Just Business

Chapter Twenty-Two: David

When Marcia kissed him, it felt like a million fireworks going off all at once. It was a hard kiss, full of hunger and longing. She was all over him, her hands in his hair, her legs wrapped around his own. She enveloped him, completed him.

Without meaning to, David backed Marcia against the wall. She made a soft noise in the back of her throat and he swallowed it eagerly. Her hands rested on his shoulders, then moved to mess with his hair, then back to his shoulders. She was thinking too hard, distracted as she was unsure what to do with them. David wanted her there with him, in the moment together. So he took her hands, moving them above their heads and pinning them in place against the wall. It made Marcia arch her back, pressing herself into him like a brand.

The thought made him want to mark her. Reluctantly, David broke their lips apart, kissing down her jawbone and finding her neck.

"David," Marcia moaned as he bit into the place where her neck met her collarbone. She tasted of salt from the bluest, clearest sea. She threw her head back as he worked, allowing him full access to her.

David pulled back, inspecting his handiwork. Her lips were swollen, and were slightly parted, letting out small pants. The mark on her neck was the burgundy of the wine they had shared. It filled him with pride to see how he had undone her, and made him happy to see he could affect her the way she had been affecting him for weeks. It hadn't been fair when he was the only one being pulled apart, but now he could return the favour, one lick and tease at a time.

"Fuck Marcia," David breathed. "You're stunning."
"David," she whimpered. He rested their foreheads together, the shared air between them small and warm.

"What do you want, baby?" he asked, whispering his words right into her ear.

"David . . ."

"Tell me. Tell me and I'll do it, I'll do anything."

"Kiss me," she pleaded.

And God, did he obey. Her mouth opened to take him in, humming gratefully. He picked her up, wrapped her thighs around his middle and walked the pair of them to the bed. Laying her down, David stood to admire the sight of her. When he kissed her again, it was softer, gentler. His hands skimmed up and down her body, mapping and memorising every one of her curves.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted this," he whispered into her ear. She froze beneath him, and David felt horror in his gut. He pulled away.

"David," his name was harsh on his own ears, so different to the way she was saying it just moments before. It was now short and sharp, plosive d sounds stabbing into him. "I can't do this."

He got up, somewhat stupefied.

"Why?" he asked, his voice on the verge of breaking. He saw tears glittering in her eyes. "Marcia, what did I do? Please, let me fix it. Tell me what I did."

"It's not something you did, but something you will do."

She was crying now, her words strained and painful. Everyone of them was a dagger through David's heart.

"I won't leave you," he promised, desperate. "I won't leave, I won't hurt you, I won't do anything but try and make you happy."

"How can I trust you?" she sobbed. "I want to. I want to so badly. I keep nearly doing it, getting myself to the brink before I remember I can't. I can't when I know you're trying to take Turners."

"Take Turners?"

The accusation hit him like a tsunami. Feelings rushed through him, confusion, anger, desperation. "I'm not trying to do that. I wouldn't."

"Mrs Chally said someone else is trying to buy my shop," Marcia said bitterly. "Who else would it be but you?"

He wanted to be upset that she would suspect him, but he could not in good faith when he had thought the same of her. He looked back over their relationship, the dance around one another. Her coming to him, then pulling away. Was this why? He wanted to laugh. He wanted to cry. He wanted to hold Marcia and promise her everything would be okay.

"I got that message as well. Someone is trying to take The Raven, and I thought it was you. It's why I applied for the show. To get the money to buy the location outright." David fell to his knees in front of Marcia, holding his hands out to her. "Even if it was me, I couldn't do it anymore. I could never do anything to hurt you."

Marcia stilled. She looked into his eyes, searching for any hint he was lying.

"It's not you?" she asked, a small ray of hope piercing her tone.

"No."

She laughed, wiping her eyes.

"Fuck," she said, finally taking his hands. "Fuck."

"We both suspected each other," David said. He pulled her hands to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. They laughed together, leaning so their foreheads touched. She pecked his mouth, the action full of promise and apology.

"I'm sorry I killed the mood," she whispered.

"Don't be," he whispered back. "Do you want me to put on a film?"

He went to stand.

"No," she said as he stood. She took a hold of his wrists, holding him in place. "Don't leave."

He nodded, climbing into bed next to her. He wrapped his body around hers, holding her as the tears subsided.

"I'm sorry," she said, stroking his face.

"I told you, you don't need to be."

"Not about that. About suspecting you. About not talking to you."

"I didn't talk to you either," David replied.

"Still, I feel awful now. Blaming you for all those weeks."

"Let's make a promise then," David said, breathless as the idea pulled together in his mind.

"A promise?"

"A promise to not let something like this happen again. A promise to communicate, to talk things through if something is upsetting one of us . . . That way we won't waste any more time."

"Time?" she asked, smiling at his excitement.

"Marcia, I've been wanting you in my arms since I met you. The fact that I could have had you here sooner isn't sitting right with me, especially over something as stupid as us not talking to each other. So we need to promise that we won't do it again."

David held up his pinky between them. Marcia took it, bringing their interlocked hands to the best so they were looking at each other again.

"You know," she said, her eyes fixed on him in a way that made him feel warm. "Promises are much stronger when they're sealed with a kiss."