by L. B. Dunbar
I really needed a fit. I needed to be in a place that was good for me. The 4Gs seemed like a good place to start. I always thought I wanted to be in the Philharmonic, but after my audition yesterday, I was determined that being in the quartet was the challenge to myself I needed. Despite the fact that Arturo slept with most of them in the past, I wanted to be in a group like them. Strong women who could rock with classic instruments seemed like the perfect combination of the forbidden rock culture and the forced societal role.
“I know, Dad,” I finally responded as I placed the jeans in my hands in the suitcase and went to hug him briefly. He wasn’t overly affectionate with me, but he didn’t seem to want to let me go as quickly as he normally would have released me. When I pulled back, he blinked hard and swiped his eye.
“Are you okay?” I didn’t want to embarrass him, or draw attention to something that would clearly make him uncomfortable, but he was definitely acting strange.
“He’s going to give you everything. I’m sure of it,” he whispered to his toes as if I couldn’t hear him.
I didn’t know about that. I wasn’t going to Arturo’s.
Arturo
I paced my room waiting for her to answer my calls or respond to my texts. It was ten o’clock at night when I finally heard from her.
Hey.
Where are you?
I demanded to know, but a text couldn’t really emphasize my concern. I needed to know she was alright.
If I tell you, will you promise not to rush over here?
I sighed in exasperation. Promise, with my fingers crossed behind my back.
Your hands are tied behind your back?
I laughed. Was she trying to be funny? I’d like to tie your hands behind your back. X
There was a pause and I thought I might have gone too far.
I’m in your living room.
I smiled as I raced from my room.
“Guinie?” She was so beautiful, and my voice broke to see her standing there.
“I thought I should talk to you in person. Here. First.”
I stepped toward her, but something told me to stop.
“First? Before what? Are you breaking up with me?”
“Are we dating?”
“I thought … What do you think, Guinie?”
“I want to date you.” She smiled slyly and bit her lip.
“Okay.” My shoulders relaxed and I took another step toward her. “What does dating mean to you? Are there rules? A code? Because truthfully, I don’t know how to do it.”
“I don’t either,” she laughed, “but I’d like to try. With you.”
I closed the distance between us and wrapped her in my arms. I might have crushed her in my grasp, unable to get her close enough to me. I needed to be inside of her, to connect us in order to show her I would give her anything she asked for. Anything.
“I think we need to slow down,” she began.
I pulled back, but didn’t release her. Narrowing my eyes at her, I asked her what she meant.
“I just mean, I think we should spend time together in the city. It isn’t going to be like it was upstate.”
“It could be.” I smiled mischievously.
She laughed and the tension broke.
“I’ll do whatever you want. Anything. I love you.”
She didn’t say it back to me and I was beginning to panic.
“Can we just see where it goes?” Her voice was quiet.
“Yes.” I waited a beat, still hoping she would say she loved me in return.
Nothing.
“What does this mean?” I questioned.
“I’m going to stay at Lace’s for a while. I can’t be around my father right now, and I don’t think I should stay here.”
I somehow understood why she needed time. I was ready to beg her to live with me, but I asked her another question instead. “Can I kiss you?”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly and my mouth invaded hers. I was a starving man and I could not get enough of her. I needed her sweet flavor and I sucked her lips, nibbled them gently and devoured them heartily. My tongue caressed the inside of her mouth, licking the inner walls and lapping her tongue. I thirsted and hungered for her to fill me. She was my survival.
“Don’t leave me, Guinie. I love you,” I said again between kisses. We were both panting and she made that throaty sigh of satisfaction that I loved. I bent my knees slightly to grasp her under her ass and pick her up. She immediately wrapped her legs around me and I walked us to the couch, falling back onto it, taking her with me, and she straddled my lap.
“Promise me, Guinie.”
“I promise. I love you too,” she whispered in my ear before trailing down my jaw to my neck. Her words were my undoing and I claimed her mouth. I kissed her with all the vengeance of my desire to have her as my love, as my wife. She was my life.
I wasn’t going to question her commitment to slow down, but we seemed far from slowing down. Before I knew it she had pushed up my T-shirt and was licking a path to my abs that quivered with excitement at the direction she traveled. My hands slid into her hair and I knew I needed to be the voice of reason.
“I thought you said slow?”
She was forcefully unbuckling my belt and it suddenly felt like she was trying to prove she loved me. I was so full that my zipper was too snug against me. My excitement was obvious and she had the zipper down before she answered.
“I said slow. Not stop.”
She slid off my lap and stood before me. I was loosened, but not freed, and I wanted to let her lead. She removed her shirt in a tortuously slow display, exposing only her stomach for a few moments before releasing the shirt over her head. Before me was a beautiful hot-pink silk bra and I swallowed hard in anticipation of tasting the delicacy contained inside each cup. She slid her hands down her stomach and unbuttoned her own jeans. I sprang to life further, if that was even possible, and had to adjust a little to make room for my growing girth. She moved her hips from side to side to slide the denim down her long legs. Hot-pink panties matched the bra and I clenched my fists to prevent me from grabbing her.
