by Rae B. Lake
“After you.” I put my arm out to the side and indicated she should go in front of me. It had been so long since I had anyone to talk to. No brothers, maids, butlers, or gold diggers, just me and my books. Even though she could be annoying as hell, I enjoyed being around Frances, and I felt more myself than I had in a long while.
I took her on a short tour of my home. It wasn’t much, just a bunch of rooms with a lot of old dusty furniture. Of course, the room I thought would shock and awe her, did not.
I opened the library doors and let her walk in.
She looked around for a few seconds, “Oh, this is nice.” She turned and went to walk out.
I grabbed her arm and stopped her gently, “Nice? Are you kidding this library is genuinely the best thing in this house.”
“Awww, are you a book nerd? Gosh, you’re so cute.” She laughed and turned to continue walking away.
I stood there with my mouth slightly open. I was a bit shocked that Frances hadn’t liked the library more. I caught up with her as she continued to walk down the hall. “You don’t like books?”
“I don’t read.”
I tried to wrap my head around what she’d said, “How is that possible? You’re a doctor. There’s reading involved to become a doctor.”
She gave me a wicked smile, “Not necessarily.”
“Oh fuck, you really are just conducting experiments on me, aren’t you?” I was starting to panic.
She laughed and shook her head, “No, it’s not that I can’t read. I just don’t. I have a condition that makes it hard for me. I learn mostly through video and audio.”
“You’re like dyslexic or something?”
“No, look don’t laugh, or I may be forced to knee you in the dick. I’m not playing. People laughed and called me crazy for a long time before I was diagnosed.”
I laughed immediately.
Her eyes went wide, and I saw her pulling her leg back so she could knee me. I put my hand down to block her knee.
“No, you can’t tell someone don’t laugh and expect them not to laugh. I was just getting it out before you said what you had to say.” I wiped the smile off my face, “Ok, I’m serious now. Ready.”
She let out a sigh and looked away from me; I guess she was embarrassed. “I have both auditory and visual synesthesia, and it’s a fairly severe case.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Synesthesia is essentially when two senses mesh that aren’t supposed to. For example, when you talk, shades of green float through my mind, it’s darker when you have an angry tone, and lighter when you’re friendly. Reading is difficult because each letter is a unique color, and when I’m reading, my internal voice makes the sound of the words come through as another color. The volume of information is overwhelming, and it gives me killer headaches all the time. I’d just rather not do it.”
I waited for her to look at me so she could see that I wasn’t going to laugh. I wasn’t completely sure why anyone would. “Why did people think you were crazy?”
“Can you imagine being in school and confused words with colors. They show me the word school, and I say its blue, or telling someone to stop singing because I didn’t like that shade of yellow. No one understood, even my parents who are experienced clinicians didn’t understand when I complained about it. They thought I was just reaching out for attention. My music teacher was the one who figured it out.”
I was shocked, “How? She isn’t a doctor.”
“We were supposed to be outside playing for recess, but I used to hide so the kids wouldn’t make fun of me. One day she was in the classroom playing the piano. I snuck in and cried as she played. When she asked me why I was crying, I told her it was because it was the prettiest color blue I’d ever seen. It swirled around in my mind, and I was sad when it went away. She asked me if I see colors every time I hear music and I told her yes, of course. I thought everyone did.” She let out a breath and walked, “She had to explain to my parents about synesthesia. Once she did, and my parents confirmed what was going on with me, and they made sure I had every advantage any other child had. The auditory portion of my condition isn’t as bad as the visual part. That is why I learn better from tapes.”
I smiled and could see her get ready to hit me, “No, I’m not laughing at you, Frances. That is probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. You’re like a freaking hot, smart superhero.”
She rolled her eyes and looked down, but I could see the blush already beginning to form on her cheeks.
“What’s your favorite color?” I ask her, the question taking on a whole new meaning now I knew she saw everything in different hues.
“Greens and reds. They are usually passion and excitement. Blues are usually sad. Black and shades of white are typically scary. Orange and yellows signify happiness.”
I smiled. She said I sounded green before. “Green, huh?”
“Don’t think too much into it, kid, I can’t control it. I’d be happy to turn you a bright shit brown.” She stuck her tongue out and walked into my bedroom.
The last stop in the house.
“Ok, take your clothes off.” She turned around and crossed her hands over her chest.
I blinked a few times and started stripping. It’d been years since I been with a woman, and I wasn’t going to ask any questions if she wanted to fuck. I was going to give her exactly what she wanted. I kicked my shoes off and went for the buckle of my pants.
“What are you doing?” She screamed and turned around, “For your hair! So I can cut your hair, take your shirt off.” I couldn’t hear her laughing, but I watched her shoulders jumping up in down with the motion.
The joke was on her. My body was the only thing I could say for sure I hadn’t let go. I dropped my pants and boxers, took off my shirt, and walked right past her.
I heard the loud gasp and squeal as she saw my naked butt cross her line of vision. I made sure to shield my dick, so she didn’t see it as I walked to the bathroom. I looked up in the mirror to see if she had turned in the opposite direction, and I smiled when I saw that she hadn’t, she was staring lustfully at my back and ass.
