Surreal Ecstasy (15 page)

Ree slowly took a small step closer
so that he was standing behind my right side. He lowered his face, which was
now literally about an inch away from my neck. I was still frozen, not from
fear but from the exciting possibility of something happening, something I've
been wanting more than anything, something I'd been thinking about ever since
the first time I saw him standing by the frames at Crafts Market. His body had
sung to me quietly, like some magical, hidden siren's song passed only through
the energy in the air.

It sang to me then just as it sang
to me now, but there was also something new pulling me to him. I had never
stood so close to him before, and the small, empty space between our bodies
created a kind of static charge, one that I was absolutely certain we both
could feel.

Having this man stand erotically
behind me like this was surreal; it felt like Adonis himself was standing
there, and that he was waiting for me to acknowledge him before he made anymore
moves.

I didn't want him to have to wait
too long.

I had promised myself that I wouldn't
ever be this close with anyone again, and I had honestly been ready to fulfill
that promise. But right after making this choice, this beautiful, flawless man
that I had worshipped so much literally came walking back into my life, so
perfect for me that I swear, it was almost like…

Almost like I made him up, like I
had created him.

There was something odd about that
phrase, but I didn't have time to linger on it, because Ree spoke, whispering
my name gently.

"What?" I asked him
loudly, as if we were standing in the middle of a crowded stadium instead of a
small, nearly-empty store.

No more was said just then. I dared
to turn my head just a bit to see that a couple of his fingers had been gently
caressing my scar. I was a little sad because I had no idea how long he'd been
doing that. I'd lost a lot of feeling in that area.

We were in public, and I didn't
know where this little episode was heading. I listened for the store manager
who, last I saw, was showing his wife how to restock an item or something to
that effect. He was talking loudly in some kind of Asian language, and couldn't
have been more oblivious to Ree and me. No other customers were in the store,
and my back was turned to the main entrance, but I had a feeling (or maybe just
hoped) that few people, if any, were passing by out in the walkway or would
even notice that anything was happening here.

His mouth was dangerously close to
my neck.

It was as if he heard my mind's
words. His lips touched the back of my neck softly, deliberately, making me
jump a little. His fingers continued to gently caress my freaky
Frankenstein-ish scar.

He kissed my neck once again. His
lips were warm and lingered there, allowing me to feel his mouth's smoothness.
His tongue licked that small part of my neck.

I inhaled sharply, jumping slightly
at the sensual feeling of this closeness and leaning my head back a little.  I
gave myself permission to enjoy the aching need that defined itself from that
tiny kiss. He was so gentle and strong, yet so fierce at the same time. I did
not know a man could be like this, nor did I know that a man could be so
respectful of others, so confident yet modest.

"Morgan," he whispered
again. The feel of his breath and the sound of his voice definitely got the
attention of
all
my body parts. Beneath Dess' denim jeans with the
painted skulls on the back pockets, the underwear I had on was getting wet from
his attention.

"Ree," I whispered back.
Inside, I felt triumphant that my response was much better this time.

He paused, and I dared to turn my
body and look up at him.

His eyes were moist and sad,
looking at me as if I were a fragile, mistreated creature.

Dess had told me that she could
always see the signs of abuse; maybe it ran in the family, and Ree could also
tell. Looking deeper into his brown, beautiful eyes, I knew then that he not
only did he know I had been abused, but he would never, ever let it happen
again.

If he were to protect me.

If I were to allow him.

He moved his lips to my ear and
kissed it slowly. "Morgan," he whispered, his voice sounding
strained, "Let's go to your house. Now."

Chapter 10

We practically ran out of the
store, down the walkway, up the steps, and down a couple blocks to where Dess'
Kia sat waiting. We jumped in and scurried away so quickly, a couple people on
the street turned our way curiously.

"Shit," I said in
realization. "I don't have my keys. They're inside my apartment. Long
story," I added before Ree could ask.

"We'll have to see your
apartment manager, then," he replied, the regret in his voice matching
what I felt.

