by Multiple
As the girl stepped under a glowing black light that Annie hadn’t noticed on the ceiling, her black t-shirt glowed with a purple ghoulish image of a skull. Annie took a step back in surprise as the girl advanced. The skull disappeared as she moved to stand under the fluorescents.
The girl smiled at her and extended a tiny, almost childlike hand in greeting. Annie noticed her nails were long and painted like some bizarre reverse French manicure, black on the bottom and white on the tips. “I’m Kora. You were looking for me?”
Annie looked down at the girl, whose head barely came to her shoulder. She wasn’t as young as she looked, Annie judged. The tattoo and the belly ring and the eyebrow stud make her look younger somehow.
“Yes. I’m here to pick up something for Dita—” Annie stopped, realizing that she didn’t even know Dita’s last name. Not that it mattered. People seemed to know who she was, regardless.
“Ah, Dita! She said you were coming.” Kora smiled and Annie saw the flicker of a tongue stud. “You want the beauty box. Stay right here!”
Annie waited, wondering how Kora had known she was coming if they had no phones. In fact, how did one run a business without a phone, exactly?
Kirby came trotting back around the corner in her direction. He stopped for a moment to be petted before going to sit by the entrance, as if waiting for something.
Kora returned holding a wooden box about half a foot square. It was carved with an intricate pattern, something that seemed familiar to Annie, although she couldn’t say why. It was unrecognizable as any concrete image, and she thought perhaps it was something Celtic. She reached out her hand to touch it.
Kora offered her the box. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Annie took it and tucked it under her arm. “Thanks.”
“Oh, she told me to tell you not to open it.” Kora headed toward the desk, her boots treading hard on the basement floor.
Annie closed her eyes and threw her head back toward the ceiling, slapping her forehead. “Like mother, like son?” she muttered. Unbelievable!
“You mean Eric?” Kora asked, lifting the skull on the desk and relighting the candle.
Annie moved toward her. “You know Eric?”
“Oh, yes!” Kora watched the flame, a small, secret smile on her lips. “We all know Eric.”
“Is he here?” Annie leaned over the counter as Kora knelt behind it to pick something up off the floor.
Kora put some papers back on the desk, using the edge of the skull as a paperweight. “I thought he was supposed to have clients here today. Check in the office upstairs. Do you know where that is?”
Annie nodded, already heading for the door. Her heart was racing. “Thanks for your help!”
*
Annie glanced up as the door opened, half rising to meet him. It was a stocky bearded man with glasses and a goatee. He glanced at her, his eyes moving over her blouse and skirt and heels. She felt out of place here. This guy was the most average-looking person she had seen walk through the door yet. The tattooed, long-haired biker guy just before him had eyed her, too, and then asked a lot of questions at the window about a Reiki class. This stocky guy wanted an application for something he called the “Medical Intuitive Program.” He sat in the chair across from Annie with a clipboard and filled it out while he hummed. Annie glanced at the clock again and sighed. The woman at the window, a patient redhead named Polly, had told her he was due in any minute. That was almost an hour ago.
The box was heavy in her lap and she wondered what was in it. Her mind wandered as she traced the pattern on the box again, like some grooved finger labyrinth. The trials of the week had exhausted her: meeting Dita, the spilling of the beans, Virgil and the killer bees, Herman and the secret monastic sect, the old man and the Black Death, and now this strange odyssey into The Elysian Fields. The thought of seeing Eric again, the object of every action she had taken lately, made her stomach clench. What would he say? Would he welcome her? Would he want her?
Annie swallowed hard as she recalled Kora’s smile when she spoke of Eric. Had he been with that little goth-girl? She wouldn’t doubt it, at least not from the impression she got from his mother. Do you believe her? Annie felt dizzy and looked at the clock again. She hadn’t eaten since the honey cake. She couldn’t imagine eating now, anyway. She was nauseous at the thought of facing Eric.
