A Stainless Steel Cat (2 page)

"Shit!" Royce exclaimed as he heard the thuds upstairs, and reached for his cellphone. He called 911 as he headed out his front door and reported what he knew to be an assault in the apartment above his. He could hear her cries and his shouts, and prayed that the cops would get here in time.

He stood there waiting for the cops to arrive after he hung up, but when he heard the sounds of glass shattering, he flew up the stairs three at a time.

He opened her door and took in the scene in a second. Darnell had her cornered in the kitchen, but was being kept at bay by the kitchen knife Tam was holding out in front of herself protectively.

She spared him a half-second glance as he came in, then lunged with a swipe of the knife at Darnell, who staggered backward to avoid it.

Royce charged in, sliding across the tile of the floor and into Darnell's legs, knocking the big man off balance. He came up in a crouch and hit the bigger man in the knees with rapid-fire punches, knocking him down. He then stood up with his fists raised, between Darnell and Tam.

Darnell glared at him as he stood up. "You picked the wrong day to fuck with me and what's mine, muthafucka!"

"The cops are on their way. I just called them." Royce said. "That should be them now!" He smiled grimly as the sirens could be heard getting closer.

"Shit! You're fuckin' dead, cracker! You don't know who you're fuckin' with!" Darnell lunged forward, but Royce ducked and hit him in his tree trunk gut.

"I'm fuckin' with a guy who likes to hit women." Royce said coldly. "Try hitting someone who can fight back, asshole!"

Tam was forgotten by her ex boyfriend as he focused his attention on the white boy who had just made him look like a fool.

Royce's hand was on fire from hitting what felt like a solid wall of muscle, but kept moving and dodging as the bulky black man couldn't get a bead on him long enough to land a punch. Royce scored a few hits on his foe, staggering him once with a shot to the nose which made Darnell's eyes water.

The cops came in through the open door. "POLICE! FREEZE!" One of the officers shouted.

Royce put his hands up and froze, but Darnell took that opportunity to deck the white boy who had just interrupted him counseling his bitch about the way she needed to be. Royce rolled with the punch as best he could, and once again the cops gave a warning.

"FREEZE OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!" The command finally broke through Darnell's rage, and he lifted his hands as Royce got unsteadily to his feet. His jaw wasn't broken, but he'd had his bell rung pretty good.

'That's gonna need an ice pack.' Royce thought to himself.

The cops came in and cuffed both men, even though it was obvious who the aggressor was. Tam slowly put the knife on the floor when the cops asked her to.

"Ma'am, which man was attacking you?" The cop asked as both men sat on different pieces of living room furniture.

"Darnell. The big black guy." Tam pointed at him. "He's my ex boyfriend, but he thought that if he couldn't have me, no one could."

The other cop turned to Royce. "And you are?" She asked.

"I'm her downstairs neighbor, and I heard him assaulting her and yelling. That was when I called you guys." Royce said while trying to work his jaw. He felt a loose tooth or two from the punch Darnell had landed.

Between Royce and Tam, they painted an accurate picture for the cops, and the Detective who showed up soon afterward. They took Darnell out in cuffs, and he was vowing revenge the whole time, even after being read his Miranda rights.

"Does he have a key to the apartment?" Detective Raines asked.

"Yeah, he does. He should have it on him." Tam told the Detective, a white girl with blonde hair hanging to her neck. She showed her the key, and the Detective nodded.

"We'll confiscate it as soon as possible. Do you wish to file for a restraining order?" Detective Natalie Raines asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Tam replied.

"Ok, but until then, do you have a place to stay? He might have made a copy of the key without your knowledge. Also, you might want to let your apartment manager know to change the locks." Raines instructed. She'd obviously worked domestic violence cases before.

"No... I... This is the only apartment I have." Tam said with a shrug.

"You can stay with me, Tam." Royce said as he handed her an icepack for her swollen eye and put the other icepack on his own jaw.

She looked at him and smiled. "I can't impose on you like that, sweety."

"No worries. I'll take the couch, and you can have the bed." He shrugged and smiled at her shyly.

"That will work for now." Detective Raines smiled at them. She waved Tam down when the black girl started to protest. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, honey. Especially since he took a beating to protect you." She then looked at Royce and smiled. "I might just put you in for a medal for this."

