Down in the Zero

'Is this…yours?'

'What?'

'Is this the way you like to do it?'

'I'm too tired for word games, bitch,' I said gently. 'What are you talking about?'

She turned her face so she was speaking right into my ear, baby's–breath soft.

'Sitting down. Like in your car. I like that too. I'm all wet. See?' grabbing my hand, pulling it toward the triangle between her thighs.

'Fancy, I want to hold you on my lap. Understand?'

'Just hold me?'

'Just hold you, now.'

'I thought— '

I lifted the hem of her nightie, slapped the side of one sleek cheek. 'Shut up. I thought you were going to do as you were told.'

'I am.'

'Then sit still, bitch.'

She snuggled into me obediently, a clean, moist smell rising off her tawny skin. The cigarette burned itself out in the ashtray as I closed my eyes.

I woke up, feeling the change of light in the room. Almost daybreak. Fancy was asleep in my lap, breathing through her mouth. I bounced her lightly on my knee to bring her around.

'Wha…?'

'Wake up, Fancy. It's morning.'

'Morning?'

'Yes, girl. You had a good sleep, but if I leave you here much longer my leg's gonna be paralyzed.'

'I'm sor— '

'Shut up, bitch. I'm tired of hearing that. Come on, get up. I'm going to get you into bed before I go.'

'Go?'

'Ah, come on,' I said, shifting my weight, boosting her up. She got to her feet, rubbed her eyes with her fists, as unselfconscious as a child. When I got to my feet, my right leg was asleep. I stomped it a few times on the carpet, feeling the pins and needles, getting the life back. Fancy stood in one spot, eyes heavy–lidded, still dopey from sleep.

I took her hand, led her back toward the bedroom. I half pushed her onto the bed. She lay on her side, looking up at me standing there. I bent over, kissed her next to her mouth.

'I'll see you tomorrow,' I told her.

'You could sleep here,' she said. 'Stay with me.'

'I've gotta….'

'Please. Just for a little bit. Till I fall back asleep.'

I sat down on the bed, slipped off my boots and socks. I took everything else off except my shorts, dropped onto the bed on my back. Fancy rolled into my chest, licking gently, making little noises. She curled her legs at the knee, feet up, like a teenage girl talking on the phone. I stroked her back through the nightie, drifting.

Fancy put her hands flat on my chest, pushed herself up so she was facing me on her knees. Her hands dropped to the hem of the nightie, then she pulled it up and over her head, tossed it over the side of the bed. Her breasts stood out sharply from her body, unnaturally cantilevered, so heavy they almost met in the center, dark nipples standing out from the bronzed skin. She arched her back, emphasizing. Proud.

I reached for her, held the back of her neck as I pulled her down, rubbed my face against one of her nipples, feeling it grow hard as my light beard stubble scratched her. I moved my face, took the nipple in my mouth, bit down lightly.

'Yessss,' she moaned.

I let go of the back of her neck. Still kneeling, she bent so deeply I could sight down her back to the separation of her buttocks, the twin peaks flaring out from her tiny waist into a perfect heart shape as she arched her back into a deep curve. Her glossy dark hair shone in the early light as she reached for the waistband of my shorts, tugging. I lay flat on the bed, not helping her, but she kept tugging until she got them down.

'Hah!' she grunted, her face up, grinning at me. She kept pulling, working her way backward toward the foot of the bed, finally pulling the shorts off, flinging them hard in the direction of the bureau. She lowered her head and came forward fast, head down, charging like a bull. I could feel her tongue licking my balls, then rooting deeper, a muffled grunting noise coming from somewhere past her throat.

I reached out, took hold of her hair and pulled. She didn't move, resisting. I pulled harder. She wiggled her hips, shifting the pitch of the noise she was making, staying where she was.

'Fancy!'

She looked up, a wicked grin on her face, gray eyes wide open now. Then she lowered her head again.

I felt swollen, like a blood vessel was going to go, every vein full. I sat up, put my hands under her armpits and hauled her up until her face was right against mine. She fitted herself over me, taking it deep, trying to sit up. I