Authors: Susan Wright
First a trickle, then a flood of people
arrived. Later the hostess said 119 out of the 200 invited showed up. It was a
testament to Kali’s personal outreach to each and every one.
The notables were happy because the
press were taking hundreds of shots of everyone in the plaza from every
angle—back into the watching crowd, the sundial looming overhead, across the
gathered notaries toward the building, or from either side getting views of
both. Kali wondered if SunTech should consider renting out the plaza for
events. It was nicely suited for PR purposes. She planned on telling Mr. Ryan
that they should have their next big press conference in the plaza and attract
a crowd with the velvet ropes like they did today. Rope something off from New
Yorkers, and they were sure to gather to see what they were missing.
She greeted the people she had to greet,
introduced some to Robert Ryan or Hunter, depending on who they were. Hunter
was amazing—he stayed by the sundial, speaking to everyone about its
construction and the mechanism that could shift the needle during daylight
savings time and over the change of seasons.
He looked gorgeous, and women were
fawning all over him. In fact, there was a large crowd around Hunter the entire
time as he smiled and charmed everyone.
But anytime Kali went near him, his eyes
met hers and locked, like a promise.
Every time, her heart would start
beating faster. She couldn’t resist him.
She felt so proud of him as she watched
him standing with Robert Ryan during the launch ceremony. Her boss talked about
his devotion to a sustainable earth, and credited the sundial as one of the
most ancient and efficient technologies, a fitting symbol for SunTech’s work.
The crowd was swelled by SunTech employees, filling the plaza to bursting, and
the bystanders that lined the velvet ropes were three deep watching the
ceremony. Cars were backed up in the street as people tried to see what the
fuss was about.
They all raised their glasses of
champagne to toast Hunter with a general shout of acclaim. It was a tremendous
success, and Kali’s eyes shone with tears of joy at the thunderous applause.
When Mr. Ryan was done, he came directly
over to Kali. “Anything to report?”
She had already given him the count for
reporters and photographers. “Everything went smoothly, Mr. Ryan. We’ll start
winding down soon. I’ll have the first set of links for you tomorrow morning.”
He looked around pleased. “Well done,
Kali. I knew you could do it.”
“Thank you, Mr. Ryan. I was happy to
step up when you needed me.”
“This almost makes me wish we could hire
you as director of PR, but we need someone with a lot more experience. With our
international expansion, we’ll need to take on more people anyway. Kali, I’d
like to promote you to Assistant PR Director with the appropriate raise. You’re
much more than a copywriter, and we should use your talents to the fullest.”
“Thank you, Mr. Ryan!” Kali said. “I
just want to help SunTech the best I can. I really believe in what we’re doing
here.”
“I know you do.” He gave her another
smile, and called out a good-bye to the Assemblyman from the 74
th
district. Kali was particularly proud she had managed to get their local
representative to come.
It was a success in every way.
She turned to watch Hunter posing with
two women in front of the sundial. She remembered his voice when he said,
“Because
I love you, Kali.”
It made her feel warm inside.
If only she could be sure he meant it.
That he could be with her and only her. If only…
***
The way Kali was looking at him made
Hunter want to go over and put his arms around her and hold her tight.
But he couldn’t reach out to her. He couldn’t
touch her or tell her how beautiful she was, how serenely she moved as she
pulled off the perfect event.
It was bittersweet for him, the best
moment of his life, yet he couldn’t share it with the woman he loved. He
couldn’t ask for anything that would hurt her, not at the moment of her
professional triumph.
He watched how Robert Ryan thanked Kali
after their speeches. She looked radiant, exuding poise as she spoke to her
boss. If that wasn’t a woman on her way to the top, he didn’t know what one looked
like.
So he did his part, smiling and posing,
shaking hands and listening to everyone who spoke to him. He even worked the
crowd along the ropes, getting them to linger until the guests finally faded
away.
Then he returned to the sundial, looking
up at the massive needle thrusting into the sky. The long polished edge caught
the sun.
“You do good work,” someone said behind
him.
Hunter turned to see Robert Ryan
standing there looking at him and the sundial. “Thank you, Sir,” Hunter said.
“It was mainly the concept. Finding the right symbol for SunTech, as you said.”
“Thank you for finding it for us,” Ryan
said. He put his hand in his pocket. “I have something for you to see.”
Ryan pulled out a sheet of paper, folded
twice. Hunter opened it and saw it was a copy of an email:
_______________________________________
Robert Ryan – [email protected]
Re: Hunter Munro
The guy who made your sculpture is
really sick. He beats up women for fun. His website is www.huntingart.org. Your
being taken for a ride by him.
______________________________________
Hunter quickly checked the date—Ryan got
it Wednesday night. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“A poison pen note? I wouldn’t give it
the time of day.”
