Fearless (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Luke and I had turned a corner in our relationship, after he got the gig with Nottingham’s gallery. I came over to his apartment to help him pick out the paintings that he was going to show. He had some of the paintings there, and some were at a storage locker. But we picked out the very best ones, and he delivered it to Nottingham personally.

We also were hanging out a lot together. I wanted to be with him always, which was a problem, because he worked a lot. So, when he was working at the bar, I stayed home and painted. I was getting better, and starting to like my work again. I still wasn’t ready to show it to the world, or even to Luke, but just creating in and of itself was making me feel so much better about everything.

Of course, I was also doing my nude modeling gigs
for other artists, because I had to eat. Nottingham was paying me $1000 a week to pose for Luke, though, so that helped. He clarified that for me the first week – that the $1000 sitting fee was a weekly one. So, I didn’t have to take nearly as many side jobs, and I quit the job at the school altogether. That was only paying $25 an hour, which wasn’t worth it anymore.

But, Luke and I hung out as much as we could. Generally, he came to my apartment and we got take-out and continued our card games. Which would end up in make-out sessions, inevitably. We couldn’t keep our hands off of each other, no matter how much we tried.

I snuck out with Nottingham once a week as well, usually when Luke was working. Nottingham and I did stuffy things like going to his fancy rich dude’s club, and things like that, while Luke and I went bowling, played cards, went to the Shake Shack and Joey’s Diner, and I smoked him at the pool hall more than once.

“You’re a shark, Dalilah,” Luke complained as I sunk the fourth ball in a row. I was on my way to running the table. I couldn’t help it. I was a genius, so I saw the geometric patterns that I needed to
hit the balls in just the right places. And I was just too competitive in pool to possibly try to let Luke win.

But Luke was gracious about my pool skills, as he was about everything else. “Aw, you beat me here at the pool hall. Let’s see how you do with b-ball down at the court tomorrow. I think I’ll school you there.”

And, indeed he did. I was good on the basketball court, but Luke was phenomenal, sinking basket after basket. He played good defense, too. He took no prisoners, which I appreciated, and he didn’t let up, either. He ended up schooling me, 20-10, but getting 10 points on him was pretty damned good, considering how good his defense was.

He smiled his crooked smile as he did a little dance around the court. “I schooled you, I schooled you, I schooled you. I.schooled.you,” he said, pointing to me.

So, I tackled him down to the ground, and the two of us wrestled on the playground, laughing. He kissed me, and got on top of me, but we stopped when a bunch of little kids came onto the court, ball in hand, and said “get a room. We need the court.”

Which was just as well, as it started to lightly snow again. Luke and I got on the bus and headed to his apartment.

He made me some hot chocolate, and we sat on the floor, our backs to his futon. “Love this hot chocolate recipe,” he said. “The secret is chili pepper and cardamom. Interesting, huh? Wakes up your taste buds.”

“That it does,” I said. I took some of the whipped cream off the top of the cup of cocoa and put it on his nose. He smiled as he rubbed his nose on my nose, and then he lick
ed the whipped cream off of it.

“Mmmm, you taste good,” he said. “I wonder why?”

I started laughing. “Of course I taste good. I have whipped cream on my nose, dummy!”

He kissed my lips and bit my upper lip lightly. “No, I’m pretty sure that it’s just you that tastes good. Not the whipped cream. Too sweet for my taste.”

“Oh,” I whispered. “You want a piece of this?” I asked, putting my wrist up to his mouth. He started sucking on it hungrily. Then he put his lips to my neck, and started kissing my neck and clavicle.

I put my arms around his lean frame and pulled him down on top of me on the floor. I spread my legs underneath him, and he put one of his legs in between mine. He put his elbows on either side of my head, and he hovered above me. He kissed my forehead and I sighed.

God, I wanted this. I wanted this more than I had ever wanted anything in my entire life. He was such an amazing kisser, and he felt so incredibly warm on top of me. Which was a good thing, because the heat was on low, and the night air outside was starting to dip. I looked out the window briefly, and snow was really starting to fall.

I thought about how glorious it would be to be stranded right there in that apartment with Luke. With nothing for us to do but explore each other’s bodies languidly and slowly.

He was still on top of me, so I unbuttoned the top part of his jeans. As I unzipped them, he started breathing heavily, and kissed me again, full on the lips. I rubbed his penis, which was still behind his underwear, and he groaned lightly.

“Please, do it, Dalilah. Oh, my god. You don’t know how much I want this. You have no idea.”

“I think that I know,” I said. “Because I want this just as much.”

At that, I brought his jeans down completely, and his underwear, and I started to stroke him up and down.
He had a very nice dick. Large, but not overly so. It seemed perfect for me.

He was still partially clothed, at least his torso was. He was wearing his t-shirt, and he took it off so that he was completely naked. He then sat down on the floor, his back against the couch.
He looked so perfect, just like I knew that he would. Long, lean, with perfectly sculpted muscles on his pecs and abs.

