by T. M. Haught
Jonah reached orgasm a few moments before Penny, not the overpowering, muscle-jerking kind, but something gentler that made him gasp softly as his cheek pressed against hers. He could tell by the way that her grip on him tightened briefly, then relaxed, that she had climaxed, too.
For a full minute they sat there, not moving, still clinging to each other with their eyes closed and their breathing a soft, warm whisper in each other’s ears. Finally, and with great reluctance, they pulled back a bit from their tight embrace. Their hands were on each other’s shoulders. Jonah was staring into Penny’s eyes and she into his.
“So,” said Penny, still a bit breathless. “What do you think? Worth a redo sometime?”
“Oh yes,” Jonah said. “Definitely worth a redo. Maybe in bed next time, though.”
Penny smiled. “Yeah, I agree. Probably softer and more comfortable. This was fun but the tub bottom is a little hard to sit on.”
Jonah laughed a bit. “I didn’t want to say that, but, yeah.”
They kissed again, more of a friendly kiss than a passionate one, and separated a bit more, unwrapping their legs from around each other and backing apart carefully. Penny looked down at their private parts.
“We’d better wash off any left over Uberlube, from us and the bottom of the tub here, before we try standing up,” Penny advised him seriously. “Slippery would not be good in that case!”
She poured a tiny amount of bubble bath on the areas of concern and Jonah turned on the hand held spray head with a mix of hot and cold water that was just-right warm. At first there were suds, then gradually as he continued spraying, there was only clear water spiraling down the drain with an ear-pleasing gurgle. He turned off the water and replaced the spray head in its rack, and Penny used her fingers to test the surface of the tub. There was a slight squeak of sound, but the tub bottom was no longer slippery.
Jonah put his hands on the sides of the tub and got to his feet first, then carefully stepped out onto the bath mat in front of it. He held out his hand to Penny to steady her as she got to her feet and stepped out of the tub as well, joining him to stand on the bathmat with him. Still wet and warmed by both the bath and their passion, they couldn’t resist embracing in another hug, standing this time, and sharing a slow, lingering kiss.
“I’ll get the towels,” Jonah said. He walked over to the rack on the wall and grabbed both their bath towels, then returned to where Penny waited. He handed her one and they proceeded to dry off, themselves at first, then each other just for fun.
“I still want to put some lotion on your back on those ‘girl-claw’ marks,” Penny said. “But we’d better get dressed and clean up the area first, just to be on the safe side.”
“Okay.”
They tried on each other’s underwear initially, being silly, and quickly dissolved into laughter as they looked at each other. Then they just as quickly swapped and put on the right garments and were fully dressed in a matter of minutes.
Jonah slipped his cell phone in his pocket and went over to pick up the towels they had left draped over the side of the bathtub. He used his own towel to wipe around the inner surfaces of the tub to leave as little moisture as possible, then he picked up the other towel and the bathmat, too.
“I’ll take these up to our rooms,” he told her.
Penny reached past him to grab her bottle of bubble bath and the little spray bottle of Uberlube, then did a quick visual check of the area. “Got my stuff,” she said. “I think everything’s okay here.” She went to the counter and got her own cell phone, then followed Jonah to the door.
She lingered there in the doorway, looking back longingly at the beautiful old clawfoot tub. “I’m glad we got to do that before we go back to school. This area is going to be off limits once we’re back to the normal routine. We can’t come down here at night.”
“True,” said Jonah. “That would be way too risky. But you know, summer vacation is only a few months away.”
They both took one more look at the room, then Jonah switched off the lights and they left, closing the door behind them. They crossed back through the vacant bedroom, opened the door to the hall and peeked out for a quick look, more out of habit than necessity, then headed for the staircase.
It didn’t take long to hang the damp towels in their respective bathrooms and replace the bathmat. A few minutes later they were both downstairs in the living room, having brought their laptop computers with them. Penny had also brought her bottle of lotion.
