The Mountains Trilogy (Boxed Set)

by Phoebe Alexander

  She changed in the locker room, filled her water bottle, and settled herself on the elliptical overlooking the free weights. She did love to ogle the weightlifters and their rippling muscles as she felt the burn in her quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. Besides, the elliptical can be quite monotonous if you don’t have a good distraction, she considered, not feeling guilty in the slightest for fixating on a particular young man whose back faced her. He had strong, well-shaped legs and a solid build. He was bent over one of the benches doing some work on his triceps. She watched his arm extending, the muscle bulging through his skin and then retreating again. Wow, he really reminds me of James, she thought, instantly flashing to a memory of running her fingertips down his triceps as he hovered over her, sweat beading on his forehead.

  As she continued to study him, it became alarmingly clear that the object of her fixation actually was James. Sarah was twitterpated, the adrenaline surging through her, activating a fight or flight response. She glanced down at the display on her machine and she’d managed to complete exactly three minutes and twenty eight seconds of her work out. Shit, I can’t just walk away, she determined. I’ll just have to hope he doesn’t turn around. Or recognize me. She continued to examine his hindquarters though, the memory of kneading his firm glutes as he pumped his cock deep inside her too delicious to resist. She couldn’t tell if she was blushing or just flushed from her workout.

  He put down his weights and moved on to a different machine, his back still turned to her. Feeling relieved - Right now in all my sweaty glory is not exactly the time I’d choose to figure out what is going on with us - Sarah buried her nose in her magazine and continued the workout, punching the button to increase the resistance on the elliptical a couple of times for good measure. Her phone was blinking from the little plastic holder beside her water bottle so she unlocked her screen and went to retrieve the new text. From an unknown number: I can see you in the mirror. Having a nice workout?

  Shit! Sarah immediately felt exposed. Shit. Fuck. Damn. Shit. She tried to keep her face expressionless because she knew his eyes were on her now. Her blush extended from her cheeks down onto her clavicles and breasts, spreading far beneath her sports bra and tank top. So now what? I can’t exactly ignore someone who is in the same room as me, can I? she wondered.

  She found him in the mirror and smirked. He got up from the machine and made his way over to her. “Why are you ignoring me?” he asked bluntly once he reached her.

  “I’m not sure this is the time or place to discuss it,” she replied nonchalantly.

  “Oh?” He looked genuinely confused. “I guess I’m out of the loop, cause I thought everything was cool.”

  “You would,” Sarah retorted, thinking about how James had just conveniently opened up his little Sarah Toy Box and wanted her to come out and entertain him. The weekend was upon them, after all. Just the thought of that made her furious.

  Friend With Benefits, she thought, though remained silent. Not Toy You Play With When You Feel Like It.

  He continued to stand beside her; her feet were still moving up and down on the elliptical, and her grip on the handles was becoming more pronounced. He wore an expectant look, his blue eyes like arctic pools. “So you’re really not going to talk to me?” he asked in disbelief.

  “Not at the gym,” Sarah replied coolly. “How much longer will you be here?”

  “Thirty minutes?” he guessed.

  “Can you walk me back to my office?”

  He nodded. He took one last look before turning to walk back to the weight machines. He couldn’t hide a hint of worry that had crept onto his face. She finished up her workout, took a quick shower and met him in the hallway outside the gym. They exited the building into the colorless day, although the sun was struggling to peek through the strata of cool gray.

  Sometimes it’s easier to say what’s on your mind when you don’t have to look the other person in the eyes, she considered, thinking about how much bolder she felt when his eyes weren’t boring into her. She decided to just be honest. She really didn’t know how else to be.

  “The other night when you stopped by, your phone was broken and you had to go to work,” she began, reminding him of their last meeting. He nodded in recollection. “Right, well, I don’t think that’s all that was going on.”

  He was still looking straight ahead as they crossed the quad. “Yeah,” he admitted. “There was some other stuff but it’s worked out now and it’s really no big deal.”

