======================================================== The following piece of fiction contains strong sexual content and is meant to be read only by adults. If you are not at least 18 years old, or if you are offended by this type of material, please do not read any further. ======================================================== "Blood and Sand"
by DG +++ Part One +++ Fabian Barnes eyed the last few green shoots poking up from the top of the ornamental hedge. Three satisfying snicks from his hedge clipper, and they joined their companions on the lawn. He dropped the clipper and stepped back to admire his work. The top of the hedge, which enclosed three sides of the large, lushly landscaped back yard, was now as flat and green as a billiards table. In this quiet neighborhood, where the use of gasoline- powered trimmers and blowers was strictly regulated, nothing less would do.
It was three in the afternoon, the southern California sun was still high in the cloudless sky, and it had to be ninety-five degrees in the shade. Sweat was trickling down his face, making his eyes sting and his white t-shirt stick to his chest and back like a second skin. He turned to give the swimming pool a longing glance, and noticed a flash of movement behind the large window overlooking the yard. With a little smile, he peeled off his white t-shirt and used it to mop the sweat from his face and neck. Fabian was a big in his late twenties, over six feet tall and well muscled, with shoulder-length hair pulled back into a ponytail with a rubber band. From a distance his face looked smooth and chiseled, but up close the scars around his eyebrows and the somewhat misshapen cartilage of his nose gave it more character. Either way, he was a good looking man.
He raked up the hedge clippings and put them into a big plastic bin, and then he walked up to the back door and knocked, still shirtless.
The woman who answered the door was attractive, in a thin overly-groomed sort of way. Fabian knew the type well: in her mid-thirties, she was bored and restless in her suburban castle. She smiled at him, flipping her shiny brown hair back with a practiced gesture. "All done?"
"Yes, ma'am. Do you want to come out and take a look?" Deliciously cool gusts of air from the house swirled past him, evaporating the sweat from his chest and face and making his nipples tighten.
"Oh, no, I've been... I happened to glance out and see what you were doing a little while ago, and it looks great. Real nice job." She was staring at his bare chest, and he saw the tip of her pink tongue moisten the corner of her mouth.
"Thanks."
"Jesus, it's hot out there. Why don't you come inside and have something to drink while I get my purse."
"Thanks, that would be great," he said, meaning it. He followed her into the kitchen, eyeing her long tan legs and her cute little ass, which was packed into a tight pair of snowy-white shorts. He didn't see any possible way she could be wearing panties.
She gestured towards the huge silver refrigerator. "There's all sorts of stuff in there - help yourself. I'll be right back."
Fabian rooted around and found a six-pack of Budweiser long necks lurking among the bottled water and fruit juice. He popped the cap off one and took a long swig, emptying half the bottle. Two more pulls and it was empty. He quickly stashed the bottle in the garbage and opened another.
"Now, how much do I owe you?" the woman asked, coming back with her purse. She came over and stood in front of him, a little too close.
Fabian looked into her eyes, and said "Before we settle the bill, are you sure there isn't anything else around here that needs taking care of?"
A little smile played across her mouth. "Hmm...let's see, I guess there might be something..."
"Something indoors, maybe? Sure is sticky out there."
She took the beer out of his hand and took a sip. Then she wiped her mouth delicately with the back of her hand and said "Now that you mention it, I think there might be something for you upstairs."
"What sort of job, ma'am? Physical labor? Any heavy lifting?"
She set the beer down on the counter and ran her hand up and down his chest, tracing the well-defined plates and ridges. "I think we've done enough dancing around the subject, don't you?"
"Yes ma'am," he said with a grin. He pulled her toward him, and she came willingly, tilting her head up so that their mouths met in a long, firm kiss.
"Is your name really Fabian?"
"I'm afraid so."
"No, I like it. You can call me Kathy, Fabian. Unless my asshole of a husband is around, in which case you better stick to ma'am." She stuck out her tongue and delicately licked his chest. Her tongue felt warm and soft on his sweat-cooled skin, and he twitched involuntarily when she flicked at his nipple. "What do you say we go upstairs and put you to work...Fabian?"
He grabbed the beer off the counter and followed her through the showplace home, which was filled with uncomfortable-looking furniture and oddly-shaped objects too useless to be anything but art. She led him up to the second floor, to a small room with a full-sized bed; probably a guest bedroom. Or maybe it was the designated room for fucking the help.
"You want me to grab a quick shower, Kathy? I'm kinda sweaty..."
"No! I want you sweaty. You can shower after."
He shrugged and sat down next to her on the bed. They kissed again, and she rubbed the bulge in the front of his faded jeans, tracing the outine of his cock, making it bigger. He slid his hand under her top and opened the front clasp of her bra with a practiced twist, spilling out her small, soft breasts. Just from their texture, he could tell that they weren't very sensitive, and he treated them a little roughly, cupping one in his large hand and squeezing it firmly, massaging the nipple between his callused fingers.
Kathy moaned and broke the kiss. "Oh, that feels very good... God, I love a who knows what he's doing."
She pushed him back on the bed, straddled his chest, and took off her top. He continued to squeeze and pinch her nipples, doing it hard enough to hurt, and she gritted her teeth and twitched. "Fuck yes," she said, her eyes starting to glaze with lust. "That feels really, really fucking amazing."
As he continued working her over, she reached behind her back and unzipped his jeans. He lifted up his butt, and she pushed them down past his hips. Then she closed her hand around his stiffening cock and pulled it out of his shorts.
"Oh yeah... beautiful... I love a nice juicy cock more than anything, you know that? More than any-fucking thing. I haven't even seen this one yet, but I just I know I'm gonna love it."
Fabian smiled to himself. These upper-income housewives always liked to talk dirty and to be treated a little rough. He supposed it was all part of the fantasy - the lady of the manor slumming with the husky, sex-crazed yard boy. He wondered what sex between this woman and her husband was like. Probably neither one of them said a word the whole time.
She was jerking his cock with her hand behind her back, and he was fully erect. "I'm making you hard, Fabian. You like that? Do I make you hot, Fabian?"
"I want you to suck it," he said, deadpan. Might as well play the part.
"You want me to suck this sweaty cock of yours?"
"Yep."
"Not much of a talker, are you?"
"Nope."
She swung her leg off his chest and kneeled next to him, and he reached down and finished taking off his jeans, his erection bobbing back and forth, and then lay back down.
"You have a beautiful fucking cock, you know that?"
Whatever. She gripped the base in her right hand and licked his shaft with long fluid strokes, using her whole tongue. Apparently she was into licking. "Mmm, tastes so good...I love a big, hard, sweaty cock more than anything..."
She moved her attention up to the head, teasing him with little flicks at the sensitive opening, pretending she was a porno actress or something. He put his hand on the back of her neck and gently pushed her head down. She got the hint and started him in earnest, slurping away greedily as she worked her mouth up and down his shaft.
It wasn't the best head he had ever gotten, but it was pretty decent, and she didn't show any signs of letting up. He hated it when a woman gave him head for thirty seconds and then stopped, like they had done their duty. But not Kathy, she seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself. After a little while she started fondling his balls with her left hand, and he realized he had better start fucking her before he blew his load in her mouth.
"That feels awesome," he said. "How about we fuck now?"
"Mmm, lets," she said with a smile, wiping the excess saliva off her chin.
He stood up and stroked his hard, slippery cock while she lay on her back and peeled off her tight shorts. No panties. "Oh God, I need to be fucked so bad," she said, somewhat unnecessarily. He pulled her shorts off her ankles and dropped them on the floor, and she spread her legs and writhed on the bed.
"Come and get it, Fabian."
He could see the moistness inside the dark tangle of her bush, and her spicy scent was in his nostrils. He moved over her, aiming his cock with his hand, and entered her warm depths with one delicious plunge that left him lying on top of her, face to face. Her was loose and slippery.
"That feels so good," she purred.
"It most surely does, Kathy," he agreed. He raised up on his elbows and started fucking her with short hard pumps of his hips, grinding his groin against her at the end of each stroke. Her eyes opened wide, and she reached around and grabbed his muscular buttocks, pulling him even deeper into her.
"Oh god... yes, fuck me... fuck me..." She continued to chant into his ear as they fucked. It was sort of silly, all this dirty talk, but he decided he could get used to it.
He kept up a steady rhythm, making a wet slapping sound with every thrust, and her voice started getting ragged and uneven.
"Fuck me... oh god, don't stop..." Some heavy breathing, and then she came, bucking her hips sharply up at him and moaning with her eyes shut tight. If it was an act, it was a damn good one, and he was rather pleased with himself.
"Oh Fabian," she said, running her hands through his hair. "That was fucking amazing. Your turn now... I want you to come inside me... fill me up."
"Roll over," he said, getting off her.
"Mmm, whatever you say." She rolled over and waggled her ass in his face. Definitely her best feature. He pressed his cock into her ripe, swollen and pulled her ass back against him. Holding her hips firmly in place with his big hands, he fucked her with rapid, powerful thrusts that made her ass cheeks ripple like waves.
"Oh Fabian, yeah, take me... give it to me..."
It didn't take long. He leaned his head back and stared unseeing at the ceiling as the semen came flowing up his shaft. Grunting through gritted teeth, he spurted his hot liquid into her, and for a few seconds an ordinary, carnal encounter was transformed into something magical. But only for a few seconds.
"I've got a feeling my hedge is going to need trimming again real soon," said Kathy.
"You gotta stay right on top of 'em, they grow back pretty quick," he agreed.
"Should we say a week from today, then?"
"Sounds about right."
She looked at the clock on the nightstand. "Shit - it's later than I thought. My husband could be home any minute. You better be running along, Fabian." "Right." ***************** An hour later, showered and changed, Fabian was sitting in a folding chair watching a hard-fought beach volleyball game. A blond named Lynn was stretched out on her stomach next to him in a skimpy bikini, soaking up the last few rays of sunshine. Fabian was sleeping with her, but they weren't really in a relationship. In fact, he didn't even like her all that much. Lynn was the manager of a local Wendy's. She had been his boss before he quit to go into the landscaping business, trading in his mop and paper hat for a mower and hedge clippers. But she still treated him like she was his superior, as if managing a lousy fast-food place gave her some sort of intellectual edge. Besides that, she wasn't really that hot, although she did have a mouthwatering set of tits.
He was pondering how he should go about disentangling himself from Lynn, when someone called out "Fabian, my man! How's the lawn mowing gig treating you?" A skinny black guy with a cheerful smile and a cleanly-shaved head came up and slapped him on the back.
"Hey Mickey," said Fabian, looking up with a smile. "I prefer to call it a holistic landscaping maintenance service. So far business is so-so, but I'm enjoying the perks. I see you're managing to stay out of jail."
Mickey was a hustler, a small-time criminal who always had a couple of scams going. Fabian knew that with his own rich history of bad luck he'd be sure to end up in jail the first time he did something illegal, so he never gave much serious thought to Mickey's schemes. But he and Mickey went way back, and he enjoyed hanging out with him.
"Jail? Jail is for chumps," said Mickey with a snort. Fabian gestured towards an empty lawn chair and Mickey dragged it over and sat down.
"So what's shaking?" asked Fabian. Mickey had plenty of friends in low places, making him an excellent source of juicy gossip.
"Something right up your alley." He leaned close, and in a conspiratorial tone said, "Beach brawl tonight at eight, over at Tigertail. Ten bucks a head. You interested?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Fabian, turning away from the volleyball game.
