Dark Angel

"Something wrong?" Reyna asked.

"No." I said. "I just like this view here, it overlooks the city, all the lights, the river, the stars."

We stood, enjoying the view. "Thanks for dinner." I said. "I've never been to a place like that, never figured I would."

"You're welcome." She smiled, putting her arms around me. "I never figured I'd find someone I wanted to take to a place like that."

I opened my mouth to speak, but her lips stopped me, pressing softly into my own. She lingered for a few seconds, then pulled away, a radiant smile spreading across her face. Looking into those amethyst eyes, I took her in my arms and kissed her, cautiously at first, but more aggressively as she responded, our tongues intertwining. I have no idea how long we kissed, I just know I felt empty when it ended. I wanted more, but I knew I had to take her home. Reluctantly, we got back into the car and left. She placed her hand on mine as I drove, moving with me as I shifted gears.

I walked her to the door. "Eric." She asked. "Would you stay the night with me?" "Before you answer, I want you to know something." "I've never had a real boyfriend, I had a couple in high school, typical teenage slobbering gropefests, but not a real, adult boyfriend." "Also, I'm not ready for sex, I'm not saying we can't get to know each other better, but I need more time." "I've been hurt by too many men to be that trusting this quickly." "Hell, I don't even know if this is what you want, considering your past." "We're both damaged, but maybe we can..."

I pulled her hand up to my lips and kissed it tenderly. "I think that sounds perfect." I smiled. "I want to explore our feelings, even if I'm conflicted, uncertain." "I don't want to miss out on a chance of a lifetime just because I've been hurt."

She smiled, relieved that I accepted her terms. "I was afraid you'd be upset."

"I can wait." I said. "Even if it never goes any further than tonight, I won't regret it."

She opened the door. Taking my hand, she led me to the bedroom. "I need to change." She said. "Make yourself comfortable."

I took off my jacket and tie and awaited her return. I was not prepared for what I saw. She was wearing a nightshirt with Hello Kitty on it. One look, and I lost it, laughing out loud.

"What?" She smirked, hands on her hips. "Not 'Metal' enough for you?"

"Not what I was expecting." I grinned. "I figured black lace and barbed wire."

"That was last night, sorry you missed it." She giggled, sliding into bed. She patted the space next to her.

I paused, unsure just how far to undress.

"Not shy are you?" She teased.

I stripped to my underwear and laid beside her. I usually slept nude, but since we were going slow, it would prevent any unwanted incursions into sensitive territory. I certainly didn't want to trigger any unpleasant memories.

Reyna rolled over next to me, laying her head on my shoulder, arm across my chest. "Damn, you're pretty solid, I guess work keeps you in shape." She purred.

I hugged her to me, unconsciously dropping my hand onto her ass. Startled, I pulled away. Way to go stupid! I thought to myself, make her think you're a perv.

"That's OK." She smiled. "Honestly, I'd like you to."

Returning my hand its previous location, I marveled at the firmness of her butt cheek, also her lack of panties, then moved up, massaging her back and shoulders.

"Mmm." She sighed. "You're good with your hands." She kissed me, tongue playfully seeking mine.

She looked up at me. "Hey!" I said, surprised. "You changed contacts." Her eyes were now a very pale blue, almost white. It was quite a contrast.

"Actually, this is my natural color." She explained. "That's why I wear the purple ones, such a distinctive color would be a dead giveaway." "I've had several doctors tell me they've never seen another person with them."

I stared into them, almost hypnotized by the paleness. "They're...beautiful." I gasped. "Too bad you have to hide them."

She smiled. "Someday, if you're lucky, I'll show you my real hair color."

Trying to be a gentleman, I decided not to read too much into that statement.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" She inquired.

"Sure." I said. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell me about...her." She almost whispered, fear flashing in her eyes.

"My ex?" I hesitated, I didn't really want to talk about her, but... I swallowed hard, and started. "She was my first love, hell, if I'm being honest, the first girl to ever pay attention to me." "We met in high school, but didn't get serious til after graduation." "I was already working as a mechanic, have a natural gift for it, was pulling down pretty good money." "She was going to college, business degree, boring as hell, if you ask me." "Whirlwind romance, married in June before her second year." "I was the happiest I'd ever been in my life, good job, beautiful, loving wife, I had the world by the tail, or so I thought."

