Tattooed Soul (5 page)

We both stared at each other. I could
feel the desire to kiss him with everything in me. He still did not make the
first move. I needed to feel his lips on mine.

“Will you kiss me?” I have never wanted
something as much as I wanted this. I was suddenly tense as I waited for his
answer. He seemed to be searching for something in my eyes. I thought I was
going to be rejected. I began to pull away from the warmth of his arms as tears
started to form in my eyes, and I looked away.

I felt his fingers pull my chin back up
so I was looking into his eyes. “My god, but you are so beautiful,” he murmured
as he brought his lips to mine.

The kiss sent electricity down into my
core. It was more than anything I had ever felt before. It started soft, and
intensified. His tongue asked for entrance into my mouth. I opened my lips to
welcome him. As we explored each other's mouths, our hands began to move around
each other’s bodies. He felt amazing and strong. I felt protected.

He broke the kiss first, and I
immediately missed him. “Becky, as much as I would love to stay with you here
in our haven, I think we may need to get you to a doctor. You hit your head
pretty hard yesterday.”

I suddenly remembered our situation. “How
did we get here? How did you find me? Where are we?” I was confused, and I was
suddenly more aware of the dull ache in my head.

“I found you unconscious at the bottom of
a ravine a couple of miles from here. I carried you here in the rain. I think
this was an old park ranger cabin. They use them sometimes when they are
counting the wildlife in the area and have to stay overnight. As to how I found
you, that was blind luck. We need to get you out of here. We have a long way to
go.”

I stopped him with my hand. “You did that
for me? But why?” I was honestly curious why he found me so interesting. Of all
the girls at Ryder High School, why did he want me?

“Becky, I told you. I have watched you
from the first day I saw you. I have thought of nothing but you since then. I
knew you needed someone in your life the same way I needed someone in mine.
Even though I couldn’t talk to you or touch you, you have always been in my
dreams. You are the reason for my existence. My sun rises and sets to you.”

As he spoke these words, I felt tears
rolling down my cheeks. “Thank you for saving me.” I had to feel him again. I
had to see if he was real. So many times my dreams had been interrupted; I had
to make sure he was there with me.

I stood on my toes and pulled his neck to
me until my lips were again on his. I needed to taste him and feel him. I
couldn’t get enough of him. His hands went to my hips and guided me back to the
bed of blankets. I thought he was going to lay me down, but he pulled away.

Immediately, I felt ashamed of my
actions.  I barely knew this boy, and yet I wanted him the way I had never
wanted anyone before in my life.  I couldn’t reconcile the way I felt
around him.  Safe, protected ... even cherished?  All things I had
never felt with Caleb.  Things I hadn’t felt from anyone since before the
death of my mother. 

As I fumbled to finish getting dressed, I
became more embarrassed by my actions.  What if he didn’t feel the same
for me?  Just as I was resigned to forget any of this had ever happened,
Marcus placed his finger under my chin and slowly turned me back toward him.

“I would love to lay down here and
explore your body the way I have always dreamed of, but I would never forgive
myself if you had a serious head injury, and I kept you from getting medical
attention. We really do have a long way to go, so we need to get started. I
promise to make it up to you as soon as I hear that you are indeed fine.” He
grabbed my pants and began to help me get dressed.

I reluctantly succumbed to his prodding.
I got dressed and waited as he folded the blankets and put them away. We
started for the door, and I stopped abruptly. He placed his hand on the small
of my back and tried to encourage me out into the sunlight.

“No, we can’t. It will be ruined if we
leave. I don’t want you to leave me. I need you.” I knew I was being
irrational, but I also knew that nothing in my life had ever worked out for me.
Here was a man, a beautiful, gentle and protective man who had just basically
saved my life, and I knew next to nothing about him. My fear was that if we
stepped outside, the spell of our newfound friendship would be broken. Then,
just like everything in my life, I would end up with nothing.

