The Widow's Gift Pt. 02

Levi wiped his sticky palms off on his dusty jeans as he set the box down in the steel workbench.

Something in this one had leaked. The corner of the cardboard was dark and sodden and tacky to the touch. Hopefully this wasn't another box full of old bottles of suspect medicines or plastic vials of chemicals with indecipherable molecular equations inked onto the sides by way of a label.

Because there had been a lot of those already.

Alina did mention that her husband had been a researcher, didn't she? Well, that or the guy had been trying to cook up a fresh batch of super meth if the sheer amount of shady pharmaceuticals he had dabbled in was any indication.

A whole shelving unit was neatly packed with them. Ranks and rows of pill bottles, eye droppers, racks of stoppered test tubes and even an ancient iron pill press which may have been an antique. Levi was no stranger to medication, having been on one cocktail or another of anti-anxiety, antidepressant and mood stabilizers for most of his teenage life, but he didn't recognize any of the manufacturers or brands.

Bimbex, Trance-tory, BimboTech... Who were these companies and what was up with their oddly suggestive names?

Levi slit the sealing tape with a handy box cutter, folded back the cardboard flaps and let out a sigh of relief. Nope, nothing hazardous. Simply more gimcrack clutter stuffed randomly together for him to sort onto the shelves.

Most of the contents inside this box appeared to be third world archaeological knock-offs. Though the hair on the back of his hands did tingle with some kind of static electricity as Levi started to unpack them onto a shelf he had designated as 'Travel."

So far it only held a few postcards from a backwater farm town named 'Calving, USA'. Cows and dairies seemed to be the theme of the glossy photo fronts though Levi had never heard of the place.

He carefully sorted and positioned each of them. A rough-hewn palmwood and seashell fertility idol that was probably a memento of a holiday cruise in the Pacific. A small stone jaguar head souvenir straight from a street hawker in Mexico City. The unfortunate spill had come from a tarnished brass lamp of the classic teapot design but that wasn't oil leaking from the spout.

The offending substance was viscous, white and sticky.

Suspiciously like...

"Levi... Darling, you have been working hard all morning. Come, take a break. Spend time with your Alina."

Levi turned and smiled. His gorgeous Russian neighbor leaned heavily against the door that connected the spacious garage to her palatial, three story manor home. She was eyeing him hotly and gnawing on her plump bottom lip as though she were only waiting for him to step inside, where she could devour him.

That wasn't far from the truth.

Levi had stumbled home late the night before feeling like a new man. Alina had insisted on feeding her young Lion supper before slipping back down his skinny body to drink her own fill from his ecstatic manhood once again.

It had been surreal--almost dreamlike--to have such a wonderful, stunning creature fawn over Levi, then take him to such heights of carnal bliss that he had not imagined possible. Heights he had never expected to ever approach, given the crippling social anxiety the young college freshman suffered around members of the opposite sex.

But Alina Makarova was an exquisite masterpiece of contradictions.

She was, as her own name indicated, bright and beautiful yet modest and humble. Her figure was voluptuous and sleek in equal measure with hefty tits and round hips but her waist and limbs were impressively lean. Alina's expressive face was regal, her thick blonde locks were exceedingly long and shiny yet everything about her radiated a soft gentleness that could sooth Levi's fraying nerves with a simple smile.

Alina was mysterious and reclusive, but at the same time, open and welcoming towards him... and her eyes. Those two big, captivating gray-green orbs that a man could fall into for eternity and it wouldn't be long enough.

"Sure, that sounds good." Levi said, wiping his hands on a dust rag he kept stuffed into a back pocket. "Let me get cleaned up first."

"No! I mean... there is no need for that, Darling." Alina said, smoothing over her initial outburst. "You smell good. Like honest sweat and toil. You smell like a Man, my Lion."

He chuckled, "Which is it then, do I smell like a lion or a man? I don't think lions actually smell that good."

"You tease your poor Alina." She pouted prettily and Levi's jeans were starting to feel a little crowded in the crotch region again. "Well I say you can be both, so there! Now come and let me spoil you, Darling."

