Nightingale

Lucas still seemed a little put off, and the ladies were enjoying this immensely, throwing her happy smiles as they moved to the available machines. The two men were beginning to enjoy the show as well. Maybe they'd never seen him strike out before.

Sam waited for the answer as she moved her wash into the dryers. When she finished and stood to start the machines, she saw Lucas had moved closer. A little too close.

"Lucas, do you know what personal space boundaries are? I don't think you do. Take a step back, please," she said.

His smile flickered, but he did as she asked as the other ladies glared at him.

"I think if you got to know me, you'd appreciate the closeness," he said smoothly.

She quirked a smile as she caught motion in the doorway.

"Lucas, in your case, the most important thing you need to know about me is, I'm not available," she said with a sympathetic smile.

"Sam? Who have we here?"

Lucas turned and found himself looking slightly upwards into the dark, intense eyes of a very strong-looking man with... were those bloodstains on his white t-shirt? The brute was in his personal space, but instead of complaining, he moved out from between them. The big man seemed to flow into the space he'd just occupied to stand next to the pretty blonde.

Sam smiled at Raphael's inadvertent repetition of Lucas' own words.

"Raphael, this is Lucas Klausen. He's going to be an investment manager when he graduates," she said helpfully.

"Raphael Graves. Nice to meet you, Lucas," Raphael said as he held out his hand to shake.

Lucas looked at the hand, but he couldn't back down in front of his friends. He placed his hand in Raphael's and was surprised not to have it crushed. There was obvious strength in the grip, but no excessive force was used. He found himself smiling in relief.

"I'm Sam Harris. I'm going to university as well. I'm going for a Master of Business Administration with a healthcare specialization," she explained.

The two ladies walked closer. One had skin darker than Raphael's, very pretty brown eyes, and a full head of curly black hair. "Rebecca Jackson," she said as she shook their hands. "I'm in Business Administration as well." She grinned at Sam.

"Chantel La Fontaine," the other girl said, and Sam picked up the French accent. She was fair-skinned and had straight red hair worn to her shoulders. "I'm majoring in Languages and plan to be a diplomatic attaché."

The two men joined them to shake their hands as well. Sam was intrigued by their ethnic differences. "Jun Hwan, going for a Communications major," said a slim man with no accent at all, which surprised and disappointed Sam, a little.

The final man leaned forward and shook their hands. He was short and stocky, had dark-rimmed glasses, and wore a neatly trimmed beard. "Maxim Danilenko. Engineering." Sam was fascinated by his thick European accent? She was still learning how to identify them.

Trying to get control over the gathering once more, Lucas smiled at Raphael. Besides, his curiosity was burning. "You seemed to have spilled something on your shirt. Juice? Wine?"

Raphael looked down and sighed. "Yeah, that's blood. I have a part-time job at a meatpacking plant. Why they insist we wear white..." He looked to Sam. "Have you washed the whites yet?"

"That was going in next," she smiled.

Raphael tugged his shirt up and off to hand it to Sam. Her eyes twinkled happily as she took in his sweaty, pumped, and glistening muscles.

Lucas stared at Raphael's lean, hard torso and saw the ladies were all admiring his tight muscles. He also had a strong physique, but he lacked the lean definition Raphael had. He couldn't exactly tug his shirt off now without looking desperate. Instead, he took a different tack.

"So, you're not a student? You're a meatpacker?" he asked.

Dark, intense eyes locked on his again. "As I mentioned, it's a part-time job. I'm going to Medical school. I'm going to be a surgeon."

Sam smiled proudly at Raphael. "Could I ask you to check on dinner? And you need a shower." She reached out and ran a fingertip across his sweaty chest as she grinned at him. His eyes locked on hers, and she felt that right down to her toes. A familiar heat began between her legs.

"Nice meeting everyone," he said and headed off.

Sam watched him leave and realized Rebecca and Chantel were as well. They looked back at her with wide grins.

"All that, and he's going to be a surgeon?" Rebecca gushed. "You go, girl!" She threw Sam a high five, and Chantel joined in. Sam grinned happily at them.

When she looked at Lucas, she saw he was looking utterly deflated. She patted his arm. "Don't give up hope, Lucas. There will be someone out there looking to score with the best investment manager in town."

With a small nod, he moved away to begin his laundry.

