shirt.
Her hands shook as she held tight.
“This is...”
“Freedom,” Slader said. “This is
what I like to do, Jessica. To stand here. To look out and know there are
thousands upon thousands of people out there... fans. Those who love the music.
Those who worship the music. Those who will follow me to the end of it all,
just to hear one more song.”
“Freedom,” Jessica said.
“That’s right. And Jessica, I can
do the same for you. In a way you never thought possible.”
“Freedom? How?”
Slader looked at Jessica and
smiled. “Write your article. Then become mine. Forever. Become everything I
need. Everything I need to explore. There’s something behind your eyes,
Jessica. So much we have to learn. To do.”
Jessica looked out to the city,
still clinging to Slader.
Freedom.
“What about tonight?” Jessica
asked.
“That’s where we start.”
Slader moved and moved fast.
He turned and placed one hand to
Jessica’s back and one to Jessica’s stomach. He pushed and pulled her, leaving
Jessica with that sudden feeling of falling. She cried out as her knees gave
way. Her left foot kicked out, feeling nothing but air, and her right foot
tried to jump back, wanting to be on the roof. What it resulted in was a thrashing
Jessica as she fell back. Slader turned and took Jessica with him, safely from
the ledge to the roof.
But Jessica was in his arms.
She looked at him, not sure whether
she wanted to yell at him, cry, or even slap him. The way he looked at her
though, smiling, with the commanding look, the seductive smile, the perfection
of his face and body, it erased everything Jessica had been thinking.
They had to start with tonight.
That would be the beginning of
their future.
Tonight.
Slader lifted Jessica, his muscles
rock hard and powerful. He brought Jessica to his mouth and kissed her. The
kiss was nothing like it had been before. Slader held Jessica tight, his tongue
was ravenous as it explored her mouth. Jessica was completely under the command
of Slader. She put her hands to the back of his neck and clawed at him,
appreciating what he was doing to her.
When Slader began to walk, Jessica
held on tight, staring up at him. He walked her to the door and then had to put
her down. Her legs were still wobbly, reminding her of how close she could have
been to falling off the building. It would have been a free fall of screams
followed by the deathly thud of her body hitting the ground. And that would
have been everything. Her death. Her fantasy gone. Her night with Slader done.
But that wasn’t the case now.
Slader led the way down the steps
and back through the DO NOT ENTER door. He continued down the hallway and
stopped at the last door on the right.
It was his room.
His suite.
Then again, he did own the hotel.
He could have any room he wanted at anytime he wanted it.
Jessica took a step and Slader put
a hand out.
“I want you to understand
something,” Slader said, his voice full of power. “You step into this room, you
will listen to me. And everything I say to do.”
“Yes,” Jessica whispered.
“Tell me then. Tell me you’re going
to obey me.”
“Slader, I will listen to you,”
Jessica said. “Anything you want is what I need...”
Slader touched Jessica’s face with
his free hand. He moved up and down a few times, his eyes looking at her, but
Jessica wondered just what he was really thinking about.
She probably would never really
know, but he moved his hand, allowing Jessica into the hotel room.
Before the door could shut, his
hands were on her... and she was ready for him...
I
touched her today. I touched her hand. It was an accident, I swear. I’ve
resisted the urge, created by the creator. I feel like a harmful person,
swimming between glass walls. They’re getting smaller even though they’re not.
They’re getting harder to find... but they’re not.
I
touched her.
She
didn’t even notice, but I did.
The
silky feel that now possess my
Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain