She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be - J.D. Barker Page 0,193

brought the ice to the side of her neck, pressed the cube against her skin.

Stella gasped but kept her eyes closed. She drew in a deep breath.

I slid the edge of the ice cube down her neck, over her shoulder, down the length of her arm. When I reached her fingers, they splayed out, and she turned her palm to face me. I brought the ice cube back up her arm, over to the small of her neck, then down her chest, to the swell of her breasts.

I leaned in to her ear, as close as I dared. “Take off your bra.”

Her eyes still closed, she reached up behind her back and undid the clasp. Her bra fell to the floor between us. I circled her breasts with the ice cube, drawing closer to her swollen nipples with each pass. Stella arched her back and let out a soft moan. There was a gasp when the ice finally touched her there. Melting now, less than half the size it was when I first started. I reached behind me and took another from the cup. I knelt and ran this one up from her left foot, up her ankle, to her inner thigh. The heat there was unbearable, and it took every ounce of willpower not to drop the ice and use my hand instead. I brought the ice up, over the silky material of her soft, white panties, over her belly, up her chest. Then, standing again, I followed the contours of her neck to her lips. She licked tenderly at the little bit of ice remaining, her tongue so close to my finger, but I didn’t let go, not until she parted her lips and took it in.

Then it was Stella who reached behind her back. She took out a pair of the latex gloves from the box on the counter and handed them to me, then she put on a pair herself. Her eyes opened then, big and bright and full of life as she caressed my cheek, the line of my jaw.

We’d spend the next several hours like that, exploring each other’s bodies with gloved hands. Carefully touching and not touching. A choreographed dance. And it was utterly amazing. When we finally fell asleep, our borrowed sheet between our naked bodies, heads resting just far enough apart, we were both exhausted, and I finally felt complete.

20

Stack wasn’t sure what time he fell asleep, but the pain in his neck told him it had been a while ago. The six empty beer cans on the table at his side seemed to second the thought, and the incredible need to empty his bladder backed up both.

He rocked forward in his chair and looked out the window.

Three white panel vans across the street, right where he left them.

Night gave way to the muted gray light of a Pittsburgh morning.

The vans were still there. He didn’t see anyone inside.

Maybe he was being paranoid. McPherson across the street owned a plumbing company. Maybe he bought some new vans and simply parked them in front of his house. Of course, that didn’t explain why they ran, though. Each time he went outside, all the vans started up and quickly disappeared down the road only to return a short while later. He’d lost track of how many times he went out there.

They might have left because he was waving a gun around. Drunk guy with a gun, he’d leave too. It didn’t explain why they came back. It didn’t explain why nobody called the cops. At this point, he’d probably welcome the boys in blue on an unexpected visit. He’d check the phone again on the way back from emptying his bladder, but he was fairly certain he’d find the line was still dead, as it had been every other time he picked it up.

The magnum sat on his rickety table next to the empty cans of Iron City. Stack scooped up the gun and stood. His body ached, and he tried to steady himself by holding the chair, either the beer or sudden movement causing him to feel a little lightheaded for a moment. His vision went white, then cleared.

Gun in hand, the floorboards creaked under his weight as he crossed the house to the small bathroom under the stairs.

He was midstream when he heard another floorboard creak, this one from above on the second floor.

21

I woke to the sound of scratching.

My mind woke before my body, and in my head I pictured