by Kizzie Hayes
The only light was coming from the waning moon; it was no longer full or as bright as it had been with the wolves in the clearing. Maya gasped when she noticed both Michael and Ian standing there. For a brief moment, Maya’s subconscious made the realization that she must have been feeling guilty that she couldn’t decide which one she preferred. But then the dream took a turn, something that she wouldn’t have been able to force herself to wake from if she tried.
“Are we really doing this?” Michael asked, walking towards her.
Maya found herself nodding. “This is what I want.”
Ian had stepped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Then who are we to refuse?”
Once more Maya’s subconscious reeled as she took in what was happening. Ian pulled off her clothes while Michael guided her to the ground. Soon they were touching her in ways that one man had never touched her, let alone two. Maya found herself moaning as one touched her breasts and the other explored her womanhood. The dream version of herself wanted to reciprocate these feelings of pleasure and rose up to her knees while she took Michael in her mouth and Ian in her hands, giving each attention before she would switch to pleasuring the other in the opposite way.
Maya didn’t have much experience in regards to fooling around with men. She’d lost her virginity at the end of high school, but it hadn’t been like this. She hadn’t lusted over the boy that had made her a woman like her dream-self needed to be pleased by these men. She’d never felt powerful when she’d stroked his member. In this dream, she felt like royalty as she made Ian and Michael moan and become practically putty in her hand, based on what she could do with her body.
Maya woke up just getting onto her hands and knees. Michael about to enter her from behind and Ian standing before her, hand on his penis, ready for her mouth to wrap around it once more. Maya gasped as she sat up in bed, drenched in sweat as she tried to catch her breath.
“What’s the matter with you?” A voice exclaimed in the darkness and Maya could have died. Maya and her sixteen-year-old sister shared a small bedroom and apparently, she’d woken her up. “You were moaning in your sleep, and not like you were scared that’s for sure.”
Maya’s face flushed as she continued to hyperventilate. “It was just a dream, go back to bed Gabriella.”
She could hear the girl rolling over underneath her covers and grumbling about how she wished she had her own room. The girls had shared a bedroom since Gabriella was old enough to not need her mother in the middle of the night. Maya covered her face with her hands as she heard her sister’s breathing become deeper. She’d fallen back to sleep, but Maya knew that she wouldn’t for a long time.
She tried to make logical sense of it all. All the things she’d seen in her dream had been on her mind. She’d heard about the wolves on the radio, she’d been worrying about her feelings for Michael and Ian for days. Still, she couldn’t believe that she would dream about being with them both at the same time. If it weren’t for Gabriella being woken by her moans of pleasure, she probably wouldn’t have felt embarrassed at all. Her body throbbed at the thought of them both touching her and making love to her. What did that say about her? Maya thought back to an earlier idea, where she thought she was selfish for not being able to choose. Was it wrong that she could picture herself in that situation and loving every minute of it?
Maya shook her head, vowing to herself that she would make a choice this week. She had plans with both men, and she would find out once and for all who she wanted to become involved with. The stress of the situation would disappear, and she wouldn’t have dirty dreams like that anymore. That thought made Maya despair a bit, because suddenly, a threesome didn’t seem that taboo. If anything, it made her more curious than ever.
Eventually, she fell back asleep and experienced nothing else. Ian, Michael, and even the wolves were all absent. She woke up the next morning and was relieved to see that her sister had no recollection of what had woke her in the middle of the night. She changed into her work uniform and packed clothes for going out later. Her heart fluttered as she chose a flowing top and tight skinny jeans that made her feel confident and sexy. Tonight she was going out with Michael and she needed all the courage that she could get.
*****
The Funhouse was literally one of the worst movies that Maya had ever seen on the big screen. She figured it would have a great future on the science fiction television station once it left theaters. Not only where the actors’ performances subpar, but the movie was gory for the sake of being disgusting. Though as she leaned her head on Michael’s shoulder she decided that the plot wasn’t too bad. Criminally deranged psychopaths probably would hide out in carnival fun houses. Wouldn’t people notice if people were dying, though? Every time some cheerleader or carny was slaughtered in a disgusting or painful way, Maya would turn her head away from the screen, and she could feel Michael laughing at her reaction.
Finally, when the psychopath was destroyed and what was left of the cheerleaders were heroes, the movie ended, and Maya and Michael sat for a moment while the credits played.
“Next time we are watching the mushiest romance movie; I mean gag inducing.” Maya pinched him for making her sit through such a horrible movie.
Michael grabbed her hand laced his fingers through hers. “Next time?”
Maya looked up at him through her eyelashes. “I think I’d like that.”’
He smiled at her before he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I’d kiss you, but I think the usher wants to clean the theater.”
The pair finally left the theater and made their way back to Michael’s car. He had offered to drive when they’d gotten off work. Michael was going on about getting something to eat at the twenty-four-hour dinner when something on the radio made Maya turn it up and told Michael to be quiet.
