Page 6 of Skin
But I can’t. I don’t know what going with him would mean. Andthat- that is what terrifies me the most.
“I’ll figure it out.”
I shove the last of my personal items into my duffel bag and slam the locker closed behind me, shouldering past the man and my boss.
It won’t be easy. It will bebeyondnot easy. I have bills -seriousbills. Bills that remind me of things I don’t want to think of. Things that I’m reminded me of every single day, things that I wouldn’t be able to put out of my mind even if I didn’t have these bills.
The bills are just the knife in my gut. The fact that they’re late and I have debt collectors calling me every day asking me to remit payment is the turning of the blade.
But I will figure this out. I have no other choice.
I get outside and hesitate for a moment, huddling beneath the old, rusted metal awning over the front door. The afternoon’s snow turned into freezing rain and has now transitioned back into ice. My hot breath is all around me, hanging in the air.
Taking a few crunching steps toward the corner, I can see Canal Street in the distance. Cars are moving slowly, cabs weave left and right through them, aggressively finding their way, groping along the wide thoroughfare.
Then the lights in the distance slip up through my field of vision. The snowy ground rises to meet me as I slide and fall, landing, somehow, on an ankle and a knee.
“Shit,” I mutter. Nothing hurts. It’s too cold to hurt. Maybe my pride is wounded, but no one saw me at least.
“Avery!”
In my large puffy coat, and with the inch of flaky snow and inch of ice beneath me, it’s hard to get myself up, though I try to regain a standing position quickly. I can only get to my knees before I look over my shoulder and see that man from the shop jogging up beside me quickly.
“Don’t run,” I say, “you’re liable to fall yourself.”
He comes up next to me, slipping one arm under mine, raising me to my feetsoeasily.
“You’re okay, Avery,” he says, brushing the snow off my coat. I look up at him, realizing I’m still holding onto him tight.
His lips perk up into a smile and a small dimple forms in the cleft of his chin.
“Thank you,” I say. “Thanks.”
“The pleasure is mine alone,” he says. I feel my heart flutter as my teeth come down on my bottom lip, and I bite down a little harder than I probably should. But I can’t help myself.
“My car is back there,” he says, pointing over his shoulder.
“Oh, I...I wasn’t looking for a cab,” I reply, pulling my hat down over my ears. The idea of being alone in a dark, enclosed space with him is tempting. It’ssotempting. I imagine sitting next to him, his scent filling my nose, my lungs, my brain. His fingers gliding across the steering wheel. My mouth waters at the thought and I feel my pussy clench up,empty and...strangelywanting. “I was heading for the subway. I can’t afford a cab. You broke down in detail back there how screwed I am, remember?”
“That’s why you’re coming with me.”
“I really don’t need a ride from you,” I say, though my body is betraying my true desires. I won’t let him see, though. I won’t let on that I’m aching for him. Burning. My skin feels cold from the air around it, but inside, I am filled with desire. Heat. It’s almost like pain. I can feel my clit beginning to become engorged, and part of mewantshim to know. But I won’t let him.
“It wasn’t a question,” he says, taking me gently, putting his strong fingers around my upper arm and walking me back down the street. “He won’t come looking for anything else from you, or at least he shouldn’t. If he tries anything, he knows what will happen to him.”
“What…what the hell are you talking about?”
My feet feel light as I follow him. I’m not walking as much as I’m gliding, being moved by the strong, magnetic pull ofhim.
“Just get inside,” he says.
Hecommands.
I look at the car he’s brought me to. I almost didn’t realize it at first, but it’s actually a limo, all black, with tinted windows.
Ialmostwant to protest. It feels dangerous, but I don’t feel threatened. It’s like danger is all around me, but I’m insulated from it, somehow. Protected, in some way.
He opens the back door of the car and I slide in, the supple black leather gliding along my coat, inviting me in warmly. Inside, the car smells like him and a dark sandalwood cologne. It is panty-droppingly sexy in here, and I begin to feel a slight trickle between my legs as I swallow hard. He slides into the seat beside me and shuts the door.
