by Anne Marck
I don’t restrain myself as I laugh out loud, both in frustration at my own state and hers.
“Come eat, girl. You must be hungry.”
I spend the next fifteen minutes pretending to ignore her rebellious attitude as she slams cabinet doors and helps me set the table, dropping the cutlery noisily onto the plates, eating impatiently, and rolling her eyes at whatever idiocy is on the TV.
I, on the other hand, just sip a beer with ease and don’t let the “spoiled Luna” moment interfere with my meal. If she wants to behave like that, great, as long as she eats.
Luna
I brush my teeth, annoyed, hating Dominic for treating me like a stupid child. And yet, I stand firm in my objective.
I return to the living room in time to see him leave a pile of sheets, blankets, and pillows on the couch. Dammit.
“Are you not going to sleep in your bed?” I ask, unable to disguise my nervousness.
He looks at me with a warning that his patience is running out. Great. That’s really good. Dominic isn’t as indifferent as he wants to show.
“Please, Dominic, this couch is terrible,” I plead, using a not-so-honest argument.
He says nothing, but his eyes roam my body heatedly.
I decide to push harder.
“Or are you afraid of me, Dom?”
Yes, I want to push him. His explosion this afternoon proved to me that the man is liquid fire when he loses his head.
He sucks in a heavy breath, his perfectly drawn eyebrow arching suggestively. “I’m not afraid, baby.”
Feeling like I’m about to win, I raise my chin, as if to say, “Prove it.”
“Okay. I’ll wait for you in bed,” I say, smiling with surgically applied naturalness as I step into the bedroom, not giving him a chance to refuse.
Dominic
She knows what she’s doing. Of course she does. I thought sweet, naïve Luna would never be able to play the game of seduction. I have concluded that this is inherent in the female sex. And to hell with anyone’s reasoning.
If she thinks I’m a fool who will obey at the curl of her finger, she needs to be made aware that throwing fuel into living flames creates something difficult to manage.
I give myself some time to calm my body down before I enter the dimly lit room. Luna is awake and watching me closely as I silently pull my T-shirt off and throw it into the corner. Her eyes widen as she stares at my chest. Okay, baby, get a dose of your own teasing.
The second piece to leave my body is the jeans. With premeditated coolness, I slip the material off then drop it by the shirt.
Oh, dammit. Don’t lick your lips, please.
I look away from her face so I don’t stare at the scene.
Hating myself for not being as immune as I’d like, I pull the comforter aside and thrust myself into the bed, wearing boxer shorts.
I hear a strangled noise. Did it leave me or her? I don’t know.
“Domin—”
“Good night, Luna,” I interrupt.
Two minutes. That’s how long the silence endures before the unthinkable happens.
She changes positions and turns toward me, closing the space between us.
“Good night, Dominic.” Her confidence ignites all my warnings.
Before I can foresee the train coming at me at full speed, she rests her right leg over mine and her arm over my abdomen. Until … I feel her.
Damn.
Don’t.
That’s not what I’m thinking. Fuck! Luna isn’t wearing fucking panties. The girl is naked under the shirt, and my cock responds.
Don’t.
I cover my eyes with one arm and inhale with all my might before shuffling over. “Luna, why are you doing this to me?”
“I want you …” she confesses.
“Hell.”
In a quick movement, forgoing sound judgment, I turn and lie on top of her, my cock harder than ever before. I stare into her dark eyes and, even without seeing it, I know her cheeks are red.
I’m not thinking straight. I try to set personal limits, but I end up letting my hand slip slowly over her belly, over her T-shirt, and brush her hard nipple under my palm, trapping her warm body beneath mine.
“You want to drive me crazy, girl?” I snarl, staring at her aroused expression.
That rosy tongue of hers provocatively moves across her lips, and in the next moment, I take her mouth with hunger and fury. No mercy.
Luna moans and surrenders, flicking her hot tongue against mine, her hands frantic in my hair.
I lean back a millimeter and stare into her eyes. “I know what you need, baby. And I’ll give it to you,” I tell her harshly, breathlessly.
As I devour her mouth, I travel down with my hand, straight to her core. Then I curse. She is so receptive, so hot.
The small body below me shivers at the contact. Her groans make me laugh, satisfied.
I don’t stop kissing her. I don’t want to give her the chance to throw more of her sassy shit on me; my self-control is holding on by a thread, and I know my limits.
As I find her delicate mound, I play with her greedily. Luna is so ready to orgasm, but I don’t give it to her. I tease without mercy, as she has done me. Her low moans in my mouth reveal the agony in which she finds herself.
“Dominic,” she moans into my mouth.
I give her a second to breathe before I start at it again. I know the moment when her needs are met. And it’s so fast, with little friction, that it speaks volumes of her state of excitement.
She arches up, moaning, whimpering. I move away from her mouth to watch her perfect orgasm, the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. Her eyes are closed, her teeth sunk into her lower lip, her hair a mess on the pillow, and tears stream down her face. She is perfection realized. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this image.
