Soul(s) (17 page)

“
What are you offering?” I
asked.

“
Whatever you want,” she
pledged.

“
What are you good
at?”

“
Sandwiches,” she
whispered pulling back a little.

“
Let’s start with water,
and a pair of pants. I can’t remember where you left them for
me.”

She pulled away, walking towards a chair in
the kitchen and picked up the neatly folded shirt and pants.

“
Here,” she said handing
them to me.

I let my towel drop and smiled as her gaze
fell with it. I bent down kicking my legs into the jeans and
pulling them up easily. Commando style let them hang low on my
hips, but otherwise they were a surprisingly good fit. I shrugged
the shirt over my head and fancied I saw a little regret flicker in
her eyes.

“
Water,” I reminded
her.

Eliza silently turned swiftly, grabbing a
cup from the cupboard and filling it at the sink.

She handed it to me and I chugged it quickly
before walking over to the sink and refiling it again myself. The
water felt like regenerative gel going down my throat. I swore I
could almost feel it sweeping through the veins of my body. My
energy surged and reached over to pour a third glass.

“
You must pee like a
racehorse,” Eliza commented as she watched me guzzle.

“
I have a lot of things in
common with a racehorse,” I said as I finished off the glass.
Setting it aside, I pulled her against me. I watched her lustfully
touch my arms and trail her hands across my chest.

“
I’ve waited a long time
for someone like you,” she whispered.

I felt two contradictory reactions to her
words—flattery and abhor.

“
Don’t go falling in
love,” I murmured. Her honesty was sobering. Seducing her was
intoxicating and I’d make the game fun for both of us, but love—I
didn’t want that from her.

“
I don’t believe in love,”
Eliza assured me before rising up on her toes, offering her mouth
to me.

Her confession inflated my confident that
I’d be able to get exactly what I wanted out of his relationship,
pleasure. I needed to feed this deep hunger I felt, and she was
more than adequate. I accepted her offer and aggressively claimed
her mouth for my own. With each breath I took as we kissed her
energy surged through me like a plug clicked in to a socket. I’d
take everything she offered, but I wasn’t completely heartless.

“
Eliza,” I said as I broke
off a kiss. “We don’t know each other.”

“
We have time for that,”
she said eagerly looking up at me.

“
I only want to be your
friend,” I said cautiously, hoping she’d understand my
meaning.

She looked me straight in the eyes. “Do you
always fuck your friends?”

Her question caught me off guard. She was
put out by my statement and I was puzzled by the odd amount of
conflicting traits. Forward, yet shy; careful, but impulsive;
cynical and still romantic.

“
No,” I answered
honestly.

“
Then, you’ll need to make
an exception for me,” she dropping slowly to her knees. Her palms
stroked against my growing hardness. She licked at me through my
jeans and a stifled groan escaped my mouth.

“
Think you can be quiet
enough for me to do this?” She gloated as the tips of her fingers
found the zipper to my fly.

“
You’re very confident in
your abilities,” I answered back.

“
I’m just listening to
what your body is telling me.”

“
ELIZA!” said a voice
coupled with the pounding on door. “You said you were coming to get
him! What’s taking so long? We’re swamped in the
kitchen.”

Eliza laughed and brought a finger to her
lips signaling for me to not make a sound.

I teasingly jutted my hips my crotched
lightly bumping into her mouth. Eliza squealed, laughing at my
crassness. I zipped my pants up casually and bent to help her get
back up.

“
Just looking for clothes
that’ll fit him,” she shouted back.

“
Never mind that—he’ll
just be in the back. If he ends up staying, I’ll take him to go get
some clothes. Get your flirty ass down to the diner in twenty or
I’m docking your pay.”

“
Feel like earning your
keep?” She said to me with a sly smile.

I was starting to wonder who was working
who.

I learned a lot about Eliza during our first
shift. Her family was honest people trying to do the best they
could and give back to the community whenever the opportunity came.
They took in strays all the time and gave them a roof and food in
exchange for working in the diner. She had two brothers, one older
than her and one younger: Luke and Peter. Her mother wasn’t around
and her father traveled a lot for work. He came by ever week or so
but then he was off again—it wasn’t clear what he did.

Luke was rather serious but Eliza pulled
laughter out of him. Peter was about fourteen and the former “head
bus boy”. He had desperately wanted a promotion but Luke hadn’t
thought he was ready. Eliza coaxed Luke into giving Peter a chance
and this was Peter’s first week. The older siblings ran the diner
and their uncle was the landlord of the joined apartment complex
and they made it all work. They were a family and they were happy.
Luke was the leader, Eliza was the glue, and Peter was the
future.

Now my shift was done and Eliza was smiling
wildly at me hiding something behind her back.

“
What do you have?” I
asked.

“
Something for you, but I
won’t give it to you.”

“
I could make you,” I
said, my voice lowering so only she could hear me.

Eliza smiled, walking back from me, taunting
me to try. We were making out way through the connecting hallway
that joined the diner to the apartment complex.

“
Only if you can catch
me,” she teased. Turning, she sprinted down the foyer and squeezed
between the elevator doors before it closed.

Clever,
I thought to myself grinning. I didn’t mind
chasing. I liked to play. I began to strategize. There was only one
elevator in the apartment complex so I couldn’t grab another one.
I’d have to take the stairs up eight flights. If I hustled I bet I
could make it. I started taking them three at a time. First flight
blew by; than the second and the third. My body felt like it was
wakening up. I wasn’t even sweating. I felt like I could go
faster—five, six, seven, eight—done. I looked down the hallway
towards the elevators and the above sign dinged do five.
five.
How fast was I? I
wondered what I’d done in my past life. If only I could
remember—

DING—six.

Nope, couldn’t remember anything.

