The Last Night

"You think so?" I questioned as I looked at Nicky incredulously. "What do you mean by you think so?"

"I'm still working out all the details but I've made some arrangements in the last few days just in case."

"What type of arrangements?"

"I'll let you know more once I get them all firmed up," Nicky said.

Nicky got out her phone and called her boyfriend/boy-toy Kurt and arranged a meeting that afternoon. Nicky liked the bad boys and Kurt was bad boy if there ever was one. He was always without a job but never without money, sometimes gone for weeks at a time for no apparent reason, often carried a pistol, never with an explanation, and he associated with a lot of shady individuals. Kurt had a mysterious past and a dangerous present. Devastatingly handsome with keen sense of humor, smooth talking, and wickedly enchanting eyes, Kurt Talbert wasn't the type of man you took to your mother; he was the type of man you took to your bed.

Kurt loved Nicky and really knew how to treat her right. When Nicky was with him, he was a dream. Unfortunately, the problem with Kurt wasn't while Nicky was with him; the difficulties in the relationship was occurred when she wasn't around. Kurt had problems keeping his affections limited to just one woman, even Nicky. It's what caused the relationship between the two to be on again, off again. Half the time she was curled up next to him naked in his bed and half the time she wasn't speaking to him at all. Nevertheless, despite his philandering, Kurt was like a drug for Nicky; he was utterly intoxicating; an enchanting addiction that she couldn't quite completely kick.

When Kurt came in the office and saw us in collars he was devastated. Nicky tried to kiss him but Kurt became emotional and refused, wanting instead to know what happened and how he could help. Nicky asked Kurt for a loan. Although he emptied out his wallet and offered everything he had, Kurt didn't have nearly enough. Kurt liked the good life and spent money liberally on women. As a result, money had difficulty staying in Kurt's wallet for long. As they hugged and began to cry, I gave Nicky and Kurt space and went back to my own office.

Half an hour later, I heard Nicky's office door open again as she was escorting Kurt out. Stopping just outside our office in the hall, I caught a glimpse of Nicky giving Kurt a kiss. Nicky could kiss a man with a passion like no woman I'd ever seen and she tightened Kurt's pants with one of the steamiest embraces imaginable.

"What's going on?" Lori asked me.

"It looks like Kurt might get lucky tonight."

"I can see that," Lori said, agitated by my answer. "I'm talking about Ultra. What are you going to do if you don't get the loan from Attila in time?"

"I don't know," I said to Lori. "I'm leaving that up to Nicky."

I wouldn't have trusted Lori with the details of our plan even if I knew what the details were. All that I was sure of was that Nicky had a plan and that Kurt was part of it. When it came to secrets, no one was better than Nicky. She even treated me on a need to know basis. Nicky would tell me only what I needed to know and nothing more. I didn't like being kept in the dark but it was just the way Nicky operated.

Although Nicky and I laid beside each other in bed that night in our one room apartment, sleep didn't come easily and we spent the night talking, mostly of the good times we'd had together.

Every half hour or so I'd check the window to see if the slavers had left but the gray van was always there. Usually, Mr. Davis was scanning the premises with night vision binoculars while Mr. Rodrigues was studying a laptop. Finally the tension got to me.

"Let's just get dressed and make a break for it right now," I said. "Those guys must be near twice our weight and twenty years older. They can't possibly be faster than we are. Let's just run for it."

"We can't run tonight," Nicky said. "If we leave this place in the middle of the night the slavers will be all over us and the streets will be empty. They'll be no way to lose them in traffic. There's nothing open and nowhere to go. And besides, if we don't get rid of these collars, they can track us. It'd be like wearing a cowbell around our necks."

"I guess you're right but this waiting is killing me."

"Any window of opportunity we have will be losing them in the morning rush hour traffic. Anyway, I don't have everything in place yet."

The fact that Nicky didn't have everything in place didn't make me feel good but I knew she would want to talk about it so I said nothing. All that I could hope for is that the missing parts of our escape plan were minor details which could be easily remedied in the morning otherwise we'd probably be in shackles before breakfast.

