Are You Ready?

The man who had escorted them to the office took Amy's keys and delivered her car to the front of the admin building. Mrs. Cho gave them three hundred dollars cash and wished them well. They drove away from the campus aware that if their pictures or names were on the news their lives were ruined.

Four hours later they parked in Amy's parents driveway. They were asked lots of questions. They had worked on their story based on what Mrs. Cho had said. Nothing was said about the tattoos, the sex they had with Mr. White or anything that made it worse than him entering their room.

"He only came in when the heart attack started," Beth said.

At six they watched the news channels. Not one mentioned the death of Mr. White. They scanned the news blogs and news web sites like MSN and nothing was said.

The eleven o'clock news was much the same. Lots of Halloween stories but Mr. White stayed in dead silence.

The drawn on tattoos were completely gone by the third of November. Amy noticed that her dragon had faded as well. She told Beth and when they looked Beth's dragon had faded to a faint outline. They undressed and discovered their lower tattoos were also faint.

"Maybe these will disappear as well." Beth said.

"I hope so." Amy agreed. They were still careful to keep their bodies covered. The week before Christmas Beth and Amy were shopping and Beth suddenly stopped walking, turned to Amy and said, "The urge is gone!"

"What urge?"

"Remember the urge to have sex? It's gone."

"I remember. I've been trying to convince myself it was like a dream or a fantasy I had. We didn't really do those things."

"How's that going? I've tried too and it doesn't work." Beth complained.

"I've been praying every night for forgiveness."

"Me too." They resumed walking. On Christmas they went to church with Beth's family. They had moved from Amy's to Beth's between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Right after church the congregation gathered for a pot luck dinner and singing of carols. Brent Carlson stood next to Beth as they sang and in between carols he asked her out.

It was the first attention a man had paid to either of them since Halloween. Beth heard him and spent a few seconds wondering if it would be safe to say yes. What if the urge came back?

He convinced her and she said, "Yes." They agreed to go out the next night for dinner. Beth and Amy both worried about the urge, but neither said anything. The date happened and when Beth came home and got ready for bed she noticed the dragon had faded even more. The urge didn't come while she was with Brent or afterwards.

By the end of March both girls had put the past in the past. They both dated good Christian men who didn't push when they said, "No" to intimacy. The tats had faded to the point they were hard to see at all. Beth got a job offer in Denver and Amy got hired in Omaha. They parted with tears, promising to get together over the holidays.

Their lives looked normal all through the summer. They both went swimming once in modest two-piece suits in their respective cities. They dated good men. Their vibrators stayed packed away.

Early in September Amy's coworkers came to her to get her involved with a yearly project they sponsored. They sponsored a costume dinner dance on Halloween. The proceeds funded or partially funded a shelter for abused women. She felt trapped. Halloween was her worst fear.

She put off answering for two weeks. When she answered she asked if there was something she could do that wouldn't require her to actually be at the dinner dance. She got the job of managing the money, ticket sales and paying the bills. She didn't need to be at the dinner dance.

Amy decided that on Halloween she would rent a cabin as far from anyone as she could find one, lock herself in and stay there.

Until the twenty-fifth she was fine. She sold lots of tickets, paid all the bills, got companies to donate and had deposited well over two hundred thousand dollars in the bank. On the twenty-fifth she got up and started getting ready for work.

On her way into the shower she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her dragon was back. Not all the way back, but no longer faint. She lied to herself, "It's just the light in here."

As she showered she ran the soapy cloth across her pussy and felt a wave of arousal. She stopped and almost fell! The urge was coming back! She quickly finished her shower and stepped out of the water. She grabbed a towel and headed for the phone.

Before she got to it, it rang. Her hand shook as she lifted the handset.

"Did you feel it?" Amy said.

"Yes! And, my dragon is coming back!" Beth said.

"What can we do?"

"Be strong! Pray! Don't give in!"

Amy noticed her hand had strayed to her slit without a conscious thought. She jerked it away and said, "Six days! I'll be crazy by then."

"Cover him up! Dress like you're Amish or something. We'll talk tonight."

