Rusty Lovers

by Lilah Nichols

  “I’m good with that, just there might be one thing I have to separate out and get myself. But for the most part, we’re here for you.”

  The blast of heat when they left the store reminded her of a sauna. Eliza was still wearing the black pants and silky blouse she had worn to dinner the night before, and it amplified the temperature. The afternoon sunshine made it feel like full summer, and the air conditioning in Frank’s Honda was just barely putting out anything after the short drive down the highway to the mall.

  It was a place that had seen better days. The parking lot was riddled with potholes and a quarter of the stores were empty, but the Kohl’s was still flourishing. There were better places Eliza might have taken him clothes shopping, but none that would have the value and style of other items she had in mind. Plus she probably had some coupons folded up in her wallet somewhere.

  They headed straight for the men’s department at the back of the store, where she loaded his arms up with three pairs of jeans and three polo shirts and set him off into the dressing room. Knowing he’d be busy for a while, Eliza wheeled their empty cart over to the appliance section and found a top of the line Keurig and tossed in a big box of variety cups for good measure. Oven mitts, dish towels, a pretty jar filled with miscellaneous utensils. She tried to remember what he had and didn’t have, and decided on a starter set that included spatulas, serving spoons, a pasta fork, and a pizza cutter, all in no-nonsense stainless steel with black accents. It was then she admitted this was a far bigger job that she’d anticipated, and wheeled the cart back to the dressing room.

  The idea of working on their love nest over time was a pleasing one. It sort of reminded her that there was no rush. They had all the time in the world. What a wonderful thought. Her feet barely touched the floor as she headed back to check on him.

  The far back corner of the store was deserted, there was no one at the sales desk or supervising the dressing rooms. As she approached, Frank ducked out of the changing area and struck a pose. His broad shoulders filled out the polo, and the close fit of the cuff accentuated the smooth curve of his biceps. He was grinning. He turned and showed her the back side, and oh my goodness, Eliza admired the way he filled out the back of those jeans. The denim clung to the curve of his backside, fitting perfectly. He wore the shirt tucked in. Of course, he did, she should have expected that. She was going to have to teach this boy how to relax.

  She gave a low wolf whistle while he modeled and resisted the urge to touch. “You’re looking hot there, lover” she teased. He spread his feet to shoulder width apart and hooked his fingers behind his head, turning his head to view her over his shoulder. The muscles along his back and arms flexed.

  “You like?”

  She swatted his taut ass. “You look good like that, like you’re about to get frisked!”

  “Oooh!” he gasped in surprise, and then thought it over, playing out that scenario in his mind. His smile grew, and his gaze grew more intense.

  “You don’t seem a bit rusty at all at this, Frank. When you get back to that pad of yours, I think we better plan a trip to party city, so I can see if they have a cop’s uniform for me. I am definitely going to be pulling you over later.”

  The thought of that had him laughing, and yet also trembling a little just wondering how that scene might play out. “On what charges! I wasn’t speeding, officer, I know I wasn’t!”

  “Being too sexy in those jeans, disrupting traffic, and…” She hooked a finger into the waistband and looked inside. “And still wearing boxers, when you were told briefs!”

  “You only mentioned that last night! Unfair!” Fortunately, there was a tall display rack between them and the men’s jeans department with assorted brands and styles of underwear. Frank studied it for a moment and grabbed a package of Hanes in dark colors of black, maroon and gray off the shelf. He checked the back to be sure he had the right size and dropped them into the cart. “What my lady wants, she gets,” he joked. The words that sounded light and commonplace now carried different undertones now, and he liked it.

  The cart had more than just clothes in it, he noticed, seeing the little things she had selected for his place, as well as the coffee machine. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You are too good to me, Eliza,” he choked out.

  “Nothing is too good for you, Rusty.”

