Part 43
Maria awoke when they pulled off of the paved road to navigate the gravel driveway leading up to Indigo's house. She blinked against the darkness, seeing the porch lights coming into view. She shifted and pushed her feet against the dashboard, levering herself up into a sitting position and glancing down when she realized the irritable hybrid in the seat beside her had covered her up with his jacket. For just a moment she buried her nose in the collar of the jacket, inhaling the combined scents of leather, cologne, and Michael.
"Look who finally decided to wake up," Michael said.
Maria tried and failed to control the shiver that raced down her spine when the darkened, enclosed interior of the vehicle made his quiet growl seem intimate. "What time is it?" she asked, hoping to take her mind off of his voice.
"Little after nine." He grinned as he parked next to Indigo's vehicle in the driveway. "We're just in time for me to grab a shower before goin' out." He was out of the truck before she could say a single word in protest.
"Guerin, you're killin' me!" Indigo shouted as he ambled down the driveway. "I told you I'd be ready to hit the bricks at nine, not half past!"
"What'd you expect me to do about the construction off the Interstate 50 miles out of Santa Fe? You didn't tell me the fuckin' detour was gonna take me nearly an hour out of my way." Michael grabbed their bags out of the back and threw Maria's at her when she joined them. "Just give me time to grab a quick shower and we can go." He glared at Maria as he voiced his next question. "We're goin' somewhere with plenty of women, right? Because I need to get laid and I'm not in the mood for small talk."
Indigo glanced between Michael and Maria, wondering about the hostility that was so evident as they stared at each other.
"You're not going out to get laid," she snarled. "Do you have any idea what you could catch by being so promiscuous?"
"I'd like to catch a case of sexual satisfaction," he snapped as he slammed the back of the SUV and turned to look down at her. "So, unless you plan to fuck me sometime in the next few minutes I'd suggest you quit bitchin' and stay outta my way!" He nodded and stalked past her when she simply stared at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of an argument.
Indigo ran after Michael, catching up to him when he reached the front door. "Hey, man, what's goin' on with you two?"
"What's goin' on?" he repeated. "I'll tell you what's goin' on; the arctic princess back there thinks she's gonna stop me from goin' out and getting laid."
He was confused and it showed as he looked between them again. "So, you guys need separate rooms? Or one room?"
"Two rooms, Indigo, two."
"So, the two of you aren't…"
"No, we're not fuckin'," he muttered. "Not that it matters, because I'm gonna find the hottest woman out there and I'm gonna fuck her until neither of us can move." He made sure to raise his voice so that it would carry back to Maria.
"I can hear you just fine since I'm right behind you," she yelled. She grimaced at his vulgar rant and turned her attention to their host instead of engaging Michael any further.
"I'm takin' a shower and then I'm goin' out with Indigo." He shook his head. "You can stay here and do whatever completely non-sexual thing you wanna do."
Indigo shook his head and motioned towards the hall behind him. "Why don't I just show you guys where your rooms are and then while you're getting ready I can show Maria where everything is so if she gets bored - "
"Trust me, Indigo, I won't get bored with Michael around to keep me company."
The big man decided he didn't want to get involved in the dispute between them so he just moved past them and showed them where their rooms were. He was in the kitchen a little while later, checking the refrigerator to make sure he had everything he needed to make breakfast the next morning when Michael entered the room.
"Look, she's gonna try to keep me from goin' anywhere, so - "
Indigo couldn't help but wonder why, if there wasn't anything sexual or romantic between them, Maria would go through all the trouble of preventing Michael from having sex. It just didn't make any sense. "Why?"
"What?" Why what? He had expressed himself clearly; Maria didn't want him to have sex with other women, end of story.
Indigo just barely refrained from hitting him. The guy could be so fucking obtuse and his one-word answers were beginning to get on his nerves. He repeated his question, completely this time, so that even thick-headed Michael Guerin would get it. "Why's she gonna stop you from goin' out?"
"No," Michael denied, "I said she's gonna try to keep me from goin' anywhere."
Indigo hid a smile. That was the sign of a jealous girl… a girl in love. "Woman sounds pretty adamant that she's not interested in you."
Indigo's conclusion sent Michael on the warpath, his face red with anger and his arms flying around wildly as he went off. "Yeah, too adamant. She can run around sayin' she doesn't want me all she wants, but when it comes down to it, she doesn't want any other woman to have me either. She's just waitin' for us to get ready to go out so she can find some way to ruin my night, so I want you to take your car and leave… well, don't really leave, just wait at the end of the driveway."
Indigo stared at the other man in disbelief. "You're serious? We're gonna play this juvenile game like we're a couple of teenagers sneakin' outta the house?"
Huh-uh, he was NOT behaving like a child; he was a man on a mission. "If that's what it takes to get laid, then yeah, that's what I'm gonna do." Michael glared at Maria when she stepped into the kitchen. "You're not stoppin' me from goin' out tonight." He shook his head and nodded at Indigo. "Why don't you go on and we'll meet up where we talked about earlier."
Maria frowned. "You're going by yourself?"
Did she think he was stupid? Incapable of doing something as simple as walking around in a different city other than the one he called home? "Why? You think I can't find my way to the best strip club in the city?"