Dita. The image of Eric’s mother laughing made Annie cringe. There’s a woman who needs therapy. She smiled at the thought. The box seemed to grow heavier in her lap and she shifted. She wondered again what was in it. Dita had said beauty cream. This didn’t look like a box for lotion. It looked like a box for jewelry.
The stocky guy carried his clipboard to the window. Annie listened, still tracing the pattern, as Polly and the man talked, their voices just a distant murmur. Don’t open the box. Kora’s words made Annie’s face burn. What was she going to find—snakes? Annie glanced around. The room was empty again. No one was at the window.
Why not? She lifted the latch, using it to pull the lid up. Nothing. Just a red velvet inlay and a little mirror on the inside of the lid. Frowning, Annie felt along the bottom to be sure. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, and then did a double take.
As a beautiful woman, she had always been praised for her appearance, but today Annie didn’t recognize the reflection that stared back at her. It was the same face, the wide, dark eyes, the pale skin, the long dark hair. Annie lifted the box closer, incredulous. Her cheeks were rosy, her hair slightly disheveled from the day’s wanderings, but it was more than that.
She looked soft and open. Her lips parted in wonder. All the places where she had been cool, sharp, or angular, seemed to have melted, softened, smoothed. She touched her cheek, feeling the heat of the radiant flush there. Is this what they mean by rosy glow?
Something had changed in her as she had continued her search for Eric. The shallow beauty of her physical form had somehow been transformed into something deeper. There was a radiant light that seemed to come from within, and it wasn’t just the secret she was holding fast in her belly. There was a spark in her eyes, some fire lit and growing there, that went beyond her physical appearance. Annie was looking at herself, ageless, timeless, and could finally see the deep beauty that radiated outward from deep within. She felt unsteady and closed her eyes for a moment, fighting another wave of nausea. Her urgent search, the pain of her own denial, the sudden gravity and weight of her life, all hit Annie with such force that she went reeling, the world spinning around her as she dropped the box and slid to the floor into darkness.
Chapter Six
“Annie.” His voice was calling her and she came out of the darkness into heaven with her head lying in his lap, his fingers massaging her hair. She snuggled instinctively closer.
“Eric! I found you!”
“Yeah. You did.” His hand moved down her neck and shoulder, massaging. “How’s your head?”
“Deja vu,” she murmured, opening her eyes to look up at him. She was lying on a low cot, with her head in his lap. The nurse’s office? He was leaning back against the wall.
“I know.” He grinned. “I remember.”
“Do you?” She struggled to sit and he helped her.
He brushed her hair out of her eyes. “Yeah. I’ve only thought about it every day since.”
“Eric, I’m sorry. I know I promised—” she started, but his fingers and eyes went to her lips, and then his mouth went there, too, and it was like he had moved into her, set up house, and decided to stay. “Mmm…oh, god, Eric…are we alone?” she gasped, glancing toward the door and sliding her hand up his thigh.
“Here?” He grinned, glancing down to the V of her blouse. “No, we can’t…not here. You’re incorrigible.”
“I missed you,” she breathed, rubbing his lower lip with her finger. “And I’m so, so sorry…”
“Annie, don’t. I’m the one who’s sorry,” he apologized against her neck, pulling her into his lap.
“Asking you to promise something like that…”
She smiled and breathed into his ear. “It doesn’t matter. We’re together now.”
Her mouth met his and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight. I can’t believe I found him! After months of searching, and the runaround of the past few days, it felt like a dream. Eric’s mouth was real, though, his tongue sending electric shivers down her spine, his hands kneading her hip and lower back.
“I looked for you,” she whispered against his cheek as they both gasped for breath. “From the minute you disappeared. I was so afraid you would never want to see me again, after I promised, and then…”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” Eric sighed, nuzzling her neck. “I know it was foolish, crazy, even…asking you to make that promise. But when you broke it—”
“I should never have listened to my sisters.” Annie shook her head. “I was the foolish one.”
“Listen to me,” he said, cupping her face in his hands. “I need you to understand.”
Annie searched his eyes and found that connection they’d had since the moment she met him. She nodded, waiting for him to speak.
