The Nightlife: New York (The Nightlife Series) (8 page)

The Latina hadn’t given up the battle for Aaron’s affections––she
worked
harder
to regain his attention.  With her hand down the front of
his pants, she tugged his cock to a full-blown erection.  He was so drunk on
the overlapping sensations of blood and seduction that he almost fed too long
from the blonde.  As he released her neck, she became more aggressive with her
ministrations, pulling her underwear aside to shove his fingers partway into
her slippery wet warmth.  At the same time, the Latina spooning him from behind
worked him harder, faster, a skilled hand.

For the second night in a row, Michelle abruptly cut into his
erotic fun when she grabbed his free arm and yanked him out of the clutches of
the sex sandwich.  She plowed through the wall-to-wall dancers with Aaron in
tow.  He looked over his shoulder to see two disappointed faces scowling at
him.

When they reached the exit, Michelle turned to him with a
sly smile.  “Sorry to interrupt, but this was out of control.  You did very
well with timing, but you must not engage them sexually in public.  You attract
the wrong kind of attention.  You don’t want the attention of security and
police.”  She smooched him on the cheek and led him outside to the taxi.  She didn’t
seem angry.  In fact she appeared aroused.  Her eyes dilated with pleasure.

“Your eye contact gives you control, especially when they
are drunk.  Arousal from the bite and your natural attraction will drive women
to rape you in public.  Is a sexual frenzy.  You must learn to moderate your
effect.”  She was stroking his arm and crotch seductively.  A study in
contradictions
––
to speak of moderation while arousing him to the point
of explosion.

“I know is difficult.  Is very exciting.  Even to me, just watching
you is exciting.  I will take good care of you tonight.”  She punctuated the
promise by gripping his erection with her hand down his pants while kissing him.

This new life with Michelle?  
Well
,
pretty damn
cool so far
.  He hoped that someday her affections might become genuine,
something more than desire and lust.  He wished that one day soon she could
feel as strongly about him as he felt about her.

* * * *

CHAPTER 9

Aaron had mentally prepared himself for a quick in-and-out
meeting with Kyle.  He felt confident he could explain away having disappeared
for almost a week.

Michelle blew his carefully constructed plans all to hell.  “Let’s
go.  Is time to close the door to your previous life.  We must see this friend
of yours.”

He knew there was a good chance they might run into Delia
and her friends there as well. 
This is gonna be a disaster
.  Like
watching the cars pile up one by one in a train wreck; he saw it coming from a
mile away.

“I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to bring you along. 
Things might get complicated.  My ex-girlfriend could be there.  Maybe it would
be better if I do this alone.”  He gave it his best shot at diplomacy, but he
already knew from his connection to her thoughts and feelings, Michelle would
not be deterred.

“I will make certain is very clear to your friends that you
are mine!”

It felt good to hear her declare something so intimate, but
her manner made him uneasy.

“You will take us now to see your friends.”  Spoken in the
unmistakable timbre of command, Michelle ceased all debate on the matter.

* * * *

“Hey guys, how’s it going?  I just stopped by for a few
minutes to say hi.  I’m in a hurry.  Gotta run.”  Aaron edged in the front
door, hoping not to attract too much attention.  He prayed that he could get in
and out quickly.

Kyle popped his head out the bedroom door near Aaron with a
surprised look.  Delia and her two friends stood at the far side of the room deep
in conversation.  The girls were debating the usual meaningless drivel of he
said/she said.  They hadn’t noticed Aaron yet, but Kyle was quick on the draw.

“Whoa dude, where the hell have you been?  I called your
cell like thirty times.  I was beginning to think you were dead!”  Kyle was all
over him with a suspicious look on his face.  Aaron read his thoughts, which
were even more suspicious than his face revealed:  “
Where has he been?  What
the fuck was he thinking?  How are we gonna pay the rent if he lost his job? 
Why didn’t he answer any of my calls?  Oh shit, who is this magnificent piece
of ass wrapped around him?  OH.  My.  God!  She’s a fuckin’ knockout!
”

Michelle most definitely fit the description of
a fuckin’
knock out
.  She was dressed in a tight-fitted pink top with dark blue jeans
that molded to every delicious curve of her body.  
Painted on
.

Aaron had to check himself.  He almost answered questions
Kyle hadn’t spoken aloud.

He caught himself at the last second.  “This is my …
friend
… Michelle.  Michelle, this is my roommate Kyle.”  He hadn’t known what word to
use to describe her.  
Friend
was the only thing that came to mind that
would make any sense to Kyle.  Referring to her as his
Vampire Master
probably wouldn’t work out so well.

As he spoke, Aaron looked at Michelle several times.  Her
demeanor had magically transformed into the
sexy-girl-next-door
.  She
clung to his arm as if they’d known each other all their lives.  Nothing short
of miraculous.  She could be quite the actress when she needed to.  She held
his eyes for a moment.  He caught a mischievous twinkle in her eye.  The real
Michelle was still lurking in there waiting to pounce.

