Prey In her dream Hilary Scott was trapped in a room with many doors and windows. She knew she had to get somewhere important,to free herself from a faceless fearful presence that beset her. But somehow, she knew, she was doomed to taking the wrong path. And the doors were wrong; One would lead her to a maze; One would take her back the way she had came, and so on, for every one of them. Beginning to panic, she spun around in the room. Surprise him,she thought. Do something he would not expect. Something completely different. Eyeing a tall window, she took in its long, velvet drapes, spilling chaotically over the floor base. Steeling her resolve, Hilary ran to the window and flung open the French doors. Beneath her a beautiful fountain splashed musically among marble statuary. She could smell humidity of a greenhouse: Looking up, she could see that the ceiling was composed of panes of green glass. Delicate tendrils of ivy swayed gently in the sweet air. Somewhere a parrot cawed. Quick, now,Hilary told herself.Don't let him see you thinking about it. Just go!Everything will be all right. There's nothing that can follow you down there, and once you reach the floor you'll be safe among the statues. She grabbed the long drapes firmly, took a deep breath, and jump into space. Expecting to slide down the drapes to safety, she found herself unable to let them go, and instead she swung back to the wall below the window. In the terrible logic of dreams the drapes now pinned her to the wall, imprisoning her between the soft material and the hard, cold wall. The more she struggled, the more tightly she was held immobile. Now she couldn't move her arms at all. A panicked frustration welled up inside her. She had to free herself! In trying to escape, she had bound herself more firmly than she would have been had she allowed herself to be captured in the first place. Fear and self-reproach made her body tense and shake. Abandoning herself to her terror, she tried to scream, but nothing came out of her mouth. She began to flail violently, doing whatever she could to get out of the clutches of the soft curtains that held against the immobile wall beside her. She wanted to cry. Suddenly something hit Hilary's face, and she jolted awake. Her heart pounding fast and hard, sweating, her mouth dry, she found herself wrapped in a blanket smash against the wall. At first, she had no idea where she was, but anything was better than her dream prison. She slowly loosened her grip on the blanket and relax. She realized that there was a hand resting on her head. Hilary's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion until she realized that hand was supposed to be there in her bed. As she woke up fully, she also realized where she was. In her new apartment, in her bedroom. It was a small bedroom. Hilary rolled over carefully to see Tony sleeping beside her. Ever so slowly she moved his arm so that it was resting along his side. He was sprawled out over the bed. Tony's head twitched and he rubbed his nose against his pillow, but he didn't wake up. Stifling a giggle, Hilary watched him, with no shirt on and only a sheet covering him from the waist down, as he slept. He looked adorable, cuddle up in the light blue sheets. She could just lie around and run her hand over his perfect chest for hours. He must have pushed her against the wall and she gotten tangled in the flannel blanket. Her heart slowed to a normal pace as she began to calm down. Putting her hand to her damp forehead, she reviewed the night's events and groaned inwardly. Moving gently so she wouldn't wake Tony, Hilary pulled her body into a half sitting position. Then, with a gymnast's dexterity, she eased one leg over his prone figure to the floor and shifting her weigh slowly, raised herself to her feet beside the bed. Her naked skin gathered goose bumps in the dawn chill. Outside the window the early light played among the buildings of East Lansing, Michigan. The campus of Michigan State University was deserted, but the birds were flitting from tree to tree, and squirrels were dashing among the bushes, dodging the papers that swirled in the breeze. Hilary reached for her T-shirt and pulled it over her head. She couln't find her underwear. After careful search of the floor she reasoned that they must still be in the bed, where Tony had pulled them from her the previous night. With chargin Hilary searched with her hand around the sheet that lay in a jumble at the foot of the bed. She had meant to keep clothed and to leave after a little while. But it was a special occasion and his persistent tugging at her shirt had convinced her what the harm? to remove it. His delicate touch on her breast, first through her bra and then under it had persuaded her to let him take it off. But she was going to keep her pants on! Nothing blow the waist! So much for good intentions. She had enjoyed his touch, but that