Midnight Somewhere

Stepping inside, without asking, I watch him close the door. He hurries off with a surprising quickness for a man his size.

Two across Halloween space royalty...fourteen letters.

"Well, well John Taline... come back slumming John? "

I glance up at Joshua as he enters the room. The ogre is following him. There is a larger bulge under his coat now. I smile at him.

"On a case. Might be a client of yours filmed It." My eyes settle on Joshua with the old remembered repugnance. Two many of my earlier cases ended on his doorstep. The missing persons on his website.

Like the Mayor's daughter.

"And that means what to me John? I don't make anyone do anything. You know my pollicies. It's cash for cunt...or whatever orifice." He grins at me a mouth full of brilliantly white teeth. I know them all for crowns. "I'm simply a business man earning a living."

"Midnight productions." I say simply.

I see the inrush of breath.

"I've never had anything to do with that! You know that John." His tone has shifted but not enough to signal guilt.

"Do I? Seems to me you had a partner, once upon a midnight dreary. Man named Wilson Monroe. Doing twenty to life up state for producing 'special' movies for 'special' customers."

"I had nothing to do with it." I see his eyes cut to the bodyguard. The man takes a half step to the side. Clearing his boss from line of fire.

"That won't be what the letter I send to Wilson says. Nor the one to the Mayor." I casually reach into my pocket and pull out my cigarette case. At the appearance of metal his goon reaches for the gun then stops at a gesture from Joshua.

Tap, tap, tap, Click. The smell of the desert replaces the sick scents that permeate this place. Half hidden smells. Of pain and fear, overlaid with the musk of sex.

"Anything new coming into the Midnight line?" I ask watching his eyes through the cloud of smoke I send his way.

He swallows and slowly shakes his head.

"Not for some time." He supplies to my lifted eyebrow.

I give a slow nod.

Dimethyl Sulfoxide... Halloween space royalty...

"Thanks for your time Josh and for this trip down memory lane." I eye the gorilla in the smoke mist "Want to get the door so he can get back to filming your mother?"

I enjoy the snarl... then the look that replaces it. His mind maybe dim but his memories good.

As I step towards the open door I hear a shift of feet behind me. The reflection in the wall mirror shows me it's nothing of concern.

"John."

I half turn my head.

"Yes Joshua?'

"Don't come back here. That little threat with the letters won't always work. I've got people above me now that I didn't have back then. They will see to any such 'postal work' shall we say. I remember you as a friend once. Don't be stupid again," he says calmly.

"I was never your friend Joshua. I was a sick man with sick needs but you were never even close to a friend," I say in the same tone.

The door closes behind me.

Halloween Space...Freddie Mercury.

Four across, mathematical desert...two letters. Shaking my head at the too simple answer I take out the paper and catch up on my writing as I wait for the bus.

Dimethyl Sulfoxide...type of solvent. Used in chemical reactions involving salts. Also an effective paint stripper.

Five across...

** ** ** ** ** ** **

The first walk through the door. That cold unused smell greets me. I reach over and hit the lights. I look past the layer of dust on my desk to the window with is ever bright glow of red. I turn up the thermostat and hear the heat come on to take out the chill. I set the bag of groceries on the table and cross to the window.

The neon light outside fills the view turning the world too red. Below I see Leia's car pull up. Early,like always.

Going to the kitchen to I turn on the stove and get out the pans.

I breathe in the air. The old smells the place keeps...the ones I add. It smells like home. That comforting scent that tells you you're safe.

Strange that, I haven't been here in four months.

The pans get hot and the steaks are sizzling when she opens the door. I watch from around the side of the wood post as she drops her purse on the couch and steps out of her shoes. I listen to her moving into the apartment.

"Landlady still watching the place for you?" She asks as she presses herself up against my back.

"For an extra hundred a month? Hell yea. Medium rare right?" I ask turning the steaks in the pan.

Her hand comes around to my crotch I pull in a breath as she gives me a hard squeeze.

"More towards the rare side. I like meat a little raw." she says.

I look back over my shoulder at her and grin.

"Well I take mine pink on the inside but a bit dark on the outside," I say.

She pops my shoulder.

"Well that rules me out then. I haven't seen the sun in months. I'm pale as a fish."

