Pink Neon

by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

  “Oh, god yes, sugar,” she moaned. “Just like that.”

  Her fingers unbuttoned his shirt and strayed across his flesh, pausing to tweak his nipples. Their mouths remained fused together but never still. The way his lips sucked at hers, pulled and teased, even nibbled filled her with an incredible rush. And it made her want more. His hands erupted goose pimples across her flesh and her body. Wanton want increased with each stroke until Cecily thought she’d pass out from the intense longing.

  His leisurely kisses fed the rising hunger but sharpened it too. His stiff cock pressed against her thigh with such force she figured he burned in the same way, wanted the same release. Although she caressed him where ever she could reach, it wasn’t enough. Before she could mouth any complaints or suggest any direction Daniel swept her up into his arms. Cecily wrapped her arms around his neck for support and also because his impetuous action sent thrills rippling through her body. He carried her into the bedroom and put her on the bed. His fingers pulled her shorts off and without waiting for any signals he lowered his mouth onto her cunt.

  As his breath touched her sensitive flesh, she shivered and then lost all ability to think as Daniel inserted his tongue into her pussy. Much smaller than his dick, his tongue darted inward to lick at her clit with delicious motions. She convulsed with pleasure, her small groans lost among all the wild delights she experienced. Heat traveled through her like a sudden fever and Cecily burned. Daniel pulled out and hovered above her, his arms braced against the bed. He kissed her again and she tasted her own cum, salty and a little strange on her lips.

  Without conscious thought her body pushed upward to meet his, her arms stretching out to hold him, to draw him closer. She managed to pull his shirt from his body and paused as he removed his pants. Cecily reached for him but he caught her hands and held them.

  “Let me, querida,” he said. “Let me love you.”

  He meant to pleasure her, to give without taking and although a protest formed on her lips, Cecily couldn’t speak it. Need made her selfish, want turned her greedy and she surrendered so he could have his way with her. Daniel’s mouth slammed down on hers with the force of an invader, the powerful desire of a barbarian yet enough courtesy lingered to keep it sweet. Although he still held her hands caught in one big paw, his other hand stroked her body with cocksure confidence. His fingers massaged her nipples, first one, then the other with delicious torture. He trailed a line with his fingers from between her breasts down to her pussy, sharp as a knife, hot as a lit candle. Daniel rubbed her cleft and already aroused from his tongue work, it moistened and yearned.

  Just when she thought she’d scream with frustration with waiting, he inserted his dick into her. He didn’t ram it hard or pound her with it, just came in slow and steady. The sensation rocked her, intense and amazing. Cecily tightened her walls to caress him as he inched inward. Once she contained his length, he moved with the graceful motions of a dance. Powerful waves erupted in response as erotic wonder spread outward sending the physical joy from her vagina through all her body.

  Even then Daniel didn’t hurry but took his time as he worked their bodies into one. Her body quivered and spasmed as an orgasm approached. He must’ve felt it coming, sensed the vibration like the first rumble of a major earthquake because he stepped up his pace and they came together in one jumbled rush of sensation. God, it feels good, warm and hot and wet and intense. Cecily knew he’d penetrated into her secret places, physical and emotional. He bonded with her and made them one in a deeper way than ever before.

  Close and connected, she cuddled against Daniel as he claimed a new position at her side. Cecily wrapped her legs around his body and laid still, the sound of his heartbeat steady in her ears, the rush of his breath slowing to match her own pace. Her cunt radiated residual heat, sticky and sated, so tender if she moved, she experienced a new tingle. They remained tangled, in harmony for a long time, neither speaking but without a need for words. She parted her lips to say the words she wanted to share but her phone, still tucked into the pocket of her discarded shorts, sang out. One hand groped for it but Daniel retrieved it from the wadded sheets and handed it to her. He, like she, must know it would be Nia.

  “Hello?”

  “I’m leaving the house now to head out to O’Hare,” her cousin said. “My flight leaves at three forty five and should arrive at five fourteen. You gonna pick me up?”