Sam finished up the laundry while chatting happily with the group. Even Lucas perked up and joined in, but he was definitely avoiding crossing any boundaries. That suited Sam just fine.

She headed upstairs after saying goodbye and let herself into the small apartment. It was fairly dark as the blinds were drawn, and she heard a deep, low rumble.

"Raphael?" she called out, feeling instinctive chills run down her spine.

The rumble grew louder, and she began to squirm as tingles started between her legs. She set the laundry bag down and stepped forward.

Raph pounced from his hiding place behind a large recliner and grabbed Sam around the waist and chest as she squealed. He pulled her back against his naked skin and gently ran his teeth down the side of her neck.

"FUCK!" Sam gasped as lightning shot through her body. His body felt so hard, and he smelled so good, fresh from the shower. Her toes weren't touching the floor, and his powerful arms were touching her so intimately, her heart raced with the thrill of it.

He moved, and she found herself folded over the back of the plush couch her mom gave them from the house. She saw he'd prepared by tossing a towel over it. She quickly pulled her top off and grinned as she felt his fingers flick the clasp open on her bra. It fell forward, and she pulled it off.

Before she could do more than gasp, he tugged her yoga pants and panties down and grabbed her ass cheeks in his strong hands, squeezing and kneading her muscles.

"AHHH! Oh, Raphael! Oh my god!" Sam was trembling uncontrollably as his aggressive need for her overwhelmed her.

Then his mouth was on her, and she screamed, which quickly rose in pitch until it went silent. It felt so fucking good; her mind felt like it was fragmenting.

When he pulled away, she sagged to the cushions and panted for a moment until she felt it.

Hot, thick, and incredibly hard, Raphael pushed himself deep into her hot depths, filling her completely.

"Yesssssss! Oh yesssssss!" she whimpered from the intense pleasure.

He rumbled deep in his chest as he took a grip on her hips and began to drive himself into her, slapping her ass with his hips at the end of each thrust.

"Oh! AH! MMM! Yes! Take me! Fuck yes, take me Raphhhaaaaaeeeelllll!!!" she screamed as he drove himself into her, again and again.

Her feet had no purchase, she was pinned against the couch, and all she could do was grip the cushions as he drove her bliss higher and higher. She felt like a leaf in a hurricane, and it was heaven. She was making involuntary gasps, moans, and squeaks, and his pace increased.

Raphael suddenly leaned forward to slip his arms around her once more and lifted her against his chest as he stepped back from the couch. He pinned her body to his with his right arm as he cupped one of her tits in his strong hand and gently tugged on the nipple. His left arm pinned her hips back against his as his hand rubbed her most sensitive flesh in rapid circles.

It was too much for Sam as her orgasm exploded, her muscles all tensing up and shaking as she grabbed his hands in hers. She was barely able to register Raphael's heat surging into her as he was buried so deep. She tried to speak, to scream out her joy, but all she could manage were squeaks and squeals, so she gave up.

Then she felt herself being carried like this into the small bedroom. When her twitching subsided, he lifted her from himself and gently laid her down on the towel he'd prepared for her on the bed. She sighed as he leaned down to kiss her lips tenderly.

She didn't know how she deserved to be this happy, but she thanked her lucky stars every night before she went to sleep.

She loved this darkly intense man.

Raphael smiled down at the beauty recuperating on the bed. He didn't know what he'd done in his life to deserve to be this happy, but he'd do whatever it took to keep it.

Lucas was fortunate that Sam was there. Raph had promised himself never to let Sam see how... dark he could become.

He glanced at the clock and saw he needed to get their dinner out.

He went out into the main room and saw shadows under their front door as someone was standing just outside. He picked up the sound of giggling. Frowning, he walked to the door, grabbed the towel from the back of the couch, and wrapped it around his waist as he went. He yanked the door open, and two women squeaked in surprise. Rebecca and Chantel were gaping up at him. Eyes dropped to the towel, and the bulge on the front then back up to his eyes.

"What are you doing, listening at our door?" he asked with just the slightest edge to his voice.

Rebecca's mouth opened and closed, but she seemed to be frozen. Chantel found her voice first.

"We were just coming back to our apartment," she gestured to the door opposite his, "and we heard a scream. We didn't know who it was or what it was... at first."

Rebecca swallowed nervously and smiled up at him as she struggled not to ogle his chest. "Our apologies for invading your privacy, but the apartment door doesn't block sound very well, and it was... a very nice sound."