“Two more hikers have gone missing in the Whitney area. That brings the total to five people missing or found dead in the woods. Residents are reminded to limit their time outdoors and to not feed or approach wolves. Authorities may start searching the forest for vicious animals.”
“What the hell?” Maya asked, remembering what she had heard on the radio the night before. “Five people? Are they sure they just aren’t getting lost in the woods?”
Michael suddenly became very serious. “What do you think about the wolves in Whitney?”
Maya was surprised by his demeanor; Michael was never somber about anything. It made her uneasy. “Uh…I don’t know. I thought wolves were afraid of people.”
Michael kept his eyes on the road gut shook his head. “Nope, there are some wolves that aren’t afraid of anything.”
“How do you know?” Maya thought that his response was odd. Granted she didn’t know much as she would like about Michael, maybe he was an expert on wolves, or his parents studied them or something.
“I just know, okay?” Michael replied with a tone that made Maya know that the conversation was over. “You still want to get something to eat right?”
After Maya and Michael split an order of fries and had a piece of blueberry pie each, he brought her back to her car at Catskill Grocery. Maya was disappointed that the night was coming to an end. She reached for his hand, trying to make it last as long as possible.
“This is one of those moments where I wish I had my own place,” Maya said. “I’d invite you back to my place.
“Gabriella needs a boyfriend,” Michael replied with his smirk.
“She’s sixteen,” Maya replied.
“I know people,” He said. “Catskill Grocery people.” He looked at his hands. “Forgive my boldness, but it’s late…we could do something here, in the car.” He cleared his throat.
Maya found her stomach doing flip flops at his offer. She thought of her dream she had the night before, of all the thing she’d done to him in that alternate reality. Add the thrill of being out in public and Maya was trembling.
“Look, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable…”
<
br /> Maya found herself climbing over the console as Michael pulled the seat back. She straddled him and put her finger to his lips. “You make me feel like I going insane, but no I’m not uncomfortable.”
Michael smashed his mouth against Maya’s, and she just let her inhibitions go. She ran her fingers through dark wavy hair and kissed him along his neck and jaw line. She let him unbutton her shirt and arched her back when he grabbed onto her breasts. Maya thought of her dream and wondered if she would experience that feeling tonight, but just as soon as the passion began, Michael was staring up at her, a cross between disappointment and adoration on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Maya asked, cupping his face in her hands.
“As much I would like to take this all the way, I want it to be special. I want for us to…” His voice trailed off. Maya knew what he was thinking: I want us to be together.
Maya kissed him before she returned to her own seat and collected her things. She wished that she could just tell him that he was everything she wanted in a man, but she couldn’t, not yet. It was too complicated for her to begin to explain.
“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked, his voice despondent. Maya felt the guilt washing over her.
“Of course, 9-3 like usual.”
Michael gave her a wary smile before he leaned over and kissed her gently. “Good. Goodnight Maya.”
She got out of his car and watched him go. Maya stood there in the Catskill Grocery parking lot in the autumn air wondering once more if there was something wrong with her. She didn’t understand how she could let someone like Michael leave without telling him what she truly thought of him. She knew it was the copper-haired man that she was going to see soon. He was one of many things that held Maya back.
*****
Maya had expected things to be extremely awkward at work the next day, but Michael was still pretty much his mischievous, joking self. The only thing that gave away his pain were his eyes. Sometimes she’d catch him watching her from across the room, and she knew that she’d hurt him the night before. He’d put his emotions out in the open, and she’d done nothing.
When she’d punched out for the day he was waiting for her by the exit and Maya found herself bursting with nerves at what he was going to say.
“What are you doing tomorrow night?”
Maya didn’t have the heart to tell him that she was going on her bookstore date with Ian, so she did just as she had done with her red headed suitor. “I’m hanging out with a friend from college. How about you?”
“There’s this huge party up in the woods. There’s supposed to be all kinds of alcohol, a band, I was seeing if I could convince you to come.” He paused as if contemplating. “You could bring your friend if you wanted. I don’t know the guys who are running it, but it sounds like everybody’s welcome.”
She smiled at him, hoping to make him feel a better about how the previous night had turned out. “I will definitely try to make an appearance.” She punched Michael in the arm before she left Catskill Grocery for the day so she could focus on getting ready for her British Lit class.
She hadn’t seen Ian since she’d had her erotic dream so she felt a new wave of embarrassment when the redhead sat down next to her, dressed nicely. Maya noticed that he had an air about him like he could have fit in with the royal family in England, or somewhere else that had dignitaries. Maybe it was his private school upbringing or just how he carried himself, but Maya was always impressed by the way that he carried himself. Sometimes it was intimidating in a way that was just as attractive as Michael’s smirk.
“Hey you,” He said sliding down beside her as usual. “I didn’t do any extra work for you, just as you ordered,” Maya smiled faintly but was so distracted by everything that had happened this week that it didn’t seem genuine. “Maya? Are you alright?”
