Lady of Way

by Rosemarie McCants

  “I know. Later. I’m so tired.”

  Keisha curled up on the couch with a blanket and watched reruns of Law and Order. Felicia joined her later and pestered her more about last night. Keisha gave her as little detail as possible.

  She just wasn’t all that ready to talk about it yet. It was too early to form any real feelings. Except that her shower did nothing to wipe the memory of Town’s hands on her—hot and heavy.

  Keisha was counting down the hours until tonight.

  *****

  Keisha left to drop Felicia off around nine. She then stopped at the grocery store and was back home by ten. She changed into shorts and a tank top. It was a bit odd, Keisha thought. I hadn’t slept with the same guy since college. I never had to think twice, but now I was.

  Keisha liked the thrill of it anyway and not knowing what was going to happen. Town texted her earlier for her address. Now she just had to wait for him.

  He showed up at about eleven, but he was alone. He stood tall at her doorstep with his V-neck shirt gave her a peak of his muscles.

  “Hi,” Keisha said.

  “Hey.” His voice was deep and rumbled right to my core.

  “Um, come in.” Keisha opened the front door even wider. Keisha stepped to the side and he came in. The place felt extremely small now. How do I ask him about Johnny? Keisha shook the thought from her mind. Town sat on the couch and leaned back, his legs spread open like he was inviting her in.

  “You’re alone,” Keisha said. She sat next to him on the couch with her leg folded under.

  Town turned to Keisha and looked her right in the eye. She got used to him doing that, even though it was very unnerving.

  “You don’t want me to be?” Town asked. Keisha opened her mouth to speak, but he silenced her by lifting her bodily and placing Keisha on his lap like she was a doll.

  Then his hands were on her, and their lips were together. When Keisha was breathless from the kiss, a knock tore her away from him. It was Johnny.

  This time was nothing like last night. Town was rough and primal. Keisha thought she couldn’t take anymore at a certain point. Then Johnny came in—literally—and calmed her down with his tender strokes and soft hands.

  She was a never-ending wave of pleasure. Her climaxes didn’t stop. They just got lower and lower, and then higher until it felt like she I couldn’t even breathe.

  At some point in the night they stopped. Keisha had a beer and said she needed a shower. She was only there for five minutes alone when they joined her. The water made it even better. The shower was big enough, but Town and Johnny gave her no space to move. Keisha found herself gloriously stuck between two strong, hot men. She then realized her shower was useless.

  “I’m falling asleep,” she said. She lay on her back, both of them beside her on the bed. Town traced Keisha’s skin with his rough fingers and she rested her hand on Johnny’s hard stomach.

  “No you’re not.” Town kissed her neck softly, but then suckled the skin there softly.

  Keisha closed her eyes and leaned toward him, but they were so heavy. She really was tired. “I am.”

  Town made a face, and then Johnny left the bedroom. Moments later, they heard the door shut.

  “He doesn’t say much,” Keisha said to Town. He threw the duvet over her and held her waist. Keisha traced the tattoo on his forearm gently. “He doesn’t need to,” Town answered.

  Keisha relaxed against the pillow and he propped himself up on his hand as he looked down at her.

  “Why do you live behind the bar?” Keisha asked him. He furrowed his brow as he looked at her.

  “I don’t,” Town said.

  “It seemed like it,” Keisha smirked.

  “I stay there sometimes… it makes it easier when I close.”

  “So, you own the bar?” Keisha asked.

  He shook his head. “Not really. The pack owns it, I just run it.”

  Keisha’s curiosity was getting the better of her, but she wasn’t sure how to ask what she wanted without bothering Town. She was still learning.

  “When do you… change?” she sheepishly asked.

  He chuckled. The deep rumble of his chest vibrated through Keisha’s chest. “What?” He was laughing at her and she had no idea why. “I can shift whenever I want to.”

  “So… you don’t need some sort of full moon or to be angry?”

