This is a work of fiction, using characters from the film, “Rough Magic”.  No insult or invasion of privacy or infringement of copyright is intended. The story is for readers over the age of 18 only, and contains adult language. The writer is not responsible for any "discomfort" caused to the reader by this language and these situations.

Kissing Bernadette

by Darrin Lee Hutton

©02/2003

Alex Ross stared up at the ceiling fan.  His eyes followed the circular motion without realizing how hypnotic it was.  He was holding the little ceramic bowl he had retrieved from the bomb site in Japan against his chest, fingering the burnt side absently.  His mind wandered through thoughts of home, thoughts of Los Angeles, thoughts of the lonely solitude in which he found himself.

After completing a surreptitious assignment for his employer in LA, he had headed back down to Mexico, to this horrid little inn, well off the beaten track.  Money in his pocket, but nowhere to go, he retreated, as always, from everything.  Mexico was an anonymous haven he loved.

How did I get here? he wondered for the hundredth time.  It wasn’t a question he could readily answer.  Just a nagging pain he had learned to live with as he wandered through his life after the war.

He sighed.  Reached for the tequila bottle on the floor and took a long swig.  When his stomach growled, he decided he’d ignored his hunger for long enough and headed out to the cantina across the way from the hotel for some food.  And more tequila.

The first thing he noticed about the leggy brunette who walked into the cantina after he’d pushed his plate away from him to concentrate on the bottle of tequila, was her long hair.  It shone in the dim lighting.  And bounced softly against her shoulders.  The next thing he noticed was the haunted look on her face.  But finally, he found he couldn’t pull his eyes away from her legs that she displayed unknowingly when she sat down at the bar and her split skirt fell open, revealing a stockinged thigh.  It had been such a long time since he’d seen a woman’s thigh let alone done anything about it, that in his inebriated state he found himself wandering over to the bar and sitting one stool over from her, just to be nearer to her.

“Buy you a drink?” he said, amazed at his ability to speak clearly.

“I can buy my own drinks, thank you,” she said in a sultry voice that quickened his cock to raise against his hip.

“An independent woman.  Not too many of those around here.”

“I imagine you would know that from experience.”

“Experience is overrated.  I’m just observant.”

“Yeah, I figured you weren’t a man of action, judging by your laconic nature.”

“We just met and you’re judging me already?”

“I’m observant, too.  Is that your first bottle of booze of the night or are you making a career out of getting liquored up?”

“If it paid, I’d be set for life.”

“Honey, there’s set for life and then there’s living in the gutter.  You another one of those ambitionless assholes?”

“Just tryin’ to get by, sweetheart.”

“Well, you can ‘get by’ somewhere else.  I’m not interested.  I left your kind behind me a long time ago.”

Alex turned back to his drink, painfully aware of the state he was in, else he’d have gotten up to return to his table.  Everything about her was getting to him in a way that surprised him deeply.  He hadn’t been gotten to in a long time.  The tequila in his belly forced him to take another stab at her.  But as he turned to try, she spoke.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

Alex sputtered then recovered and said, “Why?”

“Because you look like a sweet man who was just trying to make conversation.”  She sighed heavily.  “Were you?”

Alex wrestled with his physical reaction to her before he answered.  “For starters,” he admitted finally.

“Well, try again.”

Alex grinned.  “Okay.”  He signaled the bartender over.  “Another of whatever the lady’s having,” he said.

She jiggled her glass at the bartender and said, “Vodka.”

“I’m Alex Ross,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Bernadette,” she said, shaking his hand.

“Bernadette what?”  Alex liked the way her name felt on his tongue.  Wondered hazily how other parts of her would feel against his tongue.

“Just Bernadette,” she replied mysteriously.

Alex decided not to press the issue.  “So what brings a pretty lady like you all the way down here?”

“I was in the neighbourhood,” she replied with a bitter laugh.

“Tough neighbourhood to find yourself in.”

“Better than the one I left behind.”

She wants to talk about it, he realized suddenly.  Just needs me to say the right things.  Don’t fuck this up, Ross.

“Sorry to hear that,” was all he could come up with.

They sat in companionable silence for a while.  Each lost in their thoughts, drinking their respective “leave your world behind” potions.

Suddenly, she downed hers and turned to him.  “Do you have a room?  Nearby, I mean.”

“Y-yes, across the way,” the words were surprised out of him.

He didn’t know what to expect and was floored when she replied, “Then take me there.  Now.  Before I change my mind.”

Alex threw a bunch of money onto the bar and escorted her to his hotel room.  He fumbled with the key, nervous.  Managed to get the door open and then closed behind her before she drew him in for a kiss.

A surprisingly gentle kiss.  One that he was hard-pressed to remember ever having experienced its like before.  Her hands in his hair, his hands pulling her to him at her hips.  Lips tenderly parted as he nudged his tongue into her mouth.  Feeling exotically romantic as he explored her mouth, enjoying just the kiss, no thought as to what may come after.  Just holding her to him, kissing her.  Kissing Bernadette.

