Scarlet Springs (Ari Levinson) AU - 18+

11

Margot 

Ari comes back with a bottle of whiskey and pack of cigarettes, lighting one and then passing it to me. I inhale it, feeling jittery but turning more relaxed with every blow of smoke I let out. I'm wearing his t'shirt while he just settles for his underwear. It's always a nice sight, and one I'm seeing more frequently since this started to become the new normal for us. 

Where he threw my panties is the last thing that's on my mind right now though. Needless to say that my revelation about Davy was a cock block, but I need to talk to someone. I can trust Ari, I've come to realise that now, and it's not because I'm drunk on dick. It's because that whilst the sex is an employee bonus, Ari actually listens to me, what I have to say. He doesn't ever question me. Well, aside from now because he wants to know everything.

And I will tell him.

"Looks better on you" He jerks his chin to the t'shirt and I smirk.

"I thought you'd have said it would look better off?" 

He grins, cigarette between his teeth and then removes it to let it smoulder a moment. "Perhaps just this once I can allow myself to think something would be better on". Sitting back against the headboard, he takes a drag. "So...that's the reason you're running...you think that your boyfriend is gonna kill you".

"I know he is". I say, almost scarily calm about it. But I know that I'm safe here. Scarlet Springs is quiet, relaxed and as a result it's rubbed off on me - so has the owner.

"Wanna tell me why?" He suggests. I suddenly feel very ashamed now, having to talk about it all. Ari could now decide to judge me for my life choices. But they were never really mine to make anyway. This is the most freedom that I've felt and had in a long time. "Hey...Margot, it's ok. You take your time. If you don't wanna talk then I'm never gonna push you to". He notes my prolonged silence. 

I nod and then painfully start with the obvious. I tell him about being forced into stripping at Davy's club, wanting to leave but never quite having the balls to until that night I ran. I tell him about the drugs, the other illegal trade he was caught up in. The man I was never supposed to see murdered by my boyfriends hand....
"The police are just as corrupt, Davy has them under his thumb. This is why he's never been caught in his dealings. He has ties from state to state. He has eyes everywhere, and he's looking for me".

Ari sits and listens, eyes fixed on me as he finishes his cigarette. He's thinking, I can tell because I've seen that look a few times when we lie in bed together. It's after I've asked him a question. "Jeez..." He mutters and scrubs his face with his hand. "You're certain he'll kill you?"

"Maybe not right when he or someone else finds me, but eventually he will. I was always told to keep my nose out, but I wasn't supposed to be there that night. I'd come back to the club get something and to ask Davy what time he'd be back. Guess I shouldn't have bothered". I take a swig from the bottle of whiskey I've been sharing with Ari, passing it back and forth between us as I've told him the whole story. "He may be -have been- my boyfriend, but he's never trusted me, never acted as a boyfriend should aside from being possessive. He did at the start, but then he changed. To him I became the pretty face he can whore out to big clients. One flash of my tits and they sign on the dotted line".

He chuckles. "Hey, if I were a client then I'd be signing too". Then he turns serious. "But seriously, all that? Just because you accidentally saw something? I can see why you needed to get outta there. And I'm glad you did". Sitting up, he takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. "I won't let that bastard find you, let alone lay a single finger on you. I promise".

"What if he does?" I ask quietly, a little afraid to one day just find Davy stood in the car park because someone in town saw me. So much as a simple slip up could have me sent back.

Ari shrugs. "Then I'll be putting a bullet in him myself".

"Could be bad for business". I joke lightly, knowing that business is there but scarce. I'm kinda happy that the place is quiet though. Less exposed, just as I've been. I'm able to walk freely around the motel but obviously get cautious when visitors arrive. I usually keep to my room or emerge after hours until they're gone. Lately I haven't really seen my room, because most of the time I've been in Ari's apartment.

"Right now you're my business". He replies and coaxes me to him. I mould against his body while one of his arms wraps around me, the other taking a swig from the whiskey bottle. "Over my dead body that fucker will set foot here". I hear him mutter and then feel the kiss that's pressed to my hair.

My fingers trace his body, grazing over the rock hard muscles and down between his legs. "I don't want to think about him anymore". I admit, wanting all images and thoughts of Davy to vanish once and for all. "All I want is to just live my life without constantly looking over my shoulder. But I know it's what I'm going to have to do".

"No, it's not". He states and toys with my hair. "Because you're gonna stay here, he's never gonna find you, and if at any time you want out? Want to leave? Then you can - but just know that you're safe here. You always will be if I'm around".

The look he sports is a determined one. He truly means this. To keep me safe, and though the idea of living my life in a motel isn't something I planned on - it's enough, especially if he's here with me.