"Not necessary, ma'am." Royce smiled back as best he could. Shit, he was now on the cops' radar! That could be tricky during his late night escapades. He had enough money for a few months even after he bought his new motorcycle, so it shouldn't be too bad, though.

So it was settled. Royce stood by as Tam packed up a few days' worth of clothes in an extra large gym bag and grabbed her laptop computer. She grabbed some necessities from her bathroom too. He then led her down to his place. The apartment was a perfect replica of hers in layout, so he changed the sheets on his bed and put the dirty ones in the laundry for her while she set her bag down and walked out to the laundry room and kitchen area.

"Royce, you didn't have to do this, you know. Hell, I don't even know your first name." She knew that he'd told the cops, but he'd whispered it to them, so she didn't know it yet.

Royce looked at her and smiled. "I hate my first name, Tam. I prefer Royce."

"Why? What is it? Fred? Melvin?" Tam ribbed him good naturedly.

"It's Shiloh, ok?" He said as he looked down and blushed.

"Shiloh. You know, I like that name." Tam smiled at him genuinely. "It suits you."

"I hate it. I didn't choose it. Some nun or priest at the orphanage did, I think. I would have been perfectly happy with just Royce." He said with downcast eyes.

He was usually so confident, but in front of a woman who he actually liked, he was self-conscious and tongue-tied. 'He likes me!' Tam realized that was the situation. 'Wow, he's cute, for a white boy. I do like the name, though. And so what if he's white? He's cute. I bet there's more to the story than he's letting on, though.'

'Shit, I'm risking myself when I shouldn't be.' Royce thought as he smiled at her. 'If she discovers my work clothes... I have to think of a cover story!'

She interrupted his thoughts. "I really appreciate you letting me stay, Royce." She smiled at him shyly.

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" He gave her his most winning smile, and she smiled radiantly back at him. She walked forward and drew him into a hug.

His arms wrapped around her, holding her tight. "I'm sorry I wasn't faster earlier." He whispered in her ear.

"It's ok, sweety. At least you cared enough to call the cops and come help me." She whispered back, and her nipples hardened as she felt how solid his body was. He wasn't bulky, but he was definitely well muscled in a sinuous way.

Her body melded to his as she held him close, and he could feel her nipples hard against his chest. He felt his cock getting harder, and pulled his hips back away from her so she wouldn't feel the 8" length and thick hardness. 'Yeah, she really wouldn't trust me if she thinks I'm getting hard just holding her in a hug!' His brain scolded him.

Tam felt him move his hips back and smiled to herself. 'He's a gentleman!' She reasoned. 'He doesn't want me to find out how hard he is.'

She whispered "It's ok, Royce. It's only natural."

"Umm, are you sure it's ok? I mean, I don't have that much experience with all this." He blushed fiercely, and was thankful that with her head on his shoulder, she couldn't see his face. "I don't want you to think I'm some kind of perv, either."

She laughed musically. "You're no more of a perv than most guys, and I think it's sweet that you don't want me to be uncomfortable."

"Well, if you insist." He shrugged under her hug and pushed his hips forward again, his hardness pressing into her thigh.

'Wow, not bad at all!' Tam thought to herself as she felt his respectable length pressing into her leg. She pulled back and looked at his crimson face. "Don't be embarrassed, Royce. I think it's flattering, and you have nothing to be ashamed of down there."

"Have I told you today how beautiful you are?" He asked softly. "Or how sweet you are?"

"You mean it, don't you?" She asked with a smile.

"Yes, I do." He smiled back at her. "Tam, I've only been with one girl before, but she doesn't hold a candle to you."

"Do... Do you want to be with me? Sweety, I mean, I'm black and all." Tam blushed as she said it. 'Nice going, stupid. Just point out the obvious, why don't ya!' She mentally kicked herself.

"Well, Tamara Jenkins, I know what I like, and I definitely like you." Royce said with his natural charm coming back. He smiled genuinely at her.

"I like you too, swee..." She stopped short as her cellphone's ringtone announced an incoming call. "Hold on." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and pulled her phone from her pocket as she disengaged from the hug.

"Hey, sis." She answered the phone.

