The Uncommon Artist

"Sam, he's going to use that alley every night, so let's set it up before he gets off work this evening. I'll park the truck in the alley just beyond that dumpster. Doesn't appear to be any traffic through there at this hour."

In the darkness of the poorly lit alley that evening they selected a spot by the dumpster where they set up. Sam quickly drilled out a hole in the wall opposite the large trash container a little more than four feet off the ground and screwed into the concrete wall a large eye bolt. Mark anchored a heavy strand of braided wire to the dumpster, trailed it across the darkened alley and passed the other end through the eyebolt. Then he made two circles in the wire and secured both with clamps. The two of them would need the hand holds when they hauled the wire tight. He finalized their work by kicking some goo and trash over the tan-colored wire.

Late that night Ralphie stepped out the door of the club, fiddled around with a bag of something that he stowed away in the carrier, then started the Triumph, turned on its headlamp and took off down the alley.

"Man, I really hate to do this to such a grand machine," Mark whispered.

Just before Ralph reached their position, Mark and Sam hauled on the wire, stretching it tight across the alley. Ralphie never understood what happened next as he clotheslined himself at nearly twenty miles-an-hour. The wire unhorsed the rider, lifting him slightly, then he slammed to the pavement. The Bonneville moved on down the alley a short distance, minus its rider, then it tilted and with a mighty crash drove into the wall of the alley.

Mark dropped a bag over Ralph's head, securing it lightly around his neck, then he and Sam loaded him into the back of the Tacoma. His captors stretched him out on the pad in the truck bed, then zip-tied his feet together. They wrapped rubber trucker straps around his arms and bound legs, took up the slack on both sides of his body with zip ties, and secured the straps to bolts in the bed of the truck.

Chapter 16

Taking Out the Garbage

Mark drove down the Florida Turnpike and bore right to Pembroke Pines, then continued through the darkness to Coral Gables where he picked up US 41 and headed for the marina. He had checked out airboat number five with Kimberly, his efficient, trustworthy but all-too-uninhibited office manager at Everglades Good Times. He told Sam about her determination to wear a thong mono-kini and a tee-shirt top during business hours at the busy installation. At first, he had stopped her, but several of his good customers protested, insisting that they were not offended at all and that they wanted her to continue.

In the spirit of pleasing his clientele, Mark agreed, Kimberly kissed him all too appreciatively for his decision, agreeing to keep a wrap nearby when families with children arrived to rent a boat for a day in the Everglades. Kimberly had a beautiful ass, and she knew it. She was a hard worker and valued her job highly, enjoying contact with people, the sight and sounds of high performance machinery, and working with Mark. She wasn't high-schoolish about her exposure, but she took every opportunity to allow her employer all the views his heart may have desired. And she hoped that his heart desired lots of them. Sam snickered.

"What else did you expect from a good-looking girl with you as a manager of the business? Gotta say, Marcus, that you are probably the sexiest man I've ever seen, no insult intended, and I'm not in the market for guys."

"Thanks for the compliment, you old goat. We're here. Because it's Saturday, Kim will be here in an hours, so let's get this clown out, water him up, and load him onto boat five."

The men unstrapped Ralphie, removed the hood and gave him water. He began to babble about his rights, so Sam slapped a piece of Gorilla tape over his mouth. They secured him to the passenger seat, Sam brought on board a scoped rifle and a pair of shoulder rigs with the pistols he and Mark favored, Mark started the big block Chevy engine and they moved out into the wetlands of Everglades National Park.

By now Ralphie was terrified, having realized that he was in mortal danger. He had no idea who these men were and he had never been out in this vast emptiness. It was the Everglades, that was all he knew. Mark steered the boat through Shark River Slough, avoided Hardwood Hammock, and bore right into Freshwater Slough. He apparently knew where they were going; no one else did.

He slowed the airboat as they neared a small hummock in the vast shallow sea of water and plant life. It hosted several low tree-like bushes and nothing else. Mark stopped the machine, they freed Ralphie who hopped out of the boat. Then Mark approached him and threw him to the soft, spongy earth.

"Wh...who...who are you?" he babbled in fear. "Why did you get me and bring me out here? Where are we, anyway?" he shrieked.