Raph sighed. He'd have to confine their lovemaking to the bedroom from now on. "Duly noted... and yes, it was... very nice. Have a good evening." He closed the door and heard another burst of giggles. He allowed himself a smile as he walked to the kitchenette and grabbed the mitts to take the small roast from the oven. It smelled wonderful!

As he busied himself preparing the table, he heard a shuffling behind him and arms wrapped around him as Sam rested her cheek on his back. She was in her bathrobe.

"Apparently, Rebecca and Chantel live across the hall," he said.

She released him, and he turned to see her looking at him curiously. "It seems the front door did little to block the sounds we were making."

Sam put her hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter as her eyes twinkled merrily.

"I suppose we'll have to restrict our fun time to the bedroom," he sighed.

Her expression turned to amused outrage. "Absolutely NOT! We will continue to express our love in whatever room the mood strikes. Let them listen! The blinds stay drawn, however. I don't want anyone watching, but I don't care if a little sound escapes."

He grinned and pulled her to him to gently kiss her soft lips.

"Mmm! You're so good to kiss! Now, go put some clothes on! It's dinner time, not sexy time," she said with a cheeky smile. He grinned and went into the bedroom to pull on a t-shirt and shorts.

As he came back out, he heard her purr. "Didn't I say it wasn't sexy time?"

He just grinned and shook his head and sat at the table.

"We got some mail today," she said as they began to eat. She reached over to the counter and handed him a small cardboard mailer pack. He looked at it curiously then opened it. Inside was a DVD, a letter, and a bank draft for eighty-five-hundred dollars. His eyebrows went up when he saw the money. Sam got up and rushed off to get her laptop to play the DVD as Raph read the letter.

Sam looked at him when she returned and saw a conflicted expression. "What's wrong?" she asked in alarm.

"The letter... it's from Mr. Kirov, the owner of the strip club where Dotty danced. The draft is my share of the royalties from a DVD they made of her dancing. They sold the rights to a film studio." He thought about how they were still making money from her, even after her death, and a spike of rage flared in him.

With a scowl, Raph picked up the draft and made to tear it in half.

"WAIT! What would your mom want you to do with that?" Sam exclaimed earnestly.

He stopped and looked into Sam's compassionate blue eyes.

He thought of Dotty. She'd be so happy if she could see him now.

She'd love Sam and Suzanne!

She'd love that he was living and working in the city, leaving behind the small town.

She'd love that he was enrolled in university and was going to become a surgeon.

All of her hopes and dreams for him were coming true.

He looked at the DVD and the draft and slowly realized she'd also love that she could continue to help him with her dancing as she'd done all through his life. He could almost feel her presence.

Now that Sam had blocked his knee-jerk reaction to receiving the money, he realized how smart that had been. He asked himself how Mr. Kirov might react if he didn't accept the money. It wouldn't be smart to offend the man, and he probably... no, it was a certainty he had connections here.

To keep Sam safe and unaware of that world, the smart thing to do would be to accept the money. Sam didn't need to know about this particular reason.

With a nod, he placed the draft on the table and smoothed it out. He picked up the DVD and gently placed it on top of the money.

"Thanks, mom. I love you too."

Sam smiled at him, her love for him glowing in her eyes. "May I?" she asked, pointing to the DVD.

Raph nodded, then held her eyes. "I don't want to watch it."

She nodded solemnly, turning the screen away from him, then popped the DVD into the laptop. Raph watched her face over the back of the screen.

Soon music began to play, and Sam glanced at him, smiling happily. He watched her eyes as they tracked Dotty's movements and saw the happy, if a little nervous, smile slowly give way to wide-eyed awe.

Blue eyes rose to look into his over the screen. "She-she danced... beautifully!" Sam whispered.

Raph nodded sadly. He'd come to realize that the true nature of Dotty's art was that it was a living thing. To truly appreciate it, you had to witness it in person. And now, that art was lost. A DVD was an incomplete experience.

Sam closed the laptop and moved to sit on Raph's lap. He returned her hug then looked into her eyes.

"Are you okay, big man?" she asked gently.

Her compassion for him still took his breath away. He nodded and kissed her sweet lips.

He looked into her dreamy eyes and smiled. "Every day, in every way, a little better. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!"