Domestication

"He's not bothering me," I told him. "We were talking about economics."

He glanced at the cover of my book. "Are you an Austrian Economist?" he looked at me with surprise.

"No, I'm just a working girl," I laughed. "I'm interested in those ideas, though. When I grow up, I want to teach economics at a University somewhere. We were going swimming though. Let me put on some sunblock and we'll go."

"You need sunblock?" Merlin asked.

I laughed again. "You mean on account of I'm black?" I asked. "Yes, honey, black people burn and tan, too. I'd be so black you couldn't see anything but my smile at night if I didn't use sunblock."

He nodded and I stood up and took off my wrap. I heard his father draw in his breath. I grinned up at him. "So, let's go swimming."

He tore his eyes away from my boobs. "Sorry, um, okay," he said. "You don't have to go swimming with us, Sullivan."

"No, you seem like good company," I said. "Is your wife here?"

"Mommy didn't come," Merlin said. "She did something bad and we haven't seen her for a long time."

I looked at Julian. "It's a long boring painful story," he said.

"Well, I don't know you well enough to listen to long boring painful stories. Let's go swimming."

The water was warm and gorgeous, blue and beautiful and we had a blast. Julian was a great big, happy teddy bear and Merlin was charming. They were obviously in love with each other and he rode Julian, and me, around like horses. We found pretty shells and Julian found Merlin a hermit crab that he wanted to keep. I had heard of keeping them for pets, but I didn't know if this was the right kind. They moved their stuff over by mine and Merlin shared some chocolate he had in their cooler with me. The sun was beginning to set and I was getting hungry when we parted. Merlin hugged me like I was his best friend. I gave Julian a hug, too, and started up the path. I heard a little boy shout and Merlin was running up the path after me. He threw himself on me and told me he loved me. He wanted to know if I would be at the beach the next day.

I told him that I had planned to go shopping and he looked sad. On the spur of the moment, I asked him if he would like to go with me. His face lit up like the sun and he jumped up and down and celebrated.

"Really, Sullivan? I could really go?"

"Yeah, honey, it'd be fun," I said.

"Let me go ask Daddy," he said. He ran off down the path and came back with Julian.

"Sullivan, don't let him bug you into doing things you don't want to do," he said. "He thinks all he has to do is smile and people will do anything he wants them to do. I guess he has some reason since he has me wrapped around his finger like that." He grinned ruefully. "Do you really want him to go with you?"

"Sure, why not?" I asked. "You can go, too, if you want to, Julian."

He was ambivalent, I could tell. I suppose he must have been worried about Merlin going off with me. We hadn't known each other very long and I'm sure I wouldn't have let him go off with me. I would take very good care of him, but he couldn't know that. He probably didn't enjoy shopping; he was a man, after all. The Daddy part of him won and he agreed to meet me at a coffee shop I had noticed at ten the next morning. Merlin pulled my face down for a kiss and scampered away. Julian thanked me and followed at a more sedate pace. His size didn't lend itself to scampering.

I was sitting in the coffee shop drinking a triple espresso when Julian and Merlin arrived. He got a cup of regular coffee and bought Merlin a hot cocoa. We all had a muffin and the shopping expedition began. We walked and window-shopped, going in when we saw something interesting. The local women made these really cool white cotton dresses with intricate embroidery on them. I bought four of them and a cool t-shirt for Merlin that matched one of the dresses. When I got it for him, he said we'd be twins. Julian didn't want me to buy it, but I insisted. We nibbled on street food to keep the hunger pains away and when we were through shopping, Julian asked me if I would like to go clean up and come back for dinner. I wanted to very badly. I was in love with Merlin and Julian was having quite an effect on me, too. Did I mention that the man was huge? He was carefree and happy and just a ton of fun to be around. I'm not usually attracted to white men, and I suspect he wasn't very attracted to a lot of black women.

I hate to indict my own culture but a lot of black women have an attitude. They're notorious cheaters and there's very little shame in that for them. They aren't looked down on for that. If you have a fat ass and one guy dumps you for cheating, there's always the guy down the street who's happy to get a piece of that. It's a scourge in our culture. There was some shadow in Julian's past that I suspected had something to do with Merlin's mother. That would make him very wary of me and I couldn't blame him. I'm not like that, but he couldn't know that. I actually like nice guys. Bunches of my girlfriends down through the years have told me, "I'd never date him, he's too nice."

