Jennie
"Are we going to talk about the other day?" Mom tries for the millionth time.
"I already told you. We're friends."
She purses her lips together as we pull into the parking lot of the shop. "Sweetheart, I'm not comfortable with this. She's…after all she did…" Anger flashes in my mom's blue eyes. "She ruined you, baby."
I stiffen and shake my head. If she only knew how badly she ruined me last night, there's no way in hell she'd let me go work for her today. Or ever for that matter. "I deserved my sentencing," I tell her softly. "But we're working on a friendship now. She's fixing my car. I'm helping her out. It's fine, Mother."
A heavy sigh escapes her. "I just worry about you. You're so…"
Fragile.
That's the word she likes to use on me to others as if I don't hear her talking to my aunt Elaine on the phone all the time.
I'm not fragile.
At least not lately.
Despite Lisa saying that she hates me, her body tells me something totally different. When I'm around her, I feel stronger. Fierce. Brave.
"Everything is okay," I assure her, my voice unwavering.
She reaches over and squeezes my hand. "All right. I trust your judgment." A smile plays at her lips. "Oh, I may be out late tonight. Don't wait up."
I lift both brows. "What? Why?"
Her cheeks tinge pink. "I have a date. Well, another one."
"Another one? Mom, you never told me you had a first one!"
Her laughter is one that used to warm me as a child. Carefree. Beautiful. Comforting. "We've been seeing each other for a little while now. I wanted to tell you, but…"
"But what?"
"I wasn't sure how you'd take it." She bites on her bottom lip and she seems younger to me.
"I'm happy as long as you're happy."
She nods. "I am. He's so good to me. And handsome too. Of course you already know that."
I frown. "I do?"
"Keith. It's your boss, Keith. Ever since the trial…" She smiles.
"This has been going on since then?"
"Things are pretty serious."
I reach over and hug her. "Oh my God, Mom! I'm so happy. Of all people, Keith is the nicest person ever."
She pats me and chuckles. "He's wonderful. This is such a relief that you're okay with it."
We pull away and I grin at her. "I'm more than okay. I'm really happy for you both."
Someone bangs on the hood of my mom's car, causing both of us to scream. My eyes lock with Jamal. He flips me the bird before sauntering inside.
"I hate that guy," I groan.
"Does he harass you? Because if he does, you don't have to go in there. I'll find a way to repair your car. You don't have to do this," she says, her brows furrowed together.
"It's fine," I repeat. And it is. Jamal can kiss my ass.
We say our goodbyes and I hurry inside. Jamal sits at the front counter as if he's waiting for me. His dark eyes are cold and calculating.
"What are you staring at?" I hiss.
"I was just wondering when we started hiring dumb cunts."
I shake off his rude comment and start for the shop door. Before I can wrench it open, he grabs my bicep hard enough to make me yelp in pain.
"Your attitude fucking stinks," he snarls, his spittle spraying my face.
All irritation falls away as terror claws its way up my throat. I'm staring up at this creep when I feel heat behind me. My body responds. The hairs on my arms stand on end and my aching body trembles.
"Is there a problem?" Lisa grits out, barely containing her anger.
Jamal laughs and releases me. "She was about to fall. I grabbed her right before it happened." He yanks the door open and disappears into the shop.
I expect Lisa to ask me what happened or want to talk about last night. Instead, she grunts before jerking the door open. She stalks into the shop and I have to hurry to keep up with her. We make it all the way into the supply room without speaking a word to each other. Once inside, she slams the door shut and I yelp.
"What did I tell you?" she demands, her jaw clenching with rage.
I look down at my uniform shirt and jeans. Today I'd left the dark lipstick at home and just have shimmery rose gloss on my lips. My messy hair has been pulled into a ponytail. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"I don't know…"
Her eyes are on mine as she stalks me. I stand there like the sheep she claims I am because I want to get devoured by her. Again. Last night is on constant replay in my mind. With each step, her features tighten and become more murderous. Her body pushes mine until I'm pinned to the wall.
In a shockingly gentle move, she caresses my cheek. Her brows crash together and her eyes dart all over my face as if I'm a puzzle she's trying to understand.
"I said stop being so fucking pretty." Her forehead leans against mine and she clenches her eyes shut. "Why do you have to be so goddamned gorgeous?"
I smile, despite the fact she seems furious about her words. "I didn't wear much makeup."
Her palm finds my throat and she runs her thumb along the flesh. "It's you. There's no hiding it."