“Jonah, if you take your shirt off and sit there on the sofa with your back to me, I’ll put some Vitamin E lotion on those marks,” Penny said.
“Good idea,” he said. “I’m glad I don’t have Phys-Ed in senior year. Those marks could be kinda awkward in the locker-room and showers.”
“Right,” said Penny. Then with a wink she added, “Might do wonders for your reputation, though.”
His brow furrowed in thought. For several moments.
“OMG,” said Penny. “You’re actually considering it! I was joking.”
Jonah laughed. “Gotcha!”
She whacked him on the shoulder. “Come on—strip, mister.”
Jonah unbuttoned his sport shirt and peeled off his T-shirt, then sat on the sofa at an angle facing one end. “I’m gonna wear out these buttons,” he said.
Penny sat next to him, also at an angle, right behind his exposed back. She raised the spout on the lotion bottle and squeezed out a little lotion in the palm of her hand. She dipped the fingers of her other hand into the lotion puddle and applied it to each of the reddish marks on Jonah’s back that her fingernails had left there the night before. She gently rubbed it into the spots.
“This should help, I think,” she told him.
“Hmmm…” Jonah murmured, lowering his head as he enjoyed the tender touch of her delicate fingers upon his back.
Penny smiled. “Ah, I think you’re likin’ that. Okay, I still owe you for the foot rub the other night.”
She put more lotion in the palm of her hand, then put her hands together to coat both palms. She placed them on his back next, starting to rub in circles in opposite directions, going over his shoulder blades, his lower back, his upper shoulders and the back of his neck. Then she made gentle squeezing, kneading motions on the tops of his shoulders and the muscles that connected to his neck, followed by using her thumbs in a counter-rotating pattern to massage along his spine from his neck to his waist.
“Oh, Penny,” he said after a moment, “that feels so good!”
Suddenly curious, she asked, “Haven’t you ever had a back rub before?”
“No. Never.”
“Aww…” she said, then leaned over and gave the back of his neck a little kiss. “Well, we have each other for things like that, now.”
Penny continued the back rub for another five minutes, then gave his back a gentle pat and stopped. Jonah just sat there, not moving. She arched an eyebrow.
“Are you asleep?”
“Almost,” he replied. “Just zoning out a bit. That was terrific. Thank you!”
“Did I do it long enough?” she asked.
“Yes. No. Yes.” He laughed. Then he turned around to face her and gently touched her cheek with one hand. He gave her a sweet kiss. “Yes. And I like what you said.”
“About what?” Penny said.
“That we have each other now for things like that,” said Jonah. “Anytime you want a foot rub or a back rub, just say the word.”
Penny flashed him a tender smile. “Ditto, kiddo.”
“I mean, I know I haven’t done backrubs before, but I’m a quick learner.”
Penny’s lips twisted up into a familiar wry smirk. “That you are!” She picked up his T-shirt and sport shirt, then held them out to him. “I almost hate to say this, but you’d better put these back on.”
Jonah displayed a trace of reluctance, then he heeded her advice and donned the garments. He tucked the shirttails into his slacks and looked around.<
br />
“What now,” he said.
Penny checked her watch. “It’s still too early to call my dad, or Rebecca. Maybe we should go online and check our emails, in case some of our teachers have already sent our reading and homework assignments for the day. We could even—”
She stopped abruptly as Jonah’s cell phone beeped quickly, signaling an incoming text message. She held up both hands.
“Wasn’t me that time!” she said.
Jonah brought out his cell phone and touched the screen to check his messages. There was only one, and he quickly read it.
“It’s from Freddy, one of the guys in my science class,” said Jonah. “He’s going to do that project I begged him to do for the science fair. You know, the one I made up about the farm fertilizer and chemical run-off getting into the water supply?”
Penny nodded, remembering. “Oh right… the cover story. That should help, in case your mom asks about it later.”
