“I’m taking that shower,” Suzy declared and opened the door to her miniature bathroom. “You make tea.” She hesitated. “You know how to operate a water boiler, right?”
“Absolutely,” he said with the air of the planet’s most enthusiastic liar.
“Don’t set fire to the flat. I’ll be only a moment.”
She slammed the bathroom door shut behind her and breathed out. The bathroom was small, barely large enough to house the shower cabin, but it meant a moment of solitude. As steam began to fill the air, she pictured Cai in his towel again. That had been something. No, she corrected herself; it still was something. Cai was still out there, in her flat, probably doing his best to ruin her kitchenette. Completely lost inside a home, yet perfectly cool when taking on armed men twice his size. And gifted with the body of an Olympic lightweight boxer. A familiar warmth spun leisurely in the pit of her stomach as she stepped out of her dripping clothes, and she grinned at her mirror. No one could blame her for having enjoyed the sight. Now if it only wasn’t so tempting to go back out there and put her hands on that alabaster body...
A sharp ringing pierced her thoughts. Suzy cursed; of course her phone had to ring just as she was about to step into the shower. And worse, she had to take the call; it was past midnight, so anyone calling now had to have a good reason. They would better have, or else.
Muttering to herself, Suzy wound a towel around her, opened the door, and padded out. Cai was still there, inspecting the underside of the water boiler. Thankfully, he had tied his towel around his waist, although so low that it was doomed to fall off any second. When he saw Suzy, he smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She sighed; at least her kitchen wasn’t on fire yet.
Her phone was in her bedroom, so she ran past Cai, as much to reach the phone as to avoid the urge to touch his skin. Once inside her bedroom, she flung herself across the mattress, fumbled around under the bed, and finally found the handset.
“Hello?” she said.
A faint buzz, followed by a strange whoosh, like a distant wind.
“Anyone there?” Suzy checked the display on the phone but the number was withheld. Just typical. Probably an automated sales message that had crept through her advertisement decline service. She hung up and turned to rise when the phone rang again.
“What?” she demanded. She hoped the shower cabin wouldn’t be flooded.
“Suzy Oliviera?” A deep male voice, not hostile but not exactly friendly either. The caller had a British accent.
“Speaking,” Suzy said. “What’s going on?”
“You have returned to your grounds safely. We are thankful.”
Suzy took the phone from her ear and frowned at the plastic thing as if it could tell her who the caller was. “Yeah,” she replied. “Me too. Who the hell is this?”
“Caiside arrived in time to protect you, we heard.”
“I don’t need any friggin protection,” Suzy snapped. “Are you a friend of his? He’s here, so you might want to come by and pick him up. He’s kinda lost.”
“He can look after himself. We need your help urgently.”
“A job?” Suzy asked. She would need one eventually, but not from an employer calling at midnight and speaking in riddles. “Sorry, but I already got one lined up. Well, sort of. Anything else I can do? I’ve got the water running and a stranger in my flat.” No such thing as the truth at the best of times.
“A task,” the voice said. “You have the mark to cross the border. We need an item delivered.”
“A parcel?”
“An artefact. It is the Medallion of Baath. Yes, the legendary divider. I know it is hard to believe we have retrieved the item, but it is – ”
“What’s that, a painting?” Suzy rolled over onto her back. “I don’t know what you’re on about, but you’ve got the wrong girl.”
There was a short pause. “It is the medallion itself. You must have heard of it.”
Suzy snorted. Cai’s friends were as deranged as he was. She wondered if they were as pretty. “Sorry,” she said. “You want something moved, hire a courier. Or a removal company.”
“This is no assignment for any ordinary messenger. We need you. Can we trust you to do what’s right?”
“Sure you can. Bye-bye, now.” Suzy hung up, unplugged the cable, dropped the phone on the floor and stared at her ceiling. The wind and the rain outside swung the streetlights, creating ripples in the shadows in her room. The sight was hypnotizing.
