I hope you like this chapter. Thank you for all the reviews and I'm glad you love this story as much as I do.
Again I do not own anything. The story belongs to the black arrow I'm just changing names to fit the Austin and ally fandom.
I do not own Austin and ally or anything else you may recognize
"Love sees sharply, hatred sees even more sharp, but jealousy sees the sharpest for it is love and hate at the same time" -Arab Proverb
Chapter Six: The Sharpest
Ally shoved Austin away from her, knocking him back onto his ass, refusing to acknowledge Ethan's arched eyebrows and jumped up, tripping over Austin in her haste to get away from him.
"Ethan!"
She launched herself at him, and Ethan's laughter in her ear almost deafened her as he swung her up off the ground, her feet dangling near his knees.
"Ally cat!"
They snickered at the idiotic nickname and he shook her around for a bit, like a dog gently mauling a rabbit. A heavily pregnant Kira stood behind Ethan in the doorway, her lovely face all creased. She had obviously been asleep in the car. She dropped an enormous yellow handbag on the floor with a thud and a faint breaking sound.
Austin, sprawled on the floor, scowled at the easy display of affection. He didn't like how Ally squeezed her eyes shut, put her cheek on Ethan's shoulder. She looked like she loved him. It was certainly different from the reception he had gotten earlier in the field.
"Give her back," he said in a clipped, cross voice, his suddenly itchy fingertips scratching the Persian rug that had grown warm before the fire. He sounded exactly like he was ten years old again, skulking underneath Ethan's tree house, demanding they unfurl the rope ladder, formulating increasingly elaborate threats as ally and Ethan lay side by side with silent tears of laughter running down their cheeks.
Ethan shook his head at Austin, swung Ally back and forth, grinning.
Austin looked away, exasperated.
Ally stared down from Ethan's shoulder in astonishment. "Oh, my gosh! Kira, you're huge!" She blurted. "I mean, glowing." Kira looked like she had a beach ball under her clothes.
"I'll take that as a compliment. I think." Kira said, rolling her eyes and holding out her arms to her.
Ethan set ally down and the two women pressed kisses on each other's cheeks; Kira chilled, ally burning.
"You said you'd call me when you arrived safely," Kira chided, pulling ally's top back onto her shoulder, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ears. She examined ally's flushed face, her feverishly bright eyes.
"I'm sorry, I forgot." Ally leaned into Kira, inhaling Chanel.
They wrapped their arms around each other and watched the brothers.
Austin still lay sprawled on the rug, and backlit by the fire, his expression was unreadable. His hair was a mess, and ally was reminded of horns.
Ethan crossed to Austin and held his hand out, pulling him to his feet. He gave Austin a hard hug, but instantly recoiled.
"Ugh, dude, you have a boner. Did we just interrupt something?"
The silence was piercing. Sexual tension layered heavy over everything.
Ally stared fixedly at the painting over the fireplace to distract herself from the excruciating embarrassment. She strictly forbade her eyes to stray to any part of Austin, though they kept starting to drift down of their own accord. The painting, titled The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, depicted a black clad man's rear profile, standing on rocks over roiling mist. His face wasn't visible, but depending on ally's mood, he appeared to be conquering, desolate, wrathful, resigned, heartsick. Mimi always told a story at dinner parties that when ally was little, she thought it was a painting of Austin.
Kira and Ethan exchanged glances at the incriminating silence.
Finally, Austin responded. "What can I say? Pregnant chicks do it for me. Come here, gorgeous." He raised his eyebrows lasciviously, not in the least embarrassed.
Kira pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, muffling her sweet, squeaky giggle. "I'm not going anywhere near you in those pj pants. That's obscene. Were you dry humping ally again?"
Austin was endlessly amused by Kira. "Always. I never stop if I can help it." He caught ally's eye, held it, his smile fading.
"Well, anyway, it's nice to see you again, even if we could all wish for better circumstances. Although, if you hang around, you might get to see your new niece or nephew pretty soon. " Kira folded her hands on her huge bump, smiling to herself. The firelight gilded her dark hair, her slightly fuller cheeks making her look somehow younger. She stood placidly, yawning, holding out her limbs obediently as Ethan and Ally peeled various coats and scarves and vests from her body. She rested her hand on Ethan's back as he pulled off her sheepskin boots and watched wordlessly as he set them on the hearth.
