by Marni Mann
But something caused my feet to head in the direction of her room, and once again, I found myself at her door. Just before I knocked on it, I felt my cell vibrate from my pocket, and there was a text from my friend, Uel, on the screen.
Still haven’t heard a thing.
Fuck that, I thought to myself.
Instead of knocking and waiting for Arin to open the door, I just walked right in and went over to her bed.
She looked at me with eyes that were so goddamn wide and skin that was so flushed. “Do you want something?” she asked.
I scanned her body, pausing over her stomach where her hands were resting. I wanted to smell her fingers. I wanted to stick them in my mouth, so I knew what her pussy tasted like.
But, if I told her to give me her hands and I put her fingers into my mouth, she would know I had seen what just happened. I wasn’t ready to give up that secret. Because, if Arin touched herself again, I sure as fuck wanted to watch.
“Huck?”
I glanced at the nightstand where her bra, panties, and shorts rested, and then I gazed back at her. “Are you naked under those covers?” I knew the answer. I just wanted to hear her response.
It took her several seconds before she timidly said, “Mostly.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“I’m wearing a tank top.”
“So, your pussy’s bare?”
She yanked the blanket up to her chin, and her hands rested right underneath her nose. “Yes.”
She could smell herself, and I was fucking jealous.
“Why, Arin?”
“I…was hot.”
I walked over to the center of the room and pulled the cord of the ceiling fan to turn it on and then again for the highest setting. “That’ll cool you down.”
She looked more than hot.
She looked satisfied.
But she would have been much more satisfied if my tongue had given her that orgasm, and I wouldn’t have stopped there. My cock would have given her a second one. I would have then rubbed her clit, put a finger in her ass, and made her come a third time. She’d have had a freshly fucked face with a body that was fucking exhausted.
Now, at least, she had some color on her cheeks, and there was some life in those gorgeous eyes.
But those eyes were waiting for an answer, and I didn’t have one to give her. Nor did I have a reason to be in here. Nothing good would come of it or with me standing so close to her. All it would do was lead to more thoughts of her body, of an aching need to touch her, especially knowing that her naked pussy was underneath that blanket.
Not just naked but hairless, too.
And it had looked so tight and delicious.
“Huck?” she called as I walked to the door. I turned around to face her, and she said, “Don’t go.”
Arin
Huck stood in the doorway, a hand hanging over the top of the wooden frame, another in his pocket. On his way out a few moments ago, I had told him not to leave my room. Now, he was waiting for me to tell him why.
I just wasn’t sure I could give him that answer.
Besides the short visits from Lawan, I’d been alone since the moment I arrived here. I was tired of the silence, the sleeping, the loneliness.
Before he’d come in, I’d taken a shower in the bathroom across the hall. Lawan had escorted me in there and gotten me a towel and a razor. I’d told her that I was weak, so she wouldn’t leave me. But, as soon as I’d gotten out, when it was time to put my clothes on, she’d said she would give me some privacy and disappeared down the stairs.
I missed familiarity.
I missed home.
I wanted something to make me feel normal again.
So, I’d walked over to the wall where the picture of the snake hung. There was something so sexy about its long, thick body. The shape of it reminded me of a man’s dick. Its skin made me think that, if it rubbed across my breasts, it would roughen up my nipples, just the way I liked a man to touch them.
God, just the thought of that made me wet.
I needed to feel like myself again.
Desired. Satisfied.
My hand had gone to my nipple, and slowly, it’d moved to my clit.
It was the same way I’d touched myself the last time I saw a snake. Of course, that reward hadn’t come until after I shot its head off. Its body had coiled right in front of me, its fangs had shown, and it’d looked like it was going to attack. But the snake hadn’t stood a chance of hurting me, not when there was a gun in my hand and my finger on the trigger. Seeing the blood and skin shoot into the air, hearing the pop as its body blew up, had all been such a rush.
I had gotten the same kind of rush when I stared at Huck’s snake, my trigger finger sliding between the lips of my pussy, rubbing myself until I orgasmed.
That was several minutes ago.
Now, Huck was gazing at me, and it was my turn to speak. “Can we talk?”
“What do you want, Arin?”
I moved to the far side of the bed, so there was plenty of room next to me. “Come here.”
I was shocked when he walked over and stood beside the mattress. I patted the spot to my right. His eyes roamed over it, but he didn’t sit.
“Will you tell me something about you?” I took my hand out from underneath the blanket and reached for his arm. I wasn’t sure why. I just knew I had to touch him.
When my fingers skimmed across the snake’s scales, his stare zoomed in on my grip. His mouth opened, and his tongue darted across his lip. It was the same way I looked at dessert. So, I held him a little tighter, rubbing as high as his elbow and as low as his wrist.
“Maybe why you chose this tattoo?” Because of the intricate design, I expected the ink to feel raised, almost rough. But I felt neither, only some hair and lots of soft skin.
And something else.
