Out of the Ashes (Marked as His Book 1)
Page 13
A few more thrusts and he followed her in release, wrapping his arm around her and picking her up completely off the chair as he came.
They collapsed in an awkward sweaty satisfied pile on the too small chair.
“Yes,” Fern said, her voice breathless.
“Yes what?” Dax asked, his orgasm had wiped all other thoughts from his brain.
She reminded him, but in that moment, she’d have said yes to anything he’d ask of her. Anything at all.
“What the hell is this,” he asked, holding up a mystery object that looked like a cross between a ridiculously large clay dildo and a bird monster.
“Jesus, Dax, its art. Arkimisu was actually featured in three magazines with that piece.”
Dax stared at the huge ugly knick-knack, “So, did you pay for it or can I toss it?”
Sandy rolled her eyes and grabbed the colorful object out of his hands, “Why are you here again.”
“I’m helping,” he said, picking up another piece of garbage his sister would call art. “How about this one, it looks like it’s been in the dumpster already.”
“If you are helping then wrap it up in newspaper, then bubble wrap and put it in the box, without comment, thank you very much.”
He did as he was instructed, but he felt like was wasting perfectly good packing materials. This ‘art’ just wasn’t his thing.
But Sandy had always been drawn to that kind of art and the weirdo artists who produced it.
In fact he’d always figured she’d end up with some tall, effeminate, man who spoke with a fake accent and wore clothes that looked like that were from a worst case scenario future.
This thing with Joker had really just confused the hell out of him. Because Joker just seemed like your likable, down home, good natured, beer drinking, whore chasing dude. There was one of him in every guy movie Dax had ever seen, even in some of the chick flicks too. He wasn’t just a regular guy, he was an institution. The buddy.
He was Dax’s brother and he loved him, but he wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. So he really didn’t know how artsy fartsy Sandy had fallen for him.
“Could you please stop?” Sandy asked, hands on hips.
“Stop what?” he asked confused, he’d just been standing there looking at a picture.
“Staring at the picture of the four of us and thinking about how horrible of a person I am for splitting us up. It’s written all over your face.”
Dax snorted, “That’s not what I was thinking about at all. I was thinking that when you finally did fall for someone it’d be a weird asshole who made dildo birds for fun, and not someone normal like Joker.”
“Normal like Joker? Ha!” she said, “None of you assholes are normal, especially not Joker.”
“You know what I mean, I thought you’d end up with someone, you know. Like the other guys you’ve brought home.”
“Weird,” she said.
“Yeah, that’s what I meant.”
Sandy sighed and went back to work, “Look, I don’t have too much stuff here, and you’re not really helping, why not go hang out with your new girlfriend and stop bothering me about my love life?”
He knew he wasn’t really helping much, but like she said, she didn’t have much stuff and most of it had already been boxed up. He really just wanted to spend the day with her.
“You’re going to be gone soon, and I just wanted to hang out with you some.” He shrugged, he wasn’t one of these guys who was completely in touch with his emotional side but he tried not to hide behind his masculinity either. It was a lot easier just to face whatever he was feeling and tell others what he needed to say, without causing a scene. He found it worked much better to be honest with himself and others than it did to bottle everything up and pretend nothing ever touched him
It also made his relationships with people that much easier.
He saw Sandy stop what she was doing, and knew his words had touched her. “Awww, Dax, I’m still here for another week or so, I just want everything to be ready to go when my apartment comes open. You know I’m an I’s dotted and T’s crossed kind of girl.”
“A week isn’t a very long time considering we’ve lived under the same roof most of our lives. I’ll never forget when I found you dirty and panhandling downtown, you were so scrawny I thought you were a six or seven year old, even though you were like what? Ten, eleven? And you thought I was going to try to con you out of the little bit of money you had.” He paused, remembering. “It will be the first time, in the part of my life that’s worth remembering, that we’ve been separated. Honestly, I’m a little scared.”
He saw the realization sink in. She probably hadn’t even thought about it.
“It’ll be the first time I’m not there to make sure everything is safe for you, that you have everything you need, that I’ve made the world around you the place that you deserve to live,” he added.
That did it, he saw the water work begin inside her and flow into her eyes.
She sat down hard on her bed. He wouldn’t say he was trying to guilt her into staying, but he wasn’t exactly after trying to make it easy either. She was his sister and he wanted her to stay near him, wanted her to be around for all of the reasons he’d just said and on top of those things, he’d miss her like crazy when she left.
“Damn,” she said quietly, “You’re right, it’s going to be the first time since I was ten that I was alone. I should be scared, shouldn’t I? I mean the way you found me… I should know better than to go off by myself. I know what it’s like to be a female on her own. Damn, damn, damn. I should have thought this through.” Her voice took on a frantic quality, “I mean I’ve been living this life for so long. This normal life that I didn’t even think. I’m so stupid. Of course I felt safe and normal because you always made a safe haven for me, not because the world is safe. God, I’ve got to call them and cancel the apartment… and my new job…” she sounded wistful, “Well, they’ll just have to find someone else I guess. I hope I can get my deposit back but if not then oh well you know.” Sandy got up and began to unpack the things she had just put into boxes.
