The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
Chapter 18
They waited by the road as Taloy pulled up. Jumping out of the cab he stared at the orange blaze behind them.
“Holy shit!”
“Taloy...this is Todd Manning...and Tukluk.”
The two men exchanged a quiet greeting in Inuit as Taloy opened the doors to the cab.
“We better get the hell out of here,” he said, “before the fire brigade arrives and starts asking questions. Anybody hurt?”
“No. Luckily the place was empty,” said Tukluk.
Tukluk got into the front beside Taloy as Tea and Todd slipped into the back seat.
As they drove away Todd picked the snow out of Tea’s hair and just stared at her with wonderment as she sat in a puzzled stupor.
“Todd...who was that man, that dead man? He looked just like you, or...you looked just like him. And your hair, it’s so long,” she said, dizzy and dazed, touching his long hair. “I just saw you 8 months ago...and your hair was short...like that other Todd’s was.”
“His name was Gemini. That’s the man you saw 8 months ago. I’ve been in this place for three years, Tea.”
Suddenly all the doubts that had been flying around aimlessly in her head flocked together and confronted her like a hard fist, punching her in the gut with a vicious right hook, hitting an already vulnerable spot again and again. Tea shrank away from him, one eyebrow raised, her mouth opening slowly as her back hit the window. “Oh, no....oh, God, not again,” she whispered to herself.
Tea closed her eyes and in her mind her accusers appeared before her: Del was there, his face angry and disappointed; her abuelita’s angelic face was soured with pity and despair; she saw Carlotta’s self-righteous disappointment in her; and then she saw Blair, laughing and gloating with glorious contempt at her foolishness. “Poor, Tea,” they all seemed to be saying, “poor, pathetic, Tea. She’ll always be Todd’s biggest fool...”
Her eyes flashed open with anger and she started shaking her head slowly and knowingly, a familiar horror filling her.
“STOP THIS CAB! STOP IT, RIGHT NOW, GODDAMNIT!” shouted Tea.
Taloy stopped short as Tea searched for the door handle. Jumping out of the car she began running down the road.
“TEA? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? TEA...WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?” he shouted, running after her, shivering in the frigid air in just a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.
Tea turned around, her face red and bloated with rage.
“I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN, TODD MANNING! IT’S A SCAM, RIGHT? ANOTHER GRAND TODD MANNING PRODUCTION ORCHESTRATED TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME! WELL...GO TO HELL, TODD!! FUCK YOU, TODD...FUCK YOU! I HATE YOU FOR THIS...I HATE YOU...” she shouted running against the stabbing wind to get away from him.
“What the hell are you talking about, Tea? TEA, COME BACK! I’ve been here for three years...” he gasped as the icy wind stung his warm lungs. Catching up to her, he grabbed her by the arm, the fur on her hood whipping around her face in the cold. Tea shoved him away violently.
“YOU FAKER! IT’S FAKE DID ALL OVER AGAIN ISN’T IT! DID YOU DRESS UP SOME CORPSE TO LOOK LIKE YOU, TODD? IS THAT IT? WHAT’S THE PROBLEM THIS TIME, TODD! IS THIS SOME SYMPATHY PLOY TO GET BLAIR BACK? IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT? ARE YOU GOING TO ROW BACK TO HER ACROSS THE ARCTIC OCEAN ON AN ICEBERG TO DECLARE YOU’RE UNDYING LOVE FOR HER AND LEAVE ME BEHIND IN THIS GOD FORSAKEN PLACE, YOU MISERABLE BASTARD!” she screamed, hitting him with her fists and kicking him as he tried to restrain her. Finally he managed to get a hold of her and gripped her tightly.
“LISTEN TO ME! I’VE BEEN HERE FOR THREE YEARS! I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT, TEA! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! THE TODD YOU SAW IN LLANVIEW WAS THAT DEAD GUY, GEMINI! NOT ME!”
Tea was gasping for air, the cold wind burning her face as she stared up at him, riddled with doubts, every instinct telling her to run, every self-respecting fiber in her body raging against him. She felt as if she would disintegrate with one more betrayal.
“IF YOU’RE PLAYING WITH MY HEAD, TODD...I SWEAR...I WILL KILL YOU...I WILL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE AND NOW! I WILL TAKE A BUTCHER KNIFE AND STICK IT IN YOUR FAT, BLACK HEART, TODD! DO YOU HEAR ME?” she screamed, irrationally.
