Walking an Endless Path Pt. 02

"Is that bad? It's a really nice tan. Very healthy looking! Rachel told me you look like a golden idol." She smirked at Joe's obvious discomfort over the mention of Rachel's hero worship. Then she remembered she was apologizing for teasing him. "Oops! Sorry," she said.

"You remember that night when Rachel passed out because you opened the sunroom door on me?" he asked.

Now, it was Amy's turn to be uncomfortable. She remembered the event vividly. Even after all this time, perhaps too vividly. She and Rachel were playing pool when they heard Joe yell. They thought he was in trouble, so they raced from the games room into the hall, and she yanked the sunroom's door open. There, standing before them, was Joe, completely naked. The sunroom's lights were fully on, so he was lit from all sides, almost glowing in heavenly detail. Rachel claimed she couldn't get the image from her head. Amy denied it but also saw that image in moments of weakness.

Like now.

"Yes," she said, voice cracking slightly.

"That was the night I discovered the light had caused me another problem. I talked with Dad about it; he identified that it's just skin pigment. He said I'd overdone it with the tanning, and it was just some kind of pigment overflow issue. I expected it to go away when my tan faded, but it didn't fade. It's embarrassing, and I've kept my tongue hidden ever since. Until I forgot today."

"Can I see?" Amy asked timidly.

Joe looked at her and saw only concern on her face. "Okay, but just look."

Amy screwed up her face. "What else would I do with your tongue?" she blurted before catching herself.

Joe's face went crimson, as did Amy's. "I mean, don't touch it," he muttered.

Amy nodded, her face radiating the heat of her embarrassment.

Slowly, Joe stuck out his tongue and hung it down his chin. Sure enough, two parallel lines started at its tip and ran back towards his throat. As Melissa described, the lines were very thin at the end and finished with little curls. They slowly widened as they moved farther back, but she couldn't see how far the lines went as they disappeared into his throat. Amy realized his tongue reached down just a little bit past his chin! She stuck her own out, tried to see how far hers could reach, and found it only went halfway. Damn! Joe's tongue was long and had tribal tattoo markings. She could see why he was a little sensitive about it.

"Does mine have lines?" she asked Joe, and she stuck it out again.

Joe looked and said, "Nope. Perfectly pink."

"Dad was right. The color of the lines matches your tan. It has to be pigment. Odd that it ended up there. You're lucky the lines are so thin at the tip. That's probably why no one notices them when you talk normally. I certainly didn't notice."

Joe looked sad. Amy's heart went out to him. He hated being in the spotlight, and each new, unique thing about him made more people look. He already caught more attention than he was comfortable with.

Speaking of catching attention, Amy noticed a petite woman on the penthouse patio of the adjacent condo tower of this development. She was standing at the railing, watching them. She must have been sunning herself as she wore the skimpiest of bikinis and had her pink hair pulled back in a ponytail. When Joe looked over, she began to wave. It became a little frantic.

"Oh shit," Joe mumbled. "Well... isn't this a small world."

"Who is that, Joe?" Amy asked.

"Niki Love." he sighed.

"Niki Love, the pop star? The one who came to our play?" she said incredulously.

"That's the one," Joe said and waved back.

That's all it took for the diminutive singer to spin around and run back into her condo. And she was gone.

"Do you think she will call the police or the NSA?" Amy asked.

"We should be so lucky," Joe growled. "If her security is with her, one of them might as they hate me. Let's go inside and let Doug and Melissa know we may be having visitors."

The siblings were still in the kitchen when Joe and Amy walked inside. Joe hadn't put his shirt on, so Melissa was a little dazzled. Amy noticed and gave Joe a slap. She pointed to his shirt, and he clued in. Once he was covered, Melissa gave Amy a playful pout.

"Doug, did you know your neighbor across the way is Niki Love?" Joe asked.

"Who?" came the reply.

"Doug! How could you not know who Niki Love is?" Melissa gasped and turned a scowl on her brother. "Niki Love, pop star extraordinaire?" Doug maintained his clueless look.

"I think you might be about to meet her," Joe said.

Melissa's head snapped over to Joe. "Wha—?"

"Yeah, she saw me on the balcony and recognized me. I think she's coming over," Joe said.

