The Mistress of Black Grove Manor (89 page)

              “You fight?” she asked, her eyes becoming wide with wonder. “John fights too, or at least he says he does. Lately I’ve been thinking he’s more into the drug scene but I have no way of knowing for sure.”

              “If you’re not careful, you could get caught up in that. You better be sure that if the cops ever raid your place, you aren’t around.”

              Kazuma’s tone changed to serious the moment she brought up John and the fact that he might be a dealer. He had no patience for people like that. If one couldn’t earn money after an honest day of work then there was no point.

              “You’re right, I should really leave him,” she said. “I just don’t know how yet.”

              “Well you’re here, aren’t you? That’s one of the first steps—actually leaving the apartment.”

              She placed her round face in her hands. Kazuma couldn’t believe how cute she was for such an older woman. “I suppose you’re right. He’s probably going mad right now wondering where I am. But as long as I can stay here for a bit, I shouldn’t have to go back to him. I just need to find a way to get on my feet again.”

              “Well be my guest. I’ve been looking for a roommate. You can stay as long as you like, though you should probably find a job soon so you can gain some financial stability.

              She smiled and winked at him. “How are you younger and wiser than I am?”

              Kazuma smirked. “I guess I’m just more experienced than you.”

              “More experienced than me?” she asked, tossing a piece of pancake at his face. “Don’t make me blush.”

              They spent the rest of breakfast joking around with one another until it was time for Kazuma to head to the gym. He grabbed his weights and saluted goodbye to her before disappearing into the muggy day.

Chapter 4

              The second Kazuma left the apartment Ally promptly fell asleep on the couch. She hadn’t gotten much shuteye the night before, as Kazuma’s body distracted her. At some point during the night, when he was deep in REM sleep, he’d tugged her closer and wrapped his arms around her. She hadn’t wanted to wake him up by protesting, and eventually found that it was comforting to feel the warmth of his body. His chest was so muscular that it practically made her drool. John had muscles, but he was pale and stubbly. When they had sex, Ally would close her eyes and pretend he was someone else.

              She fell into a series of dreams that involved her running away from someone on a beach. She had no idea who was chasing her; only that someone was after her. There were jagged rocks at the end of the beach and Ally knew that if she could only reach them, she’d be able to jump off and avoid her pursuer. She finally woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. It was John, probably wondering where she went. She let the call go to voicemail, hoping he would get the message that she didn’t want to talk to him.

              But John didn’t leave a voicemail. The second she didn’t answer he picked up and called again. By the time lunch rolled around, he’d called twelve times. At last, he left a voicemail.

              “I’m not mad baby, but you need to tell me where you are. I bet you’re just over at Macy’s place having a real good time ‘cause I know my girl ain’t no slut. You better not be off with any men or trust you me I’ll have it in for you. You know I love you. Call me.”

              Ally shuddered at the sound of his voice. Without even trying to he sounded so menacing. She knew if she wasn’t careful he’d find her and give her a beating that would send her to the hospital.

              Macy was one of the only friends Ally had that John was okay with. She was a year older than Ally and had hair the color of a honey bear. Her skin was light brown and she had freckles all over her face. Macy had been dating one of John’s friends for a while, but they’d broken up when he cheated on her with a gaggle of strippers.

              Macy and Ally hung out together whenever John allowed it, smoking 45s on her porch and shooting the shit. She normally hated to smoke, but did so to relieve the stress of unemployment.

              “You should really leave him,” Macy said once. “You could both do a lot better.”

              Ally always ignored Macy when she talked like this. She spoke not only of Ally’s physical status but of John’s as well. She often joked that John needed to get his hands on a real woman, and that if Ally tried hard enough he’d probably stop hurting her so much.

              Always the pacifist, Ally ignored Macy. She figured her friend was only saying those things because she cared, not because she was secretly in love with John. Little did Ally know, she had a whole lot of chaos coming her way.

              Hours passed by before Kazuma got back home. She was still full from breakfast around four in the afternoon, and hadn’t even thought about lunch or dinner until she heard him turning his key in the door. She’d been in the middle of observing a dark green alligator hanging out in his backyard when the front door opened.

              “Honey I’m home,” he joked in his deep voice. Ally laughed and told him to come over to the window.

              “Isn’t he cute?” she asked, pointing to the alligator

              “Ugh, that thing is the bane of my existence. I swear it’s always in my backyard when I least expect it. One of these days I’m going to take a shower and it’ll be right there with me.”

              “It would be kind of cute to have a pet alligator, don’t you think?” Ally asked.

              “Woman are you out of your damn mind?” he asked.

              Ally laughed, tossing her thick hair back. She liked the way Kazuma looked at her, like he wasn’t quite sure if she was real or a figment of his imagination.             

              He cleared his throat abruptly and told her he was going to take a shower.

              “Okay,” she called out. “Then we should probably figure out what we’re going to eat for dinner. I’m starving.”

              “We’ll go to the supermarket when I get out. And Ally? Wipe that smug grin off your face, I can feel you laughing form here.”

              “You caught me,” she said, chuckling. “I figured you’d be more of a farmer’s market type of person.”

              “There’s nothing wrong with eating right,” Kazuma said. “At least I don’t look like a doughnut.”