He turned me to face him, and I saw the
same look of apprehension in his eyes. “Becky, I swear to never leave you. We
will find a way to make this work for us.”

I had known him for over two years and
watched him every day, but to hear him say those words broke me. He was a
stranger to me, but I felt a connection with him that was undeniable. If he
could look at me with those sweet and caring eyes for the rest of my life, I
would finally be whole again.

Rebecca

As we left the cabin, he swore that he
would never leave me, and he had done his best to stay by my side. The long
walk home had been torturous. The ground was still wet, and I would have fallen
down so many times if it weren’t for Marcus. He held me up the whole way.

It took most of the day to get home, and
we used most of that time to talk about ourselves. It became evident that he
truly did know a lot about me. He even knew what type of shampoo I used on my
hair, and what toothpaste I used to brush my teeth. To most women, this would
be a red flag, but I was completely enraptured. Someone was finally seeing me.
The real me that I kept locked up in my personal mental asylum. I didn’t have
to tell him about my mother’s death or my father’s alcoholism.

I also learned about his life. He was
open and honest about any question I had. He resided with a foster family in
town, but never really lived there. They were greedy and selfish, and only kept
foster children for the money each month. He told me how they never really
noticed that he was not at home. If he kept his grades up and his act clean,
then he could pretty much just get by on his own.

Once a month, a social worker would come
by to check up on the household, but he only saw the perfect façade. This was
the longest he had ever stayed in one place, and he said that was because of
me.

The one time we stopped for a rest, he
held my face in his hands and told me, “Rebecca, I know you and Caleb have been
dating for a while, but since I first saw you my world has always revolved
around you. I just had to find you. Now that I have, I will never leave your
side.” I was taken aback at how sincere he was. I wanted to believe him.

Upon returning home, I was immediately
apprehensive about explaining to my father about where I had been the previous
night. I was also worried about what Caleb may or may not have told him. I
didn’t think he would be so stupid as to tell my father what had happened, but
I realized now that I didn’t know as much about Caleb as I once thought.

Marcus bravely walked with me to the
door, and we met my father at the threshold. I was frozen in my spot, but
Marcus was so calm and cool. He simply reached over and held out his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Hunter,” Marcus said.

Such a simple gesture. Richard looked
between Marcus’s hand and my eyes, and let out a gruff breath. He refused to
accept Marcus’s hand and pushed past us on the porch. “Guess you're going to
turn out just like your mother. I'll say hello to Caleb for you.” He walked to
his car, glaring at me as he opened and slammed his truck.

I was completely embarrassed, but Marcus
just brought me to his chest as I shuddered.

As Richard pulled out of the driveway, he
rolled down the window and yelled, “I still expect my dinner on the table when
I get home.”

That was it. Richard never said another
word to me about it.

I went upstairs to take a shower, and
Marcus went to the Smith’s garage to pick up my car. I still don’t know how he
started it without my keys, but I was so grateful to see my car back at home.
He refused to shower himself, but took me to the doctor to get my head checked
out. The doctor said I had a large bruise and possibly a mild concussion, but
some pain reliever and a good night's rest with someone to keep an eye on me
should put me right again.

Marcus, of course, volunteered to watch
me, I don’t think he trusted my dad to make the effort to check on me even
once.

This was the beginning of our
relationship.  It was strange how smoothly we moved together.  When
he was around, I was whole. 

It had been two weeks since I woke up to
the face of my mystery man, and we had spent every moment possible with each
other. Both of us seemed to be afraid to let go, and for his part, Marcus never
forgot his promise about leaving me.

He started staying over every night in my
bedroom. He had admitted sleeping outside my house practically every night, so
I couldn’t just go to bed and let him stay out there in the cold.

When Richard was passed out in front of
the television, I would turn off my light. This was his cue to climb the tree
outside my window and sneak in. The first few nights he slept in the rocking
chair in the corner of my room.

