by Darla Baker
It’s a warm and sunny eighty-seven degrees with very few clouds in the sky. Thalia and Maria lower themselves into the water, moaning at the pleasant sensation of the cool water on their heated skin. As they position themselves on a ledge underneath the waterfall, the cool water rains down on them leaving a trail of goose bumps that quickly disappear as the warm sun caresses their soaked bodies.
Thalia places her hand on Maria’s chin and gently guides her into a soft kiss. As she pulls back to gaze at Maria, she finds her eyes still closed and her lips poised for more.
Thalia presses her lips more urgently onto Maria’s as she glides her tongue over Maria’s bottom lip and then sucks it into her mouth.
Maria’s lips part and their tongues begin to dance together, swirling, touching, tasting, and deepening the passion of this first kiss.
Thalia’s hand moves down her neck and between her breasts. Maria’s hands weave behind Thalia’s neck holding her closer and tighter as the intensity of the kiss grows.
Thalia reaches her hand underneath Maria’s shirt and deliberately circles the pads of her fingertips over the erect nipple she finds there while her mouth is drawn to Maria’s cheek. She takes a little nibble before proceeding down her neck and over her collarbone with the tip of her tongue.
Maria’s hands move inside Thalia’s shorts where she finds her perfectly round bum. Maria gives it a firm squeeze.
“Oh, God, I’m on fire. I want to get your clothes off now,” Thalia declares.
Thalia chuckles at the crimson as it instantaneously covers Maria’s face and neck.
Maria steps away from Thalia and pushes her board shorts down just enough to expose her well-groomed patch of silky curls. She steps back into the flow of water streaming from above, positioning herself so that the stream flows directly onto her exposed sex. She reaches into her shorts and spreads her lips open.
Thalia moves forward to accept Maria’s invitation, but before she reaches her target, her foot slips on the ledge, and she tumbles into the water.
“Are you okay?” Maria asks as she pulls up her shorts and jumps into the water after Thalia.
Thalia’s head pops out of the water. She’s coughing and laughing at the same time. “We better take this party back to the boat.”
Thalia retrieves the airbed and using the portable air pump, quickly inflates it between the front bench seats of the pontoon to form a comfortable double bed. She tosses a couple of camping pillows and towels onto the bed and beckons Maria over to join her.
Maria startles Thalia by leaping onto the bed and grasping at Thalia’s shirt, practically ripping it over her head.
“Easy there, darlin’. We can take it nice and slow.” Thalia removes their shirts and lowers Maria onto the bed. She climbs on top of her, their breasts now touching and wedges her leg between Maria’s where she can feel the heat of Maria’s arousal on her thigh. “God, I’m so turned on.”
As she fills her hands with Maria’s soft breasts, Thalia takes first one, and then the other nipple into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the taut flesh, feeling the pebbling form as she increases the pressure to just short of pain.
Maria runs her hands through Thalia’s hair, pushing her head, increasing the contact.
Thalia rocks gently back and forth applying a gentle and teasing stroke to Maria’s still unexposed sex.
Maria begs, “Please, I need more. I’m so ready.”
Thalia works her way down Maria’s stomach, trailing kisses along the way. She coaxes Maria to raise her hips as she removes Maria’s shorts and then hers, tossing them aside while she settles comfortably between her legs.
Thalia takes in the exquisite scent of her sex mixed with the earthy scent of the lake as her mouth waters in anticipation of the incredible sensation that awaits her. She reaches for Maria’s soft mound and applies a feather-light caress to her swollen clit using her thumb as Maria jumps and lets out a groan.
Thalia takes a moment to look up at Maria. Her hands are filled with her breasts, squeezing and pinching at the nipples while her tongue is dancing across her lips making them wet, inviting, and very sexy.
Maria’s gaze meets Thalia’s, her hazy expression revealing the need for release.
Thalia places two fingers slowly inside her while lightly touching her clit with the tip of her tongue.
“Oh, yes. God, yes. More. Harder.”