"She recognized you?" Melissa was confused.

Amy took pity on her and filled her in on how Joe worked security at the Shakespeare on the Park and met many celebrities but had apparently made a special impression on a few of them.

Melissa immediately felt a little defensive. She had plans of her own for Joe, and now, in her brother's home, this Niki Love would try to put the moves on him?

"There's an additional problem. If her security goons are with her, they'll be pissed to see me, and they may call that NSA number. Our lawyers and parents aren't supposed to arrive until later tonight."

"So, we should be prepared to move you two as soon as we can ditch Niki Love," Melissa said firmly.

The doorbell rang. Joe's head swiveled to the door. "That would be someone in the lobby buzzing us," Doug said, lifting the kitchen phone's receiver. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is your neighbor, Niki Love. I live in the building across from you. Could you please buzz me in so I can come to see Joseph? We just waved to each other on the balcony."

"Sure, hang on," Doug said, punching a code into the phone. He listened some more, then hung up. "I only heard her heels clicking on the marble tiles, so maybe it's just her."

A few minutes later, another doorbell sounded, but this one was higher pitched. Doug walked over to the door, followed closely by Melissa and Amy. Joe followed at the back, wishing he was anywhere but here.

Doug opened the door, and there stood the pop star, a vision in pink. She still had on the pink bikini but had thrown over it a diaphanous pink cover-up, which did not live up to its name. Pink four-inch heels completed her outfit. "Hi, Doug Wilson..." he managed to mumble, holding a hand out.

Totally unselfconscious about her attire, she shook Doug's hand and leaned up to press cheeks on both sides with the air kiss, which stunned the man enough that she could move inside only to be met with Melissa's towering height. Four-inch heels on a five-foot-nothing woman are no match for a six-foot barefoot woman.

"And you are?" Niki turned on the charm, seeing her target only two people away.

"I'm Melissa, Doug's sister and host to Amy and Joe during their visit."

Niki used this introduction as her excuse to side-step Melissa and move on. "Amy!" Again, with the double cheek air kiss, but Amy was a natural with the celebrity greeting already. "Your performance in the play I saw was breathtaking! I hope you are here in LA to grace us with your talents!"

Then she was before Joe. He saw her tremble slightly in reaction. "Joseph! How I've missed you!" He leaned down warily, but she played nice and kissed his cheeks. Actual contact, though, not just an air kiss for him.

"Are you in town for long? I'd really like to spend some time with you. Our last visit was so short!" she pouted at him.

Joe cast his eyes to the others who'd obviously disappeared from Niki's radar. Doug was still a little dazed by her breezy entry and light perfume, which lingered in his senses. Melissa looked like she might be ready to blow her top at being dismissed. Amy just had that grin she got when she witnessed a woman targeting her brother.

Joe thought he'd better make this quick, or Melissa might do something she'd regret. He took Niki's hands and looked her deep in the eyes. "Yes, we plan to be in town for a month or two. We were actually just about to head out. Could we make plans to get together a little later in the week? We need some time to settle in."

"Of course! That would be perfect!" she purred and pulled out her phone from the tiny clutch she was carrying in her hand. "Give me your number, and I'll call you in... two days?"

"Yeah, sure, that sounds good," Joe said, showing his cell number to Niki, who quickly added it to her phone's contact list.

"It was so good to see you again, Joe!" she said, leaning her body against his in a full-body hug that was too long to be appropriate. Joe glanced at Melissa and saw her jaw muscles bunching.

"Okay, well, until later then." Joe gently separated them, and Niki nodded to the others as she left the apartment. She blew him a kiss as the door closed.

"Should we go out now?" he asked.

Doug pressed buttons on the wall console by the door, and the patio doors closed. Then the blinds closed. "No, we stay in until we get the call from your parents. I seriously doubt Ms. Love will jeopardize her date with you, so we should be safe from her calling the feds. In the meantime, we lay low. I must call Jacquie Rosen to let her know we won't see her today. I forgot all about her in the excitement last night. She's gonna be pissed but not too pissed when she sees you act... Amy, why don't you come with me, and we can do a video call with her so the two of you can feel each other out and see if it's a good fit. Joe, do you want to use the gym? I know Melissa planned to do a workout this morning."

