by Elise Faber
Knowing I’d be tempting myself beyond control if I continued in that line of thought while pressed against her, I eased Michele off but kept her tiny hand in mine, loathing to part from her skin completely. Her dreamy smile nearly broke me though.
“Come on, we need to do something else otherwise your virtue will be compromised.” I scolded her making her laugh again, but she dutifully started walking forward.
The walk back to the hotel felt different to me now that I was noticing all the Christmas decorations around us. How could I have missed them the night before? There was absolutely no missing the bright colors, the lights, and the numerous men dressed as Santa Claus parked in every other block we passed by, who all took more notice of Michele than normal, much to my irritation. Though I couldn’t really blame them since there was a certain glow to her now that wasn’t there the night before. It made me proud to say I was the cause of that special glow. Just wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with the other male attention she was getting right now.
Her hand stayed warm in mine even when she had to let go to pick something up for closer inspection from the wares of a street vendor. Somehow her tiny fingers found mine again each time. I didn’t question the intimacy, and she didn’t feel the need to ask me about it, which suited me just fine.
The closer we got to the hotel, the quicker my pulse went with anticipation of getting her alone behind closed doors. So far, she had given me all the right signals tonight, and hadn’t I been patient enough to have waited this long?
However, when we got back to her room, she looked more like a wilted flower than a woman expecting a night of passion ahead of her. We had walked a bit farther tonight than the night before, since she had wanted to visit the cathedral. It was late at night but still quite young for New Orleans standards. People were still milling the streets. But Michele looked half asleep.
As soon as we closed ourselves in her room, she disappeared in the bathroom and I ended up prowling the floor of the bedroom impatiently, torn between half-arousal and concern over the woman I was with.
If she was tired, she didn’t even have to do anything but lie down and enjoy it. I wasn’t even planning on asking her to do a thing. All she needed to do was be there. Surely that wasn’t such a bad idea? Right?
But the moment Michele came out of the bathroom, sex was the last thing on my mind. Exhaustion didn’t even describe her appearance. Dwarfed by the most unflattering pair of pajamas with a scarf around her head, Michele made her way to the bed, and all but collapsed on it.
“Are you ok?” I asked rushing to her side.
Seeing me obviously surprised her, making her jump. “Oh, you’re still here. I thought you’d gone back to your room… like last night.”
There was something almost like panic in her eyes, making me more than a bit concerned. “Would you like me to?”
“Umm… don’t you have to?” she asked in return.
“Not unless you want me to.” I replied gauging the expression on her face to get the answer she didn’t want to say.
Had I been reading her all wrong?
Hesitation was written all over her face and chipped on my pride a little bit. Actually, a lot, if I was being honest to myself.
“Umm… no, you can stay if you want. I’m just not used to having male company like this all the time.” She admitted with an embarrassed smile.
“Wait, I wasn’t going to force myself on you.” I told her quickly. “I may have been without a woman for several years, but I am not an animal.”
Michele looked horrified. “Oh God, no, Ambroise! That wasn’t what I meant. Gosh, I’m handling this all wrong!”
“Well, you’re acting like I’m about to jump on you.” I pointed at her in annoyance. I wasn’t… was I?
“Ambroise!” she wailed getting red on the face. “I’m not – you’re just – Oh, God!” Then she solved the problem by diving under the covers and covering her head with a pillow.
Frustrated, I stared down at the quivering bundle she made, wondering how our evening ended up this way. I’d never met a more contrary woman in my life! How could this one turn me from boiling hot then freezing cold in a matter of minutes?
Turning away with a sigh, I rubbed my hands on my face, wishing I could turn the clock back to that first kiss we shared at the café. If I had just flown us straight from there to here without giving her time to think and change her mind, we would both be feeling a whole lot better now.
But that was your loins doing the thinking, right?
Feeling lower than dirt and wanting to hit something I sat down heavily on the end of her bed making the mattress bounce a little bit. Under the covers I felt her move away from me.
“You know what your room needs?” I asked Michele after several minutes, knowing full well she was listening to me.
“Whah?” A muffled sniffle came from under the thick fabric.
“A television.” I replied before pointing my hand to the table, where normally such a piece of technology could be found in other hotel rooms, and making a gigantic television appear on the wall behind the table. I saw a similar model in front of a picture window we passed by on our way back here the night before. Floriza was such a sadist not to provide me with one.
Trying to act as calmly as I could, I moved myself to sit beside Michele, then leaned against the headboard of the bed, and proceeded to flick through the channels of the TV. The statue under the covers started moving when laughter rang out from across the room. Curiosity made her peak from her hiding place, exposing part of her bald head. Her scarf had loosened and was partially off.
Some movie was playing on the colored screen about a man mistaking himself for an elf or something that ridiculous, but I didn’t change the channel since Michele was obviously enjoying it and even giggled quietly a few times.
When the credits started rolling, she started to duck under the covers again. Before I lost my nerve and changed my mind, I mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
That held her frozen on the spot.
