by Sin
Maxim’s lips were so soft and warm that I drew him in closer to me to take pleasure in them longer. He pushed his tongue into my mouth, and I welcomed it. My stomach was full of butterflies as we stood there tasting each other.
Yep, he had a way of shaving ten years off me in an instant.
I was suddenly giddy and nervous, much like I’d been in high school around boys. Carefree, and willing--willing to let this man have his way with me.
He caressed my face. I tugged on his lower lip gently, and he made a tiny noise that sounded like a strangled cry. He moved his hands around my waist. Pushing his black jacket back, I grabbed handfuls of his t-shirt. His warm hands slid up the back of my sweater, onto my sides, and upwards.
I tugged at his jacket to get it off. I couldn’t get enough of the feel of his arms, chest, neck, and mouth. He stroked just under my bra line. He hadn’t tried to touch my breasts yet, and I was surprised to find myself disappointed. There was no denying how psychically attracted to him I was. Any woman in her right mind would want him, and I was no exception. He was sex incarnate and I was hard up--never a good combination.
The phone rang, and we pulled away from each other quickly. The heightened mood between us simmered down and the thought of selling my soul to rejuvenate it crossed my mind. Looking over at the phone, I thought about letting it just ring, but was pretty sure that it was Angie. If I didn’t answer it, she’d have half the city’s police department outside my door in two point two seconds. I pushed past Max to pick it up. He let out a small cry of frustration and let me pass.
“Hello?”
A low growling sound came at me from the other end, and it sent chills up my spine. I turned and looked at Max, his face was tight and his brown eyes were hard. The man had to have amazing hearing. I wasn’t about to question him on it, at least not quite yet.
Another growl sounded from the other end of the line. “I see you....” The voice was muffled and sounded animalistic.
My nostrils flared with anger. Whoever this was, thought he was funny. I found the situation to be anything but humorous. I found it terrifying. Flashes of the night in the alley, with the gang of boys flooded my mind. “Don’t fucking call here again!”
Maxim touched my shoulders and it helped to calm me down. It was amazing how soothing just a touch could be. I refrained from telling the jackass on the other end all the different ways I hoped he’d die and settled on slamming the phone back on its cradle. I was unable to control the shaking in my hand, and brought it to my mouth. I spun around in a daze, looking to do something, anything. My heart raced and I needed to move, to go, to get away. Anywhere. Somewhere. Nowhere. I wasn’t picky. I just needed to move.
Max grabbed hold of me and pulled me to him. “Its okay.… It’s okay,” he said, stroking the back of my head with his hands and rocking me gently. He made me feel safe, and I’d never felt safe in anyone’s arms before. This was a new type of experience for me, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I should have been pleased, but now I felt as though the bottom would drop out on me at any moment. Relying on me was one thing, relying on another was an entirely different matter.
The phone rang again. I jumped, but didn’t move to answer it. The thought of dog boy being on the other end caused me to lose my nerve. The machine picked it up, and I heard Angie’s voice. “Rayme? Hon, are you there? Pick up or I’m coming over. If you’re in the middle of anything kinky you’ll be sorry. Oh, by the way I saw the guy you were with … you better be doing some kinky shit, and I want a full report … it’s about time you got back on the old sex bandwagon again … ooo, he is a fine one to hop on too, isn’t he--I’ll need a size report. My guess is he’s a big one, and he’ll make you scream....”
I snatched the phone up and knew that my face was at the very least three shades of red. Dying on the spot would have been too easy and I never did anything the easy way. “Angie, hey, I’m here.”
“Is he still there?”
I looked over at Max. He tried to be polite and give me my privacy, but I had a feeling that he heard the entire conversation. The fact that his face was as red as mine said a lot.
“Yes.”
Angie giggled. “He’s hot, why the hell have you been holding out on me? When you snag a babe-a-licious one like that, you dish baby, you don’t hide him away for me to stumble upon in a parking lot!
