by Leslie Pike
“Turn around,” I say.
There’s no embarrassment or shyness when she hesitates. She’s building the moment. In an automatic response, I touch myself as she turns. I’m so hard. Her breasts are full and her nipples stand waiting to be sucked. I can see her lips through the gossamer fabric of her panties. Only the seam hides what I want to look at. She pulls them down and gives me a peek. I’d swear I’m glimpsing heaven.
CHAPTER SEVEN
FARRAH
When he gets to the top step he loses the T-shirt. His breathing is heavier now. The shoulders, pecs and biceps are solid and powerful looking. I want to run my hands over the hills and valleys. He’s coming toward me as I back up to my bedroom at the end of the hall. I don’t want to miss a moment of this one-man show. As he unzips he’s looking in my eyes and he’s smiling. Without a touch, he’s making me wet. The pants and shorts are peeled off then kicked away.
He stands naked before me. I look down at my prize. He takes First Place, and I feel like applauding. His cock moves, as if there’s an invisible puppeteer pulling a string. It calls to me. But it’s only for a beat before he takes me against the wall and lifts both my hands above my head. One strong hand holding me captive while he uses the other to feel my breasts and lift my nipples to his mouth.
Oh my God.
Then his hand drops lower, between my legs. A quiet moan escapes his lips and mine. Warm strong fingers pet me and find their way inside my panties. When his movement is restricted, he rips them off. I hardly feel him do it, but all at once they’re gone. He opens me and lifts a magic middle finger inside.
Oh, yes.
“You’re wet. I love that.”
He goes deep. I lift on my tiptoes and then set back down on it. It’s so good. I see his jaw tighten with the same lust I’m feeling. I bring my lips to his for a kiss and he gives me what I want. Pressing himself against me, he rolls his hips into mine and we’re both on the edge of the abyss.
“Your bed. Where is it?”
I point to the closest door. He picks me up like I’m a little sparrow and puts me over his shoulder. He playfully slaps my ass.
My breasts lie against his back and the view of him as he walks me in the room is magnificent. He’s got the best ass I’ve ever seen on a man. It’s high and round, and when he takes a step his muscles clench and rises. Lovely. While I admire his butt, he pauses in front of my dresser mirror.
“Now this is what I call a room with a view. You’re so beautiful.”
He’s looking at my backside and more. I’m not sure it’s my best angle. But as his hand glides over me, I feel his cock twitch against my foot.
“Take me to the bed,” I plead.
There’s no hesitation. He throws the comforter, blanket and top sheet off, and lays me down on the white linen.
“Let me see you.”
I watch his face for a moment and we’re both lost in the same paradise. I feel so uninhibited with him. So, I very slowly open my legs, and let him have a good look. There’s an almost imperceptible gesture he does with his head, a little nod, that says he can’t believe what he’s seeing. That he’s not sure I’m real. That’s the best compliment I’ve ever had. He lies between my legs and puts his mouth on me. A zing of pleasure shoots straight through my body like a welcome arrow. He’s masterful with his lips and his tongue. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes to bring me to the edge of reason.
“I’m . . . coming! Oh, God!!”
As I orgasm, he very softly flicks my clit with the tip of his tongue. I explode in a free fall through time and space. It goes on and on until he’s taken it all from me.
He looks up as I sit on my elbows. I’m throbbing with the afterglow, and my chest is rising and falling as if I ran a marathon. His lips and chin are wet with me.
“Wherever you just took me, I’ve never been there before,” I say catching my breath.
He climbs on top.
“Let’s go there together.”
“I want to taste you.”
“Taste yourself,” he says coming in for a kiss. “I need to be inside you, feel you in my soul. Wrap your legs around me.”
I do as requested and lift my arms over my head. He kisses my breasts and licks me from nipple to ear. He takes ahold off his cock and guides it to my lips, wiggling it against me for a few seconds. Teasing.
“Please do it now,” I whisper.
