Toni leapt for the bed, making the metal frame shriek when she hit it with her full weight. “Here I am,” she said, smiling happily.
“And you’re naked. That’s just how I like my women.”
“Wanna look at my scars now?”
“Later. Much later.” Noel started to unbutton her own shirt, but Toni flipped her hands away and took over.
“Let me,” she said, her voice growing husky.
Noel lay back and smiled, watching Toni’s eyes focus as she worked at freeing the buttons. When the shirt was open she tugged it off and draped it over a chair next to the bed. Toni reached behind Noel to find the clasp of her bra, pausing when she realized it didn’t have one.
“Want me to do it? I have to kinda wriggle out of it.”
“No, I can do it.” Toni grasped the band and drew it over her head, smiling when Noel held her arms up like a kid. “Do you run?”
“Huh? Oh, you mean because of the sports bra?”
“Yeah,” she said distractedly.
Toni sat back on her heels and gazed at Noel’s breasts, now free of their constricting covering. The expression on her face showed that she’d found a place that captured her interest. Her eyes roamed over Noel’s breasts, focusing so intently that Noel wasn’t sure if Toni wanted an answer to her question. Nonetheless, she soldiered on. “Sometimes I run. I go to the gym on my way home from school most days. If I wear a sports bra I don’t have to change before I work out.”
“Mmm.” Toni’s distracted response showed she hadn’t heard a word. She focused on getting Noel’s shorts and panties off, and the second she did she put her hands on Noel’s shoulders and pressed her into the bed, then filled her mouth with one soft, firm breast.
“Mmm,” Noel hummed, pushing herself into Toni’s mouth. “That’s nice. I love having my breasts played with.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Utterly focused, Toni devoured Noel’s breasts, moving from one to the other as Noel continued to hum her pleasure. Toni, obviously not satisfied to merely play with what were clearly the objects of her arousal, started to nip and bite at Noel, making her squeal.
Noel wrapped her arms around Toni, trying to roll her onto her back to gain a little more control. But Toni was not to be moved. Her body felt as solid as a rock, and she barely budged despite Noel’s tugging. In fact, she grew more focused, pulling an entire breast into her mouth and sucking forcefully.
Opening her legs, Noel wrapped them around Toni’s thighs and pulled her against her body. Her soft murmurs became growls of pain mixed with exquisite pleasure, and with each gasp Toni redoubled her efforts until they were thrashing around on the bed, tangled in the soft quilt and sheets.
Noel grasped Toni by the shoulders and begged hotly, “Fuck me. Come on. Fuck me now.”
Toni pulled away momentarily and collapsed onto her back. “Oh, I’ll fuck you,” she panted. “I’ll fuck you right.” She rolled onto her side and tossed her hair, sending it flying back into place. She kissed Noel hard, then pulled back and watched her face as she slid fingers into her. “Ooo, you’re so hot and wet.”
“Yessssss. That’s the way. Just like that.”
Nuzzled against Noel’s neck, Toni whispered, “I’ll lick you if you beg.”
“Oh, no, you’re not getting away from me now.” She held on to Toni’s arm with both of her own. “Keep going just like that.”
Toni slid an arm behind Noel’s neck and held her firmly, pistoning her fingers in and out with a slow, steady pressure. Noel guided her wordlessly, thrusting her hips when she needed to quicken the pace. After a few minutes she parted her own lips with her fingers and slid them through the wetness, letting them lightly skitter across her clit until she pressed down onto Toni’s hand and quietly moaned through a long climax, her flesh milking Toni’s fingers for long minutes.
“Nice.” Toni’s soft voice purred into her ear. “Hot, too. I’m about to do myself.”
Her motor skills were a little vague, but Noel managed to pat Toni soothingly. “Give me a few seconds and I’ll get right on that.”