I put my hands on his sculpted chest, and rubbed it while I kissed him on his lips. He put his hands in my hair, and then started to kiss my neck. “Oh, Dalilah,” he said. “Can I please take off your top?”

I nodded my head wordlessly, and he slowly took off my t-shirt. I unhooked my bra and let it fall to the floor. Then I unzipped my own jeans and took them off, along with my socks and shoes.

Breathing heavily, I laid down on the blanket that was on the floor, and he hovered above me. Then he laid on top of me, and started kissing my breasts. Between my legs, I could feel his hard-on, just at the edge of my opening. He also started to kiss my neck, and he lightly started stroking my breasts with his hands. He was so gentle, and I could feel the goosebumps forming on my skin.
My entire body was flushing and feeling warm, and I could feel my nipples harden as he lightly bit and sucked each one.

He fingered my vagina lightly, and I started to groan as I felt his fingers inside of me swirling. He kissed me from my navel and ended up tonguing me lightly between my legs. The pleasurable sensation that had begun in my body was starting to burst, and, out of the blue, I could feel every part of my body just start to feel as if it was on fire.

I couldn’t believe what I was feeling as Luke was slowly sucking and licking inside of me. This was unlike any feeling that I ever had before. I started to squirm, because the feeling was so strong and so pleasurable.

Then he was back to kissing my lips passionately. I wanted him inside of me so badly
. I had never wanted anything so much in my entire life.

“Luke, please, please, please. Please make love to me,” I said.

So, he entered me slowly. I immediately started crying out, because, if what I was feeling before when he was tonguing my clit was powerful, this feeling was out of this world. He was filling me up, slowly and sensually, and it was almost torture to feel how strong the pleasurable sensation really was.

He kissed my lips again as he slowly and surely stroked himself in and out, in and out. I put my hands on his strong back, and pulled a little bit on his hair. And then I got on my side, and he entered me from behind. This brought me to orgasm once more. He was behind me, his hands on my breasts. He moved his hands down more towards my waist, and I turned my head and he devoured my lips with his.

I could hear his heart pounding in my ears, and I could feel my heart pounding along with the beat of his. It felt like my entire body was pulsating wildly with every thrust. He started to pick up speed, and then I could feel him pulsating inside of me. He groaned mightily, and then, with both of us breathing heavily, and his body wrapped around mine, he pulled out.

For a few minutes, the two of us just laid there on the blanket, not really knowing what to say for once. He took a tendril of my hair, and whisked it away from my face, and kissed my forehead lightly. “Oh, Dalilah, you just don’t know what you do to me.”

“How could I not know? Because you do the same to me.”

He stroked my cheek, and kissed me again. “I just feel like I’m dreaming. You are the woman that has been my muse for this long, and I never thought that it was possible that we could be together. But we are. We are, and we will be. I just know that I can give you the moon, the stars and the world, Dalilah. Everything in the universe, I can give that to you. I know that now, and it feels amazing.”

“It does, Luke, it does feel amazing. I know, too, that you can give me everything that you feel that I need. But I could never convince you that I really don’t need anything but you. Only you. We could live on the streets together like Freddy, and I would be just as happy, as long as I’m with you.”

“I wish that I knew that you meant that,” he said. “At any rate, it doesn’t matter, because, with this showing, I’ll literally be on my
way. On my way, Dalilah, to being able to give you all that you could ever want or need.”

At that, he kissed me again, and I could feel him growing once more. I spread my legs open again, and he was, once again, thrusting inside of me. This time he was a little more urgent, just a tad more rough. I came to yet another orgasm, and so did he.

We sat up and drank our hot cocoa some more, although, by then, it was just cocoa. It wasn’t hot at all. I could taste the spices much better at that point. It reminded me of Luke, really – sweet, but also spicy. I really enjoyed drinking it, almost as much as I enjoyed drinking in Luke. His essence had become a part of me.

As the snow fell outside, Luke and I kept each other warm for the rest of the night. We couldn’t get enough of each other, as we made love for the rest of the night in a slow and deliberate fashion.

The next day, I reluctantly left Luke’s apartment, because he had to be at work, and I was greeted to around six inches of snow on the sidewalk, it occurred to me that life was finally at its pinnacle. After my slow decline during my years when I had such mental blocks, combined with my depression, I thought that life was never going to be good again.

Now, after having spent the night of my life with the man of my dreams, life suddenly seemed to be not just colorful, but on fire. When I got back to my apartment, I immediately took to my canvas and painted something that, when I finished it six hours later, I
knew
was good. There wasn’t any doubt in my mind this time. It came from my heart, it came from my passion, and it was inspired by Luke himself.

I was finally back.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

For the next few weeks, I continued to play my increasingly dangerous game. I felt that I had to keep Nottingham satisfied, just enough that he wouldn’t throw a tantrum and pull Luke’s show. I was so paranoid about that happening, and I had to prevent that by any means possible. So, I continued to see Nottingham a few times a week. I never brought up Luke to him, ever, because the last thing that I wanted was for Nottingham to be suspicious.