“
Bonjour,
everyone, is nice to meet you.  And you too, Kyle.  Aaron has told me so much
about you.  I feel as though I already know you.”  He followed Kyle’s mind as
he spun off in speculation of what Aaron might have said about him.

He had to placate Kyle’s unanswered questions quietly before
the rest of the room got involved in the conversation.  Delia and crew stared
in their direction.

“Listen man, I’ve been
staying
with Michelle the past
week.  I’m really sorry I didn’t call you.”  Aaron leaned into Kyle, speaking
quietly in a conspiracy of two men appreciating the obvious good fortune of
spending a week in Michelle’s bed.

“Really, I’m sorry.  I lost my cell phone, and then I met
Michelle, and it’s been totally crazy.  But it’s all good, you know.”  Reading
his mind, Kyle tried to envision Aaron on a bender, partying it up with Michelle. 
Didn’t make sense to Kyle, Aaron’s personality didn’t allow for such behavior.

Delia and company closed in from across the room.  He tried
to be fast and discrete.  “Seriously, Michelle is
so
awesome.  She has
this fantastic apartment and I got a new job that pays way better than Bemichis. 
I’m moving in with Michelle.”

Kyle popped at this last statement.  Aaron realized from the
course of Kyle’s thoughts that he’d neglected to address the primary concern,
the
rent
.

Kyle started in on him.  “Hey, man, you’re moving pretty
fast here.  I mean we have rent coming due in a couple of days and … um … you
two barely met!”  Kyle had begun to panic.  He could see from his thoughts that
Kyle actually didn’t have enough to pay the rent on his own.

Delia and gang surrounded Aaron.  They had gathered the
basic concept that he was moving out of Kyle’s apartment and in with the blonde
goddess caressing his arm.  Aaron glanced at Delia briefly.  She looked
different now.  He didn’t see all those adorable little details that had once
fascinated him, holding him in a constant state of frustrated arousal.  Delia’s
shoulder-length, dirty blonde hair didn’t shine like it used to.  Her cute,
little sassy look now appeared spiteful and catty.  Seeing her now was like
looking at an old photograph, remembering something long forgotten.  Delia
seemed
diminished
, less than.  She couldn’t begin to measure up to
Michelle.

As Delia and her two friends moved into flanking positions,
blocking off avenues of retreat, Michelle intervened.  She addressed Kyle as
though he’d been speaking to her with his protests.  “
Oui,
is true, we just met a
few days ago.  But what can I say?  Is
très
magnifique!
  We are together all the time.  Is like I don’t want to
let him escape!”

He snickered.
  If only they knew how very true those
words are
.

With this, Michelle reached around and squeezed his ass,
planting a loud smooch on his cheek.  He was now marked territory with a big
sign hanging from his rear that said,
Property of Michelle––NO TRESPASSING
.

Delia looked both Aaron and Michelle up and down with a
scowl painted on her face.  He read how Delia puzzled over what qualities he
had that could attract Michelle and keep her occupied for an entire week. 
Delia wondered if she’d missed out on something.  Maybe she should’ve let Aaron
have his way with her.  Was he really
all that
in bed?  She thought
perhaps he was like that guy from the movie
Fight Club––
an unremarkable,
scrawny weasel who suddenly transforms into a badass alter-ego, a
screw-your-brains-out-all-night-long Brad Pitt.

Aaron became overwhelmed at the girls’ thoughts in response
to Michelle’s boldness.  All three girls and Kyle hit his mind in a tumbled
mess of irritated confusion.  “
What is she saying?  Are they sleeping
together?  Is he living with her now?  God, I wish I had her hair.  What a
slut!  I bet she has him totally pussy-whipped.  That’s so typical of Aaron to
fall in love with the first girl who grabs his ass.  Look at her eyes.  That
color is freakish, that’s gotta be contacts.  Those are seven hundred dollar
Gucci shoes!  I bet he paid her to do this.  She can’t be for real.  What could
she possibly see in him?  Delia must be dying with jealousy by now!
”

Dazed and confused, Michelle tugged on his arm, bringing him
out of his internal mess.

“Is only fair to Kyle we pay this month’s rent.  Is so
sudden.”  Michelle had entranced Kyle.  He was putty in her hands as she
maintained her wicked soul-snatching eye contact.  The woman could charm the
skin off a king cobra.  Her distraction provided Aaron the stimulus he needed
to hastily erect a mental block to ward off the tangled assault of thoughts
aimed in his direction.

After enjoying a couple seconds of mental silence, he got
with the program.  “Yeah, um … I guess you’re right.”  He turned to Kyle and
offered a wad of bills that Michelle had given him the night before.  “Here’s
six hundred.  That should cover you through the next month.”