She heaved a sigh, having always been bad at hiding her emotions. “I don’t even know where to begin, Ian.” She finally admitted. “It’s been a rough week.”
“Indeed it has,” and it was the first time that Maya looked at him and saw how tired he looked behind his dark-rimmed glasses.
“Everything okay?”
Ian reused Maya’s words. “I don’t even know where to begin, Maya.”
Maya’s smiled was bigger as she replied. “We’re still going out tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
Their British Literature professor was walking to his pulpit when Maya asked. “How do you feel about keggers in the woods?”
The next day Maya met Ian inside the cozy bookstore in the center of Whitney. Though Maya usually traveled out of town to the chain superstore to get her novels, The Turning Page was having a ridiculous sale just as Ian had described. Everything in the shop was buy one, get one for a penny, and the bargain-priced books were an additional forty percent off. In about ten minutes Maya found herself with a heavy basket full of books that encompassed multiple genres from trashy romance novels, the novelization of an extremely popular fantasy television show, and even a few of her childhood favorites. Ian in stark comparison only had four books under his arm, and they all had the same topic. Wolves and mythology.
“Has the hype of all the disappearances gotten to you, too?” Maya asked as they went to pay for their books and find a cozy corner to drink the coffee they were planning to get later. The current total had risen to seven, and they’d actually found three of the missing bodies in mutilated condition. The one constant was that wild wolves were being blamed.
“Not exactly,” Ian replied. “I do find wolves fascinating. They get blamed for a lot of things throughout history. I’m curious to see the parallels.”
Maya shook her head, thinking that everything Ian did was fascinating and made her think about things differently. She shook her head again when she placed her basket of books on the counter and before she could even open her purse, he threw his four books on top of the pile and gave the cashier his credit card.
“Ian!” Maya exclaimed. “That’s like forty dollars’ worth of books!”
“Right?” he replied. “What a great deal!”
She found herself feeling similar to when he’d supplied her with notes for their class discussion. “You don’t have to do that.”
Ian looked at her deeply with his blue eyes. “I know. I want to.”
Ian took the heavy bag of books and guided Maya to the expresso machine where he allowed her to buy them delicious frozen caffeinated beverages. She insisted, since he was always so generous to her. They sat for a few moments while Maya thanked him profusely for being so kind and generous to her. They made small talk about what book Maya would read first before Ian abruptly changed the subject.
“This party, you were serious about going?”
Maya nodded. “Yes, I have a friend who seemed excited about it. I wanted to go with you, though, I don’t get to see you as much as I would like because of my job.
“Oh no, I’m not letting you go by yourself.”
Maya was surprised by his words; they were very protective for someone who wasn’t her boyfriend. She crinkled her nose at him. “What do you mean?”
“It’s not safe to be in the woods. It might not be wolves, but something has made seven people go missing, and few of them wind up dead. It’s foolish for you to go on your own.”
“There’s going to be a lot of people there Ian.”
The man looked very serious. “Don’t care. You can ride with me, or I can follow you. Your choice.”
Maya decided to take her own car and drove up to the state park where Michael had given her the address. The parking lot was full, but Michael had made it clear that the party was going to be deep in the woods so that it wouldn’t be too obvious what was going on. She could feel an energy in the air, and she couldn’t wait to get up there. She started in the direction of the nearest path when Ian grabbed onto her hand and made her stop cold.
“You are very interesting Maya.” He said with an amused smile that she could
just make out by the streetlight in the corner of the parking lot. “You balance so many things in your life with ease, you are confident, It’s really quite attractive.”
“Really? That’s how I feel about you.” Maya admitted and was grateful for the poor lighting so that he couldn’t see her cheeks blush with embarrassment. “You are so smart, and you carry yourself in this way that sometimes I feel like I’m the presence of a prince or something.”
Ian stepped closer to her. “If I am a prince then I could make you feel like a princess.” He studied her again. “If you would let me.” Then he leaned in and kissed her softly.
Maya was immediately reminded of Michael. Although it was not said in the same words or body language, the tall, dark haired boy had insinuated the same thing. Once more, guilt flooded over Maya because she knew that she was going to have to make her choice and soon. She knew that one of these boys was going to get their heart broken. It made her upset just to think about it.
“I sense that there is more to this than you can tell me at the moment.” Ian surmised.
Maya nodded. “I’m sorry Ian, I like you a lot. It’s…”
Ian waved his hand to dismiss her from an awkward explanation. “Don’t worry about it. Just know that the offer is there. You are beautiful and kind, and I would take good care of you.” He squeezed her hand as he guided her up the path. “Now let’s find this party of yours.”
They followed the path, using flashlights on their phones since the moon was not large enough to illuminate it alone. About a mile into the woods, they found the party, and it was raging full of life. It was in a large clearing, in fact as Maya took in the scene it almost seemed familiar to her but she couldn’t place it with the roaring bonfire in the middle and people milling about excitedly.