Thalia complies as she strokes in and out of Maria in a steady rhythm, curling her fingers just slightly to reach the most sensitive spot.
She runs her tongue over Maria’s engorged clit, up one side, over the tip and then down the other before sucking it fully into her mouth.
The stroking continues as Maria’s hips begin to buck, and Thalia can feel the pulses on her fingers and in her mouth. Maria lets out a scream that will surely scare away the eagles.
“Oh yes! I’m coming!”
No shit, Thalia thinks with a proud chuckle.
Thalia winces. Maria has placed Thalia’s head in a death grip with her knees, and she can barely move. “Can you ease up there, darlin’? You’re about to crush me like a melon.”
Maria giggles and releases her head. Thalia gently removes her fingers and positions herself next to Maria, draping her arm over her in a comfortable embrace.
“Well, that was a good start, don’t you think?”
LUCKILY FOR RENÉ, Thalia had been able to keep two of her three afternoon appointments. Genevieve, a recently divorced and now single mother of a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, has an appointment scheduled for five o’clock.
Genevieve is very sweet. Even so, René expects her to voice her displeasure at the last minute schedule change.
Genevieve runs an antique shop in Russell Springs. It’s not one of those junky places that smell like an old attic with the furniture piled on top of itself just waiting to topple over. She has several rooms staged in a way that makes you want to buy every piece in the room and then have her personally deliver and properly arrange it in your house.
René retrieves Genevieve’s record on the computer and places the call.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Genevieve. It’s René. I’m sorry to call you on such short notice, but Thalia had something come up and won’t be able to make your five o’clock appointment.”
René hears a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone. “Oh, no! I was just about to walk out the door. What if you hadn’t caught me? This is a bit of an inconvenience. Can we reschedule soon? I’m anxious to see Thalia.”
“Yes, of course. Does tomorrow at the same time work for you? And since we canceled without a twenty-four-hour notice, the session will be at no charge.”
“Ahh, yes, thank you. Yes, tomorrow works for me. And René, tell Thalia I hope she’s worth it. She should plan to receive a piece of my mind when I see her tomorrow.”
The tension drains from her body. “Yes, ma’am,” she says in a playful voice, hoping to ease any tension. “See you tomorrow.”
“Goodbye.”
With that business out of the way, René decides to call Sammy and let her know Thalia may be late tonight.
THALIA WAKES UP from her nap, a little sore from the afternoon’s activities and groggy from the wine she and Maria shared. She rises up on her elbows, scans the lake, and sees the sun starting its descent toward the horizon, poised to take one last drink from the warm waters before nightfall.
“Shit! What time is it? Shit, shit, shit! I’m late again. They’re going to kill me!”
Maria looks up at her, the satiated look now replaced with a puzzled expression. “Late for what? It’s only six-thirty. Come on, baby. Lay back down. We have plenty of time, and I’m not finished with you yet.”
“Ugh… you don’t understand. Seven o’clock every Wednesday I meet my friends for dinner at the La— It’s just I’m forever running late. The teasing will be brutal.”
Phew. Thalia caught herself before revealing the Lakeside Bar & Grill as her regular
weekly hangout. If any of her previous darlins showed up looking for her, things could get quite messy. Folks around here know Thalia. It’s a small town, people talk. But there’s a big difference between gossip and making a scene.
“Darlin’, try to stay below the railing and get dressed. We have to get back.”
Thalia gets down on all fours searching for her clothes, trying not to give a peep show to any boats that might be passing by.
“Speak for yourself. I don’t have anywhere to be until eleven tomorrow morning,” she says as she pulls Thalia back onto the bed while tugging at the shirt she’d finally managed to wrestle over her head.
“Oh, what the hell. It’s not like the teasing will be any worse.”
Thalia tosses her shirt back off and climbs on top of Maria, possessively kissing her as she trails her hand downward toward its destination, goose bumps erupting along the trail. As she parts the wet and swollen folds, Maria’s moans drown out the teasing echoing in her mind.