"Oh I love to eat fish." I turn the steaks a bit to change the char marks. It's purely decorative but whatever.

"Dinner first then you can eat what ever you like for desert." She kisses the side of my neck. "Shall I pour the wine?"

"Please."

I watch and listen as she moves around behind me. I pull her steak and set it to the side. Then mine a few moments later.

When I turn with the plates she is back-lit by the window. My lovely lady looks like a demon.

I sit the food down and go get the bread. The loaves are still hot in their paper wrappers. The garlic butter fairly drips off them as I place it on the table.

"Thank you for dinner," she says after taking the first bite.

"Thank you for bringing the desert," I say grinning as I begin to cut my steak. The first bite is heaven. A heaven I haven't tasted for the past four months.

"So John, want to talk about the case now or after sex?" she asks me taking a sip of wine.

"Both."

Her shrug does wonderful things to her breast. She smiles noticing me watching.

"The second piece was a part of her right leg. Knee to thigh. It was more damaged than the first part. From the looks of things several cars had run over it before it was found.

I think this over as I chew.

"This isn't the first. No way. We have probably missed a few victims. After a few hours on a road the traffic would make things unrecognizable."

She eats a bit more then nods agreement

"So what's different?" I say out loud. I take a sip of the wine. The sour taste clearing the fatty meat taste from my mouth wonderfully.

Leia shrugs and tears a piece of bread free. I watch the butter run down the side of her thumb till she catches it with her tongue and licks back up the trail.

"He got in a hurry for some reason." I realize I'm more talking with myself but then she's use to being a sounding board for a three-way conversation "Got sloppy, did things out of 'the plan'. He turned left when he should have gone right. Who knows at this point? We don't have enough information. Were there any differences with this piece?" I ask.

"No semen. No DMSO, no glycerol. Just the glue and the normal road trash I found on the other piece." She answers after swallowing.

"Glycerol? I don't remember seeing that in the report." I wipe my mouth and take a sip of wine.

"I found it after I took your photo. I notice a photophobic change when the flash when off. I checked and found minute traces of glycerol."

I toss the information around in my head, blow on it and hope to hit seven or eleven...nope still craps.

"DNA on the semen?" I ask knowing the answer.

"Still working at the lab. Be a few days. Waiting list longs as the lines at Coney Island. No priority on this yet," she says chewing.

"Not till the press gets a hold of it." I ponder the idea of leaking info then reject it.

I can see in her eyes that she was reading my thoughts.

"Captain would know it was you and he would crucify your ass to the station walls." She dips bread into the grease, blood and butter on her plate. I watch the soft bread enter her mouth and then hear her teeth crunch the crust. She catches the little bit of butter that runs down from the corner of her mouth with her thumb and kisses it clean.

I nod agreement. My left arm itches but I make myself not scratch. She would know the meaning of it and disapprove.

"SVU got any leads?" she asks me after chewing the bread, and swallowing it with a sip of wine. "I talked to Dixson after you left. Lot of people over there not happy you're involved in this."

"Teen thrill killers their best idea so far. That explains the semen and the novel way of disposing of the body."

"But your not buying that right?" she asks

"Not for a dollar or a dime. This wasn't done by a teen. The method of disposal was thought out. Planned in advance. Too...cold-blooded. I'll admit there are some teens out there that are any one of those things separately but few all together. No this guy is an adult with a bit of sick and twisted in his past."

I slowly chew the last bites of my steak wishing I had gotten a bigger one. I look up blinking when my plate is suddenly holding another piece about a third as big. I see her just looking at me.

"You overcooked that part." She say then takes a bite of her remaining steak. I see her teeth cut through the red flesh. I watch the muscles of her neck flex as her jaw works to shred the steak into manageable pieces.

It's overdone for her, almost too bloody for me. I finish the last bites and sit toying with a piece of bread.

"John?"

Glancing up I have to look around. Her chair is empty. I find her by the couch standing back-lit by red.

"Ready for desert?" she asks with a grin. "I know I am."

I smile and make my mind stop trying to find answers for the moment. The clues are to scattered, no focus yet. It will come to me though.

"It always does," I say very softly.

"What?" she asks with that smile most of my friends seem to keep on their faces when I'm around.

