Authors: Dorian Mayfair
Blissful minutes passed as Cai continued to explore her, all while he ran his hands along her legs, her buttocks and her belly. Suzy took hold of the edges of the shower cabin to steady herself; she was happy to let this go on as long as he desired. After a seeming endless time, just as a climax began to shimmer on the horizon, Cai reached for a bottle – her scented oil, unless she saw wrong – and uncorked it. Before she had had time to wonder what he planned to do, she felt one of his hands run under her, up between her buttocks, and then he touched her other point of pleasure, pressing lightly with a finger while his tongue continued to stroke her. His finger disappeared and then returned, now bearing a touch of oil. He massaged the oil into her, ever so slowly, before removing his finger to return soon with a new drop of oil.
Each touch sent a quiver through Suzy. They should take this to the bed; any moment soon, her grip would falter and she’d crash down onto Cai. She was about to say as much when his finger pressed at her gently, then a little more, until it slipped inside. Suzy forced a cry into a loud gasp, and she felt the plastic of the shower cabin’s edges groan in her fierce grip. The sensation was incredible. She wanted to move faster, but she made herself adjust to Cai’s slow rhythm as he continued to use his tongue and finger to set off small explosions of pleasure. Within seconds, the climax rushed closer as if suddenly brought into focus.
With a heroic effort, Suzy pushed him away. “You’re coming with me,” she grunted and pulled him out of the bathroom.
They left a wet trail along the floor as they half-stumbled, half-wrestled towards the bed. Suzy wished he could walk faster; she was moments from tripping him to the floor and taking him on the spot, but she kept struggling to get Cai where she wanted. The bed was relatively clean and soft, and her floor really wasn’t.
To her surprise, they made it to the bed, and Suzy sat down abruptly as the edge of the mattress bumped against the back of her knees. Cai stood in front of her, every inch the image of a Roman athletic god, lit only by the electric candelabra in the other room. He gazed down at her with eyes reflecting the light like polished steel, like a wolf’s alert gaze. Her face was centimetres from his waist, and Suzy decided to indulge in what luck chose to offer. Half-drunk with lust, she took his hardness in one hand, put her other hand on one of his buttocks, and drew him into her mouth.
Cai sucked in a sharp breath and moved against her slowly, following her pace, and Suzy focused on the sensations of him inside her. He responded with a shiver to every slightest movement, every stroke of her tongue, every change in the pressure of her grip. He tasted of soap and, underneath, something muskier, the scent of a deep forest.
When she felt him begin to move faster, she stopped and held up a finger, hoping that he’d understand. She let go of him, upended a box near her bed, found a condom, and slipped it onto him. He looked profoundly confused but did not protest; if anything, he felt as if he grew even harder under her fingers. Then she laid back, moved towards him, and placed her heels on his chest. Unless he took her now, she would split in half with desire.
Cai rested a knee on the mattress, placed her feet on his shoulders, and sank down until the tip of him rested just at her opening. “May I?” he asked.
“Are you serious?” Suzy could have thrown something at him, but then Cai laughed and lowered himself down, finally sinking into her. Suzy bucked and cursed with raw pleasure as he leaned forward, placed his hands next to her, and began to move inside her.
Suzy felt delirious. When had anything felt this good before? Not in her lifetime, she thought.
At least not in several days
, suggested the devil on her shoulder, never missing a chance to correct her. Cai leaned down to kiss her while he moved against her, and Suzy arced her neck up to reach his mouth. The man had the most sensual lips, and his kisses were beyond description. He smiled, and Suzy growled with lust. She took hold of his arms and pushed back against him, meeting thrust with thrust, and she felt every muscle in his body tense.
With a low cry, Suzy found herself careening over the edge and into climax, and she held on to him as the pulse rocked her, again and again, wave after wave of intense pleasure. Oblivious or uncaring, Cai didn’t stop; he continued to push at Suzy until she had slid halfway up the bed. Suzy looked up at his face and saw him overcome with lust. The sight was infuriatingly arousing, and Suzy crossed her ankles behind his back to pull herself closer.
Cai continued, his thrusts growing more and more intense until he closed on a force that bordered dangerously on the painful. Suzy allowed herself to be carried along, latching on to his craving until she too was brought to a new height. Then he tensed, harder this time, and he arched his statuesque body backwards as he came inside her with a long, drawn-out sigh. Moments later, Suzy echoed his climax and collapsed back while new waves crashed through her. The light faded as if veiled by a cloak, and all grew dark.
*
When Suzy came to again, she blinked at the twilight of the candelabra. Was it already dawn? No, it was still dark outside. The rain drummed against her window as if intending to go on forever. Cai lay next to her, at rest but not asleep. She did not have to look over at him to know that he was awake; she could feel his presence, the alertness he radiated.
Suzy was good at math. She’d never been a prodigy, but she got along well with numbers, always doing fairly well in school, usually getting high marks without trying too hard. Numbers were obedient and did as they were told, whereas her attempts at writing short stories always ended with her characters taking command over her letters and going off on unsolicited adventures. Reading poetry was nice, but writing it didn’t mix with her lack of patience. But numbers were all right. They were Suzy’s friends. Which was how she knew the equation of the past hours didn’t add up.
Getting soaked by the rain was nothing new. Neither was getting lost, or forgetting addresses. Coming across attractive men at unexpected times had happened before, and some of them hadn’t had the best wardrobes. She’d seen more than one street fight, even if she never had been directly involved in one before. And sex so good it left her practically unconscious – well, that was one of the things she lived for.