Maria watched him contemptuously. She knew what he intended to do; go out and have sex. Sex was always on his mind, anyway. "No, I think it's suspicious that you're suddenly planning to catch up with Indigo later when you were planning to - "
"It's bad enough that you fuck up my plans to get laid; there's no reason to subject Indigo to your shit as well." He pulled the keys out of his jacket pocket and jingled them in her face. "I can always catch up with him later."
"And on that note, I'm outta here." Indigo ducked out of the room, certain that neither of them was even aware of him or his exit.
Maria felt her face heat up. He was not going to humiliate her by bringing some whore here. Nevermind that they weren't together, couldn't he see that being his double's girlfriend, it was hurting her to see him with other women? "Don't think that you can bring some woman back here just because we're not at home."
"Well, that'd just be a waste of time, wouldn't it?" Michael snarled as he stalked back along the hall and shrugged out of his jacket. "Because I sure as fuck wouldn't get laid with you close by." He jerked his tee shirt off over his head and threw it on the bed along with his jacket. "Some lucky bitch is gonna get fucked tonight and I don't have to bring her back here to do it." He stalked across the room, crowding her until she had no choice but to back up or come into full body contact with him. "Matter of fact I'll probably save time and the money that a hotel room would cost and just fuck her in the parkin' lot." He forced the smirk down at the look of disgust on her face; he knew what she was gonna say and his next comment would piss her off, hopefully to the point that she'd leave him alone for a while.
"You do know you're completely repulsive."
Enough with the insults! He was who he was, and it was past time that she accepted it. "I'd rather be repulsive than repressed."
"I am not repressed!" She was gritting her teeth and angry sparks were shooting out from her eyes.
Ha! Yeah, and he was the Pope! "Prove it."
"What?"
He shrugged and walked back into his room, kicking his boots off and stripping his pants off as he went into the bathroom to start the shower. "You've been stayin' with me for close to four months now," he said as he came back and walked around the bed to lean back against the footboard, "and you've managed to go without sex the whole time. So, either your boy didn't know what to do between a woman's legs and you really don't feel like you're missin' out on anything, or you're doin' a damn good job of ignorin' a major case of sexual frustration."
He thought her Michael didn't know what to do with a woman? That bastard! Did he really think of himself as the best Michael Guerin around, regardless of universe, or what? Her Michael had been a god in bed! Okay, it wasn't like she had any other experience to compare him to, but she knew it was true. "Why do you insist on insulting him?"
"Why do you insist on memorializing him?" he snapped. "Why're you so determined to stop livin' without him around?"
"What? I'm not - " Maria shook her head in denial of his words. She hadn't stopped living; she just didn't want to cheat on Michael while she was trying to get things back to the way they were supposed to be. Her Michael would be back in her arms, one way of the other, or the Granolith wouldn't have sent her there. That was what she believed and she had no reason to not trust the Granolith. It knew what she wanted and it had sent her to this universe for a reason - to accomplish her mission and then ciao, back home with her Michael. A little voice inside rose to whisper that her theory was only her personal interpretation of the Granolith's action; it wasn't exactly what the Granolith had told her in its speech, but she refused to listen to the voice and she quickly silenced it. She would never accept that her Michael was gone for good.
Michael nodded vigorously and a superior smile settled on his face. "Yes, you are. You want me - and while I know I can be a conceited, arrogant bastard, that statement has nothin' to do with either of those things. It's a fact; I've seen the way you look at me…" he shook his head, "and the way you won't look at me sometimes."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she denied.
Shit, he was so fed up with her denial! What was it gonna take to wake her up? The woman had to be the most stubborn female on Earth, and of course, she had to be thrown into his life. It was all his double's fault; out of all the women on the planet why'd he have to go and fall for that girl? That Maria girl? "You're a fuckin' liar."
"I'm not - "
"Try lookin' below my neck." He nodded and smirked when she swallowed with difficulty. He wasn't the slightest bit ashamed to be standing there in nothing but a pair of boxers that did nothing to hide the fact that he was once again hard as a rock. He had accepted the fact that he was gonna be in a perpetual state of arousal whenever she was around; there was nothing he could do about it and he saw no reason to pretend that he wasn't affected by her presence. "You won't do it because you know - "
Maria shook her head wildly, refusing to play his game. He was trying once again to get her into bed and he didn't care about her feelings at all. She would not be another of his little sex puppets. "I won't do it because it would only encourage you and make you think you're right."
Michael took a step in her direction, growling, "I know I'm right and I don't need you to say or do a goddamned thing to prove it!"
Maria didn't want him to win this round. He really did think he was God's gift to womankind! "Have you ever thought that there might be women on this planet who don't want to sleep with you?"
"Not really." His tone was insolent. "But we're not talkin' about other women, we're talkin' about you." He crossed the room and he saw the anger flare to life in her eyes when she was forced to back up again. "You can deny it all you want to but you're only lyin' to yourself because deep down inside where you hide everything you don't wanna deal with, you know you wanna do a helluva lot more than just sleep with me."