“That night at the party.” Eric swallowed hard. “The reason I was in the kitchen, under the table, in the first place…there was a woman there I’d been involved with. She made a promise to me once, and she broke it…”
She touched her forehead to his, shaking her head. “I don’t need an explanation, Eric…”
“I know it was silly.” He sighed, pulling her lips to his for a brief kiss. “But it was on my mind…someone said something earlier that night…”
Annie captured his lips again, wanting to feel his warmth, to reassure him. “What did they say?”
“That it’s a woman’s nature to break a promise.”
She smiled. “Who told you that?”
“My mother.” Eric gave her a sheepish grin.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Annie laughed and wiggled in his lap. “Let’s make a pact…no more listening to family, ever.”
“It’s a deal,” he agreed, kissing his way over her cheek, down her ear. His hand had pulled her blouse up in the back, so he could stroke the creamy skin of her lower back. “How should we seal it? With a kiss?”
His mouth found hers again, and Annie groaned as his tongue probed between her lips.
“I’ve got a better idea,” she murmured, sliding a hand between them. She cupped the bulge in his jeans, surprised to find him hard and ready. Rubbing her palm there, eager, she whispered, “Let’s live dangerously.”
He groaned as her hand created friction between them. “Annie!” His voice sounded pained.
She lifted her eyes to his, biting her lip. “Yes, Eric?” She continued to rub her hand over his erection, watching the change on his face.
“Remember what I said before?” He swallowed hard, licking his lips and staring at the front of her blouse, the exposed tops of her breasts. “About not having sex…here?”
“Mmm-hmm,” she murmured, working his zipper down.
“I take it back.” He pressed her down onto the cot with his mouth, the weight of him like a relief. Annie gasped and then moaned, feeling how hard he was against her thigh, pressing through his jeans. Eric pulled her blouse fully out of her skirt, groping underneath it as his tongue met hers.
“Wait,” she gasped as he thrust against her, rocking her body against the cot. “Maybe we should check? Lock the door?”
“Now you’re worried?” he chuckled, tugging her skirt up with one hand, seeking her heat. “What happened to living dangerously?”
When his fingers moved her panties aside and probed her wetness, she forgot about everything and gave in to exactly what she had wanted in the first place. He was wild, like an animal, biting at her neck, growling, moving his hand between her legs. His eagerness and intensity were making her crazy with lust.
Annie wiggled out from under him and sank to her knees beside the cot. Eric rolled and lifted his hips for her as she unzipped his jeans and pulled at them, freeing his cock. It was red and swollen and the tip was already wet. He didn’t give her a minute to consider—he forced himself into her mouth with a groan, grabbing a handful of her hair and thrusting. She was just as eager to be used as he was to use her. She gagged and sucked him by turns, letting him fuck her mouth again and again as she reached under her skirt, thrusting her panties aside to play with herself.
Annie saw him glancing at the door, knowing that at any moment, anyone could walk through and discover them. She knew she should care—she just didn’t. Being with Eric was the only thing she could think about, and that wasn’t so much thinking as it was some primal instinct. There didn’t seem to be much thinking going on in her brain anymore at all.
“Hey, hey,” he warned, and she slowed a little, looking up and meeting his eyes.
He pulled her to him and kissed her, sucking at her tongue. His hands moved over her as if he were inspecting her for ripeness. He tugged and twisted at her nipples as he kissed her, making her gasp and writhe in his grip. His fingers explored the soft curves of her body, like he was trying to remember her with his hands. Sliding her skirt up her thighs, he cupped and kneaded the flesh of her ass, and his cock pressed between her legs, demanding its due. His hands were on her, all over her, shoving her skirt up high around her waist. He yanked at her black, mesh panties, moving only to slide them off and then seeking her wetness again.
Annie arched her back, rocking against his probing fingers as they kissed. Her hands ran through his hair, her tongue meeting his. She could hear someone’s voice on the other side of the door and she realized anyone could walk in and find them here. The thought was blackly exciting. Annie watched with glazed eyes as he slid down between her legs.
