Content Warning: Adult language, Adult themes, Nudity, Sex, Plot

 

---------------------------------------

 

Star felt strangely OK.

 

Sure, she was upset that Dirk had just disappeared on her. Part of her didn't really believe he'd done it. Not really. Like, he was going to come back. He'd have a whole explanation for why he left. He'd tell her how much he needed her and how he couldn't live without her. He'd pay Slim back for the stuff he took. He'd say how sorry he was because he hadn't known that Slim had needed to pay off that cop that very day.

 

Of course, another part of Star was still pissed at Dirk for being a jerk, and she was glad he was gone. Maybe she wouldn't forgive him. Maybe Slim was right. Maybe she did deserve better. A nice guy, who really cared about her. A guy who wouldn't treat her bad. A guy who looked at her, with rich brown eyes, in a way that made her feel warm and beautiful. Whose long fingers called up music...

 

Maybe, Star thought, she should just focus on the moment. The future usually sorted itself out.

 

 

"So, where are we going?" she asked as they walked.

 

"To see Biggie," Slim said. "He'll help us out. At least, he'll have some idea how I can get the money to pay Dupuis. Otherwise, I might have to sell my guitar."

 

"No!" Star gasped. "You can't sell your guitar. I... I'll start hooking, just like Dirk wanted, before I let you sell your guitar."

 

"I'll sell the damn guitar before I ask you to do that!" Slim said passionately.

 

Their eyes locked, heat shimmering between them. Star's whole world narrowed into Slim's rich brown eyes, burning into her. She felt herself blush, the heat spreading across her cheeks, down to her breasts and further...

 

"Well," she breathed. "We'll just have to find another way, won't we?"

 

 

They walked quietly down the street, not quite looking at each other, until they reached a little house not far from the squat.

 

"This is Biggie's place?" Star asked.

 

"His folks," Slim said. "Eric and Mama LeBlanc. They're good sorts. Mama LeBlanc don't even mind having me around, even though my mama was a hooker Eric knocked up. She says that God gave her a sinner like Eric as a husband to test her, like Saint Jacob says. I guess God gave her me, a child of sin, as a test too... but she don't seem to mind it."

 

"I don't think you're a test," Star said softly, giving him a little smile.

 

Slim smiled back. "Well, anyway, " he said, "Biggie's been staying here since he got outta jail. I'm sure he can help us out somehow. Biggie's always got ideas."

 

 

---------------------------------------

 

"Basically, you're fuuh... fairly bad off," Biggie said, wilting slightly under Mama LeBlanc's gaze.

 

Star looked around the little table, in the little house, and couldn't help but smile. She'd met Biggie before, of course. She thought Eric, his and Slim's easy going father, must be like looking into the future and seeing who Biggie would grow into someday. Mama LeBlanc, the family's iron-willed matriarch, reminded Star a lot of her grandmother's friends back home.

 

"Yeah, that's about it," Slim said with a grin, agreeing with Biggie.

 

"I always said that boy Dirk was nothin' but trouble," Mama LeBlanc said. "Didn't I say it?"

 

"You surely did," Eric nodded gravely.

 

"I knew from the start that Dirk was a bad one," Mama LeBlanc continued. "Some men are trial, sent by God to test our faith. That's what the good Saint Jacob says."

 

"That he do, Mama. That he do," Eric nodded again. Star got the feeling that, after years together, the words had become automatic for him. 

 

 

"I'm not surprised he ran off," Biggie said, giving Star an apologetic look.

 

"I'm just surprised he ran off so soon," Slim said carefully.

 

"He owes," Biggie said. "He's got a debt to the Baron. That's why he skipped town last time. If his schemes aren't working, he's better off skipping town again and fast."

 

"The Baron?" Star asked.

 

"Le Baron Criminel," Biggie said seriously. "Big crime boss on this side of town."

 

"There's always been a Baron Criminel in Willow Creek, back since it was just Harborville." Eric said, pronouncing it 'Arbaville. "They say the first Baron was a thief and murderer feared even in a city of pirates. Every cutthroat and killer in the shanties answered to him." 

 

 

"They say he's a conjure-man, a dark sorcerer," Mama LeBlanc said seriously. "That he commands the spirits of the dead and steals life from the blood of those he kills. That he's lived for more than two hundred years..."

 

"Ghost stories," Eric scoffed, the first time Star he seen him disagree with his wife. "He was a man and when he was gone, other men took his name and built on his reputation. Still, the Baron today isn't a man you want to owe for too long. I understand why Dirk skipped out."

 

"Well, it's still ain't right, him leaving a nice girl like Star here, and ripping off poor Slim, even if Slim is a sinner," Mama LeBlanc said passionately. "I pray the Good Lord sees fit to send some trials on that Dirk. He should have a taste of the pain he causes."

 

"Thrice three, so may it be," Star replied, then flushed. "Sorry, it's just something my grandmother used to say."

 

"Oh, Star, you a conjure-woman?" Mama LeBlanc smiled. 

