Page 34 of Night Blind

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting you to ask for that,” he said, leaning back in the seat, in his heart, already knowing she was going to ask. He would say no, again, but he still wanted to hear her pitch to change his mind, “We discussed this, and I think when thetime comes for us, and it will, because I also want it, but not now; not like this, Helen.”

In her head, it all made sense, and she would carefully, explain it to him. At the end of what she had to say, it would either work out or she would take the couch. Her days of hesitating were over.

“I have never initiated sex,” she told him. “Any time I have experienced coitus has been by force or by coercion. I’ve never had a sexual encounter I initiated. I’m initiating an evening with you.”

His face held no expression as he listened to her carefully laid out plan. In the past 72 hours, his first-hand knowledge of her thinking had intrigued him and held him in a holding pattern, not wanting to be far from her. Uncertainty filled his gut, fueling him with doubts about his own desire to be her hero or the simple fact that she was far more beautiful than she realized on the inside as well as the outer woman. What made her stunning was the unawareness of the power she wielded.

“Also, the last sexual release I experienced was by his hand. I don’t want to live with that. I don’t want to close my eyes and relive that trauma. Leave me with a night of passion between us,” she told me.

“Helen, I can’t erase what happened to you.”

“No, but you can replace the feel of his hands on my body with the feel of yours,” she told him. “His mouth on me can be replaced with the sweetness of the memory of you tasting me with your tongue, my hands in that thick black hair, and the power of the freedom of giving myself to you with no hesitation, not holding back, giving you everything I’ve never shared with anyone else. I am asking you to allow me to be free, sexually with you, holding nothing back, sharing everything in my broken spirit that wishes to soar. I want to ride the stallion, with my hairwhipping free, me holding the pommel and clamping on tight with my thighs to stay seated as you buck without restraint.”

“Well damn,” he said, sitting upright in the chair. “My entire soul reacted to every word you spoke.”

“Good,” she told him, standing. The robe opened to reveal her bare form underneath. “He scarred me. He scarred me so I would never desire for another man to see my body. I’m showing you my physical scars. I’m telling you my mental scars. One night, hell a couple of hours, a few rounds…I don’t care. I am asking you for what I need. I need you to make me feel beautiful and wanted as a woman, Mustang. I can even rationalize it in my head that I am spending the night in your arms as your woman.”

He was frozen in place. The light he spoke of shone around her form. His body was eager to give her everything she needed and more. “Helen, I’m not prepared for a night of intimacy. I have nothing with me.”

“I’m barren. Nothing we do tonight come to fruition, other than giving me seeds to bury my insecurities,” she said, holding his gaze.

“And this is seriously what you want from me on this night, well, the wee hours of the morning?”

“Mustang, this is what I need from you, along with that truck,” she said, smiling. “Hell, the way I’m feeling about this, about you, just might get a sister a brand car, a diamond necklace and a weekly phone call as well when I’m done riding the stallion into a lathered sweat.”

She winked at him, allowing the robe to drop around her feet. He stood up, all six feet, two and a half inches of him. His muscles were evident through the cotton tee he wore, and the most amazing erection she’d ever seen in her life greeted her and she gasped.

“You don’t have to ask me twice, my dear,” he said, walking to her. He lifted Helen in his arms, cradling her head to his chest and carrying her to the bedroom.

Mustang sat on the side of the bed, a nude Helen in his arms. He lowered his head to kiss each scar on her breast. Hands, rough with callouses from years of manual labor, ran across her thigh. The scent of her ambrosia filled his nostrils. He would make this good for her even if it killed him to not rut like a bull in heat. The draw to her was powerful. He wanted her and asking her to wait was simply him trying to prevent the inevitable. He’d give her everything she wanted because it was what she deserved.

“You are wrong, Helen,” he said, his lips finding hers, providing a gentle kiss. “You are more beautiful than you know, and I’m honored you asked me to be the gear to shift your life forward, to be here in this moment, and to share this intimacy with you. I will make it good for you. I will make this good for us.”

****

Louisville, Kentucky

Cherry paced the floor with one crutch and a cast on her foot. Helen should have been back by now. On the news feed, she saw where the women had been freed in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Although Helen had her Technician's phone, Cherry had the laptop. When she checked the account, the banking stated the assignment had been completed with a bonus payment for an additional high-end target. Those funds weren’t hers to divvy up, and Helen had earned the money. Cherry split the money into three accounts, one a high-yield money market, the second a working account, and the third an IRA. Helen was no longer broke or needed to be dependent upon Cherry or Slow formoney. She had over a hundred thousand new opportunities to live her life however suited her needs.

At a quarter past three in the afternoon, she heard the crunch of tires on gravel as the black F-150 pulled into the drive path, heading around back to the garages. Cherry hobbled to the kitchen and looked out the window above the sink as her cousin pulled in the shop. She watched the garage door come down, and then the side door opened as Helen walked out carrying the go bag over her shoulder.

Cherry spotted the change in Helen immediately. The steps were more confident. She wasn’t looking down when she walked, but her head was held high. The sway of her hips wasn’t downplayed as she moved. Before, Helen had intentionally hidden any femininity about herself. This Helen wasn’t hiding from anything or anyone.

Fear coursed through her, as she blinked several times, “What in the hell happened to her?”

A light knock came at the back door as Cherry hobbled over and opened it wide. Helen entered, and before she could stop herself, Cherry flung her body into Helen, holding her close. Tears she didn’t realize she’d been holding poured from her eyes, dampening the side of Helen’s face. She even planted a kiss on her temple, then her cheeks, squeezing her cousin tight.

“You’re safe. You’re home,” Cherry said. “I was so worried. I was so worried.”

“Hey, girl!” Helen said, pulling away. “I’m fine, Abi. I do however need to get Melody cleaned, as well as the mini.”

“Oh, okay,” Cherry said, stunned by the assuredness in Helen’s tone. “Do you want some tea?”

“Tea sounds good and maybe some cake if there is any left. I’m feeling kind of peckish,” Helen told her, coming inside the home and laying the weapons on the table.

Cherry was at a loss for words. Her cousin had a full four days of working as a Technician, and she was just as calm as if she’d been over to the museum to see the latest art exhibit. Slow was teaching Cherry to not rush things, and this was one of his teaching moments. She put on the kettle, pulling down a new pot she’d recently found at a thrift shop with matching cups and saucers. Last week at the local farmer’s market, a pineapple mango tea had caught her eye and was what she was making today.

“Let me lend you a hand with that,” Helen said, retrieving the gun cleaning kit from the go bag. “Ooh, there is enough cake left for me to get a slice. How is Naomi?”

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