He starts to enter me and my juices make it an easier coupling. But he’s bigger than I’ve ever had before. One curl of hair falls over his eyebrow, and it makes me think of a misbehaving archangel. Surely this is God’s gift to me for being a good girl. Thankfully he goes slow, but it seems like it’s taking all the control he has not to go full throttle. Meanwhile it’s taking all the control I have not to beg him to.
The last inch of him fills me. He starts moving. Oh yes. Slow. Even paced. There’s a sound coming from him that I love. He’s holding back and it’s killing him. I lift my hips to meet his thrust. My hands are on his back. I go faster. He goes faster. He goes harder. I follow. His eyes are on mine, and I feel the build rise in me again. I’m so close. His pace quickens and when we start to come he calls my name.
The phone rings, but we’re in a deep satisfying sleep. Three hours of making love and two more of making pancakes and dancing in the kitchen will do that for you. Downstairs, I hear the incessant sound of church bells, my ringtone. When I don’t pick up, my land line starts ringing. Nash turns over and puts his arm around me.
“Don’t answer.”
“I have to. It’s probably Becky. She’s the only one who calls on my house phone. But, good morning you god man.”
He looks like every woman’s fantasy of who they want to wake up to. He pulls me to him and kisses me. All the while the phone keeps ringing.
“My dick’s sore. You may have broken it.”
“Want me to kiss your boo boo?” I say before answering the phone. “Hello?”
Nash throws back the covers, raises his eyebrows and nods his head.
“Fuck, I thought you were dead,” Becky’s voice pierces my bubble. “I need to come over.”
“I’m busy.”
“That’s too bad. You’ve got an offer on the house. Full price.”
I don’t say anything for a few seconds. I look at Nash and repeat her message. “Someone wants to buy the house.”
His expression is exactly like my silent reaction. Neither of us like how fast this is moving.
“Hello?” Becky says.
“Yeah, I’m here. What happens now?”
“Well, it’s very early. You could accept, or wait and see if other buyers start a bidding war, which is a likely scenario. It’s up to you.”
“That. I want to do that second thing. Let’s not take the first offer I get.”
As I watch Nash’s face, I see a nod of approval.
“Okay. I’ll tell them other parties are interested and see what happens. You run the risk of them backing away, but I wouldn’t worry. It’s a seller’s market.”
“Okay, good. Thanks, Becky.”
“So, how was it?”
“What?”
“Uh huh. Bye bye. Go forth and fuck, sayeth the realtor.”
We disconnect and I lie back down.
“Please don’t make any quick decisions,” he says.
I try to roll everything around in my mind. I think I’m screwed is what I come up with.
“I don’t know exactly how to take your silence, but all I’m asking is that you really think it out.”
“I’ve thought of nothing else for years. It’s in motion now,” I say.
He stays quiet for a few moments, then sits up on an elbow and looks me in the face.
“It doesn’t matter. You can change your mind. People do it all the time. I know we just met, but I don’t want you to go.”
I hope he accepts my silence for what it is, contemplation.
“Let’s go somewhere we can talk. Be alone. Do you li
ke the beach?” he says.
“Yes, but I think I need to figure this out on my own.” I touch his face. “It’s not something anyone else can decide for me, or fix. I’ve never had only myself to consider, and I want to make the right decision.”
For just a flash he looks hurt. But then he regroups.
“That sounds like the smart thing to do. How about this. Tackle it tomorrow. Let’s take a ride to the beach and have just one more day together. We’ve never been to the beach you know. And we can’t end the day like this.”
His smile wins me over. Just what I need, another day under his spell.
CHAPTER EIGHT
NASH
Pacific Grove and its rocky coastline is only an hour from St. Helena. There’s something exceptional about a place where the ocean puts on a wild show. As if Mother Nature decided to show her most intense colors and moods.