CHAPTER TWO
AFTER DROPPING MARIA off near the boat launch, Thalia secures the boat in the slip, grabs her backpack, and heads for the shower.
She luxuriates in the hot water running down her naked form and over her aching muscles. But she doesn’t have time to doddle. If she hurries, she’ll only be an hour late meeting her friends.
She steps out of the shower, quickly dries off, and throws on a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a blue rash guard she had picked up in Cancun a few years ago. She slips into her Skele-toes and heads out to make the steep climb up the hill to the bar. Please let there be a shuttle bus at the launch ramp.
Following a quick shuttle ride up the hill, she now stands at the entrance to the bar steeling her nerves to face her friends.
Thalia opens the door and enters the gift shop that fills the waiting area. She walks past the hostess, nodding as she proceeds onto the open-air patio where her friends are sitting, probably already on their second drinks by now.
Sammy spots her immediately and pulls her into an enthusiastic embrace. “I want all of the details, Pro. Your sister called and warned us that you would be late. You need to give that girl a raise the way she runs interference for you.”
“Yes, I do.”
Sammy was Thalia’s first friend when she moved to Kentucky five years ago following a painful breakup with Diane, her girlfriend of eight years. Along with her sister, Sammy knows Thalia better than anyone. Sammy is a veterinarian, and they met at the animal shelter where she volunteers. Thalia was looking for a dog shortly after she moved here. Sammy put her in touch with a good local pit bull rescue kennel and even offered to accompany her.
The visit was successful, and Thalia adopted two pit bull sisters, one tan and the other black, each with a bit of white on the chest and feet. They were two months old when Thalia adopted them. She named them Sassy and Grace. Sassy because she was mouthy from the start and Grace because… well… she wasn’t graceful at all. Sammy became her vet and her friend that same day.
Thalia and Sammy walk over to the table to join Janice and Annie, who are each nursing their second beer. Sammy is working on a glass of white wine. Thalia orders her usual, a lemon drop martini, and takes her seat.
“So, Pro, tell us all about your tawdry afternoon and don’t spare any details.”
Annie likes to experience the wild sex life of a single woman vicariously through Thalia. Annie is an ob-gyn and is married to her high school sweetheart, Jason, who works as a trauma surgeon at the local hospital. Annie and Thalia met through Sammy about a year ago at the animal shelter where they all volunteer.
Thalia takes a sip of her drink. “Annie, you know I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Come on. You know we rely on your stories to escape from our dull lives.”
“Speak for yourself,” Janice says while giving Annie’s shoulder a rough nudge.
If there’s a lesbian in Nancy who can give Thalia competition for the notches on her bedpost, it’s Janice.
She married a man in her early twenties after getting pregnant with their son, Josh. They were married for thirteen years.
The marriage ended in divorce when Bryan came home one day and announced that he had never loved her and had been having an affair with another woman for several months and wanted to marry her.
It was devastating but at the same time, not all that surprising. Janice had known, seemingly forever, that she was attracted to girls instead of boys. Growing up in a small town, she thought it was better to pretend than come out. Janice was wrong.
Thalia met Janice initially at a support group she runs for women who are struggling with the coming out process. Several months after Janice left the support group, Thalia was ready to build a garage on her property, and then she remembered that Janice had a construction company.
Janice’s company won the bid, and they became friends during the construction project.
Now, Janice and Thalia do their best not to fish in the same pond of willing women lovers.
The waitress drops off their food and another lemon drop martini for Thalia. Annie takes a bite of her pasta, making a yummy food sound. “So, as I was saying, tell us all about your tawdry afternoon.”
“And I already told you, I don’t kiss and tell.” Sammy and Janice chuckle causing Thalia to turn to them. “What?”
Sammy responds, “Oh, come on, Pro. You know you enjoy the ‘tell’ as much as you enjoy the ‘kiss’.”
“Well, now, I wouldn’t go that far,” Janice chimes in. “But at least give us something juicy. You did keep us waiting.”
“Oh, please, you weren’t waiting on me. You had your drinks and your gossip—mostly about me I’m sure—to keep you entertained till I arrived.” Thalia’s smile assures them she’s enjoying the teasing.
