Nico's Cruse

by Jennifer Kacey

  “I can’t say that I understand because I clearly don’t. But just the fact you’re pretty upset by it does make me feel a bit better.” She tried to smile but it felt fake, even to her.

  “You’ve got every right to be totally pissed off at me and I get that. Thanks for not blowing me off. Honestly, if it happened to me just a few years ago, I’d have lost your number immediately and moved on. I’ve been such a dickhead when it came to females most of my life. I don’t want to move on, not now, not at the end of my week.”

  “What do you mean the end of your week?” Rose asked. “You made a comment about it before which make no sense to me. And what happened this afternoon? I know you feel bad about not getting there but what kept you away from meeting me in the first place?”

  “I…had a…problem with my truck. I had a couple flat tires.”

  The rest of it stuttered out, as if it were in the form of a question, which truly baffled her. “With your truck? Okay, vehicle trouble totally sucks. So I could just come to you tomorrow. I’ll—”

  “No. You can’t come here.”

  His voice vibrated through her with its intensity. “Why not? You seem like you want to see me and I most definitely want to see you. Am I a two-bagger and you’re just too sweet to tell me?”

  Utterly serious. “If you come here, you can’t leave. Do you understand what I’m saying? You’ll be trapped just like me.”

  Talk about strange. She shrugged her shoulders. ”So give me the address and I’ll bring an overnight bag.”

  “Don’t joke about this. Not for a minute. It’s so unfair. Why you? Why now?”

  “But you just said it was because you had a couple tire issues. That’s fixable or at least you can just wait it out until a tow truck gets there to take it to the shop, right? Seriously not a big issue and then I can take you to the shop—”

  “You make it sound so easy to fix but it’s not. You can’t…fix this for me, even though your offer is exactly what I’ve been waiting for, for years.”

  “You’ve had flat tires for years? Well, okay, yeah that’s odd but not something we can’t get around. Let me come over and I’ll—”

  “I’m cursed.” His head hung low, shaking back and forth.

  She opened her mouth a few times but seriously the synapses in her head had all ground to a resounding standstill.

  “Cursed as in, you’ve had a streak of bad luck or…what exactly?”

  He lifted his head and stared right at her, through her, inside her.

  “Cursed as in, I’ll never be free of this house. It is my prison. I know how a goldfish feels swimming in a round fishbowl, seeing the same things every day. At first it’s fine and the place is perfect, and not having to share my space was awesome. But then weeks changed into months and months to years. I haven’t left my house in nearly six years.”

  He paused, watching her intently, searching her for some kind of answers or at least intelligent questions to impart some kind of wisdom to him.

  “Huh?” was all that came out.

  Chapter Seven

  “How long do you have? I’ll tell you everything but I’ve never told anyone and I don’t want to get derailed in the middle.”

  She shook her head slowly, not knowing what she needed to say. “I’m all yours until you’re finished.”

  He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, trying to figure out what to say or which lie to start with, she guessed.

  “A witch cursed me almost six years ago. She cursed me to my house and I haven’t left since. Well, not really.”

  Unable to think of anything else to say, she said the first thing that popped into her head. “You’re shitting me, right? Get your kicks by telling girls this and they fall for it—”

  “No,” he shouted. “You’re literally the first person I’ve ever told the truth to.”

  “Uh, huh. The truth? Right. Why did she curse you? What could you have possibly done to warrant being cursed in the first place?”

  “I seduced her while on vacation in the Keys. I was a complete dick, made promises of love and devotion and a future together when I didn’t have any intention of being with her at all after my week there. On my last day, I packed and told her everything she wanted to hear. I’d call her and we’d find a place together it was nothing but bullshit. I thought I was home free.”

  He glanced at her and she raised a skeptical eyebrow in his direction.

  “It’s the truth, Rose. I swear it. When I got home and walked through the front door, this wave of awful swamped me, like a literal ball and chain snapped around my ankle. I knew something was wrong, tried to leave and couldn’t open the door. The windows won’t open either. Wait, I can show you.”

  He picked up the laptop and flipped it around so it faced away from him while he walked toward a bank of windows in the living room.

  Rose squinted. They just don’t look right. Almost as if they were a still picture plastered on the glass.

  He tried to open them, each of them, one by one and none of them even so much as budged.

  Then he moved onto the front door, the back door, the garage. Nothing would open. It was almost as if everything was glued shut from the outside.

  “But what about food or house maintenance or even a haircut? You’d have to leave for any of those things.”

  “Nothing ever breaks down in the house. Not ever. I tried cutting the pipes several times under the sinks but they seem impenetrable. I wanted to leave the gas running when I was at my lowest point about a year in. Thought I’d blow the house to smithereens with me in it and really show her. But it’s like the house is smart. I got the gas going but nothing I tried would spark. No match or clicker or cigarette lighter in the entire house would light for me. Everything worked perfectly well before and after, but during? Everything here seems to obey her wishes. Everything.”

  He walked over to the refrigerator, opened the door, showing her inside. Everything was beautiful and the best of lots of different foods. He grabbed a big handful of grapes and then closed the door.