That's just so much bullshit. I want a guy who's going to treat me like shit? Not this girl! Julian was certainly one of those nice guys. He was so in love with his son and that just made him nearly irresistible to me, plus, he was very good looking, and huge! I felt tiny beside him. I'm nearly six feet tall, almost 140 pounds and he made me feel petite. I decided I liked that feeling. I needed to find out what that story was about Merlin's mother. He wasn't wearing a wedding band, but I could see the deformation of his finger that showed he had in the recent past.

I wore one of my new dresses and sandals to dinner. To my delight, Merlin had his shirt on, too, with shorts and a cute pair of orange flip-flops. He tucked his little hand in mine and we were twins. That's what he said and I accepted that we were, not identical, but definitely twins. Julian looked very nice, too, with khaki shorts and a black polo. I was naked under that thin cotton and he couldn't keep his eyes off me. You could see the dark impression of my nipples under that thin material and they were so hard they ached when I saw him looking. I hadn't been with a man in a while and he was all man. That thing with Merlin's mother still bothered me though, and I wasn't about to get involved with a married man. I needed to know what was going on.

The restaurant was a fresh seafood place and the food was delicious. We tried a lot of different appetizers and it was all awesome. Julian and I drank beer and I felt very relaxed, just a little mellow. I could tell he was, too, and I thought I'd probe a little.

I asked Merlin if he went to school. He said he was going to kindergarten starting that fall and that Julian was going to be his teacher. I was surprised.

"You're a kindergarten teacher?" I asked him.

He laughed. "No, just for Merlin. I'm actually a football coach, American football. We live in Mexico City right now and there isn't much call for American football coaches. I'm working as a private contractor for the company that hired you."

"Why is an American football coach living in Mexico City?" I asked.

A shadow passed across his face. "Are you sure you want to hear this?" he asked.

"If you don't mind telling me," I said.

"I don't mind," he said. "I really like you, Sullivan. I've never met anyone quite like you before."

"Me, too," Merlin piped up. "I love Sullivan, Daddy."

"Thank you, baby, I love you, too," I hugged him.

"Do you want to come back to our place?" Julian asked. "This is kind of a long story and personal. I'd just as soon not tell it here. Merlin is going to get tired pretty soon and I could just put him to bed when he does."

That sounded like a good plan and we walked back to their villa. It was on the same plan as mine. Merlin put on his pajamas and we sat on the sofa, Merlin between us with his head in my lap and his feet in Julian's. We each had a beer and he started telling me about Merlin's mother.

"I met Staci in college at a party," he said. "We were both pretty high and she wound up going home with me. She passed out in the car on the way back to my place and nothing really happened. She slept on the couch and she was still there when I left for class in the morning. When I got out of class between ten and one she was in the shower. I made lunch and she ate with me. I don't know if it was love at first sight or not but for me it was certainly lust."

Merlin was asleep and I just petted him, marveling at the beauty of this little elf with his head in my lap. Julian smiled down at him. "He's gorgeous," I said.

"I know, right? He looks just like his Mom. We dated for about six months and she told me she was pregnant. We both partied a lot and that was a big change for both of us. I knew I had to settle down and I got a job after school. Staci kept going to school, too, and we got married two months before Merle was born. I fell in love with him the minute I saw him. Staci started acting strange about Merlin a couple of months after he was born. She started leaving him with sitters when I wasn't home and I found out she was partying again. She was doing drugs and drinking. She was breastfeeding our son and doing that, Sullivan."

"Jesus Christ," I exclaimed. "What did you do?"

"I had a fit," he said. "She denied everything, of course, and it took me a month to get the evidence it was true. She was sleeping around with different guys and partying hard. When I confronted her with pictures and video, she just became this evil bitch. She told me I didn't own her and she wasn't going to "miss out on life" because of a stupid brat. That stupid brat was a beautiful, three-month-old baby, Sullivan. I told her to leave and stay the hell away from Merlin and me. She left but she tried to snatch Merlin about a week later. She showed up one evening and just took him from the sitter. It was lucky I just happened to pull up in the driveway as she was coming out of the house."

