Another Day

by C. L. Quinn

  He turned and continued his tour of her home, wandering to her liquor cabinet, and pulled the cork from a bottle of 20 year old Scotch. He sniffed it and cocked his head. “I know how to find people, Ms. Attorney. Particularly when they come onto my radar. You, my lovely, are on my radar. No one hides from the Rodman. As to my presence here, I am a man uncomfortable with leaving my consociation, but this needs attended to, and with great haste, or I will bring down the hammer of Thor, and it is never good for anyone if I do. You comprehend my mission, little queen?”

  “Uh, no, not really. Your explanation is a little inexact.”

  “As designed. Now, I will be clear. You need to have your law stop the man who pays your wage, or I will stop him permanently. I do not have one compunction contraindicating my comfort with doing so, but I tell you now, it is not good for business. What is not good for business, the Rodman don’t like. Now you comprehending the situation?”

  “I…yes, I do. What made this suddenly imperative?”

  “Your boss. I did not mind providing his entertainment. He paid well and my girls were little worse for the wear. You brought my attention that he has become more brutal, and I have had occasion of recent to see the veracity of that. But he has crossed the un-crossable. A few nights ago he asked for little girls. Small ones, pretty tykes, for his unspeakable sexual appetites. That, I will not do. He’s promised to expose my operation if I do not comply with his unseemly desires.”

  Rodney faced Margot, his back resting against the liquor cabinet. “Let me make this clear. I do not care about his threats, I’d sooner take his last breath with pleasure than to deal with him again. But the man has eyes and ears, influence and money enough to cause conflict and trouble. The Rodman abhors conflagration. So, you stop him, you have them put him where he touches no child, and we are finished. If you can’t, I’ll fix it to where he’ll never be seen again. You understand that I prefer you to do what you said you would do.”

  “I understand. Rodney, I need access to your girls in order to…”

  “That is your problem. How you do it is of no concern of mine.”

  He paused, moving closer, and ran his index finger across Margot’s shoulders, then down her arm to draw circles on her wrists. “You should come see me when this is resolved. We would make love and create music to move the earth by, you and I.”

  “That will never happen.”

  Margot looked up sharply as another unexpected voice boomed into her apartment. Xavier stood just inside the door, furious, hands fisted, feet wide and ready for a fight.

  “The bodyguard,” Rodney commented, and turned to face him. “You making a claim?”

  “I am. This woman is mine.”

  Rodney stepped away from Margot, his eyes lingering on her breasts, then dropping to where the panties barely covered anything. He moved towards his bodyguards and back to the entrance. “If you want to ride on the Rodman, let me know. You know where to find me. Do the job, princess, and win the gold ring. Or I will.”

  After a long hesitation, he looked Margot over, then Xavier, shook his head, and walked out followed by his guards.

  Xavier slammed the door. “Are ya all right, Margot?”

  Frozen by the incongruity of events tonight, by the appearance of one of the most notorious sex and drug lords in the city, and now the man she hadn’t been able to get off her mind for two nights, Margot shook her head and went into Xavier’s arms when he reached for her. He lifted her up, his arms tight around her, his head buried against hers, and carried her to the sofa.

  “Lass…” he whispered. “It’s all right, I’ve got ya.”

  She pushed away, her fingers lingering along his cheeks. “I know. I’m not worried. Just, kind of freaked out with my unexpected visitors.”

  “And ye’re quite near to naked.”

  Margot smiled. “Yeah, I quite nearly am. Xavier, I’m going to ask you the same thing I asked Rodney. Not for the same reason, though. How do you know where I live, and why are you here?”

  “I stole a business card from yer bag a few days ago. It just seemed wise to know how to reach ya if I ever needed to. As it turns out, I needed to. Yer secretary let me know where ya live.”

  “Uh, uh. Freddie would never have done that. Try again, Scotsman.”

  “She did tell me, but the reason she did so is yet to be revealed. In time, my lady. For now, though, I have somethin’ for ya.”

