Chapter Five
Thursday – Southern Maryland
Melody
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this, Sam.” I’m sitting in the hair salon looking like I could pick up radio stations because of all the tin foil in my hair. Sitting next to me, Sam flips through her magazine, ignoring my protests.
“Oh, come on, Mel. It’s going to look great. You finished your last final. And you have your first date with Finn tomorrow.” She looks up and blows a giant pink bubble with her gum. Her face almost disappears behind it, but I can see her wiggling her eyebrows at me and the thought of my date with Finn. “I told you that you needed to celebrate, so here we are. Celebrating.”
“But really, you think this,” I point at my head, “is the right move? Red?”
“It’s going to look great!” the stylist standing behind Sam says.
“See! She agrees with me, the peek-a-boo look is so in right now, and you won’t have to worry about your roots growing out and making you look like a skunk. I think the red is hot, hot, hot! Like a firecracker hot.” She is trying way too hard to sell me on this, but it's too late now. I watched them paint the underlayer of my hair a bright red about ten minutes ago and know there is no going back at this point. I’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.
“I hope you’re right about this. Because I’m having second thoughts is all I’m saying. I may have to cancel on Finn if this is a shit show under here.” I flip the foils with my hand and spin my chair, so I’m facing away from her now.
“Whoa, hold up!” She spins me back around so fast I do a complete 360 before she grabs the chair, stopping me, and making me face her. I look at the chair behind her as the magazine she was holding slides off of it onto the floor and try not to puke from the makeshift teacup ride she just sent me on.
“You. Are. Not. Canceling. That. Date.” She punctuates each word with her finger pointing directly at my face. I lift my hands up palms out to her.
“Okay. Calm down there, crazy lady. It was just a joke. I’m not going to cancel my date with Finn. Even though he hasn’t texted me for two days…” I trail off on the last part, as she sits back in her salon chair. The stylist who was touching up her pink spikes raises an eyebrow at me as if to say, “Well, you came here with the crazy lady, don’t look at me,” and shrugs.
“Yeah, what is that about? Are you sure he hasn’t just been busy working? Plus, he knows you had your last study sash yesterday and your final today. So don’t worry. I’m sure he was just making sure he wasn’t keeping you from class.” Examining her nails while she tells me this, I see her shift her eyes to me in the mirror. “I haven’t seen him in The Sub Shoppe since Tuesday. So, I’m betting he is just super busy. It’s not like you texted him either.” She started out strong, but by the end of her speech, she seems more like she’s trying to convince herself with her words than she is convincing me.
“All right, Miss Melody. It's time to get you rinsed and blown out so we can see what you're working with.” Kim, my stylist, is back and points towards the bowls on the salon's back wall, indicating it’s time to get rinsed up.
“Well,” I shrug at Sam, “guess this is it. Wish me luck!”
“Luck!” she hollers at my back as I head towards the wash station.
Twenty minutes later, Kim smiles down at me with a hairdryer in one hand and a brush in the other. My back is to the mirror, so I can’t see the color or how the new style looks on me.
“Oh. My. Gawd!” Sam says, next to me. “It looks so fucking hot! I’d fuck you.” Then she is squealing and spinning in her chair.
“Let’s see what you think.” Kim slowly turns me to face the mirror and, for a second, I hardly recognize myself. Long bangs frame the right side of my face, and chunky layers of my dark brown hair have bright red peeking out from underneath them.
They’re right. Shit! It is fucking hot.
“I love the red, Mel. It really looks great with your skin. This glaze on top brings in a bit of a darker brown to your natural color. It pops with the bangs that frame your face,” Kim says as she is fluffing my hair and pulling it around in front of my face, then parting it to the side the entire time she is talking to me. But I hardly hear her. I just keep staring at my reflection.
“You’re right. It's hot. Like, um…” Sam snaps her gum, then her mouth falls open, and it almost falls out as she says, “like Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf! Holy shit!” She peels off into a cackle as she turns and grabs my purse handing it to me so we can head out. I roll my eyes at her.
“Didn’t the Big Bad Wolf eat Little Red Riding Hood?” I ask her as I’m digging for my wallet.
“Fuckin’ aye. I hear he did!” Sam says, and I look up at her with daggers in my eyes so strong that she stumbles backward, holding her chest in mock terror.
