"How did you do that?" Jamie marveled, panting as much as her partner.
"I used to run track," she admitted, sucking in a deep breath. "It's just a trick to get a few more inches at the finish line."
"Is there any sport you can't do?" she asked with a grin as she started to pedal in a slow circle around her lover.
Ryan thought about that as she bent forward from the waist and rested her hands on her knees in order to fully catch her breath. Finally she looked up with her face deeply flushed and said, "Polo."
"Are you serious?" Jamie asked with a laugh.
"Yeah," Ryan said rather defensively. "I've never been on horseback, so even though I could probably swing the mallet pretty well, I wouldn’t have any idea how to work in conjunction with the horse."
"No, silly," Jamie said, amazed that her partner had given the matter some deep thought. "I'm not surprised you can't play polo, I'm surprised that you think you can play every other sport!"
"I'm not good at every other one, but I've played almost everything at some time or another in my life. There really aren't that many differences between the major sports. You either need hand/eye coordination, or speed, or quickness, or agility, or stamina, or power from some particular body part."
"That's a lot of attributes, Honey," she teased. "But I have no doubt that you possess all of them."
The flush had still not left Ryan’s face and she finally mumbled, "You don’t think I’m bragging, do you?" She was staring at the ground, and Jamie expected her to start kicking the dirt with the toe of her shoe any minute.
"Of course not," she insisted. "You never brag, Honey. Well…you brag a little, but only about sex."
Ryan’s head shot up to find the teasing grin affixed to her partner’s face. "It’s not bragging if you can back it up," she drawled, blue eyes dancing. "Got any claims in particular that you’d like to dispute?"
"Never! You’re the real deal, Hot Stuff. Now let’s go again."
"Thought you'd never ask," Ryan readily agreed.
They sprinted through their 50-yard course at least eight more times. When they finished, they were both panting from the effort, and Ryan was covered in sweat. She decided that she needed to run home at a pretty good clip to avoid tightening up, so they got home in good time.
When they got into the house, Jamie went into the bath to start the shower, but Ryan went into her room, lay down on the floor and started to stretch. "Want to shower together, Babe?" Jamie called out.
"No, I’ve got to stretch. You go ahead."
Jamie hopped in and let the hot water remove the stiffness from her fatigued muscles. Her cramps had not returned, and she felt amazingly good. I guess that’s what love will do for you, she mused happily.
She lingered much longer than normal in the shower, but to her surprise, when she got back in the bedroom, Ryan was still on the floor, doing some particularly painful looking contortion. She was on her back, with one foot resting on the floor, and the other foot propped against the raised knee. Grasping the top leg with both hands, she pulled it across her body until the tendons in her hip stood out in stark relief.
Ryan looked up to see her partner staring at her in slack-jawed silence, her look a mix of desire and amazement. "You okay, Babe?" Ryan asked, drawing her out of her trance.
"Wha…oh…yeah," she said weakly. "I’ve just never seen that muscle stand out like that on another human being."
"Muscle? Which muscle?" Ryan ran a hand down her leg, trying to identify the muscle her partner spoke of.
"Do it again," Jamie asked.
Ryan did so, and nodded when Jamie touched the part in question. "That’s not a muscle, Babe. That’s my ilio-tibial band. It’s a ligament." She rolled over onto her stomach and did a series of leg/arm lifts that looked particularly painful, causing her pelvis to be the only part touching the floor. "The strength and flexibility of my hips is probably the main reason I can play most sports," she grunted out as she lifted both arms and legs simultaneously.
"Really?" Jamie was fascinated by this tidbit of information, having no idea what separated the gifted athletes from the rest of the population. "Why is that, Honey?"
"I get most of my speed, balance and thrust from my hips. I was blessed with a really good set of wheels, and they let me do things that a lot of people can’t."
Jamie nodded, thinking that Ryan’s synopsis might be true, but that it also minimized the reality of her work ethic. "Do you always stretch this much when you run, Babe?"
