by Riley Moreno
“What the fuck?” he demanded. “Tease all of a sudden?”
“No,” Kim said. “Totally down to keep my word.”
Pulling the knife away from the contours of her back, Kim took a split second to flash the blade before his eyes. The man’s face registered complete confusion, and Kim smiled at the sight.
“Here. Let me show you.”
With one quick strike, she slashed hard and sliced his cock from his body. Geoffrey screamed like a wild man.
“Let’s see how well you do without this!”
Holding his dick in her hands, Kim let the bleeding piece throb and fail under her fingers. The detached flesh weakened without a mind to guide it towards the point of destruction, and Kim waved the limp flap before his tortured eyes.
“Not so good, huh?” she spat. “No way to hurt me now.”
He lifted a weak fist into the air and tried to strike out at her when he fell deeper into the bed and just moaned his agony.
“You traitorous little…”
“Yes,” Kim said. “Maybe you have that just right.”
Slamming the knife into his gut, she left the blade sticking up and out of his skin, hoping that his blood would be slow to flow. Let him die bit by bit, reflecting on every violation with nothing but regret.
“Come on you.”
Kim scooped the other girl to her feet and brought her back to the main room. She found Carter’s victim in a corner and huddled at her side as Kim looked back to the Boone.
“A mess,” he said. “You cleaning all this up?”
“No. I thought you had a man to help you with that.”
Riding the high, Kim started to step into the air when Boone seized her arm and turned her back to face him.
“You were pretty cut and dry back there,” Boone said. “Never knew that you had it in you.”
“Lots of things that you don’t know about me.”
“So… so we could be our own double act,” he said. “Bet we cold rake it in hand over fist.”
There might be something to that, and even though she was ready to cut Boone’s dick off at the first chance, maybe it would be fun to fleece and run.
But first…
“First I give you Julie.”
Boone seemed down with that, and as Kim stepped to the porch, she beckoned for Brian to emerge from the shadows.
“Is it over now, Kim?” he asked. “Is this enough for you?”
She kissed his brow and felt his terrified breath racing down her neck as he grabbed her waist. Glancing up into his eyes, she kissed his lips.
“You taste like death,” he said with a shudder.
“Good. Because that’s what I am.”
17
Julie made her way by train to Kim’s place and pounded her frantic fists to the door. There was no answer, and as soon as Julie tried the handle, he was stunned at the feel of the door giving way. Stepping past the place where Amanda Beyer had drawn her last breath, Julie made her way towards Kim’s bedroom and knocked on another door.
“Kim? You home? You---”
Julie’s voice came to a stop when she saw what Kim had done to the space. Not even one memory was left of the life that she had lost. Just a simple bed under a Spartan sheet. The walls were bare, and Julie bit back her tears. Why eradicate everything that she had fought so hard to get back to? Was it too painful to live with the memories? Or was there something more to it?
“What are you doing here?”
Looking over her shoulder, Julie saw the gray-haired neighbor that they that they had always laughed at poking her cane though door as she started at Julie hard.
“Now I don’t think that you belong here.”
Julie started to agree with the woman and take her lead when she suddenly turned back and found the old lady’s stare.
“I… maybe I don’t,” Julie said. “But the girl that lives here. Have you… have you seen her here today?”
The old woman cackled as she clutched her cane.
“She took off with some lanky boy in specs,” the woman started. “What of it? You think you have some kind of claim on him?”
Nothing of the sort, but as soon as Julie heard the words leaving her lips, she couldn’t resist the urge to fling her arms around the woman’s wrinkled neck and hold her tight.
“I don’t think that,” Julie said. “I think that she’s happy and I should be, too.”
Kissing the woman’s weathered cheek, she head back to the train station and purchased her return ticket as soon as she sat on the train. Looking out the window, the city slowly but surely starting to peek back into view, Julie shook her head and muttered under her breath.
“I know that he wants me. He’s shown me that over and over again.”
And after all that Kim had endured, she had no right to be anything close to cross with her. How could she even blame her for seeking some comfort with Ethan when he was so sweet? Julie stopped off at the corner market and picked up a box of pasta and a jar of sauce. Completing her purchase with a bag of salad and a bottle of balsamic dressing, Julie pressed her wares under her arms and rushed back to their building. As soon as she hit the foyer, she could hear Danielle laughing with Nick from behind their own door. It was a sweet sound to be sure, and Julie hoped for her own variation on the same as soon as Ethan was back at her side. Entering his apartment, their apartment, she shrugged off her coat and moved to the stove. As the water boiled, Julie cracked the noodles and stirred them around the space of the pot. The pasta softened under the fork, and Julie brought a single strand to her mouth. Blowing on it fast and slurping carefully, she added the sauce and tossed the mix a few more times before setting the bowl down at the center station and folding her hands under the table. Her toes tapped as the seconds kept clicking by, and every times she glanced at the door, there was nothing but the sound of Danielle’s contented laughter roaring up the steps. She sounded as happy as Julie wanted to feel, and she cracked open the door, hoping to see some trace of Ethan’s return.