  He laughed again, his smile in full force. He had such a beautiful smile, perfect shining teeth. Why doesn’t he smile more often? “No, don’t listen to the folklore.”

  “Well I don’t know what to listen to. It was supposed to remain in folklore,” Keisha said.

  “I guess it was. I can shifter anytime I wanted to. But the pack runs together twice a week, mostly to make sure that the lands are safe for the women.”

  “The women?” Keisha asked.

  He made a face as if he had made a slip of the tongue. “Uh yeah. Most of the pack have their women that they’ve claimed.”

  Keisha arched a brow. “Claimed?”

  “Yes,” he nodded. His answer sounded like she shouldn’t ask anymore of him, so she didn’t.

  There was a part of Keisha that didn’t want to upset him, and another that wanted to be “claimed” too.

  It sounded so final, like it was all they wanted. If they were the women at the club, then they definitely looked it. Happy, glad to be with them. She was glad to be with Town whenever he was with her, but was he glad to be with her, too? Or was she just a fun time, for him and Johnny?

  “Have you ever claimed a woman before?” Keisha had to ask him.

  He let out a deep breath and clenched his jaw.

  “No, I have not.”

  “Do you want to?”

  “No Keisha, I don’t.” His voice was so final, Keisha almost cowered away from him,

  He seemed to notice and softened his hand on her waist. But Keisha still turned away from him on the bed. She didn’t know what she expected from him, but the finality of that statement still hurt.

  Part of her wished he would leave so she could just cry unnecessarily, but another part wanted him here, holding her.

  Keisha didn’t know what to do anymore.

  *****

  It became a routine. Keisha went to work, had dinner with Felicia and tried to answer all her questions. Then Johnny and Town took Keisha over and over until she was sure she wouldn’t be able to go to work the next morning. And then it was just Town and her.

  Towne was gone the mornings she had to go to work, but stayed if it was the weekend. It had been one month and Keisha knew she was in deep shit.

  “But you’re having fun?” Felicia asked over our soup for dinner. Keisha always ate soup for dinner when she felt some kind of way.

  “I am. I think. I don’t even know at this point,” Keshia sighed.

  “I feel you,” Felicia said.

  “I just know that I really like Town. I tried to make myself feel a different way. Or even feel something about Johnny, but I just didn’t. I always end up thinking about Town endlessly. You know, I almost contaminated a sample at the lab because I was so distracted.” Felicia giggled a bit but then stopped when she saw, that Keisha wasn’t kidding. She could have lost her job! Well, maybe not, but it would have been bad.

  “Sorry… have you talked to him about it?” Felicia asked.

  “No, I don’t know how he feels about me… if he feels anything.”

  “Well, he must feel at least something. He stays over and cooks your breakfast,” Felicia added.

  “Because he feels obligated to.”

  Felicia scoffed. “Men never feel obligated to do anything.”

  Keisha nodded in agreement. “I guess.”

  “Is he coming tonight?” she asked.

  “Yeah. About two weeks ago I had to lay down some rules… sort of. He could only come four nights a week. Otherwise, I would never have any energy to do anything,” Keisha said.

  “Talk to him then.”

 
“But… more of me doesn’t want him to leave. I would rather have this than nothing.”

  Felicia cocked her head to the side and gave me a meaningful look. “We both know that is far from the truth.”

  Felicia left a few minutes before Town arrived. He was sexy as ever in his tight jeans and tight shirt. His cinnamon and woodsy smell surrounded her. Keisha knew she had to keep her ground if she wanted to get a word out. But he surprised Keisha by kissing here immediately and pressing her against the wall.

  Keisha kissed him back of course, but she wasn’t that strong. His tongue tangled with hers as she latched her fingers in his hair and let him take over.

  Town grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head as his other hand crept under her shirt. I shuddered against him, her sex was already clenching for him.

  “Town… wait.”

  He pulled away immediately. Keisha bit her swollen lip as he released her hands. She still kept her legs around his waist, and he held her hips firmly in place. Town was very distracting.