Hunter looked down at the paper. “It’s a
lie, Mr. Ryan. What I do is all consensual. But the website is mine. I sell
erotic art.”
Ryan shrugged it off. “Your website was
down, but I was able to find some images for sculptures you’ve exhibited in various
shows.” His voice lowered and he leaned in closer. “I’d like to get a piece
from you. The Tetris Couple caught my eye.”
Hunter grinned. “It did? I’d love for
you to have a sculpture of mine. I’ll deliver it on Monday.”
“In a box, please. I don’t want to have
to explain it to my secretary.”
“Don’t worry. I know how to be
discrete.”
“Yes, I saw how you handled your
relationship with Kali.”
Hunter’s smile froze. “We
were
dating, Mr. Ryan. But as soon as Selina was fired, Kali broke up with me.”
He nodded. “Yes, I know. Mrs. Chapel and
I are both satisfied with the way you’ve handled yourselves.”
“Thank you, Sir.” He was more glad for
Kali’s sake than his own. She had been right about that, too, and it was a good
thing she had stopped seeing him.
Ryan held out his hand. “It’s been a
pleasure working with you, Hunter. I hope we can do it again sometime.”
Hunter shook his hand. Robert Ryan knew
he was kinky but he didn’t care! He had been outed. His biggest fear throughout
this whole project. The reason he had lied to Kali about his erotic art
business.
But everything was okay.
It was a sense of relief that the worst
had happened. Ryan could have been a sexual prude or hypocrite about it. Ryan
could have fired him if he was that kind of man.
Minx…
She sent the
email. The timing fit perfectly. She probably went back down the hall to
Jeremy’s after dropping off her collar and sent Ryan that note.
He was going to have to settle the score
with her. He had known Minx for too long, and she was such a fixture in the
scene, that he would have to deal with her somehow. But he didn’t want to think
about that now, not at the moment of his biggest success.
And as the last people left the plaza,
Kali was looking at him from across the long stretch of flagstone. No more blue
walls to hem them in.
He walked over to her even though
several coworkers were nearby. He wanted to hug her, but she put out her hand
and smiled her professional smile. His heart sank as she said, “Thank you,
Hunter. You really came through for us. Everyone at SunTech is grateful.”
“I’m glad.” He slowly shook her hand,
feeling how warm and soft her skin was. “Now that I’m no longer employed by the
company, can I ask you to come have a celebratory drink with me?”
She let him hold her hand. “I would like
that. But I have a lot of work to do here to clear this up.”
He brightened up. “I could stay and
help.”
She pulled her hand away with a little
laugh. “No, let me do my job, Hunter.”
He wanted to hug her even more. That
would have told him how she felt about him. But those damned security cameras
were watching everything, and he didn’t want to blow it for Kali at the last
second. Ryan had been understanding enough.
The way she looked at him, so
impersonal, broke his heart. She started to go, but he held out a hand to stop
her.
“I wanted to tell you that you were
right about me,” he admitted. “I was hiding things from you. I manipulated you.
I wish I hadn’t done it. All I can say is that I’m not used to being open with
anyone.”
She hesitated. “You really mean that?”
“Yes.” He could hear the roughness of
his own voice. “Call it habit, keeping my distance, protecting myself. If you
want to know the answers to any of your questions, I will be honest, I
promise.”
“Hunter…” She was looking at him, at a
loss. As if hearing him admit she was right was the last thing she had
expected.
Hunter tried to smile, but couldn’t.
“You don’t have to say anything now. But I’m always here for you if you want to
talk.”
She nodded. “Thanks, Hunter.”
He watched her walk away, wishing he
felt more hopeful. After all this time, peeling her down to her most elemental
feelings and watching her every reaction under his hands, he had no idea what
she was thinking right now.
It made him want her even more.
Chapter 20
It took a couple of hours to break down
the equipment on the plaza and clean up according to the permit instructions.
Amanda took care of the details, but Kali didn’t want to leave until everything
was gone. She had to be certain this job was finished right.
Mr. Ryan had ordered a car service to
take her home when she was through, and the black limo-car was waiting at the
curb when she finally walked across the plaza, past the sundial, for the last
time that day.
When she got in, the driver asked her,
“Where to?”
“Just a second.” She texted Hunter:
Are
you busy?
No,
he texted back
instantly.
Are you done?
Where are you?
she asked.
Home. I can meet you anywhere.
She considered that. She was tired and
didn’t want to go out. But she didn’t want him to come to her place.
I’ll
come to you. The car is on SunTech.
She knew he would appreciate knowing
that she wasn’t in the subway this late alone.
Kali wanted to go to his studio because
the last time she went there she had learned a lot about him. It wasn’t healthy
for them to always be together in her home. He had offered to answer her
questions, and she hoped he was serious about that. She needed answers.
She gave the driver Hunter’s address.
