Open World

by Casey Moss

  Aithne looked to Alden and smiled. “You, my boy, are a good soul. You will be rewarded someday. You have to tell the lass what is going on. It’s okay to do so. She’s started the enlightening.”

  Alden leaned back, crossed his arms over his chest, and dipped his head once.

  Hope, more perplexed than ever, darted her gaze between the two. She passed the leather strap of the necklace over her head, letting it settle at the juncture of her neck and shoulders.

  Aithne glanced back at Hope. “Even though you’re considering contacting your family, I’d advise you not to do so. That man is looking for you. It would be best to have the spell broken first before you reconnect with them.” She rose from the table and Alden followed. She turned to Ruby. “My mission for the day has been completed. I will now go home and meditate.” She looked down to Hope. “You’re a strong lass with great powers of your own. You have to stop stifling them and realize their potential. But beware the man’s clout. He’ll find you and come after you sooner than you want.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Hope and Alden strolled down the grand sidewalk of the boulevard in front of what used to be a five star hotel, enjoying the evening twilight and the cooler breeze that came with it. Music blared from hidden speakers and a boom from the pond signaled the start of a water show. Currents of water jetted toward the sky, swaying and pulsing to the song. The streams danced gracefully. She’d learned the jets were one of the first things that’d been fixed after the war.

  “Are you happy, Hope?” Alden asked, circling her waist with his arm.

  “Yes, I’m happy. Being with you this past week, free from the watchful eyes of my parents and that madman, has been the best of my life.”

  He held a black box in front of her. She took it and opened it. A string of beautiful pearls with hues of pink attached to a braided leather band and accented with sterling silver stations gleamed up at her. “What’s this for? It’s not my birthday.”

  “Just because,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “I love you and your strength and wanted you to have something pretty.”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. “Thank you. They’re lovely.” Her eyes gazed into his soulful depths. A quick intake of breath whistled through her teeth. A tremor rippled through her as he lowered his head and touched his lips to hers.

  A light breeze drifted by and the music seemed to dim and play in the distance. Her senses became heightened by his slow, thoughtful kiss. A brief shiver ran through her. His kiss became more persuasive. She met his command by parting her lips and letting him taste her more fully. His teeth nicked her lips, his tongue caressed hers. Warmth blanketed her body and enveloped her spirit. He brought her desires and passion out, making her feel alive and sensual. He cupped her head. His other arm wrapped around her. She was grateful for the support.

  Nearby, people whistled, clapped and cheered.

  “So, Alden,” she said when the two of them resumed walking. “What did Aithne mean by what she said? Nothing made sense to me.”

  “It’s hard to explain. It can be hard to understand as well if one’s soul hasn’t become more open and receptive.”

  “Whatever. Just do your best.”

  He led her up onto the skywalk over the street and stopped half way across. “When people look up into the night sky, most will only see the stars. Others, though they may not see more, will sense there is something else out there and come to understand they belong to something greater. These are the people who eventually become enlightened. They realize everything is connected, is repeating. When they fully realize who they are, they see their pasts, their now, their futures with greater clarity and knowing. You and your family come from great clans. We’ve been linked through them since time began. That’s why you feel so connected to me and why I’m protecting you. But you and your family have repressed your gifts and not allowed yourselves to know the truth. You all have been too immersed in your human natures.”

  Den paused and studied her. “I see you’re looking at me like I’m crazy so that’s all I’ll say for now. We should get back to the apartment so you can get ready for work.”

  “I don’t have to work, but we could go back anyway,” she said seductively.

  In her room, she held up a scarf taken from her bureau. “Can I tie you up?”

  His eyebrow rose as he looked from her face to her hand and back. “I’m intrigued. Sure. Let’s go for it.”