"Ralphie," replied Mark, "you're going to get your last life lesson. Remember several months ago when you attacked a woman at her home out by the Inland Waterway? That was my mother. The police and DA buried that case just like they have all the others you've caused. You've assured yourself...,"

"You can't do this to me...I've got my rights! You're in so much trouble, you'll never get away with this."

"Wrong, Ralph. No one knows we are here. You have no idea where we are. Even my friend hasn't got a clue about where we are. Out here you have no rights. Out here there is no district attorney and parole boards that will kick you back into society where decent people have to pick up after your butchery and brutality. You people are all alike...you count on good people being taught never, never to resist. You're willing to do anything to hurt them knowing you'll probably get away with it. But not this time.

"The reason you keep winning is that good people are never willing to do what it takes to get rid of you. But I am."

He and Sam moved back to the airboat, leaving Ralphie on the hummock in the vastness of that fluid desert. "Wait, wait!" he screamed.

"You'll soon meet an American crocodile or an alligator. Discuss it with them, Ralphie, and remember those you killed. Remember the woman I love. We won't meet again."

Mark started the airboat's engine, they turned and began the trip back home. At first Ralphie screamed at the sky, at anything. There was no answer. Eventually, he ceased his cries. Sometime during the next day he confronted the actual owners of this wilderness. He died violently, badly, like his victims. Nobody cared.

Ralph Mertaugh had left the mainstream of life without making a ripple.

Chapter 17

Home, and Into His Artist

Mark nosed airboat number five into its slip in the marina, secured all the tools they'd carried and packed away the tape, straps, and pad. Just two men out for a day on the sea of water and grass. Kimberly met them, and as Mark expected, was minimally dressed for maximum effect on her employer. Sam had to admit that he was somewhat taken aback, but he agreed with Mark that she was definitely an asset to Everglades Good Times.

Kimberly wore a black tee shirt, gathered at her waist, with two gold images of the famous mask of Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun, one over each nicely shaped breast. The logo beneath them read, "Hands Off My Tuts!" She wore her standard thong mono-kini, this one a memorable electric yellow, displaying her deliciously rounded bottom, and tan deck shoes with over-the-calf gray socks.

"Mark, just keep this up. You'll soon be as dried out and old as I am!" his friend advised. "And I brought this that you asked for." He handed Mark a small black velvet box.

"I'll send you a check, Sam. And without changing the subject, you'd just love to bite her on that sweet ass and be dragged to death, wouldn't you?"

They loaded their gear into the Tacoma, and set out for Miami where Sam caught a flight back to Jacksonville. Before he left Mark's truck, he leaned through the window and said, "It's been an experience as always, Marcus. Any time, my friend, and if I need you, I'll call as well. Oh, by the way, just how did I get here and what the hell have we been doing all day?"

With a straight glance that sealed their time together and consigned all record of their work to the chamber of forgotten deeds, he turned and disappeared into the terminal.

Mark wheeled through the traffic pattern and headed back out on US 41 to home. He realized once more just how much he had missed Lauren and Parker.

As he pulled up in front of the log home, Sir Roger roared around the corner to meet him, this time minus the nastiness of having merrily rolled in something foul out in the woods. August IX stared at him Sphinx-like from his perch beside the door. His mother's car was gone, but Parker's Wrangler sat in front, its owner rising happily from her seat in the porch swing.

"Oh, Mark, you're home! Welcome back, Darling." Not one to do anything halfway and without vigor, she roared into his arms, wrapped hers about his neck and kissed him until he panted for breath.

He held her close, whispering in her ear, "I thought of you so often that I almost lost my concentration. How did you come to possess me, Parker Scott?"

"By just being me, Mark. I love you, precious one. I am so glad you are safe, wherever you've been and whatever you've been doing."

"Let me get these things into the house, I want you to go for a walk with me."

Parker helped him, picked up his shoulder holster and pistol, then locked the cabin. As she moved down the front steps, he watched appreciatively. She wore a short sleeved sky blue half-blouse that just barely concealed her chest, leaving her abdomen bare, and a pair of khaki colored jeans with walking boots.

As they moved off, Mark took her hand in his, then remarked with interest, "Parks, you've trimmed your nails!"

