by BJ Wane
Mitch finally relaxed, especially after winning the last hand and largest pot, but as he drove home, his thoughts once again strayed to his neighbor and where this thing between them was going. By the time he pulled into his drive thirty minutes later, he still had no answers except one. He hoped she asked him over for dinner and sex again next weekend.
Chapter Six
“Turn this way, Melanie,” Hannah instructed the seventeen year old girl. “Now, tilt your head a little, that’s it. Smile!” She snapped several shots, all of them sure to be winners as Melanie was very photogenic. Her shoulder length blonde hair framed an attractive face dominated by large brown eyes. Her infectious smile came naturally and Hannah was sure she was going to have a difficult time selecting which pictures she wanted for her senior portfolio.
The Lexington Arboretum had been an excellent choice to take these pictures and she scheduled this photo shoot just in time. The Arboretum was going to close for a week starting this evening to repair the sprinkler system and Hannah knew the teenager didn’t want to wait that long. The copse of American Persimmon and native Pawpaw trees in the Home Fruit and Nut Garden just beyond the wooden walkway made an excellent background for these shots. She would have loved to take some pictures in that garden, but it was already barricaded against visitors.
The late morning sun was warm but not as heat inducing as her thoughts have been the past four days. The distraction of her first photo shoot hadn’t lasted long, and for the past thirty minutes, Hannah found her mind wandering from her job of posing Melanie among the floral bouquets of the various gardens to thinking of Mitch and the wonderful sensations he so easily evoked in her.
She hasn’t seen him since he returned home last Saturday even though she had surreptitiously tried to catch a glimpse of him all day Sunday. He didn’t park his truck in the garage and it was gone when she went out the next morning to pick up the paper and she didn’t see it all day. Her behavior made her feel like she was Melanie’s age, an adolescent teen with a crush on the hot boy next door. But what she was feeling, and craving now was completely different from what she had felt during her first rumspringa and her young heart had flipped head over heels for Caleb. With Caleb, she knew right away she wanted to spend her life with him. There were no doubts or plaguing questions, just a strong desire to be with him always. She was honest enough to admit to herself now that desire had begun to wan the last year or so before his death, but it was due more to the chafing of their restrictive lifestyle than a lessoning of her feelings for her husband. With Mitch, the only thing she knew for certain was she wanted more sexual encounters with him like the last two. She was happy with the new life she was slowly forging for herself, loved being outside with irrepressible clients like Melanie, matching her physical and inner appeal with nature’s natural beauty.
On top of being pleased with her work, she now had a friend in Anna, whom she was supposed to meet for lunch as soon as she finished with Melanie. Knowing there was no way she could broach the subject of oral sex with Anna without feeling like a complete idiot, Hannah stopped in at a bookstore on Monday and picked up a copy of Sex for Dummies and had been totally immersed in it for three days. While it was a wonderful source of information, she still couldn’t imagine herself taking Mitch’s penis in her mouth the way it described. Just the thought would have appalled her a year ago, but now, even though she was intrigued, her fear of coming across as totally naïve and incompetent, of failing to pleasure Mitch as much as he had her, was what was holding her back. A book simply couldn’t give her the experience most women her age already had.
A sudden flash from the trees startled her, pulling her attention back to the task at hand. Gone as fast as it appeared, she hoped it didn’t ruin that shot. “Hop up on the rail, Melanie, and lean on your right hand. Good. Now hold that a minute.” She took a few steps closer as a couple emerged from the tree garden, stepping under the barricade then hesitating before walking behind her across the walkway. There was no rail on the other side and she didn’t want to crowd them. She only caught a brief glimpse of the pair as they approached but it was enough to see the woman was upset over something and the man obviously had no sympathy for whatever it was. His dark face looked menacing which gave her the creeps and she assumed the couple was having a quarrel. They didn’t say anything, unlike the few other visitors in the park they had crossed paths with. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man glare daggers at her before the woman tugged on his arm, hurrying him along. She assumed it was because she and Melanie were the only ones around to witness his trespass into the closed garden.
