Control

He walked to her from across the room, his hands swinging at his sides, slightly grazing his strong legs at little to forcefully. The smile on his face should have warned her something wasn't right. His steps were too restrained, too controlled, and too slow. He took his time getting to her, a psychological trick she knew to make her tremble a little more in anticipation. His blue eyes shined in the dismal light of her living room, his teeth looked sharp like those of an animal. Her knees almost buckled with every one of his steps. He had nothing in his hands, no weapon, but his hands were enough. She ran across the room to the dining room table, putting the large, heavy wooden table between them as a barrier. His legs carried him faster in the other direction. She didn't know why he wanted to hurt her, or even if he wanted to hurt her. But she knew he did as he faked left then right around the table. She was trapped. The door at the other end of the room a nice thought but impossible at this point.

Her senses became heightened as adrenaline pumped through her veins. She knew he would make a move and that was when she would have to make hers. Whatever it was it had to be fast and brilliant because that would be her only chance. He jumped onto the table in one movement, his feet hitting the table loudly. Quickly, without thinking she waited until she was just barely out of his reach before she dropped down under the table and crawled across the room. He was after her, she didn't have to look behind her to tell, and she heard his heavy breathing and even heavier footsteps on the carpet. With the instincts of a trapped animal she picked up the floor lamp next to the couch and spun around. The look she saw in his eyes told her everything she wanted to know; he was going to kill her. She swung the lamp. He wasn't fast enough for once and the large brass base smacked into the side of his face. He stumbled back stunned. She quickly turned and before he knew what was happening she had the door unlocked, open and was flying across the pavement of the sidewalk, the wind in her hair, the cool night air brushing across her bare skin.

He raced after her. She knew he was faster than she could ever be. She just hoped she got a big enough head start to get away. She didn't think to scream as she ran through the neighborhood. No one would come outside even if she did. Not in that neighborhood. People just don't care here; she knew as she ran passed the expensive houses and neatly trimmed lawns. Her arms pumped beside her body, harder and harder as she heard him closing in behind her. She didn't know where she was going but she knew she wouldn't make it much longer. His steps sounded closer, she knew they were getting closer. She turned and ran on a path between two houses and quickly ran into the woods behind the neighborhood. She knew she couldn't lose him, but she could hide from him. With the last of her quickly draining energy she pulled ahead of him in the dark woods, cut across the woods horizontally and quickly ducked down, her body laid flat against the leaves. She closed her eyes and counted trying to control her frantic breathing.

She didn't see how close he came to her. Or that he paused mere inches from her leg before turning around and looking in the other direction. Her muscles burned, the build-up of acid forcing her to grit her teeth and lock her jaw to keep quiet. She felt something crawl up her leg but still she did not move. Its hairy legs crawling slowly up hers inside her jeans. She heard his footsteps in the dead leaves about twenty feet to her left as he still looked for her in the complete darkness. She tried to remember what she did to make him so angry and then it hit her suddenly and with the force of a high-powered freight train. He just got back from his weekly poker game with his friends. It was at Aaron's house this week; they've been friends since they were in diapers together. He must know, know that I cheated on him with his best friend. She didn't love him anymore, especially after he put her in the hospital that night with a broken jaw, bruised ribs, and a concussion. She had nothing to show for this two year relationship except a higher threshold of pain, a series of new scars and a miscarriage for her troubles.

It was a month ago that it started. She went over to Aaron's because he asked her to help him out. Aaron had broken up with his girlfriend and he was too depressed to do anything. He asked her to go over and straighten things up and talk to him. And that's how it started. She rang the doorbell, a bucket full of cleaning supplies in one hand, her purse in the other. He answered the door wearing nothing but a white sheet wrapped around his slender hips. She couldn't help but stare at his beautiful body. He barely noticed as he stepped from in front of the door and let her in. "Sorry about the mess," was all he said before going back into his bedroom and collapsing onto the bed. She could see through the open bedroom door that his sheet had fallen off and he lay there on his stomach sprawled across the bed.