"Yes, for several reasons I had Lauren trim an inch of them, so that they are now four inches. Do you approve?"

"Of course. I've always been aroused by them. Let me see them."

They stopped and she held out each hand with her lovely glossy red talons. To Mark, this girl never ceased being a source of erotic thrills He knew Lauren felt the same, and he had a good idea of how the two had been keeping each other busy in his absence. Parker had no signs of wear and tear.

"You are such a gift to my home, Parker. Our home. In the short time I was gone I realized how much I need you, how much Lauren needs you. And just like Lauren, you are such a treasure that I cannot risk losing you. Close your eyes for a second, please."

He reached into his pocket and withdrew the small black velvet case, opening it one-handedly. He withdrew its contents, tenderly held her left hand and slid the ring over her third finger. When she opened her eyes in surprise, a brilliant canary diamond in a simple gold setting glared haughtily at her in the bright sunlight.

He had seen women caught without words before, but this was the first time he had witnessed a lovely girl so surprised that she simply kept opening and closing her mouth as if she were a bass. He was embarrassed at the tacky thought but laughed at his comparison. She was stunned.

"Don't talk, Parker, listen to me. Yes, that means all that you think it does. You are mine. You are precious and a very special creation; I will love you and care for you and protect you, and I will do everything in my power to ensure your success and fulfilment. Will you accept this ring and love me for a lifetime?"

A momentary recollection of the vast loneliness that had swept over her when Kirby died flashed like a meteor through her mind. That was no more. Now she belonged. She was loved, adored, needed. She tried so hard to not weep, and that was a total failure. As this man she loved held her in that rackety woodland on this warm day, she felt something fall away as if she had been wearing some sort of garment.

"Mark, Mark, oh lover, you own me. Yes, I will wear this gorgeous ring and yes, I will love you for a lifetime."

He turned her and drew her close, nestling his face into her neck, kissing her ears, and pulling softly at the dark path of fur flourishing up her abdomen. He shifted his hands slowly upward beneath her half-blouse to cup her breasts, bringing a sigh of pleasure and excitement.

"Beautiful man, you had me with nothing at all. I would have loved you with no ring and committed myself to you with nothing. Instead, you have given this to me, you leave me shaking with my need for you, and I am helpless in your arms. Mark, I have worked to be strong, independent, and now you have both reinforced those and made me your possession, dependent upon you in the sweetest and most fulfilling way."

"When we get back, Parker...," he began. "Yes, ah, yes, we will," she spoke softly, her voice almost becoming lost in the warm breeze sweeping across the grass. "I will give myself to you without reservation, and you will take me, completely disassemble me, and put me back together as only you could do."

"If Lauren arrives while we are engaged, Princess, she will understand and she will be happy," he assured her.

They walked on in silence, he glancing at the precious gift beside him and marveling at her persona; and she, staring in wonder at the lovely man next to her, his face wrapped in beautiful waves of his long hair, and sensing the strength that flowed from his presence.

"How is Lauren, Parker?"

"She's working at several of the projects we have developing. She's laughing often now...getting back to her old self. And she has an insatiable appetite, Mark. I hope you don't mind my saying this, but she is like an all-consuming fire." Parker laughed in a casual way that told him she was now completely at ease. "When I'm in bed with her, I can't get any sleep. And I love it!"

"Not surprised in the least," he grinned wolfishly at her. "It's how we wanted it to be. The two of you make me a happy man. Just come to me when you need a break."

"Uh huh," she shot back. "You and I have yet to make love, something that we are going to fix immediately upon getting back to the house, but I can just see you giving me a break. In fact, if you so much as even think of it, I'll figure out a way to tar and feather you, Dodge City style!"

"These little things are sent to test us, m'dear," he answered sanctimoniously and with a huge smile.

"Marcus, do you think there'll ever be any danger from that guy that attacked Lauren?"

Very carefully he responded. "Nooo, Parks, I don't think so. Not ever."

Something about the way he said it told her two things. Whoever he was, he really never would return. And Mark had been a part of it, was aware of something that only he needed to know. That was sufficient for her.

They walked on in silence until suddenly Mark threw up his hand across her breasts, stopping her. "Angel, do not move. See that long dark green log ahead, the thing with knobs on it?"

