by Sarah Black
Kevin unscrewed the lid and smelled. “This is good. Maybe the soothing part is when somebody rubs a foof all over you.”
Mia smiled at him, watching as he pulled the sweatshirt over his head. “But I don’t have a foof.”
“Really?” He reached for his jeans and shoved them down over his hips. “I guess I’ll just have to use my hands.”
The hot water pounded down over her head and shoulders. Kevin stepped into the shower behind her. His hands, slick with shower gel, slid over her belly, up under her arms, over her breasts. He pressed close behind her, his erection against her bottom. He leaned forward until he could speak into her ear. “You have the softest curves I’ve ever felt, Mia. Every bit of you is round and sweet and luscious. Whenever I touch you, I want to drop to my knees and worship.”
One hand was full of her breast. His hard fingers stroked the nipple. He slid the other down and over her waist, down around the curve of her ass, over her thigh, then up between her legs. A line of lavender bubbles trailed after his hand. “Let me have you.” He moved her legs apart, pulled her hips back to meet him, and pushed inside.
She braced herself up against the tile wall of the shower. Kevin was holding her hips. He pushed into her until her bottom was nestled back against his groin. The coarse curls between his legs tickled her skin.
“Mia.” He whispered her name, slid both hands around until he could touch between her legs. “I’m sitting at the wheel and thinking about you and my dick gets so hard it could throw a pot on its own. I spend most of my waking moments thinking about this, about touching your curves, or moving into the heat of your body. You’re so hot inside, Mia, like a furnace. And you get hotter when I’m fucking you.” His finger stroked gently between her legs, and she could feel the heaviness start to build low in her belly. “Me and Russ, we’re good together, I mean, we’re great. But it’s nothing like when we’re with you. Your body ... It’s our idea of heaven, you know?” His mouth was moving over her neck, long fingers stroking back and forth, body moving into hers, harder. “Lean over, baby. I want to go deeper.”
Mia bent over until her hands were on her thighs. He nudged her legs apart with his knee, gripped her hard around the waist. Then he started fucking her hard, some ancient, primitive rhythm pounding through his bloodstream. Mia bent over further and further, legs spread wide, until her hands were flat on the shower floor. And she took him, every bit he could give her. He threw back his head and howled, longing and passion echoing off the bathroom tiles. And he pumped her full of his semen until it ran in a little trail down the inside of her leg, and mixed with the hot water of the shower.
* * * * *
Kevin was lying across her bed, and she was resting her head on his stomach. He moved his hands down through her hair, strong fingers stroking her scalp. She could smell the lavender on his skin mixed with the warm, golden male smell from his genitals. She lifted his penis up and slid the tip into her mouth. The skin was velvety smooth under her tongue. His fingers traced down over her cheek, his touch tender.
“That’s nice, baby.”
“When I’m around you, I start feeling hungry, like I want to take a big bite out of life. Kevin, you think if I get pregnant, then it’s a done deal with the three of us? That we’ll just move it on to the next level and bypass all this annoying ‘getting-to-know-you’ stuff? I don’t think you can control everything like that. What happens with us is going to happen in its own time. I told you that I wanted to wait a year, and I meant it.”
“Maybe you’re just so fucking hot I spew all over everything when I get within ten feet of you.”
“Kevin.”
“Okay, Mia.” His touch was tender on her skin. “I know I’m acting like a dickhead. I promise I won’t do it again. I don’t know why you two put up with me.”
“I guess we love you. I’ve got an appointment in two weeks with the doctor, and I’m going on the pill. So rein your big balls in, and use the condoms.” She scooted up until her head was resting on his shoulder, and he wrapped her up tight and pulled her over on top of him.
“I promise, baby. I don’t want to do anything to ... to mess things up.”
“Kevin, have you heard from your parents?”
He shook his head. “I think they’re giving me the silent treatment.”
“Have they cut off your money for school?”
“No. Me and Russ, we got loans for grad school. We’ve been supporting ourselves with the kiln building job, plus a few little sales. This load in the kiln now, I’m hoping a few good pieces will come out of the fire. Maybe we can sell a little. Good wood-fired pieces are getting a bigger audience. There are a few collectors out there.”