“He says he already turned in the initial paperwork on it to our teacher,” said Jonah. “I should turn in my preliminary project statement when we go back to school Wednesday, too.”
“Cool,” said Penny. “My dad said he’ll bring you the data you need when he gets home later. You can work on your project statement tonight.” She tilted her head down a bit and looked up at him seriously through her lashes. “But not all night, mind you.”
“Don’t worry!”
Penny sat the bottle of lotion on the end table beside the sofa and picked up her laptop. She sat back down on one end of the sofa with the computer in her lap and opened it, turning it on and waiting while it booted up and connected with the house’s wireless internet link. She went to her email server and watched as the list of incoming messages came up.
“Hey,” she said. “I’ve got assignments from three of my teachers already. I may as well get a head start on some of the work. I’d better go upstairs to my room and grab a few books. Do you want me to bring you anything back?”
“Just you,” said Jonah with a grin. “Thanks, but I think I’ll wait until this afternoon to start on the homework. There’s a little programming project I want to see if I can do first.”
“Okay.”
Penny got up and carefully sat down her laptop on the sofa, then turned, gave Jonah’s hair a brief tousle in passing, grabbed the lotion bottle and started for the stairs. She made it up to the second floor fairly quickly and entered her room to pick up the textbooks she needed and leave the lotion, then headed back down to the ground floor and the living room.
Jonah was still there sitting on the sofa at his end with his own computer in his lap, studying something displayed onscreen with a serious look. He didn’t immediately acknowledge her presence.
“I’m back,” said Penny finally, picking up her own computer and sitting down near him.
His head jerked around as he realized his faux pas. “Hi! Sorry I was preoccupied. When I’m into full techno-nerd programming mode I tend to be a little disconnected from the real world.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I don’t want to distract you. Too much.” She added an eyebrow wiggle. “Are you sure you’re not researching something again, like what you did last night?”
Jonah grinned broadly but kept his eyes on the laptop screen. “No, not this time. That was for fun. This is something more practical, although it’s something for you, too.”
Penny brightened. “Cool! What is it?”
“I’m designing a special phone app for you,” he said. “I’ll explain more when I get it done.”
“Okay,” she said. She checked the assignment info in the first email from school and got the necessary book, then got more comfortable and settled into study mode.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Working it
A glance at the wall clock in the living room told them it was just a few minutes before noon. Penny immediately powered down her laptop and closed it, setting it on the end table and reaching for her cell phone.
“Wow—look at the time!” she said. “I’d better make a few calls.”
Jonah nodded in agreement, saving his work files and turning off his own computer. He put it on the sofa between them and silently waited while Penny dialed the first number.
“I’m calling your mom, first,” Penny told him. “She was the one who asked me to check in. I’ll put it on speakerphone so you can hear, too, but behave!”
He started to open his mouth to say ‘okay,’ but simply nodded instead. With Penny’s phone in speaker mode he heard the phone ringing, then a familiar voice answering.
“Hello?” said Rebecca through the Smartphone’s tiny speaker.
“Hi, Mrs. Nash,” said Penny brightly. “Thought I’d better give you a call, since it’s almost lunchtime.”
“Hi Penny,” came the reply. “I appreciate your calling. Is everything okay there?”
“Yes, everything’s fine,” Penny told her. “I did all the dishes and Jonah helped by drying things for me.”
“Glad to hear it,” Rebecca replied. “He’s a good boy.”
“Yes he is,” Penny agreed, then threw a quick glance at Jonah, drawing her finger and thumb across her lips as if closing an imaginary zipper, being careful not to say what she almost started to say about him being a whole lot better than good. “He’s within hearing range if you want to say hello.”
“Hi, dear,” said Rebecca.
“Hi, Mom,” Jonah responded.
“How’s your day so far?” asked his mother. “Finding ways to keep busy?”