Dressed for bed, I wore only a t-shirt and panties while Nicky wore only wore a man's shirt, one of Kurt's, and a pair of Kurt's boxer shorts. Nervous and in serious need of some affection, we snuggled together and held each other, the anxiety causing an intimacy between us that we'd never known before. We confessed to each other our innermost secrets and fears and we told each other things that we'd never confessed to anyone before.

Then it happened. Carelessly, in a moment of weakness, I kissed Nicky. I didn't mean to, it just occurred. I don't know how I fell in love with Nicky; I don't know why I fell in love with my best friend; I don't even know when my feelings changed for her. All I know is when I first noticed that my attraction with Nicky as a friend turned into both a romantic and sexual infatuation.

It was during a heat wave last summer, the air conditioning broke, and we didn't have money to fix it. We shared a double bed in our tiny apartment and, in the stifling heat, we started sleeping in just our panties. One night awoke and stared at Nicky sleeping, sweaty and nearly naked. She was stunning, absolutely irresistible, both mentally and physically, and I was overcome with a longing to cuddle up against her gorgeous body and never let it go. I wanted her emotionally, physically, and even sexually. At that moment, I realized I craved her not only as my friend but as my lover and that I was completely obsessed with her.

I wanted to slide my head between her legs, tickle her sex with my tongue, and pleasure her as no woman has ever been pleasured before. I wanted to spoon up against her, hold her in my arms, cup her breast in my hand and hold her as if I would never let her go. And I wanted to kiss her, the way she kissed Kurt, the way lovers kiss. I wanted her mind, body, and soul. I wanted her so bad it was like a fire burning inside me, a thirst that only she could quench. But did she want me back? If I confessed my love for her, it could, and probably would, scare Nicky away.

The thought frightened me and I tried to suppress my feelings for Nicky. It was too risky. Although Nicky, knew that I was bi, it never seemed to bother her. She didn't mind dressing around me or sharing a bed. But, Nicky had always been exclusively heterosexual and I had no reason to believe that she'd be receptive to my advances. If she found out that I had a romantic interest in her, particularly an obsession, it could ruin our friendship forever, and I couldn't bear that. So I did my best to hide my desires and stick to being just her best friend.

I knew my lust for her was wrong and wished it weren't so but I couldn't help it. I had been delighted having Nicky only as a friend and that friendship was the most important thing in the world for me. I knew all too well that my obsession for her threatened it and I tried in every way I could to banish any sexual or romantic passion I had for Nicky but it was no use. I was in love.

Living with the love of my life in a small one room apartment and sleeping with Nicky in the same bed but all the while keeping my love for her a secret was hard. I tried not to look at her when she was naked or underdressed, least she see the lust in my eyes. I tried not to listen when she flirted with Kurt, least she see my envy. I tried not to stray too close to her in bed, least I touch her or snuggle against her. It was like being famished at an all you can eat buffet of the most delicious food in the world and feigning indifference. It was enough to drive me crazy at times and yet I wouldn't live anywhere else for any amount of money.

But, in a moment of weakness, distracted by the fear of our impending slavery and by the possibility of losing Nicky forever, craving some physical affection, and emotionally distraught, I let down my guard, forgot what I was doing, and kissed her. Terrified, I stammered to explain but couldn't come up with any words. Of all times, I couldn't afford to lose Nicky tonight.

"I, I, I'm sorry," I stammered. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I'm so sorry."

Nicky wasn't upset; she wasn't repulsed; she didn't even seem at all surprised; she seemed as if she knew. Nicky just gave me a quick kiss back to soothe me, stroked my hair, cuddled up against me, held me, and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"It's alright," she said in her calmest of voices but I cried anyway.

"I don't want to lose you," I said.

"I'm not going anywhere without you," Nicky said and she hugged me tight. "You're way too important to me. We're going to get through this together."

We held each for another hour, mostly in silence, before sometime in the night, exhaustion overtook me, and I fell asleep.