I could push her to the brink of madness. However, common sense tells me that today’s efforts are enough for her. Yes, she is a virgin—I confirmed it the moment I touched her—and this is probably her first sexual experience, considering she had her first kiss with me. Therefore, I just hold her in my arms and watch the spasms gradually subside until exhaustion wins.
Luna
The atmosphere between us is different, not that Dominic has treated me with indifference, as I imagined he would. For a reason incomprehensible to me, I realized that the two times he kissed me, he soon walked away with some kind of guilt tearing at him. Not yesterday, though. Yesterday, he wrapped me in his warm embrace and held me until I fell asleep, which didn’t take long.
I never understood people’s excitement about sex until my body burst from the inside out with the best feelings. I can’t explain how it happened. I only know that suddenly it was as if the outside world didn’t exist, as if I was swallowed up in another dimension, one inside of me, of ecstasy, of fullness, my spine rising up in blasts of pure glory. And that doesn’t even explain it.
We had breakfast together in silence. I caught myself smiling like an imbecile, and Dominic reciprocated. We stayed there, connected by some kind of complicity that flooded my heart.
Tomorrow, I will leave. I’ll sneak into my house, take the evidence I have against Vincent, and go straight to the police. The problem is that I don’t know how to tell Dominic. I think I’ll wait for the right moment.
I wait for him to leave for work then leave to do what I know Dominic will vehemently chastise. Yes, I’m contradicting his request; however, something is hammering at my head, and I feel I need to find out what is going on.
I find myself turning the corner to Jasmine’s house. And again, I come across the bad boys in their hangout spot. I walk straight ahead, securing the hoodie and staring at the floor.
“It’s the guy again,” I hear one of them say.
Mentally, I prepare.
Nothing happens, though.
They don’t cross my path.
What?
I want to ask why, but it’s best not to try my luck.
>
I pick up the pace and walk into Jasmine’s hallway. As I approach her door, I see it’s ajar.
I hear a thumping noise followed by a painful groan echoing from inside. I catch my footing, taken aback by a loud warning in my head. Something is wrong.
“You need to learn to only open that fucking mouth if you’re going to suck a dick, bitch,” comes an angry, vaguely familiar voice.
I take another step forward.
Another thump of flesh meeting flesh, louder this time.
“So stupid. You’ll never learn, will you? You fucking bitch!” There is no pity or even compassion in his voice.
Now I recognize the voice belonging to the man who stopped by when I was here.
“Screw you!” Jasmine’s furious cry echoes throughout the room.
My hands and legs tremble. One more step, and I see her thrown to the ground then pinned down by an ugly, thin tall brown man who is kicking her in the ribs.
The image of a spineless man overpowering a woman, as Vincent did mentally to my mother, using psychological violence, overcomes all fear in me.
I suck in air then push the door open a few inches and enter the kitchen. I look around for something I can use and carefully pick up an iron pan from the sink. Without him noticing me, I swing the heavy object at the back of his skull.
The first impact is clumsy, but it makes him stagger. The second is with more force, knocking him to the ground like a sack of rotten potatoes.
“Lu?” Jasmine murmurs, her expression terrified. She didn’t show fear when the guy was attacking her, but she shows it at what I’ve just done.
“Go, Lu. Run … run away,” she pleads as the man flops around on the floor like a cockroach.
“Come with me!” I shout, adrenaline pumping through me.
With strength I didn’t know I possessed, I grab her arm and pull her off the ground.
She regains her balance and looks at me in confusion. “I can’t,” she whispers, her eyes traveling from me to the man.
“Who are you?” the guy moans out, pressing his hand against his head.
Stepping in front of Jasmine, I secure my grip on the pan with both hands. “I’m your worst nightmare, you damn coward!” I say then give him one more knock to the head with more force.
The guy falls back, eyes closed, his body lax.
Oh. Shit!
God …“Did I kill him?” I stifle a moan of horror.
Jasmine pushes the guy with her foot. “No, Lu. He’s just unconscious,” she whispers, tense, her face showing concern for me. “You’d better get out of here. Now, before he wakes up.”
“No, I’m not going anywhere without you,” I tell her as a shiver runs through my bones.
Jasmine shakes her head. Then she raises her small face and fixes those greenish-brown eyes on me, analyzing me closely. “Dammit, girl, where did you come from?”
I keep my gaze fixed on her. The message I want to send is that I won’t leave without her, even if it costs me this guy waking up and sending me into a coma, or worse.
Jasmine closes her eyes and sighs, clearly frustrated. “You have to be crazy.”
The statement hurts me a little, but I understand. Who in their right mind hits a scary guy over the head with a frying pan? Maybe I am crazy.
Defeated, Jasmine moves quickly, opening the cabinet door behind her and taking out a can of money. “Come on, Lu. When Dirty wakes up, he’ll kill us both.”
I take her hand, and then we’re off.
As we pass the boys, Raid looks at me with a mixture of surprise and disbelief.
What the fuck now? Why is he looking at me like that?
“It’s a girl, bro!” one of them hoots.
Oh shit! I shake my head at the realization that the hoodie fell off.
Jasmine takes the lead, flying by them and dragging me with her. We run like crazy until we turn the corner.
“Where are we going?” she asks breathlessly.