"I have to go." Amy ended the call. She started getting dressed, bra first. As soon as it was on she felt an itch on her breast. Her dragon itched. She pulled on a pair of panties and instantly soaked them. She changed to another pair and put a maxi-liner in them. By the time she was ready for work she needed to change the liner.

In Denver Beth was going through the same drama. She stopped on the way to work and in the ladies room of Denny's she changed her liner. Her dragon itched. While she worked she caught herself scratching him through her dress and bra. She hoped no one else saw her scratching.

When Beth went to her car at five o'clock she found that she couldn't leave. A dark blue Lexus had her car blocked in. She paced for fifteen minutes before the driver showed up. He was wearing an Armani suit, great shoes and looked like a guy who could be on a soap opera.

"I'm so sorry. Let me buy you dinner to make it up to you, please." He said.

"I can't." Beth stammered. "I need to get home!"

"Home, where you'll have a TV dinner and watch reruns? I'll take you to Chez Chic where you can have lobster, great wine and a fabulous dessert."

He looked very confident. Beth looked at him like a lion looks and a wildebeest: dinner. She knew if she went with him he would die. She wanted to go with him. She remembered the taste and feel of the cock she ate a year ago. The memory was sweet instead of disgusting. She fought hard and said, "Give me your card. I'd love to go to dinner with you, in November. Right now, I really have to go home."

He gave her his card and moved his car. She zoomed out of the parking structure and headed home. More than half way there she saw that her gas gauge showed empty. She needed gas to get home!

She turned off the freeway and into the nearest gas station. She jumped out and slid her credit card into the pump. 'Maybe I can get gas and get out of here without seeing anyone.'

As the pump clicked off a man stepped around from the other side of the pump. "Hey, Momma, you a little out of your neighborhood, ain't cha?"

Beth looked at him. He was no taller than her and skinny. He looked like he was at least fifty. She said, "This is your lucky day! Go inside and buy a condom. I never fuck bareback. I'll wait right here."

She handed him two dollars and he smiled all the way into the mini-mart. She got in her car and he got in the passenger seat. She drove a couple miles down the road until she saw what she was looking for; a loading dock surrounded on three sides.

She parked close to the dumpsters. He asked, "Wanna get in the back seat?"

"No. I want to be outside, on the loading dock. Come on!" She got out and climbed the stairs onto the dock. The neighborhood was dirty and unkept but the dock had been swept at the end of the work day. She peeled out of her blouse and started to take off the skirt. Her man got on the dock and unzipped, whipping out his half-hard member.

"You want some of this, you got to be naked!" Beth said.

"Why? I'm only fucking with my dick."

"My pussy, my rules! That's why." She picked up her blouse. He got the message. His jeans dropped and he stepped out of them. He took off his shirt. He had no underwear on so when he stepped out of his shoes he was naked.

"Put on the condom."

He tore open the package and got it rolled onto his fully erect cock. As Beth watched his preparations she pulled off her panties and bra.

"Nice tattoos lady."

"Thanks. Now fuck me!" She laid herself on a piece of cardboard and he dropped to his knees between her legs. His grin was wide as if he couldn't believe he was actually fucking this strange, but beautiful, woman. He did his best. It had been twelve years since he had fucked and that time he was half drunk. He wasn't much of a lover, but Beth didn't want romance or a lover. She wanted to cum!

He came first and pulled out. She grabbed his hair and said, "Get me off! Stroke my clit! Eat me! Do something! I need to cum!"

She forced his head down towards her snatch and he fought against her. "I don't eat pussy!" He said.

"Then use your fingers!"

That he was willing to do. She guided him through a crash course in fingering a woman to orgasm.

When he finally got her where she wanted to go he was amazed. He'd never seen a woman cum before, at least never like Beth came. She thrashed about, screaming and soaked him and the cardboard with her juices. When she came down it was almost like a collapse. He sat and watched, amazed by the vision before him.

He thought, 'Long as I live I'll never forget this!'

As soon as she could Beth sat up and said, "Thanks, I needed that." She got up and collected her clothes. She also picked up the man's pants. She jumped down from the dock and walked to her car. He pulled on his shirt and said, "Hey, you've got my pants!"

She held them up, stuck a ten dollar bill in the pocket and tossed them into the nearest dumpster. "I know you'll forgive me for not taking you back where I found you. I gave you a little bus fare."

