Here With Me (Paloma's Edge)

by Shaw, Robin

  “May I have this dance, Betty?” I cocked my head and saw Pierce, who was dashing with his blonde hair slicked back and the fake glasses he wore to look studious resting a little low on the bridge of his nose. He said hello to me and Bri took in his green corduroy pants, pale pink button down shirt with a tie that was brown and pink. Other guys would’ve looked like a mess trying to pull off this look, but Pierce was classically handsome and I liked that he could be serious, but he didn’t always take himself too seriously. It was refreshing that he’d gotten into costume and character despite his demanding school and work schedule. Bri may have said that she wasn’t crushing on him hard anymore, but I wasn’t convinced by the way her eyes glued to him. And I think that he was seeing her as a woman; not just his friend, Gavin’s, baby sister.

  “Will I get extra credit, professor?” She fluttered the long fake eyelashes, which really enhanced her emerald eyes.

  He motioned with his head. “And you won’t have to give me an apple before the start of class anymore.”

  She placed her hands in his and they danced when a slower paced came on.

  Two and a half hours later, Beth hadn’t left Chase’s side once and Bri and Pierce were sitting down against the wall, laughing. I’d danced with a few guys who kept me busy enough not to watch Beth and Bri like a hawk. If I thought about my day at work right now, like I had earlier, I’d get flustered again. Hunter knew we didn’t make sense together. How could we? And despite this, he’d kissed me in front of my co-workers and many strangers like he was doing a routine thing.

  “These fools must not have been dancing right if they have you thinking so deep,” Jake said, a wide grin on his boyishly handsome face. He looked like his usual self in his soft shirt, designer jeans, and new black Nikes. As he crooked a brow at me, I realized that his arms were open for me and I fell into step with him. Frank Sinatra’s Just The Way You Look Tonight started. The sounds of most of the guys groaning matched the volume of the song. My mom and I loved Frank Sinatra and this was one of our favorite songs of his. But the guys who were with their girlfriends weren’t foolish enough not to dance to the song. I really loved Beth and Chase’s eclectic taste in music.

  Jake wasn’t one of the guys who’d groaned. He was a fantastic amateur dancer. He was light on his feet and his lines were clean. Being led by him made me look like I was a competent dancer, too, but it was all him. As kids, he’d not only played with us and tried to teach us how to master the cooking basics, but he’d danced with Beth and I on occasion.

  “You just got in?” I asked when the song came to an end.

  “Nah, it took me a minute to maneuver through the crowd when I saw one of the guys you were dancing with was getting frisky.”

  “Yeah, but I freed myself from him.” I managed to smile and feel safe with my best friend and brother keeping me company for a little while. I knew that he’d danced with me out of his sense of obligation and yet I didn’t feel forlorn about it.

  “Ahem.” Michelle stood by Jake in her fun lioness costume and thigh length black and white stripped boots. “Are you leaving with me?” She asked him.

  Bri hooked her arm with mine. “Hey,” she said to them as Jake questioned me if I wanted him to stay with the look he held in his eyes.

  Jake and Michelle said hello to Bri. My gaze dropped to my watch and I felt like I stayed at Chase’s party for a good amount of time. I’d had fun, but I knew what was missing from tonight. I titled my head to reassure Jake that he could he carry on with the rest of his night. He gave me a half hug and sauntered through the smaller crowd with Michelle.

  ***

  “GO TO HIM, MARISHKA,” Bri whispered in my ear after we danced to an overly sappy song.

  I shook my head. “Beth and I have to wait for you to leave. We came here together.”

  A slight smile touched her mouth. “I won’t tell anyone that you’ll be with him. Many guys here want to dance with you, get you a drink, but you’ve been distracted. And you haven’t had a drink because you want to see him, without any alcohol in your system. I think Hunter doesn’t want to hold you back. He came to La Caridad today because of you. Tonight is your turn.”

  I didn’t know if going to Hunter was right or wrong. I’d texted Bri earlier about Hunter kissing me at work. Gavin had driven her to our residence hall earlier and Beth had been with us so I hadn’t wanted to talk about it.

  “I hate asking you to lie for me, Bri. But I do want to go to Hunter’s.”

