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#eternal dreamland
paintballdays · 3 months
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Fading the Day
Walking away Into shades of grey Walking away Light fades to night I imagine you there Never turning to see Even as the horizon Blends earth and sky A dream was all we had And now even that has been taken from us Nothing is real Not earth or sky The nothing is real Not you or I Nothing I feel Makes any sense The nothing I feel Brings back the light
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samantabrzozowska · 2 years
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“Smile with your heart to my”
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acourtcfmuses · 7 months
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Drafts: 25 5 Asks: 337 (90% are Skye ahaha, she basically owns my inbox for the foreseeable.)
Queue: 302 (posting at 15 per day currently)
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It may be 9pm, but I'm not working tomorrow, so I'm gonna go for a quick nap as I've not been feeling great today and then hopeful get those final 5 done and onto meme's!
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titansarmy · 10 months
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and if i say canon adjacent, ivy inspired jasonxnico fic. i can’t stop you putting roots in my dreamland.
#I WISH TO KNOW THE FATAL FLAW THAT MAKES LONG TO BE MAGINIFICENTLY CURSED is SOOOOO jason coded tbh#anyways. look away if you're immediately put away by the infidelity trope bc i will brush over it#i'm thinking. jason is dead and nico one day just NEEDS to talk/see jason for whatever reason#and he goes to the underworld looking for him and he finds him#and he doesn't propose taking him out because jason wouldn't want that#but they talk#and then nico leaves and then he comes back and then it becomes like a thing#and they start getting closer and closer and the line between the living and the dead is already so blurred for nico but now with jason in#the mix they're basically invisible#and jason is also in a position where he's like?? nico is NOT spending his days with the LIVING because of ME! but then he doesn't want him#to go. eternally sscrficial jason grace letting himself be selfish for once but being in constant struggle because of this#and nico is also like. i want him back i can take him back but i won't do that i respects choices.#and anyways along all of this they're slowly falling in love/realising there was something there that went unaddressed#and there's this lingering sadness surrounding it because if they had just had time maybe maybe MAYBE they would have realised#OHHH its angsty#and i said it borders the infidelity trope because will is just there. 🕴#and technically nico is happy with will. he's ok. but he can't stop jason putting roots in his dreamland.#and because if i would write this (i won't) i would make jasonico as maybe at least crossing into emotional affair territory :)#idk what the conclusion would be? who you think is more insane? would jason accept going back or would nico need to force himself to let go?#bc by not doing so he's also keeping jason from rebirth and/or moving on. which not fair either.#tbh i think  the main arc should be jason wanting to live. HE goes to hades to APPEAL for his release. nico is just the support. also a bit#of nepotism i guess take hades' son to appeal to hades :)#THERE'S SO MANY TYPOS HERE OMFG and nothing makes sense#let me get my thoughts straight and i'll type it nicely jesus fucking christ
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adevblog · 1 year
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Dreamland Circus Characters and lines from songs I associate them with part 5: Beanie Blocker
Dreamland circus is a Visual Novel im working on, i havent drawn the sprites yet but I do have the characters made in a picrew. (this one and this one to be exact)
Beanie Blocker, he/they, acrobat, gay disaster, Windy's boyfriend
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"But honestly I think you are the coolest
And you dont even mind that I'm a broken lost soul
And I dont wanna sound all sweet and sappy
But all I wanna do is make you happy
You know"
(Eternity With You)
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artidoesthings · 2 years
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Ok i know i drew the humanoid form of the star rod looking very peaceful. but they are very much NOT.
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horromcom · 2 years
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my god. i need to give ryan new names for the coma seasons too
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deepredradio · 1 year
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Interview mit Huan Vu 2022
Interview mit Huan Vu 2022
Im Zuge des Hard:line Film Festivals nutze ich die Gunst der Stunde und hielt Huan Vu mal wieder ein Mikrofon unter die Nase. Eigentlich waren nur 30 Minuten angedacht. Am Ende waren es Stunden, von denen ihr leider nur 90 Minuten hören könnt, da mich und mein Zoom ein Technikgremlin heimsuchte. Wie dem auch sei. Ihr bekommt einen “relativ aktuellen” Einblick in die Entwicklung bzw. den Status…
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loveandfictionforall · 7 months
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Maybe some sleep headcanons with Astarion? (yea i heard elves don't need sleep but just imagine 👉👈)
Sleeping with Astarion (not like you think!)
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Laying together with Astarion after a long, hard day was a different kind of bliss for you
Mostly you stayed awake until everyone fell asleep because then Astarion would finally move. He would crawl out of his bedroll to slowly walk towards you, quietly laying down behind you.
And every god damn time a sigh escaped your lips as you could feel his cooler body sliding in your bedroll behind you.
"Hi.", you quietly murmured as you felt a breath tickling your sensitive era. Even though you couldn't see him, you could feel his smirk as he gave your ear a quick kiss, noticing your shudder.
His arm would circle around your middle part, pulling you closer to him.
It was a nice contrast. The cool body of Astarion behind you, while the fire before you warmed your face.
"Everything alright?", a quiet question but both of you did not answer to that. It was after all another day without process.
You really wanted to talk with him. It was always different, when you two were finally alone and you could talk about topics you didn't mention in the presence of the others.
But alas, your eyes grew heavy as his slender fingers stroked your stomach after they sneaked under your loose shirt.
"Sleep, my darling. I will watch.", he reassured you, his deep, drawling voice lulling you into dreamland.
Please let it be eternity with him.
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intogyu · 2 months
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midnight ice cream date with wonu <3
In the dead of night, when most sane people were in dreamland, Wonwoo and you found yourselves entangled in the sheets, rudely awakened by a growling stomach—probably a result of an unsanctioned late-night rendezvous between hunger and insomnia.
In a synchronized act that would make any heist duo proud, you and Wonwoo tiptoed through the dark apartment, navigating with ninja-like precision. The kitchen beckoned, and there was no resisting its call.
But lo and behold, as you opened the fridge, a clandestine scene unfolded: Wonwoo, the ice cream bandit, caught red-handed, spoon deep in the tub as if he'd just discovered the secret to eternal happiness.
You couldn't help but snicker, "Caught in the act, Wonwoo? Midnight ice cream vigilante strikes again?"
He looked up with a mix of surprise and amusement, "I plead guilty. The freezer just called my name, and who am I to ignore its sweet whispers?"
Without missing a beat, you grabbed a spoon and joined the covert operation. "Well, well, partner in crime, let's make this a caper to remember."
As you both sat on the kitchen floor, indulging in your creamy loot, Wonwoo grinned, "We should start a covert dessert club—meeting only at ungodly hours."
You raised an eyebrow, "And the first rule of the club? Ice cream is the only acceptable contraband?"
"Exactly," he declared, a twinkle in his eye. "Under the moonlight, our spoons shall dance."
The kitchen echoed with laughter as you polished off the tub, leaving no trace of the midnight caper. Back in bed, you exchanged conspiratorial glances, knowing that the world was oblivious to the hilariously sweet escapade you'd just pulled off.
As you drifted back to sleep, you couldn't help but think that love, laughter, and stolen ice cream in the dead of night made for the perfect recipe for a relationship that was equal parts witty and sweet.
