Читать книгу Siberian Hearts - James Anderson - Страница 6

Donna Bertilli positioned herself in front of her target. She knew who he was and what he was worth. It had taken her some time and research to find out what he did and how she could meet him. She had a contact in records at the courthouse keeping an eye out for lawsuits resulting in large settlements. This guy’s settlement was huge: twenty-six million dollars after taxes and attorney’s fees for a wife and kid killed by a drunken tanker driver.

The snitch was the cousin of a girl with whom she attended high school. Two hundred bucks for a copy of the file, but it was worth it. The situation was perfect. The driver had been caught twice drinking while at work and the warnings were documented. Another driver who had just returned from a cross-country trip was out drinking with his buddies and saw the driver closing the bar down. The guy knew the driver had a run in the morning and made it a point to call the dispatcher and tell him what he had seen. The dispatcher sent the drunk on the run anyway and the asshole killed a woman and her daughter. The husband got the money and Donna wanted to meet him.

After a lot of leg work she found out he did self-defense seminars. Apparently, he was some kind of karate expert. She signed up for the seminar and here she was, standing in front of this stud with sexy blue eyes and muscles on his muscles. She leered at his thick legs, then the thick slabs of muscles making up his chest and then her eyes went to the stomach she could iron a shirt on, and, finally, to the impressive bulge showing even through the loosely fitting karate pants. To Donna, sex was a tool to get what she wanted, but she would do anything for this guy just to experience that body. The guy’s name was Michael Patrick Valentine.

She watched him wrap a black belt around his hips and tie it so that the ends hung down past his crotch. There were four red stripes on one end and “Ashan Tao” in raised gold letters on the other. The belt along his back read “Valentine” in the same gold letters. He wore a black tee shirt with a symbol of a fist coming out of a ying yang over the left breast. The way the shirt moved over his muscles made her mouth water.

At exactly 10am he cupped his hands to project his voice and said, “OK, ladies. Let’s get started.” He limited his seminars, always on a Saturday, to ten women. The cost was reasonable: thirty bucks per person. Donna knew this guy sure didn’t need the money so she figured he did this because he liked it.

“Line up in two lines of five each,” he said loudly. “Give yourselves plenty of room, at least two arm lengths in each direction.”

The ladies lined up. Most of them were out of shape businesswomen. There was one mother-daughter pair and one older woman of about sixty. Donna placed herself in front row center and smiled. She exercised every day and knew her body was every guy’s fantasy. She wore black leotards cut low enough to show good cleavage. Her goal today: land a date with the rich dude.

“Ladies, welcome and good morning. My name is Mike Valentine and I will be your instructor today. I am a fourth degree black belt, a boxer, and a retired policeman. I am going to teach you simple but effective techniques to protect yourself against anyone trying to hurt you. Now, may I have a volunteer?”

Before anyone else could move, Donna stepped forward. “I will,” she said, smiling. Every woman in class knew Donna was trying to hook up with the teacher and also knew the guy was clueless of her intentions.

“Excellent, thank you. Now, statistics show that 94% of the time an attacker will grab you in one of four ways.” Mike quickly demonstrated on Donna with little or no actual contact. He then asked Donna to attack him using the first technique. When she did, he demonstrated how to counter and gain control of the attacker. It was simple but effective. Even Donna, who didn’t really care, was impressed.

Then he had one line be the attackers and one line the defenders. He made corrections, gave explanations, and offered encouragement. Then they switched sides. The attackers were now the defenders and the defenders the attackers.

As Mike conducted the class, he could tell the attractive dark-haired lady named Donna liked him. She was obviously in excellent physical condition and seemed like a nice lady. He spent a little more time with her than he would have had he not found her appealing and hoped the others didn’t notice. About an hour into the training he saw a look from a woman that told him they did notice, and it bothered them. He immediately pulled back and spent less time with Donna and more with the others. He was surprised when she confronted him on it.

“What’s the matter? You don’t like me anymore or what?”

“People were starting to talk,” he said.

“Screw them,” she answered.

“Easy for you to say. I need to teach all of you.”

“OK. Teach all of us and let me buy you a cup of coffee afterwards. Deal?”

