Fiendish Play

by Angela Richardson

  Wait. What? Girlfriend?

  Anais and I hadn’t given what we had a label yet. We had just come together and fell in love without those labels. It evolved quickly. Naturally. I just saw Anais as my future. She wasn’t just a now. She’s my all the way. And she was so much more than just a girlfriend. There wasn’t a right word for what she was to me. It didn’t need a label. It didn’t need a status. She was just a part of our something more. Then I realized I had been standing there like a deer in headlights, probably looking scared out of my wits from hearing the big ‘G’ word.

  “James...” Anais said, her voice shaking.

  Marcus, seeing my dead eye look was quick to try and recover for me. “I...I mean friend. Special friend who stays over sometimes. Right James?”

  “Marcus.” I turned to Anais making sure I was in her line of vision. “Of course she’s my girlfriend. But she’s also my muse...obsession...” I went and sat next to Anais on the couch, and breathed heavily into her ear. “And sex kitten.”

  Her hands went to her cheeks and she blushed. “James,” she scolded, punching playfully at my chest, all her fear and insecurity now gone.

  “No that’s great actually. I’m glad you two have officially met,” I said snuggling up against her.

  “Alrighty then,” Marcus coughed breaking up our little make-up session on the couch. “So now that we’ve established that Anais is in fact your girlfriend...I was telling her about...”

  I switched off when Marcus started to go into more stories about doctors on television. Their hotness rating in comparison to his own and his quest for fame and fortune. My mind was lost on Anais, last night and everything we had shared. I was playing with the soft patch of skin behind her ear when I remembered I had a gift for her. It seemed like the best time to surprise her with it since we had just professed our love. Plus I needed an excuse to get her alone again. I was already thinking about the fact she had nothing on under my T-shirt except her panties.

  “Can I steal you back now? I’ve got something to show you in my workroom,” I whispered into her ear, tickling her skin with my breath at the same time. Her head leaned back into me like she enjoyed the sensation. Marcus, seeing that I had completely captured Anais’ attention, stopped talking. His voice or lack thereof, caused the room to grow quiet, with nothing except the sound of Anais’ giggles and heated breaths.

  “Okay then. Sooooooo I’m going to go back to my room...now,” Marcus said quickly before taking off. He caught on quick to feeling like a third wheel. A feeling no man enjoyed. His exit meant Anais and I were finally alone again. I got up and lead Anais to the third bedroom. As soon as we got into my workroom, I pushed her up against the door and dropped to my knees, lifting up my T-shirt which swamped her small frame. I began kissing her stomach, trailing little kisses up to her chest. My head going underneath the shirt.

  “James...James...what are you...” Her back arched as my head ventured up her shirt. “Oh...never mind...” she breathed, defeated by erotic sensation.

  My mouth captured a nipple between my lips, and I began to suck. At the same time Anais fell back into the door, her head hitting the wood loudly as she tried to cover her mouth from letting out a moan.

  “I can’t get enough of you Anais. I want to keep tasting you...holding you...making you weak in my arms,” I said out loud in between licking, sucking and fondling her perfectly small round breasts.

  “Ohhhh...” she moaned. “You feel so good on my skin James. I never knew it could feel so good.”

  As my mouth ventured up past her breasts, my hands lifted the shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor. My tongue was on her neck and my whole body was pressed up to Anais who was now only in her panties.

  Anais didn’t come on her first time. She told me she felt something building but couldn’t yet pinpoint if it was happening. She was still getting used to all the new feelings. Hell, I struggled to get her to come on our second time round because this was a whole new world of sexual experience for Anais. But it was one I was going to help her explore and conquer with me as her lover and guide. I wanted to know every inch of her body. Every single move that would make her moan. And I knew that now our bodies were getting more used to each other, we would find our sensitive spots. Our rhythm. Our symphony. We would come together as one. Naturally. There was no rush. We had all the time in the world and I intended to make the most of every glorious second in bringing her to orgasm.