  “Yeah, we’ll be there,” Cecily said. Words tasted odd in her mouth after the intimate silence.

  “What’re you doing? You sound funny.” Nia’s voice carried a heavy tone of amusement.

  “What do you think?” she replied. “We’ll be there, okay.”

  “Better be,” her cousin said. “See you then.”

  Cecily put down her cell. “She’s coming.”

  “What time?”

  “Five-fourteen,” she answered.

  “It’s after three now,” Daniel said. “I’m taking a shower and then we’ll go. We’ve got a lot to do, chica.”

  Aware of the powerful musk they both emitted, she grinned. “I need a shower too, sugar. And then we’ll get whatever we need done including picking up Nia.”

  Two hours later, they waited in the terminal at the Springfield-Branson Airport. Although Cecily asked what might happen if any FBI personnel happened to see them together and Daniel admitted it wouldn’t be the best thing, he refused to let her meet Nia alone.

  “We’re in this together,” he told her. “And I’m not going to risk letting Tillman or some other gung-ho dickweed try to take you into custody.”

  If she weren’t in trouble up to her chin, Cecily would’ve objected on general principle but at the moment she craved his protection, almost as much as she did his body. And she admitted if only to herself having someone take responsibility for her offered an appeal. Except for her mom during early childhood, it wasn’t something Cecily had experienced.

  “Thank you for being with me,” Cecily told Daniel.

  “At the airport?” he asked with an upraised eyebrow and a grin.

  “Here and in this whole mess,” she answered. “I bet that’s her plane.”

  Although the terminal seemed small compared to the scale of Chicago’s O’Hare and the many other major airports she’d visited, it provided both space and comfort. When passengers funneled in, she spotted Nia and squealed. “There she is!”

  Without waiting, she sprinted over and hugged her cousin. Nia’s hair hung in dreadlocks and she wore a vivid yellow outfit. “I’m glad you’re here,” Cecily said. “I’ve missed your ass, girl but damn, I didn’t know I should’ve worn sunglasses.”

  “You look damn fine,” Nia said. “Bitch, don’t you dis my outfit. Yellow’s my color, girl and you know it. Where’s your guy? He can carry my bags for me.”

  “He’s not your servant,” Cecily said with sass. “But he’s the good looking one over there.”

  She pointed and when Nia followed her finger, she screeched. “Damn, he’s fine.”

  “And he’s mine,” Cecily said. She wasn’t joking now. “He’s off limits for you, Nia.”

  “All right,” her cousin said with pouted lips. “But tell me he’s got a brother just a sexy.”

  Aware she had no clue if he had one brother or a dozen, a sister or none, Cecily laughed and moved through the milling crowds toward Daniel with Nia trailing behind. She linked her arm through his to stake her claim. “Daniel, sugar, this is my cousin, Nia. Bitch, this is Daniel Padilla, best damn thing to happen to me in a long time.”

  After the pleasantries, Daniel retrieved Nia’s bags and they headed for his sedan. Nia pleaded a need to use the ladies room so the two women made a stop. “I’ll pick you up out front,” Daniel said.

  Once they entered the restroom and found it vacant, Nia turned to Cecily, hands parked on her hips. “Are you all right? He’s hotter than salsa but you’re in deep shit and I’m worried.”

  “I’m fine,” Cecily answered. “We’ve got
it under control, Nia.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “One hundred percent, yeah, I am. I trust Daniel.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And I love him, too.” Saying aloud took courage and made it real. Now if she could just summon up the guts to tell Daniel, they’d be good.

  Nia shook her head. “That’s no surprise. I knew it. I read you like a book, cuz. Kind of fast work, though isn’t it?”

  “Not really,” Cecily said. “We connected from the moment he walked into Pink Neon. I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”

  “I have and then I got over it, like the flu,” Nia said with a wicked grin. “Oh, don’t look at me like you want to carve me up. I’m happy for you if it’s real. I’ve had the worst luck with men so I’m suspicious.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “So what happens after this is over? Do you two ride off into the sunset together?”

