by D. L. Line
“Okay, here’s the best way I have to explain it. I’m here as a challenge. I know some people who know some other people, and so here I am.”
Tasha clearly wasn’t buying it, offering a small snort as her response. “I do not believe you.”
“Well, it’s the best I have, so maybe you’ll just have to trust me.”
“So, Shelby Hutchinson, I am to trust you with nothing but a lame story, but you will not do the same for me?”
“Okay, Tasha, you’re right about that, so I need to trust you. And I do, but help me a little, okay? You’re very obviously Russian, you have Russian friends, and you carry Red Army–issue weapons. It’s equally obvious I’m an American, and I thought that meant we were supposed to be on different sides. Why are you helping me?”
“Ah, Shelby Hutchinson, it is just like when you were telling me that the Politburo was full with beans about all Americans having two cars. I am telling you not all Soviet citizens are bad guy–type spies who work for the KGB. There are many Soviets who believe Americans and Soviets should be comrades.”
“Okay then, what about the goons at the train station yesterday? Who were they?”
“Those men were agents who didn’t want me to help you.”
Shelby was beginning to see the light, but there was still one other small issue that needed to be addressed.
“What else is wrong, Shelby Hutchinson? Remember, this is the time for truth, yes?”
“Yes,” Shelby answered with a long exhalation of breath. “So, Tasha…you almost kissed me. What was that all about?”
Tasha lowered her head and smiled. “That was about you.”
“Me? What about me?”
“You are a funny person, Shelby Hutchinson. You have a beautiful smile. You are full of joy and I have never known any other person like you. You also have, how do you say, a fine ass in tight American Levi jeans. So when you were on the floor, I wanted to kiss you. Is it not okay?”
“No, no…it is okay; it just kind of surprised me. I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Why were you not expecting it? I am not blind. I felt your hands touching me when we were on the motorcycle. I can see you do not always look at my face when you are talking to me.” Tasha stopped long enough to look down at her own T-shirt-covered breasts. “I also felt when you were falling and caught you before. You did not want me to let go. I know this. I can see also that I am right. You have a funny look on your face.”
Shelby lowered her gaze to the floor. “It’s because I’m afraid.”
Tasha gently urged Shelby to raise her head with two fingers under her chin. “You are afraid of many things, Shelby Hutchinson. This I do not understand.”
“What’s not to understand? My life is boring. I never leave the city where I live. I never do anything but work and go home. Even my best friend thinks I’m boring, and I think it’s just because I’ve never wanted to risk anything.” Shelby gave Tasha an exasperated look. “You don’t think I’m boring, do you, Tasha?”
“I told you before, you can be anything you want, and you are most definitely not a boring person.” Shelby managed a hopeful smile that Tasha returned with one of her own. “You are here, with me, taking large chances, doing crazy things, yes?”
Shelby nodded quickly and gasped when she found Tasha’s hands on her hips, pulling her closer. That felt so nice. “Yes, I am here, and that’s a great big honkin’ yes to the crazy things question, so maybe—”
“Maybe is nothing, Shelby Hutchinson. Everything is here. Everything is now. Tomorrow is tomorrow, but it’s not important. Life is too short, so you must worry only about now.” Tasha grabbed her wrists and slid them up the door, pinning Shelby to the wooden surface behind her. “Are you afraid of me?”
“Well, sort of. You’re kind of a bad girl, what with the motorcycle and the leather jacket and the gun and stuff.”
“But, Shelby Hutchinson, you also have a leather jacket and gun. Are you also now a bad girl?”
That stopped her. “Well, I’m not sure. I’ve just always been such a good girl—”
Tasha pressed her body forward, pinning Shelby completely to the door. “And I believe you also have a bad girl inside you. We must find her for you.”
Shelby couldn’t answer or even move. She only nodded her agreement. Tasha was right. She gasped as Tasha moved closer to whisper in her ear, “I also think you want a bad girl inside you.” Shelby closed her eyes and leaned into the soft touch of fingers trailing down the side of her face. “Do you want that, Shelby Hutchinson?”
“Um…” Shelby didn’t have words at the moment. She knew they were there somewhere. They always were, but they were being elusive right now. Maybe they were just nervous. Shelby sure was.
