Groggy Athina sat up the phone downstairs kept ringing. Thinking the intrusive sound was over she tried to get back to sleep but the clattering ring would start all over again. Stumbling downstairs to her store she looked at the clock 3am.

"What the fuck do you want?" She said sleepily into the receiver. The end was silent. "You've got to be kidding me."

She huffed almost hanging up the receiver until she heard a vague "Hey." On the other end. Her stomach lurched with the familiar deep sound, of Kid's voice.

"Hi." She responded. He could hear her smile of the other end.

"Listen I know it's late, but I wanted to see you."

"That's never stopped you before." She whispered playfully. For for the past week she would find herself in his company almost nightly. Walking up her stairs after closing she would hear a slight rustle in her apartment and he would always be there, like a phantom leaning against her bookcase reading one of her journals. She would smile and say, "You know there is such thing as breaking and entering." Not even looking up to meet her, he would reply. "Not so much breaking, as just entering." Then he would point to the open window like clockwork. They had spent hours on end talking, discussing, hands, fingers, lips lingering a little too long over each others body. He would stay until dawn and then with a kiss crawl back out her window. She hadn't slept in days for fear she would wake from this dream. As she closed her store yesterday evening, she walked up her stairs and didn't hear that familiar rustling, she had thought he was gone and the dream had ended.

"Well your windows closed..." He trailed off. "This was the only number I had for you. Can I come get you?"

"It's so late."

"I can't sleep." She heard a yearning in his voice, a need for her, she thought she had to be misinterpreting.

"Ok. I'll be downstairs." There was no response and a silent click on the other end hanging up. Turning to walk back up her stairs she heard a car pull up in front of her store. "How did he get here so quickly?" Again she would be in her pajamas and she knew he would not be following through with the promise of his. She grabbed his coat that had never left the rack at the front of the store and walked out. He opened the door from the inside and she slipped in. "Pajamas again?" He smiled not looking as she slid into the bench seat of the car.

"Excuse me. I've never been at the beck and call of someone else before. Next time I'll sleep fully dressed."

"Well that's no fun. I am intrigued to see what's underneath that coat."

"Maybe." She smiled wistfully.

"Well it is my coat."

"Touche" She tightened the coats belt around her small waist, and they drove in silence for a while she watching him, he watching the road. He as always was perfection. His dark hair tied in a ponytail exposing the slight muscles of his neck. His button down shirt unbuttoned just one extra button allowing the golden hue of his chest to peak though. His silence bothered her, she watched as he chewed the inside of his cheek. She could tell he was angry with her and wasn't quite sure what to say.

Finally turning to her his eyes lingered over the softness of her leg that peeked through the opening of his coat. Reaching out a hand it disappeared beneath the coat lining. His hand stopped at her upper thigh not daring to go any farther.

Breathing a sigh of relief she slid closer to him not saying a word as she placed her head on his shoulder. They stayed like this listening to the quiet static of the radio as it lost power as they drove farther out if town. She wondered where they were heading but the silent moment between them seemed like it should go on forever. Besides she didn't care where she was as long as he was the one beside her.

"Do you care where we're going?" He whispered to her.

"It could be anywhere." She responded dreamily. The silent seal was broken. The car slowed to a roll. The lights of the city visible behind them dimly making a dent in the Midwestern sky.

"You sent back my flowers?" He asked in a question.

She could swear he was actually hurt. She thought it was a joke referencing their conversation the week before. She wasn't quite sure how to respond. She had sent back the flowers and the chocolates and she had also left her window closed. These things meant nothing to her, but she was starting to think he saw some deeper meaning. "I told you I'm not that kind of girl. I don't want flowers or chocolates. Or anything else..." She could no longer see his face lined by the street lamps. She could feel him next to her, hear his breathing but she had no visual cues to guide her. "I just need you." She said point blank. "Well and the champagne...I kept that. I drank the bottle I had, and yours was much better, anyway." She hoped her humor would lessen the boldness of her statement.

This answer must have been what he was searching for, he blindly turned to her trying to find her face in the inky night, finally finding her he kissed her deeply. His full lips pressing against hers in the darkness, once again the only words between them, the rustling of fabric and the secret whispers of lips and hands.

They sat quietly in the car watching the sunrise over the city's horizon. He had brought a couple of demos he had been working on till the early hours of the morning before he called her. His sound was different, fresh. The same mix of sex, love and religion but less harsh and in your face. It seemed like a turning point for him and she sat and wondered what was the birth of this evolution. Every time she would ask about the Revolution he would change the subject, it had seemed like a bitter topic that would turn his mood instantly sour, so she began to leave that to the wayside. Instead she would just focus on his lyrics. The subtle religious overtones mixed with the overt sexual had always interested her.

