Private Eye

by Katrina Jackson

  After a couple of hours, they looked at their apartment with satisfaction and then broke apart. Kierra went to wash the mountain of dirty laundry always cluttering the bottom of her closet, while Maya retreated to her favorite, relaxing pastime. In her bathroom, she put on her favorite true crime podcast, pulled the plastic tub of sex toys out of the linen closet next to her vanity and zoned out while she cleaned her work and personal toys, changed and recharged her batteries and organized her back-up bottles of lube by preference and flavor; finding comfort in the familiar protocols of work prep.

  It was probably fitting that that’s where Kenny found her.

  He cleared his throat and she jumped at the sound. When she turned to look at him, she suddenly remembered that she needed to grab the vibrator she kept in the shower. The one he’d gotten her. Her throat constricted as her brain instantly remembered all of the times she’d used it wishing he was here with her, just like this. But not like this. And it made her angry all over again.

  His face was red, his eyes avoiding looking at the collection of toys spread out over her bathroom sink. He cleared his throat again, “Sorry, Kierra told me to come back here. She didn’t say you were…”

  He let the sentence trail off, which made her irrationally angry. He’d been watching her fuck herself for months with a good portion of these toys, for him, but now he couldn’t even look at them.

  “She didn’t say that I was what?” Each word was saturated with all of her annoyance.

  “She didn’t say you weren’t dressed,” Kenny said.

  Maya looked down and was shocked to realize that she was wearing just a tank top and a very small pair of panties, because she preferred to clean in as little as possible. She cringed and inched to the side of her vanity, trying to cover her basically bare lower half. “I uh… I was about to take a shower.”

  He nodded and backed away. “Yep, I’ll wait in the living room.”

  “Thanks.”

  He nodded again and took two steps before turning back. His eyes were still cast down at the floor and his voice had lowered an octave or two. He seemed to be rushing to say whatever he wanted to say before he lost the nerve. “I won’t apologize again. But I want you to know that I meant every word I ever told you.” He paused, and Maya could hear her own heartbeat beginning to race. “You’re absolutely fucking beautiful.”

  It took a few minutes after he left for Maya to drag her eyes away from the spot in the doorway where he’d been.

  When she finally stepped into the shower, she could barely think straight, the scratch of her loofah over her body felt like a sensual torture. Her skin was sensitive, tingling. The sound of Kenny’s voice telling her that she was beautiful had the same effect on her that seeing those words typed on the screen during their weekly chats usually did. She wished it didn’t. She hated herself for it.

  ***

  Kenny alternated between sitting ramrod straight on the couch and pacing around the small living and dining room area as he waited for Maya to come out of her bedroom. But no matter what he was doing, his brain was trying to connect the dots between seeing her very scantily clad in her bathroom washing every small to medium-sized sex toy known to man, remembering her using so many of those toys for his pleasure and then imagining her in the shower. The shower that was just behind the wall on the far side of the kitchen. The wall he was staring at right now.

  He exhaled loudly and collapsed into one of the chairs at their dining room table. If his superiors had asked for his feedback, he would have told them that this plan was a terrible fucking idea. While Maya didn’t seem to want anything to do with him, he still wanted everything to do with her. So it was probably not a genius plan to put him in the same room as her, to put him within actual arm’s reach of the one thing that he apparently wanted more than his career but could never have. To be so close to her and not be able to touch her and talk with her the way he’d wanted would test every bit of his training and would surely wreak havoc on his mind. But his superiors had not asked for his input and right now the mission seemed to be the last thing on their minds. The sound of Kierra’s giggle drifted through her bedroom door. Kenny groaned, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. Absolute torture.

  Maya’s bedroom door inched open and he rose immediately, standing at attention. She tiptoed into the living room, her eyes wary as they settled on him briefly and then skittered away.

