Dust
When Dino opened the door, he stood square, with one hand on the door and the other on the frame.
"How did you get in here?"
"Roof."
But how did she get on the roof? ... "You can't be here."
Angela had tried the heart-to-heart thing before, and he'd kicked her to the curb for it. So this time she went the other way. Though she'd taken her tiara and wristbands off, she was otherwise dressed as Sapphire -- and she sported 100% of the superheroine attitude.
"You can't tell me where I can and can't be," she said, pushing the door open all the way and walking right past him.
She heard him close and lock the door; she took a seat on the couch.
"Now look here, young lady..."
"Young lady? Damn, Dino, I'm not twelve." Legs and arms crossed; she rolled her eyes into a casual stare out the window, away from him.
Dino started again; he sounded more frustrated than cross. "Angela, I'm trying to do what's best for both of us."
"Thanks for consulting me."
"Angela, you don't know everything that's going on."
"I know you told your boss that if anybody messed with me there'd be hell to pay -- right before you dumped me." Dino's sharp intake of breath told her she'd succeeded in surprising him. Good.
"Did... Bruno tell you that?"
She decided to come clean... well, cleaner. "I didn't think Bruno knew all the details. But I heard you giving Kostya hell over the radio while I was in the car." She turned around -- slowly, so he could admire the outline of her breasts under her top. She watched his face with interest as he struggled both to put things together and not stare at her chest. When his eyes finally lit up, she smiled. "Yeah, you left a receiver in the car. Are you always wired?"
She hadn't meant to ask him that -- it just sort of came out. But she liked the way it flustered him. Maybe dragging his illicit activity out into the open would get him to reconsider his decision to push her out.
"I-It's our comm system. It keeps the security people and other key personnel in touch."
"Wow, so the Russian mob is all high-tech, like the FBI."
"Something like that."
Angela had a clever idea; she played it. "I won't ask whether you record anything."
Dino's jaw practically hit the floor.
There. She wasn't saying she knew anything, but she wasn't saying she didn't. And she definitely wasn't saying what she thought about it. Dino wanted to be all mysterious? Fine; two could play that game.
Dino didn't say anything; he just sat down. Obviously he couldn't decide how to respond, any more than Angela could figure out why Dino was such a self-contradiction.
Angela crossed the room to stand in front of him -- feet apart, hands on hips. He stopped staring at the floor to look up at her -- his eyes darting on several detours along the way.
"Look, Dino, I didn't come here for an explanation. I came here to correct a mistake."
She stepped toward him, her knees trapping his.
"Bruno told me about you. He said I 'trouble' you. Well, you know what I think? I think it's because you're holding back. You wanna get your head screwed on straight? Then quit running from your problem and face it like a man." She straddled him, spreading her knees wide, pushing her pelvis against his, leaning back so he could get a good look at her chest.
"Are you afraid of Kostya's 'No Love' policy? Fine, we'll just fuck." Angela reveled in the word. It was so *powerful*. It drove her to continue. "Do I remind you of someone? Fine, I'll change my look, the way I act, whatever. You don't want anybody to know we're hooking up? I'll be invisible. You wanna fuck other girls? Knock yourself out."
She leaned forward, spreading her knees even wider to keep her heat pressed against his. "Whatever your hang-up is, I'll help you cure it. And whatever you're afraid of, I'm not, so get over it. Because you're never gonna meet another woman like me again. And I'm not taking No for an answer."
Whether it was her almost-naked tits in his face or her weight pressing down on him or her unrelenting attitude, Angela didn't know. Maybe all of it. What mattered was that Dino Sinclair was rock hard. So without another word, she slipped her hand between her legs, unzipped his pants, popped his dick free, yanked her panties to one side, and impaled herself on him.
She watched with satisfaction as his eyes rolled back into his head. When he recovered, he leaned forward and began gnawing at her ear and neck and shoulder like it was his last meal. And his hips started thrusting and bouncing her up and down on his cock like there was no tomorrow.
Maybe because he thought there'd be no tomorrow. But Angela would deal with tomorrow tomorrow. Because right now, she had him right where she wanted him, and she wasn't going to waste a second.
She was more heated than she'd realized, because it hadn't been more than a minute of their manic meeting before she felt that delicious tingle work its way up her legs and down her torso. If this jackhammering kept up much longer, she was gonna c-c-c-cuummmmm . . .
