“Well, technically, we didn’t make love for the first time until one year ago tomorrow. As you may recall, what we did that first night was a bit more… ummm… about you.”
Julie’s breath deepened at the memory of Jake’s head buried between her legs that night. He had laid her down on her living room floor and kissed and tongued and sucked her pussy until she had exploded under his mouth.
Their eyes met.
Jake grinned. “You want to do a re-enactment?”
“Oh.” Julie’s sex slicked up immediately. “Oh, yes.”
**
Kimana Beck sat down next to Phil and handed him a cup of tea. He took it absently, his eyes unfocused.
She looked at him, worried. It wasn’t like him to be so distant and not in the moment. In the eight-plus years that she had been his AA sponsor, the one thing she had always admired about Phil was him being grounded and present. Even in those early days when he was just out of prison and had just moved from Detroit, she still sensed his steadiness. It was hidden deep inside then, and was his dominant characteristic now. But tonight, it was missing.
“Hey, Phil?”
“Yeah?”
“You OK? You’re really vacant tonight. You having any trouble with it being Thanksgiving? You need to talk?”
Phil blinked at Kimana as he registered what she was thinking.
“No, hon. I’m OK. I’m just – well. I’m just thinking.”
“About what?”
Phil was silent.
“Phil, whatever it is, it’s weighing heavy on your mind. Tell me, OK?”
“OK.” Phil sighed. “You remember when we were talking about Tammy and Rob a while ago, and I was joking that I wished I were ten years younger?”
“Sure.”
“You said that I still had love to give, and I said that my romantic days were over.”
“Right. And I said that was crap.”
“You did. And I said that it was too bad I’d never had a really healthy or loving relationship in my life – not ever.”
“OK, yeah. I remember all of this. So, what’s all this got to do with what’s going on with you now?”
“Ummm.”
“Wait. Are you blushing?”
“Maybe.”
Her black eyes were almost popping out of her head. “Oh, my God. Are you telling me that you’ve – you’ve found someone? Someone you’re interested in? Like, romantically?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I have. An amazing woman.”
“But that’s great!”
“Yeah.”
“So, I don’t get the issue.”
“Well, I haven’t said anything to her about how I feel.”
“That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I know. But it’s – it’s complicated.”
“Come on, Phil. You know that alcoholics make things complicated when they don’t have to be. Are you just creating drama for the hell of it?”
Phil shook his head. “No. Things with me are clear. But Vicky…”
“What?”
“I don’t know, Kimana. Something. She’s been hurt. Badly, I think. I just feel like – like she’s not ready to hear how I feel. Not yet.”
“And when you think she is ready?”
“Then I’ll make my move. No words, no preamble, no messing around. I’ll just kiss her, kiss her like I mean it.”
**
“Now. You are going to tell me all about Phil. Everything. Leave no detail out. I’ll know if you do.”
Vicky laughed.
“Come on, now,” Opal said, spooning green beans and potatoes with gravy on to Vicky’s plate. “Spill.”
“Oh, come on, Opal. What makes you think there’s even anything to spill?”
“Because I can tell that you like him.”
“Opal. I am still married, may I remind you.”
“Yeah. To a wife-beating, child-abusing dickhead. I’d say you’re free and clear.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Vicky took a sip of her wine. “I’m pretty sure any guy I was interested in would be unimpressed about me kidnapping my kid and running over state lines.”
“She’s your kid and you saved her.” Opal frowned, her light gray eyes troubled. “I don’t understand any of this: the bastard was hurting both of you, and what? You were supposed to stay there and take it?”
“No. I was supposed to get a lawyer and go through the court system and wait. Do things the legal way.”
“Oh, sure. With all that money of your own that you had, right?” Opal snorted.
“Well, yeah. That was part of the problem, but only part.”
“What was the rest?”
Vicky toyed with the turkey on her plate. “I – I did lots of research in to abusive situations and how to leave them.” She stopped.
“Yeah? And?”
Vicky sighed. “And I found out that the most dangerous time for a woman and her children is right after she’s left the abusive situation. When she’s moved outside of his control – out of the house, away from him.”
“What?”
“Yeah. If a guy is going to lose it – like, really lose it, and kill the wife and kids – it happens when he feels like he has nothing at all left to get taken away from him. When she’s left him and started a new life, and when he can’t see the kids alone and unsupervised, or even at all, in some very dangerous cases.”
Opal stared at Vicky. “Wait. You mean to tell me that you really thought he’d kill you and Sonia if you left him and went to a shelter? Or your Mom’s? If he knew where you both were?”
“I did. He always said he would, and I believed him.” Her eyes were hard. “No way was I going to put us all at risk like that. Sonia and I couldn’t stay, that much was clear. But he also couldn’t know where we were, and I couldn’t wait for the police and courts to drag things out, all of us stuck in the same town while it was going on. I just – I just knew that Carl would hurt us. I was deathly afraid that he’d kill Sonia. To punish me for leaving him, to make sure that I would blame myself for the rest of my life. After all, his reasoning would be that if I’d stayed with him, he’d have had no reason to kill my daughter.”