When he grew tired of hearing his voice he would ask her about her prose style what turns her on to write.

"Life." She said coolly. "Anything can be an inspiration." There was a mixed media level to her writing some was diary entries some poems some sketch some found object or collage. Just random bits and pieces put together in any way she saw fit. He loved her style and wished he could replicate it.

"Hey, it's getting late... or early." She chuckled to herself. "I gotta open the store."

"Stay with me." He pleaded.

"I wish. But a ladies gotta eat."

"It's always food with you.... I'll buy you breakfast. Just stay." He said as a consolation prize.

"Fine then forget the food a lady's gotta pay for electric." She hadn't noticed everything was about food but he had such a strange way of building you up one moment just to tear you down the next. His way of manipulation and control. "Maybe next time." She cooed.

"If there is one." He popped his lips and put the car in drive.

Crawling between the seats she made her way to the back of the car. Very clean. This is why she could never have a car. It would be another room to pile up books or discarded papers.

He put on a pair of sunglasses as they drove into the bright morning sun. Again he was silent. He didn't get his way so his brooding nature was shining through like the sun rising before them. He didn't like not getting his way and it seemed at every turn she was bumping heads. He didn't know if he was intrigued or infuriated possibly both but one would win in the end.

He watched her in the rear view mirror. She had let the back window down and her dark hair flew around her with wild abandon. Her eyes closed a small smile pulling at the corner of her mouth, she looked like an angel trapped in a wind tunnel.

Crawling up to the drivers side she whispered lovingly into his ear, "Don't be mad." She wrapped her arms around him from behind as they drove back to her store. She ran her fingers through the spaces between the buttons of his shirt. She watched as a smile began to build, thankfully she had snared him. Kissing his neck she began to unbutton his shirt farther revealing his warm skin underneath. She ran her fingers through the dark tendrils that lined the taught curves of his chest. He tried to kiss her but she whispered "Eyes on the road".

"You know I never got that chance to properly thank you." Leaving a delicate kiss on his ear before she crawled back into the front seat. "Besides if this is my very last time seeing you, don't you think we should have a fervent farewell to match our introduction?"

His stomach fluttered as he felt her hand glide smoothly over the his engorged member as it pressed against her palm aching to be released. Leaning down she ran her tongue over his length under the black knit of his pants as it tightened. He let out a small gasp as she maneuvered her hand underneath the waistband softly, before quickly engulfing the length of him.

He tried to keep composer. "Eyes on the road." He repeated over and over his thoughts trying to drown out the sound of her lips slipping down his shaft. The feel of her warm wet tongue as it glided around the base of his head. He moaned and wrapped one hand around her curls as the other gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Feeling her head bob up and down was a bit much for multitasking. The fear of a crash was imminent if he lost control of the car. She had trusted him to keep them safe, though she was the one that was putting them in danger. Over the years many a ladies lips had graced his dick in a vehicle but never while he was the one driving. His endorphins were kicking into overdrive, sex, fear, satisfaction all pulling him in different directions. It was exciting but he had wanted a more intimate encounter. One where he could just focus on her, but there would be time for that he hoped.

With a guttural moan he finished just as they pulled in front of her store. Swallowing quickly she kissed his cheek and jumped out of the vehicle, without another word.

"Wait." He called exasperated as he rolled down the window. "You never showed me what you had on underneath my coat."

With a mischievous grin she untied the belt letting it drop to her waist. She stood in front of her store completely in the nude. The glory of her body as she stood unnerved by the possible patrons. She was definitely a fine specimen of the female form. He would never admit it but her boldness frightened him a little. Throwing his coat in the car window she sashayed into her store without a care. There was no doubt he was very intrigued, and this would not be their farewell.

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Two Lovers: Overtones

Two lovers, here at the corner, by the steeple,
Two lovers blow together like music blowing:
And the crowd dissolves about them like a sea.
Recurring waves of sound break vaguely about them,
They drift from wall to wall, from tree to tree.
'Well, am I late?' Upward they look and laugh,
They look at the great clock's golden hands,
They laugh and talk, not knowing what they say:
Only, their words like music seem to play;
And seeming to walk, they tread strange sarabands.
'I brought you this . . . ' the soft words float like stars
Down the smooth heaven of her memory.
She stands again by a garden wall,
The peach tree is in bloom, pink blossoms fall,
Water sings from an opened tap, the bees
Glisten and murmur among the trees.
Someone calls from the house. She does not answer.
Backward she leans her head,
And dreamily smiles at the peach-tree leaves, wherethrough
She sees an infinite May sky spread
A vault profoundly blue

Conrad Potter Aiken