Fic: It Happened One Night - Chapter One
Title: It Happened One Night
Author: Karen
Email: kittenrescue@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Despite all the begging and pleading they still don’t belong to me.
Rating: NC-17
Feedback: Second only to ice cream.
Summary: A different take on the initial meeting of Logan and Marie.
Author’s notes: The title of this story has nothing to do with the Clark Gable/Claudette Colbert flick of the same name. The song is “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You” by Heart.
Thanks and hugs to my support team who give me confidence and encouragement in spades: Terri, Joanne, Leah and Edna.
Alberta, Canada:
Marie’s POV:
The rig grinds to a halt in front of a ramshackle building that looks like it should have that yellow caution tape all around it and a big CONDEMNED sign plastered across the side. The lights coming from the inside tell me, however, that people are actually brave enough to be in there. I guess people like to live dangerously in this part of nowhere.
“I thought you were taking me to Laughlin City?” I ask Reggie, the trucker nice enough to have given me a ride for the last few hundred miles.
“This is Laughlin City,” he replies almost apologetically.
These people have a strange concept of the term city. Somebody ought to hand the person who named this dump a dictionary. Well, Reggie is veering off in a different direction to where I’m heading, so I need to find a new ride. He was cool and at least he kept his hands to himself. He told me he has a granddaughter my age. Every now and then I catch a break and hitch a ride with a guy who’s not a pervert. Okay, so let’s hope my luck holds out, although I seriously doubt it. Eight months on the road has taught me there’s no such thing as good luck - only varying degrees of bad luck.
For a city that doesn’t look like its population even reaches triple digits, this place sure is crowded. The entire populace must be here tonight, so either this dump is the place to be or they’re all desperate to inhale all this delightful second-hand smoke. They should hand out oxygen masks and portable tanks at the door. The Lung Association would have a field day with this place.
There’s some type of cage in the middle and that seems to be where all the action is, so I make my way over just in time to see some guy hit the concrete floor. Ouch, that would’ve hurt, if he hadn’t already been unconscious. At that moment the guy who flattened him turns around and I catch my breath. Damn, that is one fine specimen of man. He’s clad in only a pair of faded jeans that are so tight I can see which way he ‘dresses’. My eyes burn a trail over his amazing bare chest and I instantly need a clean pair of panties. Crap, he’s looking right at me. Even in the dim light and through the smoky haze, I can see that his eyes are green flecked with brown and at this moment they’re burning right through me. I feel like I’ve been singed, the heat is that intense.
The emcee makes an announcement that interrupts the sultry moment.
“Gentlemen, in all my years I've never seen anything like that. Are you gonna let this man walk away with your money?”
Another idiot jumps up and declares that he’ll fight Mr. Wet Dream. As the man enters the cage, the walking definition of perfection gives me a wink before turning to face his latest victim. At first it seems that the other man is going to win as the hottie takes blow after blow. I’m mentally screaming, “Not in the face - don’t hit his face.” I guess the hottie’s finished playing with the guy and decides to knock him out with a head jab. The other guy hits the concrete hard and Mr. Perfect Chest gives him a final kick before heading out of the cage.
The emcee’s voice booms out, “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's winner and still king of the cage, the Wolverine.”
The Wolverine steps out of the cage and starts to put his clothes back on. He slips on several layers and damn there goes my view. Meanwhile, I’m having dirty thoughts, as I imagine ripping those pesky layers right back off of him.
I fantasize about how all those hard muscles would feel under my hands and mouth. How, with soft kisses, I’d follow the line of hair from his perfect chest all the way down his taut stomach and to the treasure currently hidden beneath tight denim. My body temperature suddenly rises several degrees. I need to be hosed down, but I’ll have to settle for a cold drink.
I head over to the bar with the faint hope that this place also serves something a little more solid than just liquid. Rummaging around in my pockets I come up with a grand total of $1.57. Hell, even the Grand Slam at Denny’s is $2.99. Not that it would’ve done me any good anyway, the place doesn’t serve food the bartender informs me. I order water and just give a weak smile when the bartender asks me if I want that on-the-rocks or not. Oh, ha ha, very funny. As he places the glass in front of me I’m tempted to ask how much it would cost to have it served in a clean glass - yuck, what’s that floating in there? I toss the odd seven cents into the large glass jar with a hand written sign taped to it that reads ‘Tipping is not a city in China’ - cute.
Just then the object of my overly fertile imagination saunters over, sits down and orders a beer. Christ, he’s even better looking close up. The bartender hands him a wad of cash - well, at least he can afford to ask for a clean glass. He glances over my way and I avert my eyes quickly. Not that I don’t want to look, but my momma always told me it was rude to stare. I steal little peeks and find him looking at me each time. That’s interesting.
All kinds of rude thoughts continue floating through my lust-addled brain. Well, I am seventeen and apart from my mutation, a normal hormonal being after all. Anyway, the man could make a nun forget her vow of chastity he’s that delectable. Just then the bartender interrupts my train of thought that’s pleasantly hurtling toward Smutville.
“You want something new, honey? Or are you sticking with water?” he asks, as he moves the tip jar further away from me. What does he think I’m gonna do, try to make a run for it with the whole ten bucks worth of coins in there? Like that would get me real far.
“Listen, honey, you need some cash?”
I guess I must’ve been eyeing that jar more than I realized.
Does a fish need water? I’m tempted to answer. “Yes, I do.” I reply instead. No need to get sarcastic, after all, maybe this guy will hand me a winning lottery ticket - yeah, right.
“What if I told you I could get you a hundred bucks?”
