“You're sort of crushing me.”
He'd ruined the moment, and we all knew it.
Sighing, I adjusted backwards, finding my footing. Pulling my cock out, I grimaced at the sensation of loss. The booth was slick with our sweat. “Guess we aren't done cleaning up here, after all.”
Marina gave me a bemused stare. Then she laughed, drawing all of the light in the room into her dark eyes. That vision of her; nude, damp, and flushed from our activity... I wanted to jump in for seconds.
Kite sat up, spreading his arms over the back of the booth. “Chill out, Jacob. It'll be fine. It's not the first time someone has fucked in here.”
I lifted my eyebrows, pausing as I grabbed my shirt. “Excuse me?”
Turning away, Kite cleared his throat. “Anyway, let's get changed and get out of here. I could use some food.”
Marina tugged her shirt on, then scowled as Kite grabbed her panties, keeping them out of reach. I looked on as they cavorted, her mock anger turning into giggles soon enough. It was surreal, imagining that this was even happening.
My lips went down on the edges.
But inside, I was smiling wide.
There was something so... genuine, so perfect, about all of this.
This is the future I want.
The thought warmed me, but it also scorched. Quickly I zipped my pants, leaning on the wall. If I made no movements, no sound, could this world keep existing, just like this?
I pictured a rabbit in the woods, enjoying the grass and sun, unaware that there was a hawk waiting to strike in the trees above. If you took a photo, right before the violence, you could pretend the rabbit would live forever.
This perfect moment with Marina's laughter filling the air...
It was the rabbit.
Did that make me the hawk?
“Jacob?”
Blinking, I saw her staring at me. I shook myself, adjusted my shirt. “What's wrong?” I asked, glancing around for Kite. He was halfway down the hall.
She saw my look. “He went to warm up his car. Hey, are you alright?”
Judging her, I considered my answer. There was so much weight on my heart. It smothered me, leaving me confused when it lifted, only to return and crush me again every time.
Why had things happened this way?
Why couldn't Marina have come to us without such a dark cloud being involved?
Was there another universe in which we all lived, free of the pain brought on by blackmail, by revenge, by death?
This majestic girl, she was everything I wanted—that we wanted—but we would never have met without the scent of gunpowder. Everything, from the start, had conspired against us.
The cruel fact was, none of this would have been set in motion without death.
All of us were cursed.
How could I be okay with that? How could anything be alright?
My smile was cool as morning dew. I said calmly, “Of course I'm alright. How could I not be, after what we just did?”
Her blush was enticing. Her words were less so. “I know something is wrong. You don't have to lie to me.”
Stepping close to her, I set my fingers on her jaw, tilting her towards me.
No need to lie?
My lovely Marina... you have no idea. I looked into her eyes, my tone pure cotton. “Don't worry about it. In this moment, what's wrong doesn't matter. And that's not a lie.”
She seemed unsure. I appreciated that, her cleverness was part of why I was falling for her. Marina was quick, and that made everything so much more difficult. Appeasing her was a challenge, but even when it worked...
I didn't feel like I'd won.
“Alright,” she sighed, reaching down to take my hand. Our fingers wove together, fitting better than they had any right to. “Come on, let's get out of here. We can come back to clean up in the morning, I'm starving.”
Grinning, I traced the inside of her wrist. “After being so stuffed, how could you ever be hungry again?”
Stumbling, she shot me a tiny glare. Then it was gone, and she was pulling me towards the backdoor. Marina was leading me, something so novel.
If she could lead me into a future where we all existed together, a place of joy and love and anything but devastation and blood...
I would go there with a smile.
The night air was chilly. It cleared my head, but her hand leaving mine was what really crisped my thoughts. Focus. Stop getting so lost in all of this. You have a mission, you HAVE a plan, even if you don't know all the threads yet.
Protect Kite, protect yourself, protect your future.
If she could fit into that, then fine. But if not, I had to be willing to do anything. No matter how brutal, or how soul-crushing, I had to remember my oath.
Kite was saying something to her, the two of them smiling. I left them alone, my keys jingling as I pried them into my car door. Opening it, I looked up at the sound of feet on the gravel. I was baffled to see Marina approaching me. “What's wrong?” I asked.