This something was inside my body, and it made my heart race.
The feeling shouldn’t exist. Not for this man. Yet it started in my breasts and was slowly moving between my legs, reminding me of the release I’d had before Huck came into my room. The one my finger had given me, the same finger that was tracing the tattoo on his arm.
“Do you like snakes, Arin?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then, why the interest?”
“Because I want to know more about you.”
Even with the silence that passed between us, I could tell there was so much he wanted to say. I saw it on his face; I felt it in his stare.
Finally, his voice broke through, and he said, “Get dressed. I’ll meet you outside in the hallway.”
He wants me to get dressed?
I pointed at the clothes that Lawan had left for me. They were pajamas far too thin and skimpy to wear out of this room. “You mean, you want me to put those on?”
He walked to the door, stopping before he closed it to say, “Don’t make me wait long.”
Once he was gone, I climbed out of bed, throwing on the bra underneath the tank top. The panties and shorts went on next. Not having anything else to cover myself with, I opened the door. Huck was standing on the other side of it, holding a white button-down.
He handed it to me. “Put this on over your clothes.”
As my arms went through the holes of his shirt, I felt his eyes on my breasts. They moved to my thighs, down my calves, and back to my face. I swore I saw him smile as my face reddened.
“You ready?”
I didn’t know what I was ready for, but I felt much more comfortable now that the button-down was hiding some of me. Assuming he wouldn’t tell me our destination, I nodded and followed him to the staircase. It was a long flight down. At least fifteen steps. I didn’t know if I had the energy; all I had in my stomach was some broth and water.
“Where are your shoes?” he asked as I gripped the banister.
“I don’t have any.”
“What do you mean, you don’t have any? Lawan didn’t bring you some?�
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I shook my head, hoping this wouldn’t get her in trouble. But, since I hadn’t been wearing any shoes when she found me outside, I didn’t even have my own pair to slip on.
“Of course she didn’t give you any. She didn’t expect you to leave…” His voice trailed off, and before I could give him a response, his arm went under my knees, and he was lifting me into the air and pulling me against his chest.
The last time he’d carried me, the details were a bit fuzzy. I had been coming down hard and full of the rawest emotion. But here, I was fully awake and sober. I could appreciate his strength and the muscles that were wrapped around me. I could take in the smells that wafted off his skin—the soap and citrus cologne that was stronger now that I was much closer to him.
That also meant, I could get a better look at the tattoo on his neck. The detail was so impressive. Each scale was perfectly outlined and shaded. It was true to size and so realistic. The artist had done the most unbelievable job.
I grazed my thumb over the side of his throat and got another small smile out of him. I wasn’t sure why I had touched him that way, and I immediately stopped.
“It won’t bite,” he said, referring to the snake.
We rounded the first landing, and he began our descent on the last flight.
“Unless you want it to.”
This man made me question my sanity.
I shouldn’t want anything from him. I especially shouldn’t want his teeth anywhere near my flesh.
But a part of me did.
I hated myself for that.
“You don’t have to give me an answer,” he said. “Your body’s already doing that for you.”
“My…” I cut myself short when I saw the hardness of my nipples and felt the sweat on his arm where it rested against the backs of my knees.
If there were a blanket nearby, I would pull it up to my eyes because I knew my face was giving me away even more, and I was sure Huck was loving it.
When we got to the bottom of the stairs, he carried me to a set of locked doors and used his thumb to punch in a code. Once they opened, we went down a long hallway, and at the end, in front of a single door, he set me on my feet and said, “Wait here.” He went in and closed it before I got a chance to see what was on the other side.
It was so silent and lonely in the hallway. I hated it. Fortunately, he returned a few seconds later with a pair of flats.
“I don’t know if these are the right size, but I want you to put them on.” He set them in front of my feet.
They were about a half a size too large. Still, they were comfortable and worn in, and I knew I could easily move around in them.
I tried not to wonder whom they belonged to, and I took a step forward. “They’re fine. Thank you.”
“When we go out there”—he pointed with his head toward the door he’d just come through—“I want you to keep your head down. No eye contact with anyone. Do you hear me?”
“Sure, but can I ask—”
His hands gripped my face, and I stopped breathing.
“On the other side of this wall is a brothel, Arin. Men buy my women to fuck them. No woman in this building is off-limits, except for you. But, if a client sees you out there, wearing what you have on, he’s going to think you’re for sale. Just keep your fucking head down and your hand locked in mine, and I’ll take care of the rest.” His hand clasped around my fingers.
Suddenly, a door opened, and we were moving through it. My breath returned after the third or fourth step when I realized where we were. This had to be the main room where the men hung out before they found girls to purchase. Huck’s website had called it the lounge, and even though my head stayed down, I was able to catch short glimpses of the things we passed.
I was shocked by how stunning it all was.
Everything was so damn sexy, down to the velvet furniture and the silky wall coverings and the phallic-shaped chandeliers. It was all done in different shades of red and gold. Somehow, it even smelled sensual in here.
