Chapter 11

Just after Mandy disappeared inside her house, I flashed a wave as Charles raced past. With my shoulders drooping, I went home and wandered around, cleaning the dishes, making the bed, and straightening the same things over and over. Every time I caught a whiff of Mandy’s lingering perfume or the haunting sweet scent of her arousal, wriggling shivers slid through me. All day long, my mind whirled with what I’d done, what she’d done, and what had happened between us.

The next morning, I stumbled through my regular workout, time and again catching myself glancing at Mandy’s house; just hoping for a glimpse of her. Once finished, as I showered, I stared at Debbie’s shampoo, soap and that silly, but oh so special, little pink sponge ball. With both my heart hurting, and blood engorging my rod, I wanted Mandy back. All of her.

Ditto for the following day. And the next.

As I sipped coffee and gazed at Mandy’s empty backyard, my heart ground, like a machine missing its key component. Besides that pain I hadn’t felt in a long, long time, I’d not been this anxious since Debbie. Although my brain knew that, with Charles at home, Mandy couldn’t merely saunter over and spend the night. The ache only strengthened. However, she hadn’t waved or done—anything. ‘Anything.’ I swallowed a chuckle. Heck, I hadn’t spotted her in over a week. Not even in passing, which meant she was hiding from me. Yeh, I could’ve walked over, and I probably should’ve gotten her phone number, but...

But Free Will. I wouldn’t jeopardize hers. If there was one thing I knew, free will was far too valuable. Seeing Kali had reminded me of that. As much as the alabaster beauty’s haunted eyes might indicate, she was nothing more than what the Baron wished.

Hell, Mi had to run from her home court to find happiness. Sometimes, you must escape. Or stay. Perhaps Mandy had tasted something much too enticing; she’d chosen to keep away. Remain ... safer. In her quieter, normal, and pre-Jim life.

Especially once she’d seen Debbie’s toys. Or had I simply pushed her too far? Had she done things she now regretted?

No matter what ... I sighed and scratched my stubbly chin. In a bizarre way, it felt good to be concerned about somebody other than myself for a change. Even if I’d lost Mandy to her much safer husband. And a far more secure life. With my shoulders sagging, I turned from my window and once again exhaled; I could worry from afar, just as well as love.

The following day, I resolved to move forward. Gritting my teeth and yawning as I slapped off the alarm, I stared at the ceiling. Yep, today I’d take my ‘reignited’ ass and find somebody far less complicated. Somehow. Somewhere farther away than the neighboring house. It was time to call Lucy. Let her off the leash to set me up with one of her friends.

Yep, I had a plan.

Until I inhaled.

The scent of Debbie’s shampoo and soap, as well as the faint aromas of Mandy’s sweat and nerve-tingling juices, sent my heart spinning. For a second, I wavered. No. That’s in the past. And I didn’t live in the past; it haunted me enough. I must drown that out. She’d made her choice. That expression; Mandy was conflicted. Charles ... Charles was her husband. They had a child. A family together. A life. With a growl, I rubbed my eyes and threw off the covers before leaping into my running gear.

With clenched teeth, as I pushed any thought of her from my mind, again and again, I tore through my route; racing the dark broken trails through the fog-shrouded hills. Once home, I left the pool in a white-tipped lather before an extra lengthy weight routine, this time while facing away from Mandy’s. At last, huffing for air, I skipped the hot tub and staggered into the shower. Now, my heart was not alone anymore, every Gods-cursed muscle ached. After catching Charles depart, I sighed. I could go over and simply ask her.

No. Free will.

Yet, a single whiff of Debbie’s shampoo and one glance at the pink sponge ... Mandy was right there with me, sliding against the tile. Against me. Around me. So wet. So hungry. Her little whimpers. The soft cries as she thrust her slick pelvis. The beating of her heart, racing. Toned legs pumping faster while she clenched my shaft as hard as she could.

And, oh, Gods ... Her bottomless, gleaming electric blue eyes, their mischievous sparkling in the morning sun. Or the way her dark hair swayed as she’d danced for me, alone. My hard-on ached with need; blue balls heavy—for her. But also ... My soul sobbed. Fucking sobbed.

As I strode to the faux balcony, I glanced down at her bathroom window; the curtains were tight. I swallowed. No audience. Fine. A sacrifice then. After flinging open the doors, I pressed some lube into my hands. While grinning at the closed curtains, I smeared my palms together as my heartbeat raced.