"Latest thing, - couple go at it on the sand, winner takes all. Guy called Basher is fighting tonight, he's a real trip. Gotta keep it under your hat, though, this shit's illegal."
"I don't need to pay ten bucks to see a fight. I want to see a fight, I'll just start one myself."
"Whatever you say," said Mickey, holding up his hands. "Thought you might be interested, that's all."
Lynn pushed herself up on her elbows, displaying a dangerous amount of cleavage. "What are you talking about? What kind of a fight?"
"Boxing," said Mickey, helping himself to an eyeful of her tits. "Light gloves, no hitting below the waist, last standing wins. None of that chop-socky oriental shit, or anything like that."
"Sounds pretty cool," said Lynn. "I like a good fight, you know?"
"Sounds kinda lame to me," said Fabian dismissively. Actually it sounded fairly interesting, but if he spent twenty bucks tonight he wouldn't be eating tomorrow.
"I bet you're short on cash again, Mr. Holistic Landscape Man," said Mickey. "Tell you what, I'll pay."
And that settled it, of course.
A little before eight they piled into Mickey's car and headed up to Tigertail, one of the more remote beaches. There were a couple hundred people on hand; lots of yelling and laughing, and the air was filled with the sweet smell of pot. As they walked into the milling crowd, a guy holding a paper shopping bag shook them down for the ten bucks each. Mickey handed the guy a crisp hundred-dollar bill and got change, and then led them toward the action.
The fighters were easy to spot since they already had their gloves on, and Fabian gave them each a close look. Basher turned out to be a big white guy in his thirties with a bald head and a goatee. He had "hard time" written all over him: crude tattoos on his arms and neck, a cold sneer, and the lopsided muscular physique that developed in the exercise yard: big chest and bulging biceps, but skinny legs and no core. All for show, like a peacock's tail.
His opponent was a fat black guy with a jiggling belly who looked more like a sumo wrestler than a boxer. Fabian reserved his judgment on him, but Mickey shook his head and said "That poor, tubby brother's gonna get his ass kicked big time." He didn't sound too broken up about it.
At eight pm sharp a middle-aged guy with a craggy face and slicked-back gray hair walked into the open area and raised his arms for quiet. The noise level dropped a notch or two, and the guy had the crowd close in around a circle drawn in the sand, forming a well-defined ring.
"That's Jimmy Vargas," said Mickey. "An acquaintance of mine. This is his new gig. He sets up the fights, and splits the take 50-50 with the winner."
Fabian nodded. There was electricity in the air now, and it was bringing back a flood of memories. He was getting a pretty good idea why Mickey had dragged him out here.
Jimmy Vargas went over a short list of rules, and then introduced the contestants.
"The challenger, fighting in his first bout, wearing the purple trunks, from San Diego...Lonnie 'The Hammering Homeboy' Edwards!"
The fat black guy raised his flabby arms, and there was a smattering of applause and some laughter.
"Dude needs to work on his nickname," said Fabian.
"That's the least of his worries," said Mickey. "Besides, you should talk."
"In the black trunks, from Los Angeles, the current beach brawl champion, with a record of nine wins and no losses...Bob 'Basher' Lebrowski!"
The crowd cheered more loudly this time. Most of the spectators looked like high-school and kids, but there was a contingent of older, tough-looking who seemed to be Basher's designated rooting section, and they were pointing at the challenger and making thumbs-down signals. Basher didn't acknowledge the introduction, he just glared fiercely at Lonnie.
Jimmy positioned the fighters face to face in the middle of the ring and blew a referee's whistle to start the fight.
With the crowd urging them on, the fighters circled each other at close range. Basher was still giving Lonnie a death-ray stare, and Fabian got the impression it was working. The Hammering Homeboy didn't exactly look scared, but he definitely looked like he wished he was someplace else.
Then, as if on cue, the two fighters rushed at each other and started flailing away wildly. Basher got up inside Lonnie's guard and seemed to be getting the better of it, hammering away with both hands. Fabian didn't see any solid blows landed, but Lonnie suddenly dropped to one knee and covered up his head. Bad idea. Basher just kept right on swinging, and after missing badly a few times he caught Lonnie with a sweeping underhand blow that snapped his head back with a thwack that could be heard above the crowd noise. Lonnie fell back and lay motionless on the sand, and Jimmy Vargas blew his whistle and grabbed Basher before he could continue pummeling his unconscious opponent.
The fight had lasted thirty seconds at most, and except for Basher's friends the crowd wasn't happy. Jimmy Vargas raised Basher's arm in victory and tried to make an announcement, but it was drowned out by boos and catcalls.
"Cripes," said Fabian. "Not much of a fight."
Mickey nodded. "Happens sometimes. Basher don't mess around none, but usually it takes him at least a couple minutes. There was supposed to be another fight, but somebody musta canceled."
Unhappy with the booing, Basher started screaming angrily at the crowd. "Fuck you all! I'll kick anyone's ass here - who wants some? Who wants some?"
"What a putz," said Fabian. "I bet he's never been inside a real boxing ring in his life."
"I wouldn't think so," agreed Mickey.
"Why do you say that?" asked Lynn.
"He doesn't have any boxing skills," explained Fabian. "He's just a brawler. Boxing is a sport, you know."
"That's right, you used to box, didn't you?"
"Yep."
"Maybe you oughta go teach ol' Basher a lesson then." Lynn was using that mocking tone of voice that he hated, reminding him why he was getting tired of her.
Mickey grinned at him. "Yeah Fabes, why don't you go tell Jimmy you want a shot at the champ? There's a decent pile of cash in that shopping bag - you win, you can buy yourself a new power mulcher or something."
Fabian stared at Mickey. "This is why you brought me here, isn't it?"
He shrugged. "Hey - like I said before, I thought this might be right up your alley."
Fabian took another look at Basher. He was working the crowd like a pro wrestler, flexing until veins popped in his arms and chest and screaming so violently that spittle was flying out of his mouth. But what Fabian noticed was his skinny legs and his soft stomach.
"All right, why not. If it'll make you two happy, I'll take him on."
"Attaboy," said Mickey. "I'll go get you some gloves."
"Are you nuts?" said Lynn, her smile disappearing. "Seriously, Fabian, have you lost your fucking mind?"
Ignoring her, he pushed his way into the open area and walked over to Jimmy Vargas, who was arguing with a couple of drunk spectators trying to get their money back. Jimmy seemed happy at the distraction, pointedly turning his back on them when Fabian tapped him on the shoulder.
"If you want, I'll fight Basher right now. You interested?"
Jimmy looked him up and down. "You know what you're doing?"
"I used to fight for Simon Girardi, up in Anaheim."
The promoter raised his eyebrows. "A pro, huh?...Heavyweight?"
"Cruiserweight. Got my ass kicked by Aaron Pryor some years back, when he was on his way up."
A smile spread over Jimmy's face. "You don't say. This might be fun. I'm getting a little sick of Basher, to tell you the truth." He turned around and shouted: "Hey Basher, this guy wants a piece of you!"
The crowd started to cheer. Mickey came over with the gloves Lonnie had been wearing. "Brand new gloves, ain't hardly ever been used," he said with a chuckle. "Hey Jimmy," Mickey continued, "you'll be mighty relieved to hear that your Lonnie's gonna pull through." Jimmy just snorted. Fabian took off his and held out his hands, and Mickey started lacing the gloves on.
Basher came over and looked Fabian up and down with a sneer. "Gonna kick your ass, pretty boy."
Fabian smiled at him and said "Be with you in a minute. Why don't you go show off your biceps some more."
"Gonna show you a world of hurt, asshole," said Basher. "No mercy, you hear me? No fucking mercy." He pounded his gloves together for emphasis, then walked away.
"All right," said Mickey, pulling the last lace tight. "You all set. I won't insult you by giving you no advice for this chump."
"Thanks." He took a couple of deep breaths and walked out to face Basher, who was waiting for him in the middle of the ring with his scowl firmly in place. He jumped up and down a few times and fired off a few combinations into the air, trying to get warmed up a little.
"OK, let's get going," said Jimmy. "You got a nickname, Fabian?"
He opened his mouth to say "Fabulous Fabian Barnes" and then thought the better of it. New career, new nickname. "El Toro," he said, thinking of his lawn mower.
"Ladies and gentlemen...we have a new challenger! Fighting in his first beach brawl bout, wearing the faded blue jeans, from Anaheim...Fabian 'El Toro' Barnes!"
The crowd hooted and whistled, and out of habit he raised his arms over his head and turned a full circle. Mickey caught his eye and winked at him.
"And by now you all know the reigning beach brawl champion, wearing the black trunks, now with a record of ten wins and no losses...Basher!"
Jimmy blew a sharp blast on his whistle, and the crowd started to scream for blood. Basher immediately rushed straight at him, trying to end it quickly. It was a good strategy, in truth his only chance to win, but Fabian was expecting it and he dodged out of the way easily. When Basher started to come at him again, he set his feet and fired three lightning-fast left jabs into his face that stopped him in his tracks.
"Hot damn!" he shouted. His blood was singing; he felt more alive than he had in years. "I still got it."
Surprised but still game, Basher shook his head and kept right on coming. His big, gleaming head made an inviting target, and Fabian was able to circle out of reach and rock him again and again with his left hand, puffing up both of his eyes and splitting his lip. Basher didn't connect with anything but the outside of Fabian's arms.
"Get the yet?" he asked sweetly, when his opponent stopped to catch his breath.
"Fuck you!" Basher stepped up and launched a wild overhand right. Fabian ducked under it and threw his first right hand of the fight, a vicious uppercut to the stomach that thudded home like a sack of cement falling off a truck.
The champion's eyes opened wide and he fell to his knees, unable to breathe. After a moment of shocked silence, the crowd went crazy. Then Basher fell over on his side and curled up into a fetal position, gasping weakly for air. After a minute or so it became clear he wasn't going to get up, and Jimmy Vargas came out and blew his whistle.
Fabian raised his arms and took a victory lap around the ring, accepting the cheers with a good-natured smile on his face. Jimmy Vargas caught up with him and slapped him on the back. "Yep, you're a fighter all right. You got a future in this little dog-and-pony show. We can make some money, you and me."
"Sounds good to me," said Fabian.
"Just let me know how to get a hold of you, I'll set you up with another fight right away."
"Hold on!" said Mickey, shouldering his way through the crowd. "I'm the one you need to get ahold of, I'm his manager. You want to deal with Mr. Fabian Barnes, you talk to me." He handed Jimmy his card.
Jimmy looked amused. "Mickey is your agent?" he asked Fabian.
Fabian shrugged. "Sure, why not."
Jimmy put the card in his pocket and handed Mickey a paper bag. "OK then, here's your cut from the take. I'll be in touch."
It was getting dark out, and the crowd was starting to disperse. They walked back to the parking lot and sat in Mickey's car to count the money.
"By the way, your lady friend took off before the fight, said she didn't want to see you make a fool out of yourself."
"Hah. That saves me some trouble."
"Lookie here," said Mickey. "We even got my hundred dollar bill back." The total came to twelve hundred and seventy dollars.
"Not bad for two minutes of work," laughed Fabian. He was still on a heart-pounding high.
There was a knock on the window. Two were standing there, both wearing skimpy bikini tops. Fabian rolled down the window.
"Omigod, like...congratulations!" said one.
"I totally can't believe you beat that guy," added the other.