Mike thought for a second and decided coffee couldn’t hurt anything. “Deal. I’ll meet you out by the front desk.”

She smiled and said, “You won’t be sorry.”

The remainder of the class was going over the techniques again and again at an ever-increasing speed. When the class ended, each woman felt she could protect herself against would-be attackers. Donna felt confident she had accomplished her initial goal with Operation Twenty-Six Million Dollars.

When he dismissed the class, Donna could see she would have to wait. All of the women continued to ask questions and tell him how much they liked the class and wondered if he taught any advanced classes. He told them to sign up at the front desk and when there were enough women interested the club would schedule the class and contact them. When he finally worked his way through the questions and comments, and the last woman left, Mike packed his bag and walked over to Donna.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s not the waiting,” she said, “It’s who you’re waiting for.” Then she smiled and took his arm. “Come on. There’s a restaurant next door.”

Mike still had four hours of workout to do but that could wait an hour or so. “Let me put my bag in my truck.”

Donna watched him open the door to his Tundra and thought, twenty-six million bucks and he drives a truck. This guy needs my help.

“OK,” he said. “Ready.”

It began raining as they entered the restaurant and were seated at a booth overlooking the parking lot. The rain pattered against the large window as the waitress came and poured two cups of coffee.

“So. You were a cop.” She wanted to get him talking about himself. She had learned that most men liked talking about themselves and what they had done.

“Yeah. I was hurt so I’m medically retired.”

“What happened?”

“I was on the SWAT team. Some Asian gang members were robbing a jewelry store. They had automatic weapons and a couple of grenades. There was a silent alarm they didn’t know about so two squad cars arrived while the perps were still inside.”

“Perps?”

“Perpetrators. Bad guys.”

“Oh. I’m glad you clarified that. I was getting all kinds of visuals on what a perp is.” Then she smiled and he smiled, too. She sensed he was starting to feel comfortable so put her hand over his. “Go on.” She let her hand linger a second longer than was necessary and looked into his eyes. She wanted him to feel that she was really interested.

“Anyway. We were called and our lieutenant worked up a plan. I was to enter with my partner from the rear. We got the signal and I was the first one in. The perps saw us and threw a grenade down the hallway we were in. I backed up around a corner and saw the grenade bounce off the wall in front of me. Luckily, it bounced back around the corner and exploded. We didn’t catch any shrapnel but it was loud enough to take out my right eardrum. I didn’t have any hearing protection in because I was listening for the perps. I couldn’t go on being a cop with only one ear. So, now I just train.”

“Train. You mean karate?”

“Martial arts and boxing. I like to stay in shape.”

“I can see that. You’re a very attractive man. That’s why I came on to you. I hope you don’t mind my aggressiveness.” She was reasonably sure he didn’t. She had a great deal of experience with men.

“No. Not at all. I like it. It takes the guess work out of everything.”

The more he talked, the more she knew how to proceed. She would just tell him what to do; he was ready for that. As long as it wasn’t difficult and he had no real objections, he would do whatever she wanted. Men always did.

“Mr. Valentine, that’s good to hear.”

“Call me Mike.”

“I will. I’m just establishing your superiority.”

He laughed. “If you start telling me crap like that, how will I know when you’re telling me the truth?”

“OK, OK,” she laughed. “No more crap. I’ll just tell you straight up. I think you’re a very good-looking man and a nice guy and I want you to take me out.”

He took a sip of coffee and thought for a second.

“Come on,” she said, “I won’t bite. At least not until I know you better.” She cocked her head and raised her eyebrows at him as if to say, “What do you think?”

He smiled and said, “OK. Deal. When?”

“Tonight.”

He again thought for a second and she asked, “Hot date tonight already?”

“No. No date. I haven’t had a date since my wife died.”

She feigned surprise. “Oh, Mike. I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” She took a chance. “If you’d rather not, I understand.”

“No. I want to. It’s just been a while since I’ve even talked to a woman other than my mother and sister-in-law. To tell the truth, I’m a little nervous.”