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a/n : if you read it, do reblog it.
INTOGYU 2024. Please do not copy, repost or translate any of my works.
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vernons-girl · 1 month
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hugs and kisses | boo seungkwan
fluff,wc:0.4k
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It has been a long day, you were tired and all you wanted to do was going straight to bed and sleep for at least 8 hours because you were exhausted to say the least. You did not get much sleep and barely got any break to have a good enough rest through the all day which resulted in you being in a total zombie mode only barely able to execute the tasks you were assigned.
As you were walking home, the only think you thought about was your bed, the soft pillows and that thick warm comforter patiently waiting for you to bury yourself under.
Your plan was set to be successful but what you did not expect was for your boyfriend Seungkwan to be waiting for you on the other side of the door. You only noticed his presence when you looked up after taking your shoes off as he took in your exhausted state by one simple glance at your face that he still found incredibly charming despite the dark circles and tiredness.
“Hey love” he gently said, a small yet warm smile drawn on his face, “Hey kwanie,” you replied, “What are you doing here ?” you asked, kind of confused because he didn’t told you he would be coming over as he would usually do, “‘wanted to spend some time with you, is all.” he confessed which made your heart swell with love and adoration which lead to an unexpected outpouring of emotions that created small tears in your eyes as you offered him a tired smile in return.
Seungkwan was quick to react as he immediately pulled you in his embrace, one of his hand moving in comforting ups and downs movement along the expanse of your back and one coming at the back of your head to smoothly let it rest against his shoulder before softly placing kisses at the top of your head.
You two stayed like this for what felt like hours and gosh you wish you could spend eternity like this in his arms, man did this feel like home.
“Let’s get you in bed now.” Seungkwan broke the comforting silence, he kissed your forehead one last time before taking your hand in his and leading you to the bedroom. He helped you out of your clothes, helped you cleanse your face a little and get your hair out of your face and finally dressed you in your favorite and comfiest pyjama set.
You slid in bed waiting for him to join you, which he did after a few minutes, pulling the cover atop of the both of you he once again hugged you, keeping you as close to him as possible with a firm hand at the small of your back and the other still stroking your head while you slowly drifted off to dreamland in your lover’s arms.
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paintballdays · 1 year
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On scraps of paper
That guy holding the gun
That guy isn’t me
That guy sitting alone
Slouching over in the back corner booth
No that guy isn’t me
Licking his lips
Remember the taste
Blackpowder and gun oil
Life going around
Tracing circles at the end of the trap line
Start to finish
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samantabrzozowska · 1 year
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“You can’t explain the love of God, 
you don’t see it sometimes,
but you feel it deeply in your heart.”
With love Sam
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stxneflxwers · 4 months
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sleepy tired.
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⋯⁂ summary. furina spots you napping, and suddenly she's feeling awfully sleepy herself...
⋯⁂ a/n. short and sweet, barely edited, etc. yes im one sleepy bastard! also id give furina so many goddamn cuddles. cmere, furina, we can nap for eternity together
⋯⁂ characters. furina. gn reader.
⋯⁂ cw. fluff. physical affection (cuddles). reader is a massive sleepyhead. no dialogue. reader and furina's relationship can be romantic or platonic.
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furina.
you've always struggled with constant sleepiness throughout the day (even if you stay up all night, you'll be tired then, too.) you're unsure of the exact cause of this excessive fatigue, but it can become agitating very quickly sometimes.
and some days...
you're simply too tired to care. like today.
you had full intentions of enjoying this tea party with furina—it's a treasured activity of hers after all. but the moment she got up to grab the fresh, piping hot tea from the kitchen—you start dozing off, much to your (subconscious) dismay.
the moment she was gone for a little too long, your head sinks back against the head of the sofa and your body slumps—falling into dreamland rather quickly. and when furina comes back, she gasps softly at seeing you snoozing already.
she sets the porcelain teapot down on the coffee table that rests in front of your buckled knees. she glances down at the cakes on the same surface, pouting a bit that you aren't awake to enjoy them right now. but, she ultimately brushes the thought off.
she tiptoes up to you, her steps quiet as a mouse. she leans down a bit to get a better look at your face, noting how peaceful you look—your features completely relaxed, even your mouth parting a little. she smiles wide at the view.
she then sits down next to you; and despite the rustling of the sofa, you still don't wake up. she curls up next to you, leaning against your arm. her eyes flutter shut and a deep, longing sigh drifts from her lips.
she thinks she'll have a nap, too.
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crazyforbarbatos · 10 months
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Obey Me Demons: You hold their pinkie instead of their hand
Warning: None, it’s fluffy!
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Notices right away but doesn’t say anything. He just kinda smiles to himself. For you to feel so comfortable with him to just grab his pinkie, he was relieved. Honestly he wanted to parade you around to make sure everyone saw that you only did such thing with him. He especially loved when you grabbed his pinkie before you’d lean up on your tip-toes to kiss him.
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He’d pout because he has a whole hand for you to hold yet you’re only holding his pinkie. So what if it was kinda cute? He wasn’t going to say that out loud or anything. Instead, he’d just complain. But seriously, you can hold his pinkie as much as you want. But don’t even think of doing this with any of his brothers or anyone else (especially not that shady sorcerer).
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Hand holding made him super nervous and embarrassed, so you’d hold onto his pinkie instead. Sure he blushed like a tomato and his mind played like a pinball machine, bumping from thought to thought, but he enjoyed it. Holding his pinkie like this, was very cute. While he did eventually let you hold his hand, your pinkie-holding was just more intimate and special to him.
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Honestly he didn’t notice as it felt so natural to him. However, when one of his brothers would mention it to him, he couldn’t help but think about it when it happens. When you’re nervous or just want some contact with him, you’ll just grab his pinkie. He loved it and would actively make sure that his pinkie was accessible to you.
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He would adore it! Absolutely he just falls head over heels for you (than he already does?) for you when you do it. Tells you how cute you are and how much he loves when you hold his pinkie. He would also find it extremely cute if every so often you’d add another finger to your hold so that eventually you just end up holding his hand.
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Honestly he’s not too surprise when you start grabbing his pinkie instead of his hand. Both of you always linked your pinkies together anyways when you walked together. And this upgrade to holding his pinkie happened a little bit before you started dating. And he couldn’t deny that it was cute.
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Honestly this was a habit that you had when you snuggle up with him in the attic for naps. In your sleepy state, you’d always find his hand and grab his pinkie as if to keep you connected so you’d stay together even in dreamland. When he’d first wake to see you holding his pinkie, he’s smile and kiss your forehead before going back to sleep.
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He absolutely melts when you hold his pinkie. He just can’t get over that your hand is so much smaller than his. All human hands were smaller than his, but that was besides the point. Your hand was perfect and it fit so well with his. He would absolutely get lost in thought about how perfect you were for him. He has serious heart eyes for you.
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Feeling a bit shy about it, you asked him if you could. While he was confused why you would want to hold it, he’d allow it. And he really liked the small bit of contact with you. It showed that you could trust him, after all. It was common for you to grab his pinkie when you were excited or scared or nervous. However as your demon, he loved it when you tugged him towards you to get a last minute kiss before he had to accompany Lord Diavolo.