I sighed and continued to speed
down the highway without attracting too much attention. A traffic stop from the
police would really not help our situation any.

Getting inside my apartment was an
awkward process at first. Not because I had Ree with me, but because Ethan, the
apartment manager, was the one to open my unit that night and he probably knew
that I had been lying on my floor, naked and bleeding all over the place.

Thankfully, Ethan kept it short,
letting us in the building and doing a double-take on my unusual outfit. He
opened my apartment door and stepped aside so I could enter.

As I did, emotions washed over me.
The last time I was here, I was crying like a little girl because a bitch named
Nailah posted a picture of me selling myself, and my mother apparently believed
it. I had cut my own flesh with a kitchen knife because I couldn't handle these
obstacles. I sighed, eyeballing the laptop that I'd tossed to the floor, where
it still sat in an odd position. My bathroom light was still on because I had
been about to take a shower before it all happened. I sighed, thinking of what
my electricity bill must be next month. At least I hadn't started the shower
last Saturday night, or my water bill would have been a disaster, too, and now
that I was unemployed, I had no way of paying for all this.

What was I going to do? It was an
unusually good feeling when I was around Dess; my outlook on life was very
different. It was like I had nothing to fear or dread, like I could tackle life
head-on. I didn't quite feel that way around Ree just yet, but that was
probably because we hadn't had the time to
get
close.

Yet.

I put Dess' keys on my kitchen
counter and massaged my temples a bit, promising myself that I wouldn't stress
out. I'd have a conversation with the twins about my immediate future and they
would help me see things rationally, and help me figure out my next step.

I turned around to see if Ethan was
still standing outside my door. He was, but he looked ready to leave. I called
after him, "Did you- did you clean up the blood?" I noticed that
despite all the blood loss I supposedly had, my floor was spotless. I could
also feel Ree's burning questions, but I wasn't about to get into it anytime
soon, so I avoided his eyes.

Ethan nodded but said nothing,
looking somewhat flushed.

"Wow. Thank you, Ethan. I- I'm
sorry about this whole mess," I told him, hoping he'd figure out that I
meant it literally and figuratively.

"Don't worry about it, Morgan,"
he said dismissively, taking a step back. He was retreating so fast that I could
barely see the side of
his face
. "But next time,
if you need help or something, you can call me, okay?" He glanced from Ree
to myself.

I thanked him again as he left and
shut the door.

"What blood?"

I knew Ree was going to ask.

I sighed and sat on my folding
chair, which was really the only seat in the apartment. I didn't want to ignore
him, but I couldn't get into everything right now.

He walked over and stooped on the
floor so we could be on eye level with each other.

"I like your apartment,"
he said, inadvertently letting me know that he wasn't going to push the subject
about the blood.

I scoffed and smiled sarcastically.
"You have a thing for shoeboxes, eh?"

"No, I'm serious. It's
perfect. You have everything you need, right here in this very room." He
put his hand over mine and looked in my eyes, his expression dead serious,
silently encouraging me to find the true meaning of his words.

How did he always seem to know how
to say the exact thing that would make me feel better?

I smiled in spite of myself. "Where
did you come from? Heaven?"

"Quite the opposite. Los Angeles."

I burst out laughing, and he
laughed modestly, putting his hand over mine.

An electric charge filled the air,
positive energy surrounding us and filling up the room. That same magnetic pull
I felt at Pike's came back, making me aware of Ree, and Ree alone. At that
moment, I knew nothing but his brown puppy-dog eyes, his perfectly-shaped
eyebrows, and his warm, inviting lips.

That irresistible lopsided grin
appeared on his face. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear
you kind of liked me, or something."

I smiled and slipped my arms around
his shoulders, loving the feel of their broadness and his toned pecs. Before I
knew what was happening, he bent down and kissed my mouth. His lips were smooth
and warm, just like his hands, and they were downright intoxicating, his breath
delicious and just begging to be tasted again and again. Hungry for more, I
kissed him about a dozen more times, the passion I felt earlier returning in
spades. I soon went on the offensive, advancing on him and pushing him back
while kissing. I kept on in this way, pushing him back and kissing him
aggressively until he was sitting on the floor in front of my mattress.