  “Interesting. What is it?” Her eyes went to the crotch of his pants, and his eyes followed them there.

  “Och, little wench. As a matter of fact, I do have somethin’ for ya there, too. But I also have some names and an address.”

  “Xavier, really? You are my hero.”

  “Then perhaps I may claim a hero’s reward?”

  Margot stood, silent, walked around him, took his hand, and led him down the hallway Rodney had stared down minutes earlier.

  Crossing the threshold to her bedroom, she released his hand and turned to him.

  “This isn’t an easy admission, so let me get this out. I’ve brought men here before, rarely, but only for oral sex, then I sent them away immediately. This isn’t the same, Scotsman. I invite you into my bed to make love to me. No one has come inside me since that one really nasty time I told you about. I haven’t had any desire to, and I haven’t missed it. Tonight, I would like to see what it feels like to have you inside me. But, please be gentle. Please…”

  Before she saw him move, Xavier had her in his arms and laid her on the bed. “Ya don’t have to ask me to take care, I’d never do anythin’ less. I promise ya, lass, after this, ye’re gonna wanna have me live inside ya.”

  Butterfly fluttering spread through Margot, moisture surged between her legs, and she lifted up on her elbows.

  “I trust you. I’ve never said that to any other man in my life.”

  “That’s a lot to live up to. I’d better get right on that,” Xavier commented, and, his clothes gone suddenly, he came up onto her bed.

  “It’s a good thing ya have such a big bed, I’m gonna need the room,” he said, his lips touching her belly as he pulled the hi-cuts over her hips and down her legs to disappear over his shoulder. “There, now, this looks like a good place to start.”

  Margot collapsed and lifted her arms to twist her fingers into the two king-sized pillows above her head. God, he did get right to it, his tongue seeking her slit immediately, buried deep, moving faster than she imagined possible, twisting, thrusting, until she rose off the bed.

  She tried to contain the squeal when she heard Xavier’s deep voice. Chuckling, he said, “Let it out, lass.”

  She did. Margot reached climax moments later and freely screamed out along with the explosive orgasm. Instantly, she felt warmth at her side. Xavier had moved up beside her, his fingers walking back and forth across her nipples, dragging when he hit them, and sliding back down her belly to between her legs to reignite her.

  “Did they teach that in bartending school?” she teased.

  “Aye. There are a lot of lonely ladies in bars, and we aim to please.”

  “Like me. I came into that place expecting to find a witness, not a lover.”

  “I don’t know.” What Xavier said next surprised him. “Maybe we were destined to meet exactly there exactly as it happened.”

  “Destined?”

  To distract her from his strange comment, Xavier began to tongue her neck again. He really had no idea why he’d said something so ridiculous. Probably because he desperately wanted to feed from her again.

  When Margot moaned and he saw her tongue slide around her lips, he nearly lost it and bit her.

  This, he had to get control of, now, before he hurt her. Why, though, had it all felt so natural, so sexy, so normal, the other night when he’d done it that first time? Why had his body responded like it needed the blood? And why did he know that this was not the first time he’d done this?

  She stole his attention from his need to feed a moment later when
she rolled over, pushed Xavier flat on the bed, and lifted a leg to straddle him.

  “I told you, I want to feel you move inside me. Is that all right with you?”

  All right? Xavier gently wrapped his fingers around her thighs. “The most all right thing in the world. Lass, it is an honor to show you how beautiful lovemakin’ can be.”

  She slid off him and took the huge organ in her hands, lightly twisting her fingers around it. The thought that he would be inside her in a few seconds took her breath away.

  Nervously, Margot prepared to lower herself over him, her body shaking a little. Xavier sat up and took her face in his hands before he kissed her.

  “I’ll do the work, lass. Ye just lie back and feel me,” he whispered, and had her beneath him as his big body slid between her legs and kissed her along her belly, higher, her breasts, then raised up to nip along her neck. She felt his hard cock as he began to move into her, the pressure, the pleasure, and when he slowly pushed in, deeper, deeper yet, and then filled her, it was nothing like her memory of that terrible first time.