"Thanks, I appreciate that," said Fabian. He looked back and forth between them, like someone trying to select a chocolate from a luscious assortment. The one on the right had stringy hair and small perky breasts. The one on the left had stringy brown hair and heavy breasts. Too close to call.
"So are you both boxing fans?" he asked. He heard a snort from Mickey, which he ignored. The shrugged. "Like, we are now," said the brightly.
"Hey, do you want a beer?" asked the blonde. "We got a whole cooler full in our van."
"Sounds great," said Fabian. He looked at Mickey. "We can settle up later, right? You hang onto the cash for now."
"No problem," said Mickey with a grin. He was leaning forward in his seat, trying to get a better look at the girls.
Fabian opened the door and got out, and the eyed his muscular chest and giggled.
"Pick a number between one and ten," said the brunette.
"Three," said Fabian. The made a face, and the blonde laughed and clenched her fist.
"Great choice," said the blonde, taking his hand. "Right this way. See ya later, Kelli. Oh, I'm Janice, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Janice. Fabian."
"El Toro," said Janice with a giggle.
As they walked away, Fabian heard Mickey say "How's it going, Kelli - I'm Fabian's manager."
The van turned out to be a custom job big enough to stand up in. They climbed in and Janice had him sit down in the back. With a feeling of deja vu, he took the beer that she handed to him and drained half of it in one long pull. "Thanks, that hits the spot."
She finished pulling the curtains across the windows and sat next to him. "You must work up quite a thirst, beating up like that."
"That's for sure," he said agreeably. He looked at her curiously, wondering how this was going to play out. She smiled at him and slowly pulled the string holding the front of her top together.
"It really turned me on seeing you Basher like that. He's such an asshole, you know?" The top fell away, revealing her small, cone-shaped breasts. "Anyway, I'm just like a totally incorrigable slut," she said with a giggle. "I hope that doesn't bother you."
"If it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me," he said, amused. He pulled her toward him, and she slithered into his lap with a little squeal of pleasure. She smelled like suntan lotion and beer. He kissed her and she opened her mouth under his and tried to lick his tonsils. Sensing little need for foreplay, he put his hand between her legs and rubbed her through the tight cotton fabric of her shorts, making her moan.
"So what do you want to do?" she asked breathlessly.
"Let's see - can I fuck you up the ass?" he asked, meaning it as a joke.
"Um, I don't know... like how big are you?" She squeezed his erection through his jeans. "Wow, I don't know. I guess we could try, if that's what you're into."
"No, that's OK," he said gently. No more jokes with Janice. He eased her down onto the carpeted floor of the van and helped her slide off her shorts. Her was shaved bare. He took off his jeans and his sweat-soaked underwear and then lay down on top her, suddenly feeling that this little escapade was sort of distasteful, even for him. Janice reached down and guided him inside her with practiced ease.
"Oh Fabian," she cooed. "You're so big."
And you're an airhead with no morals, he thought. Then he felt guilty. Who was he to be judging her? He pistoned into her mechanically, supporting his weight with his arms so he didn't crush her narrow frame. She wrapped her legs around his waist and ground her hips upward energetically to meet his. As he might have expected, she was a good lay.
The male sexual response is not affected by silly moral considerations, and it wasn't long before he felt his climax approaching. He really didn't feel like prolonging things, so he groaned loudly for effect and spilled his semen inside her.
"Mmmm, that was a blast," said Janice, as he rolled off her and sat up. It was hot and stuffy in the van, and suddenly all he wanted to do was get out of there. "Hey, let's have another beer and then I'll roll us joint, ok?"
"Um, I'd like to, Janice, but I really can't. I'm in training - my manager would kill me." He found his jeans and pulled them on, not bothering with the underwear.
"OK, like...whatever." She watched in silence as he zipped up his jeans and slipped on his sneakers. "So I'll see you around, OK?"
"You bet, Janice." He opened the sliding door and stepped out into the fresh air, leaving her lying there naked. There was just enough light left to see that the back of Mickey's car was moving up and down rhythmically. He sidled over to the back window and and peeked in. Then he chuckled softly and walked back down the path toward the beach to wait.
+++ Part Two +++ The transit bus ground to a stop at the curb, and Lissa Tilo hoisted her book bag over her shoulder, pushed open the front door of the District 7 Public Library, and walked out into the sticky summer heat. Almost immediately, she could feel her polyester school uniform start to stick to her skin. Lissa was a strikingly beautiful with smooth skin the color of honey and sensual features that reflected her Latina heritage. A little shorter than average, she had a ripe, womanly body that made her look older than her seventeen years. Although the school uniform was designed to be conservative and proper, it clung to her curves in a way that couldn't help noticing.
She climbed onto the waiting bus, which was air conditioned but still uncomfortably warm, and plopped down in an empty seat near the front.
The female driver closed the door and pulled away from the curb. "How you doin', today?" she asked Lissa, who was a regular passenger.
"Only four weeks of school, and I'm already burned out. Don't know if I can take another year of that place."
"I hear you," said the driver. "You hang in there, honey. At least it's Friday, right?"
"Yeah, thank God for that."
Lissa was starting her senior year at Our Lady of Peace, a strict all-girls high school run by nuns. Every day after school she went to the library and spent a few hours doing homework before going home, a grueling regimen enforced by her mother. All she had to do was survive one more year, keeping her grades up and staying out of trouble, and her mother's dream would finally come true. Lissa, the youngest of five children, would be the first person in her to go to college.
There were nine stops between the library and the corner of Idlewood Avenue and Cesar Chavez Drive, a little over five miles, but in socioeconomic terms the distance was a lot farther. The houses got smaller and shabbier, the businesses became less and less prosperous, and the cars got and rustier. By the time Lissa got off the bus, deep in the barrio, most of the storefronts were boarded up and the street corners were covered with spray- painted graffiti - deceptively cheerful scribblings that carved up the neighborhood into fiercely guarded enclaves.
To Lissa the neighborhood was neither good nor bad. It was where she had grown up, where she belonged, and as she walked home from the bus stop it never would have occurred to her to be afraid.
At one point a shiny black car with custom, low-ride wheels slowed down to match her pace, and the three grim inside eyed her knowingly, their heads bobbing to the traditional Mexican music of El Tigres del Norte. The song was one of Lissa's favorites, a romantic ballad about a who will fight any odds to win the heart of the woman he loves. Without slowing down or looking at them, she sang along with the chorus, tossing back her long hair and letting her expressive face take on a harrowed, soulful look. The laughed in appreciation, white teeth flashing in their dark faces, and the driver gave her a thumbs-up. Then the car sped up and out of sight.
Lissa went around to the back of her small stucco house. Her mother was in the kitchen, standing over the stove in an apron, and she opened the back door when Lissa rapped on the glass.
"Hi Mama." Lissa gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Hello my baby," said her in her heavily accented English. "How was the school today?"
"Boring. I mean, it was OK, I guess. No tests at least."
She went upstairs to her bedroom, tossed her bookbag in the corner with a thud, and then shut and locked the door. As usual, the first thing she did was take off her uniform. The uncomfortable black shoes, the white socks, the dowdy knee-length plaid skirt, and the white button-down blouse with the stupid little Peter Pan collar all ended up in a pile on the floor. Then she took off her plain white bra, releasing her full, round breasts, and stretched her arms up over head, enjoying the sudden feeling of freedom. Wearing just her panties, she lay down on her bed with a sigh.
Later tonight she was going out to the beach to see her half- brother Chico fight, and she was planning to change into something casual and sexy. But first she would take a nice, cool shower. She smiled up at the ceiling. But before *that*...
She pushed down her and took them off, and spread her legs, enjoying the feel of the cool slippery sheets against her bare skin. Humming the romantic Tigres song to herself, she put her hand between her legs and closed her eyes, thinking about the three in the car.
Lissa had started masturbating a little over a year ago. At first it was something she did once in a while in the shower, and it always made her feel guilty and unclean. But the guilt faded with time, and she started doing it more and more often. Now it was a necessity - she couldn't stop doing it even if she wanted to.
Rubbing the palm of her hand over her in a circular motion, she moved her hips up and down, pretending that one of the boys from the car was making love to her. What would it feel like to have a man's cock inside her? Would it feel better than this? Probably. She wondered what a man's face would look like when he was doing it to her...would he smile? Or would he grunt and strain, like he was lifting weights?
She slid her middle finger into her pussy, feeling all the slippery moisture down there. Sometimes she would daydream about sex in class, and she would feel a warm tingling in her pussy, and her would develop a damp spot from all the moisture - her body preparing itself for something that never happened.
Rubbing her finger up and down her slit, she imagined the driver of the shiny black car lying on top of her, making love to her. He was smiling, his face a few inches from hers, and his stiff cock felt so good as it moved in and out of her tight hole. "Lissa, you're so beautiful," he said. "So sexy..." Then he clenched his white teeth and wrinkled his handsome forehead and pumped even harder, and she felt his hot semen coming out, way up inside her belly.
Her expert finger found the magic spot at the top of her and rubbed around it with just the right pressure, and her orgasm started to build - a tingling in her thighs and then a delicious contraction in her pussy, like a sneeze that teases and teases and then finally comes.
She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Out of habit, she put her fingers under her nose and sniffed. Not much smell. Boys were always talking about fishy smells and tuna, but it smelled more like a faint whiff of the ocean to Lissa. As she stood up and reached for her robe, she made a decision. It was time to lose her virginity.
She mulled it over while she stood in the shower, standing there with her eyes closed letting the cool water hit her face and stream down her body. She knew that by keeping her virginity until the ripe age of seventeen, she was an oddity. That, combined with her beauty, meant that all the from her neighborhood were gunning for her. Whoever succeeded would be guaranteed to blab. Her would eventually find out, and that was a scenario too horrible to contemplate. What she needed was someone from outside her neighborhood. ************* Marcella Gomez picked up Lissa in front of her house at seven thirty. Marcella was twenty, three years than Lissa, but Lissa had always been for her age and they had been best friends since before high school. Last year Marcella had gotten pregnant, and she had dropped out of high school and taken a job at the big Coca-Cola bottling plant. Lissa's was fond of Marcella and had taken the news pretty hard, even to the extent of crying at Marcella's baby shower. Lissa wasn't sure what the big deal was: Marcella had a cute baby girl, a decent job, and her own car.
"Hi Marce," said Lissa, getting into the passenger side. "You look great. How's little Rita?" Marcella was wearing a one-piece pink spandex outfit that fit her body like a second skin.
"Hey Lissa. Never underestimate the squeezing power of spandex." She patted her round tummy, which hadn't quite recovered from the baby yet. "Rita is fine, just dropped her off with my aunt." She accelerated down the street with a roar. "Is that what you're wearing?" she asked, looking at Lissa's jeans and loose t-shirt.
"What do you think?" said Lissa. She arched her back and lifted up her shirt, revealing a black bra top that cupped her breasts tightly, maximizing her cleavage. "My thinks this is underwear, you know? I can't just walk out the front door wearing this."
"Poor baby," laughed Marcella. "Still living with Mama."
Lissa took off the t-shirt and put it in the plastic bag she had brought with her. "Yeah, for one more year. Don't drive next to no trucks for a minute, OK?" She kicked off her sandals and then unbuttoned her jeans and slid them off. Then she opened the bag and took out a short black skirt.
"That's more like it," said Marcella as Lissa put the skirt on, lifting her butt up off the seat to pull it up past her hips. "If you got it, you should flaunt it. And girl, you got it. You're fucking gorgeous, you know that?"