Amy looked delighted with the idea of moving forward with meeting the agent. Melissa looked thrilled at the thought of being alone with Joe.

When Joe heard the word gym, he stopped listening as his muscles began twitching in withdrawal. He needed to push them. "Yeah! That would be great! Thanks!" Melissa pointed him in the right direction, and Joe was off. Melissa headed off to her room to get her gym clothes on.

Doug headed into his office with Amy, got them situated before his computer, and dialed his friend.

Joe looked at the dumbbells first and noted they only went up to fifty pounds. He removed his shirt and began with a light arm work warm-up with the largest dumbbells. Once he started feeling his muscles loosen, he moved to the home gym. He slotted the pins at half the stack, one-hundred and twenty-five pounds, and went through his routine, working through his muscles, feeling them stretch, loosen, and warm up. Melissa came in while he was halfway through his first pass. She watched him for a while before beginning her routine with the smaller dumbbells. When Joe completed his final set, he sat on the machine's seat and watched Melissa for a time. She was very fit, and she didn't mind showing off what she was capable of.

Before his muscles cooled off, Joe moved the pin to the bottom of the stack, all two-hundred and fifty pounds of plates, and began his routine again from the start. Moving through each muscle group, feeling them come alive and work hard. Joe felt most at peace when he was working his body this hard. The stack went up and down in a slow dance of energy transference.

From his will to his muscles to the stack and back. Again and again, he worked his arms, shoulders and back, chest and abs, and worked his way down his legs, each group helping the next until the whole moved as one.

When Joe began with the full stack, Melissa grinned and assumed Joe was just showing off after he'd watched her for a while. This happened to her in gyms all over the world. However, Joe didn't give up after a few strained attempts to move the full stack as the others had. He did his routine again, but now in slow motion, moving with a kind of grace, like Tai chi, from one set to the next. Total concentration on his face, giving himself entirely to the experience. His lungs worked like bellows, bringing oxygen to his hard-working muscles, but Joe never gasped or panted. And the plates never slammed down once.

Her routine forgotten, Melissa sat and watched the muscles bunch and stretch under Joe's skin as he pulled and released the cables. It was one of the most erotic dances she'd ever seen a man perform. No machismo, no ego, just honest effort and reward. There was definitely a reward in this for Joe, as she could see the peace on his face. He almost looked completely relaxed as he moved that massive set of metal plates up and down on its guides.

When he was done, and the stack lowered to the bottom for the last time, she saw Joe surface from wherever his mind had gone during his workout. He looked at the machine with wonder in his eyes.

"I have to get myself one of these machines!" he told Melissa breathily. "Do they make them with larger stacks?"

Melissa wanted to take him right then. Drag him onto the mat and ride him into exhaustion. But she could tell he was still coming down from his workout and wasn't in the same headspace as she was. Damn, was she horny!

"Yes, uh, I think they do," she mumbled and looked away.

Joe's eyes focused on her, and he realized she was flushed and breathing heavily. He saw her nipples visibly pressing against the tight spandex of her workout clothes. Outside of a little squirming, she was doing her best to hide her reaction from him. Considering how women usually treated him, he was touched by her consideration. He actually found that restraint very attractive. Melissa flirted with him but knew when to draw the line. Still, he did find her very attractive—damn. Now, he was the one showing through his clothes. He looked up and saw Melissa had noticed. Her eyes were wide, and she was biting her lip. Well, he wouldn't be able to hide this one, considering the thinness of his shorts. He stood up, and Melissa's eyes slid away but immediately returned.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said. "Would... would you care to join me?" he added quietly.

Melissa's eyes snapped up to Joe's, and her mouth made a surprised O. Then she had the widest smile he'd seen her make yet. He held out his hand, and she placed hers into it. He effortlessly pulled her to her feet, and they walked back to her room, moving faster and faster until they were almost running.