  Warmth invaded her entire body, and so did this big man, emanating from her core, feelings overwhelmed her. This, yes, this was how it was supposed to be, according to fairytales that she never believed. But here, now, with Xavier guiding himself in and out of her, she could see where the myths came from. Sex and lovemaking were not necessarily the same thing.

  Try as she might to look into his eyes while he moved inside her, Margot couldn’t. Hers closed, and her head dropped back. Every inch of her, every nerve, her mind, all opened to the sensation of having this man a part of her, merged, in a way she would never have believed. Immersed in him, she began to move, to match his strokes. Somewhere from outer space, or it seemed so, she heard his voice.

  “That’s it lassie, just like that,” his words arriving on a long moan.

  How could she not have known that sex could be like this? She’d thought that all the songs and movies about romantic sex were nothing more than fairytales. But the way Xavier felt in her, the deep physical ache and connection to feel him move against her, was no fairytale.

  He was strong, used powerful movements to bring her body, over and over, to the edge of coming before he pulled back to stop, then drove it home again, until she finally exploded. Colors like the northern lights filled the room, her cream walls a painting of ecstasy.

  Seconds later, while Xavier’s orgasm hit, and he emptied into her, she watched the gentle striations of vertical rainbow colors fill her bedroom. He gripped her as he stiffened just before he came, and then she felt, for the first time, a man come inside her, spill into her. Had she ever been so connected to anyone in her life? The answer was simple.

  Never.

  He’d collapsed on top of Margot and, worried, pushed back onto his hands and knees above her.

  “I’m sorry, are ya okay?”

  How could she make him understand?

  “I’ve never had an orgasm while a man was inside me. I somehow think that, even if I had, this would have topped it. You would have topped it. You’re extraordinary, Xavier. Thank you.”

  “Aw, Lass, I’m as big as an ox, I was afraid I might have hurt ya when I dropped on ya. Ye’re so slight.”

  “I’m stronger than people think, Scotsman. But tonight, you made me understand how damaged I was because I let one bad sexual encounter affect me so deeply. I can never thank you enough for this.”

  After brushing a hand down his chest, she smiled. “And for those orgasms. I’m positively radiant.”

  “Ya are. I wouldn’t have thought it possible for ya to look more beautiful, but ya do.”

  “You aren’t lightweight, and yet you weren’t too heavy for me. Where did you come from, Scottie, Xavier, mystery man?”

  Lying on his side, naked and too beautiful for her to stop staring at him, Xavier moved his fingertips along Margot’s side.

  “I told ya when ya stayed at me place that night. I don’t know who I am or where I’m from. I’ve no memories, milady, from before I came here, and no idea how I came to be in this city.”

  “Have you seen a doctor?”

  “Nay. There’s…” He stopped, his eyes distant suddenly.

  “What? You can tell me anything.”

  “I trust ya, it isn’t that. I’m just not sure that it is fair to put ya in the middle of this. Havin’ the knowledge might do so.”

  “No. There isn’t anything you could tell me that would be so dangerous, you couldn’t reveal it. I’m an attorney, right? Client confidentiality.”

  “I’m not yer client, though.”

  “You could be. You’re part of my investigation into an abuse case. Everything you tell me is strictly for my ears only.”

  “It has nothin’ to do with that, lass. I meant it that I trust ya.” He paused once more, then turned over onto his back, his eyes on the ceiling. “Here are all the memories I have. I woke to a man with a British accent yellin’ at me, beatin’ the shit out of me. Then…” he stopped again.

  Xavier faced her. “He shot me in the head. Point blank, lass. This happened many times over several days. He would hit me, kick me, curse me, try to have conversations that made no sense to me, and then he’d shoot me again. In the forehead.”

  Margot’s eyes went to the smooth skin on Xavier’s forehead, her fingers lifting to touch him there.