She reached out and took his hand. “I understand. You’re safe with me. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. All you really need to know is that you can trust me.” She scooted over and sat next to him. She put her arm around his shoulder and said, “When you’re ready to tell me about it, tell me.” She reached for her purse and took out a pen. She wrote her address and a crude map on a napkin, folded it up, and stuck it in his sweatshirt pocket. “Right now, all you have to do is pick me up at seven tonight at the address I just gave you. You can’t miss it. Down Watt to Marconi and turn right. Then just follow the map. I’ll make the reservations and take care of everything. Don’t worry about anything. We’ll have fun, I promise.”

As he thought about it during his normal workout, he regretted making the date. If she had written down her phone number, he would have called and cancelled. When the time came, he reluctantly got ready and drove to the address. When he knocked on the door, Donna answered. His first thought was: That’s one good-looking woman.

She had on a black skirt and blouse just a little too tight, accentuating her large breasts and small waist. He thought her legs were gorgeous and the three inch heels showed them off perfectly.

“Hi, Mike. I just need to get my coat.” She picked up a leather coat from the back of an armchair and handed it to him.

“You look great,” he said as he helped her on with her coat.

“You really think so? Or are you just saying that because you’re a nice guy?”

“I really think so. You look really…” he hesitated.

“Sexy?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know if you’d get mad if I said that.”

“Not at all. I’d get mad if you didn’t think I was sexy.” The fact that he hesitated during coffee told her he wasn’t looking to get laid. If he was, getting him to fall in love with her would be easier. She knew she was every man’s fantasy and how to use sex to get what she wanted. She was good at it. She had had a great deal of practice.

Her first sexual experiences were in her high school sophomore year with a cousin from Los Angeles who was three years her senior. He had some trouble with the law and was sent by his divorced mother to live with his uncle in Sacramento for the summer. He was devastatingly handsome and very experienced for his age.

Donna was already well developed and was being chased by several popular high school boys and had spent her date time in back seats of cars borrowed from parents. If she liked the boy, she let him make out with her and feel her breasts. She never let them feel between her legs, however. She didn’t feel any moral taboo about it, she was just afraid that it might hurt.

When her cousin moved into the spare bedroom, all that changed. Her parents drank too much and often went to clubs or just drank themselves into oblivion at home and her cousin took the first chance which presented itself. It was his first weekend in their home and Donna’s parents had gone out to dinner and dancing. Donna was an only child so they were alone in the house. She was home for the evening because her parents had grounded her when they received a call for her high school counselor saying she had cut all of her classes two days in a row.

Donna was sitting on the couch watching TV when her cousin sat down beside her. “What’s ya watching, Donna?”

“Just a movie.”

“Ever smoke pot?”

She looked at him. In fact, she had. “Once or twice.”

“Wanna do some now?”

She was surprised. “You got some?”

He reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a joint. “I sure do.” He put it in his mouth, pulled out a bic lighter, and lit it. He inhaled deeply, held in the smoke, and handed the joint to Donna.

She smoked cigarettes occasionally but didn’t really like them. But she liked the effects of marijuana. She took the joint and inhaled, holding the smoke in her lungs the way she had been taught.

“Oh, yeah,” said her cousin, smiling and letting the smoke out of his lungs. “You’ve done this before.”

Her cousin took the joint back, inhaled, and handed it back to her. Then he got up, turned off the TV, and put on an Eagles album. He turned out most of the lights and sat back down. Donna, still holding in her second pull, handed the joint to him.

She exhaled and said, “Good stuff.”

Listening to the music, they finished the joint. “Want another?” asked her cousin.

She definantly felt the buzz. Leaning her head back on the couch, she said, “I’m stoned already, man. I don’t think I need any more.”

“OK. Good.” He scooted close to her and started kissing her face.

“What are you doing, man? We’re cousins. We can’t do this.”

“Sure we can,” he said. “It’s not like we’re getting married and having two-headed babies. Just relax and go with it. No one has to know.”

His kisses felt really good so she relaxed. She felt his hands move to her breasts and squeeze. She liked the feeling so didn’t object. As his hand went under her top, she stopped him. It was a form fitting blouse and she didn’t want it stretched.

“Wait a minute.” She sat up and took it off. Then she leaned back again and moved her face to let him know she wanted him to kiss her. He did and it felt good. He leaned her forward and unhooked her bra.

What he was doing felt wonderful and she was starting to respond but when his hand went down between her legs she stopped him.