"Uhmmm," said Lissa, carefully applying dark lipstick to her generous mouth. People were telling her that a lot lately, and she hadn't quite figured out how to respond.
They parked on the street and followed the crowd of people along the path that led down to the beach. Most of them were young Latinos, and there was as much Spanish being spoken as English.
"So when are you going to introduce me to Chico?" asked Marcella. "I think he'd make a perfect boyfriend for me," she added, only half-joking. "Think how safe I'd feel."
"I told you, I hardly know him," said Lissa. "He's eleven years than me, and he don't live at my house." Chico Hernandez was a feared and respected figure in her neighborhood, something that was only marginally related to his fighting ability. Chico was a high-ranking member of the Latin Kings, and he was rumored to have killed three people.
"Come on Lissa, he's your brother, for God's sake."
"Half-brother. And you know my don't allow me to talk to him." The truth was, Lissa wished she knew Chico better, but he ignored Lissa almost completely, never giving her more than just a nod when they passed in the street. Although it was probably for the best, Lissa still felt vaguely hurt.
"I guess I'll just have to introduce myself," sighed Marcella.
There was a big crowd of people on the beach, bigger than Lissa had ever seen for a fight. "Let's hurry," she said. "Looks like they're about to start."
They paid their ten dollars each and pushed their way into the crowd, and the predominantly male spectators cheerfully allowed the two attractive, provocatively-dressed to reach the front.
"There's Chico," said Marcella, pointing to the other side of the open circle of sand. Chico Hernandez was a powerfully built man of average height, with closely-cropped black hair and hard, deeply-set eyes. Colorful tattoos on his arms and chest proclaimed his gang status. The stared at him for a few seconds in silence as he shuffled in place on the sand, throwing punches and bobbing his head. "He's gonna win, you think?" asked Marcella.
"The other guy is supposed to be good too," said Lissa. "That's why there's so many people here. But Chico always wins." She looked around for the other fighter, then realized he was standing just a few feet away with his back to them. He was a tall, well-proportioned white guy with hair pulled back in a ponytail, and he was also throwing punches and weaving from side to side. He was covered with a glistening sheen of sweat, and Lissa could see the muscles in his broad back rippling smoothly as he shadowboxed. A skinny black guy was standing behind him, rubbing his shoulders.
"Remember, this guy knows how to fight," said the black guy. "So don't get cocky, you hear me?"
"Have you ever seen me cocky, Mickey?" asked the guy. Something about the way he said it, sort of amused and exasperated, made Lissa smile.
"Always a first time," said Mickey. "Keep him off with the jab, use your reach. Keep separated, don't start mixing it up with him."
"Right," said the fighter. He turned around and gave Mickey a playful jab in the chest, and Lissa noticed that he was very handsome, with chiseled masculine features. His blue eyes met hers for just a second, and he smiled at her. She smiled back, then instantly felt guilty. The guy was fighting her brother, after all.
An guy Lissa recognized from other fights walked out into the middle of the ring with a megaphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
The crowd cheered, and people behind Chico started chanting "Chico, Chico..." Lissa noticed that the crowd on the other side of the ring was made up mostly of Latin Kings, and she was glad she and Marcella had ended up on this side.
With a little smile on his face, Chico motioned them to quiet down.
"Ladies and gentlemen...We have a special bout for you this evening, between two undefeated fighters. In the trunks with the gold trim, from Anaheim, with a record of five wins and no losses...Fabian 'El Toro' Barnes!"
Lissa wondered if maybe the guy was Latino after all, with a nickname like "El Toro," although he sure looked white. Fabian walked out to the middle of the ring and acknowledged the cheers, which seemed to come mostly from the white kids. A standing next to Lissa was screaming like she was at a rock concert, and a long-haired guy with a roach hanging from his lip yelled "Kick his ass, Fabian, kick his ass!"
"In the blue trunks, from Los Angeles, with a record of six wins and no losses...Carlos 'Chico' Hernandez."
The chant started up again as Chico walked out to face Fabian, and it was clear that most of the crowd was on his side. The fighters tapped their gloves together and nodded, and the organizer blew his whistle and started the fight.
Nothing much happened for a while, the two fighters seemed to just be feeling each other out. In his other fights Chico usually just ran up to his opponent and started hammering away at close range, so Lissa figured he must be worried about this Fabian guy. Finally Chico started moving in and throwing more punches, but Fabian just moved back out of the way. The skinny black guy, Mickey, was yelling out a constant stream of encouragement and instructions. Since Fabian's arms were longer, Lissa could see that Chico was going to be at a disadvantage in this style of fight, and she figured that Mickey had come up with the right strategy.
The fighters were way over by the other side of the ring, and the LKs over there started insulting Fabian, calling him a chicken for running away.
"Chicken!" shouted Marcella, picking up on it. "Stay in one place and fight like a man!"
Finally Fabian held his ground, and the fighters traded a wild flurry of punches at close range, causing the crowd to go wild. Suddenly Fabian staggered back and sat down in a heap.
"Yes!" screamed Marcella.
"Fuck!" screamed Mickey.
Lissa didn't say anything. She was a little bit sad that that Fabian had lost - he seemed like a cool guy. Then she noticed that he was getting to his feet and was nodding his head to the promoter guy, who was holding up two fingers in his face.
"Look, it's not over yet," said Lissa.
"Hah!" said Marcella. "It will be soon."
The organizer motioned for the fighters to continue. Chico came right back at Fabian, but this time Fabian circled and kept his distance. Then a whistle blew and Fabian walked over toward them.
"Are you OK?" asked Mickey.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Fabian was hanging his head, like a dog that knows he's about to be yelled at.
"What the fuck did you think you were doing? What the fuck did I tell you?"
"I know, I know." He took a drink of water while Mickey toweled him off.
"Bring the fight this way, away from those gangsters over there," said Mickey. Lissa got the impression Mickey had a lot more he wanted to say, but the whistle blew again and the fighters went back to the middle of the ring.
The fight started again, and sure enough, Fabian started luring Chico to their side of the ring. He would throw a couple of quick punches and then move back, never letting Chico get close to him. When Lissa got a closer look at Chico, she was surprised to see that his face was blotched and swollen and that he had a cut over his right eye.
"Oh my God," said Marcella. "Look at Chico, he's all beat up."
"I know," said Lissa. "And the other guy looks fine." In more ways than one, she couldn't help thinking. Fabian threw a quick jab that went home, and from the closer range Lissa and Marcella saw Chico's head rock back with the force. Chico tried to retaliate, but his roundhouse right found nothing but air.
"Damn," said Marcella.
The whistle blew again, and this time Lissa could see some LKs yelling at Chico while they toweled him off. On their side, things were calmer.
"Perfect round, Fabes, perfect," said Mickey. "Keep jabbing, keep moving, work the left eye if you can, it looks like it might open up."
Fabian just nodded. He was breathing heavily and sweat was pouring down face. His hair was soaked like he'd been swimming.
"Gonna have to see about getting you in condition," said Mickey. "It's only round three and you look like you been running wind sprints in the jungle."
"Ain't gonna be no round four," said Fabian.
"Don't get cocky on me, now."
The whistle blew, and now Chico became even more aggressive, trying to move in quickly before Fabian could hit him with the jab. At first it seemed to be working - Fabian kept having to back up and protect his head with his gloves, and Chico was able to pound away at his body. The LKs started chanting again.
"You right, blondie - there ain't gonna be no round four!" shouted Marcella. "Cause you goin' down in three!" Lissa just watched, feeling oddly ambivalent about the fight. She didn't really want to see either one of them lose.
Suddenly there was a gasp, and a groan from the crowd on the other side. After waiting patiently for Chico to lower his guard, Fabian had thrown a sharp right hook. Expecting the left jab, Chico had ducked right into it, and now blood was flowing freely from a nasty gash over his left eye. He pawed at it ineffectively with his glove, cursing in Spanish.
As Lissa and Marcella watched in horror, Fabian landed punch after punch, staggering Chico and driving him backwards. Blood continued to pour out of the cut, covering Chico's face and neck, and every time a punch landed more blood sprayed out onto the sand. Chico wasn't even fighting back, and Fabian stopped punching and seemed to be asking him if he wanted to continue.
"He can't see!" shouted Mickey, jumping up and down. "Jimmy, you gotta stop the fight, the Mex can't see shit!"
The promoter blew his whistle and ran over to Chico. He took a close look at the cut and then shook his head.
"That's it!" he shouted, waving his arms. "Fight's over."
There was a collective groan from the crowd, and everyone started to disperse. A couple of LKs started attending to Chico, wiping the blood away and putting a piece of white tape over the cut to staunch the bleeding.
Fabian walked over and said something, probably asking if Chico was OK, but a couple of big enforcer types pushed him back rudely. One of them took something out of his pocket, and Lissa saw the ugly gleam of a knife blade. A circle of LKs started to form around the fighter, and Lissa thought there was going to be trouble. But Chico said something authoritative and waved his arms, and the situation was quickly defused.
"Shit, you try to say something nice..." grumbled Fabian as Mickey unlaced his gloves.
"Forget about it. Come on, let's get out of here, have a little party," said Mickey. "We got us a nice haul out of this one, let's hit the West Club."
"Sure, why not." said Fabian. As he walked by, Lissa made eye contact again and smiled. Fabian smiled back and looked like he was going to stop, but a bunch of people suddenly came between them, trying to talk to the victorious fighter, and the moment passed.
"I saw that," said Marcella. "Don't think I didn't see that. And after he beat up your brother, too."
"Terrible," agreed Lissa. "But he is cute." She felt deflated all of a sudden. "So what do you want to do? Go home?"
"No way! It's only nine. Let's go somewhere and dance or something."
"OK. How about the West Club?"
They looked at each other and both started laughing. "Sounds like the place where the action is tonight," agreed Marcella. *********** Lissa took a sip of her dacquiri and wondered what on earth she had been thinking. She and Marcella had found the West Club and had gotten in, sweet-talking the guy at the door, and sure enough, Fabian Barnes was here. In fact, she was looking at him right now; he was sitting at a corner table with several other people, including the black guy, Mickey. He was dressed casually in a clean white t-shirt and black jeans, and he was slouched back in his seat with that sexy smile on his face, sort of watching the rest of them and not talking much. There were three women at the table, all very pretty, and all obviously interested in Fabian. One of them, a thin redhead wearing a low-cut gold top, was sitting right next to him, practically in his lap, and staring up at him like a faithful dog.
"Cheer up," said Marcella. "What did you expect, he'd be all lonely, sitting in a booth by himself or something?"
Lissa managed a smile. "OK, this was a dumb idea. I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's a pretty nice place, I'm not complaining. Besides, we can still have fun - a couple of cute over at the bar are looking at us."
"They probably think we're cheap hookers."
Marcella laughed. "You gotta think more positive. Expensive hookers, maybe. Hey - you still want to talk to blondie? Now's your big chance."
Lissa looked over at the other table. Fabian wasn't there.
"He went to the bathroom. Just go wait by the door and run into him when he comes out. Give him that sexy south-of-the- border smile and tell him how much you enjoyed the fight."
Lissa shrugged. It wasn't much of a plan, but at least she could say she tried. "OK, what the hell." She downed a big sip of her dacquiri and walked toward the restrooms. Halfway there, the door opened and Fabian came out. He was heading back to his table, and Lissa saw she wasn't going to be able to intercept him. But then he glanced over and saw her, and he stopped and smiled. Lissa's heart flipped in her chest, and after a moment she managed to smile back.
