Sociopath? (20 page)

*

He gave her a black and white sketch he’d
drawn himself in an elaborately carved antique rosewood frame on
the assumption that nothing would please Mariel more than her very
own self. It was an excellent likeness but he’d emphasized her
elegant, regal qualities so it looked slightly more like what she
saw when she looked in the mirror than perhaps exactly as others
saw her.

“Oh, Rafe, it’s absolutely wonderful! I love
it!”

“Why do you go to such enormous effort to
find perfect gifts for them when you don’t seem to care all that
much, Rafe?”

“That’s why, Lane. They think it’s out of
character so it keeps them off balance. I don’t like to be
predictable.”

* *

“Rafe here.”

Her hand clutched the phone so tightly, her
knuckles were white.

“Hello, Rafe. This is Alexis Fielding.”

“Well, hey, Alexis, what’s up?”

“I ran into your sister at the Boutique. Did
she tell you Bay Front is sold and we’re moving to Florida after
the first of the year?

“Yes, she told me.”

“Well, Rafe, I was wondering, I mean…,” on
the other end of the line, she closed her eyes, “I mean, I was
hoping maybe we could get together once before I left.”

He was silent, thinking whether meeting
Alexis’ particular needs was something he wanted to get involved in
again, even once.”

“Please, Rafe,” she breathed.

Oh, what the hell.

“The same as before, Lexie, is that what you
want?”

“Yes.”

“Do you still beg so pretty, Sweetheart?”

The memory of that teasing, sensuous voice
sent a thrill of anticipation through her groin.

“For you, I do.”

“Here’s what I want you to do then. The
Regnier Hotel in Washington, tomorrow. Register as Mrs David Todd.
Tell them your husband will be joining you a little later and to
have a keycard waiting at the desk. I can get there about 6:00 but,
Lex, I want you to go at 4:00. As soon as you get in the room, I
want you to take your clothes off and put your collar on. I want
you to lie on the bed with your legs spread - and that’s all. Don’t
move, don’t touch yourself. I just want you to lie there and wait
for me. Can you remember all that?”

“Yes.” Her voice was hoarse.

“See ya then, Sweetheart.”

*

He was thinking if he was going to do this,
he needed to be creative about the pain she craved, come up with
something a little more intriguing than just the standard
discipline shit.

*

He got undressed, then sat on the side of the
bed. Gold-flecked hazel eyes gazed up at him; blonde hair framed
her tan face, sleekly honey-toned body stretched out on the bed -
bountiful breasts, flat belly, long legs spread far apart. The gold
lame collar around her neck. The musky smell of sun-sweet citrus
and spice floated into his nose.

“Do you remember about not speaking until
you’re spoken to, Lexie, and always saying ‘please’ and ‘may I?’”
She nodded. He rested his hand on her lower belly. “Are you hot and
ready, Sweetheart, was it hard to wait so long?”

He felt her trembling.

She gave a small moan, “yes.”

“I brought you something. I just happened to
see it and thought of you. I found it on my sister’s dresser. I
don’t even know what it is, do you?” He held up a pink clip-type
gadget with strings of tiny bells hanging from it.

“Girls put them in their hair.”

“Well, I have a different idea. See here,” he
showed her. “It’s round and smooth so it won’t cut and the clip
part isn’t very strong. Still,” he said thoughtfully, “I expect it
would hurt some in time. It’s the little bells I like.”He shook the
clip so that it tinkled. He clipped it on to her clit and heard her
quick intake of breath. Then his finger slid into her.

“Ride it, Lexie, and make yourself come. Pump
it hard. I want to hear you jingle.”

She thrust herself against him, again and
again, to the tune of the tiny bells’ music, until she arched her
back and, with a cry, collapsed back onto the bed.

He lay down beside her and kissed her on her
lips and neck, then down to her breasts, nibbling and tickling,
running his hand down her belly and along her inner thighs.

“Tell me what you want me to do, Lexie.”

“I want you to fuck me in the ass, Rafe. I
want you to do it hard.”

“What do you say, Sweetheart?”

“Please, Rafe, please, I’m begging you.”

“Roll over then.”