If not Mandy, then at least the Gods would be entertained, and I needed relief. If I was going to talk with Lucy later ... Gods above, she would rev me even higher. As my fingers glided upwards, a shudder built in my back. With my gaze locked on the window below, I moved my legs apart and drove the warm oil along my throbbing ridges. Each swirling squeeze pulling a moan from deep inside my lonely, suffering core.

Her eyes—sparkling. Her compact little butt, the shower spray sheeting from it as she shuddered. The glistening water dribbling from her upturned open lips as she moaned. Her tightness; so alive.

“Oh, oh, oh,” dribbled from me as I lurched forward, my hands racing. Droplets of oil and the first long whipping tendril of pre-cum flew from me to twinkle in the morning light.

Her smile. Oh, god, the way she’d just let my cum roll over her chin.

“Oh, fuck!” At the rolling, massive gush of relief, I bucked and shuddered as my rod surged, flinging a torquing ribbon of gleaming white far across the side yard.

Even as it spun towards the grass below, I rocked forward and launched another. The curtain shifted. A brief shadow. A muted whimper. As one more jet of relief twirled free of my lurching tip, I flashed a smile. Another muffled cry and a flash of dark behind the window. With the smile taut on my face, I drew the last thick, milky syrup from my draining, shrinking pole. As it spattered to the ground, the outline faded from view.

Yet, still, she didn’t come over. Or call.

But I didn’t call Lucy, either.

The day wore on and, just as I was moping into my second glass of whiskey, the phone rang. After glimpsing the number, I cursed under my breath.

“Hey Jim.” Gary’s voice was strained.

“What’s going on?”

“You’re not gonna like it.”

“Whenever you call me on the work line, or without Lucy’s loud panting in the background, I know I’m not gonna like whatever you’re about to say.”

“She does miss you; you know.” Gary chuckled.

“Well?”

“Soon, maybe. You wreck my woman, every damned time.” His chuckle became a full-blown laugh.

For the first time in days, I smiled and joined in. “She’s the one who wrecks me. The horny little beast.”

Except my laughter hitched at the echo of Mandy’s playful giggle. My eyes flashed in the direction of the little tease’s home. So close. I should simply walk over ... After a sigh, I took a hefty draft and whipped my head back and forth to clear her from it.

It didn’t work.

“Alright, tell me,” I said, staring at the swirling amber fluid in my glass.

“The were—”

“Oh, fuck.”

“Yeh, I told you.” His voice had become serious, anxious.

“Okay, alright. What’s happening with the doggies?” Another exhale slipped from me as Gary spoke.

“Luka’s feeling slighted. Says some others are moving into The Dusk Pride territory.”

“So? Why do I give a shit?” Even as I spoke, of course, I already knew what Gary was going to say next. What they all said—every single time.

“Because...” He paused, and there was heavy breathing for a long second before he added. “Because you’re the only one they trust.”

Living a bazillion years made you an anomaly not just to regular humans, but the freaky edges of the more, or less, than human humans. Mostly less. The Baron came to mind. And Luka, leader of The Dusk Pride, one of the dominant packs, or clans, or tribes, or whatever. Their titles depended on the part of weirdo-land from which they wandered.

Of course, there were more were variants than wolves, but they were the most problematic with their incessant territorial squabbling.

“Sir, he wants you to visit.” As I sighed, Gary smacked his lips.

“That’s not how it works.” I managed a chuckle even as I was already figuring my schedule. “Luka knows better.

“But, sir ... Uh, sorry, Jim.” Whenever Gary started calling me ‘sir,’ he was stressed. “He’s, um, really nervous. He was full-on whining. I mean—like Lucy, you wreck her.”

“Luka knows I don’t work for money.” I smiled before gulping the last of my whiskey and sauntering to the bar for a refill. “Besides, has he asked her about this?”

“Dunno.” A chuckle left Gary. “But based on his reaction, when I mentioned Lisandra, I doubt it.”

Yeh, I also doubted it. His wife was quite talented and, in her sexy beast mode, a hell of a lot of fun. We had a thing going back—a long time. And Luka was well aware of it.

The bottle shook in my hands as my breath hitched. My heart stuttered. Would Mandy understand? Of course, Debbie never cared; she’d had plenty of her own entertainment. Besides, Mandy had good old Charles. I’m sure he was riding her when she wasn’t with me. If not, there were some serious issues with that man.

“Tell him.” I paused to gulp the fresh whiskey before adding. “Send Lisandra, and I will help. Otherwise, good luck with their happy little turf war.”

“Jim, you can’t walk away from this. I mean, a lot of innocent folks—”

“I’m not gonna walk away. You know me better. But that asshole ... He’ll never figure that out. At least, he hasn’t in how long?”