But Tasha was having none of it. She backed off just enough to give her a little room to push Shelby even harder up against the door. Hard enough to rattle the hinges. Hard enough that Shelby knew exactly what was expected, as well as what to expect. Tasha asked again, slower this time, making her intentions clear. “Do you want that, Shelby Hutchinson?”
“Yes.”
Shelby wasn’t even sure where that particular word had come from, but it was out there now. Did she really want this? Oh yeah, she did, and in a big way. The depth of how badly she wanted to take and be taken, well and truly fucked before returning the favor, was becoming frightening in its intensity. She said it again to make sure Tasha understood it too.
“Yes, Tasha, I want that. I want you inside me, and on top of me, and all over me.”
Tasha pushed again, verbally and physically, rattling both the hinges on the door and Shelby’s inner bad girl at the same time. “Then show me, Shelby Hutchinson. Show me your bad girl.”
Something snapped inside Shelby that moved her to a level of bravery she’d never imagined from herself until this very moment. She yanked her hands free and pushed back on Tasha’s shoulders, hard, almost knocking her off balance. Tasha’s eyes widened in surprise, just for a second, before a hint of a smile appeared on her face accompanied by a knowing twinkle in her crystal blue eyes. That look only served to deepen Shelby’s resolve to have, to take without remorse. Tasha wanted it too. Shelby could feel it in every hyperstimulated nerve ending in her body as she pushed again, sending Tasha reeling backward to land sideways across the bed.
Shelby didn’t wait to be invited. She didn’t want the invitation anyway. Take and be taken. That’s what Shelby’s inner bad girl wanted, and she wanted it now. She watched Tasha, who was intently studying her in return as she stood by the side of the bed, then shrugged out of her shoulder holster and hung the weapon from an iron rail on the headboard. She must have hesitated for what Tasha considered to be an inappropriate amount of time, because Tasha grabbed the waist of her pants and dragged her closer to the bed.
“Remember, Shelby Hutchinson, everything is here. Everything is now.”
Tasha was sitting on the edge of the bed now, pushing up on the hem of Shelby’s tank top. Like a cat, Shelby stretched and arched into the touch of the hands under her shirt, before she peeled it the rest of the way off and tossed it carelessly aside. She twisted her fingers in Tasha’s hair as she pulled Tasha closer, encouraging her to suck and lick and bite everywhere she could reach.
Shelby’s inner bad girl was fully in charge now as all thoughts of doing the right thing or being boring flew out the window at the same time hands found her ass and squeezed. Shelby reached down and pulled off Tasha’s holster. The black T-shirt came off next, followed by a utilitarian white bra. Right before she tossed Tasha’s clothing aside, Shelby grinned a little as she thought Victoria’s actual Secret probably had nothing to do with being a gun-toting Soviet badass.
It was nice to be able to do something with Tasha’s breasts besides try to sneak a peek at them. Squeezing them together, playing with the nipples, all while Tasha groaned and rolled her head back was definitely a good thing. Almost as good as shoving Tasha back onto the bed to work at the button and
zipper on her jeans.
Something sounding very much like a growl reached Shelby’s ears when she got tangled up somewhere between Tasha’s jeans and her boots. Whether it was her own frustration or Tasha’s, Shelby wasn’t sure, but she kept plugging away, yanking off the boots and eventually Tasha’s black jeans. Tasha sat up again, long enough to hook fingers into Shelby’s bright purple sweats, pulling both pants and underwear off with one quick jerk, and yanked her roughly onto the bed. With her own sweats and panties still hanging from her ankles, Shelby struggled to kick off the last of her clothing. The fact that Tasha was sucking on Shelby’s fingers didn’t help. Neither did the fingers twisted painfully in her hair.
“Everything is here. Everything is now,” echoed through Shelby’s head like a mantra, and apparently out of her mouth too, though she wasn’t aware she had been talking out loud.