It crossed his mind that he could let her unpack. Just let her go through life feeling like a scared little ducking who needed him to be safe. Damn, he wished he could do that for his own piece of mind, he grabbed her arm and stopped her unpacking, against his better judgment he was going to have to let her go.
“Stop that. I didn’t mean for you to jump to the conclusion that you wouldn’t be safe at all. I just meant I’d miss you, you’ve been by my side for a long time.”
“But what if I get cornered by…”
“You’re a survivor and a fighter Sandy, and you’re smart. I know you’re not going to put yourself into any position where you’re going to find yourself in such a dangerous situation. Are you? I mean, even as a kid you knew how to take care of yourself, how to avoid trouble.”
“Well yeah, but that was a long time ago and it took some bad shit happening for me to learn. You know that. What if…”
“What if nothing. Millions of women live safely on their own and they are nowhere near as smart or as tough as you. You can do this Sandy.”
He put his arm around her and felt her trembling. It had never been his intention to cause this fear and he wished he could wipe the words he’d said out of history. “I believe in you, you’ve got to believe in yourself.”
Sandy took a few calming breathes and seemed to gather her composure, “Man, I haven’t had a panic attack that bad in years. I guess I had just been pushing all my fears about the move to the back of my mind.”
He held her as she calmed down, stroking her arm with his hand. “Feeling better now?” he asked when he felt the trembling subside.
“Yeah, but let’s talk about something else for a while.”
He agreed, he’d already done enough damage with his careless words about her move.
“How about you tell me how it’s going with your new girl. Seems like you
’re pretty serious about her,” Sandy said.
Serious? He wasn’t sure that was the word he’d use. Obsessed fit how he felt better, completely wrapped up in everything she was or wanted to be. Lost, he was lost.
“Yeah, you could say that,” he said shrugging.
“Oh man it must be love,” she laughed. It was true he didn’t get serious with women. He had friends with benefits, but never anyone who would require him to take too much time away from his family or his work. Fern was different. He wanted her to be part of his family, he wanted her at his side while he worked, he wanted her in every aspect of his life forever.
That last thought took him aback. Forever? He searched his heart, yes that was exactly what he wanted. Fern forever.
“Well?”
“Oh, um,” he realized he didn’t know how Fern felt, “I’m not sure, we haven’t exactly talked about our relationship status.”
“Been too busy in the sheets huh?” she jabbed him in the side with her elbow. She’d probably heard a good bit of what went on between them. The walls weren’t exactly soundproof.
He may have blushed, “Well, I’ve been working on her tattoo too.”
“Yeah, that’s going to be awesome, she showed it to me the other day. Not your usual style, but it’s probably the best thing you’ve ever done.”
He’d have to agree. He couldn’t quite describe Fern’s tattoo, it looked somehow… organic. Like something that was growing from who she was, not a design that was being artificially injected into her body, but more like it was blooming on her skin from within.
“Yeah, I’d agree with that, there’s just something about her that brings out the best in me, artistically and otherwise.”
“Aww, bro that’s almost poetic,” she said, giving him a goofy smile.
“Shut up, someday some guy is going to make you poetic and I’m never going to let you live it down.”
He saw the careless words hit her and felt awful again. For some reason, talking to her had become like walking through a field full of landmines.
“I’m sorry Sandy, I just can’t say the right thing today,” he said.
“No it’s ok. I’ll get over it. It’s one of the reasons I’m leaving. I don’t want Joker, or anyone else to find out how I feel, and make every interaction I have with everyone in my family just awkward as hell.”
“And you’re sure there’s no way you could like, stop loving Joker and stay here? I mean I don’t want you to feel scared to be on your own, but I’d be lying if I said I wanted you to leave.”
“No, I’ve already tried. And it’s just too painful. Maybe if I go away, distance will make me forget and then I can find someone else who isn’t… Joker.”
Dax nodded. Yes, he hoped she could find that for herself. Because now that he’d found whatever it was he had with Fern, he could do nothing less than hope each of his siblings found the same thing… or something similar. Sandy was still his sister after all, and maybe she could find the same thing.
Just without all the sex.
Fern squinted as she walked out of the theater and into the brightly lit street. Letting the street sounds flow around her as she came out of the magical cocoon she’d just been enveloped in. Night air felt cool against her over heated skin and she savored the satiny feel of the breeze.
She laughed at the bright mischievous smile on Dax’s face as they walked hand in hand. Who knew that something as simple as going to see a movie could be so…so… stimulating?
“So what’d you think of the movie?” he asked. “What movie?” she thought to herself. She wasn’t even sure she could have told someone the title of the film they’d gone to see if they’d asked.
Things had started off normally enough. Standing in line to get tickets, standing in line to get some popcorn, finding a seat, sharing the popcorn and watching the previews. All normal stuff. But somewhere along the first ten minutes after the lights had dimmed Dax had decided to put the popcorn to the side and the arm of the chair between them up.
