Soul Mate (The Mating Series)

by S. Swan

“Probably about what a big stud you are,” Cho said and punched him in the arm.

  “Shut up,” Jimmy said. He brushed my hair back. “What were you thinking?”

  “About us and how happy I am right now.”

  Jimmy bent and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m happy right now too.” He sighed. “I wish it could last forever.” I do too.

  “Hey, don’t get all melancholy,” Cho said. “This little girl is perfect for you. Don’t fuck it up!” He reached over and playfully pushed Jimmy’s head.

  “I don’t plan on it,” Jimmy said.

  “If you do... I’ll kick your ass,” Cho slurred. I counted the empty cans on the coffee table, twelve. Jimmy had one; I drank half of one. Cho was on his tenth beer. At some point he started smoking again. Ashes covered the top of an empty can. Cho held a cigarette in the air. Jimmy must have conceded to Cho smoking while I daydreamed. The acrid smell of nicotine hung in the air. “If you let her go, I’m waiting to snag her for myself,” Cho said. “…just to piss you off.”

  “You’ll be waiting a long time,” Jimmy said.

  “You never know, I may be the soul mate you see.”

  “In my vision she’s with a man, not a senior citizen.” I worried the conversation would bring Jimmy’s spirit down. I bugged my eyes at Cho, and tried to quiet him.

  “You won’t call me a senior citizen when I kick your ass little boy,” Cho snarled. He reached over me and smacked his little brother. Around Jimmy, Cho acted completely different.

  “Cassie will never be your soul mate. She’s not into perverted old men.”

  “I’m not perverted!” Cho bellowed. “I have specific tastes.”

  “Remember, I shared an apartment with you.” Jimmy laughed. “You’re messed up man.” He shoved back at Cho.

  “You’ll never let me live that down, will you?” Cho asked. “It was consensual,” he said. “Nothing weird.”

  “Sounds weird,” I said. I had no clue what they meant about, but it sounded dirty.

  “You don’t know the finer points of pleasure,” Cho said.

  “…and Cassie will never find out,” Jimmy said, wrapping his arm around me. I think I found out in the shower.

  “You should take some lessons Little Bro.” Cho punched his brother again.

  “That’s it!” Jimmy yelled, punching Cho. The two began pushing and shoving like children.

  “Hey, I’m comfortable here. Don’t make me get up.” I whined.

  “Enough.” Jimmy said, before punching Cho in the arm.

  The Colts made another touchdown putting them up by five points. The men cheered, and rocked me with jubilation. Cho patted my leg in excitement. His hand remained on my leg. He absently circled a finger on my calf. I pulled away from Cho. He gave me an apologetic look.

  The Colts won by three touchdowns. After the game ended, Jimmy flipped channels for a while. “I love this show,” Cho called out. It was a reality show where everyone wanted their ten minutes of fame. I hated reality shows. Two girls cat fought on the screen.

  “I’m going to bed.” I stretched my back. “Are you coming?” I asked Jimmy.

  “In a minute, I want to talk to Cho,” Jimmy said.

  “I’ll be waiting for you.” I purred in Jimmy’s ear and then kissed him.

  Jimmy gave me a naughty smile. “mmm!”

  “Hey, where’s my good night kiss?” Cho asked.

  “Can it!” Jimmy shot him a warning look. I kissed Cho on the top of the head. I winked at Jimmy playfully.

  “Watch it, Bro. You’ll be staying at Motel Eight if you aren’t careful,” Jimmy said.

  “You know I’m just playing,” Cho said, innocently.

  “Keep it that way,” Jimmy said.

  “Night boys,” I said. Together, they acted like boys not men.

  Before I went to bed I grabbed my bags from the guest room and moved them to Jimmy’s bedroom. I dug through one of the bags until I found an oversized night shirt. I pulled it over my head when Jimmy came up behind me. “Oh no you don’t,” he said, pulling the shirt off.

  I turned to him. “What if I get cold?”

  “I’ll keep you warm,” he said. Jimmy hooked a finger in my under pants. He slid it along my pubic bone teasing me. Chills shot through me. “You feel hot to me,” he said. In one movement he had my panties down around my ankles. I kicked them off.