While I drive, Farrah talks. The stories pour out. She was only in her mid-twenties when her life was derailed. I know she says it was a privilege, but it’s also true she had to put her own interests on hold. Just two years out of college, she hadn’t experienced life beyond the party years. Her goal had been to be an artist who could live off commissioned work, and for a time she did. Pencil renderings of homes and children and even car lover’s favorite rides, kept her head above water. While she lived in San Diego, her college town, she survived by sharing a house with three other girls.
Seattle was where she was born, and when her parents moved from there to St. Helena, she thought it was a dream come true. The only thing missing from her life in California had been her family. Now they were only a day’s ride away. But the joy was short lived when her mother was diagnosed with cancer months later. Now six years down the road she’s alone, no aunts or uncles, just a grandfather who distanced himself from the family before Farrah was born.
When she pauses to take a call from Becky, I play it all out in my mind.
She’s the one.
I don’t doubt it. But I’m no longer thinking of just myself. What about Max? My child can’t be steamrolled by my passions. If we end up together, she’s choosing Max too. And he’s choosing her. That would have to be clear. I know what a responsibility it is to raise a child. Even one as good as mine. That’s what worries me. Right from the start she said she was weary of being responsible for other people and needed to be free. Well, that wouldn’t happen if she was with us. Having a child is the opposite of that.
Lack of time’s our greatest enemy. There’s not enough of it for the two of them to get to know each other. But it doesn’t take a genius to see she’d make a good mother. I wouldn’t say that to her though. It sounds like I’m jumping a few steps and fishing for a partner to take some of the load off my shoulders. That’s not how I see fatherhood. He’s been the best part of my life. And whoever I end up with must think of him as a blessing, never a burden.
If she’s going to move I need to cut things off soon. It wouldn’t be wise for any of us to be drawn in further if there’s no future. That would be a mistake that would take a long time to recover from. I can save Max and Farrah heartache. It’s too late for me.
She disconnects.
“There’s another offer on the house. Ten thousand more.”
“Great. You made the right move not taking the first one.”
“What a gorgeous spot this is,” she says.
“It’s is a good beach for a walk. This is where Max and I take the dog.”
I turn onto the dirt road that leads to the wooden path that winds down to the sand. It’s chilly, not a bathing suit kind of beach day. It’s a sweatshirt and sweatpants wearing afternoon, even though it’s July. Farrah looks perfect in hers.
There’s hardly any cars here. I’m encouraged by that. When we get out, the sound of the crashing waves fills the air, and the salty sea mist settles on our faces.
“I’ll lock your purse in the car.”
“Okay, good. I’ve got my cell.”
She walks ahead of me along the narrow path. It only takes a few turns before we’re on the sand. The deep blue ocean is churning, and the seagulls are calling to their next meal.
“Oh! This is beautiful, Nash. I love it here.”
I lay our blanket down, kick off my shoes and she follows my lead.
“Let’s walk,” I say, putting an arm around her. “You warm enough?”
She snuggles under my arm. “Now I am.”
We walk along the edge of the cold sea. She squeals with delight like a child who’s touching the ocean for the first time. Her delicate feet dance away from the waves. It makes me happy just watching her. I’m falling in love. No. I’ve already fallen. I’m so fucking screwed.
“You’re adorable, you know that, right?” I say.
She smiles that sexy grin. Then a serious expression takes its place.
“I want to ask you something.”
“Anything.”
“I want to know about your wife. We’ve hardly touched on it. First of all, what was her name?”
I’m surprised, but also encouraged. Why would she care if she wasn’t interested in staying?
“April. Her name was April. We met in college and married a year after graduation.”
“Tell me about her.”
“She was shy, and smart, and I loved her.”
There’s no use denying the facts. I have no interest in doing that. But instead of the reaction I’m expecting, I see a little smile.
“What’s the smile for?”
“I’m glad you’re not afraid to tell me the truth or underplay your past. And its good Max had parents who loved one another.”
That right there. That’s what would make her a good mother. She just put him before her own feelings without even realizing it happened.