  Her hands were in my sweat pants now and she started to stroke me. I loved that she didn’t hold back in exploring my body too. She wanted to please me just as much as I wanted to please her. She started stroking soft at first, and then hard. Just the way I liked it. She was listening to my breathing, taking note of what I like as I moved through her hands. It was the same for me as I cupped her breasts, and when I used my fingers, one then two, into her wet warmth between her legs. I knew she wanted that as soon as she spread her legs wider while my face was buried near her hair, nibbling on her earlobe. A spot, that I took note made her body very needy against me.

  “James...”

  Fuck, I loved how she said my name. But she didn’t just say my name. It was like she could feel it running through her veins and yelling it out as a physical response. I was so lost in the effect this girl had on me. It was discovery, adventure, experience and joy. It was passion, sensation, enlightenment and fear. It was everything I always believed love and lust combined could be ...and more.

  “I love you Anais,” I said kissing her ruby red swollen lips, before going back to her pert nipples.

  “I love you more,” Anais whisper-moaned back above my head that was buried in her chest. Her hands started to pull down my sweat pants until they were on the floor. I did the same with her panties until we were both naked, up against the door, lost in touching one another.

  “James, I want you inside me. I want to feel you again...and again...again...”

  “But I have to go get...”

  “I’m on birth control,” she breathed. I always figured Anais to be smart, safe and prepared. “And I trust you. I want to feel...” She paused capturing my eyes with her own. “Every part of you.”

  I didn’t wait. I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t even think. I could only feel and follow my heart and the instinct to connect with her on every kind of level. I lifted up one of her legs so it was around my waist, moving her against the door until I was positioned at her wet opening. She was so ready. I was so ready. I went to slowly and purposely lift her onto me when...

  Knock, knock, knock!

  Our bodies froze against the door which had just vibrated. I stood back on my heels. I was still at full attention and had Anais’ leg still wrapped around my waist.

  Knock, knock, knock!

  I growled out a frustrated breath as my head dropped onto Anais’ shoulder. “Yessssss?” I said aloud to the door.

  “So...I’m going to take off now. To go to classes I mean.” Marcus sounded happy. A little too happy. “That okay with the two of you?”

  Anais’ eyes looked stunned with embarrassment. She stiffened and let go of my body. The mood suddenly changing.

  “Yeah...” I said back angrily. “Okay Marcus! Thanks so much for letting us know!”

  I put Anais’ leg down on the ground, the heated moment lost. Anais covered her mouth trying not to laugh. “Do you think he did that on purpose?” she asked, giggling. She too, was already getting a sense of Marcus’ sick sense of humor.

  “Yeah I do,” I said grabbing her panties and tossing them to her. “Absolutely! He totally did that on purpose.”

  I pulled on my sweat pants and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to think of a way I could get back at Marcus. In my head I was already evilly laughing and rubbing my hands together.

  Anais snapped back into someone who clearly wasn’t thinking about sex anymore. She was smiley and sweet. In a happy mood. I wish I could have so easily flipped that switch. Definitely a difference between men an
d women when it came from going from hot to cold. But admittedly, Marcus did kill the moment. Damn you Marcus! Although I knew it wasn’t completely lost. There would be so many more moments between me and Anais to come. Pun intended.

  “Ooooh, you said you had something to show me?” she asked excitedly, wondering what surprise I had.

  I gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “Close your eyes,” I told her. I walked to my work shelves that I had installed to put my tools and some of my wood work for my sculpture. My back facing her where she stood.

  “My eyes are closed,” she said following my instructions.

  I took the gift and went over and put it in her hands. I placed my hands on her hips and faced her so I could see her expression when she opened them up. “Alright...you can open your eyes now,” I said.

  Anais’ eyes burst open and they went immediately down to her hands where she was holding a small carved box. She examined the carved wood and the writing on the top. “La jeune fille qui a grandi dans mon coeur.’” She paused, taking a breath. “The girl who grew in my heart.”

