Machine by Normandie Alleman
12
Bridger
I’d askedDynassy to meet me at a restaurant on the beach. That way she’d have her own car, and if what I told her turned out to be too much for her and she wanted to leave, she’d have an easy out and we could avoid an impossibly awkward drive home together.
I arrived first and had the waitress seat us outside at the far end of the dining area, so our conversation was less likely to be overheard.
When she first walked through the door, I saw her before she saw me, which gave me a chance to unabashedly stare at the beautiful woman who for some unknown reason had agreed to be my date. She wore a bright yellow sundress that hugged her curves and set off her tan. Her long dark hair blew in the breeze, and she tucked one side of it behind her ear in a vain attempt to keep it in place.
She appeared not to notice the other dining patrons who gawked at her as she walked by, in the way that only people who are accustomed to constantly being noticed can. The way she floated through the restaurant made it seem as though she were on another plane from the rest of us, and I counted my blessings once again that this gorgeous girl even gave me the time of day.
“Hi!”
I stood up and gave her a hug that lifted her off the ground. “Hi,” I whispered lustily in her ear.
When I set her down, she gave me a look that said she thought I was a naughty boy. If she only knew how naughty…
I held out her chair for her, then after she sat down, slid it under the table.
“Thank you,” she said.
“No problem,” I said, sitting down myself.
The waitress arrived, handing us menus then filling our water glasses.
She ordered a white wine spritzer, and I asked for a beer.
I had intended on enjoying a nice lunch first, but my nerves got the better of me, so the second the waitress drifted out of earshot, I launched into it.
“You’re probably wondering why I had you drive all the way out here.”
She grinned. “It did cross my mind, yes.”
I nodded and placed my napkin in my lap, stalling.
“Dynassy, there’s something I have to tell you.”
Her brows drew together. “Oh my God. What is it? Are you gay?”
“No! What would give you that idea?”
“Nothing. Never mind. What was it you wanted to tell me?”
I inhaled deeply, then breathed out. This wasn’t going to be easy. “When I was injured in Iraq, the shrapnel from the explosion went off here.” I moved my hand across my lap to indicate the area where I’d been injured.
“It did?” Her eyes widened. “Oh.”
“Yeah. I wasn’t sure when to tell you, or how to tell you, but I thought since things were getting…”
I struggled for the words, but she placed a hand on mine and said, “It’s okay.”
And even though she didn’t know what she was talking about—she had no way to know if it was going to be okay or not—I appreciated her trying to comfort me.
She started to speak but I held up a hand to cut her off. “I need to finish. This isn’t easy for me to talk about.”
But before I could say anything else, the waitress brought us our drinks and asked if we were ready to order.
Dynassy looked to me for a cue.
“Sure. I’ll have the grouper. How about you, Dynassy?” I should have let her order first, but I was discombobulated to say the least.
“Same,” Dynassy said, and when the waitress walked away, “go on.”
She appeared so calm I had no idea what she was thinking, but I had to get this out, so I plowed ahead.
“As far as the skin goes, my abdomen and thighs have had many skin grafts, so there’s some scarring and it’s not smooth like a baby’s butt, but it’s not too bad either. It doesn’t hurt anymore, and there are a few places where I don’t have much feeling.”
She nodded, and I took a few long sips of my beer before continuing.
“Is one of those places your…?”
This was the moment I’d dreaded ever since I saw her across the room at the benefit for the injured vets. I cleared my throat and pressed on. “Ever since the accident, I haven’t had any feeling in my dick. After a while, with all the surgeries… I’m able to go to the bathroom normally now,” I could feel my face heating up, but I kept talking, “but I wasn’t able to get an erection.”
She blinked. Then those big dark eyelashes blinked more rapidly, but she didn’t say anything. As she processed my words, the pit in my stomach sank lower and lower, and I remember feeling this way when I had to tell my former fiancée that I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to perform my husbandly duties with her. Samantha had cried and hugged me, but in hindsight, I think it was the beginning of her having an excuse to say goodbye, because she had already become involved with my best friend.
“What did the doctor say?” Her words jolted me away from those unpleasant memories.
“They say I have nerve damage, and they’ve been telling me that the sensations might come back, but they couldn’t give me a timeframe.”
Dynassy squeezed my hand and nodded. “I’m so sorry. That must be awful for you.”
“It has been.” She could have no idea how difficult it had been for me, especially with the business that had fallen into my mangled lap after I made a machine to do the job for me. The whole thing had been incredibly bizarre and ironic. You’d think a guy who couldn’t get it up would have trouble getting women, but my days were filled with naked women ready and willing for sex. Hell, I got paid well for it, but the fact that I couldn’t service any of those women with my cock was my biggest humiliation.
And now that I knew Dynassy Barnes, I’d give up every single one of those women for a night with her. Which was why I had to tell her the whole truth.
She leaned in, a conspiratorial look on her face. “I have to tell you, I’m almost relieved.”
“Relieved?”
“Yes. I thought there was something wrong with me, the way you kept leaving me at the end of the night. I thought you weren’t attracted to me.”
“So you’re glad there’s something wrong with me?” I knew celebrities were superficial, but I hadn’t pegged her as insensitive.
“No, I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I just mean that I’m glad the explanation for why we haven’t slept together yet isn’t because you don’t think I’m hot. Wait, it’s not that, is it?”
“Not at all, and that’s what I want to tell you.”
But before I could tell her the biggest news I’ve had in my life in years, the waitress came back over and brought our food.
“Would you like some more drinks?”
“Definitely!” Dynassy and I said in unison. That made us laugh, which released some tension, and I realized I was breathing more normally now.
We each took a bite of our food then I continued.
“I’ve been hindered in this way for four years. I’ve seen a lot of things that would normally have aroused me, but I’ve never gotten any response from down below. I kept waiting to feel a stirring, to come to life, but it just never happened—that is, until I met you.”
Dynassy shifted in her seat. “Me?”
“Yes, you. The reason I didn’t go into your house with you that first night was because I knew I couldn’t take things any further. It was humiliating, so I just avoided the whole situation. But when I got home and I started thinking about you—my cock got hard. For the first time since my accident.”
Disbelief crossed Dynassy’s face, and her mouth formed a perfect letter “o”. And I couldn’t help but imagine slipping my newly awakened cock between those beautiful lips of hers.
“So I thought I’d better tell you what a powerful effect you have on me, girl.”
She blushed. “Are you serious?”
“Oh I’m serious.”
“So, now it works?”
“I’m not sure how well it works. Honestly, I can’t promise anything, because I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s certainly starting to work.”
“Oh my gosh. That’s amazing.”
“You’re amazing. You’re like my own personal boner fairy.” That made her laugh, and I could tell the way her eyes were shining that she recognized it as a compliment.
“So I hate to be so foreword, but now you’ve got me really curious. Do you think maybe we could try it out?” she asked.
“Hell yeah,” I said. Then called out to our waitress, “Check please.”