Fern could have giggled thinking about how shocked she’d been as his hand travelled up her leg and under her skirt. She’d immediately put her hand on his to stop him. They were in public! Then he’d leaned over and kissed her neck and she’d forgotten about the public. What she wouldn’t soon forget was how he’d made her feel right in the middle of a semi-full theater. She felt her face flush just thinking about it.
Thankfully they’d been alone on the back row. She’d wondered why he’d chosen to sit so far back when they’d got there, but now she knew. He’d planned to slip his hand under her clothes and slide her panties to the side the whole time!
She felt her body respond just thinking about it. Fern gave a slight shiver and looked up at his grinning face, she bet he even knew what she was thinking about.
“The movie was good, what did you think?”
“It was great, left me wanting more,” his hand traveled down from her waist and cupped her backside, “A lot more!”
She grabbed his hand and pulled it back up to her waist and looked around and the crowd dispersing. None of them seemed to care what the couple was doing, or where he was putting his hands, but she did!
A dark theater was one thing, however, a well-lit street in front of a crowd was a totally different thing!
“Such a shy one,” he laughed, pulling her closer. “I can’t wait to get you home so I can rip off those panties and get inside you.”
She shivered again at those words, much to her mortification. How could a man do that to her with nothing but words.
Well, she knew what was behind those words so it was probably some combination of memory and anticipation that made her quiver just at the thought of him on top of her, pushing himself so far inside that the pleasure verged on pain.
“Come on, I’ll race you!” she said, laughing. Suddenly she was in a hurry to get home!
The walk home took a lot longer than she would have liked. But when you have to stop at every nook and cranny so that your man can press you up against the wall and send you into fits, it takes a little longer. By the time they got back to her apartment she almost didn’t care whether they were in public or not. She just needed him in her.
She fumbled with the keys and they almost fell into the door, grasping at each other and giggling.
He picked her up wrapping her legs around his waist and they entered the apartment.
“Miss Fern?” said an unsure and embarrassed voice.
She practically jumped off of Dax as she remembered the babysitter. Katy would normally have spent the night over at the neighbors with her friend, but the neighbors had gone out of town so she’d had to hire their niece to babysit, a really sweet teenager she’d met several times before.
“Oh, hey Kenyata, um. Was Katy good tonight?”
“Oh yes ma’am she sure was, but I ain’t never seen her be bad anyways.” She could almost see the blush against the dark skin of the girl’s cheeks. She was sure a blush of her own answered it in return.
“Well,” she fumbled with her purse pulling out a wad of cash she’d taken with her just in case, “Is that enough or do I owe you more?” she asked practically shoving the money at the teen.
“That’s plenty, thanks!”
The girl almost ran out of the room.
Dax gave a half cough half laugh from behind her, where he’d hid the entire time. She turned and looked at him, ready to jokingly blame him for their embarrassing predicament when she realized that his pants were hanging half off, held up by a hand at his waist, and a very noticeable hard cock was making its presence known in the front of his pants.
Well, maybe she wouldn’t joke too much. He obviously got the worse end of the embarrassment stick in this scenario.
He grabbed for her but she deftly dodged away. “I’ll go check on Katy and I’ll be right back.” She leaned in and kissed him sweetly as she lightly let a hand run across his hard denim mound. “Don’t go anywhere,” she purred.
She peeked into Katy’s little room and bent over her sleeping form, listening for the small sweet breaths that let her know everything was ok. It was a habit she’d never gotten out of. From the time she was born Fern had woken up in the middle of the night and placed a hand on her daughter’s back and listened. She suspected she’d continue to do so until she moved out when she was 30 or 40.
Fern brushed the hair off the small brow and kissed her daughter’s forehead.
The door made a small click as she closed it behind her, holding her breath as she left the room. It was such a satisfying feeling to see her daughter safe and sound in a bed she’d provided her, safe in the apartment she paid for and surrounded by things she’d been able to buy for them. It wasn’t a satisfaction she’d ever felt before, everything always having been given to her by either cruel or indifferent hands, but knowing that she’d worked hard to buy the things they needed satisfied something primal deep inside her.
And speaking of primal, there was a half clothed well-made man sitting on her couch. Just looking at him touched something deep inside her, some need she hadn’t known she had, but that called out to her every time he was near.
“She alright?” he asked
“Sleeping like a baby,” she said.
“Good,” he said, standing up and coming toward her, stalking her was a better way to describe the way he moved.
Her breath started to get faster before he even reached her. She knew what was coming.
His hand started on her chest and moved up around her neck, jerking her mouth to his in one fluid motion. His hard velvety lips met hers, his tongue darting in for a taste, and his hard body crushed her against the wall.
Her clothes weren’t much of a barrier, she felt his heat against her, his skin so hot it almost scalded.
She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, his hands coming down to cup her ass as they moved, his mouth never leaving hers.
She felt the hard length of him against the thin fabric of her panties and she moved her hips, wanting more.