  “Pierce called Gavin to let him know that he’s driving me back home tonight and he apologized for ignoring me after Mona came to his party this summer.” Her eyes sparkled and she blushed. “I know that he’s not in love with Mona, so anything can happen.”

  “Beth will be with Chase tonight and I think Jake will come to the dorm and change in the morning, so they won’t know when I get to the dorm,” I thought out loud.

  “I’ll text you, so you know how it goes between Pierce and I, and you do the same, okay?”

  Pierce was behind Bri when I shook my head in agreement and then I waved good-bye to them, silently telling myself that I had nothing to lose.

  Chapter 16

  Hunter

  I THOUGHT I WAS seeing things when I locked my car and saw Mariska’s silver Hyundai Accent in front of my house. It was pouring outside and, from the candy wrappers on the floor, most of the kids on my block had eaten all of the candy they’d gone trick-or-treating for. She wasn’t coming out of the car, so when I crossed the street, I tapped on her window. Several minutes later, she came out of her car, and I was blown away. I couldn’t get any words out; the black body suit she had on hugged her hourglass shape and she wore gold high heels with strings that wrapped around her ankles. She reached my height and I looked at the make-up she had on to accentuate her eyes and the two dots she on the bottom of her nose. Her hair had been curled, but it was soaking wet from the rain and it was getting straight. When I placed my hand to her face, I could hear her erratic breathing. I gave her a little nudge to come to my home.

  I sighed heavily when Mariska and I were inside my house. Riley ran toward Mariska, her body shaking since Riley’s paws dug onto her thighs.

  “Did you miss me, Riley? Hmmm.” She touched her ears and earned a bark in encouragement. “You’ve been on my mind.”

  “Sit,” I told Riley and she obeyed. Mariska released the straps from her heels and stepped out of them. “You can freshen up first. I’ll make you some fresh coffee.”

  She looked like she wanted to put her heels back on and forget she’d come inside, but, instead, she nodded and went into the bathroom.

  ***

  MARISKA AND I SAT down on my sofa with Riley laying down on our laps after she’d freshened up. Riley looked at us with her assessing gaze and we both pet her, our hands coming into contact.

  Earlier today, I’d wanted to get a little rise out of her, but not get her in trouble with Blanca or Jill. Jill seemed like a mostly laid back chick. Blanca wouldn’t fire her. She’d told me that Mariska had been crabby, since I’d stopped coming in. I’d felt crabby myself.

  “Why’d you do that today?” She asked.

  “Kiss you?”

  She began petting Riley from her head to her croup. When she trailed her fingers along her back, I sealed my hand on top of hers.

  “Do you think I’d hurt you? Is that why you won’t admit to other people that you might like me?”

  She pulled her hand from underneath mine, grimacing. “What I didn’t like was how nasty you got about the virginity thing.”

  “It’s not a thing. It’s a pretty big fucking deal, Mariska. You were acting all confident, like you’d been other guys and your first time—”

  “My first time what, Hunter? As you said, I need to stop acting like some virgin princess and so I had stopped.”

  I wished I hadn’t spoken to her to like that. I’d been angry with myself and took it out on her. I moved closer to Mariska and lifted her chin, so she
’d have a harder time averting her gaze from me. “I like you when you look at me like a person. When, for those glimpses of time, I am a man to you. Not just a junkie who cut his brother’s face when he was feigning for money to score some coke. In a million years, I never thought I’d be that man. So, if I get to slide into your sweet, tight pussy...” I exhaled at the memory that felt so fucking real. I could taste her honeyed muskiness on my tongue. “But you won’t see me for who else I am. I am not going to be the first to fuck you, and be your first regret. It’d be different if I came after other regrets.”

  Riley jumped off our laps and walked near the kitchen to drink some water. Mariska didn’t say anything for some time. She sipped her coffee, but maintained eye contact, a perplexed expression at first that shifted into one of comprehension. “You weren’t going to sleep with me that night anyway, were you?”

  I shook my head no and I stood up to check if Riley needed to go for another walk. Annette had texted me that Riley had used the bathroom earlier, but I didn’t want her to hold it in, like she used to.