I was horny, focused, and made no
apologies about it.

I placed my hands on his chest and
pushed upward, indicating that I wanted him on the mattress. He needed no
further prompting as he scrambled on and reached over to pull me up.

First of all, I must say that
kissing Ree felt like the most natural thing in the world, as if I'd been doing
it my whole life, as if it were as natural to me as anything else that I did
every day. Secondly, it is very important to note that Ree's entire body was
warm. I knew this because as I kissed and straddled him, my arms flew around
his shoulders, feeling all the warmth on his arms, back, and sides, my right
thigh being poked at by his growing hardness, the warmest spot of all.

Feeling his entire glorious body
pressed against mine sent me over the edge and out of control. All I could
think of was that I had to have him inside me
now.
Between the two of
us, we managed to get our clothes off, though not fast enough, in my opinion. I
don't remember what Ree's boxers looked like or how long it took for me to rip
my shirt, pants, bra, and panties off. It was as if I blacked out during this
torturous anticipation, driven by a mad, furious passion. I remembered nothing
until we were both naked and I was beside him, licking his beautiful chest and
stomach briefly, enjoying the small bits of salty sweat that began appearing
there. I regarded his perfect body and smugly realized that my earlier image of
his naked, sweaty body was more or less accurate, although seeing it in person
was exponentially better than merely imagining it.

He started to get up—I assumed he
wanted to kiss my body in return—but I pushed him down, hard. I was too
impatient for foreplay and
much
too focused on having him inside me, and
so he retreated, a hint of a smile playing around the corner of his lips. I
kissed him fiercely, climbing on top of him as I did so, not stopping until his
massive bulk pushed its way up my hot wetness. We both moaned at the shock of
the feeling of this closeness, and I rode him ferociously, almost painfully. I
felt like I'd waited years, centuries even, for this moment for us to become
one, even though I was completely unaware of his existence not three months
ago.

Although I hadn't known him my
whole life, I felt like a part of him had always been with me somehow. The very
idea of my life not ever having him in it was strange and unnatural. As I rode
him, my pleasure blocking out the strain on my thighs, I watched his face and
stopped every now and then to kiss him and to give my legs a rest. But then
desire would grab hold of me again and I would straighten up and continue to
push myself down on him mercilessly, the feeling of him not only inside me but
entering me from that angle hurting a little.

Our sweat, his groans, and my
whining and crying out were uncontrollable, so unique and immensely passionate
was this initial experience together. Nothing mattered at that moment except
for our combined passion and our union, and no one else in the world existed.

I kept on this way until Ree
shuddered and cried out louder than I'd yet heard him. I stopped, panting, and
reluctantly got off him after a few moments, lying on his left side, utterly
satisfied and fulfilled, out of breath, my legs feeling as useless as gelatin.
I threw my left arm around him and kissed the sweat off his arm, not wanting to
be too far from him just yet. He kissed my head and held me close.

I made a trail of kisses from his
arm to his sexy neck. When I got to his face and looked in his eyes, I saw that
he had been watching me, a look of adoration in his eyes. Finally, I kissed his
lips, a kiss filled with happiness and fulfillment and, still half-laying on
him, we both dozed off.

"Did you guys travel to Alaska to get the jacket?"

I had forgotten all about Dess, as
well as the fact that she had lent me her car and gave me some clothes and
money to take her insanely hot brother out on a date. I had heard my phone
vibrating (I must have turned off the ringer sometime during our fun napping
and groping combo) but
I
really, really hadn't wanted
to answer. Still, once I'd seen the newly-programmed DESS RIOS flashing on my
phone, I'd
figured
that the least I could
do for this woman was answer my phone, even if it
had
been during my
sweet, peaceful afterglow.