She pulled away from him.  His body immediately ached for her return.  She took off her jacket and put the purse tucked under her arm on a table, draping the jacket over a chair back.  She pulled something out of her purse.

“You’re going to need this,” she said, handing him a small, foil-wrapped item.

“I have my own,” he couldn’t help the smile.  If he had been sober, he might have realized the sudden lack of decorum their behaviour had, but as it was he was drunk.  And drunk, he accepted what was happening as simply what they both needed.

“Then we’ll use yours,” she said easily.  And stepped back into his embrace, pushing his jacket from his shoulders, then tossing his fedora onto the table with the tiny packet, leaving him to take care of his jacket.

His mind whirling with the sudden, irresistible need for her, Alex pulled Bernadette to him and unbuttoned her blouse with one hand.  As her flesh came into view he kissed it ardently, wanting to make her feel needed.  Because through his haze, he still managed to understand that maybe she hadn’t been made to feel that way in a long, long time.  Kissed the tops of her breasts as he let her blouse fall to the floor behind her.  Felt her nipple rise into his palm as he gently kneaded her breast.  Watching her eyes close against his touch.  Feeling her hips undulate slightly into his.  Hearing her whisper his name, kissing her moist, parted lips again, needing her.  Needing Bernadette.

Now pushing her towards the bed, tenderly laying her down before him, Alex knelt, his legs on either side of her, following her down, still locked in that kiss that he couldn’t get enough of.  He parted from her briefly to gaze at her, a small smile on his face.

She placed a hand on the side of his face, the tough woman who had walked into the bar gone, now replaced by a sweet girl who only wanted one thing from him.  Something he had only needed to be asked for to give in abundance.

“Love me, Alex.”

A soft grunt escaped his throat.  He wanted to.  More than anything.  He removed the rest of their clothing slowly.  Wanting to make this last as long as possible.  When they were both naked, she touched him, drawing in a sharp, appreciative breath at his size.  Alex roamed his hands in deep caresses over her body.  Finally moving to where he had wanted to be all along.  Finding her so abundantly wet, he drew in his own abrupt gasp.

“Bernadette, you want me so much.  What –“

“Shh, just love me, Alex.  Please.”  She placed a slender finger on his lips.  He kissed it.

Alex nudged her legs apart after putting the condom on his cock.  She opened to him languidly, her own smile now curling her lips, showing the dimples he didn’t know she’d  had.  He pushed the head of his cock against her, eliciting a soft moan from her as he touched her hard little nub.  Allowing his fingers to continue rubbing her, he guided himself to her wet slit.  Then pushed in gently.  Still, she groaned at his girth.  He made to pull back, but she grabbed at his hips and pushed hers up at him so he suddenly found himself completely cocooned inside her, both of them thrumming against the other.  He thrust into her, the friction of her walls against his length driving him mad with desire.  A desire to love her.  Loving Bernadette.

In and out of her.  Slowly.  Building up their heat, feeling her tip over as his fingers kept up their movement at her hard bundle of nerves.  Smiling at her harsh moans as she called out her coming to him.  Taking her back down and then returning her to that edge, keeping her there until she screamed at him to release her.  Letting her go.  Driving into her more forcefully now, needing his own release.  Hearing her in his ear as he laid down on top of her, urging him on, telling him to come, to complete himself with her.  Alex could feel the blood rush through his body, into his cock and suddenly spurting, surprising himself with his coming.  Not thinking of anything else other than the woman in his arms.  The woman wrapping her legs around him to make it last.  Coming hard with her.  Coming with Bernadette.

Breathe, Ross, breathe, he thought to himself.  It had felt cataclysmic.  Coming with a woman after months of solitude.  He could hear Bernadette’s harsh breathing in his ear, her heart pounding fast against his chest.  He rolled over, pulling her with him, feeling his cock slide out of her, hurriedly removing the condom and tossing it into a small trash bin next to the bedside table.  Then wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her again, feeling her hesitate as he tried to go back to the sensation of their first kiss.

“You…you still want to kiss me?”

Alex smiled at her as she raised herself from him, gazing down with a puzzled look on her face.  “Of course.  Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because…men…don’t…”  She couldn’t finish.  He could see tears well up and spill over onto her cheeks.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he whispered and pulled her back down to rest her head on his chest.  He gently stroked her hair away from her face as she wept.  Whispering softly to her, telling her it was okay, she could cry all she wanted as long as she stayed in his arms.  This made her weep even more.  She curled up around him, letting him hold her, making him happier than he was when she’d apologized to him in the bar.  Comforting her.  Comforting Bernadette.