  “I know that you could hurt me…if you relapsed,” she finally answered my question.

  She’d come to me tonight, for whatever reason, and I didn’t want to figure out why. She knew that right now I wouldn’t hurt her. At least not on purpose.

  After Riley was done, she clumsily leaped onto Mariska’s thighs and I refilled her bowl. My thoughts were entirely on what Mariska had given me; some piece of optimism that wouldn’t rule out that I could have a place in her world.

  “I can’t promise you that I’ll always be strong. I know that I don’t want to hurt you. I do whatever I can everyday to preserve my friendship with Beth and Chase. Chase may never really think of me as his brother. I think Pierce is more like a brother to him than he will admit. But one thing I’ve promised myself, and I should know that making promises is rarely productive, is that you won’t go down with me if I fall.”

  “I can take that, Hunter,” she murmured. “Did Riley get her present yet?”

  “Nah, I went straight to work after La Caridad. I’ll give her some after I walk her tomorrow morning and Annette might give her some if she doesn’t freak out in the park.”

  “Oh, is Annette her dog sitter?”

  I nodded. “You thought her pet sitter was a dude?”

  A half-grin tugged up a side of her face. “I wanted Riley’s pet sitter to be dude.” She let out a sigh. “Have you and Annette…”

  “We have,” I answered and blew out a breath, “but it’s a casual thing. She sees other people.”

  Mariska nodded and then kissed Riley between her nape and crest as she rubbed her tummy. “What do you think it is about parks that make her freak out?”

  “I shouldn’t say it’s the park, ‘cause it’s not really that. When a lot of people and other dogs are in the park, she gets agitated.”

  She knitted her eyebrows and turned her head to the side, her eyes meeting Riley’s. “You’ve got to work on that, don’t cha?” she said. “She’s been through so much. I’d give her treats everyday if I could, you know? I think she really feels like this is her home.”

  “Riley is resilient. Tomorrow makes three full months since I’d brought her home. I think she was on the streets for most of her life.”

  She huffed out a breath. “I can’t see her roughing it out as a street dog.”

  I gestured in agreement and, after some minutes of quiet, I remarked, “You must have had one of the best costumes at the party.” My eyes raked over her in her bodysuit and a subtle smile played over her lips.

  “There were other girls there in cat suits.”

  “Don’t downplay how you’re looking right now.”

  A dark blush colored the apples of her cheeks as she motioned doubtfully with her hand. “How would you know? You weren’t at your Chase’s party.” The comment sounded good-natured, but then the smile she had slipped from her face. “Hunter, I am sorry.”

  “I wasn’t there, so it’s a legitimate comment. But I’ve seen your legs. Felt your legs in my hands and few chicks have legs like yours.” She looked at herself and returned her gaze to me. I liked seeing her try to fight the rosy color that would bloom over her face again. “How come you don’t wear pants?”

  She shrugged her shoulders and gave a small laugh. Her eyes held a reminiscent gleam in them. “You’ve heard Pierce call Beth noodles?” I gave her a nod and she continued. “Well, when I was little my aunts, uncles, and some cousins of mine called me sticks because I was so skinny. Skinner than Beth had been. When we entered middle school, she gradually became slender, and then in high school she became this curvy bombshell. Clothes fit her just right and I’d only grown longitudinally. Even the kids’ tall clothes didn’t look good on me, so I wore skirts and then Beth found dresses for me at the mall we used to have in Franklin Parks, and there’d been such a variety that I didn’t know what to do with myself.. In looser, billowy like dresses the kids didn’t ask me why I was so skinny, or if I ate anymore.”

  I walked over from the counter and sank down on the couch with her, marveled at how hard women could be on themselves about their bodies. Yeah, Mariska was thin, but it didn’t take away from her slamming shape. Unlike most men, the size of a woman didn’t matter to me, for the most part. The shape of a woman really got my attention.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” her voice cracked as her gaze dropped to my mouth. Scooting to her so there was no room between us, I curled my fingers behind her back. Her hair was now dry and felt satiny against my skin. A small noise came out of her slightly parted lips and I was a goner. The look in her rich coffee colored eyes turned molten. She wanted me and that was all the information my erect cock grasped. And yet, I kissed her gently until our tongues moved in time with each other. I took hold of her waist with my other hand, trailing my fingers down to the softness settled on her hips. As I caressed her scalp, my lips journeyed to her neck. I froze to make contact with her eyes and she groaned, her fingers pressing down on my thighs as Riley slept.

