Southern Comfort Ch. 05

"Are you sure you want to hear this?" I asked.

"All of it!" he said sternly.

I sighed and began to explain from the beginning. He listened without interrupting while I related the story from the start until right up to the argument that was taking place in Jon's living room. When I finished, he stood there looking at me a moment and then he said, "So, you're still involved with my brother?"

"Yes, of course I am. I'm Jon's girlfriend," I replied smoothly.

"And, Bob? How does he figure in?" he asked.

"He's a close friend," I answered evenly. "An interested party, so to speak."

He snorted at my answer. "Andme?" he asked, defiantly lifting his chin a little.

"You were Jon's idea," I said. I half expected him to walk out at that point, but he just stood there staring at me.

"Am I still Jon's idea?" he asked finally.

"Not exactly. Not entirely anyway," I said.

"Then what exactly am I, Cindy? I'm not asking Jon. I'm asking you. You didn't cancel our date tonight. Why?"

"I enjoy being with you," I shrugged.

He had his hands on his hips and he was studying me very closely. He nodded sharply. "Let's go," he said pulling me up from the bed again.

I stood up expecting to have another more intense confrontation with Jon and Bob. Sonny flung open the door of the bedroom, marched me straight out into the living room, grabbed my purse and shoved it into my hands. "Here!" he said to me, still holding my arm. He was jingling his car keys. He turned to face Jon and Bob.

"Thanks for your hospitality, Jon. It was good seeing you again, Bob," he said as he turned to walk me towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Jon asked.

"The lady and I have a date. Don't wait up. I may not bring her back tonight. If I do, I'll make sure she gets home alright," Sonny said with an air of confidence I wasn't accustomed to seeing out of him.

"What about Nick?" Bob demanded loudly.

"I'll speak to Nick myself. Cindy was my responsibility and I'm the one who introduced them," Sonny said. "He probably won't bother to return your call, Jon. You shouldn't have left a message. Nick will talk to me. I may have to go see him in person, but he'll talk to me, one way or the other," Sonny nodded. "Gentlemen, have a nice night!" he said before he closed the door behind us.

Sonny did speak to Nick. I was there when Sonny very diplomatically called in a personal favor from him. As a result of his request, Nick hadn't called to ask me to dinner again, but about every other day, a new bouquet of pink roses was delivered to my job. Sonny and I had continued to see one another simply because we enjoyed hanging out together. Neither of us was looking to push for anything more than an enjoyable companionship for the moment.

I wasn't sure who had the most pull with Nick, Sonny or Jon. It didn't seem important at the time. I was in good standing with both of them, and Nick had directly extended an offer of friendship to me personally. While we had only met twice so far, in my book, having an independent friendship all my own trumped any indirect one via Jon or Sonny.

Since Bob had witnessed the exchange between Nick and I, he also knew that my newly founded friendship could potentially cause a lot more problems than he wanted to deal with. Jon's failed scheme had caused Bob to go into hiding for days. That led up to Bob calling me to tell me he wished we had never even met. And, that was how I began to uncover Bob's backstory.

Life moved at a fast pace and it seemed to be gaining momentum with each passing day. In the aftermath of all of that had occurred, there I sat, alone in a bar, contemplating what the hell to do next. **********

After spending most of the afternoon giving it careful consideration, I decided to go home. The situation called for significant damage control, but true to form, I went headlong in the opposite direction. I caught a nap, showered, changed and headed out again. I made a few stops along the way and just before midnight, I arrived back at Bob's. I sidestepped the security gate by following another car through, so Bob had no notice that I was coming over. I hadn't called to let him know I was on my way.

I tapped at the door and he opened it cautiously. He was astounded to find me on his doorstep.

"Well, can I come in?" I asked. He stepped aside and I swept past him with two paper bags in my arms. I walked straight in and set them down on the coffee table. When I turned to face him, he was still standing at the door. I slipped my shoes off one at the time and tossed them to him. He fumbled on the second catch, closed the door and locked it before setting my shoes on the mat.

He tilted his head at me for a moment. "I wasn't expecting you. Just blowing through?" he asked with sarcasm. I began setting out several containers of Chinese food on the table. I wadded the empty paper bag into a ball before I even looked at him.

"I thought you might be hungry."