"I can't control that," I say with a soft chuckle.
"I could make you wear a bag over your head," she utters, her warning serious. "Fuck, you make me mental." Her lips find my neck and she sucks the flesh hard. "Maybe if I mark you up, people will stay the fuck away."
I moan when her teeth scrape across the side of my neck. "Why do you want them to stay away?"
Her palm cups me between my thighs and she expertly massages my clit through my jeans. "Because you're mine to torment."
Because you're mine.
I conveniently leave the rest of her words out of my mind.
"Yes," I agree. My head tilts to the side as I offer her more of my skin. "You better show them."
She sucks hard on my flesh. Over and over again. She bites me until she makes me bleed and I scream. I try to push her away, but then she's licking away the hurt as she draws pleasure from me. My legs shake and my knees buckle the closer to my orgasm I get. Last night, I didn't get one because the sex was over as quickly as it began. I'd had to go home and take care of myself. But it wasn't the same. I wanted it to be her.
"I'm going to ruin this cunt," she warns, her touch soothing despite her tone. "I'm going to ruin you."
"I want you to," I breathe.
She nips at my ear and her hot breath sends me careening for the edge of sanity. All it takes is a few more circles of her fingers before I'm lost completely to the madness only Lisa Manoban can invoke. I cry out and my knees give out. But she's there. Still delivering pleasure between my thighs but holding me up with her other arm. I clutch her shirt and ride out the dizzying waves. The moment I come down from my high, she releases me and jerks away as though she's just remembered I'm a poisonous plant she's not supposed to touch.
"Stay in here. Don't open that door for anyone." she scrubs at her face and pins me with her wild green eyes. Her black hair hangs over her brow and the raven on her neck seems to breathe in cadence with her own heavy breaths.
"Not even for you?" I bite on my lip as I devour her sexy appearance. I love the wife beaters she wears that look painted on her perfect body. I love the smooth curves of her muscular arms and shoulders that are colored with ink that tell a story I want to know. I especially love the way her thick cock bulges in her jeans. She may lie and say she doesn't want this, but her body knows the truth.
"Especially not for me, sheep."
A sound of annoyance escapes her and then she's gone, slamming the door behind her. I can hear her keys jangle as she locks me inside. This should terrify me considering half the time she looks like she wants to destroy me. Instead, I feel safe. Like she's keeping me just for herself.
I like that idea a whole lot.
My phone buzzes in my purse and I let out a ragged sigh. Every muscle in my body aches from the way she's run me physically through the ringer the past couple of days. I'm wobbly, but I fall into the chair and check my phone without incident.
Lisa: You're coming home with me tonight.
A chill skitters through me.
I like that idea a whole lot better.
In my head, going home with Lisa meant alone. Just the two of us. But as we walked through the shop earlier, she was barking out orders to people. Mike, pick up some fuckin' food. Jamal, don't get the cheap vodka this time or he'll take it out of his paycheck when he has to go buy the real shit. Nick, leave the skanks at home this time. Hector, tell your old lady where you'll be at so she doesn't show up again with a baseball bat thinking you're sleeping around on her.
Feeling out of place, I followed Lisa, like the sheep she always claims, into her car. She only spoke to me when she drove by my house. Pack a bag and make it quick. I'd been able to change clothes and scribble a note to my mom telling her I wasn't coming home, but I didn't even have all my toiletries packed before she started honking the horn.
Impatient ass.
Now, I'm completely out of place. I've tucked myself away in the corner of the kitchen while Lisa's modest home fills with some familiar faces from the shop but many more I've never met. She's nowhere to be seen and I'm stuck talking to some guy named Kyle.
"You go to school around here?" Kyle's eyes keep dropping to my cleavage and I now wish I'd thrown on a T-shirt rather than a tank top. The white material hugs my skin in a way I'd hoped would get Lisa's attention. She didn't even look up from her phone earlier when I got back into the car. She certainly didn't notice I'd changed into a denim skirt and was showing all kinds of leg to her. The moment we arrived at her house, she bolted. Again.
"I'm hoping to go to the community college this fall. I've been working on getting enrolled." I flash him a fake cheerleader smile. What I don't tell him is by "working on getting enrolled," I really mean praying the dean approves my application. Convicted felons have to get special approval and all.
"No shit?" he says, a lopsided grin on his face. "My brother goes there. If you see Brad Nixon, that's him."