I knew he wasn’t comfortable, but he
refused to stay in the bed with me. On the third night, he made a pallet on the
floor. That was a little better, but I still felt guilty and couldn’t sleep.

By the fourth night, we were both so
tired from lack of sleep we decided that lying on the bed together was not such
a big deal.

As soon as I felt the bed tilt toward
him, I was immediately calmed and ready for sleep. Before we knew it, we were
cuddled together, sleeping in blissful dreams.

School, however, was another issue. Our
first day back at school was interesting. Marcus was apprehensive about being
seen with me. This hurt at first. I thought he was ashamed of me. He seemed to
read my mind, and he told me that people saw him as a freak. They didn’t talk
to him; they couldn’t be bothered. He said he was afraid people would treat me differently
if I was with him.

“Look at me, Becky. I am not the type of
guy a person like you should be seen with. I don’t want to cause you more trouble.”

“Marcus, I have been alone at this school
for so long. I grasped at a relationship that was fake just to have someone to
be with. I hid, just like you. In fact, I envied you and your ability to become
invisible, but now we don’t have to be invisible anymore. You can be Marcus,
and I will just be Becky, and screw the rest of them. We don’t need anyone
else.”

After that, we walked hand in hand to
class every day. Marcus was always waiting for me outside of my classes, and we
would drive home in my car together. We laughed, we talked, and we learned to
love. These had been a wonderful two weeks, but real life was coming up on us
fast.

Caleb was coming back to school on
Monday. He had not been to school since the “accident”. The rumor around school
was that Caleb had been in an accident.  Rumor was that he was walking
home late at night, and a car hit him.  The driver didn’t stay around to
find out if he was even alive and had left the scene of the accident. 

The rumor made me sick for several reasons. 
The first of which was the fact that if Caleb was injured enough for it to look
like a hit and run, we had hurt him very badly.  The second was the fact
that everyone seemed to be looking for this mysterious man in a car, who would
never be found.

Caleb had been in the hospital for a week
and on bed rest for another. I could only imagine what type of things he would
do upon his return.

Marcus said that the last time he saw
Caleb he was “pretty messed up”. I knew that my few hits didn’t cause that much
damage, but I never asked Marcus about it. He had taken care of the bloody pipe
with our fingerprints on it, so I had to do something for him. Caleb could be a
devious prick when he wanted to be, and Marcus and I gave him something to be
pretty pissed off about. I needed to face my demon.

Marcus had to go to his foster parent’s
house for a social worker's visit. I used this opportunity to pay a call to the
Smith’s garage. I came prepared, just in case Caleb wanted to try something. I
brought my can of mace. I wasn’t going to walk into it with blinders on this
time.

When I rounded the corner of the garage
area, I saw Caleb leaning over the hood of a car. He still had a cast on one
arm and another on his left foot. He turned to face me, and I was taken aback
at the yellowing bruises on his face. Good grief, Marcus must have beaten the
shit out of him.

I stopped short, but then kept walking. I
didn’t want Caleb to have the satisfaction of thinking I felt sorry for him.
“Caleb, we need to talk.” I spoke as firmly as I could muster, but I was
terrified on the inside.

“You have some big balls coming back
after the shit that you pulled last time you were here. Goddamn it, Becky, I
may never get the use of my hand back. What am I going to do now?” He raised up
his bandaged hand and swung it at me.

“So if you are here to beg me to take you
back, you can fucking eat shit. I don’t give a damn about you and your virgin
ass. I wasn’t ever really interested; I just wanted the first taste.” He
started to step forward.

“Seeing that you have moved on to your
next toy, I guess I'm too late. You're a fucking whore, just like your mother.”
These last words he spat right in my face, venom dripping from each word. I
could feel his hot breath on my cheeks.