She was hugging the door frame closely, one raised knee sliding slowly up the painted timber and her bountiful cleavage sandwiching the wall as she burned smoky gazes straight into Levi's simmering libido. She was still dressed modestly for the warm season but her practical jeans appeared a fraction tighter today and her snug flannel shirt had several top buttons left unfastened revealing the upper swells of her large, hemispheric breasts.

Alina still wouldn't set foot inside the garage, waiting for him to approach her instead. She had informed Levi yesterday that the boxes he was unpacking contained some painful memories so he didn't question her hangups.

He had plenty of his own after-all.

"I'm sorry, Alina." Levi said, stepping forward and letting her take him by the hand. "A lot of this is new to me. The attention, I mean."

"I have been thinking about that." She led him back into the house, was she deliberately swaying her hips like that or had Levi not taken notice before? "I see your distress and I ask myself 'Alina, what have these wicked girls done to such a fine young man to make him feel this way?' Then I remember what you have told me of them and it turns my frail old heart to cold iron."

"I'm so sorry--"

"You don't say sorry!" Anita whirled on him, her expression filled with stern, barely restrained anger. Her hand gripped Levi's so hard it ached. "They say sorry! These hateful little... witches who have cursed your noble soul to quaver so and robbed my Lion of the courage to pursue life and love."

Levi began to tremble.

He couldn't help it. In that moment, Alina looked like nothing so much as the archangel of war; so bold, brave and righteous in her fury. The morning sunlight cut through a bay window and lit up her glossy curtain of golden hair like a halo behind her as she stood taller than any mere queen preparing to deliver royal judgment.

Brilliant, perfect and terrifying. Levi wasn't certain if he was shaking more in naked terror or feverish arousal.

"Oh, Levi, my darling Levi..." She crooned, all of her heat falling away like a shroud as she pulled him into her welcoming arms to flutter adoring kisses along his brow. "Forgive your foolish Alina. She was not built to hate, but neither can she bear to watch you suffer further wounds at these harpy's claws."

"It--It's okay..." Levi muttered, staring down at his feet as she tugged him forward again.

How did this happen?

The day had started so well. He woke up this morning feeling refreshed and hopeful. A smile on his lips, knowing it was Saturday and he could spend the whole day with his new... what, girlfriend? Lover? He had never had either of those things before and abruptly it seemed like he had found both in this incredible, exotic woman.

But the second she showed an ounce of fervent emotion, getting riled up on his behalf, all of Levi's freshly minted self-confidence and brash bravado sloughed away like wet cement under a tropical monsoon.

What the hell was wrong with him?

"No, Darling. It is not okay." Alina said, shooting a coy smile back at Levi over her shoulder. "But it will be. It will be..."

________________

"More Ptichye Moloko, Darling?"

"Gah, no... two slices was plenty. Thanks Alina." Levi covered a burp then rested a hand over his full stomach. "It's delicious and super creamy but I don't usually eat this much sweet food."

They had ended up in her kitchen, eating at a marble-topped island bench. Well, Levi was eating. His blonde bombshell neighbor had an untouched mug of black coffee cooling by her elbow as she insisted on feeding him the baked confection one spoonful at a time.

It had been an uncomfortable experience at first. Levi didn't wish to be infantilized by the stunning older woman but the obvious pleasure she took from watching him swallow each delectable bite was endearing.

More than simply endearing, it was downright arousing.

Because every time she slipped a spoonful past his hungry lips, Alina's long lashes would flutter and soft pleased noises would pepper her quickening breaths. Lusty moans and gasps. Yearning sighs and whispered words in Russian that somehow sounded loaded with steamy innuendo.

It was just the two of them. Sat close together, alone in a modernly designed kitchen big enough for six people to cook side by side with room to spare. Everything was cool marble, polished timber and stainless steel, gleaming as if it had been torn straight out of an architecture magazine.

Lexi could look straight out over the expansive timber patio and view the sparkling waters of Lake Springfield through the grand french windows that lined one entire wall.

Alina was scooched up right beside him on a padded stool, leaning heavily against him and practically sitting in his lap as she set down the second empty plate. It had been scraped clean of every last crumb and Alina lifted a manicured finger to wipe a spot of chocolate ganache off Levi's cheek and slide it back into his mouth.

"It makes me so happy to see you enjoyed it, Darling. I have not cooked for such a fine man as you in many years."