I paused, exhaling, gathering my thoughts. Reyna nodded, kissing my cheek. "Go on."

"After I paid to put her through school, she landed a job with her Dad's company, had to move to the east coast, to this day, I have no idea what they do." I chuckled. "Of course, with this crowd, WHAT you are is far more important than WHO you are, and as a mechanic, a manual laborer, they looked down on me, on us." "How could she love a man with grease under his nails?" "They would have dinner parties, big fancy affairs, I was completely out of my element, I couldn't relate to any of those pompous assholes." "Usually I'd just sit in a corner, by myself, watching her schmooze, it seemed to come naturally for her." "Over time, it started driving a wedge between us." "I'm sure her co-workers didn't miss an opportunity to let her know how much of a loser they thought I was." "I finally just quit going, why put myself through the pain?" "Eventually, they poisoned her mind, convinced her I was a social misfit, too stupid to carry on even the simplest of conversations."

I had to stop again. Reyna wiped away a tear that was running down my cheek. I hadn't even noticed I was crying.

"I could see it all slipping away and I couldn't do anything to stop it." "Day by day, she became more distant, even hostile, until one day I came home and found divorce papers and her wedding ring on the kitchen table." "I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't listen to me, she said I didn't try hard enough to fit into her world, I was uneducated with no empathy for her feelings, her needs." "Mind you, she never met any of my co-workers, or worried about my goals or needs."

Finally, it hit me, and I screamed. "WORTHLESS CUNT LEFT ME FOR THOSE FUCKING BASTARDS, HER CAREER WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ME!!!" I wailed, sobbing, shaking so hard Reyna grabbed me so I wouldn't fall from the bed.

When I'd recovered, to some extent, I opened my eyes. Two pale eyes were looking back at me. "Feel better?" She asked, softly kissing my lips.

I nodded, feebly. "I never really sat down and thought through it." I said. "I was too busy being angry and hurt." "Thanks for listening."

"That's what friends are for." She said, stroking my cheek. "She ripped out your heart and made you feel like it was your fault." "As far as I'm concerned, she's the heartless one, she should have been the first one to defend you, that's what love is."

"I ended up moving back here to get away from all of it." I added. "Every time I worked on one of those asshole's cars, I wanted to sabotage it." "I knew it was only a matter of time before I did something stupid."

Reyna's eyes twinkled and she smiled. "I'm glad you did."

Sensing how drained I was, Reyna turned off the light, snuggled into my side and we fell asleep. For the first time in recent memory, I didn't dream of...her. Maybe I was finally free, maybe I could move on.

Morning came, bright and clear. Reyna was still asleep. I was spooning her, arm draped over her cupping one of her breasts. As I moved my hand away, she placed her hand on mine and returned it to her chest, then went back to sleep. I laid there, the smell of her perfume and shampoo filling my nostrils, feeling more rested than I had in longer than I could remember.

Eventually, she woke and rolled over, looked into my eyes and smiled. "Morning."

"Morning to you too." I smiled back, then kissed her. "Guess my tirade last night didn't scare you away."

"I puked on you, consider us even." She laughed. "Still need to return your shirt."

I sat up and stretched. "I need the bathroom, unless you want to go first?"

"Yes please." She hopped from the bed. "I'll be quick."

After I had relieved myself, I found her in the kitchen, making coffee. "Hungry?" She asked.

"Don't go to any trouble." I said. "I'll just pick up something when I return the Lambo."

After coffee, I dressed, hugged her and kissed her, patting her ass playfully, then left.

We texted back and forth almost constantly after that, at least when she wasn't in class and I wasn't elbow deep in an engine bay. I met her for lunch, on campus, a few days later. She was sitting in the corner, facing the door and lit up when she saw me. When I got to the table, she stood, wrapping me in one of the warmest hugs I'd ever gotten and kissed me. "I've missed that." She purred in my ear.

I grinned and kissed her again. "Not nearly as much as I did."

We ate as we talked. "How are you feeling?" She asked. "Getting it out of your system help?"

"It seems to." I answered. "I'm sleeping better, but not nearly as well as I slept holding you."

"Funny you should mention that." She giggled. "I'm having the same problem, maybe we should plan another sleepover?"

"I like that idea." I said, grinning so hard it nearly hurt. "My place this time?"

"Will I be surprised by your décor?" She teased.

"Only by the lack of it." I laughed. "I never felt the need to decorate, but I'm sure you being there will brighten the place up."

