I felt like an outsider when Samantha dragged me along to her club, The Nebula. I knew I would be an alien, unwelcome and obscene in a panorama of unfamiliar things. Even the language would be foreign to me, common English broken and browbeaten into something exotic, full of spice and unimagined texture. Even the music, which I’ve been told is universal, would be an uncharted frontier for me. Jazz.
Even that simple term seems strange, like it’s alive and leads a mysterious life all its own somewhere in dark, shaded alleys and fragrant, sultry back rooms. Knowing this, imagining untold embarrassment as others, native to The Nebula spotted me and screamed something akin to “infidel” at me; I still agreed to go with Sam. The old Nordic bloodline reared its savage head and called me a coward, so I gave in. There was an urge, a deep seated desire in the depth of my psyche demanding I discover this new world and conquer a place, some small place to call my own.
A forlorn, lost soldier dressing for a duel looked back from the mirror while I was getting ready. My closet was subjected to the utmost scrutiny, and anything with a hint of flash was discarded. I sought to blend in, as well as a Nordic blonde just three inches shy of six feet might. I dressed seeking camouflage: navy slacks and a close fitting turtleneck. I wanted to blend into the nearest wall I could find in The Nebula. I pulled my moon-silver hair back into a ponytail, slipped on some flats, and ran outside to Samantha’s car.
The Nebula was dark and smoke filled, and stepping inside was like being crushed by a solid wall of sound. We made our way to a postage stamp table, a small lush black woman yelling greetings to anyone who would listen, and a silent white Amazon trying her best to slink through the press of bodies unnoticed. The fabulously beautiful waitress took our orders, a martini for Sam and a badly needed bourbon for me. I took a quick survey under my lashes for anyone staring accusingly at me, and only found a few curious, even admiring glances. The weight I’d been carrying all day fell from my shoulders, leaving only a soft veneer of relief.
With my biggest fear addressed, and no one treating me obviously like an outsider, I settled back to enjoy the music. There was plenty of it. In one of the close corners of the room, there was a stingy slice of stage, home to a mismatched collection of musicians in varying shades of chocolate. Two of the men were refugee-skinny, with amazingly long fingers stroking ivory keys and heavy bass strings, respectively. A radiant, gorgeously rounded woman clutched the mic stand like a lover, humming and crooning in the throes of something I’ve only felt in the darkest, sweatiest parts of the night. Watching her made my inner core thrum and throb in sympathy to the heady, animalistic mood she was weaving over the audience.
I tore myself away from the seductive hypnotism she was building note by husky note. I turned my attention then to the third male on the sliver of stage. My breath caught in my throat. He was tall, around six three or four, and every inch radiated lean muscle. His hands were amazing: broad and solid, wrapped around a gleaming brass sax. His eyes were closed, his long thick lashes brushing his high cheekbones. I found myself following the lean, sculpted line of his body downward. He wore black slacks snugly contoured to his thighs, and I found myself staring at the apex of his exquisite, long legs. His pants were snug there, as well, and smoothly outlining manhood a Greek god would have been proud of.
I caught myself breathing hard, staring at this caramel coloured beauty onstage. I drew my gaze back up his fabulous body to his strong face, fascinated by his mouth as he blew soul-shattering notes from his sax. Some increasingly lusty demon in me willed him to look up, to open his eyes and see me. The heavy music he was making vibrated the floor, seeming to radiate across the narrow club and find haven between my thighs. Every tone he created curled tantalizing fingers around my throbbing clitoris. I shifted in my chair, my thighs falling apart so the music could find its way more easily into my sex.
Then it happened. The song ended, the sax player lowered his gleaming brass instrument and looked around his wildly applauding audience. His dark eyes lit on me.
We stared at each other for a moment, and all seemed to go quiet. He raised a smoothly curved eyebrow at me in question. The very corners of my dark red mouth curved ever so slightly in response. I felt galvanized, powerful, as if I had willed him to notice me. His own mouth, full and wet from the sax, smiled back at me. A devilish glint gleamed deep within his eyes. His gaze flicked over me, measuring and judging every inch of my body. I was suddenly vindicated by my choice of body-forming turtleneck. I could actually feel the weight of his stare flicking over my breasts; my nipples hardened and became clearly outlined by the thin cotton. His eyes narrowed with appreciation and his smile took on an air of danger. He suddenly looked hungry to me. That primal hunger struck an answering chord within my sex, as surely as if he had played my body tone for tone like his saxophone.
I couldn’t bear the waiting anymore; the temptation was too much to stand. I stood suddenly, murmured some excuse to Samantha, and made my way through the crowd. The sweating throng of closely pressed bodies brushed and tantalized every heightened nerve ending in my over-sexed body. I paused very much against my better senses, rubbing my tingling breasts against the anonymous bodies I squeezed between. A veritable orgy of faceless groping, bodies crushed to bodies, hands possessing anything they could take. I was panting by the time I reached the hall leading to the restrooms and the manager’s office. I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall, wishing I had been bold enough to step onto that razor edged stage and grab the sax player, as I had wanted to.
A hand suddenly touched my side, squeezed my waist. My eyes flew open. The saxophonist was standing before me just inches away, staring hard at me with his burning, coal black eyes. He lowered his handsome face, brushing my cheek with his.