"You need to go to bed, honey," Ethan said, tracing under her eyes with his fingers. He lowered his face, and Kira kissed him on the tip of his nose.
"Come and tuck me in ally," Kira said, leading her from the room. "Leave the boys to talk." Ally trailed behind her, carrying her heavy handbag for her, beyond grateful to be saved.
As they disappeared down the hallway, Ethan and Austin could clearly hear Kira stage-whispering, "Did we just hear you say he called wanting phone sex?"
*o*o*o*o*o*o
"What's up, brother?" Ethan rubbed his hands by the fire, shrugging off his enormous lumberjack coat. "Other than the obvious, I mean."
Austin laughed and wandered over to the side cabinet and grabbed a crystal decanter, pouring two enormous glasses of scotch. He loved the cliché of it.
"Same old, same old." Austin settled in the armchair, Ethan took the sofa. His slightly craggy, weathered face was softened by the fire. He looked like a farmer, a prize fighter, a wood chopping contestant, a prison guard. In reality, he was a counselor; mainly for teenagers. Parents found that their teenage boys respected him enough to at least not walk out of the room.
He was the Rock of Gibraltar in a roiling sea of human emotion; had always been this way, even since he was a boy. Constancy and patience was woven into his fabric, and he sat unmoving, taking in the room. The floor to ceiling bookcases required a ladder for the top shelves. The smell of the leather book bindings and furniture polish made everything seem old fashioned and timeless. The painting over the fire glowed pink and grey, the only softening touch to what was a masculine, dark room.
Austin swirled his liquor, clearly channeling his inner Bond villain.
"How's ma?" Ethan took a tiny sip from his glass, held it on his tongue before swallowing it, trying not to cough at the trickle of fire it traced down to his stomach. He breathed out unsteadily through his nose. He didn't actually want the scotch- he needed coffee, and badly, but didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Austin would lampoon him. There wasn't even a houseplant to tip it into.
Austin poured half his scotch down his throat. Ethan was both alarmed and unwillingly a bit impressed. The guy looked like he used the stuff instead of mouthwash. He filed it away, deciding to monitor Austin's alcohol consumption. Adding alcohol would be like touching a lit match to that dynamite temper.
"She was happy to see ally. She was a bit more chatty. But still… not long now." Austin stared into the remaining amber liquid, wearing his customary frown.
Ethan felt nothing but the suffocating squeeze that filled his lungs and throat whenever he thought of his mother. He tried to wash away the feeling away with another few drops of scotch.
"So. Ally. Would you care to tell me what was going on in here?" Ethan got to the point.
Austins frown turned into a scowl. His eyes flashed in warning.
"None of your fucking business."
"Damn straight it's my business. That girl is like my kid sister. If you hurt her again, I'll crush you." Ethan's tone was teasing, but it had a note of steel.
"Well, thankfully for me, she isn't our kid sister. Otherwise, I'd be a pervert. Gosh, she's looking hot. And I don't know why you think I'd hurt her. I've only ever done what was best for her." Austin paused. "What do you mean by again, anyway?"
Ethan shook his head. "She was crushed after that stunt you pulled with Cassidy that New Years Eve. You had to know she had a crush on you."
"Oh, fuck me. Today is just about how much of a shit I am." Austin hooked one leg over the edge of the armchair, and tugged on his hair, his temper sparking, his defenses causing him to visibly prickle. His teeth were scraping at his lip, his fingernails scratching the old green upholstery. His foot began tapping in the air. "Just drop it."
Ethan was fascinated by his brother. He had never met anyone like him. Through his work, he met hundreds of people a year and was attuned to the shifts in a person's body language. He could tell if they were lying, defensive, angry, unbalanced. For someone so secretive and controlling, Austin seemed unaware that he gave himself away so often, Ethan mused. Watching Austin get angry was like watching a snake getting angry. He seemed to vibrate from it, like he would strike at any moment.
Ethan decided to provoke him, to try to get him to talk. It sometimes worked. Austin never wanted to talk about anything below the surface.