Annie can’t let it go just yet. “At least give us the number.”
Thalia gives her a puzzled look. “Number?”
“Yeah, you know. How many orgasms did you give her?”
“Annie, you are shameless! Are you keeping a spreadsheet on the statistics of my love life for some sort of gynecological research?”
“Maybe.” Annie draws the word into three syllables.
Thalia holds up four fingers as she drops her head to hide the pride erupting on her face.
The girls look at each other and bust out laughing.
“Let’s talk about something else. Who’s going to the raft-up this weekend?”
Sammy groans. “Thalia, Janice, you know we love you. But if this year’s raft-up turns out like last year with you two behaving like dogs in heat humping everything in a bikini, then count us out.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Janice says, her mouth spreading into a wide grin as she puffs up her chest.
Annie shakes her head and pops Janice in the shoulder. “Oh, I swear, you two are worse than men! And I should know. I’m married to one.”
Thalia speaks up first, giving Janice a pleading look. “All right, all right. We’ll behave. We promise.” Janice nods in agreement, but Thalia has a sneaky suspicion her fingers are crossed behind her back.
“So, let’s meet at ten o’clock at the Three Graces slip. René can take the boat out, and I’ll follow on the jet ski and bring my kayak so we’ll have some options for exploring around the raft-up. How does that sound?”
Everyone nods in agreement.
“That just leaves refreshments and guest list. Annie, will Jason be able to make it?”
“No, Jason is on shift at the hospital.”
“That’s a shame. Janice, Josh will be busy at the dock, huh?”
“Yeah, but even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t want to hang out with Mom and her cronies. If he gets to go, he’ll be with friends, and we may or may not see him.”
“Hey! Watch who you’re calling cronies. I’m the youngest of the gang. Don’t forget it. And before you ask, I’ll be flying solo, as well,” Sammy adds. “Don’t ask. My love life is currently on ice.”
Thalia give
s her a nudge as her expression turns from playful to sympathetic. “Well, perhaps we can fix that at the raft-up, Sammy. Okay, there’ll be five of us. Who’ll bring breakfast sandwiches and coffee?”
Annie volunteers for breakfast duty. Sammy agrees to bring the beer and wine. Thalia takes lunch duty, and she volunteers René to bring soda and water.
Janice checks the time on her phone. “Okay. With that all settled, I need to get out of here. I have an early start tomorrow. It’s been fun as usual, girls.”
“I know, I know. Last one to arrive picks up the check,” Thalia says with a big grin that shows off her dimples as everyone trades hugs and kisses on their way out.
CHAPTER THREE
THE MORNING FOG hovers over the lake creating an eerie yet beautiful path. She hears the sounds of fish breaking the surface of the water and her paddle propelling her forward. Otherwise, the lake is silent, still, and peaceful.
Thalia goes kayaking every morning, weather permitting. And for Thalia, that means many more days of kayaking than it would for the less enthusiastic kayaker. She prefers an inflatable kayak to plastic or fiberglass, primarily due to their weight and versatility for travel. Her kayak weighs only twenty-six pounds.
Thalia likes to add variety to her daily kayaking by launching from one of several ramps around the lake. This morning, she set out promptly at seven o’clock from the beach at Pulaski County Park. Her first client appointment isn’t until ten, so she’s going to kayak to the marina, have breakfast, and then kayak back.
Thalia rounds the first turn quickly, and she can see the bridge ahead. She’s a little sore from yesterday’s activities, but she’s not complaining.
Robin is her first client this morning, and René rescheduled Genevieve for this afternoon at five o’clock. She’s sure Genevieve will have something to say about the last minute schedule change. That’s one of the many things Thalia loves about being a therapist in a small town. Perhaps the relationship she has with her clients would be considered too familiar for a practice in a large city. But here, it’s pretty much impossible not to have some connection or contact with her clients outside of the office. What she lacks in physical boundaries, she is diligent to maintain with emotional boundaries.