"Mmm…not always…but almost always. Stretching after I exercise has been a life-saver for me."
Jamie looked at the clock and realized that Ryan had been at it for over 20 minutes. God-given talent is one thing, Ms. O’Flaherty. Working your butt off to exploit that talent is quite another.
Ryan had just exited the shower when a pair of hands gripped her around the waist and began to guide her to the bedroom. "Hey, I’m still dripping wet," she protested as she was tossed onto the bed.
"Your point?" Jamie growled, climbing astride her hips. "You’re gonna be dripping wet in one way or another for the next hour, Hot Stuff."
Ryan chuckled at the determined look of lust on her partner’s face. "You don’t look like you could be dissuaded anyway, so I surrender." She tossed the towel onto the floor and prepared herself for a full frontal assault.
"Smart girl," Jamie murmured as she bent to claim the spoils of war.
Thirty minutes later, Ryan was stretched out spread-eagle across the bed, badly in need of another shower. "Did anybody get the license number of that truck," she muttered slowly, almost unable to form words.
"JDSE 211," her partner giggled, reciting her own license plate number. "It’s about to back up for another run, so you’d better fasten your seatbelt, Baby."
"Whoa, whoa," Ryan drawled. "I need a serious rest after that little overhaul. It’s your turn now, big talker."
To Ryan’s amazement, Jamie rolled over, shutting off her view of her favorite parts. "I'm not up to it right now, Honey."
"Not up to it!" Ryan gaped in incredulity. "You’re about ready to slide off the bed, Baby. You’re obviously terribly turned on. Why don't you want to?"
"I don't really like to have sex when I have my period. It kind of bothers me," she admitted.
"During your whole period?" Ryan asked, eyes wide with alarm.
"Umm...yeah," she finally said.
"But you do feel desire, right?"
"Yeah...it's not that. I get turned on, I just think it's gross."
"But aren't I the one who should decide what's gross when I make love to you?"
Ryan’s logic was, as usual, correct and irritating. "I suppose, but I don't think I could relax enough to enjoy it."
"Do you want to abstain while I have my period, too?" Ryan had shimmied up the bed so that her back was now resting against the headboard.
"I guess I didn't think that far ahead. But now that you mention it, I guess I thought that we would."
"You realize that when our cycles don't match we could be abstaining for ten to twelve days out of the month, right?"
"I guess I didn't do the math," she admitted, slightly embarrassed.
"Do you mind giving up 1/3 of our opportunities?"
"That does seem like a lot, huh?"
"That it does," Ryan murmured, pulling Jamie up against her chest. "I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, Honey, so we’ll just do without. It’s not that big of a deal."
"Really?"
Her small voice carried a large dose of doubt, and Ryan quickly sought to reassure her. "Of course, Love. If you’re not 100 per cent into it, we’ll hold off. We’re not animals, you know. It won’t be that difficult to abstain."
"You are so sweet, Ryan," she murmured. "Thanks for not making fun of me because of this."
"I would never make fun of you, Jamie. I want sex to be nothing but enjoyment for you. If you’re uncomfortable about something, we just won’t do it."
; Jamie’s blonde head nuzzled tenderly against Ryan’s chest. "Thanks," she whispered. "Thanks for making me feel like I’m so special to you." She scooted up just a bit and gave Ryan a few kisses to thank her for her patience. A few turned into a bunch, and before long she was flat on her back, Ryan pressed tightly against her body.
"I think you’re trying to compromise my position," she murmured, coming up for air.
"I think you're right," Ryan whispered. "Do you want me to stop?"
"N...n…no, I want you to keep going," she said as she leaned in for another torrid session. After another few minutes of searingly hot kisses, Jamie pulled away again, her unfocused eyes carrying a hint of panic. "I don't know if I can do this, Ryan. I feel funny about it."
"Tell me exactly what bothers you about it," Ryan asked in a calm, neutral tone.
"It's messy and it smells bad. It'll get all over the sheets. And I....I....I'm afraid you'll be grossed out and you'll be funny with me."