“Give me your hand,” Toni said. She knelt astride Noel and took her hand, placing the fingers against her vulva. “Just rub me a little. I’m ready.” She leaned over and put her breast into Noel’s waiting mouth, then moved her hips, forcing Noel’s fingers to hit her just right. “Yeah,” she said after a few moments. “That’s good. Perfect.”
Noel’s mouth was so busy that she couldn’t speak. She tried to figure out a way to penetrate Toni, but couldn’t quite manage it. She needn’t have worried. Toni knew just what she wanted, and she ground herself onto Noel’s fingers, roughly panting, her eyes tightly closed.
Noel sucked firmly, guessing that Toni would like her breasts treated the same way she had treated Noel’s. That firm, forceful sucking sent Toni over the edge, and she groaned and twitched away from Noel’s fingers, falling onto the bed next to her. “Sweet,” she said, her voice soft and weary. “You know your way around a clit.”
Noel rolled onto her side and propped herself up on one arm. Her blue eyes were shining with desire. “I need to touch you some more. I didn’t get enough.”
“That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.” Toni threw her hands over her head, leaving herself fully exposed. “Don’t rush. Take your time,” she said, chuckling. “No need to hurry. I don’t have another thing planned.”
***
“What’s this one from?” Noel asked, running her finger down a mark on Toni’s back.
“Which one?” Toni was lying on her stomach and tried to turn her head to see her lower back, but was completely unsuccessful. “I have a scar there?”
“Yeah. It looks more like a bad scrape. Maybe it’s new?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Toni crossed her arms and rested her head upon them. “It’s probably from my younger days.” She was quiet while Noel continued to investigate her body. “Oh, I remember now. That’s from surfing. I got carried over too close to some rocks and took a pounding. The lifeguards came out to get me and everything. It was quite dramatic.”
Noel traced the outline of the scrape. “When was this?”
“Long time ago.” Toni yawned and stretched. “I don’t surf anymore. Don’t have time to work on my technique and I refuse to look like I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Noel lay down beside her and saw that Toni’s eyes were rimmed with red. “Tired?”
“Yeah. I got up early today.” She met Noel’s eyes and added, smiling, “And a gorgeous woman just screwed my brains out.”
“Just returning the favor.” She looked at the clock and saw that it was eleven p.m. Struck with a strange feeling of unease, Noel said, “I guess I should get going.” She waited for what she hoped would be the usual invitation to spend the night.
Toni turned onto her side and lay there quietly. After a long pause she said, “When do you get up?”
“Six, if I’ve made the batter for muffins or pancakes the night before. Five-thirty, if I haven’t. I guess tomorrow’s gonna be a five-thirty day.”
“That seems awfully soon. I hope it was worth it.”
There was just a flash across her face that made Noel wonder if Toni wanted to be reassured. But it appeared so quickly and disappeared just as rapidly that it made her think she imagined it. She wanted to touch Toni, to share the easy familiarity they’d just spent the last few hours enjoying. But the mere fact that they’d begun talking about their everyday lives seemed to have broken some sort of spell. She tried to make her smile appear warm and friendly. “I had a fantastic time.”
Toni moved to swing her legs off the bed, but Noel touched her shoulder and said, “Stay. I can find my way out.”
“Tempting,” she said with a slow, tired grin.
“I mean it.” She bent over and kissed her on the cheek, feeling strange to limit herself to such a chaste show of affection. She took her clothes into the bath, wincing when she caught sight of herself in the mirror and saw that she was a
little rough looking after their exuberant evening. Finding the comb she’d used earlier, she pulled her hair into a ponytail and splashed water on her face, managing to look a bit more like herself.
Toni hadn’t moved, and Noel saw that she was sound asleep. Quietly, she closed and locked the back door, then locked the windows in the living room. She found Toni’s keys, locked the front door from the outside and dropped them back into the house through the mail slot.
It was still raining, but she didn’t mind. She protected her book as best she could and took solace in the fact that the rain would make everyone look like they’d been ridden hard and put away wet. The march of shame was never pretty.