She had her first orgasm right there on the couch; but apparently Dino was holding out for more. When she stopped shaking, he picked her up -- their loins still joined -- and after working free of his pants, carried her into the bedroom. On the way, Angela freed him of his shirt, letting her hands marvel at the way his back (and butt!) muscles corded and flexed and rippled. And her muscles flexed and rippled around him.
"If you don't stop that, I'm gonna cum," he hissed as he stood at the foot of the bed.
"That's the idea," she replied.
He practically ripped her off him -- "Hey!" she protested -- using his hands on her hips to neatly flip her in mid-air and plant her on the bed on all fours. She bounced on the mattress like a rubber toy, and he used the momentary weightlessness to adjust her position. When she landed a second time, he already had his bobbing pole slapping against her pussy from underneath, and he was already leaning forward to grab at her tits.
"Put it back in," he breathed. She knew he didn't need her help -- the man could probably thread a needle blindfolded at forty paces with that thing -- but she relished the chance to take a hold of his cock and give it a good teasing squeeze.
"I said put it back in, not pull on it," he said, emphasizing his point with a rough pinch of her right nipple.
"Oh! Hey, stop that!"
"Why, does it hurt?"
"Yeah, but that's not why I want you to stop..." The next jolt of pleasure-pain made her arm give out, and her upper body sagged against his hand; she turned her head to gasp as his fingers slid from one pointed orb to the other.
"Okay, okay," she said raggedly, "hold on..." and she backed herself onto his shaft.
She wasn't sure whether it was the spark of the sapphires or her own internal fireworks that were strobing the room, but Dino seemed too busy sliding his magnificent monster in and out of her to notice anything unusual. She felt the shoes start to slip; knowing the positive reinforcement the gemstones could give, she curled her toes to hold them on.
It wasn't long before Dino was back to the pounding pace he'd established in on the couch. He straightened up to get a better angle, leaving her swollen tits to brush back and forth over the sheets on their own. She felt him grab her ankles, lifting them slightly and using them to set her pace. She settled into a less feverish but deeper pumping back onto his prick, using her muscles to squeeze him quickly at the top and bottom of every stroke. And without warning, she began to cum.
Oh wow oh wow oh wow oh wow oh wow
The small girl felt like origami in his big hands -- shifting her this way and that, each new position letting his cock attack her slick cunt from a different angle. The sapphire heels only pushed her along toward climax that much faster; it was getting to the point that it wasn't a question of how many cums she'd had, but how long one continuous rolling cum could be carried...
...until she felt his thrusts take on a frenzied stabbing syncopation, just as she was finally able to take a breath, and she found herself plunged toward a screaming, seizing, shuddering, grinding, gripping, clenching, crushing, cataclysmic climax that literally illuminated the room in a bath of blue bliss before her spent spasms finally sent her sapphire shoes flinging and falling.
Angela slipped quietly out of bed; she didn't mind getting a little sticky, but she didn't want to sleep all night that way.
She found a washcloth, but the liquid soap next to the sink smelled funny. She looked around for something else. At the end of the counter there was another bottle with a flowery-looking label. When she picked it up, she knocked over a glass vial, which rolled its way off the counter to the floor.
The vial had white powder in it. It was unlabeled, and anyway too small to be anything legitimate. Was Dino into drugs?
Angela stepped around the corner into the doorway, holding the vial between forefinger and thumb.
"Dino, what's this?" She hadn't meant to sound accusatory, but it just came out that way.
But Dino was unruffled. "That's probably Tonya's. Or maybe Trisha's. They like to leave stuff behind to mark their territory. They haven't been here in... I don't know how long, and I'm still finding their crap hidden away."
His ambivalence both satisfied and irked her. She told herself she should play it cool -- she was trying to stay on his good side, and if that meant being okay with whatever cheap drugged-out sluts he chose to entertain, so be it. Of course, she probably shouldn't have asked him about the powder in the first place...
But there was an ulterior motive at work. The advice of the druggie in the emergency room still echoed in her mind. Could this be...?
"Is it... cocaine?"
"Doubt it. They were on a Glitter kick. Just flush it."
Angela felt herself tremble. This was a gift. Now she wouldn't have to visit that vile Skeeter.
She retreated to the bathroom, flushing the toilet demonstratively. The vial went into her purse.
Back in bed, she tried to cuddle, but Dino just rolled away.
"You can stay if you want, but you should leave early. I don't want anyone seeing you."
Gee, thanks.
Angela woke up. What time is it? Light from beyond the window blinds was still feeble and black-orange -- still night.
Dino wasn't in the bed. She just saw his shadow retreat from the room.
The phone was ringing.
"Dino, it's Bruno, pick up."