“My one regret is that Max hardly remembers her. We all try to talk about her to him, but we see it only goes so far. He was just two when the accident happened.”
“That must have been horrific.”
I go back in my mind to that day. Two days.
“No one can imagine. She lived till the next afternoon. Long enough to become conscious of what had happened. But she never knew about Max’s injuries. We told her he was fine, that the car seat had saved him any pain. But it hadn’t.”
She gets very quiet for a moment, right along with me. Then it all comes out.
“Fucking life!” she shouts.
“Fucking life!” I join her protest.
We make ourselves laugh a little at the seeming randomness and pain of a human being’s journey. Our only choice is to shout into the wind.
“There’s really no way to avoid or foresee the next hill you’re going to have to climb. I’m closing in on forty, and I haven’t been able to do it yet,” I say.
She just nods her head in agreement. This seems like the right time to lay my cards on the table. I want her to know I love her and together we can figure this whole mess out. There’s got to be a way.
Her cell sounds, and she reaches for it before I can make my case. When she looks at the caller she doesn’t answer. It goes to voice mail.
“It’s my friend, Lissy. She’s the one I’m going to work for in Seattle. And live with.”
My stomach drops and by the look on her face, hers did too.
“Let’s talk about that,” I say.
“Okay.”
The sound of a voice message received interrupts my intentions.
“Let me hear what she had to say. Then we can talk.”
She presses play and holds the phone to her ear. I don’t like the look on her face. Her eyebrows are knitted together and her lips pressed tight. She covers one ear to make sure she hears all that’s said. When the message is over she replays and listens again.
“What?” I say, not wanting to know.
“Listen.”
She hands me the cell and I press play.
Doll, it’s Lissy. New plans. The woman who you’re replacing left early. No formal o
ne-month notice as agreed to. Mr. Grant wants you to start next week. I know it’s an imposition, but you’d be doing me a big favor by moving up your schedule by a month. So, whatever you must do, get here fast. You won’t regret the rush, it’s a great position. Oh, and I got your sweet thank you letter. You know I was more than happy to do this for you. We’re going to have so much fun! I’ve got your room ready. Kisses. Call me!
I stay silent until she weighs in on the call. She looks at me with tears in her eyes, and I bring her to me and hold on tight.
“That’s it. I’ve got to live up to my word,” she says, tears catching in her throat.
“Wait. Can’t we figure something out?”
“You don’t know what she did to get me this job. Her boss wanted to hire his niece and she fought for me. Plus, she turned down another friend who wanted to rent the room in her house.”
I get quiet. It wouldn’t take much for me to break down.
“I have to accept whatever you decide. But you and I would have been something great, Farrah. I think we both know that’s true. All we needed was the time to see it.”
She starts to cry, but soon begins to steel herself against her own heartache. She wipes away her tears.
“We need to stop what’s happening here between us. I couldn’t take walking away if I look at your face one more day,” she says.
“Then stay. Just a day more.”
She just shakes her head no. There’s resolve in her eyes, but tears run down her cheeks.
“Fucking life,” I say quietly.
“Fucking life,” she agrees with a whisper.
CHAPTER NINE
FARRAH
The 8x10 brightly wrapped package lies on the front seat of my Honda as I head to the animal hospital. I’ll pretend I’m just saying goodbye to my two new friends I’ve spent some good times with. It’s all for Max’s sake. Neither of us will be telling the whole truth. It’s almost surreal that I’m on my way out of town. How I’m holding back tears is a mystery. Concentrating on my driving helps. I’m taking it a little slower than usual because of the U-Haul I’m towing.
Hopefully Max likes his birthday present. It’s important that I say goodbye to him in person and bring him something to remember me by. My final conversation with Nash was to set up this meeting. Neither of us want to make my leaving more of a heartache than it’s been already. But we both want to do what’s right by Max. Leaving without acknowledging our friendship wouldn’t be right. The boy doesn’t need any more sudden goodbyes.