"I'm back!" Christine sang as she burst through the door to see me lying on the ground, unmoving. Gasping, she came over. "SERENA! Are you ok????" she collapsed next to my side and began to check my heartbeat, pulse, everything.
"Ngh..." I moaned, rolling over.
"Oh thank GOD you're alive!" she poked me. "You scared me half to death! What's the matter with you?"
Suddenly, flashbacks of the previous night flashed into my mind. The near rape, sprinting down the street and leaping into an alley for safety...and that man. Smiling, I recalled his eyes, his lips, his voice. Then I remembered what he told me. You looked pretty appetizing a minute ago....What did he mean by appetizing? Frowning, I sat up and walked outside.
"Where are you going?" I ignored her and continued to walk down the street.
"SERENA!! Damn it! Don't worry me like this!" She was about to follow me, but I motioned for her to stay.
"I'll be back in a bit, don't worry so much," I turned to smile at her before continuing to walk along the street.
A few minutes later, the same alley that I ran into last night came into view. Drowning myself in the shadows, I poked around the place, wondering if he'll possibly show up at the scene of the crime. Just him saying I looked appetizing was a crime.
"Well, hello there Serena. I didn't expect you to return so soon."
I turned to where the voice was coming from, and saw a pair of teasing blue eyes stare at me. "What do you want?" I asked him, voice strong.
He smirked at my show of bravado. "You, obviously," he said, his tongue swiping across his lips as he looked over my body once more.
"I'm not some play thing!" I said menacingly. "You can't just come out of that stupid hiding place and woo girls into giving themselves up. It doesn't work like that, and it sure as hell wouldn't work on me."
"Oh really?" he said, smoothly gliding across the asphalt to my side. He leaned close to and whispered, "We'll see about that."
His breath caressed my face, his sweet smell entered my nose, making me sigh. My lips curved into a smile against my will, a smile that said I enjoyed his closeness. He faced me head on and looked into my eyes before bringing his face lower....lower...until his lips touched mine. I couldn't resist him. I couldn't escape. No matter how much attitude and defiance I aimed at him, he still thought he could win me over by this? I wasn't going to admit it to him now, but it was working.
His lips moved so slow, so soft, so wonderfully against mine. Of course, mine responded. His hands reached to me, my waist, my hair, my face, exploring me and only me. Exploring it with his hands just as he was doing earlier with his eyes. Oh how wonderful his hands felt. So warm, so strong, so heavenly. They felt as if wings were caressing me in his hold. His lips feathery soft and sweet. They reminded me of the sweetness of the lips I dreamt of on a previous night, but his were ten times better. More sweet. Much more soft. I couldn't escape him...
This thought ran through my head, running wild as my hands reached up to stroke his hair. Everything on him was soft, yet strong and manly. I could picture myself with him forever, in the most happiest of places. No matter where I would wish to go, he would be there with me. That's how I felt just now.
"Serena," he murmured. I sighed and continued to kiss him fiercer than he was earlier. Understanding my need, he pushed me against the alley wall and matched my fierceness. His hand was reaching under my shirt...his fingers played at the skin exposed...
"Wait," I got out before I felt his lips kiss my stomach softly. My hands were still in his hair, running my fingers through them. He didn't stop.
"Michael..." I said in a whisper. I guess he heard the nervousness in my voice because a minute later, his eyes were level with mine once more.
"What's wrong, Serena?" he said, eyes searching mine for an answer.
You remind me of the man in my dreams, I wanted to tell him. You have the same mouth, the same hands, the same eyes...
Instead, I told him, "I barely know you..."
Nodding, he ran his hand through his hair and backed away. "I see..." His eyes looked sad all of a sudden, as though I didn't remember something I should have. He turned to leave.
"I'm sorry!" I cried to his back. Lowering my voice to a nearly audible whisper, I murmured, "I want you."
As if he could hear me, his eyes lit up, his smile returned and he winked at me before he disappeared once again in the shadows. Smiling myself, I walked back toward my house where Christine was probably worrying about me like always.
That night, I dreamt of nothing more than the same man in the alley way, no longer a mystery, no longer a stranger...but my secret lover.