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The first time you did it, he would be pretty confused. What were you doing holding just his pinkie? Okay. He’ll allow it just this once. Except his one-time only pass of this, extended to an eternal pass. If you don’t hold his pinkie right away, he’ll simply move it closer to your hand so that you’d be tempted.
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bettyfrommars · 10 months
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I'm on Fire//older!biker!Eddie Munson x artist!fem!Reader//90's au//Part 8
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🚨18+Only, smut, oral (f receiving), fingering, angst, biker!Eddie, biker!Steve, sexual innuendos, alcohol consumption, mention of financial troubles, falling in love, heartache, talk of commitment, talk of monogamy, casual sex, implied cheating, sex with someone other than reader, betrayal, having a stalker, biker gang, swearing, exotic dancers, reader wears dress and heels, reader wears red lipstick. Word count: 9.5k
Summary: In part 8, you start your new job as a cocktail server at the Velvet Hammer, and a few new characters are introduced. You and Eddie are officially falling for each other, while Eddie recalls a relationship from his past that left him shattered. A jealous ex-lover continues to try and rip the two of you apart, and this time, she might have succeeded. 90's playlist here
Series Masterlist
A/N: I'm not sure if it's that time of the month or what, but I cried twice while writing this🙃and not during the parts you might think. Rest assured that biker!Eddie and Reader are endgame. I love being in this world with y'all, and I always look forward to hearing from you! xoxox
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I'm on Fire//Part 8: From Here to Eternity
Day 3 of not hearing from Eddie, and you found yourself staring off into space, trying to calculate what could have possibly gone wrong. The idea that this was the kind of man that he was, that he would just ghost you without a word made your stomach sick. You thought you had developed better radar than that. You’d been listening to way too much Fiona Apple over the past 12 hours, but nevertheless---it was Thursday and you had to get ready for your first shift at your new job.
Shana, the hiring manager at the Velvet Hammer, let you know the dress code and a few ideas for what you should wear. It had to be skimpy and sexy and classy all at once, and at first you worried you might need to go shopping, but then Katie pulled this black latex halter top dress with a zipper down the front out of nowhere, and it didn’t fit her, so she assumed it belonged to her ex. Sure, it was not your signature style, but it gave you a certain Femme Fatale air of confidence that you hadn’t possessed before you put it on. Some of the servers got all decked out in creative makeup and wigs, but you decided to tackle your first day with caution.
You went over and checked the message machine in the living room again on your way out, just in case a call came through in the past 20 minutes that you miraculously did not hear, but the digital red number blinked a big, fat “0”.
Training at the Velvet Hammer was only about an hour long, and you met Jackie, the cocktail server you would be shadowing that night. She raised her eyebrow and gave you a bored look as she chewed her gum, hooking one of her long fingernails into the zipper of your latex dress to pull it down, exposing more of your skin. “That’s better,” she gave an extended wink. “We need those good tips tonight.”
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Meanwhile, Eddie spent the morning introducing the new office assistant around that he hired from a temp service, but then he had to leave to run a tow while Wayne showed her the ropes. The old man hated the suggestion that he needed help, but Eddie basically told him he had no choice. From Here to Eternity by Iron Maiden came on while he was en route back to the garage and his chest clenched, because for some reason, it made him think about you.
He never stopped thinking about you, really. But, if he kept busy with work, and drowned out the voices in his head with loud music and distractions, he could push aside the knowledge that he was already falling for you, and simultaneously come to terms with the fact that he was no good for you, and that you would be better off without him. The nights were the worst. He was back to getting only 3 or 4 hours of sleep, feeling like he had been spoiled on those occasions over the phone when he was lulled to dreamland by the sound of your sweet voice.
He knew in his gut that he was doing the wrong thing by not saying anything to you, but his denial was overshadowing his logic.
The suspension on the tow truck, or lack thereof, made him bounce as he came up onto the sidewalk lip to the driveway of the garage, and it somehow jarred his memory to the fact that your first day at the Velvet Hammer was tonight. He almost barreled right into the back of a car pulling out from one of the parking spots and had to slam on his breaks; he was becoming a hazard to everyone’s health, especially his own.
He needed to get his head on straight.
Fuck it, he needed to see you again.
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You were bummed to find out that Steve was tattooing at the shop, and not working the door that night, but the bouncer replacing him was also a biker who went by the nickname Thumper. He was stocky with big arms, a bald head, and a beard down to his chest. He called you darlin’ when he introduced himself to you.
“I’ll keep my eye on you girls,” Thumper reminded you and Jackie. “But be sure to come and get me if anyone give you any trouble.”
Tall, curvaceous Jackie rested her elbow on Thumper’s shoulder and leaned against him. “Thumper here tossed a guy out in the street for staring at me for too long once. He doesn’t play.”
“Ogling,” Thumper corrected. “The dude was ogling you, and if they’re gonna sit and get a free show to jerk off to later, they better be leaving decent tips for you ladies.”
Outside, there came the unmistakable growl of a gang of choppers coming up the street, and you excused yourself from the conversation to peek around the doorway. A group of Coffin Kings slowed down in front of the Velvet Hammer to acknowledge Thumper with a lift of their chins before speeding along to their destination, but none of them were Eddie.
The DJ played Thunder Kiss ‘65 by White Zombie an hour or so later as a purple and orange sunset blossomed over the mountains and the place started to fill up. A beautiful girl with a baby pink bob of hair got up on one of the stages with a pole and stated to work her magic while you carried a tray of drinks over to a table of four. The Velvet Hammer dancers never went completely topless, but they did strip down to tiny bikini sets that were plenty revealing, and their dance moves were seductively choreographed. The one with the pink bob had on finger-less, fishnet gloves, and a big tattoo on her thigh that you couldn’t quite make out.
You walked away as soon as you set the drinks down for the table, and Jackie snatched your arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked with a forced smile, talking without moving her lips.
You were genuinely confused, wondering if you somehow messed up on the drink order. “Um, nowhere, just--” you figured you’d get busy filling napkins and straws or something while you waited for more customers to come in.
Jackie pulled you to the side, bending close to your ear so that she wouldn’t have to shout over the music. “Part of the job is to socialize with the customers, honey, make them feel relaxed. Flirt with them, laugh at their jokes even when they are lame as hell,” she checked over her shoulder and smiled at the men at the table in question. “The more they think you’re actually interested, the bigger the tip, usually.”
You were nodding, taking the information in, wanting to do your job correctly. You’d been working in customer service in one way or another since you were a teenager, but, damn, you were horrible at faking interested or forcing conversation with guys you didn’t want to talk to. You hoped it was a skill that you could pick up from Jackie, because she was a magician at it.
You followed her back to the table so that she could introduce you to the group. It was four men, all in business suits, loosening their ties as they greeted you. They were a little older, ages ranging from 35 to 50, and the one who looked like he might be the oldest with a thick head of salt n’ pepper hair made eye contact with you and said he recognized you from somewhere.
God, the last thing you wanted was for a patron to recognize you from the gallery, that would be the worst.