wasn't the main force behind her acceptance. It was more the security she felt in giving him what he wanted. When he touched her thighs and then more intimately,first through her pants and then under her waistband and then daringly, seductively, unbuttoning and unzipping, she had felt a sweet delight and comfort in the very fact of his desire for her. The slowness with which he moved, the way he continued to kiss and caress her, constantly providing her with pleasure and warmth. The strangeness between them the fact that they hadn't really talk about much of anything except for superficial things, faded into obscurity as their physical communication brought them closer and closer on a nonverbal level, a plane of physical intimacy. And as they lay close together, Hilary had come to feel such a deep affection for Tony, such a placid sense of ease and lassitude, that she had just come to accept him as he was, to accept what was between them as meaningful, as right as true. When he lay on top of her she took such pleasure from his pleasure, such sweet delight happiness she knew she could give him, that she wanted him to go further, wanted to take him all the way. She wanted him; there was no doubt about it. It wasn't like she was in a loss of conscience. At some point, he was giving her a chance to say that that was enough, she had decided, had really consciously decided that she wanted him completely. She had taken his chin in her hands and asked if he had a condom and of course he had. Hilary finally located her underwear among the twists of the discarded sheet. If she could only get dressed quietly, she could get out of there before he woke up. She would leave a little note and get herself out of there to thing about what she had done and what she was going to doe next. "Whaddaya doin'?" Tony's unexpected words froze Hilary in place. She turned and smiled at him. "I have to go." she said putting on her shirt and buttoning it up. Tony propped himself on one elbow and reached his other arm out toward the foot of the bed, where Hilary was standing. He looked at her. She looked sexy in just her underwear, shirt, and socks. "No, don't," he whined, flicking his finger to beckon her toward him. Hilary pursed her lips jokingly. "What am I, your servant?" she asked putting her hands on her hips. A wide grin spread across Tony's face, making Hilary's heart flutter like a moth. "May you are." He said. Before Hilary could move a muscle Tony lunged for the end of the bed and grabbed her wrist. Hilary squealed as he pulled her back down with him, cradling her in his arms. "You're not going anywhere," he said with a grin. He brought his lips to hers and kissed her deeply. Hilary lost herself for a moment letting him run his rough fingertips down her bare arms. Finally she pulled back and he kneeled in front of her. "No, I have to go," she said rubbing her nose against his. "No, if you're my slave, you have to do what I tell you. And I'm ordering you to stay." He brought his lips toward her again, but Hilary ducked away at the last minute and taking him by surprise, managed to break away from his arms. She pushed her hair back from his face. "C'mon, Hil." Tony said patting his pillow and looking up at her with puppy dog eyes. "Don't leave me here all alone." He reached out and took her hand. Against her conscience's will, Hilary inched closer to the bed never taking her eyes from Tony's. He brought her palms to his face and kissed them gently. "I'll make it worth your while," he whispered in his deep baritone voice. Hilary closed her eyes as he trailed kisses up her arms. She didn't even realize she was leaning toward him until she felt his mouth softly caressing her neck. Unexpectedly, Hilary steps back from him. She leans in toward him. "You already have made it worth my while. I'm sorry but I have to go." She whispered Tony let out a groan of frustration as he falls back into bed landing face down. He punches the mattress three times. "I'll call you later." Hilary said as she grabbed her purse and exited out the door. Disappointed and frustrated Tony finally gets up and switches on the television. "This morning we have mostly cloudy skies, with a ninety percent chance of rain this afternoon," the TV weatherman chirped. "It's the perfect day to stay in bed if you can." "I agree completely." Tony said to the TV as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. But he decided to get anyway and go to the bathroom. Thanks, Stormy," the anchorwoman said. "Now for today's top story- a second woman has been found stabbed to death, this time in a secluded area less than a half a mile from the Gang buster Saloon, where she was last seen. So far, the police have no leads. They're asking anyone with any information at all pertaining to the case please contact them immediately." the newswoman said. * * * © Copyright 2002 SamMalone
Copyright © 2002 Sam Malone |