by Ann Lister
“Oh, so you do remember.”
Michael laughed. “I don’t remember too many of the others but I do remember her.”
“Why? Was she a big-boobed blonde?”
He laughed again. “Well, she was blond but your tits are bigger than what she had.”
Annie raised a curious eyebrow and smiled. “Was she your high school sweetheart?”
“Not exactly. She was my summer math tutor.”
“What?” she asked in shock.
“Yeah, I was fifteen at the time and she was a twenty-year-old college junior. She was home for the summer and looking to make some extra cash. My parents hired her to try and prevent me from failing my sophomore year. I mean, how would it look for them to have one son excelling in academics; while the other one failed. Their efforts were in vain though, because I still failed. Heidi sucked as a math instructor but she excelled in other areas - especially her people skills.”
“How on earth did that happen? Don’t tell me you hit on your math tutor!”
“No, actually she hit on me.”
“How?”
Michael propped himself up and got comfortable. “She showed up that first day wearing tight blue jeans and a halter top.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh yeah. And she had all this blond hair and I was blown away with the sight of her. She wasn’t what I was expecting at all. That first lesson was a total waste of her time because all I did was stare at her tits.”
“Pig.”
“Hey, I was fifteen! Give a guy a break,” he laughed.
“So, who made the first move?”
“I told you, she did. She asked if I was stoned because I seemed so distracted. I told her I was and she asked if I had any more dope; which was a stupid question. I always had dope. Next thing you know, we were upstairs in my room getting high.”
He laughed at the memory. “I remember her taking this huge hit off the joint and exhaling the smoke into my mouth. Big turn-on for an inexperienced kid and you can imagine what that led to.”
“I guess it's safe to say it wasn't her first time?” Annie smiled.
“No, I seriously doubt that.”
“Did she know it was your first time?”
“Not at first but she figured it out pretty fast.”
“Oh, came in your pants?” she teased.
“I wasn't that bad,” he laughed. “She tutored me for a month that summer and every day was the same. She'd come over half-dressed, we'd go through the motions of studying for a few minutes then upstairs we'd go for the real lessons,” he smiled proudly. “It was unreal.”
“So I have Heidi to thank for educating you so well?”
“I suppose so. She turned me on to the most powerful drug I know.”
“So what happened after the summer ended?”
“She went back to college and I fumbled my way through a second sophomore year.”
“You never saw her after that?”
He laid his head on her belly. “Actually I did. About ten years ago we had a couple of shows in Boston. When we arrived she was waiting by the back door of the FleetCenter. I heard her call out my name, looked over, and saw her standing there all by herself. So I invited her inside.” He started to chuckle.
“And?”
“Well, we spent about five minutes making small talk and then she lifted up her skirt and asked if I remembered her. She wasn’t wearing panties,” he smirked. “I told her I remembered everything and we went at it like old times. She stayed with me for that weekend. When it was time for us to move on to the next string of venues, I asked her to come with me on the road. Then she tells me she was married and had a kid. Can you believe that?”
“She was cheating on her husband?”
“I guess so.” He shook his head. “I’m not completely innocent there either, Annie. Technically I was still married too, although Beth and I were living separate lives by that point. So, I said goodbye to her and I haven’t seen her since.”
He kissed her stomach. “Are you jealous?”
“Should I be?”
“No. She taught me mechanics. You taught me about emotion. The two elements combined are mind blowing,” he said with a smirk.
Then he turned his face and pressed his nose deep into the moist cleft of her femininity and inhaled loudly.
“Annie, you are positively intoxicating,” he sighed. “I could die quite happy, right here.”
Then he kissed her in the most intimate of ways. His lips were like the petals of a flower, tasting, teasing, and then devouring her sex. She arched her back and pressed her body harder against his open mouth. His hands lifted her bottom. She reached for his head and grabbed his hair.
“My God, Michael, please…”
His tongue delved deeper, only to be replaced with his fingers. He pushed her higher and reveled in the pleasure his mouth was giving her. Beneath him she blossomed, spreading wider as if gasping for breath.
He smiled at her soft whimpering and bit the inside of her thigh then sucked the spot to take away the sting. Her cry grew louder still as she climbed the wall. He savored the taste, beauty, and satiny wetness of her, so close to bursting himself. She screamed his name as she tensed and then released, drowning him in wave after wave of ecstasy as it crashed over her sweat-covered body. She pushed the hair off her face and sighed. Michael continued his manipulations until she arched again and crested against his lips.
His mouth slid to her hips, danced over the flatness of her stomach, nibbling, licking, and sucking as he ascended inch by inch. He found her nipples and taunted each rose colored peak until he was satisfied with their hardness. Then he shifted to the base of her throat. She groaned when the heat of his lips seared a path beneath her jaw line. Her fingers fanned the smooth expanse of his back.
“Baby, you have no idea how beautiful you are when you come,” he whispered against her ear.
Gently he moved into position but didn’t enter her. Instead, he remained pressed at the gates of heaven and pulsed. “I wish you could see it,” he said, toying with the sensitive skin behind her ear. “I wish you could experience it through my eyes.”