“She’s that good?”

“Yes. Yes, she is. Don’t tell Lucy.”

“Oh, no worries ‘bout that, sir.” He laughed, a deep guffaw that echoed from the speaker. “I wouldn’t have a clue how to explain it.”

“Contact me when he answers. I’ll pass when and where I will expect his wife.”

“Yes, sir.” When he caught my sigh, he added. “I mean, Jim.”

“Good night, Gary.”

“G’night ... Jim.”

After tugging on a swimsuit, I walked outside, swirling the whiskey, and slapped sunglasses onto my nose. With a long sigh, I flashed a maudlin glance at Mandy’s house...

As my eyebrows shot upwards, my heart stuttered, and a groan slipped through my lips. Two things. One, Charles was sitting on a lounger while Mandy lay flat on another beyond him. Two, Mandy was in a tiny yellow two-piece swimsuit.

That outfit was for me. Gone were her conservative suits. She wore that suit for me, in front of her husband. In the late afternoon sun, her body glistened. The memories of her sleek, warm skin under my fingertips sent tremors along my spine.

When Charles caught sight of me, I waved as I headed for my pool to lounge around and, not gonna lie, scope out his wife. At first, Charles waved back before looking down at his wife and gesturing me over. As my brow furled, he put his finger to his lips and once more waved for me to approach. Okay, this was weird.

“Hey there, Jim,” Charles whispered once I’d sauntered closer. “Good morning. Mandy is sleeping. She’s been a bit under the weather since I got back. Was she okay while you were here?”

“Yeh, she was just fine.”

“Would you mind helping me out?” Charles licked his lips and waved to the chaise lounge chair on the other side of his wife.

With a shrug, I sat on the lounger. As I scanned Mandy, ‘asleep’ though I caught her nipples stiffening under the thin yellow material, I held in a chuckle. The little minx. As Charles flicked his eyes to the trees, I shifted my shorts. The view, combined with the wafting scent of Mandy’s glittering suntan lotion and fruity shampoo ... Well, something else was stiffening.

“You ... uh, seem to be or were involved in security,” he said after returning to me.

“Sorta, yeh. What’s up?”

“Well, I’ve gotta give a presentation on our new offices. How to protect against workplace violence or ... Well, worse things.”

“Okay.”

“Can I run some thoughts by you?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

As usual for him, Charles began a very long-winded, overly descriptive account of his concerns and his limited planning to date. Behind my dark glasses, I listened while inspecting every enticing inch of Mandy’s tight, scantily clad body. This close, I wanted her even more. My faint handprints marked her glistening, slender hips.

Oh. Oh, my. With a quick flick of my tongue, I hid another chuckle; I had a new game we could play, little tease. As her long, crimson fingernails twitched, her breath hitched, and she rolled her shiny lips.

Had she heard my thoughts?

After raising my eyebrow, I once more scanned her before swallowing a laugh. As Charles described a new facility, I watched him over the rim of my glass.

“Sorry, man.” Charles halted in mid-sentence as I swung my legs down to sit across from him; his wife lay between us. “Look, I’m a visual person.”

Without warning, I placed my finger on Mandy’s flat belly. A slight shiver raced under my fingertip, but I looked at him while outlining several squares in the sweat and oil covering her hard, rippling stomach muscles.

“So, these are the main offices?”

“Yeh.” He nodded and focused on my digit as I moved it further.

“And this, up here, is the parking area?” I swept my finger onto Mandy’s chest, tracing a box that ran upwards over one now prominent nipple, across her chest, and then down over her other sharp peak. Charles followed my hand, but he wasn’t seeing his wife; he was imagining the plot plan of the facility he’d described. When I was done, he nodded.

“So, where are the executive buildings?”

Charles pointed below Mandy’s stomach.

“Here?” After lifting my finger, I tapped it on her bikini bottom. The tiniest huff of air sped from Mandy’s now ever so slightly parted lips.

“Yeh, they extend out from the main building,” he replied.

“Like this?” After another sip, I dragged my fingertip in a rectangle over her bikini-covered mound, catching her waistband with my gliding nail. When it flicked into place, a second puff of air slipped from her. How Charles didn’t notice, I’ve no idea.

“And where’s the big man sit? The boss?”

Charles pointed beyond the executive offices.

“Here?” I tapped on Mandy’s little bud.

Already hard, it throbbed under my fingertip. While holding in a laugh, I drummed on it while appearing to ponder the glinting trails I’d scrawled across Mandy’s glossy frame. With each soft rap, Mandy’s eyelashes flickered. After leaning back, I took my digit away.