"What did she say?" I asked.

"Well, she said I was a jealous prick and that she was Merlin's mother. She was filing for divorce and she was going to get custody of Merlin. I went to see a lawyer and showed him my evidence. By that time, I was out of school and working as the defensive line coach of the football team where I had been playing. We had a big, long court battle and I got custody because of her drug use. Staci had two supervised visits a month and after two years, they would revisit the case. For some reason, Staci hated my guts after that. She and her boyfriend of the moment did stupid things like break windows in my car; flatten my tires, just junk like that. They even poured a bag of concrete in my hot tub once."

"She sounds like a maniac," I said. "How did you not see this before?"

"I have no idea," he said. "Anyway, after the two years were up we went back to court. Staci and her attorney had all this line about how she'd cleaned up, she was ready to be a responsible mother and she had been in treatment to get her drug problem fixed. This was a different judge and she bought it, hook, line and sinker. She said she was going to give us joint custody with Staci as the primary care giver. I would get to visit twice a week, I would get two weekends a month and alternate holidays. You should have seen the smirk on Staci's face. I pretty much saw it coming and I was ready. I went home, cashed out everything I had, called my athletic director to resign and got on a plane with Merlin for Mexico City. We've never been back. When I met you there it was the first time I'd been in the states since we left. It made me as nervous as hell."

"That's quite a story, Julian," I said. "Are you going to hide out in Mexico the rest of your life?"

"I don't know what else to do," he said. "I'm sure as hell not going to let Staci get her evil claws on Merlin. What would you do?"

"I'd eliminate her as a threat," I said.

"Does that mean, 'kill' her?" he asked.

"Do you want her dead?" I asked.

"No! I don't think I want that. I just want her to go away. I want to get back to coaching football, living a normal life like everyone else without looking over my shoulder all the time."

"Well, there are other ways," I told him. "You could get evidence that she's still an unfit mother, you could get some dirt on the judge, you could set your ex up so that she goes to jail; there are dozens of things you could do."

He looked at me and I could tell he was kind of shocked. "I don't know how to do any of that," he said. "I don't even know how to start. It sounds expensive, too. I barely scraped enough money together to bring Merle here for this vacation. I'd have to hire investigators or something."

"Julian, you don't know me very well," I said. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I can help you if you want me to."

"How?" he asked. "Jesus, Sullivan, you're a beautiful young woman and I can tell you're really smart, but you're a security contractor. You're not James Bond. You're a college student, too, right?"

"Yes, I am taking classes," I told him. "I'm working on my PhD in economics. I don't think I want to tell you very much about this, Julian, but James Bond was a pussy. You're a big, strong guy. We've danced this dance before. You want to go a couple of rounds with me?"

"You mean like, fight?" he asked. He laughed. "No, I don't think I want to fight with you, Sullivan. Maybe dance, but not fight."

"Are you afraid?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Yes, I'm afraid I'd hurt you."

I looked up at him. "Call me Livie," I said.

"Livie?" he asked.

I shot my right hand out and chopped him in the throat before sinking my fingers in on each side of his laryngeal prominence. He choked and gagged and his hand shot to my wrist, trying to pull my hand away. I hung on and he quickly realized he would have to injure himself or hurt me to get my grip loose. He looked over at me in a little panic and his eyes were leaking.

"Never call me Livie," I said, releasing his throat. That was the second time he'd felt that hold.

He coughed around for a few seconds, trying not to disturb Merlin. "Jesus Christ," he finally managed to gasp out. "What the hell is wrong with you, Sullivan? What was that?"

"I could have killed you, Julian. If you got your hands on me or got me on the ground, you could probably beat me. You probably have me by over a hundred pounds and I think you're much stronger than I am. I couldn't let that happen so you would never get your hands on me. Put Merlin in bed, I want to show you something."

"You do it," he said.

"Why me?" I asked.

"Are you afraid?" He grinned at me.