Her bed. It was nice. She’d forgotten how soft it was. When she tried to rise, he legs seemed made out of oak. All the sugar must have left her system. She’d rest just a moment, get her strength back –
– no, what was she thinking? She had company, and the water was running. No time to rest.
Then she realized she had been sleeping, nodding off in mid-thought. Bad, treacherous, wicked bed! She crawled off the mattress and staggered out into the other room. Cai was gone, but the water was still running in the shower. Suzy wondered how long the water had been on? This was no way to cut down on her water bill. At least there was no water outside the bathroom door, but the hot water had created a dense mist worthy of any rainforest. She checked that the front door was locked and tossed her towel over her laptop. Finally, peace and quiet. She closed the bathroom door behind her, opened the shower cabin’s plastic door, and stepped right into a re-undressed and soapy Caiside.
Only seeing him naked again stopped Suzy from screaming. The sight, along with him being so close, turned her shout into a long, undignified wheeze. He looked equally surprised, standing frozen with the showerhead raised over his head. At his feet stood Suzy’s sizable battery of shampoos and shower gels, half of them uncorked.
Cai’s face took on that maddening bashfulness again, but then he smiled, and his modesty melted into a new impression. He may have been all politeness before, but there was nothing coy about his present grin. Suzy could read the invitation as if spelled out in bold letters.
The past hours caught up with Suzy. The flight, the thoughts, the fight, the adrenaline rush, the madcap sprint through the rain – all of the events washed through her and took with them all restraint. She needed relief, and she needed it badly. She’d earned this.
One step took Suzy inside the cabin, where she put her hands on the wall on each side of Cai and then used her body to push him against the tiled wall. She fixed his gaze to make sure he wouldn’t shrink back – not that he could, given that Suzy more or less had him pinned – and then promptly pressed her lips onto his. He was shorter than she was but not by many centimetres, so she did not have to tilt her head much. Cai made a muted but pleased sound and kissed her back, using his tongue to part Suzy’s lips and touch hers.
Suzy shivered with pleasure as feeling his statue-like body against hers sent tremors racing down her back. Once again, she was reminded of the man with whom she’d made love in the forest; they had the same tone to their skin, the same lithe build and similar eyes. The greatest difference was that this man was a head shorter, less wide over his shoulders, and much younger. But he was just as irresistible, as if put together by nature with the sole purpose to drive her gleefully insane. Not that she complained.
She raised a hand to fix the showerhead in its mount and then ran her hands up and down along his sides, all the way from the top of his arms down to his lean waist. His kisses grew more intense and he pulled her close, all hints of indecision completely gone, and kissed her face, her neck, her shoulders. One of his strong hands gripped her neck loosely while the other slid down and stayed at her lower back. Suzy’s legs grew unsteady and she leaned against the wall again, then she pushed at him as if trying to fuse her body with his. Mother of all midnight blessings, this was a treat. Tomorrow and all its inevitable questions and dilemmas could wait until, well, tomorrow. She wanted this strange, slightly nutty and absolutely gorgeous man, and she wanted him now.
When she had regained her balance, Suzy continued to explore his body. When a q
uick pinch of a nipple resulted in a pleasing moan, she bent down, bit lightly, and then sucked at his nipple, first gently and then harder. Suzy felt his body respond as if shot through with lightning; he grew hard against her within seconds. While she continued to nip and suck at his nipple, Suzy touched him with one hand and then smiled, noting more similarities between her woodland lover and this man. Feeling playful and enjoying to be in some form of control – well, perhaps not entirely in control – she lowered herself farther down, placed his hardness between her breasts, and then slowly moved herself up and down while she put her lips around his other nipple. She paused, pumped put some soap in her hand, rubbed it along his length and then continued to move herself up and down, pressing him close.
Cai shuddered, leaned his head back against the wall, and keened in pleasure. She could feel his body tense like a coiled spring, building up tension with every move she made. Suzy felt like laughing; after the street fight, this was heaven. The air was hot and almost opaque with moist. She wondered how insane she could drive this delicious man before he exploded.