              “What did you just say to me?” she called out, tossing a couch cushion at his back.

              “You do not want to start with me,” he said.

              “Why, are you scared I’ll win?”

              He dropped his clothes to the ground, picked up the cushion, and whipped it at her. Ally ducked, the pillow barely grazing her hair. She grabbed another cushion and hit Kazuma straight in the face.

              “Oh my god,” she said, covering her mouth as she fell prey to a fit of giggles. “You look so angry.”

              “You’re about to rue the day you hit me in the face with my own couch cushion,” he said, hopping over the couch to tickle her.

              “No stop, I’m so ticklish!” she shrieked.

              “Oh yeah?” he responded, digging his hands into her ribs.

              “Okay, okay,” he said, easing up for a minute. He was straddling her, and she found her heart had started to beat outside her chest.

              “Um,” she said quickly but whatever words were left were extinguished when he bent down and kissed her hard on the mouth.

Chapter 5

              The next thing she knew, Ally’s hands were all over Kazuma’s neck and his face was buried in her chest. She arched her back towards him, loving the way their bodies fit together so perfectly.

              “We should move,” he whispered, tickling her ear.

              “Where?” she asked, breathless.

              He chuckled, arching his back to pick her up and carry her to the bedroom. Ally placed her hands around his neck and looked up at Kazuma. His hair was getting long, and it fell in front of his eyes every so often. She thought it was adorable the way he had to shake his hair aside in order to see.

              When they got to his room, Kazuma tossed Ally on the bed and climbed on top of her.

              They continued kissing passionately, steaming up the windows with every bite and suck. Outside, it was down pouring again. Ally was used to this, as she’d been living in Florida her whole life. She’d come to love the wind and the rain, even the thunderstorms.

              Kazuma’s hands were large and veiny, and a little bit calloused. Ally took his left hand and sucked on his pointer finger, eliciting a groan of pleasure rom Kazuma. He tasted surprisingly sweet, like his fingers were dipped in icing.

              He lifted his shirt over his head and tugged off Ally’s shirt. They were chest-to-chest, the pounding of one another’s hearts rocking their bodies like a tornado. He placed her breast in his mouth, biting her nipple until she dragged her nails down his back.

              “Harder,” he whispered, her breast still in his mouth.

              On his command, she dug his nails into his back again, this time drawing patterns in the soft mesh of his shoulder blades. He switched positions and grabbed onto her neck with his jaw, sucking until he created ruby bite marks across her neck. Neither of them paid attention to the fact that they didn’t have a condom. In the heat of the moment, it didn’t matter. Ally hadn’t felt this physically pleased in a long time. Whenever John came home, he was always strung out from his “business,” failing to please her when she begged him to just look at her body like it wasn’t a piece of furniture.

              Kazuma was attentive to her needs, reading her body like it was a scroll. He knew just when to touch, to bite, or to let up so she could catch her breath. When he finally entered her, she gasped and grabbed the bed sheets. He moved in and out, slowly at first so as not to rile her up too much. When he leaned into her, she felt like they were morphing together, creating a new kind of beast with the power to achieve anything.

              Outside, the storm picked up speed, flooding the gutters and soaking Kazuma’s house. The sound of the water beating against the window was just as strong as the sound of their bodies smacking against one another. In the dim rainstorm light, Ally looked up into Kazuma’s eyes. He leaned towards her forehead, his breath hot on her nose, and kissed her.

              He continued to move inside her, not noticing there was a knock on the door. The knocking turned into pounding that felt like it shook the whole house. Right when Kazuma climaxed, he realized someone was trying to enter the house. He groaned, grabbing hold of Ally as the house shook around them.

              “That was incredible,” she whispered. The pounding came again. “Who do you think is at the door?”

              “I don’t know,” Kazuma said, slipping on a pair of pants. “I guess I better go find out. You better stay in here, in case it’s you know who.”

              “Okay,” Ally said, her heart suddenly in her throat. She was terrified that it was John on a rampage. But how had he found her? How did he know she was here?

              A few minutes later when Kazuma opened the door, she heard not shouting or fist fighting but laughter. She dressed quickly, curious as to who was at the door and why Kazuma sounded so happy. When she stepped into the living room, she saw three men surrounded him around his age.

              “Kazuma, who’s the girl?” asked the blonde one. They turned to her and Kazuma blushed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

              “Um this is Ally. She’s staying with me for a while.”

              “It’s nice to meet you,” said the short one. “I’m Ronnie.” The blonde introduced himself as Alex and the brunette was Roger. They were three men that went to the gym with Kazuma as well as fought with him on the same team. They all worked under a man who called himself Greyhound.

              “I had no idea the underground fighting world was so intense,” Ally said. “John always talks about it like it’s an exclusive club.”

              A silence fell over the room.

              “You said your name was Ally? Like John’s Ally?” asked Ronnie.

              “You know my boyfriend?”

              The men exchanged grave looks. “We used to fight alongside him but he dropped out a few weeks ago. I don’t know if you know this, but he’s been dealing for the past few weeks. You should be careful around him he’s dangerous. I heard he wouldn’t hesitate to slit a man’s throat if they don’t pay him the proper amount.”