Once in the bathroom, Melissa pulled her top up and over her head. They kicked their sneakers off, then Joe only had one more article of clothing to go. He slid his shorts down, and his heavy member bounced free. Melissa gasped, slid her workout pants down, and dropped to her knees as she did. She reached out and gripped him with both hands. Joe hissed through his teeth in surprise at the feel of her hands sliding on his sensitive flesh. He gasped again as her wet tongue ran along its underside. Then she took him in her mouth. Joe yelped with the intensity of the pleasure. He'd never felt anything like it. She tried to force more of him inside her mouth, but it was impossible. She pulled free and gasped for air. She ran her fingers over the wet skin, then along his length, causing Joe to jolt from the intense sensations. She took him back into her mouth, and Joe saw stars momentarily. He was quickly losing control with the onslaught of pleasure Melissa was giving him.

When she pulled free again, Joe immediately dropped to his knees, took her face between his hands, and kissed her deeply. He forcefully suppressed the surge as best he could in his excited state, but she cried out into his mouth as she felt the shocks course through her nerves. He laid her back on the thick bathroom rug, then tugged her pants from the tangle at her feet. He pushed her legs up and kissed her soundly between them. Melissa clamped both hands over her mouth to keep from screaming as pleasure rocketed through her from Joe's active tongue. Her orgasm was quick and fierce, but she clawed at him to climb up and take her. He stopped and looked at her in desperation.

"I'm on the pill, and I'm clean. You?" she gasped.

"I've only had one partner, once, last year. She was clean, so yeah." Then he was sliding his thickness into her heat.

"Oh! Oh... ooooooh, Joe. Slow, slow, slow!" Melissa moaned.

He pulled back, then slowly reversed direction. God, this was heavenly!

Melissa was puffing her breathing, trying to relax as Joe slid half his length inside. He stopped as he could sense her tightening up. He was just too thick. Joe looked down at her flushed face, then lower still to her magnificent breasts. The nipples he had admired through her spandex were free to stand up in excitement. He arched his back and took the left nipple in his mouth.

"Joe! Oh god! Oh! Oh! Oh! What are you—" Melissa shook and gasped as the surge shot from her breasts to where they were joined below. Joe switched to the other nipple and felt her gushing with wetness. Joe pulled back once more, then slid down to her depths.

"Aaaaahhh!" the scream was from deep in her chest, and her heels came up to grip his ass.

Joe pulled back halfway and drove forward to the base again. He started a rhythm, and Melissa gasped and clawed at his back as the sensations threatened to overwhelm her. Joe couldn't last much longer, so he dipped his head and kissed her once more. The surge flashed through her overstimulated nerves. He felt his orgasm burst forth, and Melissa rocked under him with her own. He pulled back from the kiss and felt her relax completely.

"Damn, went too far," he sighed.

He eased himself out of her and looked down at the sleeping woman. She was so beautiful in her relaxed state.

He wondered what to do with her and decided to lay her on her bed. He put a towel on the bed, scooped the woman up from the floor, and gently set her on the towel. He pulled the sheet over her for decency. Then he took a quick shower, dried himself off, and slipped his shorts back on.

He closed her bedroom door behind him and walked into the living room. He realized he had nothing to do until his parents arrived, so he flopped down on the couch and closed his eyes.

Sleep quickly took him.

Chapter 9

Roger Bannon set the report down on his desk. It had taken some effort to get a copy, but now that he was working with Agent White, he felt he needed the background on why she had fallen out of favor with her superiors in such a big way. This report was also the basis for her involvement in this case, so there was a second reason to read it.

He couldn't honestly say he followed all the science Rachel referenced in the report, but nothing he read sounded like a flight of fancy, technobabble, or sheer lunacy as it had been described in the gentlest terms. Truthfully, the report was, if anything, a little dry. Rachel was a master fact collector and had gathered so much minutia regarding each aspect of each anomalous gravity event the point was being missed. He understood that she was attempting to refute any alternate theory that might be offered to explain away the events as something that might happen naturally. However, the sheer mass of information she surrounded each event with obscured the importance of the pattern they formed.

There was a correlation between the events and a rise in violent crime at these locations. People were dying. The number was small, but there was a consistency he found disturbing.

Her information regarding events in other countries was sparse, not surprisingly, but definitely hinted at this being a global issue. The fact that she had pushed her superiors to get her access to resources in these other countries to help her expand her case was probably the nail in the coffin. No senior-level agent or executive wanted any association with alien conspiracy/invasion theories. So, they killed the report and blackballed the agent who presented it.