"No, I'm not going to drop it. You're bad for her, Austin, so back the fuck off her. You're just using her, like always." Ethan watched, gauging whether his words had hit their mark.
Austin narrowed his eyes, his whole body going still. He said nothing.
Ethan tried again. "You can't be trying to get in her pants, not now. It's too late."
Austin relaxed, quirked an eyebrow and drank his remaining scotch in a gulp. "It's never too late. I could kick your ass for showing up when you did. I was just getting somewhere." He stretched nonchalantly.
"She's engaged, you know, right?" Pay dirt, Ethan thought, as Austins temper finally flashed in his eyes. They darkened to a murderous bottle green. This was one angry snake.
Austins hand tightened on the crystal tumbler, his fingers white. In that instant, he looked like he was going to throw it against the wall behind Ethan, who inwardly braced. Instead, he very deliberately placed it on a side table, and leant forward to retrieve the diamond ring and the snapped chain which lay forgotten on the rug. He held it aloft with two fingers.
"This thing makes me sick." He studied it with a kind of distasteful fascination.
"Why is it on the floor?" Ethan watched Austins mouth quirk with a ghost of a smile.
"Because I threw it there."
"Austin, you are a frigging caveman. You knowthat's insane. Normal people don't do things like that."
Austin laughed. "I would never claim to be normal." He swung the ring back and forth on the chain, like a pendulum.
Ethan persisted, undaunted by Austins flippancy.
"Ripping a ring off her hand doesn't change anything. She's taken now. Let her be. Elliot's pretty nice. A bit stuffy, but overall a nice guy. We even stayed at their apartment for a few nights when we were in Portland last year."
The tendons stood out on Austins forearms. "I don't want to know. I don't care if he's a frigging saint. If I meet him, I'll probably kill him."
"You had your chance back in the day, Austin, and you missed it. Now you have to give it up."
Austin slyly slid a bright red cell phone out of his pocket, flipped it open. Ethan stared at it for half a minute, the object so incongruous in Austins hand, before it clicked.
"You stole ally's cell phone?"
"Borrowed it. You're making me think…..Maybe I ought to check out the competition."
"That's an invasion of privacy. Give it here." Ethan held out his hand. Austin shook his head, smirking, and began looking through ally's messages. He started with the inbox. After thirty seconds, he looked up at Ethan.
"This is the most boring bunch of texts I've ever read. 'Ally- not home for dinner'. 'Ally- please buy rice flour'. What the fuck is rice flour? What does one do with rice flour? This guy is so fucking BORING. Wait- listen to this one. 'You look nice today".
Austin chortled, immensely cheered up. "Apparently the competition isn't so strong."
Ethan shook his head, ruefully amused, using every ounce of control not to let his mouth smile. Austin had that effect on everybody. You found yourself trying not to laugh at his sheer, unapologetic awfulness.
"Maybe she wants some stability, Austin, have you thought of that?"
Austin was too busy reading to listen to Ethan properly. He went to the sent items. This was more like it. Ally's texts were wordy, thought out, as if she wanted to get her money's worth. She used literally every character she could when composing messages.
"She's texting everyone but me, it seems," he noted coldly. "She texts Kira about ten times a day, even you get some. That's just fucking lovely."
He read each one, absorbing her words, greedy for any snippets of her life he could find. The work related ones were dull. Her job seemed super shitty. She had sent one to someone called Amy last night which said, 'Thanks for all your support over the last few weeks. I've made a lot of progress. I'm feeling like I can face him again.' What the fuck did that mean? He went to her contacts list, scrolled, comparing names against his mental inventory. Who were all these people? Why did she have so many men in her phone? He opened his own contact details. She had his correct cell number. All it said was Austin, and the number. It seemed so impersonal.
He looked at Ethan, thrown for a moment, and then recalled his earlier question and said tartly, "She doesn't want stability. At this point, I think she belongs in a coma wing."
"It doesn't matter what you think, anyway. She's chosen him. Why do you care, anyway? I've never understood what's between you and ally." There was silence.
"She's mine." Austins tone was final, factual. His fist tightened on the diamond ring.