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. They fit together so perfectly. He could tuck her head under his chin and feel his cock starting to stir against her belly. She clung to him for a long moment, and slowly slipped out of his arms, looking him up and down. “I hope all those shirts fit like this!” Her hands slid off his shoulders, down over his arms. He liked that appreciative look in her eye. “Go get changed, so we can get out of here and get some dinner on the way home.” She swatted his ass playfully as he turned to go.

  He jumped and chuckled, double-timing it back into the fitting room.

  Eliza worried only briefly that she’d been gone from her house for over 24 hours as they sped back down the highway, the back seat of the Honda piled high with shopping bags. The air conditioning had decided to cooperate, and she pulled out her phone and checked for texts. Nothing but a text reminder for a dental appointment. Josh either hadn’t come home for the weekend or hadn’t noticed his mom was MIA. She tapped in a short hello and slid the phone back into her purse. She wasn’t ready for this weekend to be over yet. It was just getting started.

  Traffic jammed up as they got closer to the city, where mall shoppers and tourists had to merge down onto increasingly fewer and fewer lanes. Frank leaned on the horn and worked the small car through the merge. “Why aren’t these people at the shore? God, it feels like August instead of June.” The flow of cars stopped and started until finally the expressway cleared and they were back up to speed.

  “It’s not a big deal, Frank,” Eliza sounded relaxed, almost sleepy. “We can’t possibly finish everything in one day.” He gave a brief nod of agreement. “Besides. We have all the time in the world. That’s the beauty of it. We can take our time. I mean I get it, this is very exciting, but we don’t have to do it all in one day.”

  That sounded wonderful. All the time in the world. Tonight was more of the beginning. Even his cock liked that idea, and he let his mind consider it, tonight, and after that all the other nights to come. He relaxed a little and shook off some of the urgency that had been riding him.

  “At least we are ahead of the Saturday night traffic.” Every time a new highway merged in they slowed to a crawl, and then sped back up again on the far side. “Did everyone decide to leave for home at the exact same time we did?”

  Eliza fiddled with the air vents and aimed them directly at her face. The cool air was welcome, and she arranged the airflow on the driver’s side right onto Frank. “As long as it’s cool in here, I don’t mind. In fact the longer it takes, the less likely we’ll have to unload this car in the heat.”

  “Oh! Was there another store you wanted to hit on the way home? I mean, I’m not sure we spent enough yet today…” He caught her eye and winked. “I haven’t hit my daily limit yet!”

  She wasn’t going to let that one slide. Teasing begot teasing. “Well, I seem to recall we might have some items to get at the Adult Outlet….”

  His eyes darted to the side of the road, almost like they were searching for an immediate exit. He flipped on his blinker, headed for the right-hand lane. “You’re going to have to look up directions, or is there maybe something similar at one of the bigger malls?”

  Obviously, he hadn’t put two and two together yet, to discern what kind of establishment she was proposing. “I’m pretty sure they don’t have an adult toy superstore at the mall there, dear. Maybe something like Spencer’s Gifts, but not the hard core stuff we’re after.

  “Hard Core?” He barely got the words out, and then stopped himself from repeating them again louder. But damn, those words got to him, and he suspected she knew that and had used them on purpose.r />
  It was hard for her not to laugh. Eliza loved it when he was aroused and sputtering in shock at the same time. She hoped he never lost that charming gullibility.

  “Yeah, what kind of things did you think they’d sell at any store with ‘Adult’ in the title? And don’t worry. I don’t want us to go through all the new adventures in the first weekend. I plan to take my time with you, Rusty. Break you in slowly, as it were.”

  His eyes were on the road, his hands on the wheel, gripping and ungripping. Things always got serious when she called him Rusty. It made him sit up straighter and his knees spread a little wider, and his pants feel a whole lot tighter.

  “So where is this Adult Outlet? And when might we be headed there?” Oh she did love that smooth baritone voice, lightly accented and only slightly raspy. Eliza had no doubt he’d be ready to go anytime she asked. Taking him there was going to be so much fun. She couldn’t wait to turn him loose and let him explore. But first, they had work to do. A love nest to outfit. At some point, they both needed to find a way to spring this relationship news onto Josh, Jenny, and his son, Ben. Somehow telling the inner family would make it all feel more permanent.