He groaned but suckled dutifully as the mature blonde drew in a shuddering breath so deep it threatened to pop the top button off her straining flannel. Her nipples were clearly stiff and pushing thick thimble-shaped indents into the cotton fabric.

Levi was stiff too, or rather, utterly erect.

How could he not be with this gorgeous, erotically-charged knockout moaning and squirming like a pornstar as she pressed her sumptuous curves against his side? Levi's manhood had unfurled urgently within the confines of his pants early into the first slice of cake and things had progressively harder from there.

"Ish wath weally good." He slurred around her invasive digit and Alina snuggled in even closer to nibble at his earlobe.

He was speaking the truth and nothing but. However, the large portions of rich sweetness were settling dense as cinder blocks in his full belly and making Levi feel drowsy again. It was like he had leapfrogged straight over the sugar rush and nose dived directly into the resultant crash. His lips were gummy with a milky coating and his tongue was lacquered to the floor of his mouth.

Levi's eyelids were heavy. His whole body felt heavy. Even his dick felt long, thick and heavy as it attempted to breach the zipper on his jeans and stage a daring escape.

A supportive arm wrapped around Levi's bony shoulders and drew his nodding head down to rest in a place of warm, pillowy softness. Alina's bountiful bosom. Then there was a tender touch upon the throbbing tent in Levi's pants as his lusciously endowed lover began to stroke and fondle his insistent erection through the constraining denim.

"That is right... rest easy, my young Lion." She murmured down to him. "And let your beloved sing you more of the tale of Boris Godunov."

Then Alina started to hum...

________________

Levi blinked his eyes under the bright stage lighting and squinted out into the empty stalls and boxes of the auditorium.

All was silent but for the quiet creaking of the weathered boards, worn smooth by decades of theater plays and their players, under his shifting weight.

The set was familiar; brightly coloured tapestries hung in the background while a raised wooden throne with a red velvet seat dominated the center. The sparest accouterments of a royal court were scattered here and there, enough to set the scene but not hinder the performers in their operatic choreography.

A single horn sounded, high and lilting before the rest an unseen orchestra joined it in the modest beginnings of an opening overture.

The rising symphony lapped at Levi's heart like ocean waves. Buoying up his spirit and revealing new horizons of possibility to his fractured heart. An invisible chorus of harmonious voices soon joined it, praising and urging Levi towards a hither unforetold destiny.

Despite it all, the young man was uncertain. Unsure of what part he had to play in this celestial dance of the spheres.

Then Alina stepped out of the wings with a dramatic flourish of her upraised hands.

She was exquisite to behold in a backless mesh gown covered in jade sequins which glittered like gemstones under the spotlight. Her high, ripe breasts taxed the limits of a low cut sweetheart neckline and glowing jewelry dripped from her slender neck and wrists making the fetching Prima Donna look like a princess straight out of a fairy-tale.

She shone brighter than any of the glaring overhead lights, then Alina tossed back her glossy cascade of golden tresses, leveled her mesmerizing gaze at Levi and began to sing.

Her voice was flawless and pure as the rarest diamond. Ringing loud and clear enough to shake the crystals in the hanging chandeliers. Most of all, Alina's song brimmed with passion as she glided towards Levi, smiling tearfully and pressing a dainty hand to his large, muscular chest.

Wait... was that right?

Looking down Levi realized he was wearing a costume. An intricately embroidered silver doublet with ruffles sprouting out the end of his sleeves and reaching almost to his knees. That was probably for the best because under that were only a pair of sheer azure tights (or were they called 'Pantaloons?') and silk slippers on his feet.

Alina hugged herself to him and in the dream she was shorter, smaller than Levi as he towered almost half a foot above her. She looked so beautiful and frail in his bearlike arms, a priceless porcelain figurine to be possessed and protected from rough, uncaring souls. Then in an upswell of the melody, she spun from his embrace and pointed theatrically towards the throne.

"Tsarina! Tsarina!" The hidden choir bayed like an angry mob of classically trained contraltos.

Alina's expression was set with resolve as her peerless pitch soared and dipped in operatic agitation. The crash of symbols heralded the oncoming conflict and Levi glanced up to see a feminine figure clad in a flowing gold robe seated upon the throne with a noble handmaiden flanking each side of her wearing similar robes of a bronze hue.