Long moments later, he could feel her sobs subside, little hitching breaths escaping her rhythmically.  She had fallen asleep against him.  He gently moved her onto the bed and spooned into her, left arm under her neck, right arm tight around her waist.  Breathing in the scent of her hair as he felt himself drift off as well, holding her close.  Holding Bernadette.

Deep into the night, Alex woke to Bernadette trying to wriggle out from his hold on her.  He pulled her back into the bed with him, holding her tight, unwilling to part with her for any reason.

“Don’t go,” he murmured.

“Have to,” she replied softly.

“No.”

“Baby, we had a pleasant diversion, it’s time for me to go.”

“No.”

“In the morning, you’ll be glad I’m gone.  Trust me.”

“No.”

She sighed in frustration.  But snuggled back against him.

“You’re going to regret this.”

“I won’t.”

“I’m trouble.  Believe me.”

“I can handle trouble.  Believe me.”

She sighed again.  A few moments passed and then she gently pushed her ass into his groin.

“You want me again.”

“Yes,” he whispered.  Alex reached behind him to where his wallet was on the table and fetched another condom.  But before he could put it on, she had moved under the sheet and was tenderly kissing him as he rose to meet her mouth.  Alex groaned, all other thoughts leaving his mind completely.  He could only feel.  Her mouth, her tongue, exploring him, enjoying him.  She brought him close and then gentled him back down.  Time and time again he felt his release imminent and then denied.  The sweet frustration she was forcing him to endure was becoming almost painful torture and yet he didn’t want her to stop.

His hands were in her hair, stroking the beautiful blackness of her tresses, pulling her to him, harder than he probably should have.  Lost in the sensation of her tongue and mouth, he thrust into her, as she finally let him go and he came, pulsing jets streaming out of him and down her throat.  She lapped at him, cleaning him with her tongue and then shyly looking up at him, a look of pleading on her face, wrenching his heart to ache for her.

She was seeking approval.  And he didn’t understand.  She had been so tough in the cantina.  Why was she such a kitten in bed?

“What?  What’s wrong?” she asked querulously.

“Nothing.  I was just wondering why you looked at me that way?”

“What way?”

“Like you’re not sure if I’m happy.  Couldn’t you tell?”

Bernadette didn’t answer.  Just ducked her head down as Alex pulled her close to him.  She was crying again.

“Shh, it’s okay.  You don’t have to tell me.  But I want you to.”

“I’m not what you think I am,” she said softly when her sobs had subsided.

“What do I think?”

“That I’m some Hollywood socialite, hiding out from a rich husband.”

That thought had actually crossed his mind, he realized.  Somewhere between the cantina and his bed, he had wondered briefly about that very thing.  But had been too drunk to care.  Now that he had sobered up some, he realized that there were too many incongruities for this to be true.

“Then tell me, Bernadette.”

She sighed.  Snuggled into his arms, seeming to gather strength from his embrace.  And began.

“I came to LA a year ago.  Fresh off the bus from Minnesota , stars in my eyes.  But you don’t get to become a star in LA.  Not right away.  And my money was running low.  I made a couple of movies.  Ones you don’t find in regular theatres.”  She stopped.  Alex nudged her.  She sighed again.  “It was just for the money, you understand.  I never meant for it to become a career.  When I tried to quit, the producer threatened me.  When I still refused, he had one of his flunkies come to my apartment and beat me.  I couldn’t go on any auditions with those bruises, couldn’t even make any of those films.”  She laughed bitterly, stopping again.

The monotone and matter-of-fact way she was telling these horrors that had happened to her, made Alex ache for her.  He nudged her again, knowing there was more.

“I went back to the producer.  I didn’t have anywhere else to go.  When I had healed, he started me in on a string of films.  There were drugs.  There were things I did – I was out of my mind – I couldn’t believe I was doing them, but I did and –“ Bernadette began sobbing again.  Alex pulled her closer, letting her weep against his chest.  Whispering to her that it would be all right, everything would be all right now.

“No, see, that’s just it.  It won’t ever be all right.  I’m this tainted whore now.  I can’t ever take that away from me.  I’ll always be this whore.”

“Not to me.”

Bernadette looked up at him.  Her cheeks bearing the salty trails of tears her past was producing.  Alex thought he hadn’t seen anyone more beautiful.

“But to me, “ she said softly.

“Then stay with me.  Let me change your mind.”

“They’ll be looking for me.  I can’t ever go back.  They’ll find me.”

“You ran away?”

“Yes.  I stole some money from Jerry, the producer I mentioned.  And I ran.  Ended up here.  I’m sorry.”

Alex smiled gently at her.  Kissed her forehead.  “Don’t be.  We’ll work it out,”  Alex tilted her chin up so he could kiss her mouth.  Then stared into her eyes, beautiful, deep brown orbs he was never going to lose.  “I’ll take care of you.  I promise.”

“I – I almost believe you.”

“That’s a start,” he whispered.  And pulled her in for another kiss.

Kissing Bernadette.

THE END