  With a devilish smile, she retrieved a few more scarves, laid them on the bed and provocatively sauntered over to him. Staring into his eyes with the smile still on her face, she stripped him of his clothes and pushed his naked body onto the bed. In an unhurried, casual air, she positioned his limbs so he lay spread eagle. Hope tied his wrists and ankles to the four corners of the frame, then lightly slapped the sides of his ass, making them a pale shade of pink. When his cock responded to the indirect stimulation, she stroked it with her hand and her tongue.

  Once his cock hardened to her satisfaction, she shucked herself of her clothes. Like a wild cat stalking prey, she climbed back up on the bed, her limbs straddling him. As she spread her form on top of him, her breasts pressed down on him. Her crotch hairs teased his dick. His massive, firm body didn’t budge or twitch.

  He’s such a solid, strong man.

  The heat already generating between them was intense, and she thought she would melt into nothingness from it. Yet, she couldn’t seem to get near enough to him. Her fingers splayed across his shoulders and trailed a path up the side of his neck to cup his face in her hands. She forced his mouth open with her tongue, pulled his into hers and sucked on it, giving it a playful nip before she let it go.

  Hope sat up, her gaze trained on his, and positioned her hands on his shoulders. Methodically, she slid them down, feeling the all the contours and nuances of his upper torso. He sucked in his breath when her fingers brushed over his nipples. The skin of his chest beneath her fingers was hairless, soft, and so hot. She continued to smooth a path down to his abdomen. The outlines of muscles tensed, shuddered, released, and at the boundary of his crotch, she stopped and let her hands retrace their steps back up his trunk. Her thumbs brushed his nipples again. He quivered under her hands. She caressed his tits once more.

  “Do you like that?” She continued gazing into his eyes.

  “Yes.” His light breathing hitched.

  She pinched the nubs. They hardened. Emboldened by his response, she cupped her hands over his pecs and gave them a squeeze.

  He growled and her excitement mounted, wetting the hairs of her crotch.

  Hope rubbed her hands in an outward trail to his sides and skimmed downward. He was so sturdy and warm. The subtle scent of his aftershave and manly musk intoxicated her. She bent forward and ran her tongue down the valley of his chest. He jerked on the restraints. She sat back and shifted further down to straddle a leg.

  She grasped his hard shaft, tugged and licked its head. His hips thrust toward her and, with that invitation, she took him in her mouth. Velvet smooth. Salty. As he grunted and stirred under her head, Hope continued her mouth massage, savoring the silk of him. She wanted him inside her, touching her in places that had never been touched before, inside touching her soul.

  “Ach, love, I can’t take anymore,” he uttered. “Say you’ll have me. Say you’ll be mine and are willing to exchange life forces. Our powers can be joined in harmony and for the greater good. I’ll make you mine. Let you take me now.”

  Hope really didn’t know what he meant by exchanging life forces or joining powers. All she knew…all she wanted was him inside her because she loved him. She decided to tell him what he seemed to need to hear “I love you, Alden. I want you. I will be yours. I will exchange my life force with yours and join powers if that’s what it takes. I’ll do whatever I need to do to be with you.”

  Sliding forward to position herself on top of him, the tip of his penis was poised and ready at her opening.

&nb
sp; Now or never.

  She slid him into her. The pain from no longer being a virgin wasn’t as bad as she imagined it would be, a pinch and a bit of burning, but not much else. For an instant, she thought it might have been the dancing and other activities of youth which assisted her in a smooth transition. Yet, as she ascended and descended on his cock, her juices lubricating and adding stimulation, she pushed the matter from her mind.

  Undulating to the heat of her passion and his, wonderful colors of bright blue and pink swirled and mixed above them and around them. She breathed in a rich blend of the colors, exhaled them and observed her love doing the same.

  Joining and separating in a heated frenzy, sweat slicked them down as they panted and gasped in escalating bliss. Both exclaimed almost in unison when their closely timed orgasms racked their bodies. After the waves of desire crashing through her body calmed, she climbed off, unfettered him and lay beside her love.

