The Debt

Gingerly I turned on the water and stepped in, wincing at the sting of water pummeling my shoulders. I wet my hair and stood directly beneath the stream, water flowing into my nose and mouth until I spit it out again in bubbling spumes.

Minutes passed in blissful abstraction. I leaned against the tile and let the stream run over me. I counted my breaths, the rise and fall of my chest. An hour could have passed, for all I was aware. My fingers and toes wrinkled and my muscles fell slack at last.

I was so engrossed that at first I didn't notice that I wasn't alone. A shadow fell across the frosted glass, and I watched silently as it was pushed aside on its rails.

Jimmy was enormous, stripped bare and skin covered in grainy amateur tattoos. Prominent muscles, once feared, flexed beneath his tawny flesh as he stepped over the wall of the bathtub. I blinked water out of my eyes and glanced down, taking in the hanging cock that sprung from a deep nest of curly hair between his legs, the balls dangling heavily below. I forced my eyes upward and found his eyes fixed on my face, his expression drawn tight over the angles of bones beneath. His dark eyes were unreadable.

He stepped forward and I stepped back, coming up hard against the tile and gouging my back on the soap dish. He reached for me, wrapped his arms around me. His soft cock pressed against my navel, and my cheek pressed tight against the expanse of his chest. Warm water ran over our bodies, pooling in the hollows where we were joined before falling in cascades over the terrain of our flesh. His heart beat wildly against my ear.

With slow, deliberate motions he stepped back just enough to bring one hand up to my chin, tilting it upwards as he bent his head down. I saw his dark, impenetrable eyes for only a moment before the lids fell over their orbs and his lips pressed gently against mine.

A tiny sound escaped me; a whimper that welled from deep in my chest and escaped my body to sough into his mouth. I felt the hand that had lifted my chin return to its place behind my back, surrounding me in his embrace. I was too exhausted to fight him, too beaten to care. He kissed me langorously, as though we had all the time in the world to stand together beneath the pounding water and explore one another's lips. I gave in to him, did what he wanted. It was easy. It felt so, so sweet.

The water on my back grew cold, but the flesh pressed against my front radiated heat as though from a stone heated by the sun. I tried to step back but my toes swung above the porcelain; Jimmy had lifted my entire body to meet his kiss, and I hadn't even noticed. He felt me squirm and abandoned my lips, carrying me bodily over the edge of the tub and depositing me, dripping wet, with delicate solicitude onto the second bed. I sank against the mattress, conforming my spine into it with blessed relief at its support.

Naked and sopping, Jimmy lay down beside me. We lay side by side, untouching, staring at the uneven paint of the stucco-coated ceiling.

"You're done," he said suddenly. "Paid in full."

Tears welled stinging to my eyes, and the stucco blurred.

"Fuck you, Jimmy," I swore, squeezing my eyelids tightly together and feeling streams of hot tears run out.

"Yeah," he said. "I know."

My eyes struggled to focus on the ceiling above, and the light from the bedside lamp seemed unbearably bright. I closed my eyelids against the glare, and felt myself slipping away from consciousness. If only I could rest for a moment, I could get out of here and go home...

When I woke, it was to the sensation of warm breath on my ear. Jimmy's massive arm was draped heavily across me, his hand clutching my shoulder and face pressed against my temple. Lifting my head, I caught his cock twitching in his sleep, leaping tentatively from the springy pubic hair below. His bare toes were curled.

I extracted myself delicately from Jimmy's arms and slipped out of the bed. My clothes were folded neatly on a chair, and I tugged them on blindly. Finally I fished into my bag and checked for my wallet and keys. As I closed the door behind me the latch clicked home, locking me out. Each step a struggle, I walked directly to my car, got behind the wheel, and drove home through the eerie silence of the pre-dawn city. Soon sunrise poured through my windshield, painting the sky with harlot's colors.

True to his word, I never saw Jimmy again.