“Did you sleep with him yet? I’m not trying to be weird, but girl let’s face it, you’re some score … I mean, Trevor’s still trying to hook back up with you, and he’s a friggin’ model. Sure, he’s an ass, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a model. Umm, did I forget to mention that he was just here looking for you again?”
“What did you tell him?” I asked, suddenly feeling the weight of the day settle into my shoulders.
“That you were on a date. He completely flipped out and wanted to know when you’d be home. I did sort of leave out the part that you and Mr. Hunky are already home. Anyway, Trevor did his auto-flex again. I think you’re right, it’s involuntary. How often do you think he checks out his abs in the mirror?
“You know, I still get goose bumps every time I see him in his undies on a billboard. Tell me that’s his real package and not some new camera angle. Oh, I wonder if the sexpot you’ve got with you is hung like a horse, too. Is he?”
“Angie!” I looked over at Max, as he flipped through one of my magazines on the coffee table, and smiled.
“You did sleep with him, didn’t you? I’m so excited for you. Trevor is an asshole and you needed to find somebody else, and after the whole … well, you know. Gawd, Rayme I’m so happy for you. I want a full report tonight. You are coming in tonight, right? No, wait, do you need me to tell Vinnie that you’re sick, so you can … you know?”
Fearing she’d ramble on forever, I cut her off and told her I’d see her later. I put the phone down and walked over to sit by Maxim on the couch. He looked so rugged and manly against my soft white couch. That’d be hard for most men, but he pulled it off nicely. I’d found the couch at a scratch and dent store, they claimed that it was last season’s model and sold it to me for a fraction of its worth. Seeing Max surrounded by white made him appear almost angelic. I’d have gladly paid full price for the thing just to see Maxim sit on it again.
“Sorry about that. She was just....”
Maxim moved down for me to sit near him. “She was just checking to make sure you were all right.” I felt two inches tall and wanted to crawl under the coffee table and disappear. “That’s good that you have someone like that. She’s a good friend. One question … who is Trevor?”
“You heard that?”
“She’s a really loud talker.” he said, tight lipped.
He had a point. Angie did tend to scream just about everything she said. Still, it was odd that he’d overhead that from across the room. “He’s nobody.”
“Really? Then why is he hanging out at the bar and wanting to know when you’ll be back from your date?”
“I don’t know. He does that sometimes.”
“Are you still sleeping with him?” Maxim asked, his tone low and face even.
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” It fell out before I could take it back.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll go.”
“Maxim, wait. I’m not.”
He put his hand on my knee, and I drew it away. I didn’t like anything or anyone touching that knee. It had phantom pains, and having it touched reminded me too much of that horrible night two years ago. Trevor hadn’t understood why I changed. He hadn’t been able to cope with the new me. To be perfectly honest, I had trouble coping with myself.
Max stood up abruptly and went to the other chair. He looked hurt, and I figured out that by pulling my knee away, he had taken it as a sign that I was no longer interested in him. He couldn’t have been more wrong if he tried. Tackling him and smothering him with kisses could have proved my point, but I held back. It was our fir
st date and all.
“No, it’s not you. It’s me. I, umm, don’t particularly like having my leg touched, sorry.”
He stepped back towards me, and sat down. “Why?”
I tried to pull my pant leg up high enough to show him, but it stopped just short of the start of my scars. I surprised myself by wanting to share them with him. Only the people closest to me knew I had them. Making a habit of showing my battle wounds off to strangers wasn’t a hobby of mine. I couldn’t explain it, but I needed to include Max in this part of my life.
I stood up and unbuttoned my jeans. His brown eyes widened, and I laughed. “Easy boy, I’ll show you why,” I said, pulling my sweater down to cover my lower half and eased my jeans down. I was very happy that I hadn’t worn granny undies, but wasn’t planning on showing him the satin ones I’d chosen either. It was just nice to know that if he caught a peek of them, they were sexy.
