“Why didn’t you call me before you came by?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“I didn’t want to risk you turning me away.”
He ran his hand across his mouth, but offered no reply.
“I’ve driven around for hours,” she explained. “My mother’s birthday just passed, like I told you, and I’ve barely slept because of it.”
“I talked to you earlier tonight, English, and you said you were okay.”
She shrugged and sat down on the couch.
“I thought I was.”
“Are you afraid of him?”
“…Yes and no. Not for me. For my family.” She slipped out of her boots, setting them neatly beside her legs. An occasional tremble from the cool air that still clung to her bones rattled her nerves.
Axel disappeared into his kitchen, and after some clanking around, he returned with two cups of hot coffee. They smelled strong. He handed her one, along with a couple of packets of sugar, then sat across from her, wearing only a pair of white boxer shorts that accentuated the bulging rattle snack … er, um, rattlesnake … in his underwear. Tattoos covered his skin like a well-illustrated map. His hair was a bit messy, in a sexy sort of way, and so was his beard, but his volcanic voice was rib-rattling and clear as a bell.
“You sure the card was from him?” He took a sip from his coffee, then set it down on the table between them.
“Not a hundred percent certain, but close enough.”
Tearing open one of the packets, she added the sugar to the beverage and stirred it with the small teaspoon he provided.
Axel leaned back into the couch, resting the crown of his head against a cushion, causing his hair to sprawl, like sun rays. It looked so strangely beautiful with him sitting below the stained glass windows in his home. He kept his eyes on her as he cracked his knuckles.
“What can I do to help you get some rest?” His eyes hooded, and for a brief moment, she forgot her troubles while allowing seedy thoughts to reenter her mind and wander free.
“I don’t know. Just being here with you makes me feel better.”
“I have to leave in a few hours.” He looked up at a clock on the wall, then back at her. “I’m going to bed. Lie down next to me and try to get some shuteye.”
He didn’t ask. It was definitely a statement. Standing, he walked away and up the staircase, never pausing to see if she was following. She stood, ran her palms against her upper thighs, and made her way up the creaking stairs, one by one, taking deep breaths along the way.
Everything seemed louder than expected at that moment. She got to the top of the staircase and looked around. Axel’s second floor was dim, but blue light seeped out from an ajar door, which she presumed was Axel’s bedroom. She approached it, and heard music playing: Chris Brown’s, ‘WE.’
…Sexy music. Low lights. He must be crazier than a soup sandwich to think I don’t know this is a thirst trap… and I’m crazier than him, because here I am anyway, taking a bite…
Wrapping her fingers around the door, she opened it further and entered. Axel lay on the bed, looking up at some abstract art program on the television. When she looked at him, her breath caught in her throat like a baseball in a catcher’s mitt. His dark silhouette was impeccably chiseled. Incredibly long, muscular legs were slightly parted, and shadows with hints of light touched his form. Her eyes drifted and strained. It was too dark to make out the exact details, but he appeared to be completely butt ass naked. Something long and thick was resting against his thigh…
Her teeth sank into her lower lip, almost piercing it.
He patted the bed beside him, his attention on the television. She made her way over to him, pressing her knee into the mattress, then curling her body alongside his. He slowly turned towards her, and she could see his smile now.
Brushing her hair away from her face, he groaned, then leaned in close to press his lips against hers. She filled with liquid lust like an empty jug, waiting to be blessed with a drenched floral bounty right between her thighs. Slipping her fingers along his chest, the fine hairs flattened against her touch. Heat and strength emitted from his core, and entered hers. Their gazes locked as they tasted each other’s lips. Wrapping her body around his, she felt the hardening flesh of a man who’d become her friend, her enigma, her love. He pressed himself against her, drawing wispy purrs from her and growing more demanding by the second.
Tems’ ‘Higher’ regaled them and as she witnessed beautiful art in shades of ivory and blue flash across the large television screen. She blinked and turned away, her vision capturing the beauty of more stained-glass windows, beautiful and colorful, religious and spiritual, behind them. These were even larger and more vibrant than the ones in his living room.