  He turned the stereo on. It softly played “Angel Eyes”. Jimmy wanted to make sure Cho didn’t hear us. I giggled as he came up behind me. I could feel his hardness against my back. I tried to turn, but he stopped me. “I want to go slow this time,” he said.

  “Yes, but it’s unfair. I’m naked and you’re not.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and swayed to the music. “What you’re doing with a clown like me, is surely one or life’s little mysteries...” He sung in my ear. “What did I do? What did I say...” He turned me in his arms. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me...”

  Jimmy and I danced as he sung. “How did I ever earn your love…?” Jimmy sang wonderful, his voice a little husky and sexy as hell.

  When the song ended, I undressed Jimmy. I pulled his shirt over his head and ran my nails down the rippled muscles of his abdomen. “Oh God!” Jimmy cried.

  I knelt down and kissed his belly. I began to undo his jeans. I freed the stiff organ in his pants and held it in my hand. I stroked it gently. “Faster.” He begged.

  “No, we’re going slowly, remember,” I said. He groaned in frustration. I took the shaft in my mouth. Jimmy whimpered. I went slowly up and down, making circles with my tongue. I took all of him in my mouth, and buried my face in his soft hair. I inhaled. He throbbed in my mouth, ready to explode. I stopped.

  He threw me on the bed. I waited expectantly, but Jimmy didn’t plunge into me. Instead, he yanked open a drawer, and fumbled through it. A condom wrapper crinkled open. I trembled with anticipation. Finally, I leaned up and stared at him. He smiled, teasingly. “Patience,” he said, standing over me. “Do you want me?”

  “Yes!” I begged.

  Jimmy still didn’t penetrate me. Instead he pulled my legs apart. He slowly circled my sex with his tongue. He nipped and teased me until I could take it any longer. I arched my back and cried out. Jimmy pushed into me. He went deep. I convulsed in ecstasy. He pushed up on his arms and moved in and out slowly. We moaned in unison. Another wave of ecstasy over took my body. Jimmy let out a long roar of pleasure and then dropped on me. He pulled out slowly which caused me to shudder. Jimmy rested in my arms. We didn’t speak. I thought Jimmy went to sleep on me.

  “Are you still there?” I asked, in the silence.

  “Hmm.” He grunted.

  “That was awesome.” I breathed. I thought about the cigarette I had with Cho in the morning. I wanted another.

  “Where’d you learn to do that thing with your tongue?” Jimmy asked.

  “Summer camp,” I answered.

  “I should’ve gone to summer camp.” Jimmy chuckled. “I missed out.”

  “I didn’t learn on a boy.”

  “A girl?”

  “No popsicles,” I said. “The older girls told us to practice on popsicles.” I rolled over. “You’re the first guy I tried it on.”

  “Really?” he asked, removing the condom.

  “Isn’t a condom a moot point after this afternoon?” I asked.

  “It only takes once,” Jimmy said. He tossed it in the waste basket. “You didn’t answer me, am I really the only one you’ve done oral on?”

  “Really,” I said. “I haven’t been with that many men.”

  “How many?” Jimmy asked. We’d never discussed our sex lives before. I felt shy. Jimmy knew everything about me, whatever he wanted to know he plucked from my mind.

  “How many for you?” I asked.

  “I asked first.”

  “Two… three now.”

  “Five.” Jimmy answered.

  “Five?” I asked. “I don’t believe you
.”

  “Only five women counting you,” Jimmy said. “None as good as you.”

  Jimmy was five years older than me. “I assumed you had more experience since you’re older.”

  “It’s hard for me to be with women.”

  “Why?”

  “Imagine meeting a really hot guy. You’re into him, and then suddenly you see all of the women he’s slept with. Or, you know all of the lies he’s telling just to be with you….Or the worst, you see his wife and kids. It’s a real mood killer.”

  “I see,” I said. “How long has it been for you?”

  “I don’t know at least four years, probably longer,” Jimmy said. He hasn’t been with anyone since he met me. I felt sorry for him, but happy at the same time.