  “We have to talk,” Keisha said.

  He arched a brow and looked at her seriously. “About?”

  Keisha took a shaky breath. “Do you have feelings for me? Beyond… physically.” Keisha ground herself against his erection for good measure.

  “Why do you ask me that?” Town replied. Her heart sunk a little, it wasn’t the answer she expected.

  “Because… I have feelings for you,” Keisha replied honestly.

  Keisha swallowed a lump in her throat when he set her down, and moved over to the couch. She leaned against the wall as if she needed it for support.

  “Is that such a bad thing?” Keisha finally said.

  He leaned forward on his elbows and traced his hand mindlessly.

  “No, just… unexpected.”

  “How is it unexpected? It’s been weeks… weeks of whatever it is we’re doing and then sharing a bed together at night.”

  He sighed as if it were such a really bad thing. “Look, it just is, okay?”

  There was a knock at the door. Johnny was here. Keisha could let him stay out there until he left, but the braver, worse part of her had a different idea.

  She walked over to let him in. Johnny gave her an uneasy smile, as if he could sense that the atmosphere was off. “Come in,” Keisha said.

  She moved aside and shut the door behind him. Keisha kept her eyes on Town, and he looked back at her as she stepped toward Johnny. Keisha urged him down into the chair across from Town, so she could still see him.

  When Keisha sat on Johnny’s lap, Town clenched his fists but she could tell he was trying to remain calm. She bit her lip softly and then leaned in to kiss Johnny. Keisha had never kissed him before, he kissed her everywhere but her lips. It even felt wrong, but Johnny kissed her back and she had to try to make it seem less obvious.

  Keisha told herself to just pretend that it was Town, and she ground her hips into him. She felt Johnny harden beneath her and he gripped her hips firmly. She was only wearing a t-shirt, no reason to make things last longer. Keisha undid Johnny’s jeans and took him in her hands, then he took over and lowered her onto him.

  “Yes…” I moaned. Johnny groaned and moved his hips toward me.

  We didn’t go for but one minute when Town interrupted us angrily.

  “That’s enough!” Town shouted in rage.

  Keisha gasped, trying to catch her breath and ignore the pleasure pulsing through her body. Johnny stopped, then lifted her from him so he could adjust himself. Keisha sat on the other couch across from Town.

  “What the hell, Town?” Keisha hadn’t heard Johnny ever speak unless it was a groan or a moan of appreciation. He looked at the both of them, and then shook his head as if to himself.

  “Look, whatever you two have going on here, figure it out and leave me out of it,” Johnny said. Then he left her apartment and shut the door behind him.

  “Why did you do that?” Keisha asked Town.

  He looked down at her with that same hard look in his eyes, his fists clenched and his jaw tight.

  “What were you doing?” he growled, avoiding the question at hand.

  “What we always do. Every night,” Keisha replied. He shook his head and combed a hand through his hand angrily.

  “Not like that,” he said.

  “Like what? I’ve had Johnny alone plenty of times. You are the one who is acting crazy. Tonight is no different than the others.”

  “Yes, it is,” Town said. Keisha knew she had him then.

  “Yeah. It was. You were jealous. You do have feelings for me. Why can’t you admit it? I was honest with you, so why can’t you be honest with me?”

  Keisha stood up to talk to him, even though he still had over a foot on her.

  “Town, I want more than this.”

  Keisha knew it was wrong to do that with Johnny. But she had to rationalize it. It was the same thing as the other times, she just had a different motive. It wasn’t like Town and her had any labels or anything.

  It isn’t like Town had ever claimed Keisha.

  *****

  Town stared back at her. Saying nothing. Keisha wished he would say at least something.

  “More of what, Keisha?” Is he really this dumb? There is no way he is.

  “More than you coming over to fuck me. More than being shared… I want to be claimed.” Keisha spoke before fully thinking.