She nodded, following his pointing finger.

"Just stand still and watch."

Very slowly the log began to move and it took a form. The alligator may have known of their presence, but it had dinner in mind. Suddenly it shot forward, moving incredibly fast for its size. They heard thrashing in the brush, then a splash.

"Mark, what we just see?" she asked in wonder mixed with the slightest bit of fear.

"That was an alligator arriving at the lunch counter. It saw something that it grabbed; then it took it into the water. A gator doesn't just grab something and chomp it up if at all possible. Instead, it likes to grab it, immobilize it and drag it into a pool. It'll carry whatever it has down and roll it around underwater, killing it with shock and by drowning it. Then it may actually store it down there for a time, coming back to eat parts and pieces at various times. It isn't afraid of anything.

"You, my very own Parker Scott, will always avoid that armored machine. Always. I want to grow old with you, not because of you!"

He kissed her again, this time lingering in her mouth as he fondled her breasts. "Do you know that when I hold your breasts, to me it's as if I am working with warm, firm, rich pudding that caresses my hands and my mind. Your size and heaviness excites me beyond description. I rattle on like this, Parker, because I am desperate to express how sensuous you are, and it's all insufficient."

"Oh, God...oh, I am on fire, you gorgeous man. Can we PLEASE get back home so you can work your wonders with me!"

"I think you want us to get back to the house quickly; am I right?"

"You get the prize for clarity, Mark."

The two lovers walked slowly to the house, prolonging their desire and making a lasting memory of this day. Parker went to the bathroom for a few moments, then Mark followed her, both washing out of respect for the other. He asked her, "Is there something you've dreamed of that I can fulfill now?"

"Please undress me here in this big room, then I want you to do whatever you desire to and with me, Mark. I wondered if I would be able to surrender to a man again...I love you for making that so simple."

He began to gently touch her, caressing her eyes and ears, whispering erotic things into her ears, deliberately avoiding her breasts to heighten her passion. He knelt before her, looking up beneath the half-blouse that hung from her nipples and kissing the pathway of fur that rose above her denims.

"If you do not make love to my breasts, I will scream!"

He lifted her great beauties, fondling her nipples, relishing her sounds of increasing heat. After removing her top, Mark unfastened her jeans and pulled them down. She was naked under them. Tenderly he removed them, running his hands over the glossy black fur that covered her legs. He unfolded the hide-away-bed, then lifted her in his arms and carried her to it, depositing her there. He undressed, and for the first time Parker saw the gold ring in the mouth of his stem and the chain suspended from his navel piercing.

"Oh...oh! That is incredibly sensuous, Mark." She started to rise, but he stopped her. He reached over to the side table and removed from its drawer the bottle of gel he needed. Then as she watched he slowly smoothed it onto his hardened penis. The girl beneath him panted with excitement as he lowered himself, inserting his shaft through her thick bush and into her heat. Then he slid completely into her, drawing from her a sharp cry of excitement.

"So beautiful! Oh, so exquisite. You drift into my body with a sweet tenderness that seems to bathe me in a thick, creamy sauce of heat and my cum and every longing I have ever had, Mark! How can you be this wonderful?"

He remained silent as she poured out her arousal, twisting when he thrust into her and squeezing her thighs together when he began to withdraw. Parker felt as if her lover was touching the back of her throat, so large was he within her.

"You...oh, help! Oh! Mark, you cannot be this heavenly. You are stripping me of myself and giving it all back to me, and it is wonnn...der...ful. Ah...you caress the entire inside of my body. Nothing has compared to this. Oh!"

She shrieked as her orgasm overtook her without warning, electrifying her with its beauty, shocking her with its power. She desperately tried to move beneath him; instead, he thrust more rapidly, drawing from her smaller orgasms that sweetly took her apart.

"You...oh, lord...oh, help me! There I go again. How can you play me like a beautiful instrument, Mark? How can you know me this way? No one has ever been this deep into my soul. Oh, Mark, you own me."

With that cry, she fell before the onslaught of a wave that swept her away into a blissful mist. At that point Mark gave up control of his own body, hardening within her. She felt his further enlargement and wept.