“Probably from here?” You said with a lilt in your voice, trying to mask your bluff, hoping Jackie wouldn’t blurt out that it was your first day.
“No, I don’t think so,” he squinted, sitting back in his chair as he palmed his drink. “I’ve never been here before, so it couldn’t be that. But, I’m really good with faces, especially when one is as beautiful as yours.”
The forward compliment made you uncomfortable and you tucked your chin. He was a handsome older man, you couldn’t deny that. His eyes were such an intense blue, they were almost white, and you could tell from the way his shoulders fit in this suit jacket that he was in good shape and took care of himself. His friends were looking you up and down, and you could almost hear their internal lewd thoughts, but the older man—his name was John—kept polite eye contact with you as you talked. The watch he had on alone was worth at least a couple grand, and they all smelled like they were made of money.
But, none of them were Eddie, and so your banter felt particularly forced.
Thankfully, another group of customers came in and you excused yourself to follow Jackie over to the next table, wobbling for a moment in your heels before recovering quickly by bracing your hand on the back of a chair.
Later, just as John was leaving, a guy celebrating his 21st birthday had one too many tequila shots and tried to climb onto the stage, but his migration was interrupted by Thumper, who charged over to clam a big, meaty hand on his shoulder and remind him of the rules in a way that made the guys face go pale as he plopped back down into his seat.
You were standing at the bar with your back to John, but he came up behind you and touched your elbow. When you turned around to meet his gaze, he pressed some cash into your palm and said, “this is for you,” with a dimple and a wink, before heading out.
The rest of the group collectively left just as much of a tip on the table for Jackie. “A c-note tip on your first day?” She said with a shake of her head and a snort. “Sorry, but I kinda hate you right now.”
“Who was that John guy?” You whispered across the table to her as the two of you bussed the empty glasses.
“I have no idea,” Jackie shrugged. “His friends come in once in a while, but I’ve never seen that sexy DILF before. He had on a wedding ring, but most of the dudes who come in here do. It never keeps them from making a play.”
As the night progressed, there were eventually two girls dancing, one on each stage at opposite ends of the room. Jackie took her 15 minute break to go out into the alley for a smoke while you kept an eye on your tables. The dancers started a routine to Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth, and just when you had managed to get in a decent five minutes without Eddie on the brain, that song brought it all crashing back. You were at the far end of the bar, and when you glanced up to see who was coming in the front door---there he stood in the flesh, as if on cue: Edward Munson.
You blinked a few times, certain that your eyes were playing tricks on you and it was just someone who merely resembled Eddie, like a mirage appearing in the desert after you hadn’t had a sip of water in days. His muscular frame took up space in the doorway, wearing his black leather jacket, and his hair tied back to expose the two small silver hoops in his ear. He finished shaking Thumper’s hand, and then his eyes found yours, and the hint of a smile quivered on his lips. His gaze shifted around the room, taking in everyone in your vicinity, before they returned to you and hovered there.
A giddy breath hitched in your chest as you mirrored his reflexive grin, wholly unable to mask how happy you were to see him. But then, you remembered that this gorgeous dickhead is the one who selfishly left you in the wind for the past 3 days, and with a dramatic flourish of the tray in your hand, you spun on your heel to head in the other direction to check on some patrons near the stage.
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Eddie sat on his chopper with his boots planted wide on the pavement while he smoked a cigarette and stared at the red neon above the door to the Velvet Hammer. The decision to stay away had been to keep you out of Charlene’s cross hairs; to keep you from taking the brunt of this dark, underbelly of a life he had established for himself. As it turns out, staying away from you was too much torture for his raggedy old heart to bear, and that was saying a lot, considering the amount of shit he’d gone through in his life.
He indulged in long drags, sucking in his cheeks, watching people come and go out of the bar, wondering how you would react to him just popping in after days of silence. You knew he didn’t like talking on the phone, and besides---he needed to see your face. There was so much emotion a blind phone conversation could never capture; a lowering of the eyes or a worried brow. He needed to smell you, touch you, and taste your lips; he craved it in the deep corners of his cobwebbed soul.
If there was one thing about Eddie, he was patient when it came to matters of the heart. Matters of his dick were a different story, clearly, but when it came to those rare times in his life when he saw someone as a potential partner, he couldn't just dive in with reckless abandon; he wasn’t Steve. When Eddie loved someone, he handed over his entire heart: all of his loyalty, all of his trust, everything he owned---and that kind of vulnerability was not something he’d been open to feeling for what felt like an eternity.
There had been a woman who was very special to him once, years before you, and it ended with Eddie being hauled off to jail for beating the guy she was cheating on him with to a pulp. He bought a house and moved her in with him; he had a whole lifetime together with her planned in his head. But, there had been clear signs that it was never going to work, including the tiny detail that she never really loved him. Sure, she loved his image, the fact that he was in a band, the way he protected her, but he never felt like he could really be himself around her. He always felt tense and worried, like everything he did would never be enough.
He’d asked himself a million times since then what made him fall in love with her, and the most obvious answer what that he didn’t really know how love was supposed to feel at the time. His whole life, it felt like people were always leaving him, like he was always begging to be noticed and loved, and so her often cold disregard of him felt like familiar territory. Then, one day he comes home early from an overnight run with the Kings to find her taking it doggy style in their bed from this guitarist that Eddie had always considered a friend.
For months, she begged to come back, for him to forgive her, but once Eddie shuts a door, it locks forever. He knew he could never trust her again, which was the most important thing to him, and the pain of that betrayal still lingered like a permanent scar on his heart. In an effort to distract himself, he joined the Coffin Kings charter in Chicago and moved there for a year, fought in an underground bare knuckle ring, and did everything he could to numb himself. That was around the time Steve found out he was a father by way of Oliver basically being dumped at his doorstep, and Eddie realized he didn’t want to miss any more of his honorary nephew’s life.
All of the women he’d been with since then were just futile efforts to fill the void, until you.
So, what are you going to do about it, then, Munson? Just lurk out here on the street all night like a little kid at the fair who’s afraid of the big rides?
He dismounted the bike and stomped out his cigarette nub with the toe of his boot, adjusting the sleeves of his leather. Something made his defenses spike and he looked around the street to see if someone might be sitting in their car, watching him. At this point, he was almost certain that Charlene had paid someone to watch him, because for two days in a row, he’d noticed the same dark red Chevy Cavalier tailing him, staying at least one or two cars back. He didn’t see a car that fit the description parked anywhere near, but whoever it was could be anywhere, maybe even in the building across the street.
Charlene’s unhealthy obsession with him had to run it’s course eventually, she had to get bored and give up at one point. He hoped so, anyway. He couldn’t imagine her dragging this out for much longer, but he also never expected these threats from her in the first place, so he rightfully had his concerns. He thought maybe if he held out a few more weeks, she’d be off on one of her exotic vacations, and she could move on to ruining someone else’s life. But, he couldn’t wait that long to see you, to touch you. Hell, in a couple weeks you might not even want him anymore, and it was a risk he wasn’t willing to take.
There was a chance you might not want him now. There was a chance he’d already fucked everything up.