  Several minutes later, soft snoring came from the man in her arms. She threaded his hair through her fingers. Should she tell him about Buzz? About how they were supposedly married? She smoothly dislocated herself from him, rolled to her back and stared at the ceiling. Nah. Best to let sleeping dogs lie.

  ****

  A week of peaceful bliss, she reminisced as she painted a toenail in a deep plum color. Alden was back in her life and living with her. She had auditioned for shows on the strip. She’d been having wonderful dreams of being a magician and dancing in the water and in the sky. Alden was right. There was more to life and the universe.

  To top off the terrific week, Ruby had talked to a friend of hers to see if the marriage was legal, and if so, what would need to be done to terminate it. She blew on the nail. Buzz better let me go.

  The trill of her comm-de brought her round from her thoughts. She bounced off her bed and happily waddled on her heels to the gadget.

  “May I please speak with Hope Collins?” The male voice on the other end queried when she answered.

  “Speaking.”

  “Good, good, good. This is Chip Arrow. You auditioned for us the other day.”

  “Yes.” She racked her brain to put the name with the show. “Yes I did, for a classic Vegas production, family orientated for the first evening performance and adults only for the second.”

  “Right, right, right. But I’ve called to say that you’re not appropriate for the big show so we won’t be hiring you.”

  “Oh.” Her heart dropped to her feet.

  “On the flip side, though, we’re putting together a smaller production. An art deco style show inspired by Tamara de Lempicka’s, The Musician. This show will be family and adult orientated, too. It’ll have dynamic design, bright colors, while expressing practical modernity…and a touch of film noir. For this project, we’re looking for dancers and entertainers of all statures and styles. It’ll be an eclectic mix of acrobatics, dancing, comedy and singing. We’d love for you to be a part of this.”

  “That’s awesome,” she fairly shouted into the handset. “I’m all for it. When do we start?”

  Grabbing a pen and paper, she jotted down the details Chip related to her and turned off the device in a daze. A week. She was to start rehearsals in a week. She clapped her hands. She had to tell Alden. Happy beyond any expectations she ever had, she bounced on her heels into the kitchen and found her man reading some papers.

  “Guess who that was.” Hope pushed the sheet down in front of him so she could see his face.

  “Who?” He removed the page from her hand and folded it.

  “Chip Arrow.” Taking a seat across from him, she continued, “He’s a show producer on the strip. I auditioned for him the other day. He’s hired me!”

  “That’s great, honey. And I have some news as well. Lift up those papers in front of you.”

  She looked down to the table and hesitantly lifted them. From underneath she revealed a small black box. Her eyes shot up. “Alden?”

  “Just open it,” he instructed with a motion of his chin toward it.

  Without further hesitation, she did as he bid. The lid popped up and perched within was a ring.

  “One carat princess cut for my princess,” Alden intoned into her stunned mind. “Will you marry me, love?”

  Tears welled in her eyes. She yearned and lived for Alden like she yearned and lived for no other. All she wanted to do was throw her arms around his neck and shout, Yes, yes, yes! Instead what came out of her mouth was, “Could you let me think on this? With all the changes going on in my life I have to be completely sure I can do this.”

  “Excuse me? We talked about getting married. You were all for it. Has there been something I said or did to change your mind?”

  She reached over and stroked his cheek. “No. It was nothing you did. I just…” Tell him about Buzz. About what happened, a voice within her implored. “Just… There’s so much going on. All the changes…” Talk to him!

  “Talk to me, Hope.”

  Hope stared at him, her thoughts warring in her head. Tell him how Buzz said you were married, the voice cried. I can’t hurt him like that. Let me find out what Ruby’s friend says first. Tell him and let him help, it advised. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, she caught the time on the clock on the wall. “I can’t. I have to get to work.”

  ****

  Hope adjusted the green, rhinestone studded sash of her cookie girl costume along her shoulder and chest. She needed to make sure it wouldn’t snag on the matching colored spandex tie-top like it had the last time she wore the outfit. But then, so what if it was the final time she’d have to wear a costume complete with a quick takeoff skirt and hooker-heels, as she affectionately called them.