The baby bells jangled wildly in the
background as he pounded into her. She was crying out, “don’t stop,
don’t stop, don’t stop, oh, it’s so good, oh, yes!” He felt her
quivering as he ejaculated. They were both panting and lay
exhausted.

“May I say something, Rafe?”

“Go head.”

“I missed you so much after you were gone. I
dreamed about you doing this. I wanted it so bad, Rafe.”

He patted her on the butt.

“Go run me a bath, Lex. I’ve been riding all
afternoon. I probably smell like horses.”

He could hear the bells as she walked to the
bathroom.

*

He lay back in the over-sized tub. “Come in
here with me, Sweetheart.”

She kneeled in the water beside him, gently
washing him with a soapy cloth, starting with his face and moving
down his body until she reached his toes, kissing every part of him
as she went. After she finished the rest, she came back to his
cock, taking him all into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the
head, sucking, until he stopped her.

“Let’s get out and dry off. I want you to
give me a massage.”

She dried him and back in the king-sized four
poster bed, used the body lotion that was provided by the hotel, to
knead and caress both sides of him from head to toe and back up
again until he was totally relaxed. She did it all silently, since
she knew not to speak without permission, but her desire was
profoundly expressed in passionate touches and kisses. Every move
she made was accompanied by the sound of bells.

“Hell,” he told her, “I’ll probably be like
Pavlov’s dog after this. Every time I hear a fucking bell, I’ll get
a hard on.”

He ordered dinner from room service, for
himself but not for her.

“You pay for the food when it comes, Lex. My
billfold’s in my jeans pockets. Include a nice tip.”

When the door was opened by a beautiful
blonde wearing nothing but a gold dog collar, the waiter did a
double-take. He tried to take the tray to the table without being
too obvious about staring. He wondered if he was imagining things
thinking he faintly heard bells tinkling when she went to get the
money to pay him. “Christ,” he thought, “sometimes this job offers
great fringe benefits.” He noticed the black-haired guy in bed
watching with amusement.

He ate with her on her knees beside his
chair. Every now and then, when she said, “please, may I have a
bite, Rafe,” he gave her one. He watched a movie from bed with her
curled up beside his groin, licking and kissing his cock and
fondling his balls. When the movie was over, he said, “make it
happen, Sweetheart,” and she sucked him until he exploded into her
mouth.

Before he turned out the light, he flicked
the little bells with his finger so they sang.

“Does it hurt, Lexie?”

“Yes.”

“If it’s so bad you can’t stand it, all you
have to do is ask me and I’ll take them off, you understand that,
don’t you?

“Yes, but I don’t want them off.”

“Okay, up to you.”

Sometimes, he heard them when she moved in
the night. If she turned wrong, she let out a small cry or a
muffled groan but she didn’t ask to remove them.

By morning, she was red and swollen. “You
made it all night, Lexie, that’s enough.”

When he pressed the sides to release the
clip, tears filled her eyes from the pain of the blood flowing back
where it had been cut off by the pressure. He moved down to sooth
the sore place with his tongue, gently massaging until she spread
her legs and lifted herself up to him. “Make me come, Rafe, oh,
please, make me come one more time before you go.”

*

He was dressed. She still lay on the bed,
wearing only the gold collar.

“May I ask you something, Rafe?”

“What, Sweetheart?”

“Do you have that switchblade with you that
you used to carry sometimes?”

“It’s in my boot. Why would you want to know
that?”

“I want you to cut a little V into my hip.
Please, Rafe.”

“Whoa, Lexie, that’s pretty heavy. You know I
do the things you want not because they turn me on but because they
turn you on and it’s turning you on that makes me hot but, Lex, I
think cutting you is taking it a little farther than I’m prepared
to go.”

“Please, Rafe. It doesn’t have to be a big V,
just enough to leave a little scar. You’ll never see me again. I’m
begging for this one last thing, please.”

He shrugged and got his knife. “Show me where
you want it.”

She put her fingers on the upper part of her
butt cheek. The blade flicked out of its handle. Carefully, he
carved a V, each line being about a quarter of an inch long. The
two lines instantly filled with blood. She never made a sound. He
held a corner of the sheet against the wound until the bleeding
slowed.