DING—seven.

A name flicked into my
mind:
Sariah.

DING—eight.

“
You beat me? You must
have cheated.” Eliza voice rang in the hallway.

“
No—I’m just that
good.
” I declared
cheekily.

“
Well,” Eliza said, “you
haven’t caught me yet.” She took off again down the hallway past
her apartment.

I didn’t have to try to overtake her, I was
way faster, but I knew she wanted me to chase her. So I did,
staying right on her heels. She ran to the door and then turned
around just in time for me to engulf her in a kiss. I parted her
lips with my tongue and plunged into her.

Caught you,
I thought. I pulled back startled with the
realization that I expected her to respond back to my thought. I’d
done that with someone before.

“
What’s wrong?” She asked
her expressions changing from playful to worried.

I shook my head, shagging off my own
bizarreness.

“
Ran up those stairs too
fast I think,” I offered as an excuse.

“
You had the strangest
expression just now on your face,” Eliza insisted.

“
I’ve caught you,” I said
darkly. Hoping to change the topic, I hooked my finger under her
chin and drew her in for a light kiss.

“
I suppose you have,”
Eliza said smiling against my lips. She brought her hand around her
back and dangled a brass key in front of my nose. She dropped it
and it fell easily into my hand.

“
A key to the kingdom,
does it go to the door behind you?” I asked.

“
Stick it in and let’s
find out.”

This combination of my sexual appetite and
her willingness had me aroused and I pulled her forward knowing
full well she could feel me up against her. I kept my eyes locked
on hers while I reached behind and fit the door. It slid in easily
and the door opened as soon as I turned the key.

“
You didn’t even have to
look,” commented Eliza coily.

I put my hand on her stomach and moved
forward, guiding her backwards into the room. When we cleared the
door I kicked it close with my foot still watching her.

“
I bet you won ever
staring contest as a kid,” Eliza said.

“
Don’t remember, but I’m
winning now for sure.”

“
Oh really? What have you
won?”

“
Do you want me,
Eliza?”

Ever eyes widened surprised by my bluntness
and she nodded “yes” speechlessly.

“
Get on the couch, stand
on your knees and face away from me,” I ordered.

She did and I came in behind her nipping at
her shoulder through her shirt. I swept her hair to the right and
kissed her neck.

“
Don’t turn around,” I
commanded pulling back.

“
I won’t,” she
promised.

I untied her waitress apron and pulled her
shirt free from being tucked in her pants. I gathered it up as my
hands grazed across her back. Eliza was already responding to my
energy, pushing her rear into me. I kept watching her body as I
pulled the rest of her shirt off. I leaned forward kissing her back
as I undid her bra.

“
Spread your arms a
little,” I said in her ear. She did and I slid the bra off her
easily setting her breasts free. They hung deliciously swaying a
little with each movement. I caught them both, squeezing lightly as
I pulled her back in to me. She moaned and I got the first taste of
something that satisfied a little bit of the hunger that had been
stirring in my stomach since I’d woken up in the alley. The energy
manifesting between us was feeding something in me I didn’t know
why or how and frankly it didn’t matter. Eliza was ready to give
whatever I needed to take and the more turned on she became, the
more satisfied I felt. That led to the most mind boggling part for
me. I
knew
what
she liked. I could read her body, feel her energy increasing,
responding to me. I was profiling her. She liked assertiveness. She
wanted to be dominated, to be devoured and taken.

“
Undo your belt and
pants,” I instructed.

She did, rolling her behind out towards me
as her hands moved down to under her buckle. I rolled them down the
rest of the way freeing each leg. I felt her feet come together
behind me and turned to see her kicking off her shoes and socks.
All that was left was her underwear.

“
Should I rip them off
you,” I said, leaning forward to nab her neck fiercely with my
mouth.

“
Please do,” she moaned
submissively.

“
I wouldn’t want to waste
money,” I teased as I pulled the fabric down and off.

“
I have a job,” she
purred.

I stood up and begun undressing myself
quickly. Her petit frame leaned over the couch delicately just as I
had told her too—she was waiting and I liked that.

“
You’ll let me fuck you
any way I want?” I asked aggressively.

“
Yes,” she agreed
eagerly.

“
Lean forward,” I
commanded.

I slid down the couch so her rear was in my
face. I grabbed a mouthful of her ass. Eliza yelped in surprise and
I nipped her ass again before sucking on the same spot. She
quivered beneath my lips and I began to rub my hand against her.
She groaned loudly spreading her legs and raising her body up
higher so I could fully reach her.

I got back up behind her on the couch ready
to take her fully but at the last minute something held me back. I
changed my mind and I slid two fingers down, under and into her.
She sighed as she moved against my hand. I pushed deeper matching
her rhythm. I wrapped my arm around her and stroked her from the
front. She threw her head back, her cheek pushing against mine,
trusting me to take her where she wanted to go. She panted, raining
on my hand as she came. I pulled out rubbing her petals as she
pulsed.

I leaned her forward on
the couch and stood up slipping my pants back over my obvious
erection. I was bewildered that I didn’t just
take
her but I didn’t want to, not
really. Seemed like she as a poor substitute for whatever I really
wanted.
Sariah.
A
name that had no face flashed into my head.

“
I’m going to shower and
then get some sleep.”

I didn’t wait for a response.

I beelined to the bathroom
and cranked on the shower. I got in way before the water was warm.
I closed my eyes letting it poor over me. Her arousal had done
something to me physically. I felt better, stronger,
less hungry.
Which
didn’t make any sense; I don’t even think I’d eaten since I’d been
here. I’d only drank water. What the hell was wrong with me? I
couldn’t remember anything, but my general understanding of
how bodies worked
let me
know this wasn’t normal. I wasn’t
normal.