I shouldn’t have been so hard on him. I should never have let him leave me.
As it was, she was left to pace the floor and twiddle he fingers in the hope that he would return. If… when he did, Julie vowed to hold him tight and never let go. Why hadn’t he called? Where was he?
“Julie, he hasn’t come home yet,” Danielle said.
“Have you been looking out the windows?” she asked. “At every chance?”
To Julie’s surprise, Danielle bobbed her head.
“Only you came back,” Danielle said. “Maybe it’s high time I watched my own back.”
Julie trembled through her tears and managed to take Danielle’s hands in hers as she hung her head.
“And he should be here, too,” Julie wept. “I just need to hold him again.”
Danielle brought her closer to her side and kissed the top of her head and as she led her away from the place where Ethan should be.
“He’ll know where to find you,” Danielle promised. “Now just you wait with us.”
Nick rose to his feet and shook her arms as soon as he settled her body to the floor. Passing a plate of lo mein towards her fingers, Nick offered Julie a pair of chopsticks.
“Don’t tell me that you’re not starving.”
Hunger was something she hadn’t thought of since the last time she saw Ethan. Julie had done nothing but circle a small park, only sitting on a tiny bench and thought of his eyes in the space of the throng and hope that he might come rushing back to her in a split second. Wanting nothing more than the return of his hold, Julie has waited for what felt like days. Hating the absence of his ring, she feared that he might already be lost when she spied her toes tapping under her eyes and twirled the noodles towards her eyes.
“So hungry,” she whispered. “I’ve had nothing to eat all day.”
“Well have it!”
On Nick’s order, Julie nibbled a few dumplings and slurped at the noodles until she was about to swallow. Someh
ow she managed the move, but as the food settled in her stomach, Julie still felt famished and leaned down for more. Working the chopsticks like mad, she shoved an endless stream of noodles between her lips and swallowed hard as she wiped her mouth with a crumpled.
“Nick asks for extra hot sauce on everything,” Danielle admitted. “Here. Have some water.”
Julie took the bottle from the florist’s hands and drank it down. She gagged some on the water rushing down her throat, and as she sputtered and choked, Danielle was right there at her back smoothing her hands down her shirt as she laughed into her ear.
“Sorry,” Danielle said. “Do you want some cereal or something?”
She wanted Ethan. Wanted to tell him that she had had it all wrong and feel his ring back on her finger. Julie struggled and failed to speak through her tears, and Nick was up on his feet.
“You know… you he’s really not a bad guy.”
“I know,” she muttered.
Nick took a step forward and touched her face.
“And as soon as the other one gets her head on straight, well then, smooth sailing.”
Danielle tried to drag her from the room, but Julie held her off and slapped his face as she stared him down.
“What had he been saying to you?” she demanded. Julie caught sight of Danielle shaking her head out of the corner of her eye, and she challenged her with a sharp stare when her friend hung back and pressed her palms to her sides.
“So…so you won’t talk, either,” Julie said. “How can I trust---?”
“Because I don’t know anything!” Danielle insisted. “Just that he loves you and wants to make you his.”
“But in what way?” she demanded. “Does he only like me when I’m scared and sad?”
“Is that what you really think, Julie?”
She couldn’t answer as Danielle brought her body up the steps and nearly carried her towards Ethan’s bed. Without his form breathing under the sheets, Julie almost hated the sight of the bed, and she started to turn away when Danielle steadied her chin under her hands and lowered her to the edge of the mattress.
“You know that’s not true,” Danielle said.
“Then where is he now?”
“Julie, I don’t know---”
“Because I am scared,” she continued. “I’m lost without him.”
She choked back a fresh sob and felt as if she had no choice but to fall into Danielle’s arms. Her friend’s touch was warm and strong as she steadied Julie against the edge of the bed and looked up to stroke her cheek.
“Far be it from me to speak otherwise,” Danielle started. “But he came to me. He wanted nothing more than to make his proposal perfect.”
And so many ways, it ways. Even without the ring on her finger, Julie still felt as if he should be his. As if she was his.
“Danielle, I… I should have stayed and just talked with him.”
“Then make it right when he comes home, Julie,” Danielle said. “For right now, just rest.”
Julie allowed her friend to push her into the sheets, an as soon as the blanket reached the tip of her chin, Julie started to fall into sleep and get back to the dream when she was to weary to do anything but fall into sleep. Drifting towards the depth of a fresh fantasy, she thought she saw Ethan stepping towards her side and extending his hand. He caught her cheek under his fingers and curled her face closer to his. Thinking of nothing else but having his fingers on her body again, she lifted her lids.
And moaned at the feel of a gloved hand holding her mouth in check.
18
He still had a job to do. Arcadia waited for no man’s wants or worries. Phyllis Felcher took his call and said that she looked forward to their next meeting. As soon he firmly placated the client with a promise that he fully intended to keep, Ethan clicked his pen and tapped his fingers to his desk. Juliet’s number redialed in a never ending loop. Sure she might be hurt, even mad enough to trap him in the dark throes that were her silent treatment. Last place that he ever wanted to be. Especially when it came to her.