 

 

"No," Star shook her head. "I'm not really. My grandmother, she taught me a few things... herbs and meditation and things... but I'm not a witch. Not really."

 

"You be good to this girl, Slim," Mama LeBlanc said firmly. "Don't do to make a conjure-woman mad."

 

"Yes Mama," Slim smiled. "Now, I could use some help with getting the money for Dupuis."

 

"Well, you could get yourself a real job and a real place to live, for starters," Mama LeBlanc said.

 

"Now what kinda sense does that make, woman?" Eric said. "The boy ain't got money to pay Dupuis now. How's he supposed to get money to pay rent and deposit on a real place in two days time? Ain't no job in the world pay that much in two days time. No honest job anyway, and Slim's an honest boy, 'cept when he ain't."

 

 

"That's the problem," Slim said.

 

"Well, don't worry about it," Eric said. "I got a little money set aside, I can front you. Ought to be enough to keep Dupuis happy."

 

"You got a little money set aside?" Mama LeBlanc said sharply. "You been playin' cards again?"

 

"Don't you worry about that," Eric said. "The money's mine. It's honest and you don't need it to pay bills. So, I can give Slim a loan and he can pay me back when he can pay me back."

 

"I... I wasn't asking," Slim stammered.

 

"Don't you worry about it," Eric said. "Family looks after family."

 

 

---------------------------------------

 

That night, Star lay alone on the pile of blankets that made her bed. Slim had offered to let her have his bed again, but she'd insisted she was comfortable where she was. Honestly, she just didn't feel comfortable asking him to give up his bed. He'd said something about finding a mattress for her. She'd agreed that was a good idea. 

 

Slim was outside now, in the fenced in side yard. She could hear him playing his guitar. Work through his practice set, he called it.

 

The music was soothing, but her mind still raced. She couldn't help thinking about Dirk. He'd run out on her for a reason. He was in debt to a dangerous crime boss. That's why he'd been so desperate to get Biggie to help with his scheme. That's why he'd been so angry when Biggie had refused. That's why he'd wanted her to sell herself. So he could raise the money he needed.

 

 

Would it really be that bad? Star was hardly a virgin anymore. She'd played with a few guys, mostly Dirk or sometimes one of his friends while he watched. She'd played with a few women, mostly while Dirk watched. Sometimes, she and another woman had played with Dirk together. 

 

What would it be like, she wondered, to be with a bunch of guys. Her hands started to roam over her body, squeezing her breast. Sliding between her thighs. 

 

She imagined herself, naked, presenting herself to a group of men. Imagined them looking at her. 

 

Their eyes devouring every part of her body. Their cocks straining against their pants. 

 

Wanting her. Hungry for her. 

 

 

They were naked now. Their firm, muscular, masculine bodies slick with sweat. Achingly hard with lust.

 

Their hands reaching out. Touching her body all over. Wanting her. Feeling her. Possessing her. Hands caressing her belly, making her shiver. Fingers pinching her nipples, sending sparks of pleasure-pain surging through her (as her own fingers were doing). Hands squeezing her breasts, making her moan. 

 

Their cocks in her hands, hard against her fingers. Slick with oozing pre-cum as she stroked them. So hard. Wanting her so much. 

 

Hands on her thighs, pulling her down. A cock parting her pussy. Spreading her open. Spearing into her.  Filling her. Thrusting inside her. Pounding into her with lust. 

 

Wanting her. Taking her. Using her for their pleasure. Her pleasure echoing theirs.

 

She whimpered as she sought that pleasure.

 

 

Unbidden, her thoughts shifted.

 

No more crowd of hungry, lusting men used her. 

 

It was one man. His lean, strong body moving under hers. His hands on her thighs, holding her. His long, nimble fingers moving, feather-light across her legs, sending little quivers of pleasure through her.

 

Her hands on his belly, feeling the tight muscles rippling beneath his golden skin. His hips rising to meet hers. He filled her, stretched her open. Not pounding with violent lust. Not taking with hunger. Slow, but passionate. Drawing pleasure even as he drove into her seeking it. 

 

"Yes," she breathed. "So good. I love this. Don't stop."

 

His strokes were long, deep and firm, full of longing. Full of passion, but restrained.

 

"More," she gasped out. "I love it. Give me more. Please, give me more."

 

 

He moved inside her, as she moved over him. 

 

"More," she moaned, as hands caressed her body.

 

She rode him, taking him deep into her. Showing him what she wanted and responding. His thrusts became urgent, passionate. No hesitation now. No fear. Only pleasure shared between two bodies, holding each other close, moving as one. 

 

"I love..." she cried.

 

The pleasant, wonderful tension mounted within her. Their longing climbing together. United in passion and desire.

 

 

"I... I ..." she panted.

 

The fantasy quivered as reality overwhelmed her. Her fingers moved feverously as she took herself over the edge. 

 

Star's body quaked as, in the very moment her orgasm overtook her completely,  she imagined his eyes - his rich brown eyes, looking into hers with longing. With passion. With love.  

 

"Oh, Slim," she moaned.