Thumper was a longtime friend, and he’d been with the Coffin Kings ever since back in the day when Wayne was a patched member. The two smacked their hands together in a signature grip as Eddie crossed the threshold onto the burgundy carpet. Inside the Velvet Hammer was buzzing with music and people and dancers wearing next to nothing on the back stages, people sitting shoulder to shoulder at the bar.
You might as well have been the only one there, though, because you were all he could see: simultaneously loving and hating the fact that you were dressed to kill. He’d never seen you in that color of lipstick before; it was a deep red and he ached to part them with his tongue.
He swore you were about to smile when your eyes met, he caught that adorable glimmer pass over your face and it made his heart still for a beat. But, then it faded just as quickly and you turned away to continue on with what you were doing, giving him the cold shoulder.
This was the first time you hadn’t rushed into his arms since this whole thing started, and it wrecked him. But, he also knew he kind of deserved it.
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Your mouth was moving and sounds were coming out, but you couldn’t remember a word you’d said to the guys at the table in the corner who were still nursing their beers. Your ears were ringing and your adrenaline was surging, flushing a hot wave over your chest. Had Eddie come there to see you? Or was he just there to casually have a drink and get turned on like everyone else?
If he wasn’t there to see you, and he planned on just coming by to hang out once in a while, you’d have to quit. There’s no way you could keep seeing him on a regular basis if this was how he chose to treat you, it would hurt too damn much, and no job was worth that. You had this overwhelming urge to run and hide somewhere, but you couldn’t duck out until Jackie came back, and so you straightened your shoulders and turned to face the music like a big girl.
And there he was: standing at the bar with both elbows hooked on the ledge behind him, boots crossed at the ankles, waiting for you. You could tell that he had just been checking out your ass because of the way his gaze flicked up to your eyes with incriminating speed. His expression was unreadable, but that was nothing new.
Reluctantly, but also, with excitement bubbling in your veins, you made your way over to him, pausing briefly as one of the other servers walked out of the hallway where the bathrooms were. Another song started up, this time it was #1 Crush by Garbage.
“Do you have a break soon?” Eddie swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry at how hot you looked in that strange zipper dress. “Or, I can come back?” His mind couldn’t help but jump straight to the fact that every single dude in the place was thinking dirty thoughts about you, and it made his back teeth clench.
He was there to see you, you thought, your heart soaring. But in almost the same second you realized that he could be there to tell you that this wasn’t working out, that he didn’t want to see you anymore, that he met someone else, that he was moving to Brazil: all of which would be awful, but then at least you could start the process of moving on instead of hanging in limbo. Moving on from Eddie…that sounded like it was easier said than done.
Just then, as your mouth was open about so answer him, Jackie came out adjusting her belt, chewing gum. “Your turn,” she said as she walked between the two of you. “Take a fifteen. Oh, hey Munson,” she added passively at the end, patting him on the arm as she continued around the bar.
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At the far end of the hallway there was a heavy metal door that locked from the outside automatically when it shut, and there was a little wood wedge out in the alley to keep it open a crack. You bent down to push the wedge into place while Eddie put his hands on his hips and stared at the brick of the building across the way so that he wouldn’t get an erection at the sight of your perfect ass up in the air.
On one side of you squatted a big, metal dumpster, and on the other side were a few square crates where employees sat during their breaks, the pavement between them littered with cigarette butts. It was dark, and the only illumination came from a bulb over the door across the way and a streetlamp further down where the alley met with the sidewalk.
Eddie could tell things were different, he could tell you were upset, probably even hurt and disappointed, and he hated that he had something to do with that. All he wanted to do was put his arms around you, but your energy was telling him that you weren’t ready for that.
“I’m sorry…” He hesitated. What was he sorry for? Lots of things. “...for breaking our date and not calling.”
Your tight stomach softened, and your gaze flicked to his after not being able to make eye contact since stepping out of the building.
Eddie hooked his thumbs into his belt loops and looked down at the ground, shuffling his foot. “I had some shit to take care of and I got overwhelmed. But I should’ve said something to you.”
This was starting to be a pattern with him, but you believed that he was telling the truth. It sounded like there was a lot more to the story, but a sincere apology was worth it’s weight in gold to you. You could also tell that he was nervous to be in front of you right then, like maybe you wouldn’t forgive him.
He opened his mouth to say something else and you reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it, making his gaze jump to yours. “Hey, it’s okay,” you told him as he unhooked his thumb from his belt loop and took your hand. “I missed your stupid face, that’s all.”
He gave a soft snort, a sparkle returning to his eyes.
You leaned in, resting your other hand on his chest, relishing the direction this conversation had gone and how safe and whole you felt in his presence. You searched his eyes. “You need to communicate with me if this is ever going to work, okay? I don’t want you to feel like you can’t tell me things. Really, there’s nothing you could ever share with me about your life that I wouldn’t be able to handle.”
He really, really wanted to believe that was true, but the cynical part of him, the part that had learned to keep secrets as a way of life, doubted that anyone was that understanding.
“Come here,” he breathed on the curve of a smile, cupping your neck, and pulling your mouth to his. There were a few tender, sweet kisses, no tongue, and then he brushed his nose across yours a few times, lips brushing yours as he spoke. “I missed this.”
You kissed his bottom lip, and then his top lip, savoring their plump, perfect shape, before resting your head below his shoulder and wrapping your arms around him in a hug, his leather squeaking at your embrace.
You released a long, heavy breath. “I thought you came here to tell me you didn’t like me anymore.”
He kissed your temple. “I never said I liked you,” he mumbled, to which you dug your fingers into his ribs in an effort to tickle him, simultaneously trying to pull away. But, he held you tightly in place, deep chuckles rumbling in his chest. “It’s much more than that.”
At those words, you settled, smile pressed up against him, swooning so hard you felt like you were drunk.
What he had with you was special, and now, in his thirties, Eddie knew how rare this kind of chemistry was. You were the drug he wanted to be strung out on.
This...this was his, and he wouldn’t let anyone, especially Charlene, take it away from him.
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There was a pep in your step when you returned to work, enough so that Jackie commented on it, giving you a side eye. “Who the hell got you off on your break?” she asked rhetorically.
Truly, your break had felt like it was over in a blink, like you and Eddie had only been standing out in the alleyway for a second before you checked your Swatch and had to scramble back inside. He asked if he could wait for you and walk you back to your car when your shift was over, and you were fine with that, but you let him know it would be another hour or so, and he didn’t seem to mind.
Eddie knew a lot of the people who worked at the Velvet Hammer. Or, more precisely, the people who worked there knew Eddie. The bartender that night was a guy who looked like Kurt Cobain and he ignored everyone else to make sure Eddie got what he wanted the second he sat down at the bar. The place was packed by then, but every chance you got, you would walk by and run your hand across Eddie’s back and give him a flirty glance over your shoulder as you schlepped drinks around.
Thumper came over and sat next to Eddie when the night got slow and had a beer with him, and the two went out front to have a smoke and chat about the good ‘ol days.
“Is that new server your old lady?” Thumper asked after a drag on his cigarette. He flicked the ashes to the sidewalk and cocked his head.
