Mountains Wanted

by Alexander, Phoebe

  She squeezed his hand. There were nearly as many questions that remained as the ones that had found answers, like unmatched pairs wandering in the wilderness, waiting to find their other halves. But there was something, a tiny beam of light piercing the darkness, something to build on, something to nurture. It was the speck of hope she needed to believe in.

  He covered her lips with his own and she detected that he was suddenly lighter, unencumbered, as if the burdens he’d been shouldering had disintegrated, shackles falling away. Nestled into his arms, she felt like they were soaring. Here they stood, on top of the earth, surrounded by her mountains, fortresses protecting this fragile love till it was strong enough to stand on its own two feet.

  ***

  The moon is casting just enough of a glow to highlight the contours of your shoulders and face as you shift your weight on top of me. I am so wet from our last round that you slide into me with no resistance, making me gasp at the sensation of being filled by your hardness. You begin to move ever so slowly inside of me, shallow at first, and then increasingly deeper. You feel my back arching, my stomach tense, my moans filling the room. Your mouth is close to my ear and you whisper, "No, wait for me, baby..."

  I manage, "I'm trying..." Every stroke sends me an inch closer, hitting just the right spot.

  Your arms around me, you're moaning, "Oh, fuck..." as I grip your cock deep inside me, trying so damn hard not to let myself fall off the edge.

  I know you so well, every breath you take, every thrust, I know how close you are getting. My hands stroke down your back and you are so deep, reaching the core of me. It's taking everything I have to hold back and feeling me approach the edge again, you demand again, "Wait for me."

  I can't even respond, knowing if I lose concentration I will explode around you. You're getting close. I can wait, I can do this. I want us to climax together. It needs to happen that way. In perfect solidarity. It’s symbolic.

  Every sound you make is so familiar; I know exactly how much time will elapse before you lose control. I'm not used to having to hold back. You're moaning all around me, your breath heavy and falling on my face, your muscles rigid and poised, your cock growing harder. I am a vessel of your pleasure. Lying beneath you, feeling your weight on me, I love thinking that I am the source of your ecstasy. Finally you whisper, "Now, baby, come with me," but I have already started shuddering beneath you, those last thoughts finishing me off. I'm still feeling my spasms around you as you release deep inside me.

  You lie there, spent, your head on my chest until you become too sensitive and need to pull out. I feel your seed start to leak out onto my thighs as you shift beside me and pull me close to you, summing it up in three words: "That was intense."

  And I have nothing to say except that I am yours. No holding back. Risks be damned, I’m all in.

  ***

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Birthday

  Spring began to unfurl its fresh green wings throughout the Mid-Atlantic shortly after Sarah returned from Denver. James had stayed through the first day of her conference and accompanied her to Breckenridge to visit Aunt Sally, who was practically her mother’s twin, being only eighteen months her junior. Aunt Sally had conjured up all sorts of embarrassing tales from Sarah’s youth to amuse and entertain James. Sarah spent a lot of time rolling her eyes and happily wondering why this potentially awkward meeting seemed so familiar and comfortable. The conference presentation had also gone well, and Sarah exuded a strength and assurance that she had long subdued. She felt rejuvenated.

  But nothing was better than coming home to James, who had finally integrated Sarah into his life; she was decompartmentalized. After spending time with him in Denver, she sensed a closeness with him that she had longed to feel for a man for years. She felt as if she was blooming, just like the sunny daffodils and indigo crocuses lining the stone-studded walk to her front door.

  She had made James promise her one thing: to be honest with her, even if he thought what he had to say might hurt her feelings. “Trust me to be able to handle what you need to say,” she’d told him. “If this is going to work, then we need to be open and transparent.”

  He agreed but she could see it was not going to be easy for him. He was so used to boxing things away, compartmentalizing and repressing. She didn’t know whether to blame his Catholic upbringing, military service, or just the fact that he was a man. In any case, she felt like she had been slowly deprogramming him, positively reinforcing his openness and willingness to share, gently prodding when he seemed to shut down.