  “Where’s Kierra?” The sound of another giggle, that turned into a moan, answered her question. “Ah. Okay.” Maya hesitated, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth. Since she refused to look at him, Kenny took the opportunity to drink her in, that flash of her teeth as she chewed on her lip and, when she popped it back out, the slight sheen of moisture. Absolute fucking torture.

  She turned back to her room and called at him over her shoulder, “Come on. They won’t be as loud back here.”

  He probably should have said no. He probably should have turned and walked out of her apartment and sent an email to Monica informing her that he couldn’t do this. But the soft sway of her ass and hips in a very small pair of boxers cut through all of his better judgement and he didn’t care about anything else. This mission would fail and it would probably end his career. But if it meant he was able to just kiss the perimeter of Maya’s orbit for a few days or weeks, it would be absolute fucking torture that was absolutely fucking worth it.

  ***

  “Sit,” Maya demanded.

  Kenny was standing in her doorway as if he was afraid to enter her room. Which was kind of cute. She shook her head and pulled the large black bag from her closet. She placed it on the bed. Fuck cute, she thought to herself, trying to rekindle the anger she was supposed to be feeling, but kept slipping away when she looked at him. She wondered if this was a mistake as he stiffly settled onto the foot of her bed.

  Maya started to second-guess herself. She didn’t think she could go live on her broadcast tonight and touch herself for her viewers with him right there in the room with her. Scratch that. She could absolutely perform in front of him; she had bills to pay and – if she was being honest with herself for a fleeting moment – the thought of him being so close already had her wet.

  But she was worried about the moment she shut off her webcam. After a performance, she was always keyed up, no matter how many times she came during the broadcast. Her body understood the difference between orgasms for work and orgasms for herself so she usually had to take a quick moment, call to mind her own fantasies, and give herself a gentle, selfish climax. And for months that fantasy had been MasquerAsiaN. In real life he was taller than she’d imagined, more built, hotter, with a light dusting of facial hair where she had imagined him clean-shaven. Even more beautiful. Her body’s reaction to him was more intense than she could have dreamt and tonight, after she logged off, he’d be there. This sounded like a recipe for disaster.

  “Okay so,” she said, trying to focus on pulling her lights from the bag where she kept all of her equipment. “I was thinking that we start off slow. Nothing too flashy or kinky. And we keep it short.”

  Kenny turned his head toward her but watched her hands instead of her face. “Won’t that piss off your customers? Your Tuesday shows are usually a solid hour at least.”

  Maya’s hands stuttered. “Do you know my entire weekly schedule?” She refused to look at him.

  She heard him gulp. “Just… just your public shows and our… Yeah,” he said, ending on a whisper.

  She wondered if his chest actually hurt at the realization that this Thursday would be the first Thursday in months they wouldn’t chat together; because hers did. She turned away and began pulling her the rest of her equipment from the closet while he pushed up from the bed and started pacing.

  She took a deep breath. “They’ll be alright. The newness of having my… you in the room will override their annoyance.” She stood up straight and locked eyes with him. Her voice almost gave out, but she pushed through. “Actually, this mig
ht be a bit of a windfall for me.” She smiled. She thought it was convincing.

  “Enough to get you on today’s popularity ranking?”

  She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and raised her hand to show him her crossed fingers. But his eyes were trained on her mouth, so she wasn’t sure that he saw.

  She wanted to kiss him. She thought she heard a faint knock on the front door. She let out a breath of air and walked to her bedroom door, wrenching it open. Maya stuck her head out into the hallway and waited, thinking that maybe she’d imagined the sound.

  “What’s wrong?” Kenny asked.

  “Shhhh,” she hissed.

  A tangle of moans seeped into the hallway from Kierra’s room. “Jesus, I don’t even want to know what those three are doing in there,” Maya mumbled. She tried to feign a laugh but then she felt him behind her. Not touching. Just there. The warmth of his body licking at her bare skin like a tiny flame that would grow if only she would let it. She wondered why she hadn’t put on more clothes.