We decided to get together after our night class, I'd pick her up, we'd go to class, then my place afterwards.

I picked her up, and we worked on our Russian while I drove us to class, and continued after we got there, we both loved fucking with the other students. We'd even started taking notes in Russian, seeing the looks we got, it was all we could do to not break out laughing. These kids didn't stand a chance against us. I'm sure by now they thought we were rogue KGB agents sent to overthrow America.

After class, I drove her to my place. "Try to keep the expectations down." I chuckled. "You're lucky I have curtains."

I opened the door to my apartment, it was little more than a one bedroom efficiency, cozy, practical for a single guy, but not spacious. I more or less took the cheapest place I could find in a decent neighborhood.

Reyna walked in. "It is a bit...spartan." She winced. "But the toolbox is a nice touch."

"Be glad I'm not rebuilding an engine on the table." I laughed. She had no idea I actually had.

"The bathroom is nice, very clean." She seemed relieved.

"Amazing what you can do with a sandblaster and some industrial solvent." I joked (though not a lot).

"Well I see you didn't cheap out on the bed." She observed. "That mattress looks like it's two feet thick."

"I've never been a good sleeper." I lamented. "It's my one concession to comfort."

Reyna jumped up on the bed, sprawling out like a cat. "I gotta get me one of these." She cooed.

"Can I get you something to eat or drink?" I asked. "I could make some nachos."

"That sounds great." She beamed. "Got some beer to wash it down?"

"Yep, in the fridge, help yourself." I answered. "I don't have cable, but feel free to put on a movie, I have a bunch in the cabinet to your right."

I could hear her rummaging through the DVDs, occasionally chuckling.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"How many car chase movies do you have?" She snickered.

"All of them I think." I smiled. "You won't find any chick flicks, if that's what you're looking for."

"Fuck no, I'm not girly." She hissed. "Blow shit up, that's my vibe." "What's this one?" She asked. "It's called 'Xanadu', never heard of it."

"What!" I exclaimed. "How can you be a musician and not know about...?" "We've gotta watch it, it's fantastic."

We sat watching the DVD, eating nachos and drinking beer. I tried not to sing along, but couldn't help myself, it's one of my guilty pleasures. She actually knew the duet and sang with me.

"You sing pretty well." She praised.

"I've looked at a couple of your videos on the computer." I admitted. "I'm a hack, you however, WOW, just WOW!" "How does a voice like that come from someone as little as you?"

After it was over Reyna smiled. "I think I like it." She admitted. "The story is decent, but the music, Damn! ELO and Olivia Newton John, even I can appreciate that, but that number with the Tubes was more my style."

I looked at her grinning like an idiot. "I'm never letting you leave." "Chaining you to the bed."

"Promise?" She smirked. "Don't say it if you don't mean it."

I stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, then cleaned up, putting the dishes in the sink. "I'm gonna hit the shower before bed, unless you want first dibs."

"Go ahead, I'll go after you, I need to get settled." She said.

The shower felt wonderful, I was starting to relax, the hot spray washing away all the tension of the day. I rinsed the shampoo from my hair and turned around, and damn near jumped out of my skin. "Holy Fuck!" I yelped. "You scared the shit out of me." Reyna had managed to sneak into the shower without me seeing her, I think she may be a ninja.

She wrapped her arms around me, giggling. "Sorry, guess you didn't hear me." "Thought you might like me to wash your back."

"You can wash whatever you want." I kidded. "But only if I get to return the favor."

I couldn't get a very good view of her, she was too close (not that I minded), but she was definitely petite, 5'1", maybe a bit taller, If she weighed much over 110lbs, I'd be surprised. She had nice perky breasts, 32B or so, not big, but they suited her build perfectly. She turned around to grab the soap, allowing me to see her backside, Holy Mother of God! she had a perfect heart shaped ass, it was magnificent. I stood there with my mouth hanging open, stunned by her beauty.

"You gonna turn around?" She grinned. "Or would you rather I start with the front?"

I'd managed to subdue my erection up to this point, but that was more than I could take. In seconds, I had a full, raging hard on.

She looked down and smiled. "Front it is." She said, taking me into her soapy hands, stroking me slowly.

I groaned, leaning against the wall, as she lathered my cock, running her hands up and down my length. In an embarrassingly short time, I grunted and came, exploding in her hands, hitting her squarely between her tits.