“Guinie, I’m enjoying the show, but there better be a grand finale, or I’m going to explode.”
She only smiled slowly and slid her hands around to her back to unhook her bra. Her hands did a slow dance over each shoulder, but she didn’t release herself. She slid her delicate fingers across her belly again to the sides of her panties and slid them downward. As they cleared her hips, they continued on their own to the floor and she let go of the bra. She was exposed to me in one drop.
As she stood before me in her naked glory, I wanted to reach for her, but I could still sense that she needed to be in control. She needed to feel in charge and I was willing to let her take it. My shirt was already off, so she reached for my jeans and pulled them down with my briefs. I stood at full attention before her and she slid her hands up my thighs. She came to the edge of me and pulled back. I shivered. I needed her to grab me.
“Guinie?”
Her eyes were closed and she climbed over my thighs, spreading her legs and sliding up me. I could feel her wetness cascade over each ridge of me. She was tormenting me, and I was thrilled by it. I reached for my jeans for a condom. We’d already had two slip-ups without one: when I took her by the couch and in the tub. I didn’t want her to worry about getting pregnant. As I leaned forward with her on my lap, she positioned my head at her entrance and shoved down.
I let out a grunt as I entered her. I didn’t want to say forget safe sex, but I also didn’t plan on being with anyone else. Ever again.
She slid to the tip of me, circled her hips, and slammed back down to the base of me. In this position, I filled her to the hilt and groaned again at the sensation. She was warm and slippery, and the torturous pleasure continued for several minutes, until she found a spot that seemed to please her. She stayed in that position, rubbing and sliding. Her hands gripped my shoulders hard as her eyes rolled closed
and she arched her back, forcing her breasts to meet my mouth. I sucked on her hard and she screamed in her relief. She rocked back and forth on me, and I looked up at her glorious expression to see she was still in ecstasy.
“Are you still going, Guinie Girl?” I said slyly as I felt her clenching me.
“Again,” she growled from the back of her throat and groaned loudly as she came a second time. Watching her take her pleasure with me set me off and I shot into her, forcing myself as deep as I could go. I felt like we both clutched each other, pressing together at our cores, to join us as one permanently.
On the last of my pulsing, she collapsed forward on me and slipped her arms around my neck.
“Guinie. That was incredible.”
She kissed my neck and giggled.
“I don’t suppose you’ll stay the night? I don’t think I can sleep without you.”
She pulled back and giggled again. “Nope, dating. That means I leave. You’ll be okay.”
I didn’t agree with her. I just took her mouth with mine again.
Guinevere
While I said he’d be okay, I ended up being the one that wasn’t. I had a terrible time sleeping that night and many nights thereafter, but we talked and went out every day, though I went home afterward. Well, to Lace Cardaugh’s apartment that she shared with Enid. I learned many things about the girls and for the first time I felt free.
Lace had a secret crush on someone else connected with the band, which I thought wasn’t a good idea, and Enid had an even bigger secret. She was hiding out from a man, just like me, only her story was more demented than mine. Lace didn’t mention her past with Arturo, nor did she bring up any incident with her sister, Allora. Thankfully, Enid didn’t have any sexual history with Arturo as she was from Ireland and had only been in the States for a short time.
Everything I learned brought me closer to the girls. This wasn’t college life, this was apartment living, and although I didn’t own the place myself, I enjoyed sharing the space with two girls who were quickly becoming my friends.
I did get the job with the 4Gs and it helped time pass without Arturo when I practiced or we played at the Emerald Isle. Trinity still didn’t care for me, but we didn’t need to talk, only play, and so we did. We had small concerts every Thursday at the pub and we were booked out for months with special occasions or concerts. The girls refused to do weddings, so we were not a cover gig. Allora had started the group and she had built a nice following. The 4Gs had even produced an album and were hoping to strike another deal. I hinted that I knew the perfect record company to help us.
Kaye and my father began the slow process of taking over Camelot Records and Arturo spent many days in conference with those two men. I didn’t see much of the band over that next month. Band practice was daily for the upcoming tour beginning in late August, but nights were for Arturo and me to continue to discover one another.
He kept our time together private. On one of our casual strolls through Central Park, we came across a rare night that Naumburg Bandshell was empty. An old stone structure that housed concerts as far back as the late 1800s, this classical icon in Central Park was typically used for small affairs, open to the public and surrounded by nature. It was late this warm night as we walked toward the stand that had a section roped off, preventing visitors from getting too close. Arturo bent at the waist and slipped under the barricade, taking me with him as he held my hand.
He helped me up onto the empty concert stage even though I protested that we would get caught. He only smiled before he pushed himself up to center stage and pulled me up to stand. His arms circled me immediately and he began to lead me in a dance. His moves were formal and I giggled as he spun me and dipped me.
“Where did you learn to dance?”
He shrugged.
“Answer, please.”
This had become my new command to him. He always demanded I tell him things. I asked him to answer me. We had lots of questions to ask one another over the past month. Mine mostly pertained to all his secrets, his pertained to all my dreams.