  My new job. She smiled, remembering how her life had taken a turn for the better that morning when she received The Call. No more stripping for her. She was on her way to being a Las Vegas entertainer. Well, she would be, once she finished the evening’s shift and began rehearsals in a week. Topping off her great day was the ring Den presented after she had gotten The Call. Too bad she couldn’t tell him yes right off the bat. Boy was he pissed. A new job and on her way to being engaged, that was once she made sure the business of one small, itsy-bitsy matter had been resolved.

  She picked up the green, sequined beret-like hat, put it on her head, tucked some of her long brown hair up and under and pinned it in place.

  “Gotta go strip. Not for much longer though,” she drawled to the peach walled room strewn with racks of exotic dancing trade clothes. Vanity tables littered with hair accessories, makeup and mirrors and a sad, worn out couch added to the surroundings.

  “Hey,” a man’s gravelly voice shouted from the doorway. “Miss Made-It-Big-Time, you’re on in two. As far as I figure, you’re still employed here. Get your ass out there into the bar with the rest of the ladies who have decided they want to make me money tonight.”

  No, she thought, this wasn’t what she had in mind at all when she was growing up.

  “Okay, okay, hold your horses, Lou,” she shouted back.

  The fat man disgusted her, and unfortunately, he opted not to move from the doorway. Facing away, she pushed herself by him, hoping as little of her body as possible would have to touch his. No luck. The bare part of her back brushed against his protruding stomach. A warm hand grabbed at her ass.

  She shot into the dimly lit hall and glared at her boss.

  “There’s still time,” he said with a wink.

  “The answer’s still no,” she replied disgusted. With a turn on her stiletto heel, she headed for the stage.

  Thinking of his slimy mitts on her, she cringed. Aside from the touchy-feely drunks who tried to cop some feels, he was the worst part of the job. He expected every girl who worked at Jems to have sex with him. Called them Perk Fucks. For each sexual act submitted to him, the lady would receive preferential treatment. Pudgy and greasy as he was, somehow he got his way.

  One time when she had been summoned to his office, d
ays after her initial request to talk to him of course, he had been taking Ruby from behind. There had been her friend, bent at the waist, the cad twisting her nipples. Embarrassed, she tried to bow out of the room, but as he thrust into the woman, he barked he’d hear what she needed to say. Hope spit out her message, then ran, leaving the two of them to their negotiating. That same evening Ruby had worked a private bachelor party and brought home the same amount of copper as she usually made in a month.

  A few of the women kept trying to convince her to give Lou a blow job, or at least a hand job, so she could get a better shift once in a while or not be made to clean the private rooms. She never gave in. She wasn’t about to compromise herself for a job she knew she wouldn’t keep too long.

  I survived Buzz. I’ll make it out of here without being with a man I can’t stand.

  A few more stage dances, several lap dances, and she’d be done and moving on with her life. She planned to rectify her small issue, accept Den’s proposal and at last be able to comm home. She missed her mom, sister and cousin. It seemed like forever since she had hightailed it out of Buzz’s and since she had spoken to or seen her family. The day was finally coming that she’d be free to communicate with her family again.

  “Soon. Very soon,” she whispered.

  “And, now gentlemen,” the DJ crooned from his perch out on the floor next to the stage. “For your viewing pleasure, our very own girl next door, Miss Opal.”

  With a smile on her face, Hope, playing the part of stripper Opal, proceeded out onto the stage to entertain the crowd. All the girls performed under a stage name, and she was glad for that. With the pseudonym, she was better able to pretend she was someone else. The alter ego got her through the nights of her job. She didn’t regret her time at Jems, though. Dancing was what she always wanted to do. Granted, being an exotic dancer was not the profession she dreamed of as a girl in ballet class, but it had been the quickest and easiest way for her to make copper when she got stuck in the city without a clan.