"Yeah. [pause] No, I'm alone. Just working out."
Angela crept down the hall, peeking around the corner.
Dino stood between kitchen and living room, turned toward the living room window. His voice became progressively less hushed. "When? [pause] Which one?"
Dino's face tensed; he took a deep breath before getting back on the phone.
"The seagull? Son-of-a... I told that little shit if he waited to get that one it'd burn us. Where is he? [pause] Someplace safe? Probably one of those dive titty bars he likes. So what do you hear? [longer pause] Good. Keep listening, call me the second you hear anything. Meantime, we gotta get Crisco tucked in. Call him, tell him to go to the Dixon, don't go anywhere, don't call anybody, don't answer the phone. Send him a couple of girls so his dick doesn't wander. Call Mitch at Cheatah's, Crisco goes there enough, they oughta know who he likes. Hell, he's probably there now. Tell 'em they get an extra grand apiece if they can keep him in his room till noon. And the second you hear something, call me."
Dino pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it, then put it back to his ear. "Hey, I got another call. Later."
The seagull was obviously a car, though Angela had never heard of it. Not that she was really into cars. Whatever it was, it was rare. Apparently Crisco hadn't succeeded in stealing it. Maybe he'd almost been caught, too -- why else would Dino be making him stay hidden?
Dino pressed a button on the phone to switch to the other call.
"Hello? [pause] Who's this? [pause] Hello, Officer. How can I help you? [pause] I have lots of friends. [pause] Well, I haven't spoken to any of my friends this evening. [pause] Yeah, sure. Come on down to the club, I'll leave your name at the door. Drinks are on me. [pause] None taken. You have some place in mind?"
Dino cringed, but his voice remained smooth. "Hmm, I've never been there. Is it a bar? [pause] Vacation photos. Yeah, I'd love to see them." Dino gritted his teeth -- and was that a snarl? "About an hour? [pause] See you there."
Angela frowned. See him where? Why would a police officer want to speak to Dino now? Did somebody identify Crisco and connect him to Dino? And if the police were going to question him, why not ask him to come down to the station?
She inched closer to the corner as Dino called someone.
"Bruno, it's me. I just got off the phone with Leo. [pause] No, the other Leo. [pause] Relax, he's off the clock. He says he wants to show me his vacation photos. [pause] Don't worry; he's scared, he'll be cheap. It'll come out of Crisco's end. [pause] Then he shouldn't have fucked around with the job in the first place. As it is we may be fucked -- I don't know how he's gonna get the thing now. [pause] Well, the 'magician' just got his ass bit by a tiger. And now we've got to clean the cage. Leo wants to meet me at the place on Bark. [pause] I don't know what he knows, but I want our toys out of there by morning, in case he likes to swing both ways. [pause] You take care of Crisco yet? [pause] Okay. Get those girls over there. And once you get Bark done, check up on him. I gotta go take care of this, I'll call you later."
He hung up the phone; Angela hurried back to bed. She'd just slipped under the sheet when she heard Dino pause in the doorway; she could feel his eyes on her. Then he continued back into the closet. Angela heard him getting something out of a drawer.
When he reappeared in the bedroom, Angela pretended to wake up. She rolled over to see him holding a gun. "I gotta go." That was all he said before he left the room.
She heard him go into the office. Probably getting more ammo. She padded out after him.
"Dino, what's wrong?"
"If you're gonna stay, leave the lights off."
"Dino..."
"What?" he snapped.
"...be careful."
"Angela, don't." He held up his hand to stop her from saying anything else. "This can't work. All that stuff you said, it doesn't change anything. I don't want to see you get hurt."
"You mean, not by anyone except you." The words cut both of them.
"Look, if you keep pushing this, if Kostya finds out, I don't know if I can still protect you."
"I don't need your protection."
Dino sighed in frustration. "Well, maybe you don't," he said with an edge of sarcasm. "But I can't expect you to save my ass, too."
Angela wanted to say something, but she knew she couldn't.
Dino shrugged into his trenchcoat. The front door was open.
He spoke over his shoulder.
"You know, the tough girl thing doesn't suit you. Not that anything would have made a difference, but I liked you better when you were just being yourself."
He stood outside, taking one last look at her.
"Take care of yourself."
The door thudded shut. Angela stood stunned. A key snicked the deadbolt. Shoes clipped down the hall.
And then the only sound was the hum of the fridge in the kitchen.
How could Dino be so cold? After they'd just made love?
He had to be. Remember what Bruno said? "You trouble him." "If he sees you again... you could get him killed. Or worse."