Eddie propped his foot up behind him, against the building, wallet chain hanging down his thigh, thoughtfully exhaling gray smoke into the night. “Maybe, if I don’t fuck everything up,” he coughed.
Thumper wheezed in a laughing spasm. “You still sticking it to that rich bitch, what’s her name?”
Eddie stiffened. “That’s been over for a while. Bitch got all Fatal Attraction on me,” Eddie’s vernacular took a turn when he was around the older charter members, it was second nature.
“Man, I wish I was 20 years younger,” Thumper sucked in the tuft of graying hair that was under his lip. “Those were the days.”
Eddie was eager to change the subject. “How is the fourth marriage working out for you?”
“Fifth,” Thumper corrected with a nod. “Divorced Jeanie last spring, married Lorraine a few months ago. No kids this time, I got the snip. One more baby momma would break me.”
As bleak as the conversation topic was, Eddie had an inner warmth radiating through his body, healing him, now that he knew the two of you were back in a good place. He didn’t know if a traditional wedding or kids were things that you wanted, but he saw himself making coffee for you in the morning and bringing it to you in your studio while you worked on a painting. He could see you running out the door to hug him as he dragged himself home after a long day at work. A life together with a porch swing and a view of the sunset, maybe a cat and a dog and some chickens. A big garage for his bike and whatever classic car he was working on at the time.
God, he was getting a head of himself. Did you even like dogs?
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Back in the dressing room at the end of your shift, you and Jackie were both changing out of your work clothes and into something more comfortable when Jackie whipped around in only her bra and panties, startling you as you pulled your shirt on over your head.
“Hold up, you never told me you were Eddie Munson’s girl,” she hushed, giving you a sustained look of awe. “The stories I’ve heard about that cock are legendary.”
The way she sounded when she said it suggested that you should’ve been proud, but the declaration only succeeded in activating your anxiety. You tried not to think of all of the women in town he’d given orgasms to as you tied the laces on your shoes. As long as he was faithful to you, none of that other business should matter. But still, somehow it did. That reminded you, maybe it was time to lay the cards out on the table and have that monogamy talk before you got more invested than you already were.
There were still a few customers hunched over their drinks as you walked out, but the dancers were done, and you said goodbye to Jesse, the bartender, thanking him for all of his help. Jackie gave you a high five, and hugged Thumper before she headed off down the opposite side of the street, high ponytail bobbing.
You smiled up at Eddie who was standing there with his arm out, waiting for you to curl against him so he could wrap it around your shoulders.
“I thought for sure you would’ve ditched me by now,” you told him, slipping one of your hands into his back pocket.
“Nah, you’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Eddie joked, lifting his hand in a wave to Thumper as the two of you headed off down the street.
“Take care of that one,” Thumper shouted. “She’s a good girl.”
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“Are you?” Eddie asked as the two of you approached your car that was parked a block away.
“Am I what?” You asked, stopping to turn and gaze up into his face.
Eddie lifted his chin with a smirk, exposing the tattoo lines that peeked out of the collar of his shirt across his throat. “A good girl?”
You wet your bottom lip with the tip of your tongue and tilted your head. “Depends on who wants to know.”
He pulled took you into his arms for another kiss, eager tongues this time, moans in the back of throats, cock jumping in his jeans.
Your lips came away just enough to speak, your hand cupping his face, the stubble around his jaw prickling your palm. “What about you? Are you a good boy?”
There was a shiver of hesitation on his breath before he answered. “Only for you.”
The two of you were locked in a moment, you could’ve been on the sidewalk, you could’ve been standing on the moon---nothing mattered and you had no concept of time.
But then Eddie spoke up again. “Do you wanna get out of here? Go for a ride? I want to show you something.”
You didn’t have to be back at the Velvet Hammer until Saturday, and the thought of getting on Eddie’s bike again gave you excited goosebumps.
Eddie started opening the strap on one of the black leather saddlebags on the back of his chopper once the two of you arrived, and you stood back and watched as he pulled out a second bare bones helmet, the top shiny like the round edge of a bowling ball.
“I got this for you,” Eddie said, passing it over. “It should fit better than mine.”
You were speechless for a moment, looking down at it, touched by the thoughtful gift. “Thank you, I love it,” you whispered. He placed it on your head and adjusted the strap under your chin, diligently making sure it fit correctly.
“Is it too tight?” He asked, making sure the sides weren’t pinning your ears.
“It’s perfect,” you nodded.
He straddled the bike. “Do you remember how to get on?”
But you were already grabbing onto the back of his jacket and swinging your leg over. You’d been practicing getting on the back of Eddie’s bike in your dreams.
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You clung to him as the two of you sped along in the dark, your fingertips meeting at his stomach, chest glued to his back, core locked to his tailbone. He had on a pair of clear, protective glasses to keep the bugs from blinding him, and every so often, he would reach one hand down and put it over yours as the bike wound up the hill. You’d kiss the exposed skin on the back of his neck between his hairline and the collar of his leather, and he’d squeeze your thigh.
The spot he wanted to you to was a grass ledge near a line of cherry blossom trees that overlooked the city. He pulled out a thin blanket from one of his saddlebags and stretched it out over the grass. Lights down below twinkled like stars and you took your new helmet off to get comfortable next to him.
“Yep, it’s ugly,” you joked, referring to the spectacular view.
Eddie stretched his legs out in front of him and braced himself on his hands. “I knew you’d hate it just as much as I do,” but then there was a sliver of hesitation, his foot moving back and forth as he considered if he should say it or not. “I’ve never taken anyone up here before.”
Summer was fast approaching as far as the temperature went, but the nights were still chilly, and you had a sweatshirt on, but his proximity and the tone of his voice was rapidly throwing coals on the fire in your circulatory system.
Things progressed quickly. One second, you were laughing at a joke he made, and the next---your lips were on each other, hands roaming over each other’s bodies, heat throbbing between your legs. You were trying to push his jacket off, but Eddie sat up and removed it in a flash, tossing it on the bike with a twist of his wrist.
You rutted your hips against him a few times, but you could sense the hesitancy he had for whatever reason, and you took hold of his hand to move it down to your core, enjoying the growl he let out when he latched on to the wet heat already permeating through your jeans. You clung to his neck as he unzipped them, and you wiggled your hips out so he could slide his hand in. He paused only to take his rings off of his H-E-L-L-F-I-R-E knuckles, and then his fingers dipped back down to curl inside your underwear, slipping into the gushing arousal he found there, groaning against your mouth.
His thick fingers rolled in circles over your anxious nub. “Is this mine?” He asked in a throaty whisper, pressing his forehead to yours, waiting for you to answer.
Saliva got stuck in your throat but you whimpered a yes. He starts to slip his fingers down through your folds and you quiver as he travels deeper, aching to penetrate you, but you catch his wrist, stopping him from going any further.
“I have to...to say something,” you breathed.
Eddie pulled his hand out and rested it on your thigh, and brought his face back so he could see your eyes as you blinked at him under the moonlight. “You can tell me anything, baby.”
You planted a kiss on his chin, feeling nervous for some reason when it came to setting your boundaries. “I can’t be intimate with you if you’re also doing this with other women. I need to know that we’re…” you struggled with how to word that. Demanding some large scale commitment from him might come off as getting ahead of yourself. “I need to know that you and I are something special and there’s no one else,” you paused to lick your lips, eyes lowered to the neckline of his shirt.