She finished dressing quickly and got in her car while he jumped down and walked to the dumpster. He hoisted himself in and stood in two feet of paper. Beth got out of her car and watched him. He did what she expected. He bent down, picked up his pants and stood back up. As he stood she slammed the lid down on his head, knocking him out. He probably also cracked his skull.

She looked at him to see if he was actually out. When he didn't move she pulled a pack of matches from her purse and lit one. She used it to start a piece of paper she got off the ground and dropped it into the dumpster.

With half the lid closed it took two minutes before the fire was big enough for Beth to see the flames. She watched from her car parked nearly a block away. The man didn't get out.

She drove home aware that the dragon had stopped itching. At midnight she was in bed, trying to go to sleep. She decided to take something to help her sleep. She walked into the bathroom and saw herself in the mirror. Her dragon had changed! When she had seen it just before Halloween the year before, he had one red eye. The rest of his body was iridescent green. Now she noticed that his front claws had bloody marks on her breast, as if he had dug those claws into her.

She looked down at the other tat and saw it had changed as well. Instead of a single tendril along side each side of her slit there were two and they extended onto her inner thighs. She examined the changes for a while then picked up a hand mirror and turned so she could see her back. A year ago someone had drawn on a Celtic cross with a vine. It had completely disappeared bi November.

It was back and with changes. In the vines she saw a golden dragon, a black dragon and the outline of another dragon. She put the mirror down and realized the man she had killed at school was a blond. The man she had killed that evening had black hair. The outline meant she was going to kill again!

It was four in the morning. Beth's phone rang. She didn't look at caller ID she just picked it up and said, "Did you lose control?"

"Yes! You too?"

"Yes! It was horrible! And, it's going to happen again!" Amy asked, "How do you know?"

"Where are you?"

"Home, sitting on the couch. Why?"

"Take the phone and go into the bathroom."

As Amy walked she asked, "What am I doing in the bathroom?"

"Take off your clothes. All of them."

She heard the phone being put of the counter top and the sound of clothes being removed. She heard Amy gasp.

"My dragon has drawn blood!" Amy said.

"Both front claws?"

"Yes!"

"Look down below. Has it changed?" Beth asked.

"Yes! The vines go clear down onto my legs!"

"Do you have a hand mirror?"

"Yes."

"Use it and look at your back."

Beth heard a crash and knew Amy had dropped the hand mirror. She waited.

Amy asked, "How many dragons are on your back?"

"Two full dragons and the outline of another."

"What do we have to do to stop this?" Amy was almost hysterical.

"I'm not sure we can. What did you see on your back?"

"Two brown dragons and the outline of two more."

"The man who died tonight, what color hair did he have?"

"Brown." Seconds passed and Amy said, "The first man had brown hair, too."

"I have a golden and a black dragon."

"What about Mr. White? Shouldn't we both have a white dragon?"

"Maybe it didn't count because he died of a heart attack."

Amy asked, "Are you going to work tomorrow?"

"I'm calling in and taking a week's vacation. You?"

"Me too."

On November first Amy had four dragons on her back along with vines and the Celtic cross. Beth had three dragons on her back with the cross and vines. Both had bloody marks by the claws of the dragons on their breasts. They were both back at work.

On November tenth Amy looked in her new hand mirror at her back, expecting the tat would have faded. It had not. The dragons on her back each had red eyes. Beth discovered her back had not faded on the same day.

Beth called the man from the parking garage and he took her out to a fabulous dinner. Sparks flew between them and they went out again the next night. All during November and December they dated twice a week. In January it became three times a week, dinner at her apartment and at his, a play, ice skating together and no sex.

At the end of February Colin asked her to go with him to a fancy dinner dance. She shopped for a sexy dress that wouldn't show a tattoo. She found one and paid five hundred dollars for it.

During that dinner Beth got brave and asked, "What do you think of tattoos?"

She watched as color drained from his face and he hesitated. "You mean personally? Would I ever get a tattoo?"

"That and what would you think if you discovered I had one?"

"I'd want to know more, I guess. When did you get it? Were you drunk? Do you like it?"

