Chapter Fourteen
Everything was quiet on this side of town. What did Macsen consider fun?
“Come on, let’s go.” Macsen held his hand out. Severine anxiously took it and slammed the door behind her.
“Where the hell are we?” Severine asked him with an antsy tone. Her eyes flicked around the streets. The buildings they passed were boarded up and closed. Most of the neglected spaces had their windows broken out and expletives spray painted on the sides. “I don’t want to die, Macsen. I happen to like my life.”
Macsen gripped her hand tighter and smirked at her. “You’re not gonna die.”
“Then why are we practically running?”
“You’re not gonna die out here. But I definitely don’t suggest that you shuffle across the street with what you’ve got on.”
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
He lifted a black brow and gave her a once over. She could count on the fact that his cheeks were probably tinged red. They had been together for weeks, and he still acted nervous around her. But for Severine it meant that she had authority over him. It felt good. Any more power and she’d become drunk off of it.
“It’s a lot of skin.” Macsen motioned to her sweater.
Severine didn’t have to look down. Her coat was buttoned up practically to her neck. She was tempted to unbutton it. Just to tick him off. “Are you secretly taking me to meet your parents? Are they Amish and will shun you when they see me?” Severine teased.
Macsen chuckled and shook his head. “No. But I think even if I introduced you to my parents, they’d shun me for my thoughts.”
“I’ve shown more in my bathing suit,” Severine pointed out.
“Yeah. But that was just in front of me. Right now, it’s torturing me.”
“Yeah?”
He loosened their fingers and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. His mouth moved to her ear right as his hand crept past her shoulder and past the edge of the collar on her coat. “Like right here.” His index finger touched the edge of her breast. The feel of it zinged through Severine. It burned past her shirt and bra. “I know there is a mole there, and it’s driving me crazy that I can’t see it.”
Her heart slowed, and her steps followed suit as his finger drifted closer to her nipple. When he was a second away from making her collapse in the middle of the sidewalk, he moved his hand back to her shoulder. “I swear,” he whispered, “my fingertips could sink right into you.”
The resistance she had painstakingly constructed to ward off foreign emotions swayed around her. It wasn’t as solid as she thought. Severine wasn’t used to feeling unprepared.
Macsen hummed a tune as they walked down the street. He seemed lost in his own world, unaware that she was proclaiming to herself repeatedly that she had the jurisdiction to control her life. A part of her wondered if she’d ever be able to unclench the ropes holding her back.
“Here we are.” Macsen’s hand found hers. He pulled her to a bar slammed in between two brick buildings that had both seen better years. The sign above the door flashed on and off. After a few tries, Severine finally made out the name—Kasser.
“You’re taking me to a bar?” Severine let out a dramatic sigh and pretended to fan her face. “If you keep spoiling me, I don’t think I’ll be able to resist you tonight!”
Macsen picked up on her sarcasm and let out a deep breath. He smiled widely as he opened the door for her. “You’ll get why I brought you here,” he explained as he walked closely behind her into the bar.
For a weekday, it was busy. It wasn’t packed body to body, but many of the seats were filled with people talking. No one looked up as they walked down the open space in between the bar and stage.
They picked a seat close to the stage. Severine noticed the instruments and people testing out the three microphones placed around the stage. Macsen’s face beamed with contentment.
Severine smiled at his happiness. He was close to bouncing around like a young child. “Why are we here, Mr. Sloan?”
His palm positioned itself to its most favorite place: the back of his neck. He rubbed it a few times and nervously moved his feet up and down. “A buddy of mine found Kasser a few months back. I try to come when a certain band plays.”
Severine turned in her chair and glanced at the stage. “What’s their name?”
Straight, white teeth came into view, and Severine discovered the small dimple on his left cheek. “Skinned Knees.”
His grin was contagious and made Severine’s lips turn up into a wide smile of her own. “Skinned Knees. That sounds rocky. Are they going to be screaming out all their songs? Should I have brought some earplugs?”
“Easy with the questions. No—to the earplugs. And a massive hell no to the screaming.”
“Will I like them?”