I held her as I recovered, my deflating dick poking into her stomach, while she washed my back and ass, then I took the soap from her and started washing her. I began with her tits, kneading the warm globes and fingering her nipples. She moaned her approval as I turned her around and continued with her back and bottom. Task completed, I turned her back towards me and dropped to my knees to wash the one remaining area I hadn't seen yet, her pussy.

"No soap please, I'm very sensitive." She instructed.

I nodded, taking in the scene. Her hair was neatly trimmed, accenting pouty labia, her clitoris poking out at the top of her slit, but what really surprised me was the color of her pubic hair, it was pure white, I'd never seen anything like it before.

Seeing the look on my face, Reyna spoke. "That's my natural hair color." "Some kind of weird gene, white hair and white eyes, probably other things too, don't know."

"It's all absolutely beautiful." I confessed, awestruck by the sight.

I slowly parted her lips with my finger, running it the length of her. She shivered as I tickled her clit, then grabbed my shoulders for support. Inserting a finger into her, I continued stimulating her with my thumb.

Reyna bit her lower lip and tightened her grip on my shoulders, sucking in her breath. She moved her feet a bit further apart, allowing me better access to her neither regions. She wasn't going to last much longer than I did.

Just a few moments later, her legs quivered, she growled and orgasmed, vaginal walls squeezing my finger, nails digging into me, then her legs buckled and she collapsed. I managed to catch her, holding her in my arms while her climax subsided. Turning off the water, I wrapped her up in a big towel and carried her to my bed, laying her down and getting in beside her. Side by side, arm in arm, we fell asleep.

I awoke around 6 AM, I felt her stir. In the darkness, I couldn't see her, but I could tell she was awake. "Morning beautiful." I whispered. "Sleep well?"

She reached out and touched my face. "I always sleep well next to you." She said. "We should get up though, as much as I don't want to." "I've got class, and you have to work."

Over coffee and doughnuts, we talked. "About last night." Reyna said. "I hope you weren't disappointed."

Nearly spitting out my coffee, I answered. "Why in the world would you think that?"

"After inviting myself into the shower, I was afraid you were expecting...more." She said, timidly.

"Not at all." I reassured her. "I know this isn't easy for you, you've been through hell, but you set the pace here." "Once you are comfortable we will proceed." "I'm not in a hurry."

She sat in my lap and hugged me, tears in her eyes. "What did I do to deserve you?" She sniffled.

"Serial killer, maybe burn a church or two?" I teased, looking into her eyes. "I could say the same." "After what I've been through, I didn't think I could ever feel like this again, I didn't think I'd let myself, too much risk of getting hurt..." I trailed off, emotions getting the better of me.

"We're both wounded, broken, maybe that's why." She pondered. "We know what it feels like, the pain and heartache, we try to heal each other, only to heal ourselves in the process."

"Witty, beautiful and smart, you're a trifecta, girl." I laughed, kissing her tenderly. "But we gotta go, let's get to it." We quickly packed up and left, then I dropped her off at her place and headed to work.

We spent more time together as the weeks, then months, passed, even managing a couple more shower encounters, but went no further. We were sleeping together 3-4 nights a week, mostly at my place, since she really liked my bed. It was nice, we felt secure being with each other and slept better than when we were alone.

One night, over dinner, she said. "Eric, you seem down, is something wrong?"

"I need to do something next week I'm not looking forward to." I answered. "Something personal." "Sorry, didn't mean to be a wet blanket."

"Can I help?" She asked.

"No." I answered. "I need to do this alone." "I'll tell you about it when it's over." I felt bad excluding her, but this was going to be hard for me, I couldn't ask her.

It was a rough week, I was sullen and withdrawn. Reyna did her best to cheer me up, but I wasn't making it easy. The morning of my task came. We hadn't slept together the night before, I wanted to be alone. I made the 45 minute drive to my destination, a cemetery. It took me a few minutes to locate the headstones, it had been 10 years, to the day, since I was here last.

I laid flowers on the three graves, then spoke. "Mom, Dad, I want to apologize." "You were right, I was just too stupid to see it." "She used me then threw me away." "I hope you can forgive me."

I became aware of someone standing next to me as a hand slipped into mine. "Reyna?"

"I followed you, you've been acting so strange, I was worried." She said. "I wondered why you never talked about them, what happened?"