"Hey," said Fabian. "Weren't you at the fight?"
Lissa nodded. "Yeah, I was there. You was great." She cringed at her barrio accent, which always came out when she was nervous.
"Sure, I remember - you were standing behind Mickey, my manager. But you and your friend were rooting for the other guy." He tapped his ear and grinned. "I hear everything when I'm fighting, it's like I get super senses or something."
Oh that was just terrific. She swallowed, and said "My friend is a big fan of Chico's. But by the end of the fight I was rooting for you."
"Really? Thanks, that's cool." His smile was infectious, and she suddenly felt more at ease. She saw him glance uncertainly over at his table. Then he said "Hey, do you want to dance? I mean, if you're not here with your boyfriend or something."
Lissa finally managed to pull off her grade-A smile, and she cocked her hip and raised her eyebrow. "Sure, as long as you're not here with your girlfriend or something."
He seemed to understand what she was getting at. "Nope, no girlfriend. I'm just popular tonight because I'm buying the drinks, that's all."
He took her onto the crowded floor and they danced one dance. It wasn't Lissa's favorite music, industrial stuff with a grinding beat, and Fabian wasn't a great dancer, but it was still a lot of fun. God, he was handsome. She could feel the jealous looks she was getting from other women, and she got a discreet thumbs-up and wink from Marcella, who hadn't wasted any time dragging one of the college onto the dance floor. When the song was over, Fabian put his hand on her back and said "Come on, let's have a drink. I'm too beat to dance any more."
They sat down at his table, which was littered with bottles and glasses. There was no sign of the redhead, and the other people seemed friendly enough. Fabian said "This is..." and then looked confused. "Shit, I never got your name, did I?"
Mickey laughed. "You the man, Fabes. Nobody smoother than you."
"It's Lissa," she said, laughing along with everyone else. She realized they were all a bit drunk.
"OK everyone, this is Lissa," said Fabian. "She needs to catch up." He picked up a bottle of tequila and poured two shots. "You like tequila, Lissa?"
"Um...sure." She watched him as he tossed back the shot, made a face, and then bit into a lime wedge. She picked up the other glass a little uncertainly. How bad could it be? She drank it down, and thought it was the vilest stuff she had ever tasted. The need for the lime was now obvious. She took the wedge out of Fabian's hand and bit into it.
"That was disgusting," she said. "Makes me ashamed to be Mexican."
They all all laughed again. "Show me someone who says they like the taste of tequila, and I'll show you a liar," said Mickey.
"So why are we drinking it?" asked Fabian. He smiled at Lissa, showing her he was on her side. "Let's stick to beer."
"Great idea," she said. He continued to look right at her, and she dropped her eyes self-consciously.
"You're really beautiful, you know that?" he said softly.
"Thank you."
He put his hand on her knee under the table, and she moved her leg closer to his, letting him know she didn't mind.
"So what do you do, Lissa?"
She blanked out for a second. Naturally Fabian assumed she was at least twenty-one, and either had a job or was in college. "I work at the Coca-cola bottling plant," she said.
He seemed pleased, for some reason. "I do landscaping," he said. "I just started my own business. It's just me right now, but I'm planning to eventually expand and hire some workers. I can't beat people up for a living forever."
Lissa realized he was self-conscious about his job, and she was glad she hadn't said she was in college. "Oh yeah? That's great - how's the business going?"
He made a wry face. "So-so. I'm making a lot of money from the beach fighting right now - makes it kinda hard to get motivated for mowing lawns and trimming hedges. But I think it's going to work out eventually."
A waitress came over with a tray of beers, and Fabian grabbed two bottles and handed one to her. Lissa realized she was thirsty, and after the tequila the beer tasted great. She and Fabian continued to drink and talk, and the time went by quickly. After a while the others drifted away, leaving them alone at the table.
There was a little lull in the conversation, and then Fabian asked "Can I kiss you?"
She nodded, suddenly short of breath. He leaned forward and kissed her gently and briefly on the lips. They looked at each other for a second, and then they kissed again, a long delicious exploring clinch. She opened her mouth a little and they touched tongues, and licked each other's front teeth. His hand was on the inside of her thigh now, and it felt warm and heavy as he stroked her bare skin. She felt the moistness between her legs developing, and she thought about the decision she had made this afternoon, about losing her virginity.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Marcella hovering nearby with an amused look on her face. "Um, can you hold on a sec? I need to talk to my friend."
As she stood up, Fabian gave her ass a discreet squeeze, and she giggled.
"Having fun?" asked Marcella. "I must say, I'm impressed."
Lissa blushed. "He's really sweet."
"Uh huh, I bet you can't wait to introduce him to your mother. Listen, I told my aunt I'd pick up the baby by eleven. Do you still need me to drive you home?"
Behind Marcella, Lissa could see the leaning against the wall, trying to look unobtrusive. "You're such a liar, Marcella."
"He needs a ride home, his friend already left," she protested weakly.
Lissa went back to the table. "That's my ride, and she's gotta leave now," she told Fabian.
"Don't leave. I'll give you a ride home later."
"You sure?"
"Yep." He put his arm around her and pulled her down next to him. Lissa waved to Marcella, signalling that she could go.
"I guess I'm in trouble, now," she said to Fabian.
"You sure are," he agreed. He brushed back her hair with the back of his hand and kissed her neck, making her break out in goosebumps. She turned to face him, pressing her into his chest, and kissed him boldly on the lips. She sensed that she had crossed some sort of line now, and she felt daring and wild. They kissed passionately for a few minutes, their hands wandering over each other's bodies, and then Fabian pulled back. She could tell that he was getting very turned on. For that matter, so was she.
"You want to get out of here now, before we get thrown out for indecent behavior?" he asked her.
She smiled and nodded.
In the parking lot, Fabian held open the passenger door of a rusty pickup for her. "Sorry about the wheels," he said. "Lexus is in the shop."
"That's OK," she giggled. The inside smelled like grass clippings.
It was a short drive to Fabian's place, and they made the trip in relative silence. His apartment was small and shabbily furnished, but clean and neat. Lissa used his bathroom, and when she came out soft music was playing on a portable boom box and Fabian was sprawled back on the couch. She sat down next to him, feeling a little nervous.
"You look tired," she said. "Not surprising, I guess."
"Yeah, the thing about a fight is you use up a lot of nervous energy before it even starts. I'm always dead beat afterwards." He ran his hand through her hair and massaged the back of her neck, and her skin tingled at his touch. She reached up and traced her finger down his somewhat crooked nose.
"I guess some of your opponents had better luck than the guy tonight," she teased with a smile. She thought about telling him that Chico was her half-brother, then decided against it. Too weird to explain it all now.
"That's for sure," he said. "I was too damn slow to be a pro fighter. I did OK for a while, then I started fighting some who were really good, and I turned into human punching bag."
She laughed - the she knew, with their macho posturing, wouldn't say something like that in a million years.
"You have a great laugh," he said. He pulled her toward him and kissed her. "And you're a great kisser. In fact, I bet everything you do with that mouth is great."
They kissed again, playfully wrestling with their tongues, and then she felt his hand cup her breast. It startled her a little, but it felt good, and she said "mmm" through the kiss. He continued to massage her through the tight top, finding her nipple as it hardened and gently squeezing it between his thumb and forefinger. Deciding she might as well make it easier for him, she slid over into his lap, sitting crossways on the couch in the little hollow between his spread legs.
Fabian placed his hand on the warm, bare skin of her upper chest, and then he slid it downwards, slowly moving his palm over the swelling curve of her bosom, sliding her top downward in the process, until his big hand was covering her bare breast. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating on the feeling.
"You are so hot," he whispered in her ear.
"You're good at this," she said, thinking of previous fumbling attempts to get inside her top. She shifted position slightly and suddenly noticed the jutting bulge of his erection pressing against her hip. As he continued to fondle her breast, she pressed herself more firmly against the bulge, grinding her hip into it, and she heard him draw in his breath.
"Let's go into the bedroom," he said. Before she could answer, he stood up, cradling her effortlessly in his arms. She let out a little shriek and laughed, kicking her feet.
"You're so strong!" She felt like a little all of a sudden, all clumsy and awkward, and her chest tightened as she thought of what was to come. The bedroom was dark, and he laid her down on the bed and stretched out next to her.
Their lips came together again, and she shuddered as he pressed the length of his body against hers. His hand roamed down her back and over her ass, rubbing and squeezing, and then moved between her thighs.
She shifted slightly, opening her legs just a little, and as his hand moved upward under her short skirt, she closed her eyes in anticipation. When his fingers touched the warm mound of her pussy through her panties, it felt like an electric shock, and she let out a little moan.
He rubbed her gently, and kissed her again, and it started to feel very good. Then he took his hand away and sat up and took off his shirt. She lay there and watched him as he took off his jeans and his underwear.
"Your turn," he said. He helped her sit up, and then he reached behind her and unfastened her top, letting it fall off, and then he unzipped her skirt and worked it down, taking her panties with it. "You sure know how to take off a woman's clothes," she said. She tried to sound lighthearted, but her voice was cracked and raspy.
"Practice, practice," he said.
Her skirt and dropped to the floor, and she suddenly realized she was naked in a strange bed with a she didn't really know. This is what I wanted, she thought. Then he pushed her back on the bed, sprawling next to her, and she could feel the ridges and planes of his solid body pressing into her. He kissed her hard, and then his hand was between her legs again, and this time one of his fingers went right to her and pushed its way up inside her. She closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the feeling, but her body was tense and it felt more like an intrusion.
He pulled his finger back out and moved over her, positioning himself between her legs. Peering down the narrow space between their bodies, she saw the outline of his hard cock, an angular shadow that seemed much too large to fit where it was supposed to go. A twinge of panic formed in her chest as he rubbed the head up and down her slit and then positioned it at her opening.
"Fabian..." she said.
"What is it baby? Get ready to take it...it's coming. " He sounded distracted and distant, and the pressure increased as he began to enter her.
"Just...nothing. Go ahead." She closed her eyes tight and grunted in faint protest as her was wrenched open wider then she thought was possible. A burning, swelling pressure inside her, and then he was lying on top of her, covering her with his massive body, and she wasn't a virgin any more.
"Damn, you're tight," he said, smiling at her.
"You like?"
He moved his hips slightly, pushing himself in even deeper, and the sensation made her gasp. "Yeah, I sure do," he told her.
He started really fucking her then, and everything seemed to happen much too quickly. If he would slow down a little, not push into her so fast, not so deep...but she didn't say anything, she just clung to his chest and breathed in short tight gasps, waiting for it to end. After what seemed like forever, but was in reality only a few minutes, Fabian groaned in her ear and she sensed rather than felt his orgasm as he spasmed deep inside her.
He rolled off to the side, and she clung to him, feeling a desperate need to talk.
"Fabian...was that OK for you? I didn't tell you before...maybe I should have said...that was like my first time."
No response - nothing but slow, even breathing. She felt a warm trickling between her thighs as his seed oozed out of her, and she suddenly felt dirty. And angry.
"Hey! What are you doing? You can't jus' go to sleep like that, you bastard - wake up!" Fabian grunted and opened his eyes.
"Huh? What's the matter? I told you, I'm tired."
She found the light switch and flooded the room with a painful burst of illumination. "You gotta give me a ride home. My moth- ... you promised."