Macsen leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. With a thin gray t-shirt paired on top of a black long sleeve thermal, his style was comfortable, but hot. Severine looked down at his arms. The fine dark hair that coated his arms shone against the bright lights of the stage.His arms shifted to rest on his stomach. Severine lifted an eyebrow at the sinew of muscle that became easy to see. Thank you, bright lights.
“Wait to hear them, will ya?”
All the lights in the room turned off. Severine couldn’t see her own hand in front of her. “Oh God. Did this place lose electricity? Are we going to get slaughtered by the village idiot?”
“Relax. The band is coming out.”
“And they need complete darkness? Because I have to say, that kind of gives me the creeps.”
“Just wait,” Macsen whispered.
A second later a spotlight came on and illuminated the stage, and nothing else. A guitar started to strum, and the drums picked up soon after. In total, there were four guys on the stage. The attention was directed on the lead singer. He grabbed the mic and held it between his hands as he started singing a song unknown to Severine.
The tune was catchy, and soon Severine’s foot moved up and down to the beat. She leaned over to Macsen and cupped a hand to her lips, “They’re a lot like OneRepublic.”
He nodded his head and focused back at the stage. “They’re great, right?”
For two hours they listened to Skinned Knees, and Macsen’s smile never left his face. Severine could’ve stared at him the whole night.
When they left the crappy bar, Severine sighed and looked up at Macsen’s profile. “I didn’t know you had this side to you.”
“What side?”
“A love for music. Do you play any instruments?” Severine asked.
“Ha. F*ck, no. My mom pushed me into piano lessons as a kid. It’s definitely not my niche. I’m better off being a spectator.”
“What other part of you have I yet to discover?” Severine teased.
He shrugged, trying to appear shy. When his arms reached out, he snatched her up easily and dangled her in the air. Macsen made her feel as light as a ballerina. Severine yelped and let out a laugh.
He kept walking, and her elbows lightly rested on his shoulders as he slowly walked them further from the bar. “I’m thinking about taking you in between one of these buildings,” Macsen admitted.
Many factors should stop her from smiling at his declaration. They were in a dangerous part of town ranked up there as number one. But she could think of nothing else. Her one good reason escaped her mind as Macsen turned to the left and guided them into the dark alley, away from the streetlights.
Her feet touched the ground, and she felt the uneven concrete beneath her feet. She felt as broken as it looked. Macsen matched her steps until she felt the side of the brick against her back. “Scared?”
He moved closer, until her body was covered from the world. Severine shook her head. “No.”
Macsen nodded and reached out to loosen her scarf. The red piece dangled around her neck like an unknotted tie. Cold air tickled her skin. Severine kept her mouth shut to prevent the gasp from escaping. Goosebumps broke across her skin, and she knew he saw it. He saw everything.
Two calloused hands settled at the base of her. Macsen turned his body to the side. Her throat contracted against his palm. “Sometimes I think you should be scared of me.”
Severine flashed her eyes up to his face. His fingers methodically rubbed her skin, and she prayed her eyes wouldn’t close from his touch. “Why...” Severine licked her lips and tried to speak firmly. “Why should I be scared of you?”
“You give me control, when I don’t know what do with it. I can barely dominate you, how could I ever have authority over us?”
“Don’t ask. Just take what’s in front of you,” Severine urged. And if he didn’t, she gladly would.
Before she could finish her thoughts, he firmly kissed her. His lips and tongue went to a limit and pushed the boundaries of any other kiss before this one. Her arms became bands around his neck, and she stood on her tiptoes to return everything he was giving her.
She could feel how hard he was. He pressed himself against her leg, and Severine moaned. He pressed her against the wall until a gasp escaped her lips. The buttons of her coat became unbuttoned, and his hands shaped her body with frantic touches. His hands grasped her breast and teased her until she couldn’t remember her own name.
Severine. I’m Severine.
She jolted back and panted out heavily. “See.” Her smile was weak. “That wasn’t so hard.”
He pressed against her and laughed out in between breaths. “I think I have to disagree with you on that.”
When they moved away and walked back to his truck, Severine demanded her heart to slow down. But it didn’t.
She sketched this moment into her mind, because nothing could be so perfect. Nothing could stay right, and last.