  “You remember,” I said sounding amazed.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment James.”

  “Now open it,” I told her. Anais flipped open the box and music began to play. The sound of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons echoed in the room.

  “It’s a music box,” she gasped sounding overwhelmed. “And you made this? For me?”

  “Well...yeah...” I smiled. “Like you just said...some moments can’t ever be forgotten. It was the same for me too that night. So I immortalized it for us...And for you.”

  Anais shook her head. “It’s just...perfect.” Her eyes lifted to mine. “You’re perfect James. In every...single...way.”

  “Oh...I am? Am I? In every single way?” My voice changing to something deeper, cheekier, sinful.

  Anais started to blush, and held up the box to hide her rosy red cheeks. Her eyes darting all around the room, avoiding mine. She was so innocent when she wanted to be.

  Her eyes went to my shelf where another box sat high. “Oh, you made yourself a box too?”

  I was surprised she even noticed it. “That’s not a music box,” I tried to tell her as she placed her own down and ran across the room to investigate further. I think she must have thought I made them as a set. But the box on my shelf was different. I carved it many years ago. It was just a little project of my own. She opened it up and looked in, her head flicking up to me.

  “What...is...this?” Her voice changed completely. She stuttered and her hands started to shake.

  I walked towards her and she dropped my box. Perhaps a spider had crawled inside or some insect she was frightened of. Something to explain her bizarre reaction. My gold coin rolled out of the dropped box and stopped near her foot.

  “You mean my lucky coin?” I said picking it up along with the box. I looked over the box quickly to see if I had missed something else. An insect maybe?

  “Lu...lu...lu...cky...coin...” Anais stuttered.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I said resting my hand on her shoulder. “Is it too nerdy? A guy keeping a coin for luck. It is, isn’t it?” I looked at the coin in my hand remembering when it was given to me at that carnival. “Yeah okay, so maybe it’s a bit childish. But it actually has an interesting story to how I acquired it...see it started with this carnival...”

  Anais stepped away from my hold, making me divert from finishing what I started to tell her. I look at her confused, wondering why she was pulling away. “Anais?” I questioned, wondering why she continued to back away from me. “What’s wrong?”

  Anais took two more steps back towards the door. “Anais? Talk to me. What’s the matter?”

  She glanced behind herself and then looked at me, like she was trying to figure out a way to escape. I didn’t fail to notice the urgent way her expression changed. The way she kept walking backwards. She shook her head and then smacked her forehead, pretending like she had completely forgotten something.

  “Oh my God James, I just remembered, I have to do another favor for my uncle this morning...” Her head turned again. “Now...right now. I’m so late. He’s going to be so disappointed with me.”

  Lies.

  I knew she was lying to my face. She could barely look me in the eye and everything about her body language told me there was something else going on. She looked rigid...scared. But not at me. At something else. Did the realization about what we did last night and today’s initiation test just hit her now? Was she worried we’d be found out? Was she worried I would fail? I was sure there were probably a million different scenarios playing out in her mind about tonight. Anais’ insecurity always appeared out of nowhere. The Lappell was always weighing on her mind.

  I picked up the music box I made for her while walking to the door. “Don’t worry. I’ll take you home now. You shouldn’t be too late.” I was playing along for her. She needed to be alone with her thoughts and worry. She needed some time before tonight. Anais nodded and smiled, silently thanking me for being understanding.

  Then she suddenly reached out and took her music box out of my hands, taking me by surprise. She held it tightly to her chest. It was like she needed to be close to it. Like it was her way of keeping me close to her heart...in case we were separated.

  {18}

  Twenty-one years ago...

  LIAM

  Have you ever arrived somewhere and known something was off? Like everything that was supposed to be — felt wrong, moved, shifted, out of place. The stench of horror on the tip of your nose. Like walking right into a nightmare in slow motion except it was happening with every step you took. With everything that you saw.