  There was another knock.

  Maya pushed out of her room and down the hallway. She gasped when Kenny’s hands wrapped around her waist. Or it might have been a moan. Fuck, she hoped it had been a gasp.

  He pulled her back into his strong body. His mouth found her ear and she tried to swallow the moan that rose up in her throat; she did not succeed. “I should get that. Just in case.”

  She should have asked, just in case what? But instead she closed her eyes and nodded, trying to sear the feel of his grasping at her soft middle and his breath on her ear into her memory. Is that his dick? Her eyes popped open, but he’d already moved around her toward the door. She saw his hands flex as he reached for the handle. She knew in that moment that unless there was an assassin behind that door who killed one or both of them, she was going to fuck Kenny, aka MasquerAsiaN, aka the man of her fucking dreams, who also happened to be a spy and a liar. It might not fix a damn thing, but she knew for a fact that it would be as good as she’d hoped it would be. And it would be absolutely worth it.

  ***

  Kenny cursed under his breath when he saw Chanté’s face through the peephole of Maya’s front door. He pulled it open just enough to stick his head out.

  “Go away,” he hissed.

  She just beamed at him. “Nope, got a job to do. Let me in.”

  “Go away. I’ll pay you double your rate.”

  Chanté arched an eyebrow at him. “Monica’s paying me triple my rate.”

  “Fine, I’ll pay you quadruple. Just go away.”

  Chanté reached out to cup Kenny’s cheek. “I love you Ken Doll, but I know exactly how much money is in your bank accounts and what you’re saving it for. I can’t bankrupt you like that.”

  Kenny squeezed his eyes shut. “Stop hacking into my accounts, Chanté. I can’t keep changing my passwords. And have you raised your rates?”

  Chanté bounced onto the balls of her feet and gave him an impish smile. “If you need to know your current passwords just gimme a call, duh. And yeah, I raised my rates after that thing I can’t tell you about in that place I was at that one time.”

  Kenny stared blank-faced at her.

  “Well who the hell is it?” Maya’s voice cut through his frustration at Chanté. She sounded annoyed.

  “Oh my god, is that her?” Chanté squealed loud enough for Maya to hear.

  Kenny exhaled and stepped back to open the door and let Chanté in. She pushed past him in her eagerness to enter.

  “Maya,” Kenny said, a pained smile on his face. “This is Chanté. She’s handling the tech on this op.” And then they were face-to-face. He sighed at the annoyance and confusion written plainly on Maya’s face. He knew that it would be no match for Chanté’s endless enthusiasm and willingness to divulge all of his most embarrassing secrets.

  ***

  When Kenny preempted her opening her own door, Maya expected some big bad to come bursting through it. Instead, the cutest girl with the cutest voice ever, pushed into her apartment. Maya was confused.

  “I’m so excited to meet you,” Chanté said. “Kierra told me a little bit about you in Berlin.”

  “You know Kierra? Wait, when was Kierra in Berlin?”

  “Oh,” Chanté glanced at Kenny out of the corner of her eye.

  He put his hands on his hips, exhaled loudly and shook his head.

  “Um, I’m maybe not supposed to tell you about that. So let’s just say…. Maybe.”

  Maya laughed, “Alright.”

  “And also, you know, Kenny told me about you.”

  “Chanté,” Kenny hissed.

  She turned to him then and flung her arms out to either side. “Am I not supposed to tell her that either? God, what can I say?”

  “Nothing. Let’s try that for once.”

  Chanté opened her mouth wide and took in a large breath, clearly not okay with saying nothing. Maya cut into what she assumed was a very regular conversation between them.

  “Let me guess, you’re not a spy.”

  Chanté turned toward her, a big smile on her face. “Nope. I’m more like an independent contractor. Although some people call me an asset.”

  Kenny rolled his eyes at that. Maya caught the movement, but she didn’t know what it meant.

