his chance to change the topic!

  “This is a really cool restaurant. My dumplings are delicious. Is Japanese food a favorite?”

  Anna gave him a powerful nod, which caused the rabbit hood to fall back, revealing her longish lavender-pink hair. “I love everything Japanese. Food, music, dolls ...”

  “I like your hoodie.” Gavin smiled and put down his chopsticks to pull on one of the ‘rabbit’ ears. It was made of soft, blue cotton. Like the rest of Anna’s clothes, it was rather body-hugging, and on the back, it read “Rebel Rabbit” under a print of a rabbit skull and bones.

  �
��I had an exact replica made for my Minimee head.”

  Gavin didn’t know what to say, so he just chewed on his dumpling. Was every topic going to degenerate into doll-talk? For fuck’s sake. He was only trying to compliment her.

  Anna looked at him, soaking another maki in too much soy sauce. “Oh, well, Minimees are custom-made heads. I have one modeled after my face,” she informed Gavin with pride before stuffing the sushi in her mouth.

  “Oh, yeah? Does it have cheeks like a hamster?” Gavin smiled and nudged her arm with his knuckles. He missed wearing lots of rings, and it made him feel like his hand was light, empty, but it just wasn’t practical anymore.

  Anna blinked at him before crooking her head and poking it against Gavin’s arm with a muffled laugh. “No, but it’s still pretty!”

  “It must be if it’s a ‘mini-you.’” Oh, God, he wished he wouldn’t have to see this doll before getting into her pants.

  “Aww!” Anna put her head on Gavin’s arm and winked, smiling as she chewed on the food. “I think you’re handsome too,” she eventually said, with a nudge to his ribs.

  “Yeah? I wouldn’t guess I’m your type from that pink fringe of yours.” Gavin couldn’t help it, his heart fluttered a bit at how touchy-feely Anna was. It’s been so long since anyone touched him like this it made him forget about the dolls, even if just for a few seconds. Well, Andrea did describe Anna as a ‘sunny personality.’ Too bad she didn’t mention any negatives.

  “That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” complained Anna, taking a sip of green tea. “This kind of look wouldn’t suit me, but I appreciate that you look like a J-rocker.”