When Hunter opened his door, he was
grinning like a little kid. “Kali! Come in, come in.”
Looking around, Kali saw in a glance
that the studio was dusty and the floor needed sweeping. Minx hadn’t been near
the place, at least, not as a service sub.
She relaxed a bit.
“I’m glad you didn’t change,” Hunter told
her. “This is the way I first met you, all buttoned up and corporate.”
She gave him a look. “I’m here to talk,
Hunter.”
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
“I need you to tell me why you never
wanted me to come over here.”
Caught. She could see it in his eyes.
“You’re right,” he admitted. “I didn’t
want you to come over. I was afraid you’d find this.” Hunter went over to the
wall near the door. It was lined with storage, large doors on the bottom and
smaller ones on top. He opened the doors one after the other.
Sculptures of all sizes—tiny ones as big
as her fist. And big ones at least four feet tall.
“It’s Hunting Art,” she realized. “Your
erotic sculptures.”
“I get them cast in bulk, so I have to
store them here until I sell them.”
She picked up one and smoothed her hand
over the surface, mottled as if it had been burned by acid. The shape was
abstract but she could see the two forms of people back to front, melded
together by the stub of a buried dick in the woman’s ass. She had a ball-gag in
her mouth. Kali had seen the photo of it, but it was another thing seeing it in
her hands.
He tried to explain. “I didn’t want to
put you in the position of knowing about my business and not telling SunTech.
You were already so worried about Selina finding out about us.”
She lifted the sculpture. “This has
nothing to do with
that
.”
“Ryan told me tonight that he knew we
were dating and then stopped once you took over for Selina. Mrs. Chapel told
him. They’re fine with how we handled it.”
She knew he was trying to distract her
from hiding his business, but she was curious. “How did they find out?”
“I don’t know. But it could have
something to do with the security cameras. We got kind of relaxed there for a
while, remember?”
“Yes, that’s true.” They had arrived at
work holding hands more often than not during the good days.
“I’ll tell you something else,” he said.
“Ryan knows about Hunting Art.”
“He does?” She was shocked.
“Minx sent him an anonymous note. I
think it was her.” Hunter reached in and pulled out a cubist sculpture. “He
wants a copy of this one. I’ll take it to him on Monday.”
Kali couldn’t believe it, but as it sank
in she began to laugh. “Oh my God, Hunter! See, you didn’t have to hide it from
me. If I had told him from the beginning, it would have been all right.”
He considered the sculpture. “I was just
trying to protect you.”
“Well, don’t. I can take care of myself.
I need to take care of myself.”
“I get it, Kali,” he agreed. “I’m a
domineering bastard sometimes. I’m trying to rein it in for you.”
Kali put the sculpture back on the
shelf. “So other than buying your groceries with X-rated art, is there anything
else you’re hiding?”
He shrugged and looked around. Then he
went over to the trash can. “There is this.”
He pulled out a battered neon green
collar.
“That’s Minx’s,” she said.
“I asked her to return it. It came
through the slot in the door.”
“And you threw it away?”
“Not at first. It sat on the table for a
couple of days. But when I came home tonight thinking she sent that note to
Ryan… I chucked it.” Hunter tossed the collar back into the trash. “She’s the
only one who’s been here, the only one who could have snooped around and found
the SunTech info.”
Kali shook her head. “I don’t understand
why anyone would do that.”
He waved it off. “I don’t care about
that right now. I wanted you to know that it’s really, truly over with her. I’m
not looking for another submissive, let me tell you. You’re more than enough
for me, Kali.”
He came towards her, but she backed
away. He frightened her so much. Her instincts had been right—he had been
keeping her away from his studio. He had been trying to mold her into the
perfect slave.
“Is there anything else you need to tell
me?” His eyes shifted, and she pounced on it. “There is something, isn’t
there!”
“Well… yes.” He went over to the
sculpture stand. There was a white cloth hanging over something. “I’m making a
new line for Hunting Art. It’s called Mine.”
He pulled off the cloth and revealed a
single figure, twisting and holding its arms overhead, seemingly pirouetting on
her pointed feet. “It’s you, Kali. I drew you lying on the bed like this.”
She went closer. “It’s so beautiful!
Like I’m floating.”
“I have dozens I want to do, based on the
drawings I made of you.” He looked at her. “As long as you’re all right with
being my muse.”
Her throat tightened over tears she
couldn’t shed. It was a romantic dream, her romantic dream.
So why did it feel like it would cost
her everything to give into him?
Why did it feel like it would be worth
it, even if it destroyed the rest of her life?
***
Hunter could see how conflicted she was,
and that hurt. He was so sure about what he felt for her, that he wanted her to
be just as certain.
Then again, to be perfectly honest, if
she had come here chasing after him, his old habit of withdrawal would have
kicked in and he might have pulled away from her.
