Digressions Into Erotica

They circled each other slowly.

“Aw, come on, Pen. We did alright.” He took another slow step to the left. Pen followed, staying directly in front of him, body angled sideways, just out of arm’s reach.

Every muscle in her body looked coiled and ready to spring at any given moment. Shewas always so damn good. He shook his head. “Hector sends you. And you wonder why I went solo.”

“Hector’s a smart man, Jason.” Her weight shifted.

He leaned in slightly, centering his weight with a small bend of his knees.

***

Recognizing the gleam in his eyes, Pen drew both arms up, elbows bent, fingers loosely curled, ready to snap into tight balls of sinew and bone, fist and blade. “Well, this should be fun.”

Just as the words left her mouth, Jason threw his fist straight at her face.

Instinctively, she blocked his swing with her forearm and used his momentum to propel herself sideways. She drew her knee back and slammed it into his groin. As he pivoted to face her, she hopped to the side. There was blood in his eyes.

This was not going to be fun.

***

Jason tasted bile in the back of his throat. He needed to get a grip. A joker’s grin stretched his mouth. His cheeks ached with it.

She watched him, sizing up the damage, no doubt. This wasn’t going to work here.

He’d have to take care of her, but not yet. She had a few tasty morsels of information to feed him first.

He feigned a left jab and circled around with his right fist, aiming at her temple. She barely blocked the swing, and his fist grazed past her ear, snagging the cartilage with a grinding crunch. That’ll get her head ringing, at least.

He dodged a swipe of the blade, swung with his left again and connected with the side of her head. She staggered sideways and attempted to shake it off. He didn’t give her a chance, and followed with a fist to her diaphragm. She doubled over, air gushing out. The knife dropped to the carpet. He sent his knee into the bridge of her nose and she was down for the count.

Squirrelly as she was, he knew he needed to act quickly. He scooped her up, checked the hallway once more, and carried her out the back door and down the fire escape stairs.

Shit! His car was parked in the front lot. He set Pen on the stairs, leaned her head against the railing, and peeked around the corner of the building. All seemed quiet in the twilight. Still, he needed to get his car over here.

What a pile of crap this day turned out to be! He shot a glance at Pen, who still seemed to be out cold, then made a casual dash to his car.

***

Pen came to with a bad case of the spins. Her tongue was dry and she sucked on it a little while she took in her situation. Jason leaned against the corner of the building, looking towards the front parking lot. She dropped her jaw and closed her eyes when she saw him turning in her direction. The metal railing bit into her temple, but she kept her head in position and worked out her next step.

As soon as she heard his footsteps jogging away, she sprang up, thankful she’d parked where she had. She looked in Jason’s direction as she sprinted towards the Duster. His eyes met hers, just as they both climbed into their respective drivers’ seats.

Pen already had the keys in the ignition and was cranking the engine when she slammed her door. She could hear him following suit. At least she’d had the foresight to back into her parking spot, a piece of training he’d obviously forgotten. She slammed the shifter into first and popped the clutch, tromping on the gas.

She needed to hit the desert, where she’d have open space to maneuver and no witnesses, time to get into a defensible position. And all her gear was still upstairs.

“Crap!” She pounded the steering wheel and dodged slower traffic. She’d have to go back there. Sloppy, sloppy. No damn good. Good thing she always kept a spare.

A glance at the rear view confirmed he was with her. Ironic as it was, she was going to kill him or die trying. She figured a small part of her would die either way.

She shot wide around a vehicle in the left-hand turn lane, and swung onto the freeway on-ramp. Jason was only a block behind. She fumbled for her sunglasses to block the last shots of sun and merged into the oblivious traffic, crossing all four lanes in an effort to gain some ground.

Jason stayed right on top of her. They kept at it for miles, until the off ramps began spreading out and leading only to back roads and three-pump gas stations. Pen leaned forward, fumbled under the seat for her ‘emergency’ weapon and wedged it beneath her leg.

Eventually there was nothing but desert, and a check of her gas gauge told her it was time to get this over with. Pen braced herself and veered off the road onto the hard- packed sand. Her tires shuddered over every crack and crevice. She bounced the front end through a series of divots and came to a screeching halt in a ravine. She flipped off the headlights the moment the tires stopped moving, giving her eyes a chance to adjust before darting out behind a pile of boulders. Between the Duster, the ledge of the ravine and the rocks, Pen figured she had as much cover as she was going to get, and knew it wouldn’t be close to enough.

***

Jason couldn’t help but laugh when Pen’s vehicle spun off the road. He pulled over and watched the headlights bounce wildly into the night, come to a stop and go out. He eased his car into drive and crept out onto the desert, aiming his wheels toward the spot where he’d last seen those headlights.

Of course, Pen could be creeping along in the dark, just to throw him off her trail, but he suspected she’d holed up somewhere to wait for him-she’d never been one to back down.

The front end of the car dipped and rose over the last ripple of hard-packed sand, then tipped towards the bottom of a ravine. His headlights landed on the piss-yellow Duster, parked at an angle against an outcropping of rocks. She’d been there long enough for the dust to settle. He had to assume she was prepared for whatever move he was about to make.

He killed the engine, cut the lights and gave himself a minute. No sounds interrupted the stillness. No movement violated the dark, but he knew she was there somewhere-he could feel her. It appeared he wasn’t going to get any information after all.

Nice move, rookie. May as well get it over with now. He grabbed his gun off the seat and opened the door slowly, crouching behind it as he crept out of the car. He scanned back and forth over the shrouded terrain and picked up more details as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

***

Perched behind a pile of rocks, Pen watched the lights brighten the closer Jason’s car came to the ravine. Just before the beams crested the hill, she put her back against the rocks and closed her eyes to prevent blinding. She heard the tires slide, crunching down the gravel on the bank of the riverbed. The undercarriage scraped against the rocks at the bottom.

The car stopped and the engine cut out. She checked her weapon with her fingertips; safety off, round chambered, two handed grip. She drew a breath and waited for the sound…and there it was. Just the slightest tick, as the headlights were switched off.

Pen rose to her full height, propped her elbows on the rock in front of her and sighted in on Jason’s forehead. He squinted into the darkness, partially shielded behind the open driver’s side door. Perhaps he heard her, or felt her, because he ducked down and to the left. But he didn’t duck far enough.