Now much more prominent, her engorged clitoris was a sharp-sided yellow hill in her bottoms. When Charles began describing the approach route, I almost lost it; Mandy’s eyelashes fluttered as my finger hovered over her.

With a nod, I glanced at him and furrowed my brow.

“Okay, so let me get this right.” After a sip, I again leaned in to place my fingertip atop Mandy’s knee. “There’s only one road in. Here.” When Charles nodded, I moved my finger. “And it winds all the way to the main parking areas.”

While Charles continued to nod, I trailed it up Mandy’s inner thigh, pulling another swift huff of air from her. With my sunglasses on, my eyes flicked between him and his wife’s shivering skin as I ran my fingertip along the side of her crotch and over her shiny stomach. After a long swerve upwards, drawing the edge of her bikini top with my nail, I nudged into one hard nipple before finally coming to rest, tapping her chest under her ‘sleeping’ chin.

“Yeh, I can help with this,” I said, after taking another sip to cover my swallowed chuckle; Mandy’s lower lip tremored.

“Oh, thanks Jim. I mean it. Anything you need, you’ve got.”

“Anything?” I asked, trying to tamp the excitement in my voice. When he’d said that, my eyes widened. Did he know? How much his wife desired ‘anything?’

“Anything, man.” With a grin on his face, Charles slapped both his knees and rocked back.

“Alright, send me the plans.” While I finished my whiskey and returned his grin, I leaned closer and once more traced all the shiny trails and boxes atop Mandy’s body. With a chuckle, I lifted my hand before adding. “I really don’t think I can keep drawing on your wife.”

At first, Charles nodded, then his eyes widened as he tracked the glossy markings winding over most of Mandy. His mouth opened to speak, but he chuckled and flashed an embarrassed grin.

When Charles’s phone pinged, he jolted and glanced at it before flicking his gaze to ‘sleeping’ Mandy. While he tapped in a brief text, his wife took the opportunity to ‘awaken;’ yawning, arching off the chaise lounge to thrust her perky cones skyward, before stretching her shaking arms.

“Sorry, dear,” Charles, eyebrows scrunched, muttered while gazing at his phone.

“Oh, hey there, Jim.” The little tease flashed me the most wide-eyed, innocent smile before adding. “How long’ve you been here?”

Not waiting for my reply, she turned to Charles. “Sweetie, I’m gonna go in and make some lemonade, okay?”

“Sure, dear,” he replied without looking up as his fingers flew over the touchpad.

With that impish grin and twinkle in her molten azure eyes, Mandy placed her hand on my shoulder, squeezing her nails into me as she stumbled to her feet. This close, the wet spot in her bottoms was prominent beneath the hard yellow hill, and, as I inhaled, her intoxicating arousal sent shivers along my spine and deep into my root.

After another long squeeze of my shoulder, Mandy took her shiny little frame towards the house. With Charles engrossed in his phone, I tracked every not-so-subtle motion as she sashayed her compact butt inside; her inner thighs glistened with trickles. She knew I was watching.

By the time Charles looked up, I’d shifted to stare at the woods beyond the pool with a smile on my face. Of course, she’d known I’d watch her walk. The little tease had played along with another of my games. One more step on her personal road to ‘anything.’

When he started talking again, describing his plan and the plausible options he’d present to the company leadership, I turned and nodded. Though every iota of my being was laser focused on twenty yards behind us; inside his house. At the ping of one more text, I gestured to the bathroom door.

“Hey, Charles. Can I, uh, use your restroom? Whiskey in, whiskey out.”

“Sure, help yourself,” he managed a quick reply before leaning to type a response.

No sooner did I step into the bathroom than I locked the door behind me and strode into the house, down the hall, and into the kitchen. At my footfalls, Mandy looked up from where she was making fresh lemonade on the counter. Her eyes widened as I walked closer.

“Did you really just use me like a white board?” She flashed a mock stern look before emitting one of her cute giggles.

“Aw, did I get you all horny?” With a grin, I halted beside her, so close her body heat sluiced over me in searing waves.

“Your naughty little slut is...” Mandy glanced past me at Charles’ bowed head outside before returning to me. “So very horny.”

“Hmm, what to do?” As I ran my hands along the sun-heated skin of her soft flanks, she shuddered.

“Well...” Mandy paused, blue pools igniting, and bit deep into her lower lip while raising her fingers to the bikini top. As she tugged it aside, releasing one bouncing cone, she added. “You could ... Uh, you could fuck me.”

Whatever had happened to the conflict behind her eyes, Gods, she was hot.