  Rachel invited them over for a “welcome home” dinner shortly after the conference. Sarah watched Rachel give James a wink when she went to hug him as if to say, “We did it!” She was a little gloat-y over her hand in their reconciliation, but Sarah tried to humor her. That night at dinner she proposed a toast, “To Sarah and James, may your love grow and bloom and may you find the happiness together that Jack and I have found.” She turned to Jack and mouthed the words “I love you,” as she clinked glasses around the table.

  Then she pulled another rabbit out of her hat: “Sarah, your birthday is in a few weeks, and serendipitously falls on a Saturday. You know what that means, right?”

  “I don’t,” Sarah admitted, “but I’m a little scared to find out!” She scanned her best friend’s face waiting for the answer.

  Jack laughed, knowing what the devious glint in his fiancée’s eyes meant. “Which birthday are we celebrating this year, beautiful?” he inquired.

  “Thirty-seventh,” Sarah replied, “which naturally needs no big celebration.” She arched an eyebrow at Rachel whose face was painted with mischievous excitement.

  “Au contraire, my Little Pumpkin!” Rachel’s devilish laugh filled the room. James was grinning in anticipation and Jack was on the edge of his seat, waiting for the announcement he knew was coming.

  “Alright, out with it!” Sarah demanded and turning to James questioned, “Are you in on this too?” He shook his head but then his laughter gave him away. She couldn’t believe all three were conspiring against her.

  “Two words,” Rachel finally offered, her smile almost splitting her face in half, “House Party!!!”

  “Oh Rachel,” she stammered, “you shouldn’t have.” She glanced at James and then back at Rachel, shooting her an uncertain look, attempting to communicate: I don’t think he’s ready for that.

  “Too late, the invitations have gone out. And I get to give the birthday girl her first spanking!” Rachel exclaimed. Jack looked on with approval. James was a little harder to read...happy but blissfully ignorant? Sarah determined.

  Three weeks later, she and James were en route to Rachel’s for the birthday party and Sarah was nervously reviewing all the etiquette with him. “Open doors mean you can watch. Closed doors mean don’t go in. Ask before you join in.”

  “Sarah,” he gently placed his hand over hers on her knee, “I’m not going to leave your side. Don’t worry, I will be fine.”

  “Okay, okay,” Sarah conceded. “I just don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with, sweetheart. You’d tell me if you didn’t want to do this, right?”

  “Of course I would. Please stop, I just want you to enjoy your birthday, okay?”

  Sarah nodded, her heart fluttery. She knew she’d feel better after a glass of wine. Should James drink? Or not drink? Come to think of it, I have never seen him drunk, she thought deviously. But his first house party is probably not the time for that. James pulled into Rachel’s driveway and took the spot nearest her car, knowing they’d be blocked in by the other party guests, but they’d already discussed spending the night. Rachel had insisted, as a matter of fact.

  Sarah burst in and Rachel was standing right there beside the door, as if she knew she was arriving at that very moment. She held out a sparkly rhinestone tiara which she promptly affixed to Sarah’s dark-haired head. Jack swathed her in a sash that read in purple glitter: “Birthday Queen.” Rachel
smoothed Sarah’s deep marine blue dress down over her bust and hips and then posed her and James for a picture. “Now kiss!” she commanded and captured the couple with their lips locked as well.

  Moments later the guests began to arrive. Sarah hadn’t seen many of their group of friends for a while, she’d been so busy with self-denial over the summer, and work, James and family all fall and winter. She was humbled that so many people had turned out to celebrate with her despite being relatively new to the scene in Maryland and not knowing them terribly well. But that was the nature of the lifestyle: people were warm and made connections quickly and easily. Rachel had also invited a few new faces who didn’t need a lot of encouragement to attend a house party, and heartily took the hostess’ word that the birthday girl was positively enchanting and the party not to be missed.

  James watched Sarah work the crowd, witnessing her effortless transformation into the role of social butterfly. Her smile was broad, her eyes gracious, and she always gave warm hugs or kisses in lieu of handshakes. Most of the time, if James was within her line of vision, she called him over to be introduced as well. “This is my boyfriend James,” she proudly announced. He noted that no one used last names: only first names with this crowd. She was also careful never to mention that he was in the military. In fact, no one talked about work, he observed.