She was opening her mouth to protest when she hit the edge of the bed and the brief moment of surprise gave him the opportunity he had been waiting for. Before she knew what had happened she found herself flat on her back, staring up at him as he loomed over her with barely a breath separating them.
"You're flushed, your heart's pounding, your breathing's erratic, and your body's trembling… tell me again how you don't want me."
"Get off of me, Michael," she grated out.
"Last chance to stop me before I go out and find some other woman to fuck." He met her gaze directly. "Because I will, Maria, and you'll be the farthest thing from my mind while I'm fuckin' her."
Maria ignored the sharp pain in her chest that accompanied his crass words. No, she wasn't going to cry or let herself be hurt over this ape and his unbelievable attitude. She wouldn't give him the pleasure. "I'd certainly hope so."
"Fine," he muttered as he levered himself off of her to stand upright, "but don't get pissy with me later because you had your chance to - "
Maria just wanted this argument over and she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Get out, Michael!"
He slammed the door behind him and seconds later she heard his door slam as well. He had no idea how difficult it was for her to turn him away, she thought as she brushed away tears of anger and frustration. It was getting harder with every passing day to ignore him and his advances; he wasn't the only one who had needs.
She was a woman after all, and up until her Michael's death, she had been involved in a serious and sexual relationship. Their relationship had always been very intense and sexually-charged, so the lack of sex for the past few months was frustrating to say the least. And it didn't help that she was stuck with a version of Michael that was quite possibly even more sexual than hers had been.
There was no point in lying to herself - she did want him and it was getting harder to tell him no. It didn't matter if he was showing his gentle, caring side or if he was being his usual arrogant self; she wanted him regardless and that scared her. She could've rationalized it if it were just a matter of transference - if he had been so much like her Michael that she could've let herself pretend that he was the other man she had been so in love with.
She shook her head as she stared at the ceiling. She had known from the beginning that he wasn't her Michael and after the time she had spent with him she knew there was no way to ever mix the two of them up. Obviously there was a physical resemblance but even that wasn't enough for her to confuse him with her Michael. He was older for one thing, more experienced in nearly every area, and there were physical differences that, God help her, she really wanted to explore.
It wasn't bad enough that she had to deal with wanting him physically and sexually. That would've been difficult enough on its own, but the problem was compounded by the fact that she had started to develop feelings for him.
As if the physical and sexual attraction weren't enough of a betrayal, she thought, feeling the waves of guilt crashing over her again. There was no way to deny that she had feelings for him; she cared about him, she worried about him when he was away on missions, she was jealous of any woman who crossed his path, and she had even started to enjoy some of the more colorful aspects of his personality.
She scrambled to sit up when the bedroom door was flung open with enough force that it slammed against the wall.
"What the fuck did you do with the keys?"
This was not one of those colorful aspects that she enjoyed, she mused as she glared at him. "I don't have your keys."
"You're lyin'," he growled as he moved around the room searching every surface in sight.
Maria followed him with her eyes and she knew if he went out looking like he did he wouldn't be back until morning. He rarely wore jeans and the ones he did wear around the house on occasion were old, baggy, and had holes ripped in the knees. The jeans he was wearing now fit him like a second skin and they outlined every muscle, curve, and bulge he possessed. The black tee shirt fit the same way and he had completed the ensemble with his leather jacket; he looked dangerous and he was radiating sexuality. There was no way anyone would miss the fact that he was on the prowl.
She had to find a way to distract him and keep him from leaving. "You're not gonna find the keys in here," she blurted out.
"Why? You got 'em on you?"
"What? No."
Michael turned to look at her and his gaze raked over her. "Stand up."
Maria bristled at his authoritative tone and she shook her head. "Why would I - " She didn't have enough time to finish her protest before he grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. "What do you think you're doing?"
Michael glared at her. "I WANT MY KEYS!"
Yeah, and people in hell wanted ice water! People didn't always get what they wanted and it was past time for him to learn that the rule applied to everyone, including him! Maria held her arms straight out at her sides. "Where exactly do you think I hid them?"
"I guess we'll find out, won't we?"
She could see the intent in his dark eyes as they traveled over her body. "I threw them out in the front yard."
Michael wasn't fast enough to control the surprise that skated across his features at her abrupt admission. It was a lie and he knew it. She didn't have his keys; he had just gone off about that to throw her off track and buy the time he needed to get out of the house. This was working out even better than he had expected it to.
As soon as he ran from the room, his curses echoing off of the walls in the hallway as he made his way to the front door, she hurried over to his room to find the keys. She didn't know what he had done with his keys but if she could find them before he realized that he was on a wild goose chase then she could prevent him from going out and getting laid by some woman who was undoubtedly a complete tramp.
She was checking the pockets of his discarded cargo pants when she heard the horn blaring from the front of the house. As soon as she heard the car door slam shut she realized that she had been played and she threw his pants down on the floor as she stalked out of his room and crossed the hall into her own.
"Asshole!" she shouted to the empty house. She couldn't believe that she had fallen for that act. She should've known he was up to something; he had pocketed his keys after sticking them in her face, she had watched him do it. She paced around the room, working herself up into a fit of anger; she was mad at him, herself, and the situation she was in.