"Well, it's a little late for dinner. I just got home and like I said, I wasn't expecting to see you this soon." He crossed his arms and gave me that look. "What made you decide to drop by?"

"Semper Fi and all that crap," I said waving my hand in the air as I turned on my heel and headed for the loft. He followed me shaking his head all the way up the stairs.

"Do you even know what that means?" he asked with a sigh as he flipped the light switch on and I began filling an ice bucket with cubes from the freezer.

"Yes, I know what it means, Bob. 'Forever Faithful.' That's me," I declared flippantly, not even looking up at him. Bob must have spent his afternoon cleaning house, because the apartment was spotless once again.

He snorted contemptuously at my comment. "Somehow when you say it, it loses context in the translation. Faithful just isn't your strong suit, honey."

I stopped my groping about in a drawer and turned my head to look at him. "Do you have a cutting board and a sharp knife?"

I slammed the drawer shut loudly when he stepped to the counter behind us and retrieved both. He slapped the small board in my hands as he offered the knife to me handle first. "Planning a little open heart surgery?" he quipped. I had to turn away to hide my amusement at his cantankerous teasing.

I placed a set of glasses, the ice bucket, a saltshaker and several other items on a tray and asked, "Do you think you can manage to bring this downstairs?" He followed me back down to the living room carrying the tray.

I reached into the other bag and withdrew several lemons and limes. I leaned over the table and began cutting them into wedges on the cutting board. I then removed a bottle of Cuervo and handed it to him. He twisted the top off and handed it back to me with a frown of mistrust.

I poured two glasses and handed him one. He watched as I threw back my head and downed mine. I salted a slice of lemon and bit into it. He was scowling at the glass in his hand.

"I don't drink tequila," he muttered as he looked for a place to set it down. I tossed down the lemon peel and took the glass from him.

I held the glass to his lips and purred at him, "You do now." He cautiously took the glass back from me and tossed down the shot. I offered him a slice of lime but he refused it, politely, of course. I refilled the glasses instead and handed him another shot.

"What are you up to?" he asked as he eyed me apprehensively. I didn't answer. I put my fingers under the bottom of his glass and made him raise it to his lips again. I downed my own and set the glasses aside. Then, I reached into his coat pocket and removed a joint. I lit it for him and held it up to his lips. He took a hit but he was eyeing me with total distrust. I set the joint aside for a moment.

I began sliding his jacket down over his shoulders. He assisted by shrugging it off and I dropped it on the end of the couch. I ran my hands up his chest until I encountered the leather holster. Maybe he thought I was going to shoot him on the spot. He suddenly grabbed both my hands in his, bringing a sudden halt to my attempted seduction.

"I told you once before, Cindy, don't fuck with me. I'm in no mood for any of your games tonight," he snapped at me. I retrieved the joint from the ashtray and made sure it was still lit before I offered to him again.

While he was busy taking another hit, I ran my hands over his chest again and said, "Take it off, Bob, and lose the fucking badge wherever you keep it. I don't fuck men with badges."

He didn't comment, but he did take off the gun vest and laid it on the table.

I laid my head against him. I felt one hand slip down to the small of my back. He was quiet a moment before he asked, "Are we just going to stand here all night getting ripped or can we at least sit down?"

I stepped away from him and sat down on the edge of the couch. While he turned on the stereo, I poured two more shots of tequila. He sat down beside me and took the glass from me. "Semper Fi," I said as I touched my glass lightly to his and watched as he downed the third shot.

We sat in silence while we killed most of the bottle of tequila and he finished the joint. Neither of us was feeling any pain, but Bob was still skeptical.

He reached over taking a strand of my hair between his fingers and playing with it before he asked again, "Why did you come back tonight?"

"Because I thought it was about time we finish something we started a long time ago."

"Does Jon know you're here?" he asked quietly.

"No. This doesn't concern Jon. It's between you and I, Bob. You can call him if you want to, but I won't be leaving with him. Not again. Tonight, I'm staying."

I've never seen a man react so quickly. I stopped breathing when he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. It was a soul-searching kiss that covered the spectrum of emotions we both felt. It took us through every moment we had shared for the past seven months; in the span of one kiss everything came rushing back, the laughter, the joy, the tenderness, the pain, the anger, the frustrations, and most of all, the passion.