"You did it on purpose!” I’m aware that I sound like a petulant child, but I’m fuming, and for a moment, I’m seriously convinced that she intentionally talked me into red hair. Honestly, it was my idea, but that’s not the point. I look around the salon, and everyone is staring at us, since I just yelled at her, causing a scene. I bite my lip and shrug at Sam. She smiles and grabs my hand pulling me towards the front desk so we can cash out and head home before I cry of embarrassment, making the whole thing worse.
“Let’s get out of here, chica. We can head back to my house so I can help you pick out what you’re going to wear to be gobbled up by ol’ Big Bad.”
***
After vetoing about twenty-five outfits, Sam tries to talk me into. I settle on a tight maroon sweater that compliments my new look, a pair of dark jeans, and my black winter boots. We are supposed to be getting some ice overnight, and the last thing I want to do is slip and fall on my ass in front of Finn. I decide to head home and get some rest. I don’t have work in the morning, and since I finished my last final exam this afternoon, I don’t have any plans. I know I’m probably going to lie awake all night. Then spend all day tomorrow pacing around, watching the clock, and waiting for five to roll around when Finn is due to pick me up for our date.
As I’m unlocking the front door, I think I hear growling in the patch of trees across the street, between the neighbors’ houses, and I turn to look. I haven’t been able to shake the feeling I'm being watched every time I step outside. Not since I started having the dream about the wolves. I have dreamt about them the past three nights. I almost feel paranoid.
When I close and lock the front door behind me, I hang up my purse and toss my keys on the table in the foyer. I decide I’ll have a glass of wine and try to chill out. Maybe that will help me sleep.
***
Friday – Southern Maryland
Finn
I’m in my basement working out around midnight, brooding over the fact I have been so busy with double shifts this week I haven’t had the chance to text Mel. By the time I finally get in from work, it's been too late in the day. I hear my phone buzzing on the kitchen counter upstairs but figure it's the guys from my squad and ignore it to finish my routine.
Forty-five minutes later, as I head up the stairs to the kitchen, I hear my phone again and shake my head. “I guess I better see what the guys are up to,” I say to the empty stairwell. It’s late, but we are all working on getting our schedules ready to switch to our month of midnight shifts. So, group texts are a pretty common thing right now at this time of night. But when I unlock my phone, I see I have ten messages from Melody and I panic, worried something has happened.
Mel: Hey! Hope you had a great rest of your week. Looking forward to tomorrow. Xo Mel: So, I’m not sure why you haven’t been texting me this week. But um, are we even still on for tomorrow?
Mel: What’s going on, Finn? I don’t get it. Did I do something to piss you off?
Mel: Come on, this is ridiculous.
Mel: Fine! Just fucking forget it. I’ve wasted too much time on you already anyway!
It's obvious she’s been drinking. I pause and re-read the first string of messages, and she is clearly becoming more belligerent as the night has gone on.
“Shit!” I sigh.
Mel: Sry, I ddn't mean that please txt me back.
Mel: I may have had two mny glasses of wine Finn, but weyant you answering me I didn't even realize people could slur text messages. I skip reading the last few because they’ve become increasingly hard to understand and press the call button.
“What do you want!” she answers on the third ring.
“Hey, Mel. Are you okay, lass? Talk to me. What’s going on?” I can hear her banging around in the background and worry more about how drunk she seems.
“I’m fine, just had a glass, ‘er few glasses of wine and now I’ma eat some snacks.” She draws out the ‘s’ on snacks then giggles. “Wassup with you?” She hiccups. Rolling my eyes, I head to the front door, grabbing my keys off of the kitchen table on my way out.
“I’m on my way over, Mel, please don’t try to cook anything until I get there.”
“Oh, so you couldn’t talk to me for two days. Then you want to ignore my messages all night, but now you think you’re just going to show up and have what? Some kind of D/s booty call! I’m not that kind of girl, Finn. Don’t bother.” The anger in her voice makes her sound suddenly sober, but then I hear the sound of breaking glass.
“Shit! Gotta go!” The line goes dead.
***
Melody
“Fuck! Steady.”