  They were climbing the steps to her building. “Some other stuff,” she repeated to herself.

  “No big deal.” She was tired of his elusiveness. Maybe that’s why she had grown so frustrated and felt so trivialized. His inability to open up is driving me crazy! At this point in time, she had already walked away from the relationship in her mind. She was going to go for broke and tell him why it wasn’t going to work out. She was silently plotting her words as they turned down the hallway to her office. She fished her keys out of her gym bag and fumbled with the lock while he leaned against the cement block wall and watched her through wide blue eyes.

  He had never been in her office before and was taking in his surroundings as he stepped inside: the full bookcases, the plants representing various stages of life and health in all sorts of different pots and containers, the walnut-framed diplomas and awards, the large colorful Van Gogh print, the velvety purple throw with amber and gold beads slung over the chair in the corner between the window and the bookcase. She closed the door behind her and turned to face him, waiting for him to finish examining her space and turn his eyes toward her.

  Suddenly her heart was resisting the speech she’d formulated. She didn’t want to chastise him; all she wanted to do was collapse into his arms. She needed to avoid touching him or else her resolve would be completely destroyed. “James,” she began, her tone reflecting her seriousness, “I know we are not really in a traditional relationship, but I feel a huge disconnect when we are not together.”

  He appeared genuinely surprised. “What do you mean?”

  “There have been so many mixed messages,” Sarah explained. “When I’m with you, I feel really close to you, really connected. Then we part ways and I feel like you compartmentalize me until you’re ready to bring me out to play again. I just can’t reconcile the feelings I have for you when we’re together with the emptiness I feel when we’re apart.”

  He reached out and took her hand; the warmth of his flesh absorbing straight into her soul as his eyes examined her and contemplated a response. His voice was soft and yielding: “What do you want?”

  She shook her head. “That’s the problem, this is not about what I want. It’s about what you can give, and I really don’t think you’re capable or willing to give it.”

  His hand enveloped hers, mitigating the silence that had gathered around them. His mind was processing and the words were percolating. Finally: “You are the one who said you didn’t want to complicate my life. I enjoy your company, Sarah, and I thought I was a good ‘friend with benefits.’ What did I do wrong?”

  She saw his passion flare and his pupils widen, revealing his sincerity. “Maybe I was wrong about what I wanted,” she admitted. “Maybe I thought I’d be more integrated into your life? I don’t know what my problem is.”

  She squeezed his hand, unsure if this conversation could possibly close the chasm she felt. She felt a bit of her resolve returning. “When we are together, it’s magic,” she tried to explain again. “When we’re not together, I feel like I don’t exist to you. I’m a toy you box away and only bring out when you want me. And it’s my own silly fault for thinking that you would want anything else with me.” Her forced brusqueness had given way to a stray tear rolling down her cheek. She’d lost the battle to stay in control. He seemed to have that effect on her.

  He pulled her close to him so that her face smushed against his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and held her tightly against his body as she surrendered to t
he flood of emotions that had been walled off behind her eyes. As the tears broke the dam, she could feel the fabric of his shirt growing damper as she sobbed into him. She never thought she’d let him see her so vulnerable. Maybe he’s not the only one who has put up walls, she considered as the tears began to dissipate.

  Finally he lifted her chin so that their eyes met again. “Sarah, you are one of the most beautiful, intelligent, amazing women I have ever met. Why in the world wouldn’t I want you?”

  She melted. Those were the words she needed to hear.

  ***

  The next weekend, on the eve of finals, she found herself lying on her bed next to Rachel, both wearing tiny red bows on each nipple with bigger red bows affixed further south. It was a surprise. James had been instructed to let himself in and come straight to the bedroom. The candles were lit and the wine was chilling. She and Rachel were giggling like schoolgirls waiting for a boy to call on the telephone, only they were completely nude, save for the bows and red heels adorning their feet.