“That was rude,” she muttered before taking an impromptu shot of Melanie hopping down from the rail. It wasn’t as if she was going to report him to the park security.
Maybe it was her dress that made him act so obnoxiously. She knew the way she dressed drew people’s attention, less so now that she had discarded her wimple and wasn’t wearing her hair in a bun under that cap. She should probably either keep it loose or cut it, but she was still getting used to having the braid hang down her back. Aunt Mary advised her to take it slow while adapting to life outside of her community, and that advice has been invaluable. When it came to her relationship with Mitch, she could only hope he didn’t get bored with her baby steps because, right now, she couldn’t imagine getting naked or fantasizing about oral sex with anyone but him.
“When will they be done?” Melanie asked with all the exuberance and impatience of youth.
Grabbing her bag, Hannah put away her camera and headed toward the exit of the park with Melanie. “Give me a few days. I promise I’ll start working on editing them later today and have them up on my website as soon as possible. I really appreciate you taking a chance on me, Melanie. I promise I won’t let you down.”
“Mom said you would be as honest as the day is long, one of her favorite quotes, and wouldn’t pressure us into buying anything we don’t want or need. This was fun. I can’t wait to compare my pictures with the ones my friends had taken out here. I bet mine are going to be much better and cheaper!” She sent Hannah a cheeky grin as they reached the parking lot.
“I appreciate the confidence and I’ll do my best not to let you down.” Hannah nervously noted the same couple that had been so rude on the walkway standing by a white SUV arguing. If she didn’t know better, she would swear the man had gestured toward her and Melanie when they saw them. Unable to figure out what his problem was, she waited until Melanie got behind her wheel and pulled out before she quickly followed her.
Hannah felt as if eyes were boring into the back of her head as she drove past them, careful to avoid eye contact. Just because she came from a peaceful community with virtually no crime didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of what went on in big cities such as Lexington. Hopefully, it was just her imagination that was making her uneasy about the other couple.
Thanks to GPS, Hannah found the First Watch Café where she was meeting Anna with no problem. Stepping inside, the cool interior felt wonderful after spending the warm morning outdoors and the mouth-watering aromas of freshly made to order dishes made her realize how hungry she was. She was fifteen minutes early so, picking a small table for two in the back corner, she pulled her book out of her bag, thankful that she thought to buy a book cover for it. She was totally immersed in the chapter on oral sex and didn’t see Anna arrive until she was taking a seat across from her and pulling the book down to read it upside down.
“You mean there’s a Dummies book for sex? Are you kidding me?” Anna asked laughing. Poor Hannah must be more inexperienced than she had imagined.
“Thankfully, I haven’t come across anything there isn’t a Dummies book for.” She quickly closed the book and tucked it away before saying, “Thank you for the lunch invitation. I like this place.”
“Wait until you taste their food. I recommend anything on the menu.” Even though Anna found Hannah’s reading material humorous, she also felt bad for her if she felt so far ou
t of her element with Mitch that she thought she was dumb. And from the look on her face when she caught her reading, that was exactly how she felt. They placed their orders for salads before Anna said, “You know, Hannah, just because there are things you haven’t experienced sexually, doesn’t mean you’re dumb.”
“Just as naïve as a teenage virgin?” she returned dryly. “Would you think me horribly rude if I asked how much experience you had before you married?” Anna made it easy for her to relax and get personal, thank goodness.
“Not at all. What’re friends for if you can’t ask them personal questions and use them as sounding boards. My best friend has been my rock ever since our college days. You have to remember, Hannah, I was almost twenty-six when I married and I had relationships in college.”
“Yeah, dumb question. I don’t regret marrying young or marrying Caleb. At the time it was right and what we both wanted, but in the two, almost three years since he’s been gone, there hasn’t been any inclination on my part to enter into another relationship. Not until Mitch. And I don’t think two evenings of dinner and sex make a relationship, especially since both times were at my request.”