I try to focus on the glass on the ground. My vision is blurry from all the wine, a whole bottle of wine, to be exact. The empty bottle was on the counter when I spun around and threw my arm out as I yelled at Finn. That's how I ended up here, barefoot, drunk, and surrounded by broken glass on the kitchen floor.
“Fuck!” I say again. “Did he say he was coming over here?”
I’m still sweeping up bits of broken glass into the dustpan when I hear a knock on the door. “So, I wasn’t imagining it,” I tell the room, standing up and brushing my hands off on my flannel pajama pants. I take a deep breath through my nose, steadying myself, and glance at the mirror on the wall in the hall as I make my way to the front door. When I get there, I have to put my hand on the frame to stop the room from spinning. I peek out the window and confirm that the knock on my door is Finn. Turning the deadbolt, I slowly open the door and take a step back to let him in. By the look on his face, I can tell that he is pissed and that there will be no arguing with him on whether he will go back home.
“Sir,” I say, closing the door behind him and locking it again. I stand there for a minute, my back to Finn. Putting my hands on the back of the door, I steady myself. Taking another breath, I try to look as sober as I can when I turn around. But the second I do, our eyes meet, and I feel it hit me.
“I’m going to puke!” I dash down the hall with my hand over my mouth and make it to the powder room just in time to vomit into the toilet. I’m trying to close the door with my foot behind me as I lean over the toilet bowl so Finn won’t see me puke up a bottle of wine, a package of marshmallows, and half a pack of cheese slices I ate. I groan when he pushes it back open and steps into the room with me.
“Please, go.” I throw my arm over my face trying to cover my embarrassment. “I’m sorry I texted you. I don’t need—"
I can’t finish my sentence before it hits me again, and I start to vomit into the toilet some more. I feel Finn’s hands on me then, pulling my hair up off the back of my neck, holding it out of the way, he rubs my back.
“That’s right, lass. Get it out. It’s going to be okay.”
Twenty minutes later I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, and there is no way I could possibly throw up anymore. The toilet lid is down, and I’m resting my face on the cold porcelain while Finn rubs my back.
“Do you think you got it all out now?” he asks, motioning to the toilet. I nod, afraid to open my mouth and let out the sour smell. Humiliated, I try to stand and accept his help. The room starts to spin the second I’m on my feet. “I’ve got you.” He bends to put one hand behind my knees, scooping me up into his arms. “Let’s get you to bed, and then I’ll clean up.”
“No,” I protest weakly, “please don’t, I’ll get it tomorrow. Just put me back down. Please, sir. I don’t want you to see me like this. Please.” Finn drops his head to rest his cheek on the top of mine.
“Hush, lass. I’m going to make sure you get into bed and get some water into you. I’m not going to leave you on the floor for the night. Now, where’s your room? Upstairs?”
I nod in defeat, too tired and drunk to argue my point any further. “Yes. First door on the left at the top of the stairs.” I bury my face in his chest and hold onto his shoulder as he carries me up the stairs to my room and lays me on my bed, pulling back the covers for me to climb under them. Then pulling them back up over my shoulder once I’m settled onto my pillow. I grab the edge of the blanket and tuck it over my head to hide my face, and peek out at him sheepishly.
“Thank you,” I say, muffled by the blankets. “I’m good now.”
He pulls the blanket back down so he can look into my eyes and brushes my cheek with the back of his hand. “Will your parents be home some time tonight, or are you on your own?” He is tucking the blankets around me now like I'm a little burrito, and I feel so warm and snuggly. I’m ready to drift off to sleep. “Wait. Wait. Wait. Don’t go to sleep yet. Are you going to be alone the rest of the night, lass?”
“Uh-huh. They’re out of town for the week. Won’t be back until next Thursday,” I say sleepily, forgetting all of my embarrassment. I let the sleepy drunkenness take over and shimmy down into the covers he has tucked around me more. “Stay with me?” I ask. Looking up and meeting deep chocolate brown eyes full of worry.
“I’ll stay downstairs in case you need anything. But give me a few minutes. I’m going to go down and clean up the mess you seem to have made in the kitchen. I’ll get you a glass of water and some aspirin. Be right back.”
