The Kingmaker

I haul her over my shoulder and charge up the steps.

“Doc!” She bangs half-heartedly on my back, her giggles bouncing off the high ceilings. “Put me down!”

I take her through my bedroom and keep going to the bathroom.

/> “Gladly.” I set her on her feet, grab a towel and start drying her hair. We grin at each other, and I think she’s as happy with me as I am with her. She reaches for a towel and starts drying my hair, too. Our smiles fade. We drop the towels and start undressing each other, peeling away sodden clothes and kicking off shoes. I hastily discard her bra and panties and gently drag the towel over her nipples, like berries in the dark golden brown of her skin.

Her head drops back, and she leans into my hand, her moan acoustic in the large empty bathroom. I sit her on the counter so her legs dangle. I lower to the floor and kiss the high, delicate arch of each foot, then behind her knees. I press my lips in a straight line of kisses up her inner thighs to her pussy, lured by the heavy, intimate scent of her. I’m starved for it, biting the plump lips and sucking the bud tucked inside.

“Good grief, Nix,” I breathe against her thigh. “Your pussy is spoiling me for all others.”

She laughs, holding my head between her hands and running her fingers through my hair. When I glance up, deep affection floods her eyes. She puts her foot on my shoulder and gives me a shove, knocking me on my ass. She hops off the counter and sprints back into my bedroom, flopping onto the mattress and opening her legs. The laughter melts from her face leaving only brazen invitation. An invitation impossible for me to resist.

When I reach the bed, she rises to her knees and tugs my belt, the glance she gives me penetrative, starved and digging deep.

“I want you in my mouth, Doc.”

Not looking away or saying a word, I pull my pants and briefs down, freeing my cock. I guide her to the edge of the bed and over the side, pushing her onto her knees. I don’t know how long I’ve envisioned her this way, but it’s a fantasy I plan to fully indulge. I nod to the tiny space separating her lips from my dick. “Do it then.”

She lowers her head and those full lips wrap around me, taking as much down her throat as she can. I wrap her hair around my fist and press deeper until she gags just a little.

“Too much?” I rasp, not sure I’ll survive it if she takes even another inch.

She doesn’t look away, those nimbus-cloud eyes dark, and eases more of me in.

“Fuck.” I cup her jaw and caress the muscles in her throat as she starts working her mouth around me, a suction so perfect my vision goes blurry for a second. If I look at the way I disappear in her mouth, I’ll lose it down her throat, and I want this to last as long as humanly possible.

With my eyes closed, every other sense awakens. The mewling little sounds she makes, like a thirsty cat at a trough of cream. The way her nails dig into my thighs, little claws holding me still so she can get it just how she wants. The warm, wet brush of her tongue and the lining of her cheeks caressing my cock. It feels so good, like she peeled back the skin and is sucking my nerves.

“Nix, I’m gonna . . .”

I open my eyes and know it’s a lost cause. Her eyes are squeezed shut, and I’m so far down her throat, choking her just enough for tears to slip over her cheeks. The sight of her like that . . . I try to pull her mouth away in time, but she opens her eyes, stares at me and deliberately moves my hand, linking our fingers while she sucks and swallows. With my other hand, I press the back of her head, pushing in deeper and letting myself go, shedding all thought and giving in to an unbridled fucking of her mouth.

“Shit.” I can barely speak, and I come so hard, spilling down her throat, overflowing the sides, running down her neck. It’s the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen. She licks from base to crown, torturing me even more.

When she’s done, we crawl onto the bed. She hovers over me, kissing me, feeding me the salty taste lingering on her lips and coating the sweet interior of her mouth. Never breaking the tender kiss, she lies down beside me. Exhausted, we lay our heads on one pillow, twist our hands together between our chests, and in the tumble of sheets and rain-damp bodies, we fall asleep. And in my dreams, we make love all night.

18

Lennix

I’m there again, standing on a rise of rock overlooking the sacred grounds where my tribe has wed and danced and sung and mourned. We cluster at the edge of the cliff, watching the clearing. Mena, my father, Mr. Paul—everyone from my Sunrise Dance all stand with me. A gentle touch pushes my hair away from my face.

“Mama,” I whisper. My throat burns and she blurs in front of me through a scrim of tears. “I thought you were gone. They said you were gone.”

“No.” Mama’s eyes shimmer with tears, too. “Never. I’m always here, Lenn. Always with you.”

I reach for her, needing to hold her, to feel her solid and soft against me, but she disappears.

A sound forces my attention to the plains below. The trees, there moments before, are gone now and the land has been invaded by monstrous machines. They claw through the dirt, overturning clumps of it and shoving it aside. The bulldozer’s massive jaw scoops up the earth and an arm dangles over its row of steel teeth. The truck turns and drops its burden of soil and limbs to the ground. The body falls and rolls over, revealing the face. Lifeless eyes stare back at me through a veil of dark hair.

A low, keening scream builds from my belly and scrambles up my throat. “Mama!”

19

Maxim

I wake to the sound of Lennix’s terror and reach to turn on the bedside lamp. She kicks and strikes out. I put my arms around her and press her back to my chest.