  “We can go on Wednesday, after my trip to the dentist. I’m taking the afternoon off, and if you don’t have office hours or classroom set up, we could meet at Starbucks and go from there.”

  “Sounds like a plan. But you still haven’t mentioned what you think we might be buying. Any hints?”

  Eliza just laughed and gave his knee a good squeeze. “Maybe after we hang some curtains and order some dinner we can check out their web site and make a wish list.”

  “Ok!”

  Chapter 9

  Eliza looked forward to the dentist’s office only because her mind kept coming around to what she planned to do afterward. She just had to sit still for 45 minutes for a cleaning, chatting with Kelly, her long-time hygienist, about the wedding invitation business and comparing notes on their kids while the cheerful redhead took x-rays. A steady stream of conversation flowed even though Eliza could barely respond with her mouth full of dental tools.

  All of the employees Ultimate Dental Care were knowledgeable and kind and had earned Eliza’s trust over many years. She lay back in the chair and relaxed, willing the time to pass quickly. It was hard not to smile as she thought back to the email she’d found in her inbox that morning.

  Evidently, Frank had been doing some research on the local toy shops and worked up a spreadsheet on the size, variety and Yelp ratings from the top stores in the area. He’s begun with her old stand by, The Adult Emporium, and gone on to give alternate stores such as Spencer’s Gifts, Passion Works and Adult World some kind of quantifiable score to determine which they might want to eventually visit. A few options might require more than a day trip, and he’d included suggestions for dining and accommodations in neighboring counties. The scientist in him was showing, and she liked it.

  It seemed she had opened up a new world for him. They hadn’t even talked about anything special they intended to shop for. She just wanted to walk around the place holding his hand and let him see all the possibilities.

  Because that’s what their time together had become. An open book of possibilities. All they had to do was get together and find ways to get closer, to please each other more. His scientific mind would probably rate and categorize items in order of preference and degree of excitement they engendered.

  Eliza didn’t doubt Frank would be excited and a little anxious about it. She knew from experience that a faint feeling of unease, mostly from stepping into the unknown, combined with sexual arousal could create a wild, intense feeling of excitement. She herself had been in stores like these many times with Jim. Her late husband had been a fan of any kind of triple X shopping and had been an expert at finding kinky uses for everyday items. He had always been solid presence beside her, laughing and getting ideas just looking at the vast displays of bondage gear. Jim had bee a fan of anything made of leather and buckles, whether it was cuffs on his wrists or the wrap-up closures on her strappy sandals. In his easy-going way, Jim had conveyed his openness to try anything and everything.

  Eliza felt the familiar sting of tears at the bittersweet memories. It was strange how similar things were turning out again this time. She knew Frank’s hand would be there on the small of her back as they strolled around the display area. His hand would be warm in hers as they selected merchandise. Anything they found would be fun, whether it was lingerie for her or cuffs for him…

  “Are you all right, Liza?” Kelly had stopped her assault on the plaque, and Eliza cracked one eye open and peered up, meeting the hygienist’s eyes on the far side of her face shield.

  “Un huh” Eliza blinked the tears away, rinsed and spit. “Just a sad memory got me there for a moment. You weren’t causing me any pain.” She opened her mouth again and kept her mind focused while Kelly finished up and spun the polish onto her teeth.

  Before she knew it she was stepping out into the sunshine, running her tongue over her exceptionally smooth teeth and practically skipping to her car. She checked her phone and sent Frank a quick text. “On my way. See you soon!”

  She let the engine run long enough to pump out cool air, and played with her hair in the rearview mirror, tucking away stray curls. She added a touch of lipstick and brushed on mascara. Then she laughed at herself as she donned her sunglasses and opened the window, letting in the breeze that undid all her handiwork. She turned up the radio and headed for Starbucks, where she found Frank waiting beside his car as she pulled in, looking fine in his sky blue polo and jeans. She leaned over and gave him a quick hard kiss as he climbed in.