Kyle nodded in agreement with a dreamy, idiotic expression. 
He barely managed a one word answer, “Okay.” 

As Kyle shoved the cash into his pants pocket in a crumpled
ball, Michelle finalized the transaction with one of her adorable French asides. 
“
Viola
!
”

This foreign sound from Michelle elicited frowns from all
three girls.  Kyle remained bewitched with his idiot smile pasted on.  Amber, the
girl to the right of Delia, leaned in, looking back and forth at Aaron and
Michelle.  “Wow, that’s really cool.  So like … you guys are moving in together?” 

As she spoke, Amber nudged Delia with her elbow.  Delia barely
noticed.  She stared unwaveringly at Aaron.

He made the mistake of staring back, catching Delia directly
in the eyes with the full force of his gaze.  He forgot how powerful his eye
contact could be.  He broke away from her stare after a few seconds, but the
damage was done.  He followed her thoughts as Delia picked up on the subtle but
distinct differences in her ex-boyfriend.  She felt a near irresistible attraction
to him, far stronger than ever before.  She wanted to run her hands all over
him, under his shirt, down his pants.  There was something disturbing about him,
something strange, almost unnatural.  She regretted having dumped him two weeks
ago.  This situation wasn’t right at all.  Aaron had always been hers, wrapped
around her little finger.

Delia began to realize she might have been wrong.  Aaron was
a real catch after all.  What had she been thinking when she broke up with
him?  Aaron wasn’t supposed to go off dating European models.  He was supposed to
be jealous, begging her to take him back.

He frowned as he recalled doing just that.  She had him
groveling, calling her several times a day, leaving syrupy voicemails and text
messages on her cell for an entire week.  Right up to the moment he met Michelle.

Listening to Delia’s thoughts gave him inspiration.  “Michelle,
this is Delia.  She’s a
friend
of mine.  Delia, meet my
girlfriend,
Michelle.”  Delia flinched as though physically stung by the intensity of
Michelle’s scrutiny as she looked her up and down.

Michelle gave him the opening he needed.  “Why don’t you get
your things while I gossip about you with your friends?”

What goes around comes around, Delia.
  Off the hook,
he headed for his bedroom mumbling, “Good idea”.

* * * *

Delia moved toward Aaron to follow him.  She was halted in
her tracks by Michelle’s firm grasp on her arm.  She turned to Michelle with a
blatant sneer, and was immediately captured by those vivid green eyes in an
intense staring contest.

“I know you were with him before, but I hope we can be
friends.  These things can sometimes be a
problème,
non
?
”  She still had an iron grip on Delia’s arm, staring
directly into her eyes without blinking.

The spell finally broke.  Delia shook her head and stammered,
“No … um … I mean … no problem.  I … we broke it off weeks ago.  It’s cool.  He’s
… we’re just friends now.  Are you guys, like … dating?”

Delia hadn’t fooled anyone.  Her tension was obvious despite
her attempts to appear calm.  She displayed her nervous tick, pulling a stray
hair behind her ear, avoiding further eye contact with Michelle.  Delia looked
to her friends for support.  Amber jumped to her aid.

“Oh yeah, it’s alright.  They broke up, like, two weeks
ago.  It’s all good.”

Delia bobbed her head.  Amber joined in, both nodding
emphatically, a united front declaring Aaron to be a free man.  They wouldn’t
dare think of laying their hands on him.  Michelle could have him all to
herself, no problem at all.  No one who knew Delia was fooled, and neither was
Michelle.

Kyle had enough of this drama.  He addressed Michelle.  “So,
you live here in New York?  How long have you been here?”  Their conversation
delved into the safe platonic zones of weather, traffic, and the rudeness of New
York taxi drivers.

* * * *

Aaron made sure to stay busy in his room, away from all the
stares and pointed thoughts.  As he assessed his possessions and stuffed them
into a couple trash bags he realized just how much his world had changed in the
span of one week.  He no longer felt any attachment to this
place
, these
people,
or his
stuff
.  His meager clothing appeared drab and
unsuited to his new personality and life style.  His books and music no longer
interested him.  His friends in the other room, ensorcelled by his vampire
master, no longer held any emotional significance for him.  By comparison to
the radiant Michelle, Delia was a self-absorbed, frumpy, awkward little girl,
who was now uninteresting and frankly irritating.  He couldn’t remember what it
was about her that had appealed to him in the first place.

He recalled his life in this bedroom as it had revolved
around Delia and Kyle.  The memory in his mind’s eye seemed like a lifetime
ago.  A life lived by a different Aaron.  He recalled passing his days between
work, partying with Kyle, and the foolish pursuit of Delia’s paltry
affections.  His life had reached a significant fork in the road.  The instant
he aligned paths with Michelle there was no turning back.  Every night traveled
down this new path took him that much farther away from humanity.