Jonah hesitated just long enough to exchange meaningful glances with Penny. “Yes—after we did the dishes we straightened things up a little and checked our emails. We already got some assignments from our teachers, so Penny’s been working on hers and I’ve been working on a programming project I’ve been thinking about.”
“That’s nice,” said Rebecca. “Don’t neglect your homework, though. Follow Penny’s lead and get that done early. Then you’ll have more free time tonight.”
Penny raised both eyebrows and nodded briskly to encourage him. She was still holding her phone halfway between the two of them so the three way conversation would be easier.
“Mrs. Nash, can you get lunch there?” Penny asked.
“I thought about just getting something from the vending machines in the lunch room, since I didn’t pack anything with me this morning,” Rebecca replied. “But since your father has a full hour off for lunch, he called and told me he’s going to pick up something better and bring it here, because he’s nearby. I guess we’ll eat lunch together.”
Penny flashed Jonah a quirky, meaningful look, prompting him to make a face in response, but she said only, “That’s nice. In that case, maybe I’d better not call my dad right now. I don’t want to distract him while he’s driving.”
“Understood, dear,” said Rebecca. “I can have him call you, once he’s safely here, if that’s okay.”
“Yes, please,” said Penny.
“Speaking of lunch,” said Rebecca, “do you two have something good there?”
Again, Penny had to catch herself. She said, “I’ll probably just fix sandwiches. Maybe… peanut butter and banana?” She saw Jonah’s eyes widen.
“Oh, that sounds good,” said Rebecca. “There are some brownies that I baked last night in a Tupperware container at the end of the counter, if you want some for dessert. Well, I’d better get ready. You two take good care of yourselves and each other. Bye now—”
“Bye, Mom,” said Jonah.
“Bye, Mrs. Nash,” said Penny, then she hung up and put her phone away. When she looked back at Jonah she noticed that he had a look of concern on his face. “What—?”
“Banana…?” he said.
She frowned. “Oh, don’t worry! I promise I’ll use only nice clean bananas fresh from the store that haven’t been used for sex toys. Honestly, what must you think of me?” She flashed him a wry grin.
He couldn’t help smiling back.
“Actually, I think the world of you. I’m just a little finicky about where my food has been before I eat it.”
“In that case,” she said slyly, “you’d better not visit any farms!” She got up from the sofa and started walking toward the dining room and the kitchen beyond. “I’m going to go fix lunch. Wanna help?”
“Sure,” said Jonah, getting to his feet and following her.
* * * * * * * * * *
Robert called, just as Rebecca had promised, as they were sitting down to eat lunch at the oval table in the kitchen. They had taken chairs so that they were sitting side by side instead of across from each other. Penny had already placed the plates with sandwiches there and Jonah had added the glasses of cola, then Penny quickly covered each sandwich with a paper napkin as her cell phone rang. She put it on speakerphone as she had before.
“Hi Daddy,” she said as she answered it.
“Hi Pumpkin,” said Robert.
“I’m on speakerphone, Dad.”
“Sorry, Penny. Everything there okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” Penny told him. “We’ve been doing homework and Jonah’s designing a cell phone app for me.”
“That’s nice,” Robert said. “You and Jonah can show me how it works later. Rebecca only has a half hour for lunch, so I picked up some takeout food and brought it here. We’re about to eat, now.”
“Great,” said Penny. “I won’t keep you then. Enjoy your lunch.”
“Thanks,” said her dad. “But don’t be afraid to give us a call later, especially if there’s anything unusual going on.”
“Okay,” said Penny, rolling her eyes at the thought of the ‘unusual’ things that had already been going on. “Bye, Daddy.”
Penny ended the call and put her phone down on the table. As she turned to look at Jonah, she noticed him studying her with a bit of a grin. She knew exactly what he was thinking. She pointed a finger at him.
“Don’t you dare ever call me Pumpkin!” she admonished him. “That was my Halloween costume when I was five years old, and he still calls me that sometimes.”