Grinning, Suzy reached down, but Cai caught her wrist and pulled her upright. Before she could argue, Cai sank down to his knees while running his tongue along her, briefly touching one of her nipples, then continuing down, past her thighs and in between her legs. Suzy was about to protest; she had looked forward to making him lose all control, but then his tongue touched the centre of her pleasure, and her protest died on her lips with a loud groan. She tilted her head back and smiled at the ceiling, moving her hips slowly while Cai used his lips and tongue to send waves of delight through her. If this was what he wanted, then fine. He certainly knew what he was doing.
Blissful minutes passed as Cai continued to explore her, all while he ran his hands along her legs, her buttocks and her belly. Suzy took hold of the edges of the shower cabin to steady herself; she was happy to let this go on as long as he desired. After a seeming endless time, just as a climax began to shimmer on the horizon, Cai reached for a bottle – her scented oil, unless she saw wrong – and uncorked it. Before she had had time to wonder what he planned to do, she felt one of his hands run under her, up between her buttocks, and then he touched her other point of pleasure, pressing lightly with a finger while his tongue continued to stroke her. His finger disappeared and then returned, now bearing a touch of oil. He massaged the oil into her, ever so slowly, before removing his finger to return soon with a new drop of oil.
Each touch sent a quiver through Suzy. They should take this to the bed; any moment soon, her grip would falter and she’d crash down onto Cai. She was about to say as much when his finger pressed at her gently, then a little more, until it slipped inside. Suzy forced a cry into a loud gasp, and she felt the plastic of the shower cabin’s edges groan in her fierce grip. The sensation was incredible. She wanted to move faster, but she made herself adjust to Cai’s slow rhythm as he continued to use his tongue and finger to set off small explosions of pleasure. Within seconds, the climax rushed closer as if suddenly brought into focus.
With a heroic effort, Suzy pushed him away. “You’re coming with me,” she grunted and pulled him out of the bathroom.
They left a wet trail along the floor as they half-stumbled, half-wrestled towards the bed. Suzy wished he could walk faster; she was moments from tripping him to the floor and taking him on the spot, but she kept struggling to get Cai where she wanted. The bed was relatively clean and soft, and her floor really wasn’t.
To her surprise, they made it to the bed, and Suzy sat down abruptly as the edge of the mattress bumped against the back of her knees. Cai stood in front of her, every inch the image of a Roman athletic god, lit only by the electric candelabra in the other room. He gazed down at her with eyes reflecting the light like polished steel, like a wolf’s alert gaze. Her face was centimetres from his waist, and Suzy decided to indulge in what luck chose to offer. Half-drunk with lust, she took his hardness in one hand, put her other hand on one of his buttocks, and drew him into her mouth.
Cai sucked in a sharp breath and moved against her slowly, following her pace, and Suzy focused on the sensations of him inside her. He responded with a shiver to every slightest movement, every stroke of her tongue, every change in the pressure of her grip. He tasted of soap and, underneath, something muskier, the scent of a deep forest.
When she felt him begin to move faster, she stopped and held up a finger, hoping that he’d understand. She let go of him, upended a box near her bed, found a condom, and slipped it onto him. He looked profoundly confused but did not protest; if anything, he felt as if he grew even harder under her fingers. Then she laid back, moved towards him, and placed her heels on his chest. Unless he took her now, she would split in half with desire.
Cai rested a knee on the mattress, placed her feet on his shoulders, and sank down until the tip of him rested just at her opening. “May I?” he asked.
“Are you serious?” Suzy could have thrown something at him, but then Cai laughed and lowered himself down, finally sinking into her. Suzy bucked and cursed with raw pleasure as he leaned forward, placed his hands next to her, and began to move inside her.