Sighing, I banged my head against the headboard. “I’m sorry, Michele,” I repeated, hating myself. “I’m such a selfish asshole.”
Moving quickly, she sat up to face me looking very unhappy. “No, you’re not,” she protested. “I’m the one who should be sorry for leading you on. I never meant to. Nobody had paid me this much attention before, and I didn’t know how to handle it. I should have told you straight from the beginning that I’m not very experienced with things like this. You’re just so divine, and honestly, no man has ever looked at me the way you do and you – what? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Her head scarf had fallen off completely and lay unnoticed on her shoulder while she had been sitting on her knees with her eyes pleading for me to understand. Now, those eyes looked uncertain and slightly embarrassed for her outburst when she noticed her lack of head gear, and she hurriedly grabbed her scarf to cover her head with it.
Catching the piece of cloth before she could, I moved it out of her reach, staring at her shaven head. She looked away from me, uncomfortable.
“How can you say that? You’re so…” Pausing, I tried looking for the right word, but she must have interpreted it as hesitation on my part when she pointed at me.
“See? You can’t even say it. I know you’re just being nice. I’m not really someone men find beautiful. Your attention is very flattering–“
“Lovely.” I said cutting her off. “You are so very lovely to me.”
That seemed to have rendered her speechless, so I bravely plowed on. “No, you are not of traditional beauty. But how could being coldly beautiful compete with the warmth of one of your smiles? Having the perfect features could not hold a candle to the openness and kindness reflected on your face. And please don’t get me started on your eyes. I’ve been drowning in them since the moment I saw you.”
“You’re like a great piece of music that started off quietly before taking over your soul… until you hea
r nothing else apart from its amazing symphony.”
“Oh my…” was all she could say hiding those eyes away behind her lashes. There was no doubt how my words affected her since her entire face had flushed pink. Helplessly, I reached over and touched the side of her head, causing her to jerk away in surprise.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to feel what it’s like,” I told her gently, adding, “I have never met anyone with no hair before. Please? Just for a few seconds?”
The clear indecision on Michele’s face was heart-wrenching, but I held my ground thinking that we had to take this first step if we were going to take what time we had together to another level. And I so, so wanted it to.
Eventually, she leaned forward with her face tilted down to give me more access to her head, but still the panic in her eyes was present. Slowly, I lifted my hands up, allowing her time to back away if she wanted to, yet she remained where she was until my fingers touched her scalp. I felt her instinctively jerk away on contact, freezing me on the spot.
“Are you ok?” I asked.
She nodded admitting breathlessly, “I’m sorry, I’m just being silly. Go on.”
The next time our skins touched we both unwittingly released our held breaths. Michele’s lashes fluttered down to her cheeks, the look of apprehension leaving her face. Under my fingers, her scalp was smooth in places and ever so slightly rough in others, like the five o’clock shadow of beard I used to sport. The roots of her hair growth seemed uneven and in patches, which in a way explained why she shaved her hair off.
Maybe her scalp wasn’t getting enough nourishment. Once again my curiosity was piqued as to why she was so thin and almost at the brink of malnourishment. During my time, even our slaves were well-fed and looked far healthier than she did. Torn between feeling protective and frustrated with Michele, I allowed both my hands to roam her head, caressing and massaging her head as I sought out the patchy areas with my fingertips.
“Oh God,” she moaned. “That feels so good.”
My sex-starved body reacted immediately to her voice, hardening in anticipation. The simple act of curiosity turned into something erotic. My thought process transferred from my brain all the way down to my loins, especially when Michele moved to rest her head next to my lap, nuzzling the side of my thigh unintentionally when she turned this way and that to give my fingers more access. Another moan escaped from between her lips, sending shivers down my spine.
The sweet torture continued for a few minutes and escalated when one of her arms moved across my thighs in a half-embrace. My mouth felt dry as I watched my hands travel from the base of her neck to her shoulders, pushing aside the collar of her loose pajama top.
“Michele.” Her name sounded rough when I said it. Touching the skin on her back was like electricity lighting up every nerve ending in my body. The magic under the unicorn tattoo came to life under my fingers, sending ripples of pleasure to my body.
“Ah, Michele, please tell me you want this as much as I do,” I pleaded caressing her cheek as I turned her pliant body against me.
A soft snore came as a reply.
It took several confusing seconds before my dulled brain could comprehend that the object of my desire had fallen asleep beside me. I even nudged her a couple of times to wake her up, but it only made her burrow even closer to me, making me almost crazy with need as Michele used my lap as her pillow.
Frustration was too tame a word for what I felt right now. I couldn’t believe she actually fell asleep! I wanted to shout a loud resounding denial but admitted defeat to the cruel fates when I remembered how exhausted she was when we arrived in the room earlier.
I banged the back of my head against the headboard deliberately hurting myself to move my focus away from my navel and the woman slumbering next to it. The sound coming from the television drew my attention, and I sent thanks to the fathers of modern technology.
