“It’s not pig latin.”
I purse my lips and look her over, pretending I can see right through her. I nod and put a finger on my chin. “I see…”
“What do you see?”
I grin. “It’s sign language.”
“What!?” She jumps up and hits me with a pillow, then folds her arms again. My gaze sweeps up her tights-clad legs, over the swell of her breasts, and over her lovely face. I grin wider. “Was I right?”
“Yes you were right! But how? That’s a hidden talent of mine. My aunt was born deaf. Everyone in my family knows— Gah! Everyone in my family.” She shakes her head. “I guess someone, sometime has written about my dad’s sister Lucy.”
I nod, feeling irrationally pleased with myself. “Someone, somewhere.”
“And you read it,” she pouts.
“What can I say?” I shrug. “I’m well-read, baby.”
She sits on my lap and frames my face with both of her hands. “How can you be smart? Pimps are supposed to be big, dumb, jocky types.”
“I’m jocky!” I stick out my lower lip, and she giggles. I grab a piece of her hair and twist it around my hand, pulling her a little closer to me. “Besides,” I whisper in her ear, “I already told you, I’m a mack.”
She giggles again. “That’s where the term ‘mack daddy’ comes from, isn’t it? That old fourth grade term the boys used when they wanted to be king of the jungle gym?”
I stroke her cheek. “And here I thought you went to private schools.”
“I did. But they were dirty little boys.”
“You like the dirty boys?” I take her hand and press it against the bulge that’s growing under my plaid pajama pants. She rubs her palm over me—and I’m stretching out on my back, lifting my ass for her as she yanks off my pants. I make quick work of hers and hold her over me while I explore her soft pussy with my tongue.
She’s groaning, her legs collapsing so she sags on top of me, in no time flat.
She’s got her arm stretched back underneath her legs so she can work my cock, but her fingers can’t reach me.
“Hold on,” she says, pulling away from me with a sexy little cry. She climbs on top of my face and takes my cock in her mouth and now it’s me who can barely think straight.
“Jesus…” She’s got this thing she does with her tongue and her lips that’s… “Oh, fuck!”
I’m coming in her mouth, worrying about her until she screams my name and I can feel her quiver underneath my tongue.
I lift her off of me, lie her out on the coffee table, and suck her tits for a few minutes till she’s writhing again. Then I lift her onto the couch, spread her legs, and plunge inside. She’s warm and soft and welcoming. She strokes my face and cries my name, and you know what? I fucking like it. I might even fucking love it.
It’s not until we’re eating ice cream half an hour later that it hits me like a fucking train.
“I didn’t use a condom. Holy fuck.” I’m off the couch and on my feet, pacing. “I didn’t use a fucking condom! FUCK!”
“Marchant, calm down, it’s—”
“You don’t understand. You could get pregnant!” I’m breathing hard. There’s not enough air in this room. In this house. “Suri, I always use a condom. I can’t believe it! Fuck me!” I’m covering my face with my hand, feeling the familiar coldness in my hands and feet that harkens a panic attack, when she grabs me by my elbows and says, “STOP! Stop freaking out, Marchant. I’m infertile.”
“What?”
Her hazel eyes are wide in a face that suddenly looks breakable. “I said I’m infertile,” she says softly. “It’s okay.” Her shoulders slump. “I’ve known it for a while. So I can’t get pregnant. You have nothing to worry about.”
She sits down on the couch, folding her legs underneath her.
In the last few days, we’ve fucked and worked together, and I’ve never seen her look like she does now. So…vacant.
I go over to the couch and sit on the floor in front of her, surprised by the depth of loss I feel on her behalf.
“I’m sorry.” I’m not sure what else to say. But her wide eyes are fixed on my face, so I swallow past the dryness in my throat. “Do you want children?”
“I don’t know. I never really got a chance to think about it. Probably, though. I think I’d like to adopt a little girl or boy.”
I nod a little. “Well…that’s something.”
“Something,” she says. “Yeah. I guess it is.” And, after a moment looking into my eyes: “You don’t want kids? Because of…your mother?”
“I don’t want an accidental pregnancy,” I hedge.
“Well, you’re safe with me.” She winks, but the smile she gives me is not real.
I wonder what she would think if she knew the truth about my problem.
I tell myself that I’m a fool for wondering.
SURI
I’ve been invited to dinner with ‘the girls.’ In the past four days, Marchant and I kept bumping into Juniper, the British one, and she eventually asked if I’d like to go to fajita night with the Love Inc. ladies who are still hanging around. (Some of them took time off, because there weren’t enough cottages for everyone to continue seeing clients).
That was yesterday—the day that turned into the night when I told Marchant about my inability to procreate.
I’m probably being crazy, but I can’t shake the feeling that he’s been more distant since I told him. Today he was at the cottage most of the day, doing book-keeping stuff, he said, while I began sorting through fabrics and colors to create the new look for the almost completely sheet rocked main house interior. I think I’ve got the floors and paints mostly decided, and I’ve got a tentative plan for furniture and plants.
I can’t wait to show it to Marchant, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. For now, I put on a strappy red dress, silver shoes, and my favorite low-key jewelry, then pull my hair into a casual bun and add lipstick.
When I walk into the living area, I’m hoping to be greeted by a low whistle. Instead, the place is empty. Or I think it is. I’m at the front door, planning to wait for Juniper on the porch, when I hear Marchant’s voice from the kitchen.
As soon as I walk in, he ends whatever conversation he was having and drops his phone into his pocket. His eyes find mine, and my sketch-ometer starts going off, because he doesn’t even notice I’ve dressed up. He looks distracted. Unhappy.
“What’s wrong?”
He blinks at me like he’s just waking up. “Umm…what?”
“You just…you look— Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” He frowns at me. “Where are you going?”
“Fajita night, remember?”
“Oh yeah. Good,” he says definitively.
“Glad to be rid of me,” I tease.
“I can’t hang out tonight. Work stuff,” he tells me.
For once, he didn’t join me in the shower after work.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” he says firmly. And there’s something about the way he says it… Like no way would it be my business.
It bothers me.
“Okay,” I tell him. “See you later tonight.”
As I wait on the porch for Juniper, I’m worrying about what will happen when this project is over—worrying about how hard I’m falling for him—when the door opens and he sticks his head outside. “I just wanted to tell you—you look good. Have a good time. They’re nice people.”
“I know,” I smile. “And thanks. Hope you get your work stuff sorted out.”
“I hope so too.”
There’s something odd about the way he says it. I’m still thinking back to it when Juniper and a few of the other girls arrive.