C4 antho - Chamber Four

~164~ The Chamber Four Fiction Anthology
“Hurry,” she whispers, wagging her hips, pressing
against him. “It’s cold.”
“Here?” he says.
She looks back at him, her face inverted, framed in her
armpit. The dashboard lights glitter in her eyes. “We can’t go
to my house,” she says. “I got kids.”
Wyatt slips out of his jacket, pulls at his belt, loosens the
buckle. The dragon appears to writhe on the dusky canvas of
her skin. Wyatt’s throat tightens. Bursts of light fill his eyes,
and he slumps backward against the door.
Mel turns her face toward him. “You feeling OK, sweetie?
You don’t look so good.”
“It’s just the weed...the combination,” he says, blinking.
“I need a minute.” He leans across her, resting his head for a
moment between her shoulder blades. After taking a few
breaths, he puts his palms on her shoulders and lets them
slide down the curves of her waist. “I’m not a big fan of tattoos,”
he says, “but I could get used to this.”
She lowers her face until her cheek rests against the seat,
lifts her rump again. “What do you got against tattoos?” she
says.
He ponders an explanation, his thoughts growing vivid
and disordered. “Nothing, really. I guess I’m just kinda oldfashioned,”
he says. “They’re OK, but I’d never want my
daughter to get one, you know? There’s nothing skankier
than some old grandma with a tattoo that’s gone all faded
and blue and shit.”
Mel stiffens. She turns to face him, glaring. “Skanky?”
she says. “Really?”
Wyatt looks at her dumbly. Her hand flicks and he
flinches, turning his face aside. He expects a slap, but she
catches him high on the cheekbone with a hard fist, lands a