"Without any of those answers, would you still date me? Could our relationship progress?"

"I get it! Would I marry a woman with a tattoo?" Colin asked himself outloud.

She waited. He took the last bite of his veal and said, "I haven't thought about it, that way. Truth be told I didn't think our relationship would get that far. I have tattoos and I'm afraid to let you see them."

"Afraid? I have trouble picturing you afraid of anything."

"Well, thank you, but there are some things." Colin said.

"Name one." Beth said.

"Halloween!"

"Me too! I take vacation."

They looked at each other for a long time. Neither of them could think of a way to actually discuss why they didn't like Halloween or their tattoos. Couples around them got up and danced, went to the bar and talked. They didn't move. Beth was thinking about what would happen when he saw the big tattoo on her back and the others. She also wondered about his tattoos. 'What were they? Why would he have tattoos he didn't want her to see? Did he have the name of an ex-wife on his chest?'

When he couldn't sit there another moment, he stood and held his hand out to her. She took it and he led them both out of the grand ballroom and directly to the registration desk. He rented a room for the night without ever letting go of her hand.

He handed the plastic room key to Beth and took her into the elevator. It quickly went up seven floors and the doors opened. She led them out of the elevator and down the hall. At their door she looked at him, hesitated, then kissed him. It was warm, soft and filled with trembling. When it ended she said, "I hope you still want to kiss me in a few minutes."

He nodded. She slipped the key through the slot and heard the latch open. Colin opened the door. They stepped inside. As the door closed and latched she faced him and they kissed again.

She took a step back and asked, "Where are your tattoos?"

"I have three. One on each thigh and one on my back."

"Which will you show me first?"

"The one's on my thighs." Colin said. He undid his belt, unbuttoned the button and unzipped his suit pants. When he let go they fell around his feet. His shirt tails covered the tattoos. He lifted his shirt tails and Beth gasped.

On one thigh he had a red heart wrapped in vines. On the other, a taiji also wrapped in vines.

"What's wrong?" Colin asked.

Beth gathered the skirt of her dress and lifted it to her waist. With her right hand she lowered her panties enough to show him her heart and taiji. After a few seconds she dropped her skirt back into place and looked at his face.

He unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall to the floor. Across the room were two sliding mirror doors for the closet. Beth saw the Celtic cross and three golden dragons on his back. He turned and she saw his back closer. The dragons claws were bloody. She reached out slowly and touched the cross with a finger tip. A jolt of connection was felt by both of them. Neither felt the itch.

Beth unsnapped the top of her dress and lowered the small zipper. A shrug of her shoulders and the dress fell to the floor. She turned and Colin saw her four dragons and Celtic cross.

He reached out and took her in his arms. She said, "I know what the dragons mean."

"So do I." He hesitated, "I thought I was the only one."

"There are three of us that I know of." Beth said.

They finished undressing and got into bed. He told his story and Beth told hers and Amy's. They were tender with each other. The frantic need that pushed them when they were with others was not there. They expressed care and joy for each other, napping and resuming their sharing, mating and caresses until mid-morning. Room service brought breakfast and they enjoyed it, naked and unashamed.

When it was time for them to leave the room and step back into their lives Colin asked when they would see each other again.

"I'm afraid to think about the next few days." Beth said. "Will I feel the urge again? Have we stopped it by finding each other? Halloween is months away but..."

"You have my cell number. I have yours. If you need me, call me. If not sooner, let's have dinner on Saturday."

She nodded. They kissed tenderly and left the room. They kissed in the elevator and at Colin's car. When he got her home his cell rang and any thoughts of going inside and playing were dashed.

As he spoke to his business partner on the phone he watched Beth's body slithering between his car and her front door. The shiny fabric of her dress highlighted all the things he liked about her body.

When she was inside her put his car in DRIVE and pressed on the accelerator. Thirty seconds later they both felt the urge. Beth was undressing and felt the dragon on her breast itch. She looked in the mirror and saw he had grown. She used the hand mirror and saw the outline of a new dragon holding onto the right arm of the Celtic cross.

Colin turned onto Foothill Street and felt a surge on his back and a tingle in his genitals. He didn't need to look to know that someone was in danger. From him.