TIGERLILLY- THE BRAVO BOYS [book two]

Chapter TWENTY FOUR

River O'riley

.. THE NIGHT OF THE FULL MOON ..

"Hey River.. Why don't you come talk to me baby?" Aspen crooks a seductive finger at me, beckoning from a nearby table with bouncy brunette curls and glitter covered double Ds..

"Maybe later, Aspen.." I wink, holding my drink up in appreciation of the way she moves, unwilling to offend her since I have no intention of talking to her..

"Well well well.. If it isn't my most favourite Marine!" Melody's lusty coo and warm breath meets my ear as she slinks up behind me like a spider and I turn to see her gothic vision.. Long lean limbs and glossy black hair, The Foxxy Madam is all theatrics and her unique appearance makes her look like a comic-book villain dressed in tight black latex.. She's scary sexy..

"I bet ye' say that to all the jarheads!" I grin, as she pulls me into a serpentine embrace.. "Ya look fine, Mel."

A confident smirk crosses her deep purple painted lips.. "Thanks for noticing.. Come on, let's get a drink somewhere a little more private, Private!" Melody laughs..

"Yes mam'!" I follow her through the crowd to her office in the back..

She shuts the door to her velvet lined dungeon, locking me inside with her.. The Mistress turns, pressing herself back against the plush wall with a flirtatiously dramatic sigh.. "Oh River darling, tell me tonight is the night you finally give in to me.."

Melody has been chasing me for a while now, really I think she enjoys the pursuit more than anything else for the amount of passes she's made..

Of course I like it, being appreciated.. But Mel is into total tyranny and has a no tolerance policy. Her subs submit everything and to play with her means to get it nowhere else.. Something I haven't got in me to concede.. At least not to her..

I can submit sure, but I won't be dictated to outside the confines of the bedroom or tied to one post alone. My life is my own and giving it up isn't what gets me off..

No fucking way.

I laugh.. "You're too much woman for me, Mistress.. I just can't take it..'

She giggles.."Oh, you naughty little-minx, don't tease me with talk like that!

I grin.. "I'm not playin' your damn games, Mel.. It's not me you're lookin' for.."

She smiles in defeat, though her dark eyes still sweep over my chest and down to the zipper of my jeans.. "Okay, fine.. But you know, I'd take such good care of you.. Your special, River.. Not quite a unicorn, but the very next best thing.. Truly.. Everything I look for in a sub.."

Yeah right..
I'm perfect for her, minus the commitment kink.. The woman is possessive alright!

Still, I take the compliment and give her something in return.. "Thank you, Mistress.. You're one hell of a Madam.."

She smiles in satisfaction.. "I really am.. So.. If you're not here to let me have my wicked way with you, what do you want, darling?"

Keeping the flirtatious tone going since it seems to be working, I press my luck.. "Well, I was kind of hopin' you'd do somethin' else for me.."

Melody frowns.. "Oh? Does this have something to do with Amberley? Because I really don't want to get involved with--"

I force myself to do what I came here to do, to be a bigger person.. To be good.. For Lovey.. For Lilly.. "Ney, Mel.. Just listen--I know she fucked up, and It was rite' decent of you to give her another chance.. I guess I'm askin' you not to give up on her.. Don't let the other girls tear her down on account of what happened.. She doesn't deserve that.. Last thing I want is her leavin' this place to work the street.. She's safer here.."

"Well.." Melody sits in stunned shock.. "I was not expecting you to say that.."

I smile.. "I know ye' have yer' rules, and I know she breaks 'em all the damn time.. But she's my baby mama.. I gotta look out for her.. Dont I?"

Melody nods slowly, the nasty scars on her fine face barely visible beneath her heavy makeup.. "Yes.. I suppose."

I frown.. "Is that yes like I'm right, or yes you'll do it?"

She fusses out of her latex gloves, finger by finger.. "Yes, I'll do it.. Amberley can stay.. But you have to tell me, River.. What do you see in her?"

I think for a minute.. "I dunno, s'poze I see me'self.. Except-- she's so much more afraid of what she is and she'll never let you know it.. She thinks she's gotta be tough.. No matter what.."

Melody sighs, an almost pained breath of irritation and something else.. "That makes a lot of sense.."

I swear to god, I'd know that passive aggressive snark anywhere..

Mistress Melody is jealous..

"Uhh, Mel-- did-- did something happen between you two?" I narrow my stare, watching the vein in her throat pulse as she holds everything inside, her mouth stitched shut all of a sudden..

In her silence , she answers my question.. "Jeezus Christ--"

"It was after she stopped taking your calls." Melody reasons, as if that is supposed to make it better somehow..

"Is that why she stopped?"

Melody picks up a bottle of clear coconut scented oil and begins to rub herself down, making her costume so shiny it gleams.. "I don't know.. I didn't tell her not to talk to you.. And I told her to tell you.. I broke all my own rules for her."

Why should I give a shit if Mel and Amberley have been fucking?
Nah.. It's not even that..

It's that Melody must have known so much more than she let on.. She must have known Amberley was running around the streets and getting high while she was pregnant with MY fucking kid.. All the while smiling to my face and lying like a dog in straw.

Instead of telling me, Melody kept her mouth shut..
She didn't tell me shit..
Nobody tells me shit..

"Awe, C'mon Mel! What a load of shite-- Did you know she was usin' again?" I hate being made to look like such an idiot, over and over again..

How am I supposed to repay Amberley's inconceivable actions with kindness when I don't even know the full extent of her lies..
Who else has lied to me for her?
I wouldn't fucking know!

She closes her eyes.. "Not at first."

Irritation begins to agitate in my guts once again, my mood turning sour as something else becomes clear to me.. "For fucks sake, Mel.. You fuckin' knew?!" I rise to my feet.. "Fuck it.. Maybe she should be your problem then.. Cus she doesn't wanna be mine.." I rage internally, calmly crossing to the door.. Feeling stupidly betrayed..

"I tried to figure her out, River.. Surely you of all people can understand how difficult that task is.. I didn't know the baby was yours, she wouldn't tell me." Mel calls her pointless excuses after me..

Her words don't make me feel any better..
"Nah, but you shoulda known I wouldda done somethin' about it anyway.. More than you did, lettin' her treat herself like that.."

Mel actually looks on the brink of tears, but she doesn't cry.. "I don't own them, River.. The girls.. I try to guide them, love them, and keep them safe.. But I can't actually control them."

I shake my head at her, disappointed to see the faults in what I had thought was a friendship.. "Ney, but ye' control yer'self, don't ya?"