I keep the plastic smile in place. "Okay."
He starts telling me a story about God knows what, but I've lost all interest. The room seems to stand still the moment I sense Lisa's presence. My eyes dart between people crowding the kitchen so I can look for her sexy face. The moment my stare locks with her smoldering green-eyed one, every hair on my flesh stands on end as though she's the one creating this electromagnetic pulse. Kyle drones on, but I can't look at him.
All I see is Lisa.
Her perfectly chiseled jaw clenches in that angry way that sets my blood ablaze. She's only wearing a sports bra after her shower and looks good enough to eat in all her lean, muscled tattooed glory. Her jeans are holey and worn-out from years of wear, but they look good on her, hanging low on her hips. The black band of her boxers peeks out above them, hiding what I know is a huge dick.
A dick that was buried deep inside me last night.
I shiver at the reminder. Lisa gets stopped by some guy who slaps her shoulder and laughs like a freaking buffoon. I take the moment to stare blatantly at her abs that are so cut and defined they almost don't seem real.
I want to lick her there.
From right below her belly button along that flesh that leads straight to her cock.
My body feels as though it will combust at any moment. I lick my lips and dart my eyes up to find her staring hard at me. Angry. Hateful. But so damn hot.
"Are you cold?" Kyle asks, his hand gripping my bicep. "You're shivering." When he starts rubbing up and down on my skin, the goosebumps only get worse.
"I'm fine," I utter, ignoring the burning glare that's being shot at me from across the room. I guess we're back to square one. Her hating the ground I walk on.
"Here," Kyle says with a chuckle. "This will help." He turns away from me and grabs a bottle of vodka. After splashing some into a red solo cup, he hands it to me. "Warm you right up."
Kyle is cute in a baby-faced way. Floppy brown hair. A smattering of freckles on his cheeks. Big brown eyes. Crooked smiles for days.
He's just not her.
Fire and fury and ferocity.
Kyle is not Lisa.
Sharp and severe and hard.
I sip the disgusting liquor and make a face.
"I never said it was good," Kyle says with a laugh. "Just that it'll warm you up."
"It's so gross." We both laugh when I make another face after I sip it again.
A body bumps into Kyle as it pushes past him. "That's because you kids are drinking this cheap shit Jamal brought, that fucker."
I nearly choke the moment Lisa reaches between us into the cabinet beside me. Her hard chest brushes against mine and I let out an audible gasp.
"Drink this instead." She sets a different bottle of liquor down beside me on the counter, but I can't look at it. My eyes are glued to the raven on her throat. Pulsating. Breathing. Living.
"No shit? Thanks, Lis," Kyle chirps from behind her.
Lisa makes no moves to retreat from me. Her body heat warms me faster than the alcohol ever could. I chance looking up at her. Her still-wet hair hangs in her eyes, but it barely masks the flickering of rage. The greens and browns in her irises seem to swirl and glow as she watches me.
I should just reach up and kiss her.
Then we could go back to this weird sexual energy we have and not this barely contained hate she has for me. Kyle reaches around her to pluck my cup from me. Still, neither Lisa nor I move. Lisa's eyes dart to my lips for a second, but then her nostrils flare as she tears away her gaze.
"Careful," she sneers, her thumb brushing across my breast and teasing my nipple through my shirt and bra. "Dress like a whore…" She pinches my nipple and I cry out. "Get treated like a whore."
Prickles of tears assault my eyes, but I refuse to let her or anyone see me cry.
"I'm not a whore," I hiss under my breath.
She laughs. Cold. Cruel. Mocking. "Keep telling yourself that." She looks over her shoulder at Kyle. "She's all yours, big man."
I'm still in shock long after she leaves my presence.
"What an asshole," Kyle jokes as he hands me back my cup.
I chase my tears with the better tasting vodka. No sips. Just one quick chug. My throat burns, but I'm already shoving the red plastic back into Kyle's hands for more. He chuckles and pours another shot's worth into the cup.
"Cheers," he says, his body moving closer to mine.
"To what?" I almost snap out the words but soften barely.
"To getting fucked up."
Fine. I'll drink to that.
Another fake smile and I down the liquid fire.
"You look really nice," Kyle says as he once again appreciates my top.
When I steal a look after Lisa to see if she notices my top too, she's laughing with Jamal and some short, black-haired girl. My stomach flops and I greedily accept another one of Kyle's offered shots.
This is going to be a long night.