When I entered the bathroom, I pulled out one of the towels and wrapped it around my waist before I turned to her.
“Why are you naked?”
“For the shower, you know, afterward.” I put my hand up and beckoned her forward.
She walked over to me, but her eyes never left my body, blatantly gawking at me. Her tongue was shooting out of her mouth every once in a while to lick her lips.
“Did you really think I was going to have sex with you after only one date?” She spoke almost trance-like.
“Date? When did we date?”
“What do you think today is?” She finally looked back up to my face, after she got her fill of my abs and chest.
“Oh, was today a date? That would make this the end, then?” I took a step in her direction, and she took one back.
“What are you doing?” She asked as she continued to take steps back, and I kept taking steps forward.
“Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m doing.” I kept walking until she made her way across the large bathroom, and her back pressed between the wall and the door of the shower. “I’m putting Baby in the corner.” I smiled, and she huffed out an angry breath.
“I hate you so much! How fucking cliché is …”
Her words cut off when my mouth collided with hers. She sucked in a deep breath, and her arms instantly wrapped around my neck to deepen the kiss. She was too short, and I couldn’t get access to where I needed to be, so I did the only thing I could. I grabbed her roughly around the waist and lifted her to wrap her legs around my waist.
“Mmm, yes.” She moaned, in between kisses. She dug her fingers into my hair, her fingers snagging on some of the knots I hadn’t brushed out in a while. It didn’t stop me from attacking her mouth.
My hands gripped her ass and hips tightly. She whimpered and rolled her hips a
gainst me in response. I pressed in harder into her. It’s been way too long for me to be teased or for me to tease her. I was incredibly close to the point of no return, but I didn’t want to stop.
As if she knew what I was thinking, she tore her mouth away from mine and dropped her forehead to my shoulder, her body heaving in big lungfuls of air.
“You’re driving me crazy,” I spoke as I bent my head to nip at her ear.
“Mmm. God.” She moaned louder as her head popped back up, and she searched for my lips. She kissed me hard and deep for a few seconds before ripping her face away again and dropping her head back to my shoulder angrily.
“My poor shoulder.” I laughed softly.
“Oh, for fucks sake, stop talking.” She turned her head and started sucking on my neck.
“Excuse me? I’m more than a piece of meat, you know.” I joked with her. I’d never had anyone tell me I needed to stop talking. I have told countless women to do just that when they’d try and put on a show for me, but I’ve never had it said to me.
She whimpered and rocked her hips against me harder, “Jesus, so many. Want.”
So many? Oh. The colors.
I had to test out my theory. “Baby?” I spoke low and softly into her ear.
“Mmm!” She gripped onto me harder and rocked her core faster against me. She kissed everywhere she could reach, her body reacting to my voice in an almost visceral way.
“Baby? Do you want this?” I had to ask. I wanted her more than anything right now, but the last thing I wanted was to push her away because we’d moved too fast.
“No.” She kissed my neck again.
“No?”
“Fuck, yes.” She mewled.“No. Mmhmm.”
I groaned, she was giving me whiplash. “Frances, focus, woman.”
“Yes.” she stood on her tiptoes and sucked on my bottom lip.
Lights flashed in my eyes, and I had to put her down, the line was about to be crossed, and I wouldn’t turn back.
She whimpered and tried to hold onto me as I stepped back, leaving her where she was standing. “Baby, do you want to keep going.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head for a second, trying to get out of the fog. “Yes, I want to keep going. For sure.”
I took a step in her direction, but then she put a hand up to stop me.
“But I know if I do, mentally, I will hate myself for giving in to the lust and excitement. I don’t know if you can tell, but I have a crush on the beast in this castle.”
I rolled my eyes. I was getting so sick and tired of people calling me the beast in the castle. I guess that’s how she felt about me calling her ‘baby’. I wasn’t going to stop, though. Besides, I didn’t mind being her beast.
“I just want to see if this goes somewhere, you know.”
“I hear you. Whatever you want, I’m fine with.”
She looked down at her hands, probably unsure of what to do next.
I rearranged the towel on my waist, my dick tenting the front, but at the moment, there was nothing I could do about it. “What about this hair?” I picked up a section of my long strands and flipped it up for her to see.
She looked up to me and nodded happily, “Come on, let me wash that mop.”
She took her time, washing, drying, and styling my hair. She trimmed my beard very close to my face. She even did some type of facial, which I absolutely fucking loved, but pouted the entire way through. When I stood back up, I was completely at ease, and I looked more human and less beast.
“Holy fuck.” I heard Frances say from my side. She was staring at me in the mirror. I used my hand to comb my long locks to one side of my head. “Jesus, this isn’t fair.” She mumbled as her eyes continued to rake over me through the mirror.
I turned to her, “Frances, what…”
She smacked her hand over my mouth as fast as she could. “If you talk, I won’t want to leave. You are beyond gorgeous. Too tempting. I am going to go, date two, soon, yeah? Just shake or nod your head yes or no.”
I laughed behind her small fingers and nodded my head. I hadn’t laughed this much in years.