“So how do you feel?”
“About what, Mia?”
She looked at him steadily.
Kevin sighed. “I’m worried about Russ. He’s always been real close to his mom. Well, we’ve both been close to her. Now she won’t talk to either of us. She told me she was real disappointed in me, and she was crying when she said it. And she said she doesn’t want to meet you.”
Mia felt her stomach curl up at this. A little cold seeped in.
“I tried to talk to my dad. He wouldn’t get on the phone, but I could hear him in the background saying stuff like, ‘What the fuck is wrong with that kid ...’ or ‘What the fuck did I do ...?’ Russ keeps sending these real long messages to our folks, then he checks the email like every five minutes for a reply. But they haven’t written back.”
Mia closed her eyes. Oh, Russ. She could feel something squeezing tight in her chest. “Let’s call him, okay? I kind of miss him.”
“Listen, Mia. Maybe I should just disappear, you know? You and Russ go along and have some beautiful kids, a beautiful life. And I love you both, so I’m good with it. That’s really why I wanted to come see you. I thought maybe I could say good-bye.”
“I don’t think so,” Mia said. “Besides, Russ has already offered. His plan is to disappear into the mountains of Colorado and let you and I have a happy life together. The thing is you’ve spoiled me. I’ve gotten used to having you both. And I’m not going to give either of you up.”
Mia rolled over and picked up the phone next to the bed, punched in their home number. “Do you think he’s at home?”
Kevin shrugged. “He might be at the kiln. He loves hanging around when that monster starts breathing.”
Russ picked up the phone on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, Russ. It’s your better third.”
He laughed, his voice warm as honey down the line. “Everything okay? Kevin get there?”
“He’s here, and he’s naked, and we miss you, big guy.”
“Really?” His voice was a little softer. “How come?”
Kevin pulled the phone out of her hand. “She’s spoiled by your enormous cock, brother. She told me so herself. Just one won’t do it for her anymore.”
“Give me that phone.” She wrestled it away from him, laughing. “Well, it’s true I said I was spoiled and I missed you, but I meant all of you, not just your enormousness. I wish you were here. I want us to be together.” Mia could almost feel his warm breath on her cheek through the phone line.
“So what would we be doing if I was there?”
“Hmmm, let me think. I guess Kevin would be lying down on the bed, and I would be kneeling over him, like that first time. So I could kiss him, and look at his beautiful face. And then you would climb up behind me and mount me like a stallion. And, let’s see, I would probably push back against you, in rhythm, you know, with your thrusting into me, and Kevin would reach between us and hold us together, like that first time. And I would feel your cock all the way to my throat. Probably I would be screaming or moaning, something like, ‘Oh, Russ ... Harder. Fuck me harder, baby. Oh, yeah ... That’s right ... More, more, more.”
He was laughing, and she could hear the harsh breathing down the phone line. “Oh, Mia. You’re killing me, baby.”
“Russ, go do something for me. Lie back on the couch and pull your jeans down and take your cock in your hand and bring yourself off while I’m talking to you, okay? That would be very cool for me. I’ve never had a guy do that while I was talking to him on the phone. Well, not that I knew about, anyway.”
“Yeah, Mia, I could do that without too much pain.”
“Tell me about your kiln.”
“The dragon’s breathing, baby, and she is one ferocious fucking monster. Talk to me some more.”
“I loved it when we fucked in the kiln, when you and Kevin were both inside me at the same time. And you know what else? It was really hot for me when he went down on you. I want you to do that again and let me watch. I think it’s really erotic to watch you two getting it on. Will you do that for me, Russ? I bet I could talk Kevin into it.”
Mia could hear his harsh breathing, could hear the slap of flesh as his hand moved roughly over his body. “Yeah, I bet you could talk the two of us into anything you wanted. I love you, Mia. I wish I was there with you right now, fucking you so hard I would lift you straight up off the bed with my cock.”