  Even though many aspects of the party seemed completely ordinary to him: the eating, the drinking, the small talk about the weather, there was a different energy in this group. There was an openness, a sensuality, a welcomeness that was palpable. Conversations he floated in and out of ranged from family life, to trips and vacations, to parties and clubs attended. Almost everything was upbeat, light, suggestive, accompanied by plenty of innuendo.

  He began to notice Sarah gravitating toward one particular couple. She was a curvaceous redhead, a few inches taller than Sarah, with creamy white skin and piercing green eyes. Her husband had handsome features accented by dark, salt-and-pepper sprinkled hair and a matching goatee. He had just finished his second beer and Rachel had announced it was almost time to cut the birthday cake. “James,” Sarah called, motioning him over, “Scott and Felicity are originally from Denver. I was just telling them about our trip there last month.”

  “Great city,” James said, sliding himself into the conversation. Sarah watched Felicity’s eyes sparkle as she scanned James up and down. “Can’t wait to go back and visit.”

  “Are you both going out for the wedding?” Scott asked. “Maybe you can spend a few extra days? You should try white water rafting this time!” he suggested helpfully.

  “Oh,” James replied, “that would be great but unfortunately I won’t be able to make Rachel and Jack’s wedding. I’ll be away on business.”

  Felicity twirled an auburn curl between her thumb and forefinger. “That’s a shame,” she cooed. “I was hoping I would get to see you again.”

  James smiled and glanced at Sarah for approval. ‘I know,” Sarah lamented, “no one is more disappointed that he won’t be there than me.” Her face brightened a bit as she added, “But feel free to enjoy him tonight.” She winked at Felicity and James’ face flushed. She grazed his back lightly with her fingertips, stroking up and down from his neck to his waist. He moved a little closer to her, his hand guiding her hip toward his pelvis where she could feel his erection straining against his pants.

  Felicity was beaming, “Oh, I would most certainly enjoy that...but later... Looks like Rachel needs you for the cake cutting!”

  Sarah moved toward the dining room where Rachel wielded the cake knife and a small black leather paddle. “Before we cut the cake, we need to give the Birthday Girl her spankings!” Rachel announced, her piercing voice gaining the attention of every guest. She handed the paddle to James. “I was going to do the honors myself, but I think you should get the first whack, right?” she asked, her hazel eyes gleaming.

  “You bet,” James replied and moved Sarah out in front of the table so she was on display for everyone to see. He bent her at the waist and lifted her dress to reveal a lacy black thong dividing her smooth, round lily-white asscheeks. He poised the paddle just above her right cheek and then delivered a solid wallop that elicited a nice, tight, high-pitched cracking sound coupled with a squeal from the birthday girl’s lips.

  “You’ve got to count, Sarah,” Rachel chastised her, the wicked grin still spread across her face.

  “My bad,” Sarah said, laughing, almost having forgotten her friend’s sadistic streak. “That’s 1.”

  Rachel, Jack, Scott, Felicity, and the other guests each followed suit with Sarah counting each spanking. There were almost enough attendees to divide the spankings evenly, up to 34. Felicity, Rachel and James took the last three and James added one more “to grow on.” Sarah’s posterior was glowing bright red by the end of the exercise. She straightened up and smoothed her dress back down. “I definitely deserve some cake after that!”

  Rachel lit the candles and made some sort of comment about what she wouldn’t mind doing with the hot wax, but Sarah shot her a look that said I’ve tried to be good sport, but that’s crossing the line. The entire crowd sang a rousing, off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday” and Sarah filled her lungs with air to blow out the 37 candles. But first her wish: I wish for James to be mine, she whispered into her mind, the passion behind the sentiment erupting a burning tear the corner of her eye. Winking it away, she extinguished all the candles in a single attempt.