  Cecily had wondered too. “I don’t know but I’d like to be together, whatever, however.”

  “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?” Nia said with some sympathy. “Well, let’s go before he comes after us. He might put us in hand cuffs or something.”

  Daniel offered to stop somewhere for a meal but Cecily, mindful they might run into someone from the local FBI office, suggested they wait until they reached Branson. “I’m not familiar here,” she said to explain.

  He nodded. “Neither am I,” he said. “Okay, we’ll wait.”

  After a meal at a crowded café along Branson’s busy Strip, Daniel drove them back to Cecily’s. Then, at his suggestion, Cecily drove Nia down to Pink Neon to show her cousin around. “Aren’t you coming with us?” she asked Daniel.

  “No,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of things to take care of first. I’ll meet you at the house later and Cecily?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t freak out if I show up driving something different.”

  Her mouth opened to ask why but he shook his head. “I’ll explain it later. No questions, querida.”

  Her sigh came up from the depths of her soul. “All right, be careful.”

  “I will,” he said. “And you do the same.”

  Although the boutique wasn’t open, she’d left the neon turned on so the pink track lighting glowed in the summer dusk. Above the front door the name ‘Pink Neon” stood out bright. Nia clapped her hands with delight. “Looks pretty damn cool,” she said. “I love it.”

  “Wait until you see the inside,” Cecily said with a feigned enthusiasm she didn’t feel. On one level she longed to show off her pretty shop but her current situation distracted her and she wondered where Daniel’d gone. Ten minutes later, after Nia walked from one shelf to another, gasping and cooing with delight, she gave her cousin a basic rundown of how things worked. She showed her the cash register, the computer, and handed over the keys. “I didn’t open today at all but you need to be here in the morning, early.”

  “I can handle it,” Nia said. “Shit, I think this will be a blast.”

  “I hope so,” Cecily said. “Let’s go home.”

  “Not so fast. I want to see some of the sights. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.”

  The last thing Cecily wanted was to play tourist but she gritted her teeth. “All right but you can go sightseeing on your own after I’ve left town. We’ll just hit some of the highlights.”

  Cecily drove her GTO up and down the Strip. She pointed out the half scale Titanic museum, replica of the ill-fated ocean liner, waved a hand toward Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, and named off some of the bigger theaters. They killed more than an hour’s time gawking, twice as long as she’d wanted before Cecily headed home. She wanted Daniel but instead she found an unfamiliar truck parked in front of her house. Anxiety exploded until she recalled what he’d said. Still uneasy, she parked and went inside, ready to know what he’d done – and why.

  Chapter Twelve

  He’d like to leave within the next twelve hours but Daniel wasn’t sure it was possible. As soon as Cecily drove away in her bright red vintage car, he gathered up some of his gear and drove to the Strip. He sought a motel, a cheap one but he avoided the one where he’d stayed before. Although he doubted they would remember him in a town where guests came and went daily, Daniel wanted somewhere where they would.

  The dump he selected didn’t even offer a name on their sign which read “ROOMS – CHEEP”. But the rundown property suited his purpose and he liked the fact guests had to drive through an arch to reach his room. The U-shaped units surrounded the central parking space on three sides and centered on an empty pool. Huge cracks marred the concrete and indicated why it wasn’t in use but Daniel figured it served as a monument to broken dreams too. He paid for two weeks in a single room. When he carried some minimal baggage, stuff he wouldn’t need anywhere else, into the space, he winced. Mildew climbed a large part of the visible walls and two cockroaches scuttled into the shadows. A stale aroma combining rank piss and sour beer hung in the air. Ancient cigarette burns marred the battered dresser and he doubted the sheets had been changed in months. He tossed his bag onto the bed and put his work issue phone beside the television set.