  “Xavier…”

  He cut her off. “I know, right? It’s ridiculous. I know how it sounds. Still, that’s me memories, and all I have. I remember trying to defend myself, but failing, then succumbing to the gunshots each time. It’s daft, but exactly as I remember it.”

  The poor man. He was so injured, so confused. He needed help, and someone to attend to him, and she would be that for him. She let her fingers slide down to cup his jaw. “Whatever happened, it had to be incredibly traumatic to cause this type of amnesia.”

  “Or the result of brain damage. From the bullet holes.”

  It did not matter how flawed his memories were. He had been hurt, assaulted, damaged, by this horrible man. Pulling Xavier to her, she held him as if she could protect him from anyone harming him ever again.

  “I’ll keep you safe, now,” she murmured into his ear.

  Xavier held her tighter. “I needed exactly that, lass. A champion. Ye’re a scrapper, lovely lady. I’d take ya as my bodyguard any day or night.”

  “This body deserves to be guarded, with what you can do with it. I’d guard it with my life.”

  He knew she was teasing, but he pulled away and stood.

  “That’s me point, Margot. I don’t know where me captor is, and until I do, I’m not safe and neither is anyone who gets close to me. So I want ya to stay away from me for the next week or so. I’ve got to find this man, neutralize any threat from him, and try to discover who I am.”

  Margot pushed up onto her knees. “It doesn’t matter to me, Xavier. I like who and what you are right now.”

  “Aye, but ya don’t want a man in yer life who has no sense of self, no history, no future. I make a pauper’s wage and clean floors for a livin’. I’m drunk half the time because it’s one of the few things that feels good.” Tilting his head, he smiled. “Until you.”

  Hooking one of his arms, Margot pulled him back onto the bed. “All that matters to me is what we are, you and I, when we are together. You’ve changed me, for the better, I didn’t even know what I was missing. Scotsman, all I want to do is keep making love with you. That’s all.”

  “Lass.” Easily, Xavier pushed Margot down onto the fur cover. Straddling her, he leaned down and licked her neck, her satin hair balled up in his right fist, and began to nip around the area.

  Then, he nipped harder. He had no intention of taking her blood again…until it changed. On one of his playful nicks, he’d cut, just a tiny slice, but the smell and taste of her blood drew him back to the small cut, his tongue licked, tasted, the need out of control, he wanted…wanted her blood. No, had to have it!

>   Xavier bit and began to drink.

  While the biting was ticklish, it was erotic too, and now, urgently, Margot needed him buried inside her again.

  Just as she started to ask him to make love to her once more, she felt a quick sting on her neck followed by a flood of heat, the area between her legs began to twitch like crazy, and her hands went to his cock as it filled.

  God what was he doing that was so… Oh, hell, what was that…? She thought that she’d wanted him before, but now, desperation surged. Whatever was happening to her, she felt driven to feel his cock knocking against her core. She had to have him! Now! And she knew he felt the same way, she could feel him. She could feel him?

  Yes, she could, the intensity of his emotions, the euphoria that channeled through his entire body and mind, a wild connection between them that seemed destined and limitless.

  The same euphoria hit her as Xavier plunged into her, her hands tugging at him, her need as great as his. The blood, the penetration, the tether that held them together…he drove into Margot, hard, and she urged him to, her legs on his back, wrapped tight. When they came, simultaneously, both nearly lifted from the mattress, the lights danced thought the room again, like sequined sprinkles fluttering around them, suspended in the air.

  Every moment they were together this time had been completely surreal, unreal, impossible. Margot lay, spent, beneath this big man she knew she was falling for, stunned at the intensity of these past few minutes. She must have been so aroused, she hallucinated the fractured light, the blood, and deep spiritual blending. Wow.

  Xavier drew himself up and slid off Margot, at once amazed and ashamed. The sex had blown his mind, almost literally, and the bloodletting…sheer ecstasy.

  But he’d taken her blood again, out of control, defenseless to the driving need. He’d punctured her neck and sucked her blood from it!