  I zipped down the front of her catsuit and there wasn’t any other barrier in my way. Like I expected, she didn’t have a bra on. Her little perky tits greeted me, her nipples jutted out into little points. Her hands shot up to my face, pulling my mouth into an explosive kiss. Mariska unbuttoned my jeans and pulled the zipper down so I was more comfortable. The tip of my dick leaked with some come and I cupped her breast, stroking her nipples with my palms, so I wouldn’t think about how damn perfect my dick would be in her cunt. She moaned gutturally when Riley’s eyes popped opened. She gaped at us, but otherwise she remained still.

  “Can we go to your room?” she asked in ragged puffs. For a second, I watched her chest heaving, knowing her heart was thumping beneath her chest rapidly.

  “Mariska,” I hissed, “sleepover tonight.” The feral heat in her eyes was as transparent as mine must have been. I kissed her fingers one by one and she placed her hand on my arm. “I need to taste you again—so bad—but I am not going to—we won’t go beyond that. I meant every word I’d said earlier.”

  She responded with a fractional incline of her head. I told Riley to sit on the floor. Riley did and Mariska followed me to the kitchen where we washed our hands. As soon as I closed my bedroom door, I lowered the zipper to her navel. She removed the sleeves from her elegant arms and I instructed her not to move as I completely took off her costume. I fell down to my knees and tugged her silk panty down to her ankles. As I grazed my lips on her mound and I pressed soft kisses to her, she let out a shaky groan. I circled her core with my tongue, flickering upward until I closed in on her clit, feeling her body shudder with a jolt.

  “I-I can’t stand much longer.” Her voice was urgent. Holding on to her full ass with a firm grip, I guided her to my bed. When the back of her knees connected with my bed, I gave her a gentle push down.

  “Open them up far and wide, Mariska,” I gritted out, needing to have her soaking wetness against my face a
gain.

  “Hunter…please,” she wailed.

  Mariska’s hips turned restlessly and I hooked my hands under her knees so her sex was right in my face. My tongue thrust inside her as I stroked through her swollen sensitive tissues. Writhing, Mariska’s hands clung to my hair, trying to deepen the penetration. Her grip on my hair loosened until she covered her quivering stomach with her hands. When I lifted my head, tears stung her obsidian like eyes. Alternating between my mouth and fingers, I watched her wail as her body flushed on the precipice. I replaced my tongue with my fingers, feeling her loosen when I slipped four fingers inside her, twisting and stretching her until I massaged a delicate spot inside her. Her upper body arched and her head was thrown back in ecstasy. I planted wet kisses on her folds and captured her distended numb between my teeth. Mariska’s body thrashed, and I seized her ankles, raising her shaky legs high up in the air as I milked every drop from her melting core dry.

  ***

  MARISKA’S HEAD WAS ON my chest the next morning. I passed my fingers through tresses. I’d wrapped her body in sheets after she’d become lethargic last night. Then, I’d gotten on my bed, gathered her in my arms, pulling her tight against me as her heart rate had decreased. She’d given me a dreamy smile, almost touched my face and began snoring. When I lifted my gaze to the door, it was open. Riley rested with her legs stretched out at the other side of the bed, her eyes focused on Mariska’s bare back. Riley didn’t want to wake Mariska up, despite the fact that she wanted to go for a walk.

  After I got out of bed and fixed myself up, I took Riley for a nice, slow walk. She even walked up to some of the neighborhood children, when she usually waited for them to ask me to pet her. Going back into the house, Riley ran as fast as she could into the kitchen to drink some water. I smelled burnt bread and eggs. Mariska was in her costume again, with her face fresh and her hair tucked into the back of it. She looked so out of her element that it was cute, because I could see that she was really trying to make tasty and well cooked fried eggs, and pancakes.