Or worse? She still didn't know what *that* meant. But the rest of it was clear enough. Angela Barrett was bad for Dino Sinclair.
And even she could tell that if she kept chasing him, something really bad was going to happen. He seemed distracted, or distressed, or desperate, or depressed, or... divided. Dino was going to do something stupid. Heck, he'd already done something stupid, throwing her in Kostya's face.
If only she could talk to him. That's why she'd come here, wasn't it? What happened?
Your hormones got in the way.
No, it wasn't like that. She wasn't getting anywhere talking to him. She was desperate -- still chasing after her mission.
And now?
Now the mission was over. Even if she could stand to put Dino Sinclair behind bars, she wasn't sure it was the best thing to do. At least not now. If Dino went down and Kostya didn't, things would only get worse. She couldn't say how or why -- she didn't really know anything about the Russian Mafiya. But anybody could tell that Dino was a good man, and Kostya wasn't. That was enough for her.
The phone rang. Angela nearly jumped out of her skin.
The answering machine seemed to take an eternity to answer.
When it clicked over from playback to record, it seemed to erupt with hatred.
"By the time you get this, you'll know what happens to motherfuckers who don't pay their taxes."
Oh my God. They're going to hurt him.
They who? What were they talking about, taxes?
What does it matter? The only thing that matters is he's in trouble.
I have to warn him. How? His cell phone.
What's the number?
Jesus, Angela, you slept with him *twice* and you don't even know his cell phone number.
I'll call the club. They'll know. They can warn him.
The phone just rang. And rang. And rang. Apparently there was no one in the office. She'd have to try another number. Maybe Sasha's.
The thumping bass of dance music sounded like a heartbeat over the phone. "This is Sasha."
"Ohmygod, Sasha, I'm so glad I got a hold of you."
"Angela?"
"Yeah, listen, Dino's-"
"Angela, you shouldn't be calling here."
"I know, but listen, I need to talk to Dino, he's in trouble."
The other end was quiet, except for the thump-thump-thump of the music. Then she vaguely heard yelling: "Again? Girls who call in sick do not make money! I need girls who dance!"
"Sasha? Sasha!"
"Angela, I am very busy. I have to go. Do not call here anymore."
"Sasha!"
But he hung up.
Shit!
What about Bruno?
God, he'd kill her when he found out she was at Dino's. But that didn't matter now.
The music was much louder this time, almost drowning out the voice of the girl on the other end.
"Club Ten!"
Must be answering from up front. Probably the guest list girl.
"Lemme talk to Bruno."
"What?"
"BRUNO! I NEED TO TALK TO BRUNO!"
"Bruno's busy! Call back later!"
Click.
Dammit!
Wait, Bruno's cell phone. The number was right here, somewhere; she remembered Dino telling her to call Bruno for a ride home the last time she'd been here.
"Yeah." This time, street noise in the background. Bruno must be outside checking the line.
"Bruno! I need to talk to Dino."
"Angela? What are you doing at Dino's place?"
"Nevermind. Somebody just called here and left a threatening message."
"What? You're dropping [silence] I [silence] hear [silence]. -lo?"
"Bruno, someone called here. They're going to hurt Dino."
"[silence]-la, I don't care how [silence]-urt you, it's over."
Dammit! He couldn't understand her. She spoke very slow and loud. "Some One Is Going To Hurt Dino."
But there was just silence on the other end. And then, a click.
Shit!
She tried again. But Bruno wouldn't answer.
Well, it's up to Sapphire now.
The phone crashed into the cradle. Angela suddenly felt dizzy. She pressed on, heading for the bedroom to finish getting dressed and to grab her purse.
But halfway down the hallway, the walls suddenly lunged at her and the floor jumped up to catch her fall.
Ow.
The walls and floor continued fighting over who would claim her until she stopped trying to get up; the floor gently rocked her back and forth. But it wasn't soothing; in fact, it was making her want to puke.
I must be *really* dizzy.
And then she felt the twitching.
Oh damn. Not this. Not now. Why now? Why all of a sudden? She hadn't had a Perfectua in hours. She should have felt this way an hour or maybe even two hours ago.
When she was making love to Dino.
You mean, when he was fucking you.
Shut up.
Well, maybe when you thought he was making the earth move for you, it wasn't him. Maybe when you came so hard it made you lock up and shiver, it wasn't the orgasm.
Shit.
I don't have time for this.
Angela crawled on hands and knees for the bathroom. She probably could have stood, but she wasn't taking any chances.