But all of the above in one go? Never. The past evening was a string of ludicrous events: Misplacing a whole tattoo studio, stumbling across a drop-dead stunning man wearing the worst outfit this side of a circus tent, being attacked by a trio of creepy men with ritual knives, and then having a scandalously great time in bed with said the aforementioned-dressed man. All that with traditional Suzy luck? No way. There was only one explanation, and Suzy held it carefully in her mind, as if it could set her brain on fire if handled too roughly. Perhaps it could. But she needed to make sure.
“Cai?” Suzy mumbled.
“Did I please you?” he asked. “You truly are an amazing woman. I can see why Green did not tell me; I wouldn’t have believed him.”
“Hush.” Suzy rolled over onto her belly and watched the rain pour down her window. “Those clothes of yours.”
“Yes?”
“You never told me the whole story.” With an effort, she raised a finger. “No, don’t tell me again how you couldn’t find anything else. This is friggin New York, and you’re obviously not blind.” And, she added to herself, no one that good-looking can have such bad taste.
“I can explain,” Cai said with a hint of panic in his voice.
“So can I.” Suzy sighed. “You’re not really used to wearing clothes, are you?”
“Well, I – that is to say, I’m used to – it’s not that I –”
“Thought as much.” So that was it. She was right. Cai really was part of what Suzy had decided to call the Strange, capital S and all. She needed a term to keep apart the real world and the mysteries that kept bombarding her. She had hoped to make sense of her previous two encounters, but now she was pulled down too far, too deep into the weirdness. Either she accepted that she was caught up in a whirlpool of unreal events, or she’d have to admit herself to a mental hospital. As options came, choosing between those two was easy.
Cai fell silent, then asked, “How did you know?”
“You just showed me.” Suzy sighed again and smiled to herself. “Besides, you look a lot like someone I met not long ago, and I’m starting to think there was more to him than meets the eye.”
“Greene?” Cai asked.
Suzy nodded. “He didn’t look comfortable in clothes. Just like you.” She looked over at Cai. The light of the city blended with the glow of her candelabra and outlined his form. She could feel the heat of his body even without touching him. She wanted to reach out and put her hands on him, but first she needed to know exactly who, or what, he was.
Just as she opened her mouth to ask, a tingle at the nape of her neck made her turn back to the window. She saw only rain, but she had the impression of a new presence, not far away. Her tattoo began to itch again. Suzy rose, padded over to the window, and looked out. She’d planned to see if there was any sign of more strange men, but when she looked down at the street, she could not hold back a curse.
Cai materialized next to her and she cursed again, this time in surprise. Damn, he moved fast. He’d gone from resting on the bed to standing next to her in one second flat.
“What is wrong?” he asked.
Suzy pointed down at the street where five individuals stood in a semicircle, just below her window. In the gloom they looked like shadows, featureless and still, but Suzy had the distinct impression that they were looking up at her. She could not tell anything about them other than that they wore dark clothes and, of course, that they were bad news. There was no reason for five persons to stand outside her flat at this time of the day. Or in this weather. Or in any weather at all.
“They’re just standing there,” Suzy whispered. “I think they’re looking up at my window. Do you think they can see us?”
“Of course,” Cai said as if Suzy had asked if they had arms and legs.
“What are they up to? They’re giving me the creeps. Someone’s going to call the cops. In fact,
I’m
calling them right now.”
“Few can see them,” Cai said. “You’d need a mark, or belong to a faction.”
Suzy, on her way towards her phone, stopped. “A fraction of what?”
“They’re no reason for alarm,” Cai said. “They are waiting for us. For you, that is. Because you agreed to doing the task.”
Suzy blinked. “I did a what when?”
“I overheard the phone call,” Cai said. “I’m impressed. You are a brave woman. Both beautiful and bold.”
“Hold up.” Suzy pressed a hand to her forehead. “I remember the guy on the phone saying something about a task. Some kind of parcel, right?”
“Precisely.”
“And I hung up on him.”
“Did he ask you for help?” Cai asked.
“Yeah.” Suzy shook her head. “He asked me if I’d do the right thing. That was surreal.”
“And you said ‘sure’, I believe.”
“But that – no, wait.” Suzy turned on Cai. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m afraid,” he said, “things are already in motion.”
Suzy shook her head “Nothing’s in motion as far as I’m concerned. And no one told me it was dangerous.” A thought struck her. “Don’t tell me it’s about drugs. In that case, I am so not doing this.”
“Drugs?” Cai looked confused. “Of course not. You are to receive the medallion of – ”
“Yeah, I got that bit. I thought that was code for something. Is it really a painting? Or are we talking about actual jewellery? Not stolen, I hope. Bloody hell, I can’t believe I agreed to this. I
didn’t
agree, but I guess I did anyway. Is that right?”
“To be honest, it’s a little different to – ”
Suzy shook her head. “Let’s get it over with,” she said and rose. She wanted this out of the way. There were too many things to take in. Delivering a message, they’d said. They couldn’t have been more vague, but it sounded as if it involved lots of walking. That called for a pair of sensible shoes. Suzy dug under the bed and produced one low Dr Marten. Its other half had to be close.
“What arms do you plan to take?” Cai asked.
Suzy paused in her search and glanced along the bed at Cai. “Huh?”
“What arms with you bring? For protection, I mean.”
“Protection from what?”
“I’ll come with you,” Cai said. “At least as far as I can. But there’s a risk their champion will track you down before it is over.”
“I’m totally lost now.”