by T. M. Haught
There was a limit to the depth his toe could reach, so he returned to the slow circling motion of all five of them. Then the big muscle in his calf grabbed suddenly and with a grunt he let his foot drop away from her.
Her eyes snapped fully open. “What happened?”
“I got a cramp in my leg,” he said. “Sorry!”
She had a bit of a pout, but she said, “That’s okay. I almost got one in mine a minute ago. Holding them up like that isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Better let your leg rest.”
“Okay.” He pulled his right foot back closer to him on the patio stones and reached down to massage the calf muscle that had grabbed. It felt like a knot, but gradually loosened as he rubbed it. He looked back to see what Penny was doing.
She had straightened a bit in her chair and was now looking away from him, examining the bowl of fruit on the table speculatively. The wooden bowl had an orange, two apples and a banana in it. Penny raised an eyebrow and selected the banana. Rather than peel it though, she examined its surface and checked the end of it with her fingers for any rough spots. Jonah watched in fascination as she took the banana away from the top of the table and moved it underneath the clear glass top, bringing it slowly toward her crotch.
His eyes widened a bit as Penny inserted it between her still moist inner lips and pushed it slowly into her vagina, tentatively at first, then farther. Once it was in past the halfway point, she withdrew it partway, then repeated the process several times.
“Swell,” said Jonah with a pout. “Now I’ve been replaced by a banana.”
“Don’t worry, Squirt,” she said softly. “You are totally irreplaceable. I’m just playing a little.”
He watched a moment as she continued, oddly fascinated, and checked to see if her toes were curling yet. The ones on her left foot were starting to, but then she seemed to get bored with the whole thing and stopped.
Penny sat up straight in her chair again and brought the banana above the table top once more. Flashing a wry grin, she held it out, offering it to Jonah. “Dessert?” she asked.
He made a face. “Not that one!”
“It’s only gooey on the outside,” she told him. She grabbed a paper napkin from the stack on the tray and wiped the banana’s surface, then peeled it halfway down, letting the curling yellow and white strips drape over her hand. She looked at it, then at him, then she slowly licked up the side of the exposed portion of the banana, formed an “O” with her mouth, and made a show of inserting the banana into it. Her eyes stayed focused on Jonah.
He made a faint sound that was halfway between an exasperated sigh and a moan. He raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to get me hot?”
“Maybe,” she said playfully. “Is it working?”
“Penny, if I get any hotter, everything within five feet of me is going to burst into flames,” he said. “Are... are you trying to tell me that you want oral sex?”
She hesitated. “Is... is that what you’d like to try?”
Jonah thought about it briefly. “No. Not really.”
Penny relaxed with a sigh. “That’s a relief! I was afraid maybe you were expecting that, but I’m kind of turned off by it.”
“Me too,” said Jonah. “I’d rather be kissing you and have your face next to mine while we’re making love, than have your head down there. Is that silly?”
“No,” she said. “That’s what I want, too.”
She put the banana on top of the plates and crumpled napkins, and pushed her chair back enough to get up from the table. She went around the table to where he sat and started to pull his chair back.
Jonah started to get up, too. “Are we going somewhere?”
“To the moon, I hope,” she said. “Don’t stand up, just raise up enough that I can pull your chair a short way out from the table. We need a little room.”
He did as she asked, and then sat back down once his chair had been slid back a good two feet from the edge of the table. “Now what?”
“Now this,” she said. She straddled him, sitting in his lap facing him, her legs on either side of him and the chair, knees bent and her feet raised up on her toes. She leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth, gently at first, and then again with great passion as she held his face in her palms. “And this.” She kissed him again, moving one hand to run her delicate fingers through his hair. Then as Jonah’s arms went around her back Penny worked her way forward onto his penis until it penetrated her fully and their bellies were pressed tight together. “And this...” she added.
She began rocking backward and forward, arching her back slightly as her hips made thrusting motions that were slow and long at first, but that gradually grew quicker and shorter as she became consumed by their lovemaking. She was angling the motion of her hips in such a way that her clitoris was rubbing against him with each sliding stroke, teasing and massaging it, creating a delicious friction and a sensation that was more intense for her than the probing pressure of Jonah’s manhood. Without breaking that rhythm she pulled her face back from his just enough to stare deeply into his eyes, then she closed her eyes and changed the angle of her head before kissing him again, this time with a passion that was even more intense then before.
She managed to keep that going, keep him going, longer than they had ever done before, and then as she felt their embrace tighten and the first waves of ecstasy start to sweep through her with their raw power she thrust three more times, more urgently and forcefully than before, to drive him fully into her as deeply as possible and help him get off. Penny could tell that Jonah reached climax a second or two before her, exploding within her, and then her own orgasm erupted and spread through her with a power that surprised her and made her break the kiss to gasp out loud, repeatedly.
As the lingering tremors faded, they stayed there in each other’s arms, motionless except for their heavy breathing. Minutes passed, with the two of them still locked in their tender embrace, their eyes still closed, content to merely hold each other and cling to the afterglow and the emotional bond that had formed between them. Then as their breathing slowed, Penny nuzzled her face against Jonah’s and whispered tenderly in his ear.
