Dear Abby by Peggy Barnett Read Free Book Online Page A

a pen too
hard.
    Abby takes a long bath and makes a point of
shaving everything . It seems polite to ensure that your partner won't
get hair stuck between their teeth. Abby drowses by the pool, the livid purple
mark above her collarbone on full display, along with the hand-shaped bruise on
her thigh, and she smirks at all the young men who stare at her with
incredulity and all the women who give her fussy looks of disapproval or low
looks of jealousy.
    Abby looks well fucked, and she knows it.
    She nibbles on terrible resort buffet for
dinner, not feeling up to making her reservations at the faux-Italian bistro on
the other side of the compound, and sips her way through an entire bottle of
wine. She's not drunk, but she's not sober either, and she takes her time
wandering back to her room. The night is warm, the breeze is as cool as her
lover's breath, and the light pollution is so low that she can actually see the
stars. She sits on one of the loungers by the pool, admiring the patterns in
the sky, how big the moon seems this close to the equator, and isn’t at all
surprised to look up a few minutes later to find Ixazaluoh standing beside her.  Her dark hair is loose, tumbled over her shoulders
and kissing her jaw. It makes her blend into the shadows, and the dark uniform
helps. She is not wearing one of those terrible Day-Glo neckerchiefs this time.
    Ixazaluoh takes her hand,
pulls her gently to her feet, and they go back to Abby's room without a word
passing between them. Housekeeping has been, has replaced the sex-stained
linens and the cleaned the liquor-sticky water glasses. Ixazaluoh tumbles Abby onto the pillows, sideways across the bed, and tickles her until
Abby is breathless with joy. They drink Balché , and Ixazaluoh teaches her how to scoop a
tamale off of her stomach with her teeth. The heat of pepper oil in Ixazaluoh's mouth makes Abby's pussy tingle and burn, and Ixazaluoh pours more Balché over
her clit to soothe the fire.
    When they are panting and spent, Ixazaluoh pinning Abby to the mattress with her body, like
a living blanket, she kisses the day-old bite mark on Abby's neck and says:
"It's the solstice tomorrow. I have the day off. Come home with me."
    "Off the
resort?" Abby asks, startled.
    Ixazaluoh laughs. "Afraid
you'll be mugged or shot in the face?"
    It's a cruel tease. Tourists get mugged all
the time when they wander off their leashes.
    "Not with you," Abby says. "I
just thought… I just thought that you wouldn't… want anyone to see us. Me. Together."
    "I have no shame of you, Abby," Ixazaluoh says. "You are mine, and I have pride in
that."
    Abby wraps one of Ixazaluoh's curls around her finger, over and over again, instead of answering. Ixazaluoh grasps her chin gently between her thumb and
forefinger and raises her face, forcing Abby to meet her eyes.
    "Abigail," Ixazaluoh says softly. "Are you ashamed of me?"
    "No!" Abby blurts. "No! I
just… I'm concerned is all. Are you bringing me
home to show me off like a trophy? You know, 'look what I got into'? Or is this
some sort of, I don't know… do you want to move home with me?"
    Ixazaluoh laughs.
"Neither. Well, no, I will admit, you are a catch and I am going to enjoy
flaunting you over the others. But I cannot leave. And you cannot stay."
    "I could," Abby ventures. "I
could quit my job, give away my cat, terminate my
lease."
    "And what would you do in Mexico with no
job, no apartment, and no cat?"
    Abby feels silly and childish, but she ducks
her head, full of juvenile embarrassment and says, in a very small voice,
"Be with you?"
    Ixazaluoh shakes her head
slowly. "That will not put food in your stomach."
    "Then how is this supposed to
work?" Abby asks. "How can I be yours and not be here at all? This is
a one-time thing, isn't it? You're just talking pretty. And I'm reading too
much into it." She sniffs, miserable, and refuses to cry. "Just like
I always do."
    "You are mine and I am keeping you until
the day you die," Ixazaluoh says