“Da, Shelby Hutchinson, everything is now.” Shelby’s fingers were guided insistently toward the place Tasha needed them to be. The pressure on her hand told Shelby exactly what she needed to do, while Tasha’s rising hips showed Shelby exactly how hard she needed to do it. She felt wet heat surround her fingers, heard a deep growl of satisfaction, saw Tasha’s eyes roll back into her head right before Shelby pulled out to push in again. It seemed to be exactly what Tasha needed, but Shelby couldn’t be sure because three fingers inside Tasha seemed to flip some kind of switch, turning off her ability to speak English. Shelby had no idea what the stream of foreign words meant, but she was certain Tasha wasn’t ordering a cheeseburger. She was pretty sure it meant something closer to, “Fuck me harder, you crazy American,” so that’s exactly what Shelby did.
Just when she had decided everything was right, Shelby felt hands on her shoulders, pushing her roughly onto her back. She heard something else in Russian she couldn’t identify, but opted to ignore it in favor of the pressure encouraging her legs farther apart. She officially stopped caring about language when Tasha’s fingers slid in, pulled out, and slid in again, harder and faster than the first time. Shelby heard herself growl, felt her own eyes roll back, noted that with each thrust, her own English became reduced to a small collection of phrases, including things like “oh, shit, Tasha” and “harder, please, oh God, fuck me harder.”
Tasha understood that. At least Shelby assumed she did when each command to do it harder or faster resulted in exactly what she needed. She felt the telltale tingles start in her legs, but Shelby didn’t want to be done yet. There was still unfinished business and Shelby’s inner bad girl was determined to finish it first. Collecting her wits enough to push back, Shelby knocked Tasha aside and pulled on her arm, indicating that she wanted Tasha on her stomach. Tasha didn’t seem to agree with the decision, but was silenced easily with one or two bites to her neck and shoulder blades. This was Shelby’s party now, and she wasn’t stopping until she had what she wanted.
And what she wanted was fireworks. Russian fireworks like May Day in Red Square. Shelby growled and bit while she teased with her fingers. She could see the strong muscles in Tasha’s back working as her hips came off the bed, giving Shelby all the room she needed to fuck her. It didn’t take long, between the teeth-shaped welts all over Tasha’s back and Shelby’s insistent thrusting, before Tasha was groaning, straining harder to push back against Shelby’s hand, and finally, with a long, shuddering growl, coming hard just like Shelby wanted her to.
Shelby was stoked, proud of herself in a way she had never before experienced. The wet, limp pile of naked Russian babe on her bed only made it better. She rolled onto her back to rest, but didn’t have long to do so once Tasha collected herself enough to get on her knees and flip Shelby onto her stomach. Turnabout was fair play, after all. It was a little disconcerting being unable to see what was going on, but her anxiety soon disappeared when Tasha found a particularly sensitive spot on Shelby’s neck and bit down hard enough that Shelby had no choice but to cry out. It hurt like hell, but in a good way, so Shelby pushed away the urge to struggle and gave in to the growling and the teeth and what felt like Tasha’s whole hand in her pussy.
The thrusting was intense, the biting was intense, and when it finally hit, the orgasm was like nothing Shelby had ever known before. She let go with her own version of the long, shuddering growl, clawing for purchase on the covers of the bed, while wave after orgasmic wave crashed over her, threatening to drown her. Finally reduced to something resembling a noodle in her grandma’s chicken soup, Shelby had nothing left but to smile the smile of a bad girl set free.
Somewhere in the periphery of her just-been-fucked stupor, Shelby registered the sound of a voice accompanied by strong hands urging her to turn around to get under the sheets and blanket. “Come, Shelby Hutchinson. You must sleep now.”
As much as she didn’t want the evening to be over, once under the covers, Shelby curled up to enjoy the naked snuggle and realized she was exhausted. “Are you staying tonight?”
Tasha wrapped her arms around Shelby, stroking her hair. “Da, I must also sleep. Tomorrow is a big day.”
“Why? What’s happening tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow we must leave for the Soviet Union, but first, we have to sneak over the border into Poland.”
“Sneak into Poland? What? I didn’t know…”
“Shh, Shelby Hutchinson, now you need to sleep.”