I ignore her question and walk over to her. I pick up the remote from the table and hit a button. The music comes on soft and without words. Endless changes of tone and pitch soon fill the apartment.

"Strange taste in cigarettes, strange tastes in music, and a mind like a encyclopedia Britannica. Remind me again why I put up with a man that drops out of my life for months at a time, then only comes back when I have something no one can solve laying on my table?" she asks smiling.

I drop to my knees in front of her and place my hands on her thighs. Leaning forwards I place my head against her belly and hug her tight to my face. I can smell the scent of her job around her almost like personal cologne. No amount of perfume or bathing can hide that scent for long.

"You forgot strange tastes in women," I say looking up past her breasts to her face. She gives me that quirky smile that I love.

"True. Maybe that's why I let you back in every time. You make me at least feel normal for a few days."

I slide my hands under her skirt and across the tops of her stockings. I feel the bit of satin and lace where the garter belt hooks on. I confess to liking this old style and she's worn it around me ever since. My fingers hook her panties and I slip them down her thighs till they drop around her feet. I bring them up and smell the black silk when she steps free of them.

The scent is rich and strong. It fills my noise then my mind goes to a thousand nights that are equally filled with this smell.

"When did you put there on?" I ask almost knowing the answer.

"When I knew we were going to be needing you. About two days ago," she says with a smile.

I lift my hand to the zipper on the side of her skirt then blink and flinch when her fingers pop mine.

"Did I tell you to do that?" she asks harshly.

Inwardly I smile. It's going to be one of those nights then.

"No, Mistress. Would you like me to remove it for you? Please," I ask looking up up at her face. I see her eyes narrow at the presumption of asking a question.

"No. Lick me under it."

"Yes, Mistress."

Leia lifts her leg and places her foot on the ottoman. I have only to tilt my head a little bit to slide my face up under the dark fabric. The smell of her is strong under here. As I place soft kisses on the silky skin of her thighs I feel her hand come to rest on the top of my head, outside the skirt. Her fingers apply pressure and my face is driven into the wet musk of her lips.

Warm...no hot skin opens under my tongue as I feel the soft downy hairs on her lips tickle my nose. I burrow my lips and mouth in between her outer lips and drive my tongue as deep into her as I can. She is awash with thick pudding like passion. I lap my tongue through the warm fluid reveling in the taste as I suck the folds clean.

I listen with pleasure to the sounds that begin to drift down to me from her. Soft moans, sharp intakes of breath, little huffs when my tongue finds her clit. I don't linger on it too much just little touches that tease and tease. Then I'm back to the deeper places; the hot inner hole with it's sharp tasting juices, the thickening lips that open like petals granting me even more depth. My nose rubs at her clit as I suck into my mouth the outer lips and run my tongue through the folds. I smile as I hear her sucking air between her teeth when I give a little nibble.

My tongue finds the little scar from where she once had a piercing and I give it a harder licking. I know from asking her that it's not as sensitive as it once was. The hole, a closed scar now.

"My clit," she says pushing against my head with her hand. I can feel her legs trembling. As she tries to keep her balance on one foot. I drift my mouth up across her till I feel the hard nub enter my mouth. Larger than some women it crosses my tongue and I feel the hood slide back out the way as I push it with my lips. I suck hard on the little finger of nerves. Then give it a hard lick as I hear the deeper moan.

I lose my balance and just do catch myself when she moves away from me. Taking from me the warmth of her but leaving the scent of her still covering me.

"Follow Me," she orders.

"Yes Mistress," I answer.

The candles I lit before dinner have filed the bedroom with vanilla scented warmth that flows out into the hall when she opens the door.

"Very nice. I see you remembered. For that I may rewards you latter. Now. Kneel back down."

I let myself drop slowly to my knees in the thick pile carpet. The Asian patterns in the rug tug at my mind but I make it focus on this beautiful woman.

Leia moves over to by the bed and turns down the sheets to expose a veritable wallow of dark red silk and sateen. As I kneel she reaches behind her and unzips the back of her top. It falls away unheeded then I smile a bit as I see the mismatch that her bra is to the panties she wore earlier. The same colors but not the same set.

The bra joins the blouse on the floor. Discarded like shed skin. I feel my breathing quicken when she unzips the side of the skirt and lets it fall.