One time during the night, tears fell down my cheeks when Michele started nuzzling my crotch in her sleep. It almost broke my sanity, and I decided to risk waking her up and breaking her much needed sleep in order to escape from underneath her warm body to shut myself back into my prison.
Either that or lose whatever was left of my humanity and forcibly ravage the woman of my desire to death. The magic powering my confinement helped numb my crazed senses, allowing me to think again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“How many people have you given wishes to over the years?”
Turning away from the computer monitor in front of me, I looked into the eyes of the only human alive I knew who had the greatest power over me. She had woken today mid-morning looking so much better and refreshed from her sleep, while I was still trying to recover from the sweet torture I submitted myself to the night before.
She was looking for me when she woke up. I knew this for certain because I had been watching her like a helpless admirer. Yet I deliberately ignored her when she called me out. I stayed away when she called for her food to be delivered. I tried to drown myself in misery when she disappeared in the bathroom, knowing she was in there naked and having a wash. She was as pretty as a butterfly when she came out in another colorful set of clothes, which covered her almost from head to toe. After a quick breakfast, she came up to the mirror, knocked, and demanded my presence.
Today, Michele wanted to go to the library. We found out it was a bit far to walk, so we took a ride in one of the numerous pint-sized, train-like carriages, which Michele informed me were actually called streetcars, to get there. The excitement of riding inside a moving vehicle took my mind off my miserable existence for a while. Once we entered the public building she wanted to visit, there were several things I focused my attention on to escape from my crazed senses… or tried to.
Even now, sitting next to her in front of the computer screen, I could smell the fragrance of her skin and was finding it almost impossible to concentrate on what I was doing.
“I stopped counting after I reached a thousand.” I replied when I remembered she had asked me a question. “Back then I used to have visitors almost every other day. People didn’t usually wait days to use up their wishes like you.” I told her, giving her a sly smile.
She tried to look insulted but ended up looking cute instead. “Well, I am just taking my time. I will use up my wishes soon.”
“If I didn’t know differently, I’d say you’re procrastinating just so you can spend more time with me.” I teased making her blush and look away, pretending to be busy on her computer terminal.
Chuckling, I returned my attention to mine. I always tried to gather as much information about the world as I could when I had the opportunity. A lot had changed in the last ten years I’d been stuck in my prison. New leaders were appointed. Another person started a rebellion somewhere. The stock market was still going up and down. So many changes, yet somehow it had been the same over the years. Just different names and faces.
The only thing that’s been rather alarming was the climate change and the effects it had on the rest of the world. Over the years, that had been the one I’ve been trying to follow, especially after New Orleans had been hit badly by the hurricane called Katrina.
That was the last time Floriza and I had an argument. It didn’t end well for the city we were in.
“What are you searching? Oh, Katrina,” Michele whispered next to me again. “That was horrible. So many people died. Thousands lost their homes. Remember the other night when we gave away food? One of the ladies there lost her family as well as her home back then.”
I never thought I’d hear about a direct result of that day, let alone almost meeting one of my casualties. I squeezed my eyes shut in despair, regret filling my entire being.
A warm hand covered mine, which was gripping the mouse of the computer. “What’s wrong?”
Expelling my breath, I turned my hand palm up to catch hers in mine. I brought her hand to my lips and gave it a kiss. Somehow, that helped relieve the tension inside of
me. “Come on, it’s time for you to eat.”
Without another word, she gathered up her belongings, stood, and followed me out of the building. Once outside, I breathed in the fresh air, loving the fact that I was out in the real world and not confined behind the walls of my prison. Some guy, going in the library, walked past me and gave me an odd look, but I just ignored him.
A high-pitched cry drew my attention to a woman with a little girl sitting at one of the waiting areas for the streetcars not far from us. The mother was trying to calm her daughter down by singing a song to her. They looked like they had just come out from the hospital across the road from the library. The little girl had been the poorly one.
It was like a sharp knife straight into my heart. Watching them, I remembered the last time I had granted wishes, ten years ago. The visitors had been mother and child as well. The image of that little girl with dark, curly hair, olive skin, big dark eyes, and toothy grin when she smiled was forever engraved in my brain. She would have been thirteen years old now… if she’d had a chance.
I tore my gaze away from the two and met Michele’s concerned look. Instantly, I felt myself calming down to find her next to me. My breath of fresh air. Going with instinct, I gathered her in my arms and simply held her against me.
Without question, Michele settled into my arms like she belonged there. Her warm body curved into mine; fitting like a puzzle piece I’d lost forever. I felt more than heard her soft sigh of contentment against the skin at the base of my neck. A brown knitted hat covered her head this time, which I thought earlier made her eyes even more mesmerizing. I rubbed my cheek against the rough material feeling my stubble catch ever so slightly.
After a few minutes, I regretfully let her go, mindful that it was way past humans lunch hour, and she hadn’t eaten anything since that breakfast she had ordered this morning.