She moaned louder, feeling his organ rocking between their bodies but still not inside her. His tongue slid across her cheek and found her mouth. He kissed her hard, possessing her with the thrust of his tongue. She could smell her sex on his skin and lips and taste the fruit he had eaten from her belly. Her arms tightened around his neck as she pulled him down.
“Annie, you drive me crazy. Out of control crazy, with needs and desires I didn’t know I was capable of.”
He covered her mouth again and pushed the tip of his maleness inside her warmth. She pressed herself firmly against him.
“Please, Michael, all the way inside,” she begged him.
He reached behind himself and placed her leg across his lower back. Then took her broken leg and cradled it gently in his hand. He gazed at her beneath him, eyes misted with lust and emotion and he smiled slyly.
“Is that what you want?” he asked easing himself in deeper.
She nodded.
“Are you sure you can handle it?” he teased.
“I’ll die trying.”
He watched in amazement as her facial features changed with each inch he fed her. When he began to withdraw she sucked in a breath and clawed at his back. She began to quiver, inside and out, and Michael lost his self-control.
“Baby, I love you so much,” he exhaled against her mouth, as the most glorious explosion rocketed through his body.
He kissed her lips softly, his hunger momentarily satiated, and brushed his nose with hers. Then he saw the sparkle of her tears.
“Are you all right?” he asked, drying her cheeks with his thumbs.
“I’ve never been better.”
He smiled, rolled onto his side and stretched like a satisfied cat. “Come here, he requested, pulling her back against his chest and settling her into the bend of his body.
“Do you think Bonita knows what we do in here for hours each day?” she asked.
Michael tipped his head back and laughed loudly. “Annie, she’s the one that changes the sheets! Trust me, she knows.”
“Oh, God. She must be so disgusted with me. I mean, I’ve been here almost a week and I’ve barely left this room.”
“Disgusted? I don’t think so. Honestly, she’s thrilled I’m happy and finally have someone to share this house with me.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Believe me. She understands.”
Annie had about six weeks to recover at Michael’s house before he and Thrust hit the road for the fall leg of their tour. The first two weeks were bliss but the rest of the month she spent trying to disguise from Michael the intense pain, both physical and emotional, she was suffering. He did his best to tend to her needs and thought her recovery was progressing on schedule. He hired a visiting nurse to visit twice a week to monitor her and Bonita did her best to keep a wary eye on her medication intake.
What no one knew, was the amount of medication Annie was sneaking whenever she could. When Bonita would question the number of empty pill bottles and the frequent need for refills, Annie would come up with another lie. She would say the bottles were accidentally dropped down the sink or into the toilet; with the contents spilling or simply misplaced. Bonita wasn’t buying her explanations and said so to Michael. But he took Annie’s side and insisted she couldn’t be lying.
With each day, her memory of the accident was improving too; which meant, sleeping was nearly out of the question for Annie unless she was heavily medicated. Every time she closed her eyes, she was tortured with reoccurring nightmares of the accident and Sammy’s dead body slumped in the seat beside her. She was also having flash-backs of the accident in her parents car too.
Michael was sound asleep when Annie’s screams woke him.
“Stop! Slow down! This isn’t funny anymore,” she cried in her sleep. “Sammy, you’re going too fast! Watch out!”
Michael rolled over to face her. Gently he tried to rouse her. Instead, she bolted upright in bed, clawing at the sheets. Her arms flailing wildly in the air.
“My God, Sammy stop it or we’ll crash! Please! Turn the wheel! Shit!”
Her voice was so loud it echoed off the walls in the room.
“Annie,” he called out to her. “You’re having another bad dream.”
She was quietly whimpering with her head slumped forward; lost in the scene that continually played in her head. Suddenly her arms began thrashing at the bed linens again. “I’ve got to get out! I’ve got to get out,” she screamed. Her cries were blood curdling as she began to scramble off the bed.
Michael was unsure if she was still sleeping or awake. Apprehensive she would hurt herself, he spun his naked body around on his knees behind her and grabbed her around the waist.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’ve got to get out!” she repeated with even more urgency.
“Out from where? Do you want to get out of the room?”
Hearing the noise, Bonita and Manny arrived outside Michael’s bedroom door. “Is everything all right, Mr. Michael?” Bonita asked, rushing into the darkened room like a concerned mother.
Michael held his grip around Annie’s waist.
“Let me out! Unlock the door! God, I’ve got to get air! I need air!”
Her hand side-swiped the flesh on Michael’s cheek and scratched a two inch line with her fingernail, drawing blood.
“Bonita, open all the windows and the French doors to the balcony! She’s having another nightmare.”
“Sammy! Wake up! We’ve got to get out!”
“Annie! You’re not in a car! It’s only a dream. You’re here, in bed, with me. It’s okay. You’re safe.”
Gently he shook her. “Manny, go get me a cold face cloth.”