Anna knew what Hannah meant. It wasn’t until she met Donovan that she became determined to explore the alternative sexual lifestyle that had intrigued her for so long. “You just asked him?” She would’ve loved to be a fly on the wall watching Mitch’s reaction to being bluntly propositioned by an Amish widow. It had to have been priceless. Then again, if he had agreed not once, but twice, he must have found something he liked about her because she knew for certain it wasn’t the vanilla sex that drew him back.
Hannah waited until the waitress set their salads down and left before answering. “I couldn’t think of any other way. It’s not as if I know how to flirt or seduce a man. If I hadn’t, I would still believe the little….tremors I achieved with Caleb was all there was.” Gosh darn it, she moaned silently as she felt her face redden at her admission, why did she admit that?
Anna was surprised that Hannah hadn’t experienced an orgasm until two weeks ago, but knowing Mitch, she had no doubt her first big O was awesome. Seeing her discomfort, she sensed there was more to it than her admission. “It’s a fine line, isn’t it, between what you were taught was morally right and wrong and experiencing sensations, as well as emotions, that feel so right despite achieving them doing things you thought went against those teachings?”
“Exactly,” Hannah replied, relieved Anna instinctively knew part of her quandary. “I’ve slept with Mitch twice and it was better than anything I ever experienced with the man I was married to and loved with all my heart. So I keep asking myself, how can it be wrong?”
“I can’t ease your conscience for you, but I can tell you from experience, you won’t be happy until you get whatever is pulling you out of your system, and you won’t find a better guy to explore your curiosity with than Mitch.” It wasn’t Anna’s place to bring up Mitch’s alternative sexual proclivities. For all she knew, he was suppressing those desires for Hannah. If that was the case, it was a temporary liaison for him and she hoped he took care not to let Hannah read any more into it than that.
Hannah took several bites of her salad before biting the bullet and bravely asking Anna, “That being said, do you have any advice on oral sex? Because, for the life of me, I cannot imagine doing that to Mitch without gagging.”
Anna burst out laughing then whispered, “Hannah, that’s exactly what we’ve all thought, but the reality is, men love it and seeing how turned on you’re making him will turn you on. I love giving Donovan blow jobs,” she admitted candidly.
“Huh, I’ve never heard that term, but I can see how it came about. Still, if I can’t do it, or, God forbid, I gag, he’ll never want to have sex with me again.”
“What’s your favorite food? Something easily spread and lickable.”
“That’s easy, Nutella. Why?”
“Perfect.”
Thirty minutes later they were walking together to their cars parked in the rear of the café discussing Hannah getting a dog while she was still trying to get the picture of Mitch’s penis covered in Nutella out of her mind. Now that Anna had given her the idea to ‘sweeten’ her first experience in giving oral sex, she really thought she could reciprocate the pleasure Mitch had given her. She felt brave enough now, to at least give it a try and she intended to act as soon as possible before the courage Anna had given her dwindled.
“Hey! You! What’re you doing?!”
The shout came from one of two businessmen in the parking lot and as Hannah and Anna turned the corner they saw the back of a man with a hoodie covering his head toss down an iron crowbar and run off as the other man called for him to stop.
“That’s my car.” Hannah hurried to the bright yellow convertible, praying there was no damage to it. Aunt Mary loved her car and wouldn’t be happy if it was damaged. “Oh, no,” she moaned in dismay when she saw the crack in the passenger side window and the paint gauging around the door handle.
“What’s in the bag, Hannah?” Anna asked as she spotted it sitting on the seat.
“My photography equipment. Darn it, this is my fault. I shouldn’t have left it there for anyone to see.”
“We didn’t get a good look at him, but enough to see he was just a kid. Sorry,” one of the men said as they saw the damage.
“You stopped him and I’m grateful. I wouldn’t have been able to afford to replace my equipment if it had been stolen. Thank you.” Hannah smiled at them in gratitude before they returned to their car.