She moved her hand from my mouth and backed away slowly like she was trying to take a mental picture of what I looked like. After a few seconds of her walking painfully slow, I decided to tempt fate again.
“Baby,” I spoke in a singsong voice.
“No!” She turned and ran out.
I couldn’t keep the belly laughs at bay any longer. I heard her run through the house, and the door slam, all while I continued to laugh.
Chapter Eleven
Frances came over every day after work, and we talked. It was a novel experience. I was used to women trying to jump me every chance they got, and right now, I wished she was like the other women. I was going to die from blue balls soon.
Today though, I was going to do something different. I picked up the emergency phone she’d bought for me and the small bouquet of wildflowers I was able to pick from my property and headed out to meet Frances. It was the first time I’d been to town since the whole ordeal with Abi. I threw on the only non-black shirt I had, which was light grey, with a pair of black jeans and my boots. It wasn’t anything special, but it was different than my norm.
“Oh my God.” A woman blatantly stopped right in front of me and just stared at me.
I glared at her for a second before I walked around, not completely sure why she was acting like that.
The further into town I progressed, the stranger things were getting. When I stopped at one of the few stoplights, a woman in her car rolled down her window to ask me how I was doing. I nearly ran back home. I was in the fucking twilight zone.
I walked into the urgent care clinic, and Marj walked out from the back room.
She startled, then proceeded to stare when she saw me, which was confusing.
“Marj?”
She shook her head, and a slight blush crept up her cheeks, “My my my, don’t you clean up good.”
Oh!
Is that what all this was? I’d completely forgotten I’d had a makeover. I guess I was hot.
“Your daughter made me do it.” I joked with her.
She smiled in return, “She’s a smart girl. You look ok, are you here for Baby?”
“Yes, please.”
She nodded then turned to go into the back room. “Baby, you have a visitor.”
“Coming, Mom.” She ran through the door like she always did and skidded to a stop when she saw me. “What the… oh God…” Frances bit her lip as she eye fucked me in front of her mother.
“Problem, Baby?”
She pouted prettily and then shot a glance in her mother’s direction, before looking back to me. “You know damn well there’s a problem, you are practically indecent.”
“I disagree. I am fully clothed.”
“I can’t stand you.”
I laughed and walked closer to her. “For you.” I handed her the flowers, and a beautiful smile broke out over her face.
“What color?” Marj whispered to her daughter.
“Green, red, and gold,” Frances whispered back with that grin still on her face.
“Gold?” I questioned. I didn’t know what that color meant.
“Carson, son, can I talk to you for a minute?” Jake was standing on the other side of the room.
I turned and walked to him, leaving Frances and her mother on the other side of the room.
“Dad,” Frances spoke with a clear warning tone in her voice.
“No worries, just gonna talk to him for a second.” He smiled at his women and then draped an arm over my shoulder.
I could see the smile on his face, but I could also feel the tension rolling off him. The smile dropped off as we made our way into his small office.
“Is there a problem, Sir?” I stood tall behind the closed door. I was never one to be intimidated. Besides, he may be trying to flex his figurative dad muscles now, but he’s got nothing on my father.
&
nbsp; “My daughter is very taken with you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” I replied quickly and truthfully.
“Is it? I know very little about you, but what I do know is you’ve already confessed your family doesn’t like to mix with a family of our caliber. How does that work for my daughter?”
“I can understand your hesitation. But that’s why I am here, why I gave up a life of luxury and ease because I didn’t have the same feelings my father did. I can’t change how my father feels, and lord knows I’ve tried. I can only assure you I’m my own person, and I want nothing more than things to work out between your daughter and me.”
He nods his head slowly and put his hand out for me to shake, and I did. “Do I have to tell you I’m going to kick your ass if you hurt her?”
“No, sir, I’ll kick my own ass if I hurt her.”
He smiled, and this time, there was no tension. He clapped me on the back once as we were about to leave the room, “That’s what I like to hear, son.”
Frances was standing in front of the reception area, biting the nail on one of her fingers. She looked at my face and seemed to relax when she saw I was still smiling.
“Can I take you to dinner?”
“Are you asking me on a date?” She handed her mom the flowers and sauntered sexily over to me.
“Indeed, I am.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and bent down to kiss her on the lips.
“Eh hmm, I think I’ll take my leave before you start pawing at my baby girl.”
“Oh, Dad.” Frances blushed and backed away from me slightly.
“My apologies.”
“Mom, you think I can take off a little early?” Frances turned around to ask her.
“Sure, Baby, I’m sure Dad and I can handle it if something comes along.”
With that, Frances grabbed her light jacket off the door, and we walked out the door on our first outdoor date.
I was pissed.
Who knew a haircut and a lighter color shirt was enough to get everyone to talk to me. I’ve been in town for over two years, and no one had wanted to say more than three words to me. Now, people were stopping me in the street to tell me how wonderful it was that I saved the little girl, how nice my hair is, and ask me what church I went to. All while I was supposed to be on a date with Frances. The last straw was the waitress in the At The Tip restaurant who was blatantly flirting with me while trying to take my order. My order was fairly simple, steak, potatoes, and broccoli.