  She had no idea how long he waited but it wasn’t very long. Less than a minute. He opened the door again and the grapes had completely regenerated. No tiny stalks remained bare.

  He continued his tour through the house, with her in tow, staring out from the laptop screen. All amenities were there for him. A workout room with at least a dozen machines, an indoor pool complete with hot tub, a floral atrium that looked like it belonged in some kind of magazine or forest preserve. He even had a baby grand piano in the living room but he truly saved the best for last.

  Across from his bedroom, stood a dungeon.

  And not just a space with a couple spanking benches or a cross in the closet he brought out at parties.

  “All sorts of dungeon equipment but no one to play with.”

  “It’s just there to what? Taunt you?”

  “Exactly. I have the best of the best of everything and no one to share it with.”

  She glanced around the room, wondering where in the world all of it came from, not to mention how half of it was even used. “What’s that?” she asked when light glinted off what looked like a collar in a lighted cage. He got closer to it.

  She could barely make out the lock on the cage before he turned away, heading toward the living room. He didn’t waste any time getting out of there.

  “But how do you date? How did you find the Crossroads site? How did you even know anything about it other than searching on the internet?”

  He set the screen on the table and he sat down hard in the chair facing it.

  “A few days shy of the anniversary of my trip I woke up one morning and this laptop sat here on the table.”

  He glared at the edges of it. Silence filled the empty space between them until she asked, “How did you know what to do with it?”

  He blinked a few times, coming back to their reality. “When I powered it on a note filled the screen. She created the dating site and once a year, I�
��d be able to pick one of the women who put up a profile.” He held her stare and never looked away. “I’ve been trapped for six years, haven’t aged in those years, except for the hair.” He ran his fingers through it. “Her little private joke.”

  “Why is the hair supposed to be funny?” Not that she believed any of it.

  “Her hair was pure white, half way down her back. It was a beautiful contrast to her black skin.” He shrugged. “So every time I look in the mirror, I think of her. Every time.”

  “What does she want from you? She must have told you she wanted something.”

  “She wants some kind of Cinderella bullshit. Says I’m supposed to be searching for my soul mate but she only gives me one week each year to do it and the next year I can’t contact the woman I met the previous year. Not like they’d talk to me anyways since I’m just…gone after our week together.” He rolled his eyes and she snapped back at him.

  “So you what…have to find a woman stupid enough to fill out the profile and submit it? Then you pick her,” she gestured with her hands, finally getting pissed off. “Woo her and get her to fall asleep so you can sneak over and—”

  “Fuck her. Yes that’s always what I’ve used it for. I can move from my house to theirs through the laptop but they have to be asleep and the video connection has to be up with the right password for me to get through.”

  She made a face and shook her head. “You’re bullshitting me.”

  “I’m not. Why in the hell would I lie about this?”

  She didn’t have an answer for him because it sure made him seem like a lunatic.

  “Fate. She said it was my fate that this happened. And karma, biting me in the ass.”

  “Fate? You make it sound so final. Isn’t there something the woman told you she wanted? Something finite?”

  “Yes. But it’s not something I can give her.” He watched her then shook his head. “I couldn’t do it. Thought I could but after I met you I know I can’t.”

  “What is it? Maybe I can get it for you?” Had she lost her mind too? What the fuck was she thinking?

  “Nothing, Rose. I’d give almost anything to be free but I can’t give her what she wants. The trade she wants isn’t fair. I’ve never told anyone any of this. Don’t know why I’m telling you now. You can’t fix it, can’t change it.”

  “Tell me what she wants. Maybe it is something I can get. I don’t know if I believe you. The story is completely farfetched but if it’s something I could—” Miss Priss jumped into Rose’s lap and he jumped when he caught sight of her white tail. He stiffened.

  “What? Don’t like cats?”

  “Not particularly. Especially white ones. I’m sure you can understand why.” He ran his palm over his hair.

  The cat hissed, running out of the room in a flash. “Sheesh. She’s never acted like that before.”

  “Time’s almost up. Tomorrow’s the last day of my week for another year.”

  Tears threatened out of nowhere but she swallowed the emotion. “But we’ve only been together for a few days, not a week.”

  “Your profile didn’t come through at the beginning.”

  “Didn’t you have others to choose from?”

  “Yes.”

  “But you waited.”

  “They just weren’t right. Something told me to wait, so I waited. The nights with you? They made me feel free. I’ll never be able to say thank you enough for that. Not like you’d even want to see me again, which I get, but, umm…thank you.”

  His story didn’t make sense. It was completely ridiculous and she didn’t believe it. Not really. But the dreams felt real and she wanted to see him again. What harm would it cause, falling asleep talking to him one more time?

  She snuggled down in bed. “I can’t wait to see you.”

  His eyebrows made a vee. “You still want to see me?”

  He sounded so young there for a minute she wanted to kiss him, to stroke his face. “Yes is quite an understatement. You make me feel more alive than I have in years. In the dreams, or the reality, whatever it is, the way you look at me, touch me, there’s something there I’m not ready to let go of. So just hurry and get here before I change my mind.”