Her anger was more fierce than the wind whipping around them, but as angry as he knew she was, he couldn’t help but smile, watching the puckering vein in the middle of her forehead twitching at him. He loved her like this, missed her like this...shouting with indignation, full of passion and fire. Touching her beautiful, anguished face, he placed his fingers gently over her mouth to stop her from shouting.
“Look at me! It’s me, Tea,” he said quietly, trying to calm her. “Baby...it’s me. It’s Todd. The last time I saw your beautiful face was in Maine...right before you walked out on me and left me a note. It’s me...it’s Todd. It’s the man who gave you that innocuous gift of a scarf before we took off for the Bayberry Inn. The insomniac who once slept for thirteen hours straight while you held his hand after a nightmare. It’s the coward who threw you out naked in a snowstorm because he wanted you so much it scared the living daylights out of him. I’m the idiot who faked an identity disorder because it was the only warped way I could come up with to hold on to you,” he said, taking her face between his hands. “This is the man who came back to Llanview after wandering around like a lost soul for a year to take you away with him because he came to realize you were his whole world. And...you still are. It’s me, Tea. It’s Todd. You’re Todd.”
Tea stared up at him, biting her lip with a nagging uncertainty. Reaching up with a tentative hand, she touched his scar, noticing how faded it was, noticed how pale and transparent his skin had become from being indoors so long. She threaded his long hair through her fingers and suddenly yanked on it viciously.
“Ouch!” he yelped, grinning at her never the less.
“Oh My God! It’s real! You’re hair’s real! This is...this is complete madness...”
“Yeah, I know. Believe me, I know...cause I’ve been living it. Look, I’ll tell you the whole story, only if I keep standing here I’ll probably get pneumonia and die before you hear it all,” he said, his teeth chattering, as his body shivered in the bracing wind.
Todd put his arm around her and led her back to the car, the two men inside looking bemused as Todd and Tea got back inside and closed the door. As the taxi made its way down the rode, fire engines were heard in the distance as they slipped away.
* * * * *
“So...you’re telling me that Todd Manning was a clone?” asked Tea.
Todd and Tukluk nodded as she sat on the chair looking from one to the other.
“Actually, Gemini was the clone, pretending to be Todd Manning,” said Tukluk, as he wolfed down his second steak.
Tea had gotten them all rooms in Tuktoyaktuk. They had told her all they knew, every detail of the saga at the Droll, but Tea was a tough customer and her rational, legal mind had a hard time accepting this science fiction. But, suddenly, so many things seemed to make sense to her about Todd...about the last few years.
Getting up, she walked over to the window and looked out into the icy waters of the harbor, thinking back at all that had happened, all the wasted years. Todd had no idea how their lives had changed, but she had to tell him.
“She’s beautiful,” whispered Tukluk, under his breath.
“She’s more than that...” said Todd, his eyes lingering on her quietly. “She’s everything...”
Tukluk watched them, then got up suddenly.
“Well, I’m going out to celebrate my new found freedom, I have some old friends to look up. I’ll see you two off tomorrow,” he said, heading for the door.
Todd got up and walked over to him.
“Listen...I...uh, pretty much hate everybody, but...you’re alright. I think you’re the first true friend I’ve ever had in my whole life...” he said. “You saved me in that place, man, not just tonight, but all the time you spent listening to all my crap. I’ll never forget that.”
Tukluk embraced Todd as Tea watched. She smiled as the two men separated quickly, embarrassed by their show of affection before Tukluk walked out.
Todd stood by the door watching her, then slowly walked over.
“It must feel good to finally be out of that cell,” Tea said, feeling nervous at finding herself alone with him for the first time.
“The real prison wasn’t being locked in a cell, it was...being locked away from...my life...from you....”
Tea stared up at him, not sure how to respond.
“This...uh...is a strange place...so cold...so remote...like another world. And the constant daylight...it’s so weird...” she said anxiously, making idiotic chit-chat as he stood in front of her, their faces within inches.
“Tea...I...I need to touch you...” he whispered, sensing her anxiety.
Tea held her breath.
“Do you know what a kunik is?” he asked quietly
“No. What is it?”