"My god what an ass." Like the hundreds of times before I've seen it that is the first thought that comes to mind. Round and shaped just like an upside down heart I watch pleasantly mesmerized the shifts as she knee walks onto the side of the bed. She looks back over her shoulder at me.

"Get back to work, I'm getting bored," she says.

Hiding my grin I move over to the side of the bed and kneel down behind her. Her feet tuck up under my arms as I lean in and place wet kisses on the cheeks of her ass. Placing my hands on her skin I hook my thumbs under her and spread her open just a bit more. I lean down and run my tongue into her then. From this way I feel her open up for me till I'm moving my tongue around an open tube of warm skin. I feel a tightening of muscles around my tongue as she clinches against me. I bury my face against her then pulling her to me till I feel the tip of my nose push against her wrinkled rose.

The moan from her tells me what she's in the mood for tonight.

Licking up along the roof of her I let my tongue slip out and up to circle the rose bud of her ass. She gives her ass a wiggle and I let the tip push in a bit.

"Stop teasing me. I didn't say you could."

I grin and push my tongue as deep into her ass as I can manage. It flexes and tries to drive me back out then relaxes around my tongue accepting my probing. I lick around the rim then open her back up against.

The moan from her is deep throated then an almost guttural groan of pleasure. I pull her to my face and start a rocking motion that soon has her driving her ass back against my mouth forcing my tongue deeper into her. Into the warm depths of her ass.

Under her I run my hand till I'm cupping the swell of her mons and my thumb finds the hood of her clit. I move back easily and the bundle of nerves contact the sides of my thumb. Then the pad as I move my hand a bit. I start little circles against her.

"Oh John yes. Oh just like that my wonderful lover."

I grin as I tongue her ass. She's stepped out of the Dom role. I place a light nibble, pulling the wrinkles skin between my teeth.

The moan become a scream then a shriek as I feel her legs tremble and shake against my chest. I move my hand slower just letting it lightly brush her clit with little strokes that make her jump even as she moans and pants.

"Oh my...oh my...oh John YES!"

She is pulled from me as she collapses forward onto the satin and silken bedding. I enjoy the show, as she lays shuddering and twitching for a few more seconds then with deep sigh lays panting.

Standing up I undo the buttons of my shirt and let it fall to join her clothes. My pants drop down and I step out of them. I catch my socks with the heel of my other foot and pull them off.

She is warmer and smoother than the silk as I move up the bed and on top of her. I feel her shift and wiggle a bit under me then I let myself sink down. The head of me touches wet skin and I push into her. I really don't care where I'm pushing into by this point I am being driven now by hunger. A hunger that far surpasses the need for a steak from earlier. I sink into her with a grunt from me and a moan from her.

As I settle down onto to her I feel her head turn under my cheek.

"I...I don't remember telling you that you could do that yet." Her words are a soft whisper of breath.

"Sorry Mistress but I make a lousy slave when I'm this horny."

She chuckles under me then.

"You always are a lousy slave, John. It's just not in your nature to be one." She grunts as I drive myself into her harder. "If I didn't like the way you could cook I would dip you in chocolate and toss you into a gay bar."

Reveling in the warm tight sheath of her body I chuckle at her joke. The feeling of my cock as it pushes her open more. The tight ring of skin around me as I push in.

"You do know where you're at right?" she asks when I push harder and she moans in response.

"I'm in your ass aren't I?" I ask sure of the answer.

I see her fingers clinching the satin sheet pulling them tight into her hands.

"Oh yea," she says with a wince. "I do hope your getting close,I can't take too much more of that kind of pounding back there."

I slow my stroke to a more gentle pump and I here her give a purr under me. She wiggles her ass a bit and I sink a bit deeper on the stroke. I receive a pain filled grunt when I do.

"Ow...damn it, John!"

"You did that one Princess," I say smiling.

She bucks hard back up against me. I feel my balls slap across her pussy hard enough to hurt.'

"I've told you to stop calling me that John. I'm not kidding. I don't like to be reminded I look like her. I get enough geek fan mail every Comic Con as is." She pushes back against me again.

"Leia if your trying to deter me you going about it in a strange way. That feels wonderful." I give her a harder pump then that drives a deep moan from her followed by a squinting of her eyes. "Sorry." I say softly.