“Mure Linn taught me.”
I laughed. “How?”
“He made me dance with him.”
I stumbled as I laughed in earnest at the image of the elder-looking Mure Linn teaching Arturo to dance in the woods at Lake Avalon.
“He said it would impress the ladies.”
“Really?”
“Are you impressed?”
“Of course,” I giggled again. Then added, “What else impresses the ladies?”
“Gentlemanly things, like holding doors and giving flowers.”
Arturo had been very gentlemanly over the last few weeks, sending me flowers and holding open doors, but he also let his naughty playful side show in sexy texts and dirty talk over the phone. He was being patient and respectful of my wishes to live on my own for a while instead of going from one man’s home to another. He tried to assure me that his home would be our home, but it wasn’t the same thing, and he let the subject drop.
He continued to dance with me.
“What else impresses the ladies?”
“Honesty.”
I smiled. He had been rather truthful the last month. I knew details I had a hard time adjusting to in his sexcapades with the girls in my group and Ana. Lace and Allora had completely come to terms with the initial awkwardness. Enid had no experience with Arturo, which was a breath of fresh air compared to the unbearable thick fog that surrounded Trinity and me. I had been assured that she had not slept with Arturo, but I had no other details to explain her aggression toward me.
“What kind of honesty?” I prompted playfully.
“The honest truth that I love you.”
I stumbled again and this time we stopped as Arturo continued to hold me in the dance embrace with one hand on my lower back and the other holding our hands against his chest. I could feel his heart racing through his thin shirt and I felt my own breathing increase.
“I love you, Guinevere. That’s honest.”
He kissed me before I could reply and it was sweet and slow. He captured me when he kissed me typically, but this one was different. It was a surrender.
“I love you, too,” I said as I pulled back only slightly. My eyes still focused on his lips and I felt my own heart rate accelerating.
“What else impresses the ladies?” I asked softly.
“Honor.”
My eyes flicked up to his. I didn’t understand, until he released my hands and slid down to his knee before me.
“To honor you all the days of my life is what I most desire, Guinie.”
I was holding my breath, and I didn’t know what to do with my hands so I clasped them around the side of my neck as Arturo continued to kneel on one bent knee before me.
“Ask me again,” he said softly, demanding in a tender tone.
“What else impresses the ladies?”
He pulled something from his pocket, but I still couldn’t see it. My heart was in my throat now and I could feel the thumping of the vein in my neck.
“Valor.”
My eyes stayed on his closed hand and I waited for him to explain.
“Valor means strength. Like a rock. I want to be the rock you lean on, Guinie. I want to always be strong for you. Support you. Hold you up. Do you know what the strongest rock is, Guinie?”
I looked in his eyes and shook my head side to side even though I had a vague sense of the answer.
“A diamond,” he said, opening his hand to reveal a large solitaire diamond ring in the palm of his hand.
“I want this diamond to show the world that I’m your rock because you give me strength in so many other ways, Guinevere. Marry me and let me build you a life based on my honesty, honor, and valor. I love you, and those words are as solid as this diamond, Guinevere. Marry me.”
I couldn’t speak. In less than five minutes, he had told me he loved me and he wanted to still marry me. We had discussed his growing fear about the sep
aration we would incur because of the upcoming concert. I couldn’t travel the world with him, nor did I want to. This was his crusade, and if we traveled together, I wanted it to be for pleasure. Marriage hadn’t come up, but I sensed Arturo needed this assurance that we would be okay. That we would be solid.
I reached for his face and cupped his cheeks in my hands as I gazed into his dark, dangerous eyes.
“It would be my great honor to be your wife, Arturo King.”
In one swift move he had the ring on my finger and my mouth captured by his. We kissed for several long minutes before he pulled back to look down at my hand that blazed a beacon of promises. He circled the ring with his fingertips, tickling over my fingers as he spoke.
“You are my one and only. My once and future, and I knew you would be my queen.”
He then vanquished my lips again.
Guinevere
His once.
His future.
I knew I couldn’t be separated from him any further. After agreeing to be his wife, I agreed to move in with him. I was ecstatic, but nervous when I went to tell my father, who somehow already knew. Again.
I hated that I wasn’t making a move without my father finding out something first, and this truth I learned when Kaye Sirs embraced me the second I entered my father’s office the following morning.
“Congratulations, Guinie.”
I pulled back from the hug, looking puzzled briefly until recognition overcame me.
“You already know,” I said softly.
“There isn’t much Arturo does that I don’t know.” He smiled casually, like this would be something I would need to accept.
My father entered moments later with Mure Linn at his side. Leo DeGrance was beaming a smile I had rarely seen. This one was genuine, and a dawning realization gripped my heart. He had gotten the company he desired.
“Dad,” I said with the best false voice I had as I hugged him briefly. I looked at Mure Linn, but the expression on his face immediately warned me not to approach him for a congratulatory hug. His troubled stare at me with his two-tone eyes made me swallow and I shuddered.