"You can hear her thoughts, though, right?" Ethan said this casually, but the shock of the statement reverberated in the room. Ethan had finally broached the untouchable topic. Austin stared at him in horror, his mouth slightly open.
"Austin, how could I not have known this? Did you think I wouldn't notice the one sided conversations you guys would have as six year olds? The way we played Go Fish, and completely annihilated her every time? Or what about how you found her hidden Easter egg stash after putting your finger on her forehead?" Ethan smiled sadly, looking into the fire.
"Poor kid never stood a chance with you. She was like your imaginary friend, but she actually existed. The only thing I want to know, is like, how do you do it? Can you hear me? I've never been sure." He looked at Austin directly. "What am I thinking?"
"Ethan, you ass." Austin smiled lightly, stubbornly giving away nothing. Power was power, whether it was real or imagined.
Ethan gritted his teeth, though he wasn't surprised. Nothing with Austin came easy.
Ethan was fascinated by the concept of telepathy; pored over any journals or new studies on the subject. On paper, he would have dismissed Austin as a particularly skilled manipulator of visual cues. He would never have believed it, or would have just written it off as his childish imagination, had he not witnessed it first hand so many times. He remembered once seeing Austin and ally through the window when they were teenagers. He had been in the kitchen, pouring himself some water, when he saw them.
They were outside in the small vegetable garden outside the kitchen. Ally stood amongst the cabbages, Austin opposite her with his back to Ethan. "Give it to me," Austin had said, holding out his palm as if requesting payment. Although clearly under duress, ally put her hand into his. Her face scrunched in concentration, her face tilted, her body twisting away. "No, give it to me," Austin had hissed, carelessly crushing the row of lettuces behind him. He growled, frustrated. "His name, ally." Ally glared at him, and her face had smoothed, her shoulders straightening in a small sign of defiance. They had stood there in silence for several moments. Until Austins temper had fractured.
Austin picked up his scotch glass, tipped it against his lips before realizing belatedly it was empty, and licked at the remaining drops. "You're going to be all pissy, but I've convinced ally to pretend to be falling in love with me. You know, to make ma happy."
Ethan steepled his huge hands, and instead of being outraged as Austin had expected, he appeared thoughtful. Ethan had heard too much over the years. He was unshockable.
"Well, I know she's always hoped you two would end up together."
Austin sat forward in his seat, relieved that he didn't have to sell the idea to his brother. "Exactly, that's what I told ally. She just has to pretend to be falling in love with me, and we can send Ma off with the last puzzle piece in place. Nice and simple."
Ethan cast his eyes to the ceiling and shook his head.
"Look. I can't stop you, and I won't say anything. But I think this is a really bad idea. Nothing about you is simple. You and ally have a lot of bad history." He held up his hand as Austin opened his mouth to argue.
"Austin, you once actually half-carried her out of Tylers house party because you thought she was talking to a guy. Which she was, except that it was me, but you were too drunk to realize. She has every right to believe that you're a sociopath."
Austins glare was vicious. He hated being reminded about incidents like that. They made him feel ridiculous. "I couldn't help myself. I was drunk. I was only joking, anyhow," he spat, his hand traveling to his hair.
"Like hell you were. You created such a scene out on the front lawn, ranting and raving while she cried, telling her that she was yours, and you punched me in the gut when I went out to stop you. People talked about it at school for weeks. She felt like a laughing stock. Everyone thought she was caught in some sort of semi-incestuous love triangle, and as always, you skated out of it scot-free."
The diamond engagement ring dangled from Austins fingers, and his eyes reflected the glinting sparks. He suddenly seemed to be not listening to Ethan at all; like he had changed frequencies. He rarely listened to anything he didn't like.
"I wonder if it's too late for me to ring Elliot. I wonder if nice tidy lawyer-types are asleep by now." He flipped open the phone, and Ethan got to his feet, putting the almost untouched scotch next to Austins empty glass.
"Do not fucking think about doing that." He held out his hand. "Give it to me."
"I was only joking," Austin protested, holding the cell close to his chest. "I'm going to go and give these back to ally now. And I'll apologize, and buy her a new chain."