“Don’t,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m still a virgin.”

He leaned back and looked at her. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No. I’m not kidding.”

“A red hot babe like you? How can that be?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because it will hurt.”

Her cousin nodded. “It will hurt at first. But then it will feel real good. Trust me. I’m the guy to do it for you. I know what I’m doing.”

She considered him. She felt no moral obligation to remain a virgin and actually considered it a bother. But she’d never let a boy touch anything but her breasts and didn’t know what to expect.

“What will you do?”

“Trust me. I’ll get you really hot. Then it will be over in just a second.”

“What about the blood? I don’t want my parents finding any blood.”

He thought for a moment and then said, “We could put something on the floor, like an old sheet or something.”

Donna looked around and saw a stack of old Sacramento Bee newspapers. “What about newspapers?”

Her cousin snorted a laugh. “Sure. If that’s OK with you, it’s OK with me.”

She got down on her knees and began spreading out newspapers. Her cousin helped her. Soon there were five layers of newspapers on the rug. She stood up, took off her skirt and underpants, and lay down on the newspapers. She opened her legs and waited.

Her cousin took out his second joint and lit it. He took a drag and handed it to her. As they traded hits, he explained to her what would happen. He told her he had taken the virginity of three girls before, and assured her he would be as gentle as he could. When they finished the joint, her cousin began kissing her softly on her neck. Soon his hands and lips were everywhere.

When she was ready, he took her. The pain was dulled by the marijuana and it was over in a second. Then she felt her cousin moving in and out of her and began to feel pleasure. When it was over, she went in to take a shower while her cousin gathered up the bloody newspapers and threw them away.

The remainder of the summer was an educational experience for Donna. Her cousin scored some birth control pills for her and always wore protection. He taught her about all aspects of sex, including how to keep from getting diseases, and she was a willing student. After her summer of love, as she called it, Donna used sex to control her world.

Mike and Donna walked to his truck without talking. She felt this guy was ripe and knew just how to pluck him out of his tree. He opened the door for her and she held out her hand for him to help her in. She knew he had to feel like he was protecting her, like she was a real lady and expected to be treated like one. She could see right through him - this guy was a real boy scout.

She watched him move around the truck and get in. As he started the engine, she said, “If I had given you my phone number, you would have called and cancelled. After that, I would have never seen you again. Am I right? I’m right, aren’t I?”

He was surprised. “How did you know that?”

“Mike, I can read you like a book. That’s why I didn’t give you my phone number.” She lifted up the fold down divider on the seat and moved over beside him. “Does this make you nervous?”

He could smell her perfume and feel her sexuality. It had been a very long time since he’d been alone with a woman. “Yes. But I think I like it.”

“Good. Like I said, I won’t bite until you’re ready. However, I am told I’m very good at it.” She looked at him and, even though it was dark, she saw him blush and laughed. “I’m only messing with you, Mike.”

She directed him to a restaurant with a back deck extending over the Sacramento River. The spring evening was cool but not cold. There was a freestanding gas fireplace on the deck and smoking torches to keep away the river’s bug population. They ate baked salmon and drank wine and talked about many things. She could sense him growing more and more comfortable and turned on the personality. They watched the moon progress across the night sky and listened to the crickets and frogs mix with the mood music from the deck speakers. She didn’t push sex, sensing he wasn’t ready. She just let the evening play out and made sure he had fun. She could do that – it was easy. When he walked her to her door, she kissed him once to see his reaction. Then she kissed him again and gently pushed her tongue inside his mouth. She was going to ask when he could see her again when he beat her to it.

“Can I take you out again?”

“I was just about to ask you the same question.”

He smiled. “Wow. I did pretty well tonight, huh?”

She turned and unlocked her door. “You did great, pal. Tell me when and I’ll be ready.”

They decided to have lunch the next day, a Sunday. They went to the Hard Rock Café on the Downtown Mall and had a couple of excellent steaks. They walked around the Mall and talked. She sometimes put her arm through his and sometimes put her fingers in his back pocket. They even held hands.

When he took her home, they made a date for the following Saturday night. She felt confident that she could get him to have sex with her, or, if not the next date, then the next. When she could do that, she was positive he would be hers. After all, no man stood a chance against her.