She had to be going back to the source.
Kim.
When he kept trying and continuously failed to reach Juliet by phone, his mind shifting towards trying to reach her fragile friend. Not that he was sure he had the number of even if she would pick up her phone. Truth be told, a part of him feared Kim. After what she went through, there was no way of knowing what she might to next.
Donna appeared, nervously rapping on his doorframe, a strained expression crossing her face.
“What now?” Ethan asked, suddenly not caring which client had a problem or concern, having no desire to solve it even if it was expected.
“Umm… Mr. Graff? She’s back.”
Ethan’s heart lightened at the sound.
Juliet.
He would make anything and everything up to her, assure her over and over again that he only wanted her. Always. Longing to slip the ring back around her soft finger at the first chance, Ethan stood quickly and wiped his palms down his slacks before straightening his tie.
“Send her in, Donna.”
“But, she---”
“I need to see her.”
Ethan’s tone was curt and clipped as he waited for Juliet to appear, almost ready to burst through the open door and take her in his arms. But before he could make the move, Donna beckoned an unexpected figure into his office.
“Kim?”
The girl clutched a tissue in her hand and gently dotted her eyes as she looked to Donna.
“Thanks so much,” Kim lightly said.
Donna regarded her with a distrustful stare, and she looked to Ethan for guidance.
“This alright?” Donna asked.
“It’s fine,” Ethan said with a heavy sigh. If nothing else, maybe he could set the record straight and hope that Kim would clear the air when it came to Juliet.
“Door open or closed, Mr. Graff?”
“Closed.”
Kim’s words came a bit too fast, but Ethan still waved Donna off. As soon as they were hidden from the rest of the staff, Ethan gestured her to the chair before his desk.
“You look like hell,” Kim plainly confessed. “Guess I caused some trouble for you.”
Ethan tried to laugh, but it came out as a scoff as he pressed his palm to the window, averting his gaze.
“Not your fault,” he said. “None of it ever was.”
Kim made no sound, and he could feel her eyes burrowing into the back of his neck. Turning slowly, sudden tears sprang to the girl’s eyes, and Ethan’s shoulders drooped as he extended his arm, his palm just touching her short red hair.
“On good days, I believe that,” she said. “And Brian is sweet. He always says that he never would have left me behind.”
As much as her pitiable state tugged at his heart, Ethan stayed on his feet and slowly tilted her face to his.
“How many times do I have to explain it to you? To her?”
His frustration began to bubble to the surface, but he held his ire in check as he slipped behind his desk.
“I am sorry, Kim,” he explained. “What… what the hell else was I supposed to do? I believed what I saw.”
“I get it,” Kim sobbed. “Like I was dead. Sort of still am now.”
Ethan was stunned when she reached across the desk and took hold of his surprised hand.
“But when I think of how brave you were… I mean, I know that I can’t turn back the clock or whatever. But could you… can you make me feel safe now?”
Ethan stayed in her grip, offering no resistance as her finger swirled around his wrist.
“You have Brian, right?”
“And Julie has you,” she sadly confessed. “I get that. But can you… can you just give me one moment?”
He made no move as Kim stepped around his desk and stood shaking before his chair.
“I really didn’t come here to cause you trouble,” she insisted. “And I’ll tell Julie as much.”
&nbs
p; Inhaling her clean, sweet scent, Ethan’s eyes slowly traced the line of her body, and he searched her face for the answer to the only question that warranted an answer in this moment.
“She… she said she was going to talk to you,” Ethan said. “Have you…? I can’t seem to reach her.”
The shaking of her head cracked his soul.
“I haven’t been home since… just walking around the city. Wandering…”
“But… Juliet said…”
“Ethan, please!” she begged as she fell into his lap, Ethan’s arms were awkward as they hit the air and barely surrounded her quivering frame.
“You’ll get back to her soon enough. I… I won’t get in the way anymore. But… but can you just…”
Kim’s lips parted, and Ethan felt hypnotized by the stream of warm breath leaving her mouth. In that moment, she looked battered and broken, back to hanging on a hook as the life seemed to leave her body. He started to tell her that he would still try to help her in spite of Juliet, maybe because of Juliet, but as soon as he stretched towards her, Kim claimed him with a quick kiss.
Moaning into his mouth, Ethan stiffened slightly, but he was unable to resist as her tongue swirled around his. Her taste was gentle, desperate, and even as his mind repeatedly turned back to Juliet, he gave Kim her wish and lightly pushed his palms into her back.
“Ethan…” Kim whispered as she pulled away from him. Thinking that he’d given her all she wanted or at least enough, he was ready to ease her back to her feet when Kim’s hands were suddenly at his belt.
“Show me more,” Kim muttered. “You must have some kind of magic about you. I mean… I mean Jules…”
She started to lower his fly, and Ethan sat like slate for all of a second as she pressed her fingers between his shorts. HIs body started to react under the feel of her hands, and when he stretched forward to ease her away, Kim held fast and peered into his eyes.
“She never knew was before… before the boys. What they did to us. Like why could she even think of anybody else touching her after that?”