Just being who she was gave him the
space he needed to love her. But the fact that it came from her fear of him
wasn’t good. Maybe she was right about them.
All he knew was that it took a sheer
effort of will to keep his hands off her. He had to get her back, and deal with
the consequences later.
“Don’t you want to sit down and talk
about it?” he asked.
The look she gave the couch was dubious
at best. “I keep thinking of how you made Minx sit on the floor in front of
you. I mean seriously, you didn’t let her sit on the furniture? Ever?”
He looked over at his couch with new
eyes. Now that she mentioned it, he could almost see Minx kneeling there as she
always did, with her sly grin and downcast eyes.
“I think I liked it mostly because it
was safe that way,” he admitted with some difficulty. “We were always in that
dynamic. We didn’t hang out together like you and I do.”
She was looking around as if she could
see all of the different women who had come to his loft to play or fuck. There
were a lot of ghosts in his loft, now that he thought about it. Women who had
wanted things from him that he couldn’t give. Women who had loved him, while
his heart stayed untouched.
But not anymore. Now Kali was curled up
inside of him, taking up far more space than anyone ever had before.
As if to prove it, her pink crystal
collar with the heart padlock was in the place of honor, hanging from the tip
of the sundial model on his table. The slight breeze from the window made it
turn, catching the light.
“Let’s go to the roof,” he suggested.
“It’s beautiful up there at night.”
“Sure,” she quickly agreed.
She didn’t say a word as they went to
the stairwell and climbed up to the top. He was reminded of their silent walk
from the subway to her apartment after the gang had chased them. He had
appreciated it then, and he appreciated it now. It was part of her natural
reticence that allowed him to move towards her. He couldn’t remember how many
times he had ordered his subs, “Silence!” There was nothing worse than a woman
betraying herself with nervous chatter.
But Kali was different, in so many ways.
He opened the door at the top to blackness.
There were no buildings nearby that were higher, so they stood on an island of
shadow in a sea of lights spreading off to the distance, where the ridge of
Manhattan skyscrapers filled the sky, lit up by thousands of diamond points.
“Oh!” Kali breathed. “It’s gorgeous,
Hunter…”
Hunter smiled at her delight. “It’s one
of my favorite places.”
They went over to where a low wall ran
around the edge of the building, looking out on the city. The lights were so
bright that the glow reflected off the low-hanging clouds, forming a halo
around them.
“I’m so glad I took the risk and moved
here,” Kali said. “It feels like anything is possible.”
“The city is what you make of it.” He
noticed she was letting her shoe dangle off one foot. “You must be tired of standing.
You’ve been running around all day. There’s a place to sit down over here.”
He led her over to the corner of the
building where half a dozen chairs were grouped overlooking the view. Since it
was Friday night, the people who lived in the building were out doing other
things. They would gather here later after the bars closed, to finish the night
off.
Kali sank onto a chair with a sigh,
removing her shoes. “It has been a long day.”
“A successful day. You must be proud. It
was a huge crowd.”
She smiled. “You know, for the first
time since I got this job, I feel okay. Like I’m not going to get fired the
next time I go in to work.”
“Getting rid of Selina must help.”
“You have no idea. Keeping on her good
side was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” She looked over at him. “You’re
always so thoughtful, Hunter. Thanks for suggesting we sit down.”
“I’m always thinking about you,” he said
simply.
Kali shook her head slightly. “Oh,
Hunter! I should just give in, and then we’d both see how fast you run away from
me.”
“I won’t. I want this too much.”
“But we don’t want the same things.”
“I think we do,” he insisted, scooting
his chair a little closer. “We both want to succeed in our careers, and we want
to do it in New York so we can suck every bit of life out of this city. And
since I met you, I want to do it with you. I think I can be even better with
your help, and I think I can help you get what you want. Don’t you see, we have
to try.”
“Why? When it’s doomed from the start?”
She glanced away. “You’ll get bored with me, I know it. Sexually. There’s no
way I can compete with those other women.”
“It’s not a competition! Or a game, to
me. I want to be with you.”
She took a deep breath, poised on the
edge of her seat, on the verge of… something. It maddened him that he didn’t
know what she was thinking.
Hunter had to go closer. He was out of
his chair and kneeling next to her, taking her hand, before he knew it. “Give
us a chance, Kalico Jones. I think we can make it.”
She looked down at his beseeching eyes.
He didn’t hide anything—he knew he wouldn’t get another chance to convince her.
She had the backbone to turn him down and walk away forever if she thought it
was for the best. She knew that she deserved the best, and she could get it.
But he had to fight for her. He had to
have her.
Her hand reached out and stroked his
hair. His eyes closed as he absorbed her touch. It almost made him dizzy in
relief that she had reached out to him, that she was touching him.