  “And you two have known each other for a while?”

  “Oh yeah, we’ve been best friends since college. Way before this one signed up to The Agency.”

  “What Agency?”

  Kenny clamped a hand over Chanté’s mouth and the other cupped the back of her head, to stop her from answering. “My employer. You aren’t authorized to know any more than that. And the background checks to get even the lowest level clearance is so thorough I’d know your third grade teacher’s social security number.”

  Maya’s mouth fell open. “Forget I asked.”

  Kenny nodded and turned to Chanté. “Can you for once stay on track?”

  He moved the hand from her mouth slowly as if afraid of what might fall out.

  She frowned at him. “I mean I can try, but I’m not making any promises.”

  Kenny smiled indulgently at her and moved his other hand from her head. “That’s all I ever ask.”

  Watching them together did something to Chanté’s stomach and heart. It was like a gut punch to her resolve to keep this just business. A very inconvenient gut punch that kinda felt like lust.

  Chanté turned to Maya, “I’ve got your new webcam. I thought we could set it up before your next broadcast.”

  “Sounds good. Follow me.” She turned away from them and used those few steps to her room to try and settle her racing pulse with deep breaths. As she passed Kierra’s door, she heard a woman’s moan that did not sound like Kierra, so she assumed it was Monica.

  “Oh my god, are they in there?” The “they” clearly understood.

  “Yeah,” Kenny grunted.

  “Um okay. Maybe I’ll just go say hi for a bit,” Chanté said.

  Maya turned to see Kenny grasp her by the shoulders and steer her past Kierra’s door.

  “We’re staying on task, remember?” Kenny said in exasperation.

  “Are all spies this freaky,” Maya asked around a laugh.

  “Oh girl, I wish. You all,” she said gesturing toward Kierra’s door and at Maya and Kenny, “are truly my people.”

  In her bedroom, Kenny stood awkwardly to the side, his back pressed against the wall, once again seeming unsure if he wanted to be there. Maya set up her lights and tried to ignore the pounding in her chest and between her legs in anticipation. And Chanté got to work setting up Maya’s new top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art camera, with broadcasting capabilities. It cost thousands of dollars, which Maya knew because it had been sitting in her online wish list for months even though it was way out of her budget. The video quality alone would be lightyears ahead of her current camera; the one she’d gotten on deep discount when she’d first started modeling. Maya made a mental note to give Kierra the big
gest hug ever, assuming she ever emerged from her room again. Which was an actual crapshoot.

  “Okay, so what’s the set up here? I know you’re usually on your bed, so are we doing that still?” Chanté asked, all business.

  “Uh yeah,” Maya responded, shocked that Chanté had clearly done her research.

  “You normally do a tight shot on you, but we’ll have to widen our angle a bit for Kenny, right? Where do you want him?”

  It was such an innocent and direct question and Chanté’s meaning was quite clear. Where did Maya want Kenny positioned on the bed? But Kenny had once asked Maya that question almost verbatim and the implication had been very different.

  MasquerAsiaN

  Where do you want me to come baby?

  ThickaThanASnicka

  Everywhere

  MasquerAsiaN

  lol be more specific

  ThickaThanASnicka

  In every hole

  Maya started chewing on her bottom lip, too afraid to look in Kenny’s direction, especially not when she heard his gulp from across the room and realized that they must have delved back into the same memory.

  Chanté fanned herself. “You two are very, very hot.”

  Kenny coughed and Maya cleared her throat.

  “On… on the bed,” she finally said. “I was thinking that he could recline against my headboard. That way we can angle the camera to cut off just his head.”

  “Good idea,” Chanté said and turned to Kenny. “Well let’s go.”

  He shook his head, “Um…”

  “No, she’s right. We need you in position,” Maya said, her voice sounding much more sure about this situation than she felt.

  “Exactly. If we don’t get the angle just right, your career could be over,” Chanté teased.