“God, I’ve missed this,” he whispered as his tongue slipped between her lips to find her clit, working the fleshy folds back until it was revealed to him. His arms slipped easily under her thighs, lifting her more fully to his mouth. She slid her hands over her breasts, cupping, squeezing. She slowly rubbed her nipples through her blouse with her palms, feeling the sensation intensify.
“Yes!” Annie could feel that gentle tug beginning in her lower belly. “Yes, yes!” Her words made him moan against her pussy, the sound reverberating through her whole body as his tongue quickened. His finger slid down her slit and then in, his tongue concentrating just where she wanted it, where she needed it. The slow movement of his fingers—one, then two, then three, pumping inside of her—sent her teetering closer to the edge. His rhythm followed her breathing, faster and faster still, his other hand slipping between her bottom and the cot. His palm pressed against her lower back, steadying and guiding her.
“I’m so close!” Annie cried. “Oh god, yes, make me come!” She knew it was imminent. She could feel it beginning, and she let the first pulsing heat fill her core. “Now! Now!” She lifted her hips and squeezed her nipples hard, feeling the cascade of her juices running down her behind. He grunted, holding her tight, his mouth steady and still licking. His fingers were buried so deep that she could feel her muscles tightening around them as the sensation swelled, crested, and then broke, rippling outward through her entire body. He held her close, rubbing his wet face against her thighs, kissing, licking, nibbling.
His tongue sought to find her clit again, but she covered it with her hand.
“Ohhh wait,” she gasped. “Too sensitive.”
He chuckled and they stayed that way for a moment as Annie’s breath slowed, her fingers in his hair. His tongue continued to tease her as her whimpers began to turn to moans. She gasped as he parted her flesh with his fingers, easing his way up and down her folds with his soft, wet tongue, feeling herself giving in to him again.
He teased her, probing around the tender hole of her pussy, sinking his tongue in and scooping out more of her juices. He lapped at her, burying his whole face against her mound as her lips parted and gave way to pink, slick flesh.
“Ohhh yes!” Annie reached between her thighs and parted her lips, showing him, pointing the way. He nudged her fingers aside with his tongue, beginning to lick her clit back and forth, round and round. His mouth was fastened over her pussy, licking and sucking her tiny clit as her thighs trembled in his hands. The muscles there were taut and quivering, and Annie arched against him.
“So close,” she murmured, her body just beginning to tense as it sailed over that delicious edge. “Oh god, baby, make me come again!” Eric licked faster as Annie found her release, the soft shudder and shake of her making him moan against her mound. Her juices flowed like water down his chin and cheeks and he swallowed her greedily.
Annie gasped as she pulled his head back and leaned forward to kiss him, tasting herself in his mouth as their tongues touched. Her hand reached down to find him, thick and hard. He groaned against her mouth when she squeezed, teasing the head with her thumb.
“I want you in my mouth,” she murmured, jerking insistently on his cock.
“Again?” he gasped as she tugged him to stand in front of her. She fondled his balls and kissed the tip of him. Annie leaned back on the cot, grasping and squeezing his slick length.
“Come up here,” she insisted. She pulled her shirt off, unhooking her bra to expose her breasts to him. He straddled her belly and Annie bit her lip, looking up at him. Just seeing him sitting up there, his balls resting on her ribcage, his cock rising up out of a thick patch of hair, pre-cum trailing down the shaft in tiny rivulets, made her clit, still hiding in its sheath, begin to pulse again. He had a beautiful cock that tilted slightly and endearingly to the right when it was this hard, making her want to follow it and capture it with her mouth.
She licked her palm, letting her saliva and his pre-cum mix as she slid her hand down the shaft. She could see and feel every swell along his cock, every vein, the leaking tip, the throbbing shaft. She could feel more than hear the deep sounds he made in his throat as she slowly stroked him, easing the skin over the tip and using her fingers in a circle to tease the ridge. His head fell back, his eyes closed, his arms simply hung limp at his side, as if he were nothing but his cock in that moment.