  Felicity slinked through the crowd like a snake and in a flash was by James’ side again, her green eyes lusty and wanton. Sarah noticed she was so close to him that her breasts were grazing his arm and one of her hands had slipped around his waist as she whispered something in his ear. He nodded and Sarah watched his eyes avert to her milky white cleavage. When Felicity started to pull him toward the hallway though, he stopped. “We’re bringing Sarah and Scott too, right?”

  A barely discernible spot of disappointment eked its way across her face. “Oh, you only do same room?”

  Sarah took her hand and drew very close to her so as not to make a scene. “It’s his first time full swapping,” she said softly, funneling the words directly into her ear. Felicity nodded in understanding then scanned the room for Scott, motioning for him to follow them back to the bedrooms.

  James had only caught the words “full swapping,” and looked to Sarah for an explanation, but she’d already grabbed Scott’s arm and was pulling him toward the guest bedroom. When they entered the room, she turned to James, cupping his face in both her hands, gazing up into his eyes wearing a very serious expression. “What’s ‘full swapping’ entail?” he whispered as Scott and Felicity began to undress.

  “When you swap partners,” she coached. “Are you sure you want to do this? Because if you don’t, it’s fine.”

  He smiled, “No, no, I do.” He kissed her then, a lingering kiss, drawing her body snugly against his.

  “Everything okay?” Felicity questioned from the bed. She had one shapely leg extended and the other propped up, revealing her smoothly shaved sex crowned with springy auburn curls. Ah, the carpet matches the drapes, mused Sarah. Her full breasts topped by luscious pink nipples rested against her ribcage, begging for attention. Sarah stripped off her dress, bra and panties and crawled across the bed, noticing that her bottom was still a bit tender from all the spankings. Her long dark hair cascaded down her back as she kneeled, taking one of Felicity’s tender ripe nipples into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the rosy areola. James and Scott both took a seat on the edge of the bed to watch the show.

  Felicity tilted her head back in ecstasy and moved her hand between her legs so she could touch herself. She leaned down and lifted Sarah’s face to hers, their lips meeting as both murmured soft sighs. Her fingers slid in and out of her wanton slit, and her other hand reached up to gently cup Sarah’s breast as they kissed. James’ eyes never left the sight of the two intertwined as he deftly pulled his clothes off and returned t
o his front row seat propped up against two pillows at the head of the bed. His erect cock pointed to his navel and his testicles had swollen, all aching to be touched.

  His sudden nudity had not escaped Felicity’s notice as she broke from her kiss with Sarah to stretch her body across the bed, giving herself access to James’ cock. She smiled up at him and licked her lips before her tongue darted out to tease the tip of his erection. Sarah shifted off the bed and fell to her knees on the carpet between Scott’s legs. His engorged member also begged for attention and Sarah eagerly took it deep into her hot, hungry mouth, her hands on his hips allowing her to control the depth of his strokes. She bobbed up and down for several moments, then pulled back to watch James, his eyes reduced to slits and his face cinched in concentration.

  “I think you should go lick Felicity’s pussy,” Scott suggested after she returned her attentions to his cock, his hand guiding her head up and down on his shaft.

  “Mmmmm,” Sarah sighed, not requiring much cajoling. She slid back onto the bed and coaxed Felicity onto her side so that she could still suck James’ cock. She propped one leg up so that her glistening mound of red curls was aimed directly at Sarah’s face. Sarah lapped lightly at her pearly pink clit which elicited a surprised gasp from the redhead’s mouth as if she wasn’t expecting the sensations to be so intense from such slight pressure. Sarah was encouraged by her response and began to taste her more fully, delving her tongue into the tight, sweet abyss between her labia.

  She felt James’ eyes on her as she parted Felicity’s netherlips with her fingers and licked up and down her slit, just barely entering her pussy with the tip of her tongue during each pass. She glanced up at him and his expression had not changed; she could tell he was finding it a challenge to keep from climaxing in the redhead’s mouth. His eyes shifted for a moment to a spot behind her, which as soon as she felt the hand on her ass, Sarah realized James had watched Scott move off the bed and to a standing position behind Sarah, poised to penetrate her lovely backside with his long, hard cock.