Ethan stared at him for a long moment, could not detect any traces of insincerity in Austins face. "Alright. I'll see you in the morning." He ambled down the hallway, his movements heavy, the floorboards emitting squeaks of protest.
Austin stared into the fire and drank every last drop of Ethan's scotch. He put ally's ring in his mouth, sucked it, tasting the salt and the bitter gold, rolled the sharp diamond against his tongue.
The clock ticked onwards, making him antsy. He could not bear the sound of a ticking clock. It sounded like wasted time. He toyed with the phone. He tilted it this way and that, as if it were a magic eight ball; as if the screen would reveal The Signs Point to Yes. The familiar tuggings of conscience and mischief teased at him.
He selected a number. And hit Call.
*o*o*o*o*o*o
Ally laughed as she and Kira trudged up the stairs to the second floor, to Ethan's old bedroom. "Yes, he calls maybe twice a year, drunk and lonely from a hotel room in some random country. It's terribly seedy." Her voice was deceptively light.
Kira puffed and they paused on the first landing. "What sort of things does he say?" she asked, fascinated.
"The most annoying thing is that he calls at night, but it's only night time where he is. Time zones just don't compute with him. Sometimes I'll be getting a call at ten am on a Sunday, or like three thirty in the afternoon on a Monday and I'm at work. It's really irritating."
They continued up the stairs.
"Quit stalling, Dawson, spit it out. What sort of things does he say?" Ally shushed her and opened Kira's handbag, marveled at the array of items in there. A measuring tape. A bra. A cookie cutter. A ball of wool.
They reached the second floor, went into Ethan old bedroom- the blue room. They went in. It was lovely and warm, and Mike had built a low fire in the little fireplace. The room smelt of pine, like Christmas. Kira went to it, held her hands against the flickering warmth.
"He says thing like…" Kira prompted. Ally said nothing.
"Come on, I'm your best friend! I need to know these things. How else can I help you?"
Ally sank down to kneel in front of the fire and looked up at Kira, her face pensive. Kira could see right through her. She felt a burst of irritation that everybody could read her and get things out of her.
"Well, the last time he called, it was a couple of months ago- November, I think. He was calling from New Zealand. He was shooting the glaciers."
"I thought he only did war photos, these days," Kira commented, straightening the dusty knick knacks on the mantle.
"He sort of fills in the gaps in between shooting war zones, I think, especially if it's a country he wants to go to." Ally's voice was soaked in envy. Austin had the most incredible lifestyle of anyone she had ever met. Looking at his passport was like reading an Atlas. According to Mimi, he actually had to get a second passport last year; he had filled up the pages of the first one.
"He was telling me about how cold it was, and how he and the journalist he was traveling with went and saw the hot springs and got drunk in Rotorua, and the air smelt like rotten eggs from the sulfur. What a turn on. Anyway. He started saying how much he missed me, in that particular voice he uses."
Kira interrupted. "What voice?"
"He sort of makes it all…. Smooth… yet somehow rough, and low. Does that make sense? And by this point I know where he's headed."
Kira headed to the bed, lay down heavily on her back. "Then what does he say?"
"He starts telling me that he misses me. That he's traveled the world, and he's never seen anyone remotely as beautiful as me."
Ally picked at the fringe of the faded Persian rug on the floor, tracing the lines of ice blue, navy, dove grey "Which is complete crap. He dates models, for goodness sake."
Ally looked at her nails, short and unpainted. Imagining him with other women was a familiar ache, but somehow always throbbed dull and strong. He was so gorgeous, he could always take his pick of women. When he set his mind to winning someone, they never resisted him long. Sooner or later, one of them would capture him for good. She was resigned to the thought. She had been bracing herself for years, certain that Mimi or Mike would casually mention Austin moving in with someone, or worse, proposing. He couldn't live like Peter Pan forever.
"You're more beautiful than any of those soulless mannequins," Kira protested through a yawn, "Though he certainly seems to deliberately choose the women with the blackest souls he can find. They're beautiful, but they're just rotten." She shuddered. "That one Ethan and I met a few years ago…ugh, piper, I think. I looked into her eyes, and all I saw was pure, unadulterated evil."
Ally laughed at Kira's tendency to exaggerate.
"Well, thank you for thinking I'm beautiful."