When I got my pants down to about mid-thigh I heard him suck in his breath. I knew how bad my leg looked. I saw it everyday. I was always reminded of it. Glancing down, I tried to see it for the first time again. A long, thick, pinkish-white scar ran across my knee, and two smaller ones radiated out from it. It looked like someone had taken a meat cleaver to me, but in reality, my leg had shattered and protruded forth. It was amazing that I could walk, and I had to remind myself of that every time I looked at it. Not that it helped much.
Max’s hand reached out towards my leg. I pulled back, but then stopped and let him closer. This was a first for me. Trevor hadn’t even been allowed to linger near my scars. I’d taken to hiding my lower half under the sheets during acts of passion. Max was truly privileged, I just wondered if he realized how much.
His fingers barely touched my scars, as he traced the edges of them. His soft touch was oddly erotic, and I was embarrassed to be turned on during a moment such as this. “What happened?”
“Oh, nothing much, just your everyday run of the mill evening. Until a group of teenagers out to have a good time, and trying to get into some gang, attacked me. Apparently, one of them thought it’d be fun to mug a girl and then beat her to death with a bat. I’m not sure how I made it out alive. I still believe that I had help from the most unlikely source … a wolf.” I glanced at the floor nervously, hoping that he missed my confession. “Anyways, the doctor told me that the paramedics had to re-start my heart when they found me on the scene. Fun, huh!”
Looking up at me, his face paled. His gaze traveled back down to my leg. Wiping his palms on his pant legs, he looked around the room. This was obviously a stressful situation for him. I’d dumped too much of my baggage on his lap.
I pulled my jeans back up and went out to get him a glass of water, silently cursing myself for laying all that on him the first day I met him. Now, I was that girl, the one with all the emotional and physical baggage.
Oh, God I was turning into Fawn!
I handed Max the glass and turned to walk towards my room. “I didn’t mean to … freak you out. I don’t know why I felt like I needed to tell you about it.”
“When did it happen?” he asked, so softly that I almost didn’t hear him.
“Two years ago. They prosecuted the kids behind it. They’ll be out of jail in a few months. They were lucky they were all juveniles--the big leagues frown upon attempted murder and rape. You should have heard them all going on about wild animals running loose in the streets. Most of them are under a doctor’s care. A few of them even look catatonic. I hope that they keep pumping the little bastards with whatever sedative they used. It’s the only satisfaction I get.”
Max stared at my wall. He seemed fixated on a picture of a honey-colored wolf that I had hanging near my bedroom door. Not surprising, it so didn’t fit in with my décor. I had seen it at an odds and end shop down the street and had to have it. The man who sold it to me told me that ‘the wolf was my spirit guide and that I was born to be a leader among them.’ He also went on to tell me about how my path in life would forever be changed and how I would ‘walk along side the wolf.’
I didn’t know what the hell the man was talking about so I paid him, smiled, and left. I thought about calling someone from the state hospital, but let it go, the guy was crazy, but harmless.
The awkward silence stretched on between Maxim and I. Finally having had enough of it, I stood up and headed out to the kitchen to fix myself another drink. Diet soda and rum was my drink of choice. I had a soft spot for it, and really felt like I needed one. Under the circumstances, I needed two.
Glancing at the clock on the stove, I wondered how best to get the night to end. I’d ruined my chances with Max by pushing to far and sharing too much. I was confident that I wouldn’t be seeing him again anytime soon, and I couldn’t blame him. It was a shame too. I really enjoyed his company and had never felt that passionate when I kissed a man before.
“Well, I should probably get cleaned up for work,” I said, hoping this would afford him an opportunity to bow out gracefully from my evening of tell-alls.
I wiped the counter tops down out of habit, not necessity, and waited for a response. Walking back out into the living room, I found his glass of water sitting on the end table, but he was gone. The front door was slightly ajar, and I walked over to it to check for him. So much for needing to bow out gracefully.
Great, I am Fawn!
Chapter Six
“So … dish it out girl, I’m dying here,” Angie said, as she stuffed her tray full of extra napkins, popped an olive in her mouth, and headed towards one of her tables.
“Nothing happened, really.”
“Rayme, you’re not serious. The guy looks like an underwear model. If you don’t want to do him, I will.”