Opal was silent. “That is fucking sick.”
“I know, Opal. And that’s why I ran. I’m not saying that what I did was right, and it sure as hell wasn’t legal. But it was what had to be done.” She shook her head. “I hope that Carl will give up looking for us, after a while. I just need to lay low and keep Sonia safe until then.”
Both women were quiet for a minute, thinking about Vicky’s decision, what she had done to get away from the one man who should have protected her and Sonia from harm and hurt. The one man who should have kept them both safe.
“Opal? Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Do you remember that day when you offered me the cleaning job?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, you said something that I’ve wanted to ask you about for a while.”
Opal leaned back. Yeah, I knew it was just a matter of time before she brought this up. The girl is hurting but she ain’t dumb.
“OK, shoot.”
“OK.” Vicky hesitated. “Ummm. You said that you knew an abused woman when you saw one. And, something about the way you said it… I don’t know. It just felt like – you knew about it up-close. Personally.”
“You are asking if I was ever abused myself. Right?”
Vicky’s face flamed. “I’m sorry, Opal. It’s none of my business and I –”
“I was.”
“You – you were?”
“Yeah. My first husband.” She sighed deeply. “I was so young when we got married, you know. Barely seventeen. But I was pregnant and so that was that. He beat the crap out of me
at least twice a week for almost eight years.”
“How did you get away?”
“I didn’t. He ran out on me. Left me with three mouths to feed when he did, but we were all grateful.”
Vicky nodded.
“My second husband hit me once – once only. He came home drunk and hauled back and backhanded me and I thought, Oh, no. No way is this all starting again. So I waited until he was sitting down watching TV and I hit him over the head with a frying pan.”
Vicky choked on her wine. “You what? Really?”
“Damn right. Anyway, I gathered up the boys – I had four of ‘em by then – and we marched on out of there. The bastard begged and pleaded but I said no. I’d seen where that all goes, see, where it all ends up. I wasn’t staying and hanging around, waiting to end up flat on my back dead on the living room floor.”
“And then?”
“Then I raised my boys as a single mother, and got them through mostly intact. Twenty-five years ago, I married number three and we started this place. He never laid a finger on me, but he was a womanizing hound, and couldn’t keep it in his pants. I got tired of the promises and I was fixing to leave him when he dropped dead of a heart attack. Of course, he was screwing a hotel guest at the time, so I didn’t shed too many tears.”
“My God, Opal.” Vicky know whether to laugh or cry.
“So, here’s my advice for you, girl. If a man ever lays a hand on you again? Wait ‘til his back is turned and hit him with a frying pan and walk out.”
Vicky laughed.
“You promise me?”
“I promise. But I hope that I never get hit, ever again. It’s – it’s totally dehumanizing. It just steals something, you know. Something deep inside.”
Opal saw the haunted look in her eyes and took her hand. Vicky looked up and smiled.
“OK, enough about all of that,” Opal said. “This is Thanksgiving, girl, and you have got plenty to give thanks for this year.” She gestured at the food on their plates. “Food, freedom – and quite possibly Phil.”
“Oh, Lord, here we go again. Opal. For the last time, Phil and I will not be getting together.”
“I want to know why on earth not.” Opal drank some wine and glared at Vicky over the rim of the glass.
Vicky paused. Well, actually. Why not? He was interested, that much she knew; she was interested. They were both adults. OK, so she wasn’t technically single, but she considered herself one hundred percent separated from Carl. Would Phil see it that way? He probably would, if she told him everything – and there was the problem, as far as Vicky was concerned.
She wasn’t about to start up anything with anyone without telling them everything about Carl and Sonia… and she simply couldn’t imagine telling any man the whole story. What man would want to be with her after she told them about her years of abuse and showed them the scars on her back? Who would want her after they found out that she kidnapped her own child and hid her from the father? Who would have any respect for a woman who ran to another state and lied to everyone in her new life?
No. Not now. Maybe in a few months, when she had saved up some money and solidified her position at Open Skies, she could go to Julie and tell her the truth. If she didn’t get fired for knowingly making Julie an accessory to a crime – for harboring a kidnapper, even if Julie had no idea – then she could find a small apartment around Clarity and ask her Mom to bring Sonia to her in Colorado. They could start again. And then – only then, when everything was out in the open – would she even consider a relationship with a man.
And if Julie did let Vicky go for lying to her face in the job interview? Well, she’d have some savings and she had Opal. She could always come back here to the motel and start looking for a new job. She could start again. She had done it once, and she wouldn’t be so scared the second time around.
Opal was still waiting for an answer. She looked at Vicky and her heart actually ached for the younger woman. So much pain, so much fear. So much courage and strength. Opal was in awe of her, and wanted so desperately for her to be happy. Maybe this man, Phil, could bring some joy to Vicky. In time.
“Well. I’ll see, OK?” Vicky smiled. “It’s early days, Opal. I don’t feel the need to rush in to anything. And besides, I have a few things I want to do first.”