She turned over, smiling.

“Are you happy now?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Curiously, he asked, “how are you going to
explain it to your husband?”

“We sleep in separate rooms. We only do it
with him on top. We only do it in the dark. He’ll never see
it.”

“Sounds like fun,” he commented wryly. “Give
me a kiss, Lex, before I leave.”

He leaned over and she flung her arms around
his neck, holding him tight, until he gently pulled her away.

“Take care in Florida, Sweetheart. You could
get in trouble pretty easily. Everyone might not be as…careful as
me.”

“I know you think I’m a slut, Rafe, but I’m
really not. I’ve never…,” she paused, “never mind, it doesn’t
matter. “ She smiled. “Think of me now and then when you hear
bells, Rafe.”

He gave her a thumbs up and closed the door
behind him.

*

The Regnier, the most prestigious hotel in
Washington, was where he always took the women, especially the
older ones, who required more special treatment than the cabin. The
doorman knew him well. The waiter had shared the scene he’d found
in Room 1408 and the doorman recognized the man as Rafe. He just
shook his head when Rafe went by (without luggage, as always).

“You are somethin’ else, Boy. If there is
such a thing as reincarnation, I hope I come back next time as
you.”

* *

He settled back in at school. He was in a
kind of grit-your-teeth-and-get-through-it mode. What else could he
do?

Lane’s visit was a nice break. Other students
brought family members to the campus, proud to show them around the
impressive grounds and beautifully historic buildings but Rafe
wasn’t like other students. He booked a room in a hotel, two rooms
really but with a connecting door, and they just holed up together,
spending almost the whole weekend naked. One of the rooms never got
used at all although he made sure to rumple the bedclothes and
dampen the towels because he believed in considering every
detail.

It was a blissful time for Laney. For once,
they didn’t even have to give a thought that a knock might ever
come on the door. They were completely free to be together all the
time, to wake up in the morning when they felt like it, to go to
sleep late at night all tangled together, to watch t.v. from the
bed with his arm around her. If she got really interested in a
program, he’d invariably start kissing her neck or putting his hand
between her legs. “Is this really something you want to see?” he’d
ask in a low, intimate voice and she’d turn away from the
television saying, “no, I don’t care anything about it at all.”

They took their showers together. They
ordered all their meals from room service. Sometimes he’d dribble
his orange juice on her breasts and down her belly and into her
pussy and then lick it up. Or she’d smear his nipples and cock with
strawberry jam and eat it off, his hands buried in her hair.

“I love it now that you’re on birth control
pills and we don’t have to use condoms,” he said, “it feels better
and I like knowing I’m leaving some of me inside you.”

*

Sometimes, they just talked.

“So, how’s it going with Cal? Have you done
the dirty deed yet?”

She sighed. “Yes, and you know what I
did?”

“What’s that?”

“I faked it, although I swore I’d never do
that. I just couldn’t hurt him, Rafe. I knew he’d feel so rejected
and he tried so hard to make it good for me. I see now why women do
it. It’s to be kind.”

“Do you think you convinced him?”

“Oh, yes, I just pretended it was you and it
was really happening. I know how to make it feel real.”

*

“Do you really hate it here that much,
Rafe?”

“I feel like a dog in a kennel, Lane, trapped
into a small, stifling space, with constant noise from other dogs
howling and barking on all sides. You know, I have an assigned
counselor. We all do. I was supposed to go see him but I never did
so he came to my room to see me. First, he blew smoke up my ass
about my grades and football and how well I was doing. Then he got
to the real reason he was there which was that he’d noticed when he
looked over my computer record that I’d hadn’t hooked up with any
clubs or groups and he wanted to know why that was. I said the last
thing I wanted was to go some place where there were even more
people when I felt like I was drowning in people already. He said,
but if they were students who had things in common with me,
wouldn’t that make a difference? I asked him very politely if he
had any complaints about my academics or my behavior and he said,
oh, no nothing like that, so I said, then why didn’t he leave me
the fuck alone and go visit people who wanted his help.”