  After James had kissed her in her office that Friday afternoon, they didn’t really cover any more ground in discussing their relationship. A switch had flipped inside Sarah as soon as his lips met hers and she suddenly felt euphoric. Feeling his arms around her again and even just the simple words he expressed were more than she had ever hoped for. Maybe the tide is turning? Maybe I shouldn’t have given up hope so quickly?

  On the other hand, she considered that she had perhaps let him off the hook too easily. All she knew for certain was that her heart had never been ready to give up on him completely. Soon she was on the phone to Rachel conspiring about how to give James the best Christmas present ever. After all, he was leaving in just a week to visit his family back in Ohio and her time was limited. Rachel agreed that a night with two beautiful women would be at the top of any man’s Christmas List.

  Suddenly they heard footsteps on the stairs which prompted Sarah to lean over and dramatically put her finger to her mouth in a silent “shush,” while tossing her hair back like a naughty librarian. Rachel stifled a giggle just as James turned the corner to enter the room. The sight met his eyes in flashes: dark hair, light hair, pink flesh, red lips, red bows, red shoes. It was a fantasy come to life.

  “Merry Christmas to me!” he exclaimed with his trademark grin plastered across his face. He eagerly climbed onto the bed and sandwiched himself between the two women. “I must have been a very good boy this year!” he exclaimed.

  “Oh, baby, quite the contrary! You have been a very naughty boy this year,” Sarah cooed in her most sultry voice, playfully shaking her finger at him, “but, fortunately for you, the Elf we work for rewards naughty boys, not nice ones.”

  “Sounds like my kinda boss,” James replied and bent to kiss Sarah’s ripe red lips. Then he turned and lightly brushed his lips against Rachel’s cheek. “It’s nice to see you again, beautiful,” he added.

  In typical Rachel fashion, she gripped his chin with her shiny red manicured nails and pulled him closer to her, opening her mouth against his, her tongue darting between his lips.

  As she went to work kissing him, Sarah began the task of clothing removal, starting with unbuttoning his pale blue oxford. She knelt behind him, her breasts and stomach pressed against his muscular back, her arms reaching around him to deftly unfasten each button.

  James’ hands had wandered down and were cupping Rachel’s full breasts, very strongly considering revealing what was beneath the small red bow. He hesitated, wanting to take his time unwrapping his gifts. Sarah had moved on to the waistband of his pants. She managed to loosen his belt and was waiting for him to shift so she could get the right angle on the button and zipper. He sensed her struggling and obliged her by standing up and sliding his pants down. He returned to the bed fully nude, resuming his position in between Sarah and Rachel.

  Rachel was admiring his beautifully built body, the contours of his muscles and, naturally, his stiff cock standing at attention, saluting them both. “I see what you mean about bodies made by Uncle Sam,” she remarked, running her finger down his sternum between the two firm raised mounds of his pectorals and then down the line separating his taut, sculpted abs.

  Sarah had moved so that she could kneel over his manhood and still turn her head to see his expressions. She began to lick up his shaft and watched approvingly as Rachel reached down to caress his balls. She re-positioned so that they were each on either side of him, perpendicular to him but facing each other, their tongues running up the length of his cock in tandem and their lips meeting together over the tip. Sarah would engulf him down her throat, slide her lips back up to the tip and then surrender him to Rachel’s ravenous mouth. They continued like this, back and forth, their mouths occasionally kissing with his hardness between them, their tongues tangling around the glans.

  James propped his head up on the pillows so that he could watch the show. Every few moments, the changing of the pressure or rhythm caused by the switch of lips would elicit a deep groan. After a while, Sarah began to see that he was thrusting his hips up into her mouth and the muscles in his thighs were tensing. Wanting to prolong the show, she slowed down and Rachel descended so that her tongue could tease his testicles. Sarah was certain Rachel’s skilled tongue had covered every square centimeter from where his shaft met his balls all the way to his ass. Now James’ eyes were half closed and his head tilted back as if he had never experienced such a state of agonizing ecstasy.