Nothing you said could’ve pleased Eddie more, and his attraction to you intensified ten fold in that moment. He used the crook of his finger to tilt your chin up, encouraging you to meet his eyes. “There’s no one else. There hasn’t been anyone else since the barbecue at Robin’s house.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to add, “if you’re my girl, there will never be anyone else,” but he didn’t want to come off as smothering, or make you feel uncomfortable with the intensity in which he was capable of devoting to you.
Relieved, you brushed his cheek with your thumb. “Trust and monogamy are really important to me, I need to know I can trust you,” your eyes met, searching deep, and he pulled your hand to his chest. “You’re the only one I want to be with, and I think we could---”
But Eddie’s lips found yours with a new level of need as he wholeheartedly agreed, so caught up in his growing feelings for you that he didn’t have the words to express them. He could ramble on about cars and music and bikes all day long, but when it came to feelings like this? He was struck dumb.
“I want to taste my girl,” he choked out, helping to work your jeans down with his hand as you kicked them down and off, keeping your mouth on his while your hand clutched his hair that had fallen from the tie and was loose around his shoulders.
“I want to be in your mouth, baby,” you gasped as he met your eyes and then made his way down, lifting your shirt to kiss your stomach, tongue darting out to tease your flesh, face stubble tickling.
A purr escaped his throat as his mouth found its destination and he planted kisses on the outside of your soaked underwear, down your slit, and then he peeled them to the side with his finger, darting his tongue in just enough to make you writhe.
“You can...take those off…” you breathed.
He kissed your inner thigh. “You let me take care of it,” he told you in a deep voice, as he continued on with his business.
His tongue dove in to penetrate you a few times, swallowing, groaning, “fuck, you taste so good,” his hot breath fanned against you as his cock begged for release, his hips rocking against the ground.
The need to be inside of you was overwhelming; painful, even, but he hadn’t brought any condoms with him, and he didn’t know how you would feel about being that close to him this soon in the game. The thought of getting you to cum in his mouth already had his cock leaking.
For some reason, the way he pulled your underwear to the side was turning you on even more? He sucked your clit in and flicked it with his tongue, moaning against you, and it made you arch your chest, exposing your throat to the cherry blossoms above as you cursed. He drew a few long licks along your slit, and then you felt a finger go in just as your fingers dug into the grass on either side of the blanket.
“Are you mine?” Eddie asked between sucks, sinking another finger in.
Crickets made their music all around as the soft hush of the town life below drifted up in the darkness.
“I’m-I’m all yours, baby,” you stammered, forehead clenched.
Eddie’s fingers found a rhythm, moving long and deep in fast strokes as his mouth found the perfect spot that made you hiss, “right there right there,” and he kept working until he could feel your tight walls start to clench around his fingers.
“You’re so good, baby,” you were mumbling, barely coherent now as a strangled cry escaped your lips and your hips fucked into his hand and Eddie’s pelvis fucked the ground, and your eyes started to roll back in your head.
“Eddie, Eddie, cum-cum-cumming,” you jerked as the velvet walls crashed around you, limbs popping spasmodically, whimpering his name.
Eddie pressed his mouth against your core, one hand around your thigh to pin you against his tongue so that he could drink every last drop, riding the high with you until he knew your nub would be too sensitive, and then his tongue returned to your hole a few times, moaning with pleasure at the sweet nectar of your release.
And then you were pulling him up, coaxing him into your arms, your mouth eager to find his and taste your spend on his lips. He wrapped the side of the blanket around you to keep you warm as you rolled against him, both lost in an oxytocin high, muttering words of affection to each other.
Both falling hard under the adoring pink eyes of the cherry blossoms.
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The next day, someone knocked on the door to the women’s restroom at the Velvet Hammer because it was locked, and Steve’s head sprang up from between the thighs of the woman he had propped up on the sink counter.
“Ocupado!” he yelled in Spanish, lips and chin glistening in the dim red light.
The woman with the short skirt shoved up around her waist and her feet planted on his shoulders whined, “Don’t stop, Stevie, I’m close,” which made Steve’s mouth lunge forward again with unbridled enthusiasm.
About a minute later, she came, while grabbing his hair and telling him no one ever made her cum that hard. She was a yoga instructor, and they’d only met up a few times so far, but he was already thinking about getting her name tattooed somewhere on his body.
As they were cleaning up, there was another knock at the door, this time it was more of an aggressive pounding, followed by the voice of Jackie, one of the servers. “Telephone call for you, Casanova!” She swatted the door a few more times with the palm of her hand.
Steve let Mary the yoga instructor go out first, and then he followed after a ten count, tucking his shirt in and slicking his hair back as he went. Mary went to the bar to wait for him. It was almost 9:30 and he was getting off early that night because there was another bouncer there, and it was slow for a Friday.
Steve ducked in behind the bar and yanked the receiver to his ear. “Yeah, this is Steve? Whadda ya want?”
It was you, and by the sound of the gentle sucking in of breath and tremor in your voice, you had been crying. Your voice was a tiny mew. “Steve? Have you seen Eddie tonight?”
At the dire tone of your voice, Steve curled into the corner of the bar and put a finger in his other ear so that he could hear you more clearly. “I haven’t, but I should put an ankle monitor on him. Are you okay? Are Oliver and the girls okay?”
You cleared your throat, about to try and explain, but then just said, “Everyone is fine. I’m sorry to bother you. I have to go,” and then you hung up on him, sobs jerking in your chest.
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Earlier that same evening, Robin and Oliver came over to have a pizza night with you and Katie at your place, and then Robin and Katie cuddled in front of the TV while you and Oliver spread out at the kitchen table to make some art.
You had been messing around with some watercolor pencil sketches when they first arrived, and Oliver was mesmerized. He sat as close as he could to you and asked if he could help. You brought out a bunch of markers and crayons and brushes from your studio, and the two of you worked in silence for periods of time, just enjoying the craft. He was a creative, intelligent little boy, and the latent motherhood genes in your DNA made you feel very protective of him. Mess with you? Fine. Mess with Oliver? I will end you.
His concentration reminded you of a younger you, honestly, and a couple times he mentioned his Uncle Eddie and your heart swelled.
Speaking of Eddie---last night, after he made you cum like a banshee, you got dressed so he could take you back down the hill to your car. You called him once you got home, like he asked you to, but you hadn’t heard from him since. Fridays were always busy for him at work, never mind the rest of the shit he had to deal with, so you weren’t too worried about it. He’d probably call you later when he was in bed. There had been a palpable shift, and things were different between the two of you now. You were both on the same page, each committed to a mutual respect for each other.
By the end of the evening, when there was only a few crusts of pizza left in the box, Oliver gathered the handful of artwork he’d created on your sketchbook paper, and slid them over to you as if he was making a business deal.
“Can you sell these in your gallery?” he asked, bending one of his small fingers into the stack. “That way I can help my mom pay some bills.”
For more reasons that one, you started to tear up. You turned your head away to sniff and ran your finger under your eyes, blinking as wide as you could to keep the waterworks at bay.