***
The next morning, Toni sat in her truck, having parked it over a block away from The Sandpiper. She had a notebook propped up against the wheel and was trying, unsuccessfully, to compose a note. Every few seconds she looked down the street to see if there was any activity. Noel finally emerged at about ten o’clock and Toni hurriedly wrote the following:
Do you ever feel a little uncomfortable seeing someone you’ve just had sex with? That’s funny, because I never have. Ha!
Seriously, I just wanted you to pass on a message to Janet from me. She is a complete and utter fool! Any woman who would let you get away should be committed. I’m glad I don’t live in Baltimore, because people like her shouldn’t be free to roam the streets.
Toni
She took the bouquet of Gerbera daisies she’d bought and folded the note up so she could fit it into the tiny envelope the florist gave her. Then she got out of her truck and walked down the street, knowing that The Sandpiper would be open and she could leave her gift in the kitchen.
Part Five
Noel was walking to the beach when her cell phone rang. Her heart beat increased and she realized she was hoping it was Toni on the phone. With only the slightest bit of disappointment she answered her sister’s call. “Hi, what’s up?”
“The boys are at an overnight camp and we thought we’d come spend the night. Do you have room?”
“How did you get Ed to take a day off?”
“He begrudgingly agreed to take the afternoon off if we can crash at your place.”
“All of my guest rooms are filled, but I have plenty of room for you in my apartment. I have a nice sofa where I wind up falling asleep half the time anyway. When can you be here?”
“Oh, Ed won’t want to do that. You know how he is about putting anybody out.” She paused for just a second and said, “I think I’ll come by myself. Then he can have what he truly wants, a night alone.”
***
While Noel walked, she ruminated over the previous evening’s activities. It had been a long time since she’d had casual sex, and she found the whole experience still resonating with titillating excitement. She’d been in three medium- and long-term relationships: one for three years, one for six, and the ten years she’d spent with Janet.
Those relationships had consumed her entire adult life. But she’d come out as a lesbian when she was a freshman in college, and she’d taken her mother’s advice and hadn’t gotten tied down while she was in school. So she had more than a passing acquaintance with casual sex.
It was odd, at this point in her life, to consider dating again. She’d honestly thought she’d be with Janet until death parted them, and there were still many days that she wished death had parted them…Janet’s death. But being with Toni was making her consider the freedom that being single could provide.
There was something nice about having a period when she could consider only her own needs. She worked hard during the school year, and there had been many nights she didn’t wanted to listen to what was going on in Janet’s world. There were also times when she wasn’t at her best, but didn’t want to discuss it. That was difficult when you were in an intimate relationship, and having the freedom to keep your thoughts private was oddly compelling.
In fact, Noel was beginning to wonder if she and Janet truly had the depth of feeling for each other that they claimed. They never shared the same interests, so most nights found them either in different rooms in their house, or with one of them playing on the computer while the other watched television. That worked out well, but given how much Janet traveled, they spent an awful lot of time apart.
So, even though she missed being loved, she had begun to question whether Janet ever loved her, or if people were even capable of loving one another. Maybe Toni had the right idea. Have a lot of good friends, and have sex when you found someone you click with. Weren’t things a lot cleaner that way?
***
By the time Noel finished lunch with her friend Gloria, then ran a few errands, April was calling her from The Sandpiper. “Where are you? Shouldn’t the innkeeper be here at all times?”
“I’m just about two blocks away. Hold your horses.” She hung up and walked a little faster, looking forward to seeing her sister.
April helped her carry the supplies into the inn, commenting, “You should go to one of the big box stores to buy all of this stuff.”
Noel put the bags of toilet paper, tissues, and various cleaning supplies on the kitchen counter then saw the flowers, artistically arranged in a water glass. “What’s this?” she asked, grinning happily. She took the card from among the stems and read the note, blushing girlishly as she did.
“Let me see,” April said snatching the note right from her hands.