“I love you, Squirt,” she said.
Jonah nuzzled her and whispered back, “I love you more, Penny.”
Another minute passed, and perhaps a good many more would have, but for an unforgivable intrusion of sound. A horrible sound. It was the doorbell....
Their eyes popped open and instantly widened. Full alert mode. Panic time!
“Oh shit,” said Jonah. “Who’s that?”
“Your mom? My dad?” Penny was already climbing off of him, a little wobbly until he grabbed her hand to steady her and help her keep her balance.
“They have keys,” reminded Jonah.
“The Avon lady?” wondered Penny. “The mailman with a registered letter?”
Jonah was struggling to get up from his chair and maintain his balance. Now it was her turn to steady him. “We’ll have to look.”
“Like this?” Penny said worriedly.
“No. Can I use your cell phone?”
She moved quickly to the table and snatched it up, then handed it to him with a curious frown. “Who are you gonna call? And I swear, if you say ‘Ghostbusters’...”
“Not call,” said Jonah, feverishly working the touch screen on her smart phone. “I’m accessing your Wi-Fi set-up menu.”
“Wi-Fi? Why?” she said, then grimaced at the sound of her own words.
Jonah was still concentrating on the images on her phone, bringing up a new screen. “Our next door neighbors, the Petersons, have a couple of security cameras around their house,” he said quickly. “They’re wireless. I figured out how to hack into them about a month ago. If they haven’t changed their access code, I should still be able to... Hey, I’m in!”
Penny moved alongside of him to look over his shoulder, huddling close. She was starting to feel chilly now, missing his warmth as the layer of perspirat
ion that had formed on her body during sex and the long moments after began to evaporate and cool her naked skin. She saw the security system menu displayed there, with camera selection options. She watched as Jonah’s finger touched the one labeled “Street View.” As the next screen came up and she saw what was there, her eyes widened further.
“OMG!” gasped Penny.
“Yeah,” Jonah agreed with a sinking feeling.
The image on her phone, relayed from the Petersons’ security camera, showed the street in front of both the neighbors’ house and the old Victorian house in which Jonah and Penny lived. They couldn’t quite see the person who was at their own front door, but clearly visible, parked in front of their house, was a large van covered with logos and graphic designs for the local TV station. There was an extendable satellite dish on the van’s roof, and a man could be seen emerging from the vehicle’s side door carrying a video camera.
“It must be that nosy reporter who was at the school,” said Penny. “She tracked us down somehow.”
“If one of the students there mentioned our names, it wouldn’t be that hard.”
“What do we do?”
“Well,” ventured Jonah. “How about we just don’t answer the door?”
“They won’t give up that easily,” she said. “What if they start peeking in the windows, or...” She glanced nervously about the patio.
“They can’t see us back here,” said Jonah. “Nobody can. Remember? That’s why we came out here?”
“Yeah. Still...” As she continued to stare at the image on her phone, she suddenly cocked her head slightly, listening. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” asked Jonah. “Footsteps?”
“No! Something else,” she said. “Different... more like, whup-whup-whup...”
Jonah listened more intently now himself, then he flashed a sudden look of alarm. “Chopper! The station has a traffic helicopter. They use it sometimes for covering stories, too. Maybe they want an aerial shot of the house.”
The sound got louder and a weird wind picked up, buffeting the wide canvas awning above them. The plants around them started to sway in the breeze. They both glanced up at once. They might be hidden from directly overhead, but not from an angle, not if they could see sky... and they could.
“Oh shit!” said Jonah. “Grab your clothes, Penny—get in the house!”
As she ran to the extra chair where Jonah had placed them he went for his own garments on the chair next to it. They both made a dash, still naked and barefoot, across the patio stones, clothes and shoes in hand, heading for the back door. Penny got there first, frantically reaching out to grab the knob and yank the door open. The knob wouldn’t turn. The door refused to open.
“It’s locked!” she shrieked. “I forgot to release the little button before we came outside.”
“I did, too,” said Jonah soberly, adding with irony, “Guess we were a little distracted?”
He was already digging through his pants pocket and hastily pulled out his keycase. Snapping it open, he located the key he was looking for and inserted it in the lock, twisting it. There was a click and he pulled the door open.
“Go!” he said.
Penny hurried inside, still clutching her clothes protectively in front of her. Jonah followed her in, closed the door behind them, and leaned against it a moment to catch his breath. Penny was already slipping into her underwear, pulling on her blouse, tugging on her jeans, stepping into her shoes. Jonah began to do the same with his own clothes. The doorbell, mounted high on the kitchen wall, rang again.
Jonah peeked cautiously around the edge of the door frame into the dining room. He could see a portion of the living room beyond.
“The drapes are open, of course,” he said. “So if we go in there they may be able to see us and know we’re here.”
“We should be safe in the kitchen,” she said. “And we have food and water.” A thought crossed her mind. “Unless... unless we have to go to the bathroom.”
