Chapter 7

He took her in the window seat, and Marqi’s heart thudded so heart, it drowned out her conscience telling her not to fuck in front of an open window. Who cares, thought the reckless part of her, who’ll see anyway, out here in the middle of nowhere?

The gardener could see, of course, but he was utterly unphased by the antics of his employer. He went back to trimming the hedges without a second glance to the window.

Marqi’s fingers slid over the cool glass, searching for a hold as Dennis rammed her hard with his cock, driving deeper into her than Marqi would have dreamed possible. He was a powerhouse, a surge of raw energy crackling through her and breaking her apart. She pulled up her foot from the window seat, her other foot pressed firmly against the ground as he pounded her mercilessly. She cried out, his teeth on her nipple interrupting her orgasm, then refueling it. She gasped and tore at his flesh with her fingers as she came. He followed her a moment later, emptying his cock into her body as he uttered her name, his eyes glazed in a measure of bliss. She held his head and stroked his hair as he covered her face with sweaty kisses.

When she could breathe again, he climbed off of her, leaving her naked in the window while he sought out his trousers. He found them and began dressing, leaving Marqi to fend for herself. After a moment, she rose from the newly stained window bench and sorted her things, covering her body slowly with one article at a time.

Dennis went back to his coffee and his newspaper as though nothing unusual had transpired, and Marqi simply stared at him, trying to figure out what she ought to be doing.

He took another sip of coffee and turned over the business section, grunting to himself at something he’d read. Marqi chewed her lip for a moment, then looked uncertainly around the room. She felt like she was supposed to be doing something, something more meaningful than recovering from sex in a window seat.

She suddenly remembered what it was she ought to be doing. A guilty flush crept into her cheeks and stayed there long enough to make her feel a momentary kin to sunburn. School. The university was waiting for her, and she was supposed to be there this morning. She bit the inside of her cheek; certainly she’d already missed the orientation for the dorm, but being that she was a returning student, she figured she could still get in without too much fuss. A glance at the clock told her she needed to leave right now if she wanted to have any legitimate hope of playing the car trouble card.

She didn’t like the thought of disappointing Dennis, though, either. And she was pretty sure that he’d be pissed if she traipsed off right now. She paced toward the door, hovering anxiously at the threshold.

“Well, I’m going to go get my stuff,” she said finally. “Could you give me a ride back to the motel?”

Dennis didn’t look up from his paper as he said, “Sure. The driver can take you.”

“Oh,” she said, slightly hurt. “So... you don’t want to go with?”

This time he gave her a glance and smiled as he said, “Honey, I’ve got tons of work to do here. I’ll see you later.”

“Well, I don’t know when that will be,” she said, a stubborn note seeping into her voice. She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Then come here and give me a kiss goodbye,” he said, setting his paper on the table.

Marqi hesitated, then went to him. She kissed him on the mouth, wanting to make it last, but Dennis ended it momentarily, and gave her a pat on the arm. “I’ll see you, honey.”

“Um... yeah, see ya,” she replied. She walked slowly toward the door as he picked up his newspaper and went back to reading. She blew him a kiss from the doorway, but Dennis was too busy to notice.

Puzzled, Marqi walked out of the room, put on her new leather coat, and left the house, not knowing when she’d see this man again. She felt incredibly peculiar as she climbed into the car and had the driver take her back to the lantern. She felt odd as she packed her things into her suitcase and went through the room for any overlooked articles. She left some money in Mila’s battered secondhand valise from the thrift shop and hoped the other girl would find it. Then Marqi took her things to her newly functioning vehicle, tossed them in, and took one last look at the town of Jasmine Falls. The strangeness began to wear off as she drove up the slope toward the Hawke ranch. She would be going back to school soon. She belonged there. Where awkward boys becoming men could hit on her and drink too much at frat parties.

Yes, Marqi thought as she pulled into ShayAnne’s driveway, soon she would forget all about Dennis Braxton and the magnetic pull he had. She went up to the house and left a quickly written thank you/resignation on a piece of college-ruled paper and gave it to ShayAnne’s sister to give to their father. Marqi waved as she got back into her car and drove away.

Focus on the future, she told herself. Forget Dennis, forget the crazy hot sex, and just... get on with school. Get on with goals. Get on with life. And maybe, just keep the sexy clothes in the drawer, in case of a rainy day.