The elder man quickly disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a cloth drenched in cold water. The light from the bathroom illuminated the bedroom and the blood on Michael’s face.
When the cold of the cloth hit her forehead, Annie stiffened in his arms.
“Take a breath, babe. Can you feel the air coming in from the windows? Relax. You’re safe now. It was only a bad dream.”
Annie’s hands reached for her head. Her shoulders slouched and she began to cry.
“Shall I call her doctor?” Bonita asked.
“No. I think she’ll be okay now. At least she’s awake,” Michael answered.
“Do you want a bandage for your face?”
“Why?”
“You’re bleeding,” Bonita answered.
Michael touched his cheek and smeared the blood away. “No, I’m fine. I’ll get her back to sleep and see you in the morning. Okay?”
Bonita and Manny nodded and headed for the door. “I really wish you’d let me call her doctor,” Bonita said. “I think he needs to know what’s going on. This is getting serious.”
“Bonita, I will handle this,” Michael stated firmly. “And I’m sorry she woke you,” he called from the bed, as the door closed.
“Annie, are you okay now?” he asked, his voice smooth and comforting.
She nodded.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She violently shook her head.
“It’s okay,” he answered, rocking her back and forth in his arms. “You don’t have to.
When the sun came up, they were still in the same position, leaning up against the headboard. A shiver from Annie woke him. He pressed his face against her neck and kissed the skin. “Good morning,” he sighed.
She sat forward and turned to look at him. Then she saw the red mark on his cheek and reached to touch it with her finger. When she did he smiled.
“Did I do that to you?” she asked.
Michael shrugged. “Yeah, you were having another dream.”
“Oh God! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I know. It’s all right.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “The dream was about the accident.”
“I know.”
“I can remember the whole thing now.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
She nodded and pushed the hair from her face. “Sammy was speeding, showing off,” she said her voice nothing more than a whisper. “He was showing me how his sports car handled at high speeds. I told him to stop messing around - begged him, but he wouldn’t listen. Then an animal bolted from the bushes and ran in front of the car. Sammy swerved to avoid it and lost control. I tried to grab the wheel,” she cried. “I did everything I could, but we were going too fast. I couldn’t stop the car.”
Michael leaned forward and held her tight. “It’s okay, Annie. It’s not your fault.”
“I thought he was sleeping, Michael, but when I turned his head toward me - I just knew he was dead, then I panicked. I was desperate to get out of that car, but my leg was pinned and the pain was just too much. I saw his phone and I tried to call you. I could hardly breathe. It hurt so much - everything hurt, then my head…I don’t know. At that point I must have passed out.”
Michael held her in his arms until she stopped crying. It became a painful nightly cycle; as she relived the horror of that night and also the memory of the accident which killed her family. All of this deepened her need for medication.
By the end of the second week, Michael’s attention from Annie became distracted by the practice schedule of his band. At first, the guys had agreed to meet in the music room at Michael’s house, but he was overly cautious of the noise they were making and disturbing Annie. This caused endless feuds between them. Brian wanted to turn the amplifiers up and Michael was constantly turning them down. Finally they voted to move their sessions to their rehearsal studio in a town several miles away.
It didn’t matter to Annie. With the extra medication floating in her system, she was managing to sleep through almost any amount of racket. The
days she stayed alert, she was plagued with guilt issues over Sammy’s death and the break-up of her band. In an effort to ease her conscience, she decided to contact Gary and schedule a meeting. She hadn’t seen him since her stay in the hospital and she hoped they could discuss some of the issues resulting from their disqualification from the contest. To her surprise, he agreed to visit her at Michael’s house the next day.
“You don’t mind if Gary comes by tomorrow for a visit, do you?”
“No, as long as you don’t give him the security code for the front gate. Have Bonita buzz him in and make sure he doesn’t go advertising the address.”
“Michael, I don't even know the code to the gate, so how could I give it to him?”
“Good point.”
“Will you be around tomorrow afternoon?” she asked.
He thought for a moment and scratched his head. “Not until later on. I’ve got some shit to take care of at the band office concerning the tour but I’ll be home after that. Why?”
“No reason. I was just wondering.”
Gary arrived after lunch the next day and they sat in the family room. Annie wasn’t sure if Michael would want her giving tours so she didn’t offer and Gary never asked. He seemed quite interested in all the awards Thrust and Michael had acquired over the years and content to stay in that one room.
They chatted about every member of White Rush and Gary promised to bring them all back with him the following week for a visit. He reassured her none of them held any lingering anger or resentment over their disqualification. Gary did admit to feeling bitter at first but was too relieved that she had survived the accident to continue feeling any negative emotions. But before their visit ended, he left a bit of additional news.
“So, how are things between you and Mike?” he asked with apprehension.
“Great. He’s been wonderful to me and my recuperation.”
Gary made a face that spoke volumes to Annie and left her with an uneasy feeling in her gut. “Why do you ask?”
Gary shook his head as if he didn’t want to continue the current topic of conversation. “I just wanted to make sure you’re happy.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she answered with suspicion.