“Let’s go to Dominic’s. He’ll help us,” I say confidently and resume running.
Dominic
My cell phone vibrates in my back pocket. I signal to the worker by pulling out the device and waving it at him.
The screen shows the house number. A not-so-good feeling passes through me. Luna has never called me. She didn’t use that phone once when she was sick.
I take a deep breath then slide the answer button on the screen. “Yes?”
“Dominic?” The way she says my name is different, sounding off warning bells.
“Yes, baby? What is it?”
Her sigh is another sign that something is wrong.
“Luna?” I force.
“C-can you come home?”
“Tell me what’s going on, Luna,” I press, not liking the sensation in my chest.
Another short sigh. “I-I did something …” A second of silence. “Can you come now?”
“I’m leaving.” I disconnect the call, already holding my bike key and tearing off my jacket from the corner stand.
Dammit. Why do I have the feeling that Luna got into trouble? Did Vincent Wine do something? Did he find her? Fury and dread collide, doing a good job of leaving me agonized with thousands of possibilities lurking in my head.
I make the ten-minute ride at high speed, slipping between cars, getting honked at and bumping into mirrors with only one goal in mind: to protect my girl. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her. Luna is my responsibility now.
At home, I climb the steps two at a time and finally reach the apartment door. With a deep breath, I unlock the door then take a step into the room and see them, Luna and Jasmine, both with their heads down, aiming unfathomable glances at me. What did they do?
“Jasmine, Luna,” I say calmly with a nod.
Luna anxiously intertwines her fingers, resembling a child. As if they rehearsed it, they both swallow at the same time. A closer look at Jasmine, and I notice fresh bruises on her face and arms.
“What happened to you, Jasmine?” I question.
She averts her eyes to the floor. “Dirty …” Her low tone, as austere as mine, surprises me. I expected sadness, fear, perhaps panic, but the strength of her gaze reveals that, unfortunately, this is nothing new in her short life. So young and already carrying all this baggage.
Luna, on the other hand, looks from me to Jasmine in real distress. Oh crap, this is freaking me out.
“When?” I ask, knowing it was recent.
“A few hours ago,” she replies.
Luna twists her little head between Jasmine and me, ignorant.
“Where is he?”
My girl looks away to some object in the room, avoiding me. Jasmine shuts up, too.
My chest pounds painfully, anxiously. This isn’t going to be good.
I cross my arms, waiting with feigned patience. The feeling that Luna is somehow involved in this pulls strongly at me.
“Unconscious at my house,” Jasmine reveals.
The information confuses me, especially when Luna’s blush grows.
“Luna?” I direct my attention exclusively on her.
The movement of her tongue moistening her dry lips almost distracts me, and not just because it’s a clear sign that she’s nervous.
“I hit him.” Her whisper is barely audible.
I take two steps back and lean against the wall, not sure my legs can support me … not sure I heard correctly.
“You what?” I hope I misunderstood.
She finally looks at me. “I went to Jasmine’s. When I got there, I saw this Dirty guy hitting her. I took a pan and hit him on the head …”
Arching an eyebrow, my teeth are close to cracking.
“Three times,” she adds with some sort of frightened pride.
Fucking hell!
I rub my face with both hands. My sanity unravels like a rope, fiber by fiber. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
Asking her not to return there served what? Not only did she go back, putt
ing her life at risk, but she also hit the shit pimp, which is a death sentence.
“I see,” I mutter.
At least Luna takes the time to blush.
“I need to leave for a moment,” I tell them, holding back my anger by a thread as I look at the girls who are looking back at me expectantly. “You two don’t go anywhere.” My tone leaves no doubt that it’s best they listen to me.
I focus on my sweet girl, who is no longer so sweet. “Can you do that, Luna? Can you listen to me one fucking time and do what I ask?”
Her rebellious side struggles to surface—it’s stronger than her—but she doesn’t reveal it.
I need to calm down before I say something I’ll regret.
I need to deal with the consequences.
Damien
Receiving the call from Dominic, asking if I’m at the firm, was a surprise. I even thought the guy was finally giving in to my request and coming to tell me he decided to come back to the construction company. As soon as he set foot in the room, though, I knew he wasn’t.
I’m not going to lie; I didn’t like hearing the story about this Luna staying at his house, to know that she’s the stepdaughter of Vincent Wine, and that my brother is helping to hide her.
Damn, I love the guy. He’s my idol and the greatest role model. Dominic saved me and Christian from misery, from hunger, from the dangers of the streets. My debt to him is for life. The problem is that fuck wants to save the world instead of his own skin.
I have to clear my head to process what Dom just told me.
“I don’t think I heard that right, Dom. Please repeat that,” I say, loosening the stifling knot of my tie.
Dominic breathes heavily, leaning forward in his chair. “You heard right, Damien. Let Jasmine stay at your house for a while.”
I have to laugh. “Fuck, man! You want me to take a stranger into my home? Why the fuck would I do that?”
My older brother sits back in his chair, folding his arms. The look on his face is so deep and intense that it makes you feel wretched.
“I already explained why. She’s in danger, and she can’t stay in that neighborhood anymore. That guy is after her.”
