the patrons to get back to dancing or drinking.
Holly’s body was beginning to feel a little limp as I carried her off toward the club exit. Her one-heeled foot gave her a pronounced limp as the other practically dragged on the floor. She had a slight slur in her voice and the apple martini was probably the final nail in the coffin which by all accounts probably contained her sobriety for the night.
“ I’m so sorry, Jack; I was just...defending you,” she said morosely.
“ Sweetie, I don’t need defending. I can take care of myself.”
“ I know. But you’re such a sweet guy. They don’t know you. They don’t know the heart you have.”
Despite her liquored state, there was a sincerity in her voice that made me feel warm inside. Poor Holly was practically hanging on me like a fleshy shawl as I hailed a cab.
I looked in her glazed eyes and in a big brotherly tone , I said, “If you need to...you know,” I motioned a puking gesture with my hand and mouth, “...just tell me.”
“ Please, I’m fine...I can walk fine...the sky isn’t spinning. I’m just a bit buzzed—plus, the night is young. Let’s head back to my place,” she said in a slow, deliberate, and stuttered articulation.
“ Are you okay with that?”
“ Of course, I wouldn’t have asked you if I wasn’t okay with it, silly. Maybe we can watch some TV or something.”
“ Yeah...TV,” I said, with a grin.
We carefully stepped into the cab . Holly leaned into the driver’s ear and instructed him to take us to her hotel. I missed the name of it because I was too busy moving her knee away from my crotch. The driver without saying a word, stoic and with thick-rimmed, coke-bottle glasses, stepped on the gas pedal. Holly leaned on my shoulder and stared up at me. Her eyes were halfway closed and there was a warm smile on her face; her lipstick was almost completely gone, losing some of the red sheen that was proudly displayed on her lips from the moment we left for the restaurant. I brushed the hair away from her face and smiled back. She opened her mouth and I smelled the sweet, pungent smell of alcohol on her breath.
“ I’m so sorry about what I did back there. I just lost it...this isn’t me, I swear.”
“ No need to defend yourself. I know you were standing up for yourself.”
Holly gave me a soft pat on my chest. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you,” she said playfully. “I really, really dig you, Jack.”
Holly was not mincing words or playing games. She was as bold as she was beautiful, and through the truth-telling powers of alcohol, I had a feeling her words were the most genuine ones I had heard all night.
“ Kiss me,” she demanded softly.
This time my mouth and lips connected with a graceful, controlled agility. There was a combination of sweat, perfume, alcohol and pheromones that oozed from her pores and it drove me absolutely wild. I couldn’t contain myself and something slipped; a question so personal and potentially damaging, so impulsive and yet natural, it must have come out in order to quench my most base instincts. It just naturally flowed from my tongue as I whispered in her ear, “Can I bite you?”
Holly paused for a second, but she didn’t answer. I didn’t know if she heard what I asked.
Her petite hand began to find its way into my shirt and began to knead at my pecs. Her fingernails lightly brushed my skin, giving me an electrical zing that traveled up my spine. “Mmm...pretty nice,” she said, her voice slightly muffled as she continued to feast on my neck.
Her constant prodding, poking, sucking, and licking was beginning to put me in such an aroused state, I knew that vulnerability would follow.
“ Holly?”
“ What’s wrong?” she responded, pulling her head away from my neck.
“ Sweetie, I want you so bad, but...”
“ ...but what?”
Holly still had the glazed look in her eyes. Her mouth remained open, probably in disbelief that I had stopped her from