Ryan rolled over and sat up straight, looking at her carefully. "Did something like that happen with Jack?"
Jamie blushed deeply and nodded just a bit while she bit her bottom lip.
"Tell me what happened," Ryan soothed, pulling her close, and wrapping her in a gentle hug.
"This is kind of embarrassing," she whispered, hiding her head against Ryan’s chest.
"Take your time, Babe. Just tell me what you feel comfortable sharing."
"Okay. He wanted to have sex once when I had my period and I didn't want to, but he finally talked me into it. He tried to take my tampon out and he couldn't…of course. I don’t know what is so complicated about taking out a tampon but he practically took my uterus with it. When I got it out he acted like it was radioactive or something. I honestly thought he was going to call in the HAZMAT team to scrub the place down. As soon as that tampon was out, his…well, let’s say that his desire deflated, and he suddenly had to go to sleep. I swear that ever since then he was weird about using his mouth on me." She added in a timid voice, "I just don’t ever want you to be grossed out by something and have it affect how you feel about me."
Ryan gave her a gentle squeeze. "I don't mean to brag, but I think I have more experience in this area than Jack had. I've made love to women at every stage of their cycles, and I swear I have never been grossed out. There's nothing mysterious about it, Jamie. It's just another part of you. How could I find a part of you distasteful?"
"But it smells funny," she maintained, just the hint of a whine in her voice.
"No, it does not," Ryan said patiently. "I don’t find the scent offensive in the least."
"I don't know, Ryan. I don't want to disappoint you but..."
"No, no, no, Honey," she said firmly. "This isn't about disappointing me. I want to help you get over this, but not for me. I think overcoming these little phobias is good for your self-image. But if you don't want to, please tell me and I'll drop it."
"I guess I'm more worried about your reaction than my own. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes," she replied solemnly as she gazed steadily into her partner’s eyes. "I'm sure."
"Okay," she finally said. "I'll try."
"Would you feel more comfortable if I could guarantee that I couldn't taste or smell you?"
"Er...how on earth could you do that?"
"Trust me, I'm a doctor," she teased. "Plus I can guarantee that we won't make a mess…at all."
"That's a pretty good guarantee, Doc. Are you sure you can deliver?"
"I haven't lost a patient yet," she said with a wiggling eyebrow. "You go change your tampon; I'll be right back." Ryan gave Jamie a final kiss and dashed into her bedroom.
When she returned, Jamie was lying in bed, looking more like a woman waiting for the oral surgeon than her lover. "Ready if you are," she said gamely.
Ryan gave her an encouraging smile and held up her hand. She waved a good-sized sheet of latex at her partner, waggling her dark eyebrows as she did so. "I’m already salivating," she smirked, harking back to the declaration she had made on their honeymoon that dental dams made her hot.
"Why do I ever doubt you?" Jamie mused with a giggle as her partner climbed into bed.
"Search me." Ryan shrugged her broad shoulders and snuggled in close. "Now, did someone around here call a doctor?"
Some time later, Ryan heard a low groan come from Jamie's open mouth and leaned down, placing her ear close. "I told you I couldn't relax enough to enjoy that," Jamie said with a weak smile.
A gentle laugh caused Jamie’s head to bounce a bit, given its position atop Ryan’s chest. "I assume the moans were signs of your reluctance?"
"Yes," she drawled, enjoying the tease. "I was moaning from tension."
"How about the little gasps and groans?"
"Same thing," she murmured, playfully scratching Ryan’s exposed tummy. "Tension…tension."
"Hmm, that may fly, but let’s see you explain away the hands laced through my hair, the thighs locked around my neck and the commands that I touch you ‘harder’ and ‘faster’?" Ryan’s hand had been idly resting upon Jamie’s waist, but as she asked her question she got in a lightening-quick tickle of her sensitive ribs.
"Yow!" Jamie cried, curling up in a ball to prevent further attacks. "No fair! I was in a very vulnerable position!"