“It’s an Inuit kiss. Tukluk says it’s more than a kiss...it’s a show of intimacy...a gesture only shared with those closest to you. It’s weird but, they touch noses...like this,” he said, placing his nose side by side with hers and rubbing it slowly, gently in an up-and-down motion. Todd trembled, sensing the heat of her body, smelling the delicious sweetness of her skin and the warm, delicate air emanating softly from her nostrils, warming his face. Increasing the pressure he pressed his nose harder to hers and she gasped a little, their lips just barely grazing one another’s.
“Do you like it...” he said weakly, leaning his forehead against her’s her for support, as if he’d collapse from the closeness.
“Yes. I like it...but...but ,Todd, we...we...need to talk. So much has happened...and I need to tell you...”
“I don’t want to talk...I want...” he sighed, touching her lips with the tip of his finger, his eyes moving from her eyes to her mouth. “My God, I’d forgotten how beautiful your face is, Tea...”
“Todd...” she started to speak but lost her train of thought as he pulled her to him. She fell against him faintly, the joy of being so close to him making her tremble with a vulnerability she’d forgotten and for an instant she found herself on that bridge again, the warning fires raging beneath them as she made her way toward him, defying the risk, forgetting the eminent danger of her blinding love for this man.
They were nervous...and excited, their long separation suddenly becoming apparent.
Tea laughed a little, nervously, but when she noticed he was crying she held him more tightly. “I love you,” he kept whispering in her ear, reciting the phrase like a chant, repeating it over and over like some powerful mantra that hypnotized her into thinking of nothing else but his words...
He began kissing her, his lips trembling as they parted hers slowly, taking her bottom lip and pulling it gently between his, savoring the succulent taste of its smooth, wet fullness. Tea moaned softly as his tongue slipped inside her mouth, its tip touching hers, its length sliding around it as their kiss deepened, expanding the range of contact to its limit. It was his touch that astonished her after all this time, electrifying her instantly, filling her with a dreamy, gaseous excitement, a euphoria that made her lose all reason and forget all the promises she’d made to herself, and to another. But it was more...the call of an old, ancient hunger that needed to be fed.
His hands were everywhere, exploring her, loving her, touching her with an aggressive tenderness that no other man she’d ever known possessed.
They kissed incessantly, hungrily, tasting and swallowing salty tears and sweet saliva, taking as much as they could from the oral contact, but their bodies yearned for more, roaring with an old deprivation. Their legs shook, giving way beneath them as they slipped to the floor, weakened by a conquering urgency that had only one very powerful and singular objective...to be satisfied.
Their mouths were engaged in an endless, breathless kiss as his hands slipped under her red sweater, the feel of her warm skin making him groan softly into her mouth. He mounted her, his hardness pressing through his clothing blindly as they struggled desperately to peel off the layers between them, needing for their skin to touch, for their bodies to touch.
His head burrowed beneath her sweater, his mouth searching instinctively, finding her nipple like a hungry child and latching on to its sustenance. Tea surrendered helplessly to his appetite, his mouth gorging on the swollen flesh of her breasts, his teeth biting on her tender nipples so sharply that she cried out with the searing pleasure that shot through her body like a fiery bullet, aiming at her aching, throbbing sex. It was this primitive hunger she had missed, this imperative carnal need that made her forget that she was a lawyer, and a daughter, and a sister...and only remember that she was a woman.
This was Todd Manning loving her the way she remembered, all savage passion and mindless desire, and with a brutal tenderness that was uniquely his own, greedy and needy for her body, digging inside her in search of her precious love. If she had any doubts that the man who’d made love to her on that island wasn’t Todd Manning, she abandoned them now.
Coming out from under her sweater he leaned against her, breathing hard, exhausted by his own arousal as Tea reached down to help him, trying to unfasten his jeans as her hands shook with mad impatience, their clothing like an old enemy standing between them. “I love you...I love you,” he kept whispering, making her frantic and dizzy. Finally she unsnapped them and pulled down the zipper. Shoving her hand inside she felt his erection come into her hand, hard and primed, dribbling his desire into her palm.
“A-a-a-h-h,” he cried out with animal relief, collapsing beside her in his agony, panting softly into her ear as he moved against her hand mindlessly, aching for her touch and the release he’d been waiting so long for. Reaching up he pulled her face to his crushing his mouth to hers again, their kisses hard and hungry, their tongues thick and wet, wrestling in their slippery passion.