Where's my purse? In the bathroom.
She stood up to get it off the counter. The room wasn't shaking anymore, but she was. The punched-in-the-gut feeling was building, and her arms and legs moved like day-old bubblegum.
Shaking hands held the vial.
Now what?
Put some on your tongue and swallow it.
How much was in a pill?
Measure out something the size of a pill.
What if this stuff isn't the same as what's in a pill? What if it's more concentrated?
Then take less, and if it's not enough, take a little more later.
By then it'll be too late. I don't have time to wait around. What if they're following Dino? What if they've already hurt him? What if they kill him? Is this about me? God, whatever happens to him is my fault. He'll kick me out and he'll never see me again and I'll have nothing. Miguel will tell everyone who I am. Ricky will be humiliated. Mr. Truman will disown me. I won't get my house back. Kostya will send men after me. I'll have to run away. My life is over.
You're having an attack. Calm down. Calm down. Relax. Take deep breaths. Don't let it get out of control. You're okay. Just take your meds and you'll be okay.
But what if they get to Dino before I get there?
If you sniff it, it'll work faster.
How?
Just like in the movies. Put it in a little line. Roll something up and sniff it.
I don't have a razor blade.
Use a credit card.
I don't have anything to roll up. What if I don't do it right?
Forget it. Just bend down and sniff it. Sometimes they do that. Don't get fancy.
In a panic, Angela lunged her face at the table. With a finger on one nostril, she made a big gasping sniff.
Ow. Ow ow ow. It hurts!
She felt a sneeze coming. Her eyes started to water.
God, if I sneeze it won't work. It'll just be wasted...
And then the world lit up with a million volts.
Wow. Wow wow wow.
Angela knew that Perfectua made things... brighter, but she'd never felt it come on so suddenly like this.
No wonder they called it Glitter.
Where are my shoes?
Angela strutted on tiptoe into the bedroom. There on the floor. The gems seemed to light up a circle of the surrounding floor as if they'd leaked radioactive goo. And they seemed to flicker at her, like they were greeting her, like they were her pets.
I probably shouldn't have just left them lying there on the floor. I can't believe Dino didn't notice them, they're so obvious.
She slipped them on, and even without her tiara she could feel their power coursing through her. Why was it a surprise? It was like when she wasn't wearing her sapphires there was a mental block that didn't allow her to fully remember just how awesome it was to put them on.
Wristbands and tiara -- in her purse. Wristbands first turned up the volume on her sapphire energy from 3 to 7.
The tiara touching her head blew out her mental speakers.
Her whole body shivered so violently she almost fell over -- if the sapphires hadn't held her up, she'd surely be kissing tile.
Oh my gawd it feels *incredible*.
She just stood and stared into the gemstone on her left wrist. The sapphire energy shimmered up and down her skin like she was laying on silk sheets and surrounded by a hundred of the softest bunnyrabbits ever.
Hey, wake up. You've got work to do.
The bathroom light was safe, wasn't it? She needed to check herself in the mirror. She couldn't go out looking bad, not when she felt this good.
A quick makeup touch-up later -- including one last tissue kiss that made her think of Dino's lips and shiver in the delight of the memory -- and she was ready to go.
Maybe when I'm done saving his life he'll bring me back here and give me a reward.
Hey, snap out of it. Dino's in trouble, and you're here checking your makeup and fantasizing about him! What's wrong with you?
Well, she couldn't let him see her anyway. She wasn't sure she'd ever be ready for *that* conversation.
Let's go. Where did he say he was meeting that guy?
Bark Street.
The sharpness of her memory surprised her. She smiled. When I'm on, I'm *on*!
But he never said *where* on Bark. That was okay, it ran right up the valley, about halfway between the university and downtown. He'd probably take the freeway out of downtown -- there was an exit at Bark. She could intercept him there.
Better not dawdle.
Sapphire bounced on her toes in quick low arcs from bathroom to bedroom doorway to hallway to foyer. She stopped at the front door to adjust the purse strap on her shoulder.
I should leave this here. Can't kick ass while holding a purse. Besides, then I have an excuse to come back later.
Better leave it in the bathroom, or he'll know you forgot it on purpose.
No time for that. The counter will have to do...
Hold on, grab the phone. You might need it later.
Where am I gonna put it?
Clip it to your choker in back, so it sits between the shoulder blades. Your hair will cover it.
Hey, that's pretty clever. It almost doesn't drive me crazy.
A quick toss sent the purse toward the counter.
Time to do the superheroine thing . . .