  “I’ve often wondered if you were out having casual sex when you weren’t hanging out with me.”

  “Sex with me is never casual,” Jimmy said. “Having sex with a woman is like plugging into them. I connect in a way you can’t understand. I’m flooded with every thought and feeling. I see their whole life. I could never have a one night stand.”

  “Is it that way with me?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “I know everything you know, see all that you’ve seen. I know what feels good and what you’re thinking.” He turned to me. “That reminds me, earlier in the shower; I caught a glimpse of Cho seeing you naked. What’s that about?”

  “He didn’t see me naked... I was in a towel, but my boob sort of fell out.”

  “Cho saw one of your boobs?” Jimmy asked.

  “Not all of it,” I said, defensively.

  “That explains his lusty thoughts about you all night.”

  “He wasn’t…”

  “Yes he was. I could not only read his mind, I could read his body language.” I felt vulnerable. Jimmy completely tuned into me during sex. “Did I freak you out?”

  “No, but it’s a little unnerving,” I said.

  “It freaked me out the first time.”

  “How do you enjoy sex while being inundated with your partner’s thoughts?”

  “It’s not easy, and I don’t always,” Jimmy said. “It’s different with you.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “I guess because I already know you so well, and because you’re the first person I’ve truly loved. The vibes you send when we’re having sex are just as pleasurable as the sex.”

  “You know everything about me, and sometimes I feel like I know nothing about you.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I feel like I don’t know you as well as I thought I did.”

  “Cho’s been talking to you,” Jimmy said. “He thinks he knows me better than anyone, but he doesn’t.” I wasn’t convinced. “What did he say?”

  “Nothing. Well, he said that if I love you I should fight for you, and not to let you screw up this relationship.”

  “I don’t have a good track record with relationships, but I’ve never felt this way about anyone else.”

  “Cho thinks that you fabricated the vision of me with a soul mate as a defense from getting hurt.”

  “He thinks I’m lying?”

  “Not exactly,” I said. “He thinks when you started having feelings for me that you subconsciously made up the vision to keep your feelings at bay.”

  “I wish it were true,” Jimmy said.

  “Is it?”

  “I don’t know, but I had the vision right when I realized I loved you,” he said. “That was over three years ago. I’m tired of waiting around to see. Let’s forget about my vision.”

  “I can, but I don’t think you can.” I sighed.

  “Do I seem like I’m worrying about it?” Jimmy asked. “Besides, I’ll fight for you.”

  “You’ll fight for me?” I asked.

  “If your soul mate came along, I’ll fight to keep you.”

  “Why?” I asked. I assumed if Jimmy knew who my soul mate was, he’d break it off. It was nice to know he would fight to keep me.

  “I love you,” Jimmy said. “What if he was some jerk or made you miserable? I couldn’t let you be with a jerk.”

  “You’ve changed.” He didn’t feel that way a few weeks ago. Something in our relationship shifted. It made me happy.

  “You know what I thought about the entire time I was locked up?” Jimmy asked.

  “No.”

  “I was so afraid I’d never get to be with you again. I cursed myself for leaving you the other night and not spending every moment I could with you. I made up my mind if I did get out on bond today that I was going to have at least one good evening with you.” He pulled me close to him. “If the world goes to shit in the future, we’ll always have this night to remember.”

  I wished we could stay like happy, but a storm loomed on the horizon. I didn’t know how our relationship would fair. Jimmy was right; we would always have the one night together. For the first time in weeks, I hadn’t thought of death or danger. Jimmy needed a release. I needed it too. Tomorrow I would have to deal with all of the impending issues in my life: the death of my mentor and friend, being unemployed, Jimmy being falsely accused, and the freak who infringed on my privacy. Tonight however, I only thought of my love for Jimmy.

  CHAPTER 10

  I woke before dawn to wetness between my legs. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom. I started my period. The arrival of my cycle brought the end of our passionate love making, at least for the next few days. The unknown of the days ahead gave a foreboding feeling. I felt like the beginning of the end of our relationship. At the very least, the love and desire we enjoyed the night before was on hold. On the bright side, I wasn’t pregnant.