Oh oh, that kinda cash is usually only earned one way. Sorry, dude, lethal skin, you’re outta luck. But visions of that much money prompts me to ask anyway.
“How?”
“Well, we could use a little *entertainment*, if you catch my drift.”
I don’t, so I ask him to clarify himself and he does. He’ll give me a hundred dollars if I go into the fighting cage, dance a little and end the song with all my clothes on the floor. That got the Wolverine’s attention, and he’s riveted on me, waiting for my answer. I think he wants to play I-showed-you-mine-now-you-show-me-yours.
“Nobody touches me and all I gotta do is one song?” I ask. I want make sure we’re clear on the rules.
“One song - one hundred bucks and nobody lays a finger on you.”
Crap, I can’t believe I’m even considering it, but that sure is a lot of money for what - five minutes tops? I could do that. It was like in that movie “Indecent Proposal” with Demi Moore, where she’s offered a million dollars to sleep with Robert Redford. She tells her husband, it’s just her body it’s not her heart or her soul. Of course, this is only a lousy hundred bucks, but it’s more money than I’ve seen in a hell of a long time.
“Okay, I’ll do it.” I find myself saying.
I take off my hooded coat and meander over to the jukebox. The emcee announces my imminent debut, calling me the Teenage Tease - charming. Although most of the guys back in Meridian would probably agree with that accurate description. So I wasn’t the village bicycle - sue me. I peruse the limited selection (country, country and more country) finally finding one I think I can actually bump and grind to. And momma never thought those dance lessons would ever have any practical use! I make my selection and gingerly enter the cage. If I don’t think about this too hard, I can get through the next few minutes without tossing the lunch Reggie was kind enough to feed me. The music starts and I begin swaying. I get the impression this crowd doesn’t care too much about style, as long as my clothes hit the floor at a decent pace. I shut my eyes as I rotate my hips, but it’s too bad I can’t conveniently go selectively deaf, as I can still hear the wolf whistles and howling of my appreciative audience. Just do it, Marie - don’t think, just get on with it.
It was a rainy night
When he came into sight
Standing by the road
With no umbrella, no coat
So I pulled up along side
And I offered him a ride
He accepted with a smile
So we drove for awhile
I didn’t ask him his name
The lonely boy in the rain
Fate tells me it’s right
Is this love at first sight
Please don’t make it wrong
Just stay for the night
All I wanna do is make love to you
Say you will, you want me too
All I wanna do is make love to you
I got loving arms to hold on to
I start shedding layers and try to forget that Mr. Wet Dream is part of the crowd. Even with my eyes shut and hundreds of eyes fixed on me, it’s his heated gaze that I feel caressing me and I hope he likes what he sees.
So we found this hotel
It was a place I knew well
We made magic that night
Oh, he did everything right
He brought the woman out of me
So many times -- easily
And in the morning when he woke
All I left him was a note
I told him, “I am a flower, you are the sea.”
We walked in the garden, we planted a tree
Don’t try to find me, please don’t you dare
Just live in memory, you’ll always be there
All I wanna do is make love to you
One night of love was all we knew
All I wanna do is make love to you
Ooh, we made love
Love like strangers
All night long
We made love
I’m down to my bra and panties and despite the heat from the fires burning in the metal trash cans scattered throughout the place, I can still feel a chill. I reach around to my back, unhook my bra and yank it off in one quick move. I also chose that exact moment to reopen my eyes, only to be greeted by smoldering hazel orbs that are consuming me with their heat, even from the distance of the other side of the cage. His luscious mouth is slightly turned up on one side in a hint of a smile. Oh, yeah, he definitely likes what he’s seeing. Being only one flimsy piece of fabric away from being completely naked, he also sees the blush that started on my cheeks and has traversed my entire body. Oh my God, did he just lick his lips? My nipples harden as I imagine what that tongue could do to me. The crooked little smile is a little more prominent now. That’s it, smile for me, honey. I’m practically having an orgasm watching him watching me.
Then it happened one day
We came ‘round the same way
You could imagine his surprise
When he saw his own eyes
I said, “Please, please understand
I’m in love with another man.”
And what he couldn’t give me, oh, oh
Was the one little thing that you can
All I wanna do is make love to you
One night of love is all we knew
All I wanna do is make love to you
Come on, say you will, you want me too
All I wanna do is make love to you
One night of love was all we knew
All I wanna do is make love to you
Say you will, baby, want me too all night long
All I wanna do is make love to you
All night long
All night long
Somebody from the crowd yells “Everything off, honey.” Not wanting to risk losing the money when I’ve already gone this far, I wiggle out of my panties. I mentally count to ten before grabbing my clothes, make a mad dash out of the cage and head for the ladies’ room. Whew, I’ve done it. One hundred dollars, please and I’m outta here. I have a feeling I won’t be short of offers of a ride, either. I get dressed quickly and return to the bar, where the bartender hands me the promised money and an offer of a nightly job, which I politely decline. As expected, I get offered plenty of rides. I look around to see if I can find Mr. Perfection, but he’s nowhere in sight. I guess he wasn’t that impressed after all. Well, I still need a ride, and if I can’t get one with the only guy in this whole dump who I wouldn’t mind jumping me, I better pick someone. I end up choosing a guy who looks the most harmless, or at least the one I think I can take on, should he decide to get perverted.
We head out to his car, passing a broken down camper that looks a quart of oil and one tank of gas away from the junkyard. I don’t realize my fantasy man is sitting behind the wheel watching me as I get into Wilbur’s car. I know, Wilbur - how harmful could he be? Unfortunately, I’m about to find out.