  Town looked at her strangely, like she said something he had never heard of. That hurt her the most, it was like the thought had never crossed his mind. She didn’t know what to say next.

  “You can’t… this wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

  “Well what was it supposed to be like?” Keshia felt her bottom lip trembling at the threat of tears.

  “Not this… not complicated,” Town said.

  “It isn’t… you’re making it that way.”

  “I’m not… Keisha.”

  He crossed the small space between them and kissed her, but she couldn’t kiss him back. She moved him away, placing her hand on his chest.

  “No, I can’t anymore. I don’t want only this. If you can’t be honest, if you can’t open up… I don’t want to do this anymore.”

  Town’s face turned up into a tight grimace and he gave her a pained look. But she wondered if it was just because she wasn’t letting him have sex with her.

  “Keisha…”

  “No. I told you how I feel. I want to be yours. You don’t want that, so just… you have to go.”

  Keisha turned away from him so he wouldn’t see the tears fall from her eyes. She wanted Town to prove her wrong. She wanted him to say he does have feelings for her. But he didn’t.

  He left and shut the door behind him. Keisha let the tears fall from her eyes as she sobbed on the couch. Her thighs were still throbbing from Johnny, but her heart was aching for Town.

  She didn’t even know what it was that made her have these feelings for him, feelings that were tearing her apart. Keisha knew so little about him, but she felt she knew everything. When he held her, she felt safe and wanted. Why can’t he say he wants me?

  The only thing keeping Keisha together was the hope that he did want her and just couldn’t say for whatever reason. She wanted to call Felicia and tell her what happened. But she would come over and Keisha didn’t want to ruin her night.

  Keisha took a shower, spending unnecessary time under the hot water, and then fell into bed. She realized it was the first time in a while that she had slept alone.

  *****

  Keisha hadn’t been this sad in who knows how long. College maybe when she broke up with her high school sweetheart. Ironically enough, they still talked. He’s married and was about to have a kid. But here she was in cahoots over a werewolf.

  A werewolf.

  It was crazy.

  Keisha distracted herself with work. It was pretty much all she had now. Felicia didn’t bother her much about because she knew Keisha didn’t really want to talk ab
out it. She was hurt and confused. If she had known feelings weren’t allowed to get involved, she would have been more careful. She would have told herself to stop missing him. Who am I kidding? I would still miss him when he left.

  It had only been almost three weeks since Town walked out of her apartment and made no effort to contact her. Felicia dragged Keisha out of the house. It was Friday, and they hadn’t gone out in a while.

  “You need to forget about him. Get under someone else,” Felicia said.

  “I don’t think that will work. No one can top Town…” she mumbled to herself.

  “He hasn’t talked to you?”

  “Nope.”

  Keisha lounged on her bed, fiddling with her comforter idly. She had already picked out a dress to wear out—dark pink and showed plenty of skin.

  “I’m sorry.” Felicia sat next to Keisha and hugged her.

  “It’s fine. I’ve stopped crying over it at least.”

  “That’s good. He was an asshole to leave you like that anyway. Come on, cheer up, and let’s go out and have some fun.”

  They got dressed and had a few drinks before they left for the bar. They went here a lot, so it was nothing new. A lot of career types came there, men in suits after a long day and women in their work clothes. But there was a good crowd dressed like them, and they merged with the crowd.

  “The gentleman over there bought you this.” The bartender slid a dressed Dos Equis in front of Keisha.

  “Um, thank you.”

  Felicia and Keisha both looked for this secret gentleman that bought her the drink, but found no one.

  “That’s odd,” Felicia said.

  Keisha nodded, but she was stuck on the type of beer it was. It brought her back to that night in the bar, and she had to hold back tears.

  “Aren’t you going to drink it? I don’t think the bartender spiked it.” Keisha shook her head.

  “No I… I will.” Keisha popped a peanut in her mouth to distract herself. She took the lemon out and drank some of the beer. But it didn’t help to distract her.

  “Are you okay?” Felicia shot her a look of concern.