"Ally, this is like pulling teeth! What does he say next?" Kira was tired and her tone was slightly sharp.
"He tells me that he wishes I was there, that he is all alone, and if I were there he'd be touching me."
Kira propped herself up awkwardly on her elbows. "Oh, this is getting good. Then what does he say?"
Allys cheeks were burning. She finished in a rush.
"He says things about what he'd like to do. That he'd make me remember that I was his. That once he got his hands on me again, I would give in. You know, the usual."
Kira lay back down flat, giving up on getting any juicier details. "Hot. And creepy. But still hot. Is that wrong, to think my brother-in-law is creepy hot?"
There was a long silence. Ally used a poker to prod the fire, seeing that Mike had added pine cones to make that beautiful scent. He was the most considerate man.
"Have you ever thought that maybe Austin only calls you when he's drunk because it's the only time he has the confidence?"
Ally half turned, but could only see Kira's feet.
"When has Austin ever needed confidence? He used to shower with the bathroom door open back in the day."
Kira sighed deeply. She raised her hands above her face, twisted her engagement ring back into place, felt the baby stretch in contentment.
"Sometimes it's hard for men to say what they feel. Especially complicated men like Austin."
"Austin feels nothing." Allys voice was flat, final.
Kira laughed softly. "Austins feelings are stronger than anybody's."
"Oh, Kira, that's not what I meant. It came out wrong. Of course he has feelings. Austins feelings have dominated my life. I mean, he doesn't have feelings for me."
"His feelings for you are the strongest."
"His feelings for me are the… sharpest, maybe, but they're not romantic feelings. He doesn't understand his feelings for me, probably never will, so there's no point in me trying to analyse him. I'd drive myself insane."
"Do you think he's touching himself when he's talking to you?" Kira snickered evilly.
"I assume he is. He gets a bit breathless towards the end."
Kira gusted a deep sigh. "Towards the end? So, once he's panting down the phone, what do you do? Hang up on him? Blow a gym-teacher's whistle to deafen him?"
Allt was silent.
"Do you…. Talk back to him?"
Ally bit the inside of her cheek.
Kira gaped at the ceiling, trying to reconcile the image. Ally, who made jars of cranberry sauce for Christmastime and had a dollhouse? That same ally, talking dirty to Austin? Made sense, Kira thought. Elliot was a stuffed shirt, and it was always the quiet girls who were a little freaky. She was so tired, the conversation was starting to feel like a hallucination.
"I don't say anything." Ally interrupted Kira's turgid train of thought. She looked at Kira with a small glint in her eye.
"What, you just listen?"
"I just…. Don't hang up." She finally clarified.
"Well, well." Kira dragged herself around with her legs, climbed awkwardly under the blankets fully clothed. "This is very interesting."
Ally watched her crash headlong into sleep.
*o*o*o*o*o*o
Ally returned to the white room to find her ring and her cell lying square in the middle of her pillow. Ethan. What a relief to have him here. Thank goodness Austin hadn't gotten his hands on these. She could see that he was still awake; the light cast an oozing gold glow underneath the door and she could hear Led Zeppelin's Black Dog playing faintly.
She checked the bathroom door was locked twice before she stripped off and stood under the boiling spray. Right in the exact spot that Austin would also stand naked every morning. She shivered despite the heat of the water, her mind drifting back to everything she had omitted to tell Kira. She felt guilty for holding back, but there was no way she could have said some of those words aloud or even hoped to have accurately captured his words.
*o*o*o*o*o*o
"Ally," he had purred, the sound of a creaking mattress faintly audible. "Ally, gorgeous ally, I'm lying here on this bed and I'm thinking about your hair. If you were here with me now, I'd wind your hair around my wrists and I'd kiss you. I'd suck on your tongue, just a little bit, I know how much you like that. And you like when I bite you too, don't you? When I bite you, your thoughts go all fuzzy."
He laughed huskily and ally had looked around surreptitiously to see if anyone was watching her. She had snuck out of the incredibly boring court case she was covering, hoping fervently that a bombshell wasn't dropped in her absence. She had walked to the end of the hallway, sat on the low windowsill.