“What things?”
Vicky smiled, a real smile, one that changed her whole face. When Vicky smiled like this, she just looked so gorgeous, it took Opal’s breath away every single time. She hoped that she’d see that smile more and more often now.
“Well, let’s just say that it involves a trip to the hair dresser, and a full day of shopping.”
“Oooh.” Opal was delighted. “A make-over!” She was an avid ‘What Not To Wear’ watcher and dreamed of being given an unlimited budget to go to New York and shop ‘til she dropped.
“Damn right.” Vicky turned her attention at last to her dinner. “I need some help, though. And I know just the people to ask.”
**
Tammy sobbed as Rob thrust between her thighs, deeper now. Her hands grasped the tumbled bedsheets as her climax approached. Her long legs tightened around his hips as she raised herself to meet him, over and over.
Rob stared down at her with glazed eyes. She was writhing beneath him, her head pressed in to the pillow as she arched against him. He lowered his chest on to her perfect breasts and kissed her, licking her lips and the inside of her mouth.
She moaned and opened her mouth against his.
“Rob, I’m so close… please.”
“Come for me, sweetheart.” He gripped her hips and withdrew from her hot center, plunged in again, withdrew, plunged. He fought to stop himself from coming before her, but it was proving a huge challenge. She is just so gorgeous, so hot. Oh, God.
He thrust his thumb between her sweet lips and she sucked on it, her eyes blazing up at him from the bed. He removed his finger and then gently rubbed between their bodies, his slick thumb pressing on her vulnerable bud. She gave a cry and his movements grew stronger: he drove himself in to her slim body with a groan, holding nothing back now.
Tammy panted his name as her pussy began to flicker, the muscles going in to spasms of pure delight. She threw back her head and heard her cries getting louder, felt her body shaking and straining. Rob slammed in to her, every thrust stroking her lower lips, and the combination of his roughness combined with the delicious glide back and forth drove her over the edge.
Rob felt Tammy’s sex clutch at him as she came, and he let himself go at the same moment. He held her in place and thrust as hard and deep as he could, knowing that she loved it when he filled her so completely. As the pressure built, Rob gave one final, twisting push of his hips and he shattered in a burst of light and sound and pure pleasure. He shouted his release, then lowered his large upper body down on to hers, gathering her trembling body in his arms.
Tammy stroked his back, loving his weight on her. She kissed his shoulder, licked off some sweat. They had been making love all day and they were both sweetly exhausted.
He raised his head, still breathless, and kissed her. She smiled at him, her violet eyes very dark in the half-light.
“I love you.” He ran his fingers over the delicate curves on her face.
“Oh, Rob. I love you too.”
With great reluctance, he pulled out of her body and she sighed.
“I hate it when you have to do that,” she said. “I always feel empty, somehow. It’s like – my body misses yours.”
“I know, sweetheart. Mine misses yours too, believe me.”
He pulled the sheets over her supple body, then climbed out of bed to go to the bathroom. Tammy propped herself up on one slim arm and watched his broad back and perfect ass go in to the other room, then she watched his muscled chest approach again.
He got back in to her bed and took h
er in his arms. “Come here, sweet thing.”
She lay her dark head on his chest, playing with the golden hair there. “So, do you think we should have something to eat now?”
His eyes gleamed.
She laughed. “Now, now. You ate that earlier.”
“I did. And you loved it.”
Her pussy gave a pulse of memory; she loved having his mouth on her, lapping and sucking her to the point of screaming.
“I did.”
They shared a smile.
“But,” Tammy continued. “I am kind of hungry… I mean for food.”
Rob sat up. “OK. Let’s go make something to eat.”
“I made dinner already,” Tammy said. “I just need to heat it up.”
Twenty minutes later, they were in Tammy’s tiny kitchen eating turkey stir-fry with rice.
“I know it’s not the whole traditional Thanksgiving turkey thing,” Tammy said. “But I can’t do much more in this kitchen, I’m afraid.”
Rob shook his head. “It’s delicious.” He took a sip of wine and paused. “Tammy?”
“Yeah?”
“I was wondering if we could talk again about – about moving in together?”
She stared at him.
“I mean – I know when I brought it up four months ago, you said you weren’t ready.” He swallowed. “I was just wondering if maybe – maybe you were? Ready? Almost?”
“Your timing is so astounding,” she said.
“It is? How come?”
Tammy sipped her wine. “Because I just talked to Christine today about my renting this place from her.”
Christine was Rob’s younger sister and she and her husband owned Tammy’s apartment. Christine offered Tammy a great deal on the rent, and Tammy kept the place immaculate and had done some decorating herself: some fresh paint, a few pieces of furniture. Both sides were thoroughly delighted with the arrangement.
“Oh,” Rob said. “What did you talk about?”
“Well, oddly enough – we talked about me not living here anymore.”
Rob’s heart stopped. “Are you – are you thinking about moving in with me?”
Open Eyes (Open Skies) Page 6