“Mmmkay,” I whisper as my eyes fall closed. I can feel the bed shift as he stands and leaves the room. Then I doze, hearing him rattling around in the kitchen. Cleaning up the rest of the broken glass and I suspect the baking sheet and bowl I had out planning to make cookies in my drunken stupor. I’m not sure how much time has passed when I open my eyes. Finn sits on the edge of the bed next to me, shaking my shoulder gently.
“Here, drink this.” Finn helps me to sit up and hands me a glass of water. “Small sips. Take these.” He places two small aspirin in the palm of my hand, and I take them, take a few more sips of water and slide back down onto the bed.
“What time is it?” I ask as he sets the glass on my nightstand.
“About half-past two in the morning, love.”
Love? Oh, Big Bad, I’m so sorry.
“I’m sorry, Finn. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” I’m trying to sit up as I tell him how sorry I am. But he stops me with a hand on my shoulder.
“Lie back down, Melody. Look at me.” I let him settle me back onto the pillow and look into his eyes, pleading with mine that he doesn’t leave me for good because I’ve made such a fool of myself. I’m an idiot. I overreacted, and now it’s going to cost me.
“Don’t say that, baby. I’m not going anywhere,” he tells me, brushing my hair behind my ear.
“I didn’t say—” I start to protest.
“Your face did. It’s written all over your face. You think I’m going to leave, cancel our date and never call you again,” Finn tells me softly.
“Maybe? Is that really so crazy?” I ask, shifting onto my back to see him better.
“No. Yes. Maybe, if I wasn’t so crazy about you.” Finn boots my nose with his finger and sighs. “Mel, tell me what's going on. What happened tonight?”
“I didn’t hear from you yesterday or today,” I say, but don’t go on.
“No. I was working, and you had your final study session yesterday. Then your final was today. I didn’t want to distract you when I wasn’t getting home until well after ten at night, and I know you needed to rest for your final,” he explains.
“That’s what Sam said when I talked to her about it. I’m sorry, please don’t think I’m crazy. I just panicked.” I shift in the bed to sit up again and rest my hands in my lap. “Look, Finn. I really like you and this feeling I have for you. It’s… well, it’s intense. This thing has been going on for months before we exchanged numbers last week.”
“I know. I feel it too.” Finn squeezes my hand through the blankets.
“Please, let me finish saying this before I sober up the rest of the way and lose my nerve.” I look him directly in the eye, and he nods, signaling me to go on. “I have wanted you to ask me out since the first day I saw you in The Sub Shoppe. I couldn’t get the nerve to talk to you for all of these months. Then after you asked me out last week and I ran into you at The Den with Summer, I swear I thought I had won the lottery. Not only did my Big Bad Wolf actually like me too, but you’re also into the D/s scene.” I take a deep breath before I go on. “Now you’re willing to help me step into it, the way I’ve been wanting. Finn, it was almost like it was too good to be true. So, when you didn’t text these past couple of days. I started to think I was right. That you were freaked out about my inexperience in the scene or that I wasn’t what you thought when you first asked me out. So, I’m sorry, and I do understand if you want to cancel our date after tonight.” I finish and look away from him, afraid of what I’ll see in his eyes.
He grabs my chin and turns my face back to his, his eyes meeting mine. “Melody, my lovely Melody. I absolutely do not want to cancel our date. But you were incredibly foolish tonight, and you could have gotten hurt. I understand that you seem to have had a bit of a moment. But after we lay down some ground rules tomorrow, you will answer for the foolishness of drinking like this tonight. Do you understand what I’m saying?” He pauses, and I nod.
He’s going to punish me! A thrill of excitement shoots through me, and I know he can see it in my eyes because his eyes widen slightly in response. I nod, but he doesn’t continue. He just waits, leaving me wondering why he isn’t going on. Duh! “Yes, sir.”
“Good, girl. You’re right. You’re going to be punished for getting drunk recklessly and putting yourself in danger. We will talk more about what that means when we finalize limits tomorrow, on our date. Which, again, we will still be going on.” He glances out the window like he is trying to decide if he will continue talking.