All three wore obscuring veils over their faces, their hair tied up and hidden beneath tall conical headdresses but an aura of enmity roiled off the haughty trio as they presided proudly upon the raised dais.

Alina spat bile and accusations at them in a furious song and the orchestra swelled to match her vehemence. The strings screeched and the brass section blared, incensing Levi with a burning surge of anger towards the three aloof pretenders staring down their noses at Alina as she raged.

"Tsarina! Tsarina!" The chorus wailed beatifically.

Levi stalked forwards with a snarl, the boards thundering under each mighty step. Alina sang out one last impassioned cry and spun to reach for him. She was weak and trembling as though the musical solo had drained all the vigor from her body. Tears ran down her rosy cheeks and she collapsed against Levi's hulking frame as he slung a thick arm around her lissome waist to support her.

"The throne is not yours!" He roared, his voice so deep and commanding that it rattled the fixtures. "That seat will bear no tyrants!"

Levi wasn't sure where the words came from but the sentiment felt incontrovertible. It felt right.

He carried Alina along with him as the music built to a final crescendo. The percussion rumbled like a storm as Alina whimpered and mewled helplessly in his shielding embrace. She was so light in his grasp. Tiny and delicate as her slippered feet slid smoothly across the polished stage behind them and her adoring fingers roamed over Levi's broad chest and back.

The taller of the two handmaidens stepped up to bar his path. As if the wrongheaded harlot thought she could stop him from claiming what was His. Then the cowardly harridan, hiding behind a mask and keeping Levi from his birthright, dared reach out to grapple him...

"Tsarina! Tsarina!"

With a powerful sweep of his arm, Levi knocked her hands away and tore off the reeling woman's hat and veil in a single lightning movement.

She fell back with a scream as dark shoulder length hair spilled free and her tanned olive complexion was revealed. Smoky eyes that had gleamed with excitement whenever she was hurting someone stared back at Levi, wide with abject terror.

Carmen?!

Then the orchestra crashed in one final sweeping chord and all the lights went out, plunging the world into darkness.

________________

Levi came to with a gasp of shock, then groaned in heartfelt pleasure.

He was still pressed against Alina, encompassed in her warm softness as she trailed her graceful fingers up and down his throbbing manhood. He was achingly hard, desperately aroused and her titillating touch was only exacerbating his carnal condition as she hummed sweet nothings into his ear.

"A--Alina, what are you doing?" Levi croaked into her smothering bosom.

"Shhhh~... Darling." She crooned, calmly combing her manicured nails through his lanky hair. "I am merely servicing my Lion, my Man, as any good woman would. Did you rest well?"

Levi loved the way her rich, exotic accent seemed to wrap around every whispered word in the same way her clever fingers wrapped around his pulsating member. So affectionate and soothing with a hint of old school servility. As though a woman should make her man's needs a priority rather than calculating what she could demand in return later.

"I was dreaming. There were lights and music..." He frowned as he tried to remember but the memory had evaporated as all his dreams did, leaving behind a lingering sense of righteous wrath. "What was that tune? More of that opera... I can't remember the name."

"'Boris Godunov' ...and yes, Darling. I was recalling a memorable scene." Alina sighed, it sounded reminiscent. Her fabulous hand ceaselessly pumped his jutting length and she let out a pleased moan as a spurt of his hot precum wet her working palm. "My Levi, you are so big and hard in your poor Alina's hand. She can barely touch her fingertips together around your masculine girth."

"Wha--what?" Levi hadn't any trouble fisting his modest shaft in the past. Not that it was something he did often given his... issues but that wasn't important right now. "Can you tell me more?"

"About your large manhood, Darling?" She giggled, but it was playful rather mocking and sounded like the ringing of chimes.

"No, no. About the... Hhrrnngh~ s--song."

One of Alina's hands was performing forbidden magics on his engorged manmeat as she tucked a finger under his chin, raising it so she could look down at him with those spellbinding emerald eyes.

"It comes from a later act in the opera, where Marina and Dmitri inflame the downtrodden populace to rise against the oppressive false Tsar; Boris." She murmured, smiling tenderly and edging Levi with steady, luxurious strokes. "Marina wants her lover to take the throne for himself and restore justice for the common people. Why do you ask, Darling?"