Dark Notes

by Pam Godwin

“I’m not a gentle lover, Ivory.”

Hell, he could wear a popped collar and bedazzled cutoffs, and women would drop their panties as he walks by.

“You’re sort of charming when you get all serious and bossy.”

When she graduates, I won’t be her teacher. Our relationship will be legal and… She’ll go to college, wherever that may be. Then what? Will I follow her? Will she want me to? She won’t have a fucking choice.

“That was exquisite, Miss Westbrook.” His dark, deep-toned voice echoes through the theater. “This stage isn’t big enough for you.”

The power is mine. I bask in it. His hands tremble, and I grab them, hold them, our fingers intertwined. I have him.

“Good girl.”

“So beautiful when you cry for me.”

Symphony Of Destruction.’ Megadeth.”

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana.

Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.”

I want to date her, and I’m frustrated by my inability to do that.

“Eyes on me,” I say gently and wait for her to obey.

She has all the power here, and goddammit, I’ll do whatever is needed to make sure she knows it.

“I’m giving this to you. Just this once.” He reaches over his head and grips the laddered rungs of the headboard. “My hands won’t move. I’m going to lie here and hold still while you fuck me.”

This was a huge moment for Ivory and I levied Emeric for giving this to her.

The sight of him in jeans and t-shirts, ties and waistcoats, and nothing at all. I’ll never get enough.

“We’re a timeless concerto.” I kiss his lips. “A musical masterpiece.”

“I was thinking along the lines of Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy.’”

“Lame.” He bites the skin beneath my ear. “We’re more like Van Halen’s ‘Hot For Teacher.’”

“We’ll compose our own masterpiece.” His mouth glides down my neck, kissing and licking. “A song that will never end.” I love the sound of that.

Her feistiness might be my fuel, but her obedience is my fucking fire.

“I needed this tattoo.”

“His favorite Herbie Hancock, ‘Someday My Prince Will Come.’”

Stepping around her, I remove a platinum bracelet from my pocket and clasp it around her wrist. She studies it with wide eyes, holding the tiny frog charm between her fingers. “Edvard Grieg kept a frog figurine in his pocket at all times.”

Ughhhhh Emeric 😭 so sweet

My dirty ponytail hangs down the front of the only thing I’m wearing—his Guns N’ Roses t-shirt.

We need each other, not because our bodies fit so well together, but because our hearts beat the same tune, for the same reason.

“The kind of love that doesn’t end in betrayal.”

I’m sobbing, but I don’t feel the tears. Determination drives me, my arms straining for my little broken kitty, aching to hold him. He needs me to comfort him, to fix him.

“A brother is supposed to protect his sister. Stand up to bullies for her. Walk through fucking fire for her.”

The tick of your watch. The harmony of your breaths. The tempo of your heart. The notes I feel whenever you’re near. “‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark.’”

“Death Cab for Cutie?”

“You’re an animal.”

We are the ultimate love song.

I’ll show her every corner of the world if it keeps that smile on her face.

Right now, her smile reminds me of Queensryche’s “Silent Lucidity.”

The despairing chords of Kodaline’s “All I Want”

She wraps her arms around my neck, lips parted and teasing mine. “You’re all I want.” I stroke my tongue against hers. “You’re all I need.” “Mmm. I love that.”

I will crawl to you. Bow to you. Whatever you want, I want. Just…give me this.

With shaking fingers, I examine the silver charms. The first is a round ID tag with a name engraved. Kodaline. The Irish pop band I played at my audition. I shake my head, grinning. God, I love that man of mine.

Emeric and Ivory Dueling Piano Bar

“By then you’ll be Mrs. Ivory Marceaux.”

I love this man. I love him, and when he’s ninety and I’m eighty, I’ll still love him. I grin at the image of his wrinkly body.

“When you’re too old to get it up, I’ll still love you.”

“Viagra, sweetheart.”

I focus on his bright blue eyes. “What are we dueling first?” Grinning, he poises his fingers on his keyboard and nudges his shoulder against mine. “Guns N’ Roses.” I tilt my smile upward and shiver beneath the lights. “And Kodaline.” Then the music begins…