"Hey, Tam. So what the fuck is going on over there? Darnell called me up from jail and asked me to bail his ass out! He says you made up some shit and got him sent to jail."

"Shit, Cammie! Do you really believe that?! He went apeshit because I made some lunch for a neighbor who has been helping me out lately. That same neighbor called 911 when Darnell started hitting me, and probably saved my life when he came back up and got Darnell away from me!" Tam gave Royce a radiant smile as she said that last part.

Royce smiled back. 'That's right! She has a sister!' He thought to himself. He was torn. Did he want her out so she wouldn't figure out what he did? Or did he want her to stay? Shit, this was a decision that wasn't going to end well!

"Well hell! I wanna meet this guy!" Cammie said.

"I'm staying with him until I can get the Manager to change the locks on my apartment, just in case Darnell made a copy of the key I gave him." Tam told her. "He lives right downstairs from my place."

"I'll be there in an hour!" Cammie said to her sister, and hung up after they said their goodbyes.

"That was my sister." Tam said as she folded herself back into his arms. "She's on her way over to meet you."

"Oh, cool! Umm, can you stay with her? I mean, she's family and all, and I'm still pretty much a stranger." Royce shrugged, trying not to sound too enthusiastic to get rid of her, and still not sure he wanted her to leave.

"I wish I could, sweety. I really like you. You're sweet and suicidally brave and all." Tam chuckled. "But Cammie is a single mom, and she only has a one bedroom place too. Her couch isn't a hide-a-bed, either."

"Well, then you can stay here as long as you like." Royce smiled, thinking of a way to explain his late night excursions. "I do work at night, though. It's not every night, but some nights I have to go in."

"What do you do? Security?" She asked, pulling her face back to look in his eyes.

"Something like that, yeah. I test out security systems for flaws." He was proud of that one, since it wasn't technically a lie. It just wasn't his ultimate goal.

Tam laughed. "I do something similar, only on the internet."

"Oh?" Royce was suddenly interested.

"Yeah, I test out firewalls to make sure they're enough to prevent a cyber-attack." She smiled. 'Shit, that was close! How would he react if he knew what I really did!?' Tam thought.

"Well, I don't have much experience with computers, except to look stuff up on Google and Bing." Royce shrugged and gave her an embarrassed smile.

"I might be able to teach you." She smiled back. "Umm, do you have any food? I'm starved." She asked.

"Sure, what would you like? I have some hot pockets, microwave pizzas, ramen noodles?" He listed off his foodstuffs.

"Well, ramen sounds good." Tam shrugged and gave him a shy smile.

Royce grinned. "Ramen it is, then." He bowed. "Milady, your dinner will be served shortly."

"Why thank you, kind sir." She inclined her head.

He prepared two cups of ramen noodles and brought hers with a spoon. Both were beef flavored, and he knew she ate meat because of her groceries that he helped her with on a weekly basis.

They sat on the couch together and talked, laughing at each other's jokes as they ate their noodles. By the time the food was gone, they were more comfortable with each other than before. As the laughter from one of Tam's jokes died down, they locked gazes and got lost in each other's eyes.

Royce took a chance and leaned forward, stroking her cheek as he leaned close and kissed her tentatively on her full luscious lips. Tam was expecting it by the way he was looking at her, but the reality of the act blew her mind, and she moaned as an electrical surge went from her lips down to her pussy as his lips touched hers tenderly.

Tam responded with a moan as the white boy kissed her, parting her lips and accepting his tongue in her mouth. He kissed her more passionately as his tongue invaded her mouth to dance with hers. Her arms slipped up around his neck as the kiss deepened.

Tam broke the kiss after a very long moment, pushing him back gently. "Royce, I really like you, but we need to discuss some things." She took a deep breath. The doorbell rang, and she sighed. "After my sister leaves, that is." She laughed as he got up to go check the door.

Royce opened the door with a smile. "You must be Cammie? I'm Royce." He extended his hand and she stepped inside and shook it.

"Yeah, I'm Cammie. Well, your jaw looks a lot better than I would have thought after going toe to toe with Darnell." She said.

"You shoulda seen him, Cam! Darnell only hit him because he froze when the cops busted in, and Darnell got in a free shot." Tam said as she came over and hugged her sister.