I hauled the mace out of my front pocket
and pointed it at his face. “No, you get the fuck back. I don’t want you. I
never wanted you. You are just a sad stupid boy who feels the need to make up
for his lack of dick size by putting more horsepower into his engines. I didn’t
come to ask you to 'take me back.' I came to tell you to stay the hell away
from me!”

With this, I felt a surge of bravery, and
I stepped up to him and stared at his angry face. “If I so much as hear one
thing about what happened to you, I will make your life hell. I know all about
the drugs and the little sex parties you have going on in here when your dad is
gone. I am sure he would be so proud of his little prodigy.”

He actually stepped back from me. He was
intimidated by me. I was amazed and shocked, but I continued, “Let’s just agree
that you will stay out of my life, and I won’t turn your world upside down.
Don’t forget that my father has some friends around this town. It would not be
hard at all to have an anonymous call sent to the police station requesting
that all of your shit be searched.”

He seemed to be thinking hard about what I
said. Maybe this would work.

“So what exactly are you saying? I keep
quiet about your little boyfriend beating my ass, and you won’t tell that I
have sex and do drugs. That’s rich, babe. As if you could get your drunk of a
father to do a damn thing to help you. Hell, he is probably passed out on the
sofa right now,” Caleb sneered.

“Just try me, Caleb. My dad is the least
of your worries. It only takes one call.” I picked up my cell phone and started
to dial. “Would you like to test your theory?” I looked him straight in the eye
as he stared me down. It was a battle of wills, and I was not going to back
down.

He tore his eyes from me. “Whatever,
cunt. It isn’t as if I want the school knowing that your cocksucker of a
boyfriend sucker punched me, but you better know now that if I ever see him
here again, I will give him the beat down of his life. Even those freaks he
calls foster parents won’t be able to recognize his shit. Now get your stupid
ass out of here, and have a nice life with your super freak.” He turned and
laughed as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

I could have cared less. I thought he had
gotten the message, and I was betting that he would leave us alone. I was
hopeful that this was one more obstacle that we were now past.

I got home about 5:30 pm, and Richard was
already home. Not only did that mean that dinner was late, but that Marcus was
not going to be there until later after Richard was asleep. I quickly ran in
and looked for some leftovers to warm up in the microwave.

I heard Richard moving out of his chair
and coming toward the kitchen. “Where the hell have you been? That boy has been
calling you.” I choked up a bit as I thought at first he was talking about
Caleb.

“Marco said that he wanted to take you to
dinner. He asked my permission. As if I give a fuck. Once a whore always a
whore, but he did drop off some chicken for my dinner so you wouldn’t have to
cook.” He grabbed another beer and headed back to the living room.

Just as I was about to ask what time
Marcus was coming over, I heard a knock. I almost tripped as I stumbled to the
door. There on my doorstep was a god. Marcus was dressed in a suit. It was
nothing fancy, but it was beautiful on him. He had cut his hair and gelled it
up so it was styled in a sexy bed-head kind of way.

That was the least of it. Then I saw his
eyes. They were mesmerizing, and quickly becoming my favorite part of his body.
All those times that I dreamed of knowing what they looked like made me
desperate to memorize every facet of their color.

When I looked into his eyes, it seemed
that I was seeing a pathway to his soul. They were a beautiful mix of brown,
green and blue with golden flecks on the edges. I could not stop staring, and I
was sure my mouth was hanging open and making me look like an idiot.

“Are you ready to go?” he whispered as he
leaned in to kiss my lips passionately. I let out a soft moan, but he pulled
back and I remembered where we were. Richard was in the next room.

“Marcus, you look so beautiful. I haven’t
been able to get ready. I am so sorry, Dad just told me.” I don’t know why, but
I felt like I was letting him down. I knew he had put much thought into this
night, and I was floundering. “Can you give me just a few minutes to wash up?”

“Becky, I already told you; I will wait
for you forever.” He looked past me into the living room and motioned toward my
father. “I think I will wait for you outside in the car. Take your time.”