She turned and looked around her. There were beer bottles and can everywhere, cigarettes overflowing ashtrays, clothes thrown randomly every which way and dishes and food piled to the ceiling in the kitchen. It took her hours to straighten up. But with the dishes washed, the food thrown away, ashtrays emptied, and no evidence of beer in sight she went into his room to tell him that she was done. She even washed a few loads of clothes, which were folded neatly on the couch in the living room waiting for him to put them up. She sat next to him on the bed and gently rubbed his forehead to wake him up. He opened his eyes and she told him that she was done. Her eyes wandered inadvertently to his bare back. He saw her. His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist in a vise-like grip. She tried to pull away but he wouldn't let her go. He crawled up her body and kissed her, just one kiss. And that was it. She felt his passion, his gentleness. She forgot what it felt like to be treated like she was fragile. She knew he had a crush on her and has had for years but he kept his distance. Now it was his chance; he saw an opening and went for it. He watched her as his sure fingers undid the buttons of her shirt. She knew he was still hurting from the breakup; he really loved his ex- and that this was probably just him seeking some closure from his last relationship but she didn't care. She needed this; to feel like she was loved, cared for, even if it was fake. And Brandon did tell her to come over here and cheer him up; that's just what she did.

They could have almost been forgiven if it was just that once but it wasn't. They've been having this affair for a little over a month. Every chance they got to be together they were. And Aaron must have let something slip tonight, or maybe he just outright told him. But he wouldn't do that to her. No one knows about that night at the hospital or how violent Brandon gets with her some times. But he and Aaron have been friends forever and he has to know what he's like.

It's been awhile since she heard his footsteps and the creature that climbed up her pants has officially started to make a nest there. She quietly got up, looking in all directions for any sign of him. She didn’t see him but heard the inhuman sound that issued from his throat when he saw her. He was standing there about ten feet away just waiting for her. He knew she wouldn’t be able to wait for long. She ran as fast as she could but still it wasn’t fast enough. He grabbed her by the hair to get her to stop. With his hand fisted in her long brown tresses he yanked her against him forcefully. “You thought you could get away?” he mocked her, a sick smile on his face.

He forced her down on the ground, his long, lean body pinning her to a soft bed of leaves. He rubbed against her and she knew what he planned to do. She squirmed under him, her long nails digging into his cheek drawing blood in protest. He punched her then, just once in the face, hard enough to cause her vision to blur and fade a little. He grabbed both her wrists, her fingers bent like claws and pinned them above her head. His cheek rubbed against her neck, she felt his wet, tongue lick her jaw. He bit her earlobe, she screamed. His free hand groped her chest roughly, painfully plucking the taunt nipple through her open shirt. He unbuttoned her jeans and slowly unzipped them pulling them down passed her hips. Brandon took himself in his hand. She felt him stroke himself on top of her. She knew what he was going to do but it still came as a shock as he shoved his large cock inside her. She gasped.

“That’s right, bitch, you know it’s big. You know you can’t handle that. That’s right, take it, take it,” he said moving back and forth and even side to side, “you know you like it. I want to hear you scream bitch. You thought you could cheat on me. I don’t think so.” He started moving faster and harder until it felt like she was going to be ripped apart. She knew it was wrong, but she liked it. She moved with him, her legs wrapped around his hips to push him deeper. She turned her head to the side as she came, not once, not twice, but three times. She screamed as loud as she could with the violent explosion of both of them coming together. He lay on top of her still inside of her. “Why did you do it?” he asked looking off into the distance.
“Because I don’t love you anymore.” He looked at her then and saw that it was true. “It started the night you put me in the hospital. I realized that if you loved me, really loved me, you couldn’t do that. And if that was true I was sick of loving you without you loving me. I shouldn’t have slept with Aaron, that was a mistake, but we were both vulnerable and needed someone else. It just happened. I’m sorry if that hurt you, that wasn’t my intention.”