  As soon as his seat belt clicked she swerved across the lot and into the drive-through. “Ever had a mocha Frappachino?” She had a feeling he hadn’t, and the slow shake of his head confirmed it. She buzzed the window down and leaned out. “Two Mocha Frappachinos, with extra whipped cream!” The expression on his face was priceless.

  She could almost see him replaying their experiments with whipped cream in his tiny apartment. Oh yeah, he was remembering her lips on him, her tongue flicking, and her control.

  “Do I need to tease you about getting turned on at the mention of whipped cream?” Luckily she had rolled up the window and pulled away from the speaker. She reached around behind him, fishing for her handbag in the footwell.

  “You always know, Eliza. I don’t know how you do it. Am I that obvious?” He dragged her purse up from out of the back seat and handed her her wallet. “You get this, and I’ll buy anything else we purchase later on….”

  “Hahaha, I can imagine we might be finding a few things to add to our stash. But it’s a deal.” She happily paid and settled the two drinks into the console. “So my store first? Or did my scientist determine after careful experimentation that another locale might be more productive?”

  Frank blushed slightly and took a long draw from his coffee. He swallowed slowly, savoring it. “That is amazing. I don’t know how I never tried one of those before! And your store would be a fine place to start. It did compare very well to the others, and it has the closest proximity to our current location.”

  “Aye aye, Spock, plotting a course to closest adult supply store. Warp factor 6.” She headed back into town, shoulders shaking with mirth as he sputtered.

  “I’m not that bad! You think I sound like Mister Spock?”

  Eliza grabbed his knee and squeezed. “Are you kidding? Spock was the unemotional, un-fun, un-excitable one! You don’t qualify on any of those. You are very excitable!” His hand covered hers, feeling warm and secure.

  The drive was quick to the Adult Emporium. The building itself was wedged back off the main thoroughfare hidden behind a fast food restaurant, and aside from the tall sign out front, it looked nondescript. A boxy, faded yellow facade with no windows overlooked the parking lot where only two other cars waited. Eliza pulled up in front of the door and sat there for a minute before getting out.
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  She tugged his hand until his eyes met hers. “I know this place is safe, and I have been here many times before, but I wouldn’t venture in there alone. So please stay beside me.”

  He nodded in understanding and sat up a little straighter. “Don’t worry, my lady. I know how to be a good escort. You don’t have to worry there might be creeps in there that would bother you.” He drew her hand up to his lips and kissed the knuckles softly.

  She smiled at his antics. “Well honestly, it is more that I don’t want any of the women in there thinking they could make a move on my guy.”

  He gave a shout of laughter, so stunned she might worry about such an unlikely thing. And so pleased at the way she called him her guy. “I doubt very much there are any single women in there looking to make off with your date.”

  Eliza pulled her hand out of his grip and exited the car, waiting while he circled around to stand beside her again. “But what’s the point of taking my sexy man into a place like this if I can’t show him off? I want the creeps and the woman behind the counter to know you’re with me!”

  Frank hadn’t expected her to put it that way, but it felt good. He reached the door first and drew it open with a flourish. “I believe I understand my assignment, and never fear, I am honored the be shown off as your chosen escort.”

  He followed her into the establishment which turned out to be brightly lit, as well as surprisingly empty. He felt relieved and a little disappointed at the same time. As usual, he was torn between wanting people to see them and dealing with his own awkward still-married feelings. God, he couldn’t wait to be free, plus he couldn’t see how think Abby would even mind at this point.

  Early in their marriage she had worried and fretted when he wasn’t home on time or if a faculty meeting ran late. The change had come when Benny was in middle school, and Abby’s life had been taken over by carpools to soccer and karate class. Suddenly she was the one who was out late, and Frank was the worrier when the hour grew late.