“Did you have to mention that?” said Jonah, watching her start to work her cell phone. “What are you doing? We’ll lose the connection with the Petersons’ cameras.”
“Don’t need that now,” she said. “I’m calling my dad.”
Jonah started to say something, but changed his mind. He had no better ideas to offer. He watched as she finished dialing, and he absentmindedly reached out to straighten her blouse and brush her mussed hair with his fingertips. She quickly grabbed his hand, almost annoyed, but then just as quickly kissed it and held her phone to her ear.
“Hello, Dad? Penny,” she said, as if he didn’t already know who was calling. “Don’t panic, but we have a problem outside the house....”
She explained about the van from the TV station, and how one of her friends had warned her about the reporter who visited the school. She held the phone up so he could hear the sound of the helicopter overhead, then brought the phone back to her ear. She conveniently avoided any mention of what had taken place on the patio. There was a pause as she listened. Then....
“Okay,” Penny said. “Thanks, Dad. Love you!”
She disconnected from the call and stuck the phone in her pocket. Then eyeing Jonah again, she gave him an apologetic smile and started straightening his clothes, too. Then she gave him a lingering hug.
“And I thought that life in the ‘burbs was gonna be boring,” she said.
“I wouldn’t mind boring,” Jonah said wistfully. Then he decided to amend the statement. “Except for you. You’re all the excitement I need.”
She sighed, still clinging to him. Then she backed away a bit, glancing around to be sure they weren’t visible through the one high kitchen window near them. They weren’t.
“So what did your dad say,” asked Jonah.
“He said... that he’d take care of it.”
“How?”
“Dunno,” said Penny. “But he will.”
They stayed there, huddled together for another five minutes, waiting... waiting. Then the sound of a police siren cut through the neighborhood calm, rising above the sound of the helicopter. They looked at each other, then started toward the living room, creeping at a low angle as they moved through the dining room toward the front of the house.
It seemed a bit safer now, so they edged toward the window on the left, cautiously peeking around the edge of the curtain until they could glimpse the street outside. The TV van was still parked there at the curb in front of the house, but there were two marked police cars there, too, and the officers who had emerged from them were having a conversation with the woman reporter and the cameraman by the edge of the road.
That conversation got more animated. The reporter was clearly arguing with the officers. Only bits of phrases could be heard drifting from the street, but they included things like, “freedom of the press” and “right to know” and “we’ve got a job to do.”
“If they’re not actually doing anything illegal,” wondered Jonah aloud, “can the cops really do anything?”
Penny shrugged. “Dunno.”
Then the conversation on the street was interrupted. The reporter held up a hand for silence, glancing at her cell phone as a call came in. She answered it, said something, listened awhile, said something else, listened some more and started to say something again, but her mouth seemed to fumble with the words. Finally, she hung up and frowned. The officer nearest her smiled. Then both the reporter and the cameraman got back into their van and closed the doors, taking time only to fasten their seatbelts before starting up and pulling away. The sound of the helicopter faded, too, and the two police officers glanced toward the house, gave thumbs-up signs, and got back in their respective patrol cars to write their reports.
“I wonder what happened?” said Jonah.
Penny smiled and gave him another hug. “I have a feeling my dad happened. I’m sure we’ll find out when he gets home. Come on, Jonah---we’d better clear the lunch dishes and make sure everything here is neat
and tidy, including us, before he and your mom get here....”
CHAPTER TEN
A new plan
It was a little after three in the afternoon when the front door opened and Robert Mathews came in, closing the door behind him and relocking it securely. Already waiting for him in the living room were Rebecca and Jonah, sitting on the sofa, and Penny, sitting in an easy chair nearby. Penny immediately jumped up and ran to greet her dad with a hug.
Robert returned it, looking at her first, then his gaze went to Rebecca and Jonah. “Everyone all right?” he asked. “I got away and drove back as soon as I could.”
“I’m fine, Dad,” said Penny. “Jonah is, too. We weren’t in danger or anything, it was just a little scary after everything that happened yesterday. I really didn’t want them sticking a camera in our faces and asking a lot of questions.”
Rebecca got up from the sofa and came forward to give Penny a reassuring pat on the back. “You did the right thing, Penny.” To Robert she added, “I got back only an hour before you did. Had to explain a few things to the office manager where I was sent today, but he understood and let me leave. Traffic wasn’t too bad.”
Robert shook his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t anticipate something like that happening. Given the attempted assault at the school, and Jonah’s heroic defense, the news vultures were bound to jump on a story like that. I hope you kids got to eat lunch before they showed up?”
Penny blinked and her nostrils flared a bit as she inhaled, remembering. “Yeah, no problem. We had tuna sandwiches. We... were all done by the time the doorbell rang.” She threw a brief glance to Jonah. His expression was frozen into “safe” mode as well, but she thought she saw a slight sparkle in his eyes.
Jonah now came forward to join the others. “Thanks, Mr. Mathews, for calling the police.”
“That was the first thing I did,” Robert said. “Spoke to the lieutenant at the station, the one I saw there yesterday. He said he’d send a few patrol cars right away. Then I called your mom to let her know.”