He blinked at her like an idiot. "I will - first thing in the morning. What's the matter with you, anyway?"
"No, not in the morning - I gotta go home tonight. Now."
Her voice was edged with hysteria, and Fabian came fully awake.
"OK, OK, I'll call you a cab. He dialed a number on the bedside phone and as she told him her address he repeated it to the dispatcher.
"Taxi'll be here in five minutes. Did I do something wrong? Something I said?"
He was looking at her with genuine concern now, his bloodshot eyes partly behind a tangle of hair. His cock lolled limply between his muscular thighs, harmlessly soft now.
"No, it's not your fault," she said. "It's me."
He took his wallet off the nightstand. It was jammed so full of bills it would hardly close. "Here, I'll pay for the ride. I really shouldn't drive right now," he added lamely.
Lissa snorted a sudden laugh. "Yeah, I think maybe you got a point there." She took the twenty he offered her. As she moved to put it in her pocket, she remembered she was stark naked. Suddenly self-conscious, she shut off the light again. "Go back to sleep," she said. "I'll be fine."
+++ Part Three +++ Fabian and Mickey were sitting in a booth at the Last Resort, watching the tireless younger generation thrashing and preening on the dance floor. They'd been there for a few hours, drinking beer and arguing good-naturedly about who was a better guitar player, Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton, when Mickey elbowed Fabian in the ribs and jerked his head toward the door.
"Ain't that the Mexican dude you cut up the other week? One that saved your ass when his homeboys started acting up?"
Surrounded by three husky wearing sunglasses, Chico Hernandez walked slowly through the crowded club. He was wearing a shiny form-fitting green and yellow slacks, and had a small bandage over his left eye. The crowd parted to let them through, and Chico nodded impassively at a few people who called out his name.
"Yep, that's him," said Fabian. "Sharp dresser. Think I'd look good in a like that?"
Mickey shook his head and started laughing, and got that look on his face like he was going to come up with a bad-ass put down, and Fabian decided to change the subject. "Maybe I should send him a drink or something. Let him know there's no hard feelings."
Two tables had opened up in the back of the club as if by magic, and Chico sat down at one of them by himself. His friends or bodyguards took the other table and started playing cards.
Mickey said "He knows you ain't got any hard feelings, cause you won the damn fight."
"What if I run into him on the dance floor, or in the men's room? Could be awkward. Maybe we should leave."
"Leave? Why the fuck should we leave?"
Fabian saw the waitress looking at them, and he motioned her over. "I'd like to buy a drink for the guy in the green over there. You don't happen to know what he drinks, do you?"
"Chico? He drinks Bacardi and coke." She gave Fabian a suspicious look. "What do you want to buy a drink for Chico for? If you owe him money or something, you'd be better off just leaving, you know what I mean?"
"Naw, nothing like that. Just a friendly gesture."
She shrugged. "OK, one Bacardi and coke for Chico."
They watched as the waitress brought it over and talked to Chico. When he turned to look at them, Fabian raised his hand in a little wave and grinned.
"You're a real cheeseball, you know that?" said Mickey under his breath.
Chico nodded politely at Fabian and motioned for him to come over to his table.
"Back in a minute," he said to Mickey. He walked over and sat down across from Chico, uncomfortably aware of the stares from the Mexican gangster's entourage.
"Thanks for the drink. Fabian, right?" Chico's face was expressionless, neither friendly or unfriendly.
"Right. No problem. That was a good fight last week, real even. Considering I got about twenty pounds on you, I'd say you were the better fighter."
Chico flashed a quick smile. "The twenty pounds was no problem. I think your reach is like a foot more than mine."
"Yeah, that came in handy too," agreed Fabian.
"You gonna fight again soon?"
"Yup - got one in three days. Some Jamaican guy, I guess. Jimmy says he isn't too tough, gonna be an easy win for me, but what else is Jimmy gonna say, right?"
Chico grinned, flashing a gold tooth. Mimicking Jimmy Vargas's rapid New York delivery, he said "I got one lined up for you Thursday - this guy gonna kick your ass so you better bring a first aid kit." Fabian laughed appreciatively. Chico seemed pretty OK.
"I gotta a wait awhile myself," said Chico, fingering the bandage over his eye. "Couple more weeks for this to heal. You open me up pretty good."
"Sorry about that."
He shrugged. "I always cut real easy. Pain in the ass."
"By the way, I wanted to thank you for helping me out after the fight. Things were getting ugly."
Chico nodded solemnly. "No problem, man. My people come to see me kick some ass, they get a little upset if I lose."
"I hope you didn't like, lose too much status in your gang or whatever."
Chico's face turned hard and cold for a few seconds, then he shook his head with a tight little smile. "Shit, no. My 'status' as you call it don't depend on my winning fights."
Fabian decided it might be a bad idea to ask him just what his gang status was based on. "So you're just in it for the chicks and the money like me?"
Chico threw back his head and laughed, causing the goons at the next table to look over from their card game.
"Chicks and money, man, that's exactly right. Especially the chicks. You win a fight on Tigertail, you get to pick and choose, am I right?"
"Amen," said Fabian with a grin. "Hell, even my manager gets laid after I win a fight."
Chico leaned forward with the easy familiarity of everywhere when they start talking about women. "I bet you get a lot of those skinny white girls, the ones that smoke pot and pretend they living in the sixties or whatever."
"Yeah, that's right," said Fabian, thinking Chico was pretty perceptive.
"Me, I go for the Chicas - the Latina chicks. I like a woman with a little meat on her bones, you know? I don't mean fat or nothing, I just like to have something to hold onto. Most of the white chicks, I just want to tell them to eat something, you know? Get a decent meal once in a while."
Fabian thought about the Mexican he had taken home the other week. She had been the whole package: nice smile, great body, easy to talk to. He had a nagging feeling he had somehow screwed up big time with that one.
"No offense, man," said Chico, misunderstanding Fabian's silence. "Everybody got they own taste, right?"
"No, I think you got a good point there."
"Oh hey, I almost forgot," said Chico. "I want to get a rematch when my cut heals. What do you say?"
Fabian was a little surprised. "You want another shot at the champ, huh? You figure out a way to get a longer reach or something?"
Chico smiled at the verbal jab, but Fabian could see he wasn't amused. "I had the wrong strategy, fought a stupid fight. Be different next time. I personally guarantee there won't be any trouble from my friends."
"Because you'll win?"
Chico smiled. "Either way."
Fabian shrugged. "Sounds good to me. Me and Jimmy five thousand dollars last time. If you guarantee your friends will behave, I'm sure Jimmy'll be happy to set it up. "
"Don't worry about Jimmy, I'll talk to him."
Back at his own table, Mickey said "What did you two buddies chat about over there?"
"He wants a rematch."
Mickey nodded. "I thought that might be it. Well, you kicked his ass once, you can kick it again." **************** Fabian jogged slowly along the winding beachfront path, his breath rasping in his throat and his chest burning like he had inhaled some sort of noxious acid. Mickey was right - he was out of shape, at least by his previous high standards. It was all coming back to him, why he had given up boxing. The pain and humiliation of losing in the ring was bad, but the drawn-out torture of keeping his body in perfect condition was even worse.
A on rollerblades skated by, swaying gracefully from side to side, the muscles in her legs working smoothly under her golden skin. He admired the generous curves of her hips and ass, and the cascade of shiny down her back. She reminded him of the girl he had picked up at the West Club last week, the one he hadn't been able to get out of his head. Lissa something.
Then the cut in front of him and turned around to face him, skating backwards, and he realized with a shock that it was Lissa.
"Hey," she said. "Remember me?"
Fabian felt an instinctive surge of guilt. He wished he had a nickle for every time a woman he hadn't called for a while came up to him and said that. But this time it wasn't his fault.
"Yeah, absolutely. I remember you, Lissa. I wanted to call you, but I didn't have your number or even your last name." She was still gliding along backwards, smiling at him and letting him get closer and closer. He had to resist the urge to push her along by resting his hands on the inviting curves where her narrow waist swelled into her hips. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, which was a little surprising considering how much he had drunk that night.
"I know," she said. "I had my reasons. And besides, after what happened I didn't know if I wanted to see you again."
"I don't blame you. I wasn't exactly at my best that night. I felt bad about the way things ended up, me falling asleep like that."
She laughed. "It wasn't what I was hoping for. But not for the reason you think. It wasn't your fault."
He thought about this for a second, puzzled, and said "Maybe there's not enough blood flowing to my brain or something, but I don't think I'm following you." He stopped jogging and started to walk. Lissa rolled to a stop, still facing him, and he had to stop or run into her.
"I've been looking for you, but I'm not exactly sure why," she admitted. "I'm probably just annoying you."
"No you're not," he said, truthfully. "You know, for the past week I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."
Lissa looked pleased. "Really? Me too. Hey, you think maybe we can go someplace and talk? There's a couple things I should tell you."
As it happened, they were next to a small beachfront park with some shade trees and benches. They found an empty bench and sat down, and Fabian looked at her expectantly.
"Well, the first thing I guess I should tell you...I'm only eighteen."
He was surprised, but not stunned. Without the makeup, she did look a bit younger than he had remembered. "So you don't work at the bottling plant either, I bet."
"You remembered! Maybe I did make an impression on you after all. No, I'm a senior in high school."
"High school, huh?" That didn't sound too good. "So I guess the real reason you had to go home that night was to keep from getting grounded."
"Killed is more like it," said Lissa. "I still caught a lot of shit, getting home at one in the morning."
"So that's it?"
She shook her head. "No, I didn't tell you the big thing yet. Except it's big for me, no big deal for you, I guess."
"What?"
She looked at him, then looked down. "It was my first time."
"Your first...? Oh, man. I'm sorry, Lissa."
"You got nothing to be sorry about. I was the one who threw myself at you. I wanted it to happen."
"If you'd said something..." He thought back to the way it had happened, and felt sick.
She shook her head. "It's kind of embarrassing. My friends, male and female, all lost their virginity when they were thirteen or fourteen, and I started feeling like a weirdo. That whole thing about wanting to marry a virgin is bullshit, as far as I can tell."
"Never saw the appeal, myself," he agreed.
"So finally I decided I just wanted to get the monkey off my back."
"But why me?"
She laughed. "You was in the right place at the right time. Don't worry about it, Fabian. I was a virgin, but I wasn't like totally inexperienced. It didn't or anything."
"That's good," he said, feeling a little better. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. "Anything else you need to get off your chest?"
She thought about it, chewing on her lower lip. She had about the sexiest mouth he had ever seen, and he felt his cock twitch. Then he felt guilty. He decided right then that he wanted to get to know her a lot better.
"Well, no, that's about it. I guess it's best if we just shake hands and walk away, no hard feelings, right?" she asked. "I mean, you're a lot than me, I'm Mexican and you're white..."
"If that's what you want, then of course," he said carefully. "But I don't know, it seems like we get along pretty well. I mean, before we went back to my place we had a really good time talking and hanging out, I thought. I talked more to you that night than I can remember talking with anybody for a long time. And I've been thinking about you since then more than I've thought about anyone in a long time. So what I'm babbling about, I guess, is no, I don't want to just shake hands and walk away."
"Oh." She didn't say anything for a few seconds. "In that case, I'm actually seventeen."
"Shit." He buried his face in his hands.
"But if you can handle that, and if you're serious about maybe...you know, going out or something..."