"Speak the truth," Ryan intoned, "or face my torture!" Her wiggling digits underscored her threat, and Jamie knew a loser bet when she saw one.
"Oh, all right," she huffed dramatically. "Once again you’ve proven your mettle between the sheets, Tiger. One more phobia down the drain."
"That’s my goal," Ryan crowed. "I’m really an operative from the American Psychological Association. We’re going to stamp out sexual phobias—one woman at a time."
Cuddling up contentedly against her talented lover Jamie murmured, "I’m just glad I’m near the front of the alphabet."
"Señorita Jamie?"
"Yikes!!!!" Jamie flew out of bed, scampering across the floor to close the bedroom door. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Ryan throwing her clothes on faster than she would have thought humanly possible. "It’s okay, Sweetheart," she soothed, smiling a bit at the wild look on her partner’s face. "I’ll go ask Maria Los to start on the first floor." She slipped on a robe and gave Ryan a wink as she left the room.
Jamie returned a few minutes later, puzzled to find that Ryan was still sitting on the bed, her singlet haphazardly pulled over her head. "I don’t like having strangers in the house, Jamie." Her tone was slightly regretful, but there was a steely determination in her eye that Jamie was not used to having directed at her.
The smaller woman let out a heavy sigh and came to sit next to her partner. "What do you want to do about that?" Jamie’s expression was neutral, her posture open. Ryan had expected her to be defensive, and this attitude caught her by surprise.
"Umm…I don’t know," she said somewhat hesitantly. "I uh…I guess I’d like to fire her."
"Okay." Jamie stood and tightened the closure of her robe. "I’ll go tell her now." She took a step towards the door but was stopped by Ryan’s hand grabbing her wrist firmly.
"You’d just fire her?" She was staring at Jamie with an absolutely stunned expression on her face. "With no notice, or anything?"
"Well, no," she admitted. "I’ll continue to pay her until I find her another job. It’s not her fault that you don’t want her in the house."
"Aww, jeez, Jamie, you’re making me feel like a jerk." Ryan had fallen into full-on pout mode. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her chin was nearly touching her folded arms.
The smaller woman came back to join her partner on the bed. "I certainly don’t mean to, Honey," she soothed. "But if you’re adamant that you don’t want her here, I don’t see how a compromise is viable."
"Well…why do I get the final vote?" Blue eyes peeked out from too-long bangs, and Jamie had a perfect image of Ryan as a five-year-old.
"For the same reason that you told m
e I would have the final decision on what we do sexually," she said softly as she rubbed her hand across Ryan’s bare thigh. "If something bothers you, or makes you uncomfortable, your vote wins."
Her mouth quirked involuntarily into a sardonic smirk. "I hate it when you use my own logic on me." Jamie ruffled her bangs, but said nothing, waiting for Ryan to decide what to do. "Will her feelings be hurt?" It was clear that Ryan was having a tough time with this, but Jamie honestly did not know how to reach a compromise.
She pondered this for just a second, knowing the answer immediately. "Yes, Honey. Her feelings will be hurt. She’s very proud of the work she does here, and I think she’ll assume that she offended you on Monday."
"Damn!" Ryan got up and paced in a small circle. "I don’t want to hurt her feelings, Jamie. I just don’t want someone coming and going without warning."
"Well, we have warning," she offered. "She comes at ten on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and she leaves at three."
Ryan nodded, and crossed her arms against her chest. She was silent for a moment before she offered a compromise. "Since Mia’s not here, I don’t expect the house to be very dirty. I want to do the laundry, so that will save her a lot of time. Until school starts let’s have her come from noon to three. We’ll pay her the same amount, of course—tell her it’s like a little vacation."
"And that would work better because…?"
"Because that’s when I’ll be at work. This will be easier for me to adjust to if I don’t have to be at home when she’s here. Plus, I want to spend most mornings making love to my best girl, and I hate to have my concentration ruined." The sparkle was back in the azure eyes, and Jamie shot her a grateful grin for her willingness to give a bit on the issue.
Disclosures - SF4 Page 16