Of Monsters and Madmen
by K. C. Gray
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Table of Contents Chapters: 1, 2, 3 |
Chapter Two: The Journey Home
Part 1 appears
in this issue.
part 2
She took tiny steps into the room, unsure of this power he’d never shown to her. She knew of it, as did the whole world, but he made it painfully obvious he didn’t want to use it. The carpet was now light gray, probably cleaner than it’d ever been, even before it was installed, and all but the wall he stood at was restored to the original cream.
She stepped up beside him, watching another group of stains disintegrate.
With a jolt of his head, his golden eyes searched her face. His eyes scrunched up for a second, almost a hint of pain. Once the last of the disintegrating stain disappeared, he shoved his hand in his pocket.
“Sorry.” He continued staring at the wall.
“Why?”
“This ability to destroy... it worries people the most.”
“Not me,” she responded, nestling up to his right side. “Do the rest. Please.” She gestured to the remaining last little bit of wall.
He glanced at her, brows knitted for a second, but then he turned back to the wall, palm facing it. The stain peeled away.
“What does it feel like?” she asked.
The pattern broke down, disappearing, and he moved to the next section. “I’m not sure how to explain it.”
“Does it take a lot of concentration?”
“No. I guess it could be likened to breathing. It’s automatic, takes very little thought. But when I do concentrate, I can notice... a tingling, like a brush of a web against the back of my mind.”
Once the last of the stains peeled away, He removed his duster and vest and went to the front door by the hangers. As he hung the items and slipped off his shoes, she shut the window and closed the white curtains, leaving the heavier ones open and allowing the bright white of the moon to illuminate the room.
They flicked off the last of the lights and slipped into the queen-sized bed.
She lay curled up and facing away from him. He breathed gently, rhythmically, and she wondered if he’d fallen asleep already. A month ago, she’d noticed his slanted smile lasting longer, the glinting in his eyes that sometimes looked like tiny gold nuggets, and his humor, despite his matter-of-fact way of speaking, shined through. She wanted him, she had realized, but she could never imagine letting it happen. He was, after all, not truly human.
Did he even have all the right parts?
Her body warmed with the thought. Even if he didn’t, his full lips started to look delicious. Lush and tender. If nothing else, she could kiss him and not cross a line, not feel like some sort of pervert.
Her fingers slid down her stomach, and she pretended they were his. Moving past her tuft of hair, sliding in. Tenderness gave way to eagerness.
Yanking her hand back, she sighed and grunted. Even if he were sleep, she couldn’t continue, couldn’t work out the slight frustration of not being touched in over seven months. Her body longed for a release, a sexual encounter. And although she was sure He wouldn’t care if she spent some time with another man, she didn’t want another man.
She turned over, facing him, wanting to see the gentle slopes of his features. He lay on his back, one arm tucked behind his head, staring at the ceiling. When she turned, he looked at her, his eyes almost glowing in the moonlight.
“Can’t sleep?” He asked.
“No. Do you ever sleep?”
He rolled over on his side, matching her position like a mirror. “Yes, although not for long.”
Watching his lips move, their slight curves enticed her. She needed only one kiss, and then her mind would clear and she could sleep.
“Did you want to talk?” he asked.
In answer, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. He froze, seemingly rigid. She’d apologize later, if need be, but right now, the touch of lips ignited a need for more. Her tongue swept across his bottom lip. Sucking it in, she savored the feel, the moisture, the texture.
He wrapped his right arm around her back and pulled her closer, so close that she now knew he had all the right parts.
He rolled her over on her back and his mouth overwhelmed hers, his tongue slipped in, tasting, flicking, working in a way that increased her desire, her need. The fingers sliding down her stomach, past her tuft of hair, were no longer hers. He rested his hand along her curve.
And during their kiss, full of heat and passion, gentle moans from the both, she waited, growing more and more impatient at his unmoving hand. Her hips rolled in hopes he’d get the hint. But he didn’t. Her body heated, blood rushing low, making her more and more sensitive, more and more in need. She slid her fingers along his, intent of guiding them if need be. One motion, one slip, and she’d be undone.
In the next second, she became aware of the gentle vibrations working right underneath his hand. They were targeted, moving in just the right spot. She relinquished control, letting her arms fall to her side, allowing him to do what he obviously knew how.
The vibrations grew, adding tightness, causing little waves of energy to pulsate through her body, culminating, climbing her to a level of pleasure she wasn’t aware of, and her body seized, tense, pressure building and growing, her body tingling more and more until she thought she’d explode... until she did.
Her back arched. A moan vibrated from deep within her chest. And then, she relaxed into the bed.