  I tried to discretely gather my hygiene products from Jimmy’s bedroom without waking him. I prayed I hadn’t left a stain on the sheets. I couldn’t see in the dark. I had to wait until daybreak to inspect the bed. I crept around the room like a thief. “Cassie,” Jimmy whispered. I turned to him. I saw his silhouette leaning up in bed. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “Go back to sleep.”

  “Come back to bed.”

  “I can’t,” I whispered. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  “Come back soon,” Jimmy mumbled sleepily.

  “I will.”

  I stood in the shower watching blood run down the drain. I thought of Penny, Skye and Mary. So much blood shed lately. I couldn’t understand why. What had these women done to deserve death? I thought about the message written in blood left in my door.

  “Cassie,” Jimmy called from the door. “Why are you in the shower at four in the morning?”

  “Go back to bed,” I said.

  Jimmy opened the door. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I started my period,” I said, embarrassed. “Please go back to bed.”

  After I showered, I went to the bedroom, and found the light on. Jimmy worked, changing the sheets. “Oh God, did I make a mess?”

  “It was just a little spot,” Jimmy said. “It’ll wash out.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “Don’t apologize.”

  I covered my face. “I’m so embarrassed.”

  “Don’t be,” he said. “Come to bed.”

  I fell into the bed. The clean sheets smelled good. Jimmy snuggled close to me. Many men would be disgusted by menstrual blood in their bed. Jimmy didn’t seem bothered.

  “You’re jumpy,” he said. “Are you sure everything is alright?”

  “No,” I said. “Nothing is going to be alright.”

  “Hey, look at me,” Jimmy said. I turned to him. “Talk to me.”

  “It’s just…” I started. “…last night was so perfect, but it’s not perfect.”

  “We have some issues. Everyone has issues.”

  “Jimmy, things are screwed up,” I said. “We both ignored it last night, but today is different.”

  “I know that.”

  “Now, I c
an’t even be with you like last night.”

  “It’s not the end of the world,” Jimmy soothed. “It will all work out.”

  “I’m afraid!” I cried.

  “Come here Babe.” He held me tight. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Don’t be afraid.” Jimmy’s warm body settled me. I began to calm down. “Better?” Jimmy asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “This just caught me off guard.”

  Jimmy was silent for a while. I was almost asleep when he said, “You can do that trick with your tongue for the next week. I won’t complain.” I giggled and hit him with my pillow. Jimmy fell back to sleep quickly. It took me a long time to sleep again.

  We woke at seven to Cho pounding at the bedroom door. “Get up, love birds,” he called. “The home detention people will be here at eight.”

  I felt Jimmy stir next to me. Cho continued to pound. “Shut the hell up!” Jimmy called back. “We’re up!” He rolled over to me. “Let’s stay in bed all day.”

  “We can’t,” I said.

  “I don’t wanna get up,” he whined.

  “Go.” I pushed him to the edge of the bed. His face looked sleepy and cute. It wouldn’t take much for me to stay in bed with him. He had a mischievous little boy grin. Jimmy rolled on top of me. His silky black hair tickled across my face while we kissed. He pressed his body against mine, making me want him. “Jimmy.”

  He exhaled. “Hmm?”

  “We have to get up,” I said. “Go take a shower before the people get here.”

  “Will you join me?”

  “I can’t,” I said.

  “Then it will be a cold shower for me.” He groaned, rolling off me.

  I watched him strut across the room, naked and erect. “I’d say you need a cold shower.” I giggled like a school girl.

  “I could think of better remedies,” he said, heading to the bathroom. I listened for the shower to start, then dressed myself, and went into the kitchen.

  Cho turned the island into a buffet. He had all kinds of food laid out for breakfast, doughnuts, cream cheese, an assortment of bagels and muffins. “There’s coffee, juice and milk to drink,” he said. “I didn’t know what you guys would want to eat, so I got a bunch of stuff. I can make you an omelet if you want.”

  “Cho, this is great. When did you do this?” I asked.