Laughing at her, I walked away with my own tray full of drinks. I doled out the beverages to their rightful owners, and turned to take the next table’s order. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw who was there.
Dag, the weasel from the night before, sat with his arm over the back of the chair, grinning at me. He only had two additional guys with him this time, as opposed to the group of six he had with him prior. One of the two men was pleasing to the eye, but had an air of danger about him. The dark black braid that he sported looked like it could double as a weapon. If he was one of Dag’s friends then he was most likely packing some sort of protection. They didn’t seem the type to travel unarmed.
I tried to push these thoughts out of my head. I wasn’t okay with the fact that I stereotyped a guy I’d never met before. I got that enough, as it was, on my own, projecting that onto someone else wasn’t right.
The other man with Dag looked as though he hadn’t seen a bath this century. His hair was long and shaggy, and I think brown, though that could have just been dirt. His clothes were as ragged as his hair. I wanted to point him in the direction of a garden hose and a bar of soap to save all the other bar patrons the misery of having to sit in his general vicinity. I didn’t.
“Come on Ray-mee, don’t be shy, my friend here won’t bite ya’,” Dag said, and then burst into laughter. A set of incisors that rivaled a dog’s, flashed in his mouth so fast that I wasn’t sure if I’d actually seen them. I would have looked harder, but Dag reminded me of a drowned rat. His slicked back black hair, pale skin, and beady eyes seemed like the human equivalent of a mutant rodent. Maybe the all powerful creator knew ahead of time what kind of personality the guy would have and handed him matching teeth to complete the varmint ensemble. I didn’t like him one bit, and didn’t care if he knew it.
“What can I get for you?” I asked.
“What can you get for me? Let me think.… How about a piece of your nice ass? Mmm, yeah, that sounds good, and can I get that would a side of pussy?”
“Get out.”
His eyes widened, and looked at his friends. “Did she just tell me to get out?”
The scraggily haired one nodded and snorted. The dark-haired man looked at me and gave me a look that spoke volumes. He was warning me not to push Dag. I
wondered if it came to it, would he step in and stop Dag from doing anything stupid? Probably not. He turned to Dag. “Perhaps we should take our business elsewhere.”
The dirty one laughed harder at that. He looked like a jiggling pile of rags. Dag reached over and smacked him off his chair. The man ended up flat on his back, glaring up at me. I backed up, mainly to avoid having him touch me. Dag then glanced over at the other man.
“I think I’ll have a drink here, Vince, and I think you’ll keep your damn mouth shut.” He looked up at me. “As for you, Ray-mee, we’d like a round of beers.”
I turned as fast as I could and headed up to get their order filled at the bar. The sooner I gave them their drinks, the sooner they’d go. Vinnie kept a firearm behind the bar, but Jobe, the new bartender was barely legal and I doubted that he had much in the way of experience with a pistol. I gave him a nod and hoped that he’d take it for what it was worth, a warning.
Angie waited at the corner of the bar for me. “Hey, don’t look now, but there’s a hot guy in the corner watching you.”
Maxim? I turned fast expecting to find him waiting with flowers and an ‘I’m so sorry’ look. I stood very still and let my eyes try to soak in what they were seeing. There, sitting in the booth was a man who looked to be around thirty, with dark black hair spiked just an inch or so off his head, and wearing a black Armani suit. I’d spent enough time watching the rich come to the shows while I danced to learn to spot a designer wardrobe. As if that wasn’t enough, his squared face, and wide, brooding forehead gave him an air of mystic. The mystic was slightly clouded by the shimmer his skin seemed to hold. I wondered how often, if at all, the man got out into the light of day. Regardless, he had a great moisturizer, that much was for sure.
He turned, caught me staring at him, and tipped his head towards me. Sky blue eyes found me and made me feel as if I’d been caught peeking at a dirty magazine. Color swept through my cheeks and I did my best not to trip over my own two feet. Forcing a large smile on my face, I headed in his direction--pad in hand, ready to do what I do best--take orders.