We weaved around the outer rim of the room, past all the chairs and tables and smoke, and the museum where all the women sat and waited to be plucked. His website described that section, promising a collection of girls. It certainly delivered.
He moved me through another door and stopped. “You can look now.”
Although I’d been stealing glances, I lifted my chin all the way up. It took me several seconds before I realized what I was staring at. Once I did, I couldn’t move my eyes away from it. I couldn’t take a step back either. I was completely frozen. “Oh my God.”
In front of me was another museum—this one, the size of my bedroom back at home—but this one was filled with snakes. There had to be at least fifty of them in all different sizes and colors. I knew nothing about them, so I couldn’t even guess what types they were. I just knew they were everywhere. Some were coiled at the bottom, some were hanging from plants at the top, and several were resting on the shelving units on the side. He had a pool for them. Bowls of water. Lamps to create what looked like sunlight. Tons of vegetation and nests for them to sleep in.
“Now, you know more about me,” he said.
His hand was still clamped around mine. I released it, so I could move closer to the glass, and I placed both palms against it.
There were several men standing on the other side of us, and I could see them through the snakes. When I thought one was pointing toward me, I pushed my face back.
“He can’t see you.”
“He can’t?” I asked.
“No, but they can.”
I followed the direction in which he turned his finger, and I made eye contact with a few of the girls. They were dressed in only bras and panties. Some looked like they’d just started getting ready, and others were almost done.
“These are my girls, Arin.”
I felt his words on my neck.
“The ones who sell their cunts for a living. Their asses. Mouths.”
I knew what they did. I just thought he liked saying those words to me to see if he could get a reaction. I was sure I gave him one as I gazed around the room. There were makeup desks, hair-washing stations, showers, benches, and lockers. And he had carried the red and gold in there as well, using furnishing and amenities that were nicer than any of the spas I’d been to back at home.
“Mr. Huck,” one of the girls said, bowing at him before she walked by.
A few others smiled when they saw us watching them.
They weren’t being flirtatious with Huck. They were showing respect.
I faced him again and waited for his stare to return to me. “How do I know more about you by looking at a pit of snakes?”
He seemed more focused in this room, even a little calmer, like the snakes were his service animal and they caused him to act differently.
“You’re not listening, Arin.”
His body was almost pressing against mine, the sides of our faces now so close to the glass. He’d said I wasn’t listening, so I closed my eyes and tried to hear what he was referring to.
There was a faint hissing-like sound. A rustling.
I thought I even heard a rattle.
It felt like they were on top of me.
Goose bumps covered my skin.
“Do you hear them?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“They’re telling you what they want.”
I opened my eyes, and as I was about to speak, he said, “I’ve been around snakes for most of my life. They’re to be enjoyed, not feared.” His glare connected with one, and he waited for it to turn before his attention moved back to me. “If you touch them, feed them, really listen to them, you’ll know they’re much more like you than you think.”
I doubted that.
“The picture in my room, is that one in here, too?” I smiled as I asked the question. I couldn’t stop myself.
“No.”
There was so much emotion in that one word. More than I’d ever heard from
him, which told me the snake must have meant a lot.
I didn’t understand.
I probably never would.
My hand went to his arm, and I expected it to feel smooth and flat, like it had upstairs. And it did, but it felt hot and a little clammy, too, as though he’d been sunning under the lamps in the museum.
“Why the snake tattoos?” I asked.
“It’s who I am, Arin.” He lifted a chunk of my hair. “You have all of this.” Then, he rubbed a finger underneath my eye, extra gentle, as though he knew the skin there was still sore. “And makeup and whatever else you use to hide. I just choose to cover myself in snakeskin.”
“But why snakes?”
“Enough questions.” He clenched my fingers, and we were moving again.
This time, we went through the room with the girls, and I saw one getting her hair done and another having eyelashes put on. There was a woman dressed in nursing scrubs, and her job seemed to be restocking all the items on the vanity—adding toothbrushes to the bin along with razors, hair ties, and little bottles of fancy-looking lotion.
These girls were treated better than I’d ever expected.
When we reached the far side of the room, we went through a door that also required a code. He punched in the numbers, and we were suddenly outside. With my hand still in his, he hurried us past the short sidewalk and into an alley where there was another door about halfway down the building. He used a key this time, and inside was a long staircase.
“I don’t think—”
“I know,” he said, cutting me off as he lifted me into his arms. “Hold on to me.”
I followed his order, and two flights later, we were in his apartment. He didn’t set me down until we got to my room where he put me on the bed. Then, he walked back toward the door.
“Huck?”
He halted and turned around to face me.
“You still haven’t told me what you want me to do for food.”
Or why he was inked in snakeskin and not the coat of a different animal or why he had such a love for snakes. Or why he was staring at me right now with eyes that looked as lonely as I felt.