Grunting with effort and frustration, he tugged angrily at her clothing. Loosening her pants, he pulled everything down over her knees, ripping her clothing in his haste. His fingers searched desperately for her hidden flesh, splitting the hot, wet folds of her labia with his fingertips and pressing hard against her raw, tender clitoris.
“Aye...si...amor, si...” Tea cried out in Spanish breathlessly, her thighs parting and rising as he inserted his fingers inside her. Grabbing his wrist with both hands she pushed hard against his fingers, pushing him deeper as her senses exploded into a million pieces.
“Te quiero...te quiero...” she whimpered desperately.
She fell back helplessly as he rose quickly on his hands, grabbing his stiff cock with urgent intent.
“Three years, love, and all I could think of was this moment...” he gasped, thrusting his hips forward and plunging himself deeply into her wet, steamy body as she sighed, her thighs gripping him tightly, her legs folding around his back as she arched sharply against him.
They pushed urgently, plowing deeply into each other, wanting the thunderous conclusion, needing to reach culmination quickly and get back what was robbed from them...the intimacy that had taken them years to achieve so that everything could be right again.
Tea squeezed her entrance tightly around him, wanting to feel every swollen inch of him, every throbbing vein against her insides as he pushed into her, the friction making him groan and shake with each constricted effort. His hair fell over her face as he panted above her, pounding into her delicate body with a helpless brutality she gladly accepted, welcoming each hard thrust with a delicious, little cry of gratitude in his ear, urging him on...wanting his pleasure, wanting his pain...wanting to feel everything again.
“Te-a-a-a-a...” Todd cried out as he peaked, her tight muscles pushing tightly against his burning cock as his hips bucked and jerked involuntarily into her fluttering body .
They gasped, and stiffened, the sharp impact of their orgasm bursting inside them as their loins pressed hard against one another’s, pushing and riding out the beautiful and furious intensity of it all.
He fell on her, gasping for air, still pushing into her, groaning helplessly as Tea laid back with her eyes closed, panting and cooing softly into his ear, hoping this would never end, her feet still pushing into the small of his back to keep him inside her.
They laid there with their eyes closed and their clothing tangled around their limbs, his cock still hard inside her as the throbbing continued sending delicious vibrations throughout their bodies in the aftermath of their hasty lovemaking.
Slowly...their sexual delirium ebbed...and as the thick cobwebs of lust fell away, their sanity returned. Todd finally came to...opening his drowsy, hazel eyes and watching her.
“You’re body is my heaven...” he whispered, kissing the deep hollow beneath her perfect cheekbone tenderly, rubbing his nose against her damp skin as she sighed wantonly, purring like a contended alley-cat. “Your sweet cunt is my heaven...”
“M-m-m-m...” was all she could manage, her wetness still pulsating deliciously against him.
“I love you, Tea...I love you...m-m-m...” he whispered, pushing deeply into her again.
Suddenly, Tea eyes flew open! She looked all around her, instantly realizing where she was, like an amnesiac whose memory suddenly returned. Pulling away from him and sitting up she looked at the two of them and her eyes suddenly filled with tears.
“Oh, no! Oh, no! What have I done? What have we done?”
Todd sat up in a panic as she jumped up and started dressing, pulling her clothes back on quickly...fastening her pants, pulling down her sweater, covering herself with the righteous shame of Eve after mortal sin.
Todd stood up, pulling his pants up nervously, looking confused as her crying turned into outright sobbing. Todd walked over and put his arms around her.
“Baby, what’s wrong? Was I too rough, did I hurt you? Oh, God, Tea...I’m so sorry. It’s just been so long...I’m a selfish pig...I’m a brutal oaf...I wasn’t thinking...”
Tea shook her head, wiping her face.
“No...no. You didn’t hurt me,” she said, looking up into his beautiful eyes, his hair a sensual, tangled mess and the musky scent of his aroused skin tantalizing her senses. Her body still felt raw and aroused... it still wanted his. “I...loved it...I...but, I shouldn’t have let this happen. Todd, things are so different now.”
“No, nothing’s different, and we just prove it! It’s the same...we’re the same. Nobody loves the way we do. Nothing’s changed, Tea...I love you...”
Tea wiped her face and walked over to her bag. Searching through it she found Paul’s engagement ring, the one she’d removed when she got to Alaska. Placing it back on her finger she turned around and showed it to him.
“Yes...everything is different, Todd. I’m getting married in 5 days.”
*****
2003 Copyright by Trog
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