Noel grabbed for it, but April turned and fended her off while she read it aloud. “You little slut!” She giggled maniacally. “I thought she wasn’t even your type.”
Finally yanking the note from April’s hands, Noel adopted a stern look. “She’s doing work around my house. Just a little gift to thank me for the business.”
“She says you had sex last night!”
“No she doesn’t. She asked me if I ever felt embarrassed after I had sex with someone. She’s obviously doing some sort of research project.”
April put her arm around her little sister and hugged her. “I’m so excited! I bet she’s phenomenal in bed. Is she?”
“She’s not bad. Not bad at all,” Noel said, looking very pleased.
“Come on! I need more details.”
“Oh, all right.” Noel gave her sister an aggrieved look that they both knew was put on. “It was…fantastic.” She grasped her shirt and pulled it away from her body a few times, fanning herself. “It was a little funny having sex with someone new, but she was so hot that I got over my nervousness incredibly quickly.”
“Mom and I both think you should stay single for at least a year. Live it up a little! There might be a dozen women around here who are just as cute as Toni.”
Scoffing, Noel said, “I doubt that. And you and mom just want to live vicariously through me. But I didn’t see either of you volunteering to have your hearts broken.”
“We just want to have the fun parts of being single,” April admitted. “Plus, we were both sick of Janet. Toni’s right, Janet wasn’t nearly good enough for you.”
“That’s nice of you to say. I tend to agree. Of course, I don’t currently think Janet’s good enough for a rabid dog…with mange. And fleas and…”
***
Noel and April spent the afternoon going through some of Max’s personal effects, something Noel had been consciously putting off for weeks. By the time they showered, went out to dinner, walked around for a bit and had ice cream, it was time for bed. Noel was in the kitchen, making batter for the next day’s pancakes when she looked at her watch and realized it was too late to call Toni to thank her. She had meant to leave herself a note to call, but she thought that the flowers would be a handy reminder. She bent over to sniff them, even though she’d done so several times that day and knew they had no aroma. Still, there was something very attractive about the bouquet, and even without a scent, they brightened the whole kitchen. She just wished she’d let Toni know that.
***
Toni finished her club soda
and checked her watch, seeing that it was almost time to go to the firehouse. Her friend Roxy was sitting next to her at Jackie’s and Toni said, “Have you ever sent a woman flowers?”
“Sure. Usually when I’ve done something I’m in trouble for. Why?”
“I don’t do it very often, but I did it this morning. Is she supposed to call me and say thanks or something?” She looked adorably confused, and Roxy had to stop herself from laughing at her befuddlement.
“She should definitely thank you. Are you sure she got ’em?”
“Yeah. I delivered them myself.”
“Who is this woman who deserves a hand delivery?”
Toni shrugged, then got up and paid for her and Roxy’s drink. “Nobody you know.”
“Is she why you’re not interested in other women?”
Her eyes were bright with interest, but Toni wasn’t in the mood to discuss the issue. She leaned over and kissed Roxy, saying, “I gotta get going. See you.” She waved at Jackie as she left, her posture not as erect and confident as it usually was.
“Who’s she mooning over?” Roxy asked Jackie. “It’s been a long time since I saw her let a woman get under her skin.”
“Got me,” Jackie said, even though she had a pretty good idea who Toni had been tracking for weeks now.
***
The next morning, April and Noel worked as a team, serving breakfast to seventeen hungry guests. April spent most of the morning in the parlor, with Noel cooking and listening to NPR in the kitchen. It was a beautiful day, so most of the guests left the inn by eleven. April washed and Noel put away the dishes, and they were finished by noon.
“I think you should reconsider and not sell,” April said. “I can’t think of a better way for you to retire. You could run a place like this until you were ninety, and even though it won’t make you rich, it would give you a darned nice place to stay. You’ve got to admit it’s nicer than Baltimore.”
Susan X. Meagher - The Legacy Page 9