Shelby fought the urge to argue further, because she was almost certain that Tasha wouldn’t answer her anyhow. As the anxiety boiled in her gut, Shelby closed her eyes in an attempt to will it down and hoped that sleep would follow soon. She was so tired, but she knew, as she listened to Tasha’s deep breathing, that sleep would not come easily.
Chapter Five
Shelby did eventually fall asleep, but the night had been restless. She wasn’t sure what had disturbed her, but she was definitely awake now. She stretched and yawned, noticed it was still dark outside, and rolled onto her back. Ouch. Not a great idea. The collection of sore spots on her neck and shoulders, now emphasized by the slightly rough sheets beneath, served as a vivid reminder of exactly what had transpired last night. Despite her various collections of aches and pains, Shelby smiled. Last night had been intense, definitely something new for the kid from Chicago who always did the right thing.
Shelby felt around the bed and realized she was alone. Not for long, though, as Tasha appeared from the bathroom, toweling off her wet hair. Shelby feigned sleep for a little longer, just to watch Tasha as she wrapped her towel around her torso and tucked it in to keep it in place. She turned to look in the mirror over the dresser while she combed out her long hair and tied it back into a ponytail. Once the hair was out of the way, Shelby’s eyes were drawn to the teeth-shaped bruises on Tasha’s shoulders. She felt bad about it for a moment, but let it go, her own sore back reminding her that no one had uttered the word “stop” to anyone else. Maybe someone said “don’t stop” a time or two, but since Tasha had seemed to lose her ability to speak English, Shelby had no way of knowing exactly what had been said.
Daydreams of last night continued to pop in and out of her head as she watched Tasha get dressed. Shelby gave up faking sleep and sat up, drawing Tasha’s attention from the mirror. While she pulled the sheet up to cover her naked breasts, Tasha turned to offer a smile. “Ah, Shelby Hutchinson, you are awake. You sleep like a dead thing.”
Shelby laughed a little as she yawned again and scratched her head. “Yeah, I kind of do that.”
The mattress shifted as Tasha climbed on and moved up the bed on her knees to give Shelby a kiss good morning. She offered a slightly evil smile. “You also fuck like an animal. I am impressed.”
Well, that was a new one. “Um, thank you. I think.”
“Oh no, Shelby Hutchinson. It’s a good thing.” Shelby turned as Tasha gently took her by the shoulder to inspect the damage to Shelby’s back. “Oops, I am sorry for the bruises.”
“Hey,” Shelby answered quickly, “I should be saying that to you. Have you seen your back?”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Shelby laughed a little as she tossed aside the covers to get out of bed, then stopped on the way to the bathroom to dig through her duffel bag. She still wasn’t sure exactly what was in the bag, besides the large and obvious grenade launcher, but quickly found a small kit filled with personal items. The clothing selection wasn’t great, but Shelby didn’t care since she had her cool new leather jacket to cover anything she didn’t like. After a quick search through the small collection of shirts and underwear, Shelby selected a black tank top to go with her jeans and a pair of blue striped underpants.
On her way into the bathroom, Shelby turned as Tasha offered a warning. “Be careful with the hot water.” She got the idea immediately as Tasha pointed toward her own back, reminding Shelby of the damage she hadn’t yet seen.
“Oh yeah, thanks.” Shelby closed the door of the bathroom and went straight over to the mirror to inspect the bruises on her shoulders. “Yow.” She cringed at her own reflection. “And you say I fuck like an animal. Jeez.”
Shelby was almost unable to believe all of the changes in only two days. Leather jackets, guns, self-defense workouts, and the most rough-and-tumble sex she had ever experienced. The water pressure wasn’t great, but the shower did feel nice. The water quickly started getting cold, forcing Shelby to keep it short. It was probably for the best since Tasha seemed eager to get on the road. Despite her own concerns about what was supposed to happen next, Shelby found she was eager to get going too.
Well, maybe not that eager. There was a huge part of Shelby that wanted to lock the door to the apartment and just stay naked with Tasha for the rest of her stay, but that probably wasn’t a great idea. Last night had been lots of fun, but she knew deep down that Tasha, like everything else here in Berlin, was temporary, and there were things that needed to be done. Specifically, prototype grenade launcher kinds of things, and it was time to get moving.