Kneeling in front of her, he slid off her shorts, almost tentatively, before tossing them on the floor. She offered no resistance, no sign that she didn’t want what she’d started, but all the same, he watched her with intensity while he pulled off his shirt.
Despite feeling she could lay there for hours, enjoying the deep-seated reaction, she sat up and gave him a bit of assurance by unbuckling his belt and undoing his pants. He slipped them off.
Kissing her knee, her thigh, her belly, he worked his way up to her lips and slid into her. The sensitivity left her unprepared for his thrusts, his rolling and rocking hips. He buried his head into the crevice of her neck and filled her from head to toe with tiny vibrations as he hummed with pleasure.
She wrapped her arms around his body. And his thrust increased, faster and faster, almost primal, until he sat up on his knees, pulling her with him, keeping them linked. Laying his hand over her, the vibrations kicked in full force. She clenched around him. They seemed to switch places since her hips worked fast and rough, moving back and forth, trying to massage a reaction from him.
But he bit his lip, eyes tight in concentration, until she relaxed, melted with only him keeping her lower half up. He pulled out, rested himself along her, and released. With every pulse, he grunted.
She lay back on the bed and let the relaxation overcome her.
He lifted his left hand, and the result of his release rose from her body. They glinted like silver in the moonlight, shrinking until nothing remained.
He leaned over top of her, kissing her, letting their lips brush against one another, allowing his tongue to caress the inner edges of her lips. In a huff, he rolled off of her, one soft moan escaping as he lay on his back.
“Thank you,” He said. “I’d forgotten how pleasurable that is.”
She laughed loud and hard. Her body shook involuntarily, and her stomach ached. As they slowed down to chuckles, she looked at him. Both corners of his lips raised in a gentle smile.
“Don’t tell me it’s been sixty years since you’ve had sex,” she said, relishing this new sight.
“No. It’s been well over a hundred.”
She propped herself up on her elbows. “What?”
He shrugged. “I’ve found that humans can be... fragile.”
She chewed on her lip, turning away from him, curling up once more. So she had crossed that perverse line. He didn’t even see himself as human.
He nuzzled up behind her, kissing the round of her shoulder and wrapping his arm over her side. Sighing, she closed her eyes and relaxed. Maybe he wasn’t exactly human, the same as her, but he was human enough. Their bodies curved into one another perfectly. And no matter what, he’d been one of the kindest beings she’d ever met.
And, damn, that was the best sex she’d ever had. “You said we can be fragile, but, while you weren’t exactly gentle, you didn’t hurt me, either.”
“I meant emotionally... mentally.”
She curled up even more. Was he telling her he felt nothing? Maybe she was just an ant in his journey through life, through the millenniums. She could hardly be pissed off at that considering his immortal state. If anything, they’d probably have fifty years together, and in another hundred years he’d find another woman, another human taken in by his power and calm.
While she could see the truth of his statement, that humans could be emotionally fragile, she’d show him differently. Maybe it would be a good thing to visit her mom, to see friends and family and to have someone other than He pulling her attention for a while.
She’d try her best not to be taken in, to not fall for him.
The next morning, she threw her bag into the back seat. The once empty car now held bags of clothes and souvenirs. After slamming the door shut, she looked out towards the street, holding a hand above her eyes to block sunlight.
A group of police cars sat right at the edge of the entrance. Had they stayed there all night? Coming back to the U.S. had been a last-minute decision, and she hadn’t thought about the media or the police in so long. She searched the skies for a helicopter, the only way any news station ever covered anything about them. The skies were empty.
Her mom knew she was coming, but didn’t know exactly when. How many people in town knew about the visit? Maybe they would arrive and find the town cut off to them out of fear.
The phone wasn’t in her back pocket, where she expected to find it. She felt all along her waist line, and then opened the car door.
“What’s wrong?” He asked from the driver’s seat.
“I can’t find my phone.” She unzipped the bag and felt all along the interior. “I need to call my mom and make sure she’s okay. And make sure she hasn’t told everyone about you and me coming.” The pockets of the bag were empty. “Ugh! I must have left it in the room.”
“I’ll go get it.” He slipped out of the car before she could protest.
Movement by the front door of the office caught her attention. A flash of green and brown, camouflage. She took a few steps toward the moving mass, wondering if the police were getting ballsy and if they could expect trouble on the final leg of the trip back to her hometown.
A quick sting pierced her neck. Her hand reached up, slow, like she moved through molasses, and touched strips of fabric. Yanking the item from her neck, she looked down at a tranquillizer dart.
Heeeeee. Her mind numbed. She searched from him. Seeing him. Across the parking lot. At the door of the room. Bright. Light.
Darkness consumed her.
Copyright © 2017 by K. C. Gray