Suzy felt delirious. When had anything felt this good before? Not in her lifetime, she thought. At least not in several days, suggested the devil on her shoulder, never missing a chance to correct her. Cai leaned down to kiss her while he moved against her, and Suzy arced her neck up to reach his mouth. The man had the most sensual lips, and his kisses were beyond description. He smiled, and Suzy growled with lust. She took hold of his arms and pushed back against him, meeting thrust with thrust, and she felt every muscle in his body tense.
With a low cry, Suzy found herself careening over the edge and into climax, and she held on to him as the pulse rocked her, again and again, wave after wave of intense pleasure. Oblivious or uncaring, Cai didn’t stop; he continued to push at Suzy until she had slid halfway up the bed. Suzy looked up at his face and saw him overcome with lust. The sight was infuriatingly arousing, and Suzy crossed her ankles behind his back to pull herself closer.
Cai continued, his thrusts growing more and more intense until he closed on a force that bordered dangerously on the painful. Suzy allowed herself to be carried along, latching on to his craving until she too was brought to a new height. Then he tensed, harder this time, and he arched his statuesque body backwards as he came inside her with a long, drawn-out sigh. Moments later, Suzy echoed his climax and collapsed back while new waves crashed through her. The light faded as if veiled by a cloak, and all grew dark.
*
When Suzy came to again, she blinked at the twilight of the candelabra. Was it already dawn? No, it was still dark outside. The rain drummed against her window as if intending to go on forever. Cai lay next to her, at rest but not asleep. She did not have to look over at him to know that he was awake; she could feel his presence, the alertness he radiated.
Suzy was good at math. She’d never been a prodigy, but she got along well with numbers, always doing fairly well in school, usually getting high marks without trying too hard. Numbers were obedient and did as they were told, whereas her attempts at writing short stories always ended with her characters taking command over her letters and going off on unsolicited adventures. Reading poetry was nice, but writing it didn’t mix with her lack of patience. But numbers were all right. They were Suzy’s friends. Which was how she knew the equation of the past hours didn’t add up.
Getting soaked by the rain was nothing new. Neither was getting lost, or forgetting addresses. Coming across attractive men at unexpected times had happened before, and some of them hadn’t had the best wardrobes. She’d seen more than one street fight, even if she never had been directly involved in one before. And sex so good it left her practically unconscious – well, that was one of the things she lived for.
But all of the above in one go? Never. The past evening was a string of ludicrous events: Misplacing a whole tattoo studio, stumbling across a drop-dead stu
nning man wearing the worst outfit this side of a circus tent, being attacked by a trio of creepy men with ritual knives, and then having a scandalously great time in bed with said the aforementioned-dressed man. All that with traditional Suzy luck? No way. There was only one explanation, and Suzy held it carefully in her mind, as if it could set her brain on fire if handled too roughly. Perhaps it could. But she needed to make sure.
“Cai?” Suzy mumbled.
“Did I please you?” he asked. “You truly are an amazing woman. I can see why Green did not tell me; I wouldn’t have believed him.”
“Hush.” Suzy rolled over onto her belly and watched the rain pour down her window. “Those clothes of yours.”
“Yes?”
“You never told me the whole story.” With an effort, she raised a finger. “No, don’t tell me again how you couldn’t find anything else. This is friggin New York, and you’re obviously not blind.” And, she added to herself, no one that good-looking can have such bad taste.
“I can explain,” Cai said with a hint of panic in his voice.
“So can I.” Suzy sighed. “You’re not really used to wearing clothes, are you?”
“Well, I – that is to say, I’m used to – it’s not that I –”
“Thought as much.” So that was it. She was right. Cai really was part of what Suzy had decided to call the Strange, capital S and all. She needed a term to keep apart the real world and the mysteries that kept bombarding her. She had hoped to make sense of her previous two encounters, but now she was pulled down too far, too deep into the weirdness. Either she accepted that she was caught up in a whirlpool of unreal events, or she’d have to admit herself to a mental hospital. As options came, choosing between those two was easy.
Cai fell silent, then asked, “How did you know?”
Moonlight Meetings - Three Erotic Supernatural Stories (The three first stories from Suzy's Adventures) Page 9