Chapter 31: A Taste for Blood — Part 12
Courtship and Closure, Part 5
Opus senses more than sees Arpie and the other two girls at the door, hears Arpie chuckling, hears the women smack him for his insensitivity, each of them whispering in near yells, ending their sentences with statements like, ‘perverted Old Man’, and ‘so shut up already.’ He doesn’t see Anna, who rarely talks, but he sure hopes she’s outside. Mainly because she moves like a creepy little mouse, and seems to be everywhere there’s business that’s not hers. Kimble and Julia are going to put Arpie in a world of hurt before the day is done, and Opus knows it. He knows Arpie and him are going to have a discussion about this sometime later, an important one, and when all is said and done, one that will clear up Arpie’s nosy intrusiveness. He brings his mind back to Beth, concerned with the circumstances of the notion of show and tell. He’s tired of their evesdropping, decides to fix it. He takes Beth’s hand, gives it a squeeze, and draws her toward the stairs.
“Let’s go and talk about this in a more private setting.” Opus says, tugging her toward the stairs.
“Why?” Beth asks, resisting Opus a little, giving in as he answers.
“It’s time we stopped putting it all off, and if you see what’s going on, and will still have me, then Arpie might actually start calling you Beth.” Opus says.
“Stupid Old Man.” Beth says.
Opus ignores her angry outburst. “I’m going to warn you though, this is going to take some practice. If we get up to your room, and things get where they’re going . . . If you don’t like what you see . . . you know . . . You just tell me, okay? We’ll let it all go then. I’m not the best thing in the world to have as a boy friend.”
Beth is listening, Opus knows, because she pauses several seconds before saying anything. “I don’t care what he calls me, the Old Man is going to be long in coming to get his name back.” Beth grumbles as Opus pulls her hand, drawing her behind him, ignoring her initial resistance.
Arpie hears the quiet before the girls do, but in the end, the three of them are left with the knowledge that the conversation has moved location, and every one of them knows right where the words are headed. Kimble opens the door so she can confirm what her ears aren’t telling her. Her head bobs right and left, and when she finds the room empty, she grabs Arpie by the arm and drags him in with her. Julia is in their shadow, but something up and to the left of her causes her to start. She hears the door lock upstairs and the threesome moves with some considerable stealth, getting only as close as she has to hear the sounds on the other side of the door. Arpie, for his part doesn’t say anything. These girls are both curious and nosy and he feels downright wrong, slinking in a hall where somebody could come bursting out at any moment. But the firm grip on his arm reminds him that what he thinks isn’t all that important to Kimble and Julie, so he keeps quiet, and waits. Nobody notices immediately that Anna has left for the kitchen, apparently to make herself some tea.
Beth loses the time walking to her room, her mind returning to her with the click of the lock, the chill brass bringing her back to her senses. She’s locked herself in with Opus, and Opus is undressing her while she stands at the door. He is gentle, unrushed, and thorough. His hands are soft, considerate, and his eyes take all of her with a careful discretion that places his focus on her face. He is trying to be considerate, trying to be the opposite of what every man has ever been to him. He knows this is Beth’s first time, and even though Beth knows all the parts, because they’ve spoken about it from time to time, he knows he has to be careful with her, take some time to get her to relax, especially before things to intimate. Especially since she’s never seen what happens when all the parts are trying to live in one place.
Beth, apparently, is in more of a hurry, and she tears at his shirt, wanting him out of his clothes. He has to wonder if she really wants him, or if she wants to see his body for what it is. Opus wants to tell her to slow down, but she isn’t going to, and he knows it. Her eyes look like the eyes of every man he’s ever known in the bedroom, and once that look comes on, there really is no turning it away without getting things done. Resigned, Opus, lets her take off his shirt and work him out of his pants, pushing him back to the bed. Somehow her clothes are tossed, her breasts free of their bra, her panties hanging on an ankle, and somehow only his boxers remain. The first thing she sees is that there is a small bulge up front, and curious, Beth pulls back the last defense against the truth.
She looks at Opus for a moment, takes in what he has between his legs, and then looks in his eyes. She isn’t smiling, and her expression is drained. She isn’t moving, neither toward the door nor toward Opus. She tilts her head slightly, her focus coming up to look into the eyes of Opus.
“So was there ever another woman?” Beth asks.
Feeling about to cry, Opus stays quiet.