They were both quiet for a moment. He just stared at her, her arms still pinned over her head. He brought his face close to hers. His warm breath fanned her face as he asked, “Was it good?”

She saw then that he liked this. He liked feeling superior to her, that she did something wrong to him for a changed. “Yes,” she said, “it was damn good. Better than you, even.” His fingers tightened around her wrists. “Does that turn you on Brandon? The thought of me fucking another man, does seeing me fuck Aaron in your head turn you on?” she felt him inside her, “oh, yeah, it does. You want to go again? Let’s go. I’m ready. Come on, Aaron… I mean Brandon fuck me good. Be a man and fuck me like a man for once.” She saw the fury in his eyes and knew she caused that. He started to pound her, her back smacking against the ground. “Oh, yeah, harder, Brandon, harder, you pussy. Oh yeah, oh yeah, more, more. Oh my God, yes, yes. That’s it, yeah, that’s the spot. Oh God.” Her entire body went rigid with the force of the orgasm hit her. She couldn’t even speak with the force of it. Her legs began to shake uncontrollably as he yelled her name into the night, exploding inside her for the second time that night.

He pulled out of her and sat down a few feet away from her, not quite sure what to think. She sat up, her back against a tree. “It’s a shame we can’t be together because that was amazing,” she said a satisfied smile on her face.
“How did you know to do that? To say those things, to get me so angry?”
“Everyone fucks better when they’re angry.”

“Why can’t we be together?” he asked staring at her.

“Because I don’t love you anymore and I fucked your best friend, remember?”

“Oh, yes. Well, what if I told you I don’t care who you fucked.”

“I still don’t love you.”

“We can work on that.”

“Brandon, you hit me.”

“Everyone makes mistakes.”

“Putting me in the hospital was a pretty big mistake.”

“What if I told you that would never happen again.”

“How could I believe you after that?”

“You could trust me.”

“But it will always be there. That fear that one day you’ll come home from work angry and decide to take it out on my face. I can’t live with that fear. I shouldn’t have to.”

“I have a plan for that. What if every time I’m angry instead of hitting you we just fuck? Because that was just too amazing to pass up. And I don’t feel guilt afterward because I’ve done nothing wrong. I know you want to. After every fight we have we end it in the bedroom.”

He could see her thinking it over. “Say, I was considering this preposterous idea. For this to work you would have to work to make me fall in love with you again.”

“We would still be able to have sex, right?” he asked.

“Of course. I like it just as much as you, probably a little more. Brandon, look at me.” When he stared into her eyes, “If you hit me ever again, I will kill you. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” he paused to let that statement sink in, “Now let’s go home.” He stood above her and held out his hand to help her up.

“I can’t walk,” she said.

“Why not?” he asked looking at her legs for some kind of injury.

“My legs are shaking too bad. I don’t think I can stand up.”

He smiled at that. “Here, I’ll carry you, since technically it’s my fault you can’t walk.” He lifted her off the ground and started walking through the woods, the way they came in.

“I thought you were going to kill me,” she said as he carried her down the street.

“I thought I was going to kill you.”

“Why do you get so mad? I’ll give you this time. You should have been pissed about this. But the other times?”

“I don’t know. When I’m mad, everything turns red and I can’t control what I do.”

“Have you tried counting to ten?” she asked honestly.

“Yes, it doesn’t work.”

“You scared me bad tonight, Brandon. I really thought I was going to die.”

“I’m sorry baby. I’ll work on it for you.”

“You know what I was thinking, when I realized that I might die?”

“What?”

“First, that I was too young to die, but then that I really wanted a baby before I died. Someone to leave behind in this world, someone to make it a little better.”

“We can talk about this later. You’re not going anywhere anytime soon except to bed with me.”

She nestled her face against his neck, her lips kissing the strong pulse she felt there. “Hey, you’re turning me on,” he said as he walked through the door they left open.

“That’s the point,” she said nibbling on his earlobe, her teeth biting into the sensitive skin there teasingly. Rolling his eyes, he kicked the door closed behind them as he carried her to the bedroom.