It was indeed three thirty on a Monday afternoon. Austin was clearly drunk, and announced that he was in New Zealand. Ally, trapped inside the airless corridor like a bug in a jar, was speechless with jealousy.
He had made with the pleasantries for a good couple of minutes before he flicked the switch and went into long-distance seduction mode.
"What are you wearing?" He had slurred softly, unaware or uncaring of how clichéd he sounded. "Work clothes," she said flatly.
"I can work with that," he muttered, undeterred by her tone. "A skirt and white shirt, and your glasses too, I bet." Ally looked down at herself. He was right.
"Well, how I'd see it happening, I'd roll you onto your back, and I'd bite every single one of your shirt buttons off, starting at the bottom. Real slow. I'd chew on them and spit them out." Ally's eyebrows shot up and she shrank back further into the windowsill as a grey clutch of lawyers walked past, conferring loudly amongst themselves.
"We'd leave your geek glasses on for a bit longer. Are they still the black rimmed nerd ones? They get me so hot, you have no fucking idea. So, are you still with me here?" His breathing hitched, and ally's center fluttered to life in response. The hallway emptied again, and she was alone momentarily, her heart pounding in her throat.
"Yes, I'm still here," she managed to say crisply, attempting to sound businesslike to anyone overhearing her. Inwardly, she screaming at herself to hang up, yet somehow could not. He had the most vivid imagination; perhaps it was the curiosity of what he would say next that kept her just not quite able to disconnect. She fiddled with one of the buttons on her shirt in fascination- he would bite them off?- and swung her hair around to shield her blazing cheeks from any passers by.
"Yes, that's what you'd say if you were here, and in that prissy voice too. So, to recap, I've fucking ruined your shirt, and I'd pull it up and wrap it around your wrists over your head. Then I'd slide down your skirt zipper so, so slow you'd be begging me to hurry." Here, Austins voice grew rough, before he swallowed, and then said, "Then I'd peel it off you."
Ally twisted on the windowsill. It was just wrong to be this turned on in public, at work. She began walking down the hall, towards the fire escape.
"Are you walking?" Austin asked, his breathing steadily increasing in her ear. "I can hear your heels."
Ally said nothing, pushed the heavy fire escape door, stepped into the half darkness, leaned against it. Her skin was sensitized, she could feel the cold of the door against her burning skin through her thin cotton shirt, her nipples hardening.
"Hmmm, now, let me see," Austin continued. "You'd be in just…. A bra, and panties, and thigh highs." He didn't speak for several moments, and ally closed her eyes, biting her lip, sensing her own wetness increasing. Just the sound of his breath was hopelessly erotic. She abstractly realized it was a very good International connection. It was crystal clear. She could almost feel his hot breath in her ear.
"So, those stockings have to go. I'm probably going to just tear them slowly to shreds, and lick your skin through each hole. I'll have to bite just one little hole at first, but then they'd rip just so easy." His voice was dark, strained.
"You won't be able to stop yourself thinking of what you wish I'd do. I'll hear it, and I'll do it. And I'll do the things you're half praying I won't. And you'll be mine, completely mine. As soon as my hands are on you, you will always be…." His voice trailed off. His breath was rough now, and fast. "You can't do anything about it, either, because your hands are all tangled up."
Ally opened her eyes and said, before she could stop herself, "But what if it's not me being restrained? Maybe it would be you on your back." She was irritated by his view of her as always his victim, his property.
Austins breath burned through the phone, almost hurting her ear. He groaned, long and deep. It was like an animal's growl. The sound was pure sex, utterly male, completely Austin. Ally wrapped her arm around her stomach, trying to ignore the answering pulse in her neck, breasts, between her thighs. She held herself still as his panting gradually slowed.
"Yep, that did it," he started laughing lazily. "You dirty girl. I fucking love it. Do you want me to keep talking for you?"
Ally let the chill spread back over her, a protective layer, as the embarrassment and shame that she had been holding off suddenly sucked the breath from her lungs.
She had said, with as much dignity as she could, "Goodbye, Austin."
*o*o*o*o*o*o
Ally was suddenly doused in cold water as the hot water ran out in the moon shower, recreating the feeling perfectly.
R&R