Finally, he says, “The first day I saw you standing in the deli making subs, I wanted to walk around behind that counter, pick you up, set you on the edge of it, and fuck you right then and there. I have been trying to find a way for the past year to ask you out. But every time I got close to asking, you would say something that had me thinking you had a boyfriend.” I open my mouth to interrupt him, widening my eyes at his words, but he stops me. “I didn’t think you were available or interested. I was afraid that what I’m into, the BDSM world, dominance/submission, would scare you away from me. Last week, I took a leap of faith when I came back after your shift and asked you out, Mel. Even if you had a boyfriend and told me no, I needed to know. Rather than keep stringing myself along with you any further.”
I sit up fully on the bed and cross my legs under me, bouncing. “I didn’t have a boyfriend!”
“Hush, lass. I know that now. I let you finish, now let me finish.” I nod and signal for him to go on. “I went to The Den last week to get a drink and meet a buddy of mine who wanted a wingman for the night. He didn’t show, and I was about to leave, but when I stood up and headed towards the door, I saw you walk in with your friend. I thought I was the one who had won the lottery. You were so beautiful and sexy.” He reaches his hand out and brushes my bangs back out of my face, his fingertips grazing my cheek as he does, and I get butterflies in my stomach. “I could tell by the way you were looking around that you had never been there before, but the look of excitement and intrigue in your eyes told me everything I needed to know. I decided I had to stay and if you stayed also and you wanted to learn what it means to be in a D/s relationship that I would be the only one who was going to teach you.”
Finn leans forward, cups the back of my head, and pulls me towards him. Holding me like this, he rests his forehead on mine, and I hear him growl low in his chest. He takes a deep breath in and stills, keeping me close. He says softly, “Because you are mine, lass,” while wrapping his other arm around my body and pulling me to him, then he kisses me softly on the lips, and quickly stands. “You need to get some rest now.”
“No, I don’t want to. Please don’t leave.” I groan and reach up to him, trying to climb off the bed.
“You need to get some rest. Because tomorrow we will have a good long talk about everything and then you have a very important date. I’ll be downstairs on the couch. I’m not leaving. Lie back down and go to sleep. For heaven's sake, if you’re going to listen to anything I say tonight, please let it be this. You need to sleep, Mel.” I can see the pleading in his eyes. He doesn’t want to argue with me, and I’m not going to push him by giving him any sass. We’re clearly both exhausted.
“I’ll go to sleep, but I want you to stay here with me.” I pat the edge of the bed and pout a little bit. He is standing still as a statue. Staring out the window into the darkness. “Please, sir?”
Finn looks down at me, and I smile, but it doesn’t reach my eyes because I’m not sure he isn’t about to tell me no and head down to the couch.
“Scoot over.” I instantly follow his order and move to the other side of the bed. I make sure to leave him room to lie down next to me. Finn sits down and slips off his shoes, then pulls his shirt off over his head and spreads out next to my body. Our heads next to each other on the pillow, he puts one arm over the top of me pulling me into his chest, then he tosses one leg over mine. I’m pinned against him with the blankets trapping my arms by my sides. I look directly into his eyes, and again I know right now is not the time to push him. So, I stretch forward and gently rub my nose on his, giving him an “Eskimo” kiss. He smiles then kisses me on the forehead.
“Goodnight, love.”
I close my eyes and bury my face in his chest. Since my nightmare earlier in the week, I finally feel warm and stretch my legs out to sleep for the first time. I peek open my eyes, and he is looking down at me.
“Go to sleep, Melody.” I close my eyes quickly.
“Finn?”
“Hmmm?” he asks.
“Thank you.” Before I hear if he responds, I fall asleep. This time I don’t dream of the wolves in the woods.
***
Finn
I can tell the moment she relaxes because she feels heavier in my arms, then I know she falls asleep when her breathing slows. I can hear her heartbeat slow and steady. “Sweet dreams, lass.” I kiss her on the forehead and close my eyes. Ready to go to sleep with the blankets between us. I had to pin her down this way because I knew if I let her touch me, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from taking her. I refuse to take advantage of her while she’s drunk. But I shift uncomfortably as my hard cock reminds me of her effect on me.
I try to sleep. Focusing on the slow, steady rise and fall of her chest with each breath. I’m nearly asleep when I hear it, wolves singing in the distance. My eyes shoot open, and I know that after a year of trying to protect her from myself. I’ve just put this woman in more danger, and now I have no choice but to stay, even if it is only to keep her safe.