  Daniel used his pay-as-you-go phone to call a number he’d lifted out of the pages of some free shopper paper at the airport. He expressed interest in the 1976 pickup truck advertised for sale and asked if he could get a ride to see it. At first, the woman who answered the phone sounded wary but he charmed her into sending her son to pick him up. A sullen young man, face pocked with pimples, arrived fifteen minutes later. A half hour after that, Daniel exchanged cash for the pickup and drove away. At the first car wash he spotted, he scrubbed it and cleaned the interior as much as possible. A quick stop at a dollar store yielded sanitizing spray to kill any remaining gnarly bacteria and a cheap seat cover to hide the ugly tear on the passenger side.

  At Cecily’s, he did motor staples, checked the oil and fluids. Overall, for the cheap cash price, the truck appeared to be fairly sound. He thought it could make the trip to Texas without trouble and if not, he’d figure out something else. Daniel drove past Pink Neon, confirmed Cecily and her cousin were still inside, and then returned to her place. She wasn’t back yet so he let himself inside and poured a tequila shot. He tossed it back and savored the burn as it traveled to his gut. If he’d been alone, he would’ve followed it with more but Daniel stopped with one.

  He needed all his wits to deal with the situation, he decided. Despite all the assurances he made Cecily, Daniel figured if he could pull this off without Cecily in custody, without any charges for either of them, hold onto his job and keep them both alive, it’d take a miracle, the kind his mama prayed to the saints to deliver. Pray, Mamacita, pray, your son needs it now.

  Since his phone call, he imagined she was.

  When Cecily drove up, he watched from the window and saw her apprehension. Her expression changed when she remembered what he’d told her or so he believed. He opened the door to her and she came inside, her cousin on her heels. He hadn’t planned to show affection in front of Nia but he couldn’t resist a quick embrace and a swift kiss. “How’d it go?” he asked.

  “Fine,” she said. “What’s with the truck?”

  “It’s part of the plan,” he said. Her eyes burned into his, curious and needy. “Sit down and I’ll explain everything to both of you.”

  Nia flopped into the sole arm chair, a match to the gold couch. Cecily sat down on the couch and after a moment’s hesitation, Daniel settled down at the opposite end. He needed to focus as he talked to them both and he couldn’t if he sat beside her.

  “Okay,” he said, feeling more like he briefed staff than shared his plan. “Nia, you need to drive Cecily’s car, keep the shop open, and otherwise just do your thing. Keep a low profile if you can but the reason you’re here, besides keeping Pink Neon going for your cousin, is so maybe another agent won’t realize Cecily’s not around. Sooner or later, yeah, someone will but it’
ll buy us a little time if we’re lucky. Sound doable, Nia?”

  “You bet,” Nia replied. “I can handle it, easy. But will it work? I’m three shades darker than she is, always have been.”

  Despite their circumstances, Cicely beamed and Daniel’s heart melted to see her smile. “I don’t think most of these folks will notice,” she said. “Lots of tourists in and out of here and all they see’s a black gal.”

  Daniel nodded. “I agree. And I don’t think you’ll be in any danger. If the FBI tries to take you into custody under the belief you’re Cecily, all you have to do is show your ID and resolve it.”

  Nia frowned. “So what are you two doing while I’m playing store at Pink Neon?”

  He glanced at Cecily and asked a silent question with his eyes. Do you trust her completely? She seemed to understand and nodded. Daniel cleared his throat. “We’re heading to El Paso, Texas, to my mama’s house to get Cecily out of reach of both the FBI and whoever killed her ex-husband. Then we’re going to try to figure out what really happened to Bradford VI, who killed him, and see if we can’t get evidence to verify it. If things stay hot, we’ll head down to my abuela’s home in Mexico.”

  No one spoke for a moment and then Cecily scooted over beside him. “Okay, so what’s with the old truck parked out front?”

  “I bought it,” Daniel told her. “Its cover your ass time. I checked into a crappy no-name motel and left my work cell there because they can ping it or track location. I left one bag with shit I don’t need and the car too. If Martin sends anyone looking for me, they’ll find the stuff. I’m hoping it throws them off the trail and slows down any search parties. Best case scenario is we’re back with evidence before anyone realizes we’re gone.”

  Cecily put her hand on his arm and gazed into his face with her soulful eyes, serious and almost sad. “And what’s the worst case one, sugar?”