I guess I was, a little bit. This was new territory for me. I had never really been around children that much. I slipped my left arm under his neck and my right one under him around his knees. He was as light as a feather. I felt something stir in my heart as I held that precious baby. I carried him in and tucked him in bed. Julian followed and watched, lounging against the doorway. I tucked a wisp of honey-blonde hair behind his ear and kissed that little angel face.

When I turned, my eyes were moist and Julian had the most interesting look on his face. It was a little wistful and kind of hungry. It scared me. He turned and walked back into the living room. I gave one more long look at Merlin, and then followed him.

He was standing in the middle of the room. "What did you want to show me?" he asked.

I was barefooted and I stood in front of him. I pulled the hem of my dress up around my thighs and slowly raised my right foot, extending it up without touching him. I pivoted on my left anchor until my right foot was high enough to rest on top of his shoulder next to his left cheek. "I can kick higher than that," I said.

He reached up with both hands and his fingers met around my calf. He slowly slid them downward until his fingers were caressing the skin of my thigh. I shivered and my pussy flooded.

"God, you're beautiful, Sullivan," he said quietly. "So flexible, so silky, so smart and gentle, but so dangerous and deadly; where did you come from?"

I took his hands away from my thigh and slowly brought my foot back to the floor, letting my dress relax. "It's a long boring painful story," I told him. "Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"I think I have time," he smiled at me and I melted some more. He took a step forward and picked me up just like I had Merlin. I could feel the power of those huge muscles and I shivered a little. Like I said, I'm a big girl, but he handled me like a baby. He carried me back to the sofa and held me on his lap, one thick arm cradling me. He handed me my beer and took a swig of his.

"My father adopted me when I was about Merlin's age," I began. "He was a security contractor working for a huge company that contracted to the UN and the US Military. He quit and started teaching school after he got me. Someday I'll tell you about that, but I was raised around the guys that worked with him. I kind of became a mascot. They all looked out for me and I was like their daughter, too. When I started growing up I became more like a little sister. I started going to training camps when I was little. They let me train with them when they weren't doing dangerous things. I started doing more and more as I got older. By the time I was eighteen I was as good as the best of them. I'm not as strong as you are, but I'm stronger than most men that don't weight train religiously. I'm lighter boned and not quite as fast as elite men, but I would suspect that I'm faster than you are. You might surprise me. You probably have a quick first move from playing football. I'm a private contractor. I do investigative work, debt collection, troubleshooting, that sort of thing. I won't work for governments, but I do private stuff. Say the word and I'll make your problems go away."

"I don't want you to hurt anyone," he said.

"Why not?" I asked. "Do you think the only kind of pain is physical? How much pain has that little boy in there had because his mother didn't want to 'miss out on life?' How much pain are you in, Julian? That little boy doesn't deserve to be a fugitive, hiding out in Mexico City. He's going to be a star if he wants to be. You need to resolve it."

"Why don't you like to be called Livie?" he asked.

That question kind of threw me. It was a total change of direction and I was to discover he did that a lot. He seemed to have multiple trains of thought going on in his head at the same time. I had thought only women did that. "My father passed away when I was seventeen," I said. "I spent six months in foster care. My foster father called me Livie. Then he got in the shower with me one day and tried to rape me. I fucked him up bad and ran away. I went to one of the security company guys. He and his wife kept me until I turned eighteen. Then we went after the rapist and he disappeared. The assault charges against me went away. I've never liked that name since."

"I won't use it," he said. "Why would you help me, Sullivan?"

"Merlin loves me," I grinned. "I think I love him, too. I kind of like you, too, Julian. Do you like me?"

"How can you ask?" he said. "Am I nuts? I have the most beautiful woman I've ever seen sitting on my lap. She's dark and mysterious, and I'm not talking about your skin. She loves my son, and I think she's absolutely fascinating. What's not to like? Will you spend the night?"

That shook me again. I hadn't expected him to go there. "No, Julian," I told him. "I'd love to, but you're a fugitive with baggage. Do something about that and we'll see. I won't be with you unless you can be with me in a serious relationship. I won't live like a fugitive in some other country. I'm not promiscuous. I don't just sleep around. I'm very attracted to you but I'm not ruled by my hormones. Do something about your problem and let's get to know one another. Then we'll see. I'm going home now. See you tomorrow?"