"If you're sixteen, now's the time to tell me," he said through his hands.
She giggled. "I'll be eighteen in two months, I promise. I got my driver's license and everything."
He looked up. "That's a relief."
There was a few moments of awkward silence. Fabian spotted a little stand selling fast food on the other side of the park. He nodded towards it and said "Would you like a soda or an ice cream or something?"
She nodded, a happy smile growing on her face. "That would be very nice."
As they walked across the park, he took her hand in his. ************** Fabian climbed the stairs to his apartment and unlocked the door. His little place was looking a lot better these days, ever since Lissa had started spending her afternoons here instead of at the library. Colorful prints and hand-woven rugs decorated the walls, and the rattiest furniture had been replaced with inexpensive but tasteful new pieces. A woman's touch.
"Hola, Senorita," he called out in atrocious Spanish.
"Hola, Se–or," answered Lissa, sounding happy and amused. "Como estas?"
She was in the bedroom, sitting Indian-style on the bed surrounded by papers and textbooks, wearing only her bra and panties. Her school uniform was folded neatly on a chair. Fabian leaned against the doorway and stared her with an appreciative smile. "Bien. Mucho bien, gracias."
"It's nice that you want to learn Spanish, Fabian, but I do speak pretty good English. My native language and all..."
"That last one exhausted my vocabulary, so it's just as well. How's the studying going?"
She closed the textbook in front of her with a crack. "Chemistry, ick. Time for you to teach me something that's more fun. Hit the showers, mister."
"Shower?" He brushed at the grass clippings stuck to his arm. "Yeah, maybe you're right. Don't go anywhere."
When he padded back into the bedroom five minutes later with a damp towel around his waist, the books were put away and she was sitting against the headboard with the sheet draped loosely over her body. She had loosened the knot in her hair, and it cascaded down past her shoulders in thick, glossy waves. He sat down next to her and gave her a long hard kiss. The sheet slid away, exposing her full, soft breasts. He kissed his way down her face and neck, inhaling the sweet aroma of her skin, and then took one of her nipples into his mouth. He teased at the soft, warm flesh with his lips and tongue, making it swell and pout.
"That feels so nice," she said, rubbing his neck. She put her arms around his broad, muscular chest, holding him possesively close.
He moved to her other breast, and soon he felt her hand slide under the towel and move towards his groin. She took his stiffening cock in her hand and just held it, keeping it company as it came fully erect. Then she squeezed it gently and started rubbing the underside of the head with her thumb, making him groan.
"Did I teach you how to do that?" he asked. "I must be a damn good teacher."
"Nah, I used the experimental method - we learned about that in school. Tried all sorts of stuff, and watched to see which ones made you squirm." Her thumb slid up over the little slit, smearing out a drop of precome. Using it as a lubricant, she started moving her thumb in slow circles. "See? You're squirming."
"Yep. Bet I can make you squirm, too."
"I know you can," she giggled. "I love it when you make me squirm, Fabian."
He pulled the sheet away from her legs and pushed her thighs apart. Her sex was a symmetric ribbon of dark pink nestled in the glossy curls of her pubic hair. He shifted position, bringing his head down into her lap, and breathed in her faint, musky aroma as he nibbled on her inner thigh. She trembled and stiffened, anticipating the pleasure to follow. Finally he put his mouth over her and teased at her outer labia with his tongue, letting his saliva mix with her juices as she opened up.
"Oh, yes..." she sighed. "Lick me."
"Are you sure?" he teased. "You don't think it's nasty any more?"
"Of course it's nasty, but it feels sooo good," she said. She lay back and spread her legs, inviting him to burrow in deeper.
Fabian lapped away contentedly, stimulating her with long strokes of his tongue, until she was moving her hips in time with his head and moaning. It had taken a lot of convincing before Lissa had let him go down on her - some sort of cultural thing. At first she had been stiff as a board, unwilling to spread her legs and relax. But Fabian's unfeigned enjoyment and the undeniably pleasurable sensations of a probing tongue in her had eventually changed her attitude. Now she was addicted to it, and it was a regular part of their lovemaking.
When he sensed that she was ready, he moved his attention upward, concentrating on the meaty little bump of her clit, circling around it with the stiff tip of his tongue. She gasped and lifted her hips up, and he slid his hands under her ass, squeezing her buttocks.
For a few seconds there was only the sound of her ragged breathing as she focused intently on the waves of sensation coming from her pussy. Her orgasm was a teasing, lurking promise, hovering just out of reach. She needed the stimulation just a fraction of a millimeter higher, just a tad faster... she lifted one knee, shifted her weight slightly, and Fabian's tongue suddenly hit the right spot. Her orgasm blossomed quickly inside her, like fireworks exploding in her stomach, and the pleasure was so unbearably intense that she cried out without even realizing it.
Fabian wiped her copious juices from his mouth and smiled up at her. Her warm brown eyes were still hazy and unfocused, but she smiled back at him lazily.
"Thank you," she said.
"You don't have to thank me," he replied automatically, and they both smiled. "Didn't take as long this time, did it?"
"I don't know, I wasn't paying attention to the time," she said. "It takes a lot of concentration to come that way. Not like..."
"Not like what?" he asked, sitting up. His cock jutted up into the air like a flagpole.
Lissa looked embarrassed. "Like when I do it to myself."
"Oh, so you masturbate?" he said. "You never told me. How naughty. Jeez, here I was thinking you were a nice and all..."
"Oh stop," she said, giggling and kicking him playfully. "I *was* a nice until I met you."
"But you had these... urges," he said dramatically.
"Yeah, I had urges. Every day after school I had an urge."
"Every day, huh? Interesting. You'll have to show me some time."
"Show you? No way!"
"Yes way. I want to see how you get yourself off. Maybe I'll learn something."
"Hmm. Maybe someday. It's easier that way, but it doesn't feel nearly as good."
He picked up one of her feet and moved it into his lap, and rubbed his cock against the sole. She giggled. "That tickles!"
"Don't forget, I have urges too," he teased. "Not as strong as yours, I'm sure, but pretty strong."
She sat up so that she was facing him and squeezed his firm cock in her hand. "Poor Fabian. What would you like your Lissa to do about those urges?"
"Maybe you could kiss it?"
She smiled. "Maybe I could." She leaned forward into his lap, and her hair spilled forward in a dark curtain, shielding his view. He felt her tongue touch the underside of his cock, a little exploratory lick, and then her hot mouth closed over the head. She didn't take him in any farther than that, and he had to restrain himself from thrusting upward. He was dying to fuck her lush, beautiful mouth, driving himself all the way to the back of her throat, but he had decided to take it very slow and easy when it came to sex with Lissa. As it was, he felt vaguely guilty about corrupting a high-school girl. He closed his eyes and sighed, his stomach muscles tensing and twitching as she licked and nibbled tentatively at his cock. After a few minutes she lifted her head and looked at him, her lips wet with saliva.
"I really don't know what I'm doing," she said with an apologetic smile. "You've got to teach me."
"I will," he said. "But there's no rush. Besides, you're doing great."
"No, I'm not," she laughed. She moved closer to him, pushing him onto his back, and straddled his waist.
"Let's make love," she said. "I'm getting pretty good at that, at least."
"That you are."
His erection still intimidated her slightly, seeming too large to go into her pussy, but now she knew better. Now she knew how it felt to have her insides filled up by a hot, rigid cock, and she was as anxious as Fabian was.
As Fabian held his cock in place, Lissa positioned herself carefully, getting the angle just right, and then slowly allowed the rigid shaft to slide up inside her. When she finally sat astride him, pinned in place and deliciously full, the feeling was so wanton and yet so indescribably right that her body gave an involuntary shudder of pure joy. As if of their own accord, her hips began to make little sliding and twisting motions, grinding her sex against his pubis, and her body greedily soaked up the little spikes of pleasure.
When Fabian reached up and cupped her breasts, she put her hands over his and pressed them more firmly in place. Her whole body seemed to be giving off slow waves of pleasure now, and she closed her eyes and just let herself drift along on the rhythm of Fabian's long, smooth thrusts. After a while the steady buildup of pleasure became overwhelming, and she found herself restlessly pushing the pace, lifting herself up to lengthen the long, pneumatic strokes, wordlessly urging Fabian to increase the tempo.
"Harder," she finally moaned. "Do it faster. Please..." Her voice was whiny and selfish.
Fabian smiled and gripped her waist. He smoothly accelerated the pace like a powerful luxury car, and Lissa started uttering a strangled little "oh!" every time he arched up into her with a smack. The orgasm snuck up on her, seeming to gather itself out of thin air like a summer storm, and the climax was a long and drawn-out pleasure ride that left her gasping for air and momentarily dizzy.
She leaned forward, draping her limp honey-colored body over his, and kissed his mouth tenderly. She smiled as she felt him pull her thighs apart, making room for what he needed to do. Then his big hands covered her round buttocks, gripping the muscles underneath her warm skin, and he quickly sought out his long- delayed pleasure, urgently driving himself into her.
Lissa felt incredibly womanly and somehow privileged to be the object of his primitive exertions, and she was happy to give her body over to him entirely. When he began to groan and lift his head off the bed, she contracted herself around him, trying to make herself even tighter, and then she felt the warm flooding rush of his release.
"That was fun," she whispered, brushing a damp strand of hair away from his eyes. They lay entwined on the bed for several minutes, sleepy and comfortable in the warm, sunny room. When Lissa finally pulled herself upright and padded off to the bathroom, Fabian started to think about the future. It wasn't something he did very often, but he had a feeling it was time to start. ********** The Ocean View Gym was a no-nonsense facility: a single hot, smelly room filled to overflowing with free weights and Universal machines. The clientele was overwhelmingly male, and they came for one reason only - to lift weights. Like most boxers, Fabian instinctively mistrusted any sort of amenities or frills in a weight room, and Ocean View fit the bill perfectly.
He was working his legs this morning, doing a descending series of squats with a huge in his forties who went by the name Horse. His thighs were quivering like jelly and he felt sick to his stomach, which meant that he was getting a good workout. He was spotting for when he noticed Mickey wandering through the room, looking decidedly out of place in linen slacks and a white turtleneck.
He grinned, called out "Hey Mick! What's going on, you lost or something?" Mickey had a well-known aversion to exercise.
"I'm looking for you," said Mickey, coming over. His face was unusually serious. "We gotta talk, it's important."
"Sure, no problem." He helped his lifting partner guide the bar back onto the shoulder-height brackets. "Gimme five, OK Horse?"
He led Mickey into a quiet corner. "What's up?"
His friend looked uncomfortable. "Fraid I got some bad news, Fabian. The Mexican dude, Chico? Word on the street is he's gunning for you."
"Gunning for me?"
"Yeah, as in he wants to kill you. I asked around a little, and this ain't a threat to take lightly. Wouldn't be the first time this dude popped somebody."
"I'm giving the guy a rematch in a couple days just like he wanted," said Fabian, completely mystified. "So what's his problem? He trying to psyche me out or something?"
"Listen to me, you big white moron: he found out you're screwing his little sister!"
"What!" It didn't take him long to figure it out. For once in his life he was only screwing one woman, so there weren't many options. "Lissa is Chico's sister?"
"That's what I been told, Fabes. Could be bullshit, but then why would Chico be after you, right? Listen man, it gets worse."
Fabian stared at him, wondering what could possibly be worse.
Mickey actually looked embarrassed. "I shouldn't be the one to be telling you this, but the rumor is, you knocked...she's pregnant."