  “I’ll be there soon, baby. Close your eyes. Think of me.”

  “I haven’t been able to think of anything else since I met you.” He smiled his same half-smile that Rose had fallen for their very first day.

  “Ditto.”

  She scooted the laptop over to the opposite corner of the bed to give him plenty of room to get through. “I’ve lost my mind,” she mumbled to herself as she tried to relax.

  A beautiful melody tickled the ivories along with Rose’s ears. “Nico, who is that? Who’s playing?” When the song continued and he didn’t answer she glanced at the screen.

  He sat behind the baby grand playing a song with no sheet music on the stand. Her heart filled near to bursting, watching him play with such emotion. Time alone could be a blessing or a curse.

  She truly relaxed, breathing deep, thinking of him.

  The music slowly grew softer and softer and she thought she heard him say something right before she fell asleep.

  “I’ve lost my heart. Now what the fuck am I going to do when I have to say goodbye?”

  She wanted to talk to him, answer him but her mind wouldn’t cooperate. She slipped into unconsciousness picturing his rugged face moving toward the screen.

  His lips on her shoulder as he stripped off her shirt woke her up. “You came,” she whispered with a smile.

  “Well not yet but I’m hoping to before the night is over.”

  His low rumble of a laugh warmed her insides and she decided to let all of her doubt go. She didn’t want to waste a minute of their time together if it truly was their last night.

  He pulled her out of bed, stripping the rest of her clothes off until she stood before him completely naked and vulnerable. He brushed the hair away from her face, staring at every inch of her.

  “I want to memorize each piece of you.” He rotated her around and tucked her body close to his, hugging her close, kissing her neck, sucking the lobe of her ear into his mouth.

  Her hands found their way up to his forearms and she held them to her. “I don’t want this to be the last time we’re together. Just thinking about it makes my chest feel like it’s breaking in half.”

  He moved her feet apart, spearing his hand between her thighs, rubbing along the smooth lips of her sex, stealing her worry and replacing it with need. “Nothing but us tonight, my pretty girl. We aren’t going to worry about tomorrow. We’re not going to worry about anything except taking care of your sexy wet pussy.”

  He stroked her, making her whimper and moisture rushed out to coat his fingers.

  “I love how wet you get for me, how your body tries to suck me in again.”

  “It’s never been like this for me. So intense.”

  He paused, teasing her, then filled her sex with two thick digits. “Me either. I want to own your body tonight. I want to take every inch of you and brand it so you’ll never forget me. God knows I’ll never get the feel of you out of my head.”

  Her head fell against his shoulder as he pumped inside her.

  “Or the smell of you, or the taste.” He ran his nose up the side of her neck, licking the sensitive strip of flesh beneath her ear.

  “I want you inside me, Nico. I need to feel you all around me.” She looked up at him over her shoulder, reveling in his nearness for one more night. “Please…”

  He glanced down at her, watching her face change as he fingered her. “I may want more tonight than you’re willing to give me.”

  “Then take what you want.” Holy shit. Where that came from, she had no idea. But as soon as his eyes dilated and his nostrils flared she knew she meant every word of the consent she’d just given.

  “I want to get drunk on your taste.” He withdrew, sliding across her clit, making her shiver, then sucked the slick digits into hi
s mouth. “Don’t move.”

  He climbed on the bed and reached through the laptop screen.

  Rose’s mouth fell open and her heart pounded against her ribs.

  Metal clanged together as he brought cuffs of some kind back into her bedroom. “You really… But I—”

  “Didn’t believe me?”

  “Umm…” she started to answer but didn’t want to finish the thought. “I’m sorry.”

  “If it hadn’t happened to me, I wouldn’t believe it either. Actually I’d think anyone was bat shit crazy if they thought they’d gotten cursed by some witch.” As he spoke he moved the laptop over onto her dresser and attached the cuffs on each of the corner posts on her bed.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

  He smirked at her, giving her a once-over that made her blood heat beneath her skin. “I know just the thing to make it up to me.”

  Nerves skittered up her neck, making the top of her head tingle and the tips of her nipples grow hard. “You’re here. Like, really here. Oh my God and you’ve been here every night. The things I let you do to me…”

  “Having second thoughts?” he asked trying to show no emotion but she could see the loneliness settling in his eyes.

  “As if. You promised me all sorts of freaky deaky tonight. I’m gonna make sure you make good on those words. Or are you all talk and can only deliver when the girl you’re with doesn’t know it’s real?”

  He stepped to the end of the bed baring his teeth. He looked dangerous and her entire body liquefied.

  “In the middle of the bed, on your stomach.”

  She climbed on the mattress, watching him, her pussy lips slid along each other while she anticipated how he would take her, use her.

  “Spread those pretty legs. Farther. Farther.”

  When her thighs were stretched as far as she could get them on her own he grabbed a cuff off one of the bottom posts and shackled her ankle into it. He cuffed her other ankle, stretching her legs a bit wider, making her moan when she realized how exposed she was.