Kevin took the phone and held it up so they could both hear. “Russ, I’m sliding a hand between her legs. Oh, man, you should feel this. She’s so wet. I think we turn her on.” Kevin handed the phone back to Mia, and she lay back so he could reach everything he wanted to reach.
The groans coming over the phone were long and deep, heartfelt. Mia could almost taste the come spurting out of the end of his cock. The words sounded torn from his throat. “Oh, please, please, don’t stay away too long. I need you two bad. I don’t like to be here by myself.”
“I love you, Russ,” Mia said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, I promise.”
Kevin took the phone. “I love you, too. I’ll leave first thing in the morning and be with you by noon. I’ll come find you at the kiln if you aren’t at home.”
“Okay. Yeah, Kev. Good. I could use you here.”
“To feed wood to your dragon?”
“You know I don’t sleep when I’m alone. I get lonely for you. Just come home and be with me.”
Friday night Mia met Russ and Kevin at their place, and then they went across the street for Thai.
Rafe came out of the kitchen with some soup, spicy and rich with coconut milk and red chilies, cilantro and mint floating across the surface. “This will keep you warm tonight,” he said, kissing Mia on the cheek. “Did you tell her the idea?”
Russ shook his head. “No time yet. She just got here.”
Luke brought the coffee and sat down with them. “Sexpots,” he said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“That’s the name we picked out for our co-op pottery studio, set in the beautiful mountains of New Mexico. Sexpots.”
Mia stared at him, her mouth falling open.
“I know,” Luke said, holding up a hand. “It’s a little cheesy. But let’s be honest, folks. We want to make a living making pots. We need to get them in the door. Customers, I mean. Or into the web portal, or whatever you call it. I figure a year from now, we’ll have two functioning studios making wood-fired pottery, so we need a business plan, a marketing plan, a name, all of that.”
Mia shrugged. “Okay. You have a point. And I agree ‑‑ we do want to make a living. But will the customers be disappointed when they see we’re more pots than sex?”
Rafe stood up. “I’ve got to get back into the kitchen.” He hesitated. “I loved your tiles, Mia. They’re going to be strong in the fire.”
She smiled up at him. “Thanks, Rafe.”
“And they’re very erotic. I wouldn’t be disappointed, if I was looking for sex and pottery, to find your tiles.”
Luke kissed her other cheek. “And I’m your other biggest fan. I want you to do me and Rafe on a tile, okay? Between the five of us, we’re going to corner the market for museum-quality wood-fired pottery, just wait.”
Kevin grinned at him. “I vote Luke to be our marketing guy.”
Luke ignored him and looked at Mia and Russ. “Just think about it, is all I’m saying. I’ve got a T-shirt when you’re ready.”
Mia laughed, and Kevin leaned forward. “He’s not kidding about the T-shirt.”
When they finished supper they walked through downtown toward the university. Russ had signed them up for a four-hour nightshift stoking the fire in the big Noborigama.
“Cone 9 was soft this afternoon,” he said, tugging at the beard covering his chin. “If we can get her up to Cone 10, then we can close this baby up, let her soak, then let the temperature drop slowly over the next week. Unpack the ware next weekend.”
“I thought you normally fire for two weeks, Russ,” Mia said.
He nodded. “We can. It really depends on the cones. Some firings, we’ve had a hard time getting the kiln up to temperature. But we’ve got good wood this time ‑‑ two years under cover. I think that’s why the firing has gone so well.” He moved his hands in a stair-step pattern. “The temperature has just gone up in the most beautiful pattern.”
“Do you just use cones? You haven’t rigged up a thermometer ...” She stared as Russ reared back, clutching his chest, his face drained of color. Mia covered her mouth with her hand so he wouldn’t see her smile.
“No one, I repeat, no one will ever stick one of those thermometers into any kiln I fire. Potters Use Cones.” He stared down at her. “Are we clear on ...”
She nodded vigorously, her hand still clamped over her mouth.
“Okay, then. Oh, Mia, wait ’till you see her. She’s at her peak tonight. In the dark you can see her breath, Mia. It’s fucking awesome. She’s almost there. Just a little more and we’ll push her over tonight.”
