LILY

Stay, Part 2

I fumbled with the button of my jeans, pulling them off. Kicking them aside, I walked to the bathroom sink and splashed cold water on my face. The eyes in the mirror staring back were tired and my vision blurry. I rubbed at them as I yawned and relieved my strained bladder. Through the crack of the half-closed door, I watched as Tina raised her arms, stepping easily out of her dress and reaching for the mattress in the dark. She found it and giggled, crawling into the bed. Her legs struggled in the folds of the covers and she stood, disappearing into the front room. A few minutes later, she walked back in. She tussled her hair and pulled at a few of the curls, bending and shaking her head. I watched her movements, her body illuminated by the thin shaft of lights from the bathroom . My eyes trailed down the line of her spine and curve of her hips as she did. She adjusted the lace material of her panties. She smiled towards the door and disappeared out of frame. The straps of her bra leaving her bare shoulders was the last thing I saw. I could hear her movements in the bed and the sheets as she settled.

I moaned. It was guttural and instinctive. Normal, I reminded myself. I leaned with my full weight against the sink and washed my hands. I scrubbed, pretending the motions would clean not just my hands but my guilt as well. I nearly laughed at that notion. I dried my hands on the hand towel and opened the door.

"Comfy bed," Tina said, sitting up against the pillows. "By the way, I called Mort. Let him know that you're doing well. He had tons of questions, but I promised him you'd call after a good night's sleep. Said ya were in good hands. I was keeping an eye on ya." She patted the bed beside her. "I'm a girl of my word."

I could feel her eyes on me in the dark as she made room. Once I was in bed, she squirmed under the sheets and her thigh pressed into mine. I leaned back and readjusted a pillow. She was warm and soft, her skin pressing into me as she put her left hand on my chest. My breathing became heavy and she breathed in as she rested her head there. The perfume of her hair seemed to settle me.

"Tina," I said. "Are you sure you want to stay? I can drive you home." She blinked twice against my chest, raising her head.

"I'm not goin' anywhere. Except here." She moved against me. Her breasts nuzzled my side, the taut nubs of her nipples grazing my flesh as if to accentuate the point. I fought the urge to turn into her. The lower part of me stirred. Her hand trailed down some and rested above the band of my boxer briefs. I looked down at her and kissed the top of her head. "Besides, you're warm." This time, she pressed into me, flattening her breasts against me in a slow, agonizing motion. Her fingers danced along my abdomen.

"You're drunk," I said.

"Not as much as ya think. This- us- it's good, Byron. I know ya hate to admit it. Don't wanna believe ya deserve some good in your life-"

"It's not just that. God, I know I need something good. You and I deserve that. I'm just not sure I'm what you need. What anyone needs, right now." I had meant it as a whisper. My voice was more forceful than I had expected.

"Sweetie, if I honestly believed that ya knew what was good for ya, that might have stung." Her breath was warm on my stomach and her hand inched lower. She rested there a moment below the fabric of my shorts.

"You're a lot braver in the dark, aren't you?"

"One of us has to be," she said. Her legs lifted and draped across my thighs. She moaned as I relaxed, putting an arm around her and turned to face her. The inches between our abdomens seemed miles as I fought the urge to obliterate the distance. Her breathing became shallow and my hands moved down her waist to her hips, holding her there. She reached down to grasp with one eager hand and brought her lips to mine with her other. Our mouths explored each other, slow and passionate. Normal.

The sound of our movements were all I could hear. Her shallow breaths and heavy moans as I pulled first her panties down and then myself into her made the whipping rain and wind outside nonexistent. Her nails raked into my shoulder as I pushed further, her hips accommodating the best that they could. She whimpered in my ear as I closed my eyes and buried my face into her hair. She nibbled at my neck, biting down gently. Lightning flashed outside, a brief flash behind my closed eyes.

The door behind us opened slowly and the carpet made wet sloppy sounds as it closed shut. The only eyes I saw were underneath me. They would flicker open on occasion, wide and wild. Behind me, there were eyes in the room that were far wider and hellishly more wild. Black, jagged pupils and silver orbs tainted with streaks of crimson and crusted with sullen tears. They were angry eyes that watched and waited. Worse than that, they dreamed. Dreamed of ways to make me prove myself to her and contemplated what to do with the other.