“Ollie,” Robin said softly. She had just been coming up behind him when he said that, and her eyes met yours. “Things have been a bit stressful lately, but I never told him to---”
“I wish I could,” you nodded, composing yourself, turning to smile at Oliver. “These drawings are worth way too much, though, our gallery could never afford them.”
He looked thoughtfully down at the stack and shuffled them, smiling to himself, and then he pulled one out and passed hit to you. “This one is you and uncle Eddie. You can keep it.”
You were suddenly so emotional. Was your period close? Was someone cutting onions?
The picture he drew with watercolor pencils and charcoal and crayons was a tall stick figure with long, wavy dark hair holding hands with a big pink heart with arms and legs, but no hair or other defining characteristics. An orange oval with legs and a round head to represent your cat Charlie, and there were “m” shaped birds and a sun in the sky.
You thanked Oliver, swallowing back a hitch in your chest, and immediately went over to put his artwork on the fridge, wiping your wet cheeks.
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Robin and Oliver had been gone for 20 minutes or so, and you and Katie were wrapped up on opposite ends of the couch watching a horror movie in the dark, candles burning on the coffee table, when the doorbell rang.
It didn’t just ding once: whoever it was blasted their finger onto the button a good 6 or 7 times before they let up.
“What the hell,” you murmured, pausing the tape as you got up, prancing to the door, hoping that it might be Eddie.
You peaked through the peephole and was confused to see no one there. Your eyeball was scanning around for other signs of life when it landed on a manila envelope on the doormat.
“Where you expecting some mail?” You called to Katie, and she got so curious, she jumped up from the couch to come down the hall and see what made you ask that.
She checked the peephole to take a look at the envelope and the surrounding area. Down the street, you heard a car engine start up.
You backed up, worry creasing your brow. “Leave it. I have a bad feeling.”
Katie threw you a look over her shoulder before she unlocked the door and swiftly bent down to snatch the envelope before reeling back inside and clamping the locks down again.
“It has your name on it,” she said, handing it to you.
Sure enough, on the front was your full name in block letters, and on the other side was a sealed lip held in place by an aluminum tab.
Just then, a dark red Chevy Cavalier crept down the street without its headlights and eased onto the main road, out of sight.
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Eddie was at the garage finishing up until 6, and then he had a beer with Bones, who was also a Coffin King and one of his mechanics, and then he went over to Wayne’s to help him install a new cabinet in his bathroom. He made them both some tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner, and it got him wondering if you would like it if he made it for you.
It was getting late, and he almost called you from Wayne’s, but decided it would feel good to take his boots off and lay down first. He’d let you know the night before that you might not hear from him until late; he was determined to be a better communicator and not let you down again.
He yawned as he entered his apartment, locking the door behind him and throwing his leather on the back of the sofa.
The new answering machine that he had picked up from Radio Shack on his lunch break, and set up at your request, was blinking that he had 2 new messages, but it wasn’t something he was used to checking, so he cracked open a beer and hopped in the shower first.
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Once you saw what was in the envelope, denial was the first stage you jumped to.
“But, what are these?” You spread them out on the kitchen island, shock clamping down on your brain so that it refused to process the information in front of you.
They were 8x10 photos, taken with some type of high-powered camera...of Eddie. In his apartment. With two different women on separate occasions. All taken within the past couple days.
How did you know that they were taken within the last couple days? Whoever took them didn’t want to leave you with any room for doubt, and so they were holding up the front page of the paper for that day to mark each incident.
But, you knew Eddie so well, that detail would not have been necessary.
In the ones where he was in nothing but his boxers, kissing Erica in the hallway, you could see the markings from the love bite on his neck that you had accidentally given him over the weekend when he came to pick you up at the gallery.
In the second set of photos, where a tattooed redhead you didn’t recognize was behind him on the bed with her arms wrapped around him---he was in the exact same t-shirt he’d worn last night with a smudge of your red lipstick on the white collar. From when you were both under the cherry blossoms. When he promised that you could trust him and there was no one else. After you opened yourself up to him and let him take a piece of you.
“Who would do this?” Katie said in a hush, almost to herself, picking up each one to look at it closer. “Why would someone do this?”
“There must be a mistake,” you mumbled, your nervous system crashing, feeling lightheaded.
Katie swallowed and put down the photo she was holding, giving you a look that was full of sadness and concern. “How could it be a mistake, though? That is definitely Eddie.”
Feeling yourself about to lose it, you scrambled to pull all of the photos together and hurried down the hall to lock yourself in your room. Once inside, you clutched the photos to your chest and slid down the door until you were on the ground, shaking, choking on tears.
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The older man with the salt n’ pepper hair and crystal blue eyes returned to the Velvet Hammer on Friday evening just to see if you were working. He had a whiskey sour at the bar and asked after you, but was told you didn’t have a shift that evening. Steve overheard the conversation he was having with the bartender and went over to him.
“She’s a friend of mine,” Steve raised an eyebrow, rolling a toothpick between his lips. “Why are you asking about her?”
John turned on his bar stool and shook Steve’s hand, white teeth brilliant against his tan skin.
“She waited on our table the other day, and, it took me a while, but I finally realized where I knew her from.” He paused to extend his hand and ask Steve if he could buy him a drink, but Steve declined.
John opened his wallet to pull a business card out. “I bought some original art from her at an outdoor market a few years ago. She’s a brilliant painter," he met Steve’s bored gaze, seemingly unaffected by the intimidation factor that he usually had on people.
He handed Steve his card. “I’d love to commission another piece from her, if she’s willing. Do you think you could have her call my office?”
Steve inspected the card, turning it over.
“I wrote my personal line on the back,” he continued. “I’m usually at work, but my secretary always knows where to find me.”
Steve knew that you’d be glad for the extra cash, so he slipped the guys card in his back pocket instead of throwing it away like he normally would.
“I didn’t catch your name?” John asked Steve.
“That’s because I never threw it,” Steve returned, introducing himself.
“Good to meet you, Steve,” he nodded sincerely. “My name is John. John Gregson.”
Steve had already read his name on the business card and was still trying to figure out why it sounded so familiar as he watched him get into a black Mercedes across the street.
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Eddie was in his gray sweats, drying his hair with a towel when he finally noticed the number 2 flashing on the machine. He pushed play absently as he went to sit on the bed.
The first message sounded like a strangled gasp and then a sniffle, and it made his head snap up, both hands holding onto the blue towel around his neck.
“...Eddie…” it was you, and he could tell you were in distress, and you’d been crying. He leaned forward to hover over the machine, his brow clenched. There was a stretch of time where you were struggling to speak and only managed to swallow a few times. “….why would you do this to me?” Then another pause when it sounded like you were whispering whywhywhy over and over under your breath.
You finished with, “This hurts so bad...." And then there was a click and the message abruptly stopped.
Eddie’s head was reeling, fear and worry jack-hammering in his veins.
His eyes wide and frantic, he picked up the receiver to call you, but then the second message clicked on.
The sound of Charlene’s voice spiked with amused laughter sent a dagger into his gut:
“I warned you.”
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Part 9
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