"Pregnant?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry man. I take it she hasn't said anything to you?"
Fabian shook his head, looking stunned. "I gotta go talk to her. Thanks for telling me, Mickey."
Mickey grabbed his friend's arm as he started to leave. "Whoa there, cowboy. Isn't she in school right now? What are you going to do, walk into her algebra class and confront her?"
Fabian shook off Mickey's hand. "I don't know, I'll think of something."
"Listen up," said Mickey seriously. "I know it don't look that way right now, but Lissa ain't your main problem. Chico is. You gotta stay off the streets, or you're gonna get killed."
"What am I supposed to do, lock myself in my apartment?"
"I don't know what the fuck you should do! All I'm saying is that you gotta think before you act."
They stared at each other for a few seconds in silence. Then Fabian sat down on a weight bench with a sigh. "You know where Chico lives?"
Mickey sat down next to him. "Nope. Why? You gonna go kill him before he kills you?"
Fabian shook his head. "I was think more along the lines of talking him out of it. But first I need to talk to Lissa, find out what's going on."
"Might just be a bullshit, about her being pregnant. A gangster like Chico, he might be pissed enough that you're messing around with his to put out a hit."
"Maybe." But he had a sinking feeling it was true. The first time they'd had sex, after he brought her home from the West Club, like an idiot he hadn't used a condom. And Lissa had seemed very quiet and preoccupied the last couple days. Combine all that with the Fabian Barnes Losing Streak, and there wasn't much point in being optimistic.
"How can I get her out of school so I can talk to her?" he asked.
Mickey smiled. "Gotta be a hundred different ways. Come on, we'll think of something in my car. You don't want to be driving your ugly-ass landscaping truck right now - they might be looking for it."
Fabian nodded. "Thanks Mick."
Mickey slapped him on the shoulder. "Managing 'El Toro' has been a sweet gig. You get whacked, it's gonna put a real dent in my cash flow." ************** The side door to Our Lady of Peace opened, and Lissa stepped out and scanned the parking lot. Fabian was standing next to a shiny silver El Camino, dressed in his workout clothes. He raised his hand, and she hurried over.
"What's going on?" she asked. Fabian looked so serious and worried, it was giving her a sick feeling in her stomach.
He looked around, and saw that there was no one within earshot. "I heard you were pregnant. Is that true?"
She stared at him silently. For Fabian, it was answer enough.
"Why? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought...I just found out a couple days ago..." Her eyes filled with tears. "I was going to tell you this week, Fabian. I'm sorry." The stress of the last three days suddenly overwhelmed her, and she started crying.
"Hey...it's going to be OK, Lissa." He pulled her close, and she threw her arms around him. They clung to each other wordlessly for a few moments.
"How did you find out?" asked Lissa, lifting her face up to look at him.
"From your brother. That's why we're here actually." He suddenly remembered the death threat, and his heart sank.
"My brother? You mean Chico?"
"That's the fellow," said Fabian dryly. "He didn't take the news very well, apparently."
"I hardly even know Chico, how the hell did he find out?"
Fabian looked confused. "You didn't tell him?"
Mickey said "Folks, we best be moving along now. Fabian don't look much like Lissa's daddy, and the sisters are getting a mite suspicious." A pair of nuns were standing in the doorway, staring at them.
Fabian and Lissa climbed into the back seat, and Mickey pulled out of the lot.
"So who did you tell?" asked Fabian. "You must've told someone."
"I told my friend Marcella. Same thing happened to her last year. I made her promise not to tell anyone, but... " She shook her head angrily. "She's been wanting Chico to notice her for years. So Chico told you?"
"Not exactly." There was a few seconds of silence. "According to Mickey, he's threatening to kill me."
Lissa eyes got wide. "Oh my God!"
"Right," said Fabian. "You know where he lives?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I can tell you how to get there. But are you sure that's the right thing to do?" She looked at Mickey. "What do you think?"
Mickey shrugged, his eyes on the traffic. "Can't hurt, might help. Chico ain't likely to start blasting away at somebody in his own front yard." *************** When Chico Hernandez walked into his untidy bedroom, shirtless and barefoot, Fabian was standing in the corner, holding a small, ugly-looking gun down against his thigh.
Chico was startled, but he covered it well. He took in the gun and the open window with one glance, and his face hardened into a mask.
"You," he said. "What the fuck do you want?"
"I heard you were going to kill me."
Chico didn't say anything for a few seconds, but Fabian was determined to wait him out. Mickey's gun felt awkward and slippery in his hand. He wanted to wipe the sweat off his palm, but he didn't dare set the gun down.
Finally Chico said "You've been fucking around with my sister. Got her pregnant."
"I happen to like Lissa a lot."
Chico sneered. "You do, huh? Nice piece of Mexican ass for you to play around with."
"It's not like that."
Chico sat down on the bed, pushing a tangled pile of clothes out of the way. He had a big tattoo of a snarling panther on his chest, and Fabian had to force himself to not stare at it. Chico said "You shoot me, I guarantee you won't get out of this house alive."
"I don't want to shoot you. I just want to talk."
Another long silence. "You got cojones coming here, sneaking into my room, I'll give you that. Tell you what I'm gonna do - you promise me you'll never go anywhere near my again, and I'll let it go."
"No way."
"Why the fuck not?" His voice was still flat, but Fabian sensed that he was genuinely puzzled.
"I'm in love with Lissa. She's going to have my baby, and I'm not going to just disappear."
"No, she's *not * gonna have your baby, asshole." said Chico. "You better get that straight right now. You off the hook on that, so just walk away."
"Why the fuck are you so damn interested? Lissa says she hardly even knows you. You're the one that should stay out of it."
Chico stared at him. "You wouldn't understand, white boy."
"Try me. And cut the racial crap. What was it they called it in the OJ trial? The race card. Don't play that stupid race card with me." He realized he was waving the gun at Chico, and returned it to his leg.
"Lissa is a special girl. She's smart, she's a good person. She's gonna go to college, be a doctor or something like that. Have a good life."
Some of the things that Lissa had told him went through his head. About Lissa's mother, and her single-minded plans for Lissa's future. Chico's mother.
"This isn't really about Lissa, is it? It's about you and your mother."
"Fuck you. Don't you talk to me about my -"
"You fucked up your life completely, and fucked up your brother's lives too. One big, happy of gangbangers. You felt guilty about that, and now you're trying to make it up to your by protecting Lissa."
Chico chuckled, spreading his hands apart as if to say 'you got me.' Fabian queasily wondered what made this guy tick. He makes a little comment, the guy takes it personally. Now when he accuses him of destroying his family, he shrugs it off.
Chico was still smiling, seeming to sense his discomfort. "Back when Lissa was a little I promised my that I would protect her. Everybody in the neighborhood knows she's my little sister, and they know they better treat her right. I pay tuition for her private high school. I'm gonna pay for her college. And when some asshole starts hassling her, I take care of it."
"And then your momma forgives you and you all live happily ever after?"
"You think that's bullshit?" Chico leaned forward and rubbed his face reflectively. "Go ahead and think that. But if it wasn't for me, Lissa would just be another fucked-up barrio chick. Probably be a hooker or an addict or both."
Fabian tried to imagine Lissa like that, and then quickly pushed the image out of his mind. "You think this is what your mother would want? For you to kill me and arrange for an abortion for Lissa?"
"I've done plenty of things my mama wouldn't like," said Chico. "I've killed people before, I've done all sorts of bad shit. All my mama knows is that Lissa is a good who's gonna be somebody, and that it's partly because of me. Except now you come along and fuck it all up. You say you love Lissa, but all you've done is fuck up her life."
"I can't change what's happened, and I'm not going to stop seeing Lissa," said Fabian carefully. "If she wants to have the baby, which I hope she does, I'm going to support her decision and be a to the kid. Either way, I want her to go to college too. I don't see how that interferes with your promise to your mother."
"You don't, huh?" Chico scratched under his arm, looked at Fabian thoughtfully. "We're goin' at it day after tomorrow. Big rematch."
Once again Fabian was caught off guard. What the hell did the fight matter, compared to this? "Yeah, well, I might have to cancel. Seeing as I got a death threat, and all."
"No way, man. The fight stays on. But we gonna make it interesting. You win, I let you date Lissa. You lose, you never go near her again. What do you say - pretty fair, eh? Specially seeing as you got that big reach advantage and all."
"You're crazy, you know that? You want to settle my future, your sister's future, with a fistfight?"
Chico grinned. "People's lives been fucked up for stupider shit than that. I seen it happen all the time."
After a long moment, Fabian nodded. "OK, I guess that's how it's gotta be."
"That's right. That's the way it's gotta be." ************* Tigertail beach was buzzing with the electric hum of adrenaline and blood-lust. Mickey pushed his way through the restless throng of people and found Jimmy Vargas.
"Where the fuck you been?" asked Jimmy. "Fight was supposed to start twenty minutes ago."
Mickey shook his head. "Just got a call from Fabian. Ain't gonna be no fight. He just retired."
Jimmy turned pale. "He pussied out, you mean. Didn't want to face Chico again."
Mickey nodded. "Between you and me, that's about right. I ain't happy about it either. Wish he'd at least had the guts to tell me before the last minute."
Jimmy glared at him, his teeth gritted. "These people came to see blood. What the fuck am I supposed to tell them?"
Mickey slapped him on the shoulder. "Ask for a volunteer from the crowd, Jimmy. Wave that paper bag fulla dough around a little. There's bound to be some sucker out there who thinks he's got the right stuff." ************ The Nevada desert was slowly cooling down from the white-hot intensity of midday, and the setting sun was transforming the pale blue sky into a delicately shaded canvas of pink and orange. The highway stretched out endlessly in front of them, an arrow- straight strip of blacktop bisecting the flat, dry landscape.
Fabian shifted his eyes from the shimmering horizon to the warm figure nestled against his right side. Lissa was staring quietly at her outstretched left hand. The diamond on her ring finger absorbed the dim sunlight and returned it as flashes of pure fire.
He smiled, and said "Still think it's too big?"
She looked up with a start, closing her hand reflexively, and then laughed. "Maybe not. I'm getting used to it."
"They'll be missing me on Tigertail right about now. I told Mickey to wait until the fight was about to start, make it look like I chickened out. I bet Jimmy is going nuts, calling me all sorts of bad names."
She rubbed the inside of his bare thigh reassuringly. "You regretting it?"
"Nope. Not a bit. Chico's going to come out looking like a hero, and that's exactly what I want. What we want."
They rode along in companionable silence for a few minutes.
"My liked you, I think," said Lissa.
"She's a nice lady. I think she knew we were going to get married whether she said it was OK or not."
A glowing green road sign appeared in the distance, and slowly grew in size.
"Las Vegas, a hundred and twenty miles," read Lissa. "I really don't believe we're doing this."
"You still got about two hours to change your mind."
She leaned her head against his shoulder, her hair tickling his neck.
"Nope. Never, ever."
+++++ The End, "Blood and Sand" +++++
© 1998 by DG (dionysian1@hotmail.com) Author's notes
1) Thanks to The Bear for proofing this and for helpful plot advice.
2) This was somewhat inspired by the song "Santeria" by the band Sublime. I'm sad to say that Sublime is no more, due to the death of their lead singer in 1997. 3) I love to get email. Enough said.
4) Please visit my web page: http://baird.pair.com/dg.htm
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