Mia bit down on her bottom lip, trying not to laugh, but Kevin gave her a friendly elbow in the ribs. “Yeah. You heard him right. Russ thinks his kiln has orgasms. And he won’t leave her ’till she comes. He just keeps giving her more wood, more wood, more wood ...”
Russ reached over and knocked him upside the head. “That’s why the dragon breathes for me, boy. ’Cause I love her, and give her what she wants.”
“I actually saw him once on his knees to the kiln, Mia. I think he was worshiping or something.”
“Seems to me I was giving you a blow job. That’s why I was on my knees.”
Kevin reached for his hand. “Well, now that I think about it, maybe you were. I’ll give you one tonight. Celebration, you know?”
“What are you celebrating?” Mia asked.
Russ tugged on his beard again and looked down at her. “This is probably our last firing here, before we set up our own studio. As long as it’s a good one. If our MFA pots don’t make it through like they should, then one more. But I’ve got a good feeling about this one.”
Mia could see why Russ called the kiln a dragon. It looked like an enormous beast that had fallen asleep on a mountain. Over the years, it had been buried by blowing dust and sand. The firebox was where the mouth would be, bright yellow, heat pouring out, and Mia could almost see the sides of the kiln moving. When the fire door was opened for stoking, the air came rushing in with a big, sucking breath, and sparks and flames shot out the chimney.
She helped Kevin carry loads of dry, split wood to a big pile near the firebox door. Russ put on fireproof gloves and a helmet with a black faceplate. When he had a stack of wood as high as his knee, Kevin raised the fire door and Russ started shoving the splits of wood into the firebox.
Mia had on dark safety goggles, watching the cones through a side port. Cone 10 was soft, but not bending yet. Cone 9 was over. The kiln was roaring, the fire and the rush of air through the firebox so loud she wanted to clap her hands over her ears. “Russ!” She had to shout his name. He turned toward her and pushed the faceplate up. She held up nine fingers.
He nodded, reached for another armful of wood. An hour later, Cone 10 started to bend.
Mia knew this was when the clay, especially the porcelain, was pliable and
sticky as flypaper. Sometimes pots would deform, start bending and melting, but the strong ones would hold their form, and the flying ash from this last load of wood would fall on the sticky clay and melt into beautiful glaze. No two would be alike, and the unique patterns the fire laid on the clay could never be duplicated, or reproduced.
Mia found herself holding her breath, watching the cones. When Cone 10 was halfway over, she called Russ over to look in the peephole.
“Good,” he said. He kissed her hard and slid his tongue into her mouth. “Now we close it down and plug all the holes. She’s a beauty, Mia. She cools down real slow.”
Kevin was rolling a long, fat coil of clay, and she helped him press it around the firebox door, sealing the air leaks. Russ slid the plugs into the peepholes.
Russ stroked the curve with his hands, running his fingers gently over the parts of the kiln he could reach. Kevin came over and stood next to Mia, and they watched him pet his dragon.
Kevin nudged her. “He’s over there saying, ‘Was it good for you, baby?’ ”
Mia giggled behind her hand.
“I’m not saying anything else, I promise,” Kevin said. “Russ is a fucking genius with fire, man. The clay, it comes alive in the kiln, Mia. The pots are alive after they’ve been fired. You just can’t imagine. Wait ’till you see what comes out.”
“You have all your pots for your MFA show in the kiln?”
He nodded. “The baby bowl is done. It’s my favorite that I’ve ever thrown, Mia. I always like the last pot the best, but this time, it really is the best I’ve ever done.”
“Tell me about it, Kevin.”
“It’s a bowl to catch the rain, or tears, or kisses. It’s wide open to life, like we are, and our babies will be. Porcelain, with your ash glaze, so it should be a nice pale celadon. We’re going to fill that bowl up with love for our whole life, Mia. And maybe our kids after us.”
She nodded. It would have sounded ridiculous if anyone else had explained a pot this way. But looking into his face, his eyes, you knew he meant every word.