  But I knew I had to keep going. I had to see where the trail of blood went.

  Delia didn’t know I was coming tonight. She had no idea I had flown in to surprise her. That I planned to set up the cottage and make it look like a romantic interlude so when she came home I’d be waiting. Arms open...red velvet box in hand...down on one knee. But when I drove up to the cottage, the lights were already on. Then I saw red droplets of what looked like blood on the stairs. And then there was the bloody handprint on the door.

  You see something like that and your heart drops in a way you didn’t think was possible. Like your soul that you are never sure truly exists, squeezes your heart so tight you can barely breathe. You find it hard to even walk. Not even consciously aware that you have the ability to tell your brain what to do. You become frozen, surrounded in an air bubble of shock. “It has to be a hallucination,” you tell yourself. It can’t possibly be real. Then there is the surge of adrenaline, combined with the fear for the person you love, knowing that this moment could destroy you...kill you. She can’t be dead. She can’t be dead. You tell yourself what you need to hear.

  I took hold of the door knob. It was warm to touch. Like the people who were here had left their deadly mark. What had happened to Delia? Could I even live life knowing what I was about to see behind this door? I knew we were playing a dangerous game. Not with our love, but I was helping Delia behind the scenes in this world. Sourcing potential candidates for change. Members in the Lappell who were like us, forced into a life of servitude. Our greatest fears and the people we loved used against us to make sure we did what we were supposed to. What we were all fundamentally against. We were secretly taking on a king, and we didn’t even have an army. Trying to make powerful chess moves in a game we were not skilled at playing. There was talk already amongst the chapters...whispers of people on the inside working against them. Gathering information. Hiding their secrets. Trying to get out. But no one knew we were part of it all...that was, until I saw the blood. And the print on the door.

  You see something that could mean the end of you, and your whole head fills with the doubt you never should have ignored to start with. Why did I have to reveal myself to Delia? Why was she the one I let in? Exposed my real feelings for the Lappell. Why did she end up having the same fe
elings too? I thought it was destiny. Our paths and our hearts were meant to meet. Meant to combine. Meant to live on. I believed in fucking love God dammit! Our love was supposed to overcome these walls.

  But I was a fool. A lovesick fool.

  The blood on the door hadn’t dried. It was recent. I swallowed, knowing that the last time I held Delia alive in my arms, could have been the last. Fuck you fate! You allow us humans to believe in something grand and it becomes real...and then you take it all away. Isn’t that how it works? Isn’t that how the world goes? It screws you, and you never see it coming.

  But that isn’t true either. Because I did see this coming. And so did Delia. We were kidding ourselves into thinking we could change anything when we had no game to begin with. No real power. This was my fault for supporting Delia’s quest in the first place. I would forever blame myself, and hide in my own hatred for eternity if she was now a casualty of this cold war.

  I twisted the doorknob, prepared...not prepared...for what I was about to see. My heartbeat had never been as loud as it was at that moment in my ears. The first thing I noticed was the smell. It hit my nose like a punch to the face. Disinfectant. Alcohol. Blood and cold steel. Then I saw her and everything else around me stopped. I could only see Delia. Her movements, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Her eyes, wide and glowing. Not cold. Not still. She was...alive. Then my eyes shifted to her hands, her fingers spread wide in shock. A pile of sheets, covered in blood fell to the floor.

  “Delia...” Did I even say her name? I don’t know. I could hear it, but I wasn’t sure I said it.

  Her throat bobbed. She swallowed. She was nervous. “What are you doing here Liam?”

  That was what she said? That was the first thing that came to her mind? She was asking ‘me’ why I was here?

  The next part didn’t even need words. I simply walked across the room, avoiding the bloody unanswered question sitting in a heap on the wooden floor, and pulled out the red velvet box from my pocket, placing it gently and slowly on the table top.