But Luke and I had finally gotten to the point where we were in a real, honest to god, relationship. I started to spend more and more of my time at his apartment, because that was easier for us, as he was working a lot. That way, I could hang out at his place while he was working, and I could spend much more time with him. While he pulled his shifts, I hung out in his place and painted and read and just generally was productive. My work was getting better and better, I knew that. Luke was also very impressed with the stuff that I was composing while he was downstairs tending bar.

“Wow, Dalilah, you really got your voice back,” he said, as he admired one of my paintings that
was an absolutely riotous mélange of colors and shapes. It was a cityscape and a subway, but this was hidden in the geometric shapes that surrounded these forms. “I’m so impressed with you. I guess it’s like a bicycle, huh? It never leaves you.”

“Well, it helps that I’m so inspired these days. Inspired by you.”

“Nah, you’re just inspired because you’re getting properly laid,” he said with a wink. “Speaking of which….”

I shook my head. “Uh, uh, uh,” I said, shaking my finger at him. “Not now. We have to eat. I have some wonderful gourmet spaghetti and meatballs cooking, and it will be cold if we get to our usual marathon sex sessions.”

But, of course, while I stood behind his ancient stove, wearing nothing but one of his button-downs and socks, Luke came up to me and put his hands on my breasts. He kissed the back of my neck, and then put me up on the counter behind us. He kissed me passionately, and fingered me, and then brought down his pants and thrust into me while I sat on the counter with my legs wrapped around him. I didn’t even think about the sanitary nature of what we were doing on his counter. He felt so fucking amazing, all I could think about was the powerful orgasm that I was feeling as he thrust in and out of me while I sat on the counter.

Finally, he came inside of me, and he kissed me on my forehead. “See, we can do quickies, too. Now get to the dinner, wench. I’m hungry.”

After dinner, which we usually ate on the coffee table, both of us sitting on the floor, Luke casually said “what do you say we go ice-skating this Saturday? We’ll be with the other hoards of people in front of the Rockefeller Center. It’ll be fun!”

I giggled. “I’ve never been ice-skating.”

“Never? How is that possible?”

“I don’t know, it just was something that I’ve never done.”

“Well, looks like this is one more thing that I can school you on, because, my friend, you are looking at a long-time hockey player. I played since I was a kid. I’ll have to show off my moves for you, so you can ooh and ah over me.” And then he smiled. “Seriously, I’d love to teach you to skate. I really did play hockey since I was about four years old, so it’s something that I’m really good at and I love to teach others.”

I smiled, imagining Luke on the hockey rink. “Were you any good?”

“Our teams usually went to the championships. I was always a starting forward.”

“You didn’t play hockey,” I said, teasingly. “You couldn’t have. You have all your teeth. And what beautiful straight teeth they are.”

“Dentures,” he said. “No, really, you don’t see me taking them out at night and put them in a glass jar. Don’t freak out if you get up in the middle of the night and see my teeth there in the bathroom.”

I looked at him, no
t knowing if he was joking or not. But, he soon burst out laughing, so I started laughing as well.

“Nah,” he said. “I got lucky. I stayed out of fights, or tried to. Anyhow, we had a really good enforcer who took the brunt of the fights for the rest of us. Now that guy probably is missing more than a few teeth.” He shook his head. “Man, that guy was enormous. And powerful. He was the best enforcer in the league.”

“Enforcer? Is that like a body guard?”

“Something like that. It’s a guy who responds to the other team’s aggressiveness, and either fights them or checks them. So, when you go to a fight and some hockey breaks out, you’re usually watching two enforcers going at it.”

“I see,” I said. “Oh, what I have missed out on growing up in the Midwest. We don’t get into hockey like you Northeasterners do.”

“You have missed out on a lot. Hockey is really a beautiful game if you think about it. I mean, it’s fast and aggressive, of course, but it takes so much athleticism and skill. Much more so than most of the other sports.” He shrugged. “Well, that’s it. I’m just going to have to show you by taking you to a Rangers’ game. You’ll thank me later.”

“Hmmm, how about I thank you now?” I said, as I unbuttoned his pants. He groaned as my lips hungrily found his enormous erection, and I sucked him greedily. He put his hands underneath my shirt again, and brought me down on top of him.

As he stroked my back, and kissed my lips, he said “I love you, Dalilah. I love you more than I thought it was possible to love anybody. Marry me, Dalilah. Be my wife.”

“Yes,” I said. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Yes. Yes. Yes.”

Perhaps it was said in the heat of passion, but I knew that my saying yes came from my heart. Because I was feeling that way about him, and had been ever since he kissed me in my apartment that one night.

That night, after we made love several more times, Luke said “oh, Dalilah, that just came out. I mean, I do want to marry you. But that wasn’t the proper way to ask you at all. Can I have a mulligan?”

“Of course,” I said. “Of course. After all, we can’t very well tell our kids that you asked me to marry you while we were fucking. That wouldn’t be right.”

He started laughing at that. “No, it wouldn’t be right at all.” And then he kissed me and once again was inside of me. “But I do love fucking you, Dalilah. I do love that very much.”

“I do too.”