“No problem. Be careful going home.”
“The good news is it’s okay to drive. The door’s still locked and the window isn’t shattered. I’ll ask Donovan for the name of a reliable body shop, if you want. Darn kids are always out causing trouble during the summer.”
Thank goodness that’s all it was Hannah thought as she told Anna good-bye and got in. After dealing with the rude man at the Arboretum and now this, she was more than ready to go home.
Mitch was in a pissy mood late Saturday afternoon when the peal of his doorbell interrupted his workout. Releasing the barbell, he sat up on his bench press, grabbed a small hand towel and wiped the sweat from his face and neck before tossing it aside. He had set up the downstairs spare bedroom as a home gym when he first bought the house years ago, but being in construction, he rarely had need of it. The sound of rain continuing to fall as it has been for the last twenty-four hours followed him down the hall. Between the practically nonstop deluge, risks from lightning and flash flood watches, he had no choice but to halt work on his current project until Monday. He hasn’t had a Saturday off in months, but instead of taking advantage of the free time and working on some neglected projects around the house, he spent most of the day thinking and brooding over his neighbor. He was rapidly becoming obsessed with Hannah, thinking about her constantly, the memory of her soft body undulating under his and the innocent surprise on her face every time she climaxed keeping his cock semi erect and aching for more.
But more than the physical attraction, which still befuddled him because she was definitely not his type, he felt the constant urge to get to know her better, learn more about her upbringing, her marriage, her likes and dislikes. He knew that growing desire to expand their relationship beyond once a week sex was the reason he kept away from her again this past week and had gotten so pissed off at having to hear about the vandalism to her car from Anna yesterday. Knowing she was the wrong woman for him to be thinking about having any kind of a relationship with beyond friendship didn’t seem to matter. He wanted her on his terms, and even knowing he could never have her that way wasn’t enough to make him turn her down when she asked him for sex.
The one good thing about this weather, he thought as he reached for the front door, it should keep them apart this weekend. That hope was short lived when he swung open the door and saw Hannah smiling tentatively up at him, her rain splattered, plain white blouse and make-up fre
e damp face making his heart turn over and his cock harden. Fuck but he had it bad for this woman and damned if he knew what to do about it.
“Hannah, what the hell are you doing running over here in this weather?” Grabbing her arm he hauled her inside as a large, jagged lightning bolt split the black clouds. Closing the door on the ensuing deep rumble of thunder, he quickly demanded, “Is everything all right?”
“What? Oh, yes, everything’s fine. I just thought you might like some brownies.” Faced with the sight of Mitch wearing nothing but a pair of very skimpy gym shorts, all that hard, male flesh taking up her line of vision had her happy place swelling damply. Thrusting the Tupperware container at him nervously, Hannah slipped her hands into the side pockets of her skirt, her right hand closing tightly around the small jar of Nutella as she questioned the wisdom of her actions despite the spiraling need seeing him again brought on. Fearing she would lose the courage she had been hanging onto by a thread since meeting with Anna two days ago, she impulsively ran with the idea of coming over here on the pretext of the neighborly gesture. From the scowl on Mitch’s face when he saw her and the way he was slowly backing her against the wall, she was beginning to rethink her plan. “I’m sorry if I’m bothering…”
Acting without conscious thought, Mitch pinned her against the wall with his body, bracing his hands as his mouth swooped down and stopped her apology. As if she ever had to apologize for her presence, he thought irrationally while trying to temper his irritation at having his good intentions once again taking a back seat to his searing lust for her. He kissed her hard, ruthlessly invading her soft mouth as he let her feel the rigid outline of his cock, let her know in no uncertain terms what she did to him before lifting his head just a fraction and demanding against her damp lips, “Why are you really here, Hannah?”
“You said to let you know when I’m ready so, I’m ready.” Darn it, it had taken her all day of pacing and watching out the window making sure his truck was still in the drive to get up the courage to say that to him and it still came out as a pathetic, uncertain whisper.