  Sarah motioned for Rachel to lie down on the bed and then moved between her legs, parting her thighs and planting a trail of kisses from her knee inward toward the smooth triangle of flesh at the top. James laid beside Rachel at first, his fingers quickly removing all the bows and tossing them aside. As the tip of Sarah’s tongue gently teased open Rachel’s labia, she softly sighed at the first taste of her friend’s salty-sweet juices, leaving James nearly breathless as he absorbed the scene.

  Sarah shifted to her knees, her dark hair falling around her face as she began to penetrate Rachel with her tongue. James inverted his body to lie on his side with his face near Sarah’s so he could witness her ministrations up close and personal. He brushed her hair out of her face and gathered it into a thick ponytail while he murmured, “Good girl, good girl...”

  Rachel was beginning to writhe her hips under Sarah’s mouth. Unable to watch any longer without participation, James moved again, this time directly behind Sarah. She was so wet that his cock easily found passage into her sex. She groaned as he found the absolute depth of her and began to very slowly stroke in and out of her so as not to disturb her rhythmic sucking on Rachel’s clit. Slowly, that is, until he could feel himself on the edge of losing control and picked up speed. Gasping, Sarah arched her back and lifted her head, the intensity of his strokes causing her to lose focus on Rachel, but soon her friend grabbed her, forcing her head down to meet her rising hips.

  Rachel opened her eyes long enough to lock gazes with James and the sight of his huge throbbing tool drilling into her best friend as her mouth worked her pussy over was more than she could handle. She began to scream, “Oh god, I’m going to come,” and clenched Sarah’s head with both of her hands while she drenched her face with her juices. James could hold back no longer watching Rachel’s body begin to shake. The final straw was when Sarah began to come as well, her pussy milking his cock until he had no choice but to release his seed deep inside her.

  The three of them collapsed breathlessly on the bed, James’ arms outstretched so that both ladies could rest their heads on his chest. He held them close, feeling their breaths slow and soften against his chest hair. No one said a word. It was too perfect of a moment and James was in a state of awe that he had never before experienced.

  After a while, Rachel began to stroke up his thigh toward his cock, which was still oozing a bit of semen. She dabbed it with her finger and touched it to her lips. “Mmmm, James, you taste delicious,” she broke the silence.

  James smiled, “If you
like it so much, you should go straight to the source.”

  Rachel slid down the bed. “I have a better idea,” she said, tapping Sarah’s leg to coax her into turning over. She adjusted so that her chin rested on the mattress directly under Sarah’s dripping pussy and began to lap up the remnants of James’ load. “Oh fuck, that’s hot,” James observed, his cock beginning to swell again.

  Sarah was moaning softly as James stood up and leaned down next to her on the bed, his lips close to her ear. “Can I fuck Rachel?”

  Sarah nodded, her breath ragged but managing to produce a convincing “Of course.”

  He grabbed a condom from Sarah’s nightstand drawer and rolled it onto his erection. This time he approached more gently and patiently, stroking Rachel from her blonde hair down to her rear, which he rubbed, petted and caressed for a few moments before asking if he was allowed to fuck her. She moaned, “Oh yes, please....I want your cock inside of me,” before returning her attentions to Sarah’s throbbing clit.

  Permission granted, he began to rub the head of his cock against the opening to her sex until she was rocking back onto him, attempting to take him inside of her. A slight thrust of his hips and Sarah opened her eyes to watch both his expression and her friend’s as he buried himself balls deep inside her. “Oh, god,” her mouth broke contact with Sarah’s quivering sex. Sarah watched Rachel’s head tilt back as James began to move in and out of her, adjusting to his thickness. Then she continued to suck the rest of his fluids out of Sarah’s opening before traveling back to her clit.