Even if we had wanted to stop there, it wasn't going to happen. Neither one of us had ever wanted to start it in the first place. We had both tried to avoid it. It may not have seemed like it, but we did try. It was a lot like trying to stop a train wreck from happening.

Bob was in no hurry when he took me by the hand and led me to the bedroom. We each undressed ourselves before we climbed into bed together as if we were following some long established routine. He gathered me in his arms and rolled on top of me before he kissed me again.

With one arm, he cradled my neck and shoulders, and with the other, he held my hand. It felt very much like when we were dancing together, relaxed and in tune with one another. He made it easy for me to follow his lead.

I could feel every inch of his body touching mine. I could sense each indentation, the contrasting crests, and every reflexive movement as he pressed against me. While he was enjoying my feminine softness, I was relishing his very masculine physique.

His skin was smooth and his muscles were solid and tightly stretched with ripples between points that on most men went unnoticed. I slid one leg upwards along his and folded it over his hip.

His erection, which had until then been tenderly nudging its way between my thighs, found the freedom to progress in his exploration. Like oil on glass it floated along the recessive path that led to my clitoris. When cock kissed clit, I involuntarily recoiled. It must have startled him as well because he tensed and then tightened his hold on me.

There was a long pause in his movements before he allowed himself to retract and begin again. The sensations were so intense that he stopped kissing me for a moment so we could both catch our breath. His very presence was overwhelming. He sheltered me within his masculine scent, the warmth of his touch, and the strength of his physical desire. It was the essence of him where I found safety and serenity.

I heard him whisper, "Open your eyes." There was a flash of brilliance in his own and he was suddenly inside me. It was like being filled by liquid steel; scorching, fluid, and tempered. I wove myself around him and he responded by melting further inside until we were fused together, inside and out.

The magic of the moment was broken when we both sighed as one, "Oh, fuck, yes." A few seconds of unanticipated silence was followed by spontaneous laughter that went on until we could regain control again. The one and only thing we could ever agree on was how incredible it felt when he was inside me.

I can't say we christened everything in his apartment that night, but we managed to give it a solid try. Our activities were not contained to just the bed which proved to be the safest place to have sex with Bob. After over a decade of having sex with only hired women, he treated me like I was his own personal life-sized doll.

At one point, he sat me on the edge of his dresser and when I reached behind me to try to prevent him from giving me a concussion against the mirror, we both heard a rather ominous loud crack. One end of the attached mirror gave way and dropped a few inches, not only breaking the wooden frame, but also cracking the mirror at the same time.

You could hear a pin drop as we both stopped mid-stroke. His reflexes were rather quick as he released his hold on me and placed one hand against the frame to keep it from falling on my head. "Jump down," he insisted rather nonchalantly.

"Oops!" I said with some embarrassment as I slid off the dresser and stepped aside.

"Well,that's going to cost a fortune to fix," he snorted. He shook his head in disgust and stared at the damages with his hands on his hips.

"You shouldn't buy such cheaply made furniture," I admonished as I ran my hands over him from behind.

"Princess, the only thing more expensive than my furniture around here isyou!" he declared as he turned around to face me. I wrapped my arms around his neck again and he slid his hands under my ass and said, "Jump up!" I jumped; he lifted, and his cock was back inside me where it belonged. That's predominantly where it stayed until after daylight.

Sometimes, someone comes along that turns the whole world upside down. Bob was that someone for me.

Every time I turned around, he was there, interfering in my life somehow, meddling, changing and rearranging things to suit him. Bob was never who he appeared to be, or who I expected him to be. He was both fire and ice at the same time. He was a fury and a force to be reckoned with, but never one that I could control. I hated him for that, as much as he hated me for all the same reasons.

Of all the people in the world, it was Jon who could see in us what we couldn't see in ourselves. It was why he wanted us to stay away from one another. He had said on more than one occasion that Bob wasn't like other men. He also knew that our attraction to one another wasn't something that could or would easily burn itself out.

Just as he predicted, it wasn't likely that I was ever going to completely get Bob 'out of my system'. When Jon had said all those things to me, he was speaking from a different level of understanding. The two of them were on completely opposite ends of the continuum. Jon was my love and my light. Bob was my hate and my darkness. They couldn't coexist in the same world peacefully, and I couldn't exist in a world without them both.