"I have no idea what you’re talking about, Ryan O’Flaherty. I merely picked up a few things for the woman I love."
"This is all for me?" Ryan gaped. "But I don’t need anything!"
"Of course you did. Your first road trip is next week and you desperately need a few things to travel." Giving her partner a doubtful look, Ryan began to poke around at the contents of the bags before gathering them up, placing them on the table by the sofa, and beginning a methodical inventory.
"Pajamas?" she said as she held out the first pair. "Since when do I wear pajamas?"
"Ryan, you’re sharing a room, you know. Sleeping in the buff is not going to cut it. You get too hot sleeping in your sweats, and I don’t really want you parading around in your underwear in front of your roommate."
Ryan discreetly failed to mention that Jordan would be her roommate and that she had seen her in far less than her underwear. Still she protested, "Two pair? Our trips only last two or three days. I could wear the same ones two nights in a row."
"I know, Honey, but you should have some pajamas for running around the house too. You don’t own a robe, and these are easy to slip on if you need to run downstairs. You need to remember that Mia will have guests sometimes, and I don’t want her dates following you back upstairs once they see you in your underwear. This is for your own protection!"
Smirking at Jamie’s wild exaggeration, Ryan kicked off her running shoes and shucked her jeans and underwear before slipping on the first pair of pajama bottoms. They were a very smooth brushed cotton broadcloth in a tiny gray and white check. There were four small buttons on the fly, but they were big enough to slide on without unbuttoning them at all, a feature that Ryan quite liked. A drawstring held them up and Ryan started to cinch them up at her waist, but Jamie stopped her fingers and pushed the pants down low on her hips and tied the string to hold them there. "That’s how I like them," she breathed into Ryan’s ear. "I love the curve of your hips and this shows it off." Stepping back to survey, she added, "Besides, your legs are so long that they’re way too short when you pull them all the way up. They look cool riding low."
"I’m all about cool," Ryan agreed placidly. Jamie was completely pleased with her selections after viewing them on her live model, and Ryan seemed to like them too. They were very soft and roomy enough to not be binding while she slept, and she had to admit that they would be cooler than her sweats were. She smiled down at her lover and said, "As usual, you know what’s best for me. They’re really nice. Thanks for thinking of me."
Ryan waded through several more of the little bags to find two new bras. She usually wore sports bras, but Jamie like her to dress up for bed sometimes, and one of her favorite things was to make love to her while she wore a lacy bra. And Ryan had to admit that these were terribly lacy. She also had to admit that Jamie had a perfect eye for her contours. The 36C bras fit perfectly, much to her surprise. "You should really consider working in a lingerie shop," Ryan told her. "You’ve got a great eye for size."
"With my breast fetish? The first time I did this," she indicated as she slid her hands around to gently cup both of Ryan’s breasts through the lacy black bra, "I’d be out on my butt!"
"Oh, but you’d have such a loyal clientele," Ryan whispered as her hands went to Jamie’s hips to pull her in close. After twitching her hips against her partner’s butt for a minute, Ryan turned and gave her a few kisses to thank her for her thoughtfulness.
After a few minutes of increasingly passionate kisses, Jamie reluctantly broke off to remind her, "There’s more for you here."
Ryan shot her an amused glance as she opened yet another bag. This one held a pair of her old favorites--Calvin Klein boxer shorts and a T-shirt--but in a sexy twist, both were in a nearly transparent black lace. The fabric was very stretchy and very clingy, as Jamie was delighted to notice when Ryan slipped both garments on. "Oh my," she gasped as she took in the vision. She walked around her slowly, shaking her head and muttering, "Oh wow," repeatedly. Ryan just smirked at her even though she was pleased that her lover was getting such satisfaction from staring at her.
Finally Jamie placed her hands on Ryan’s shoulders and growled, "Dinner’s going to be ready in fifteen minutes, but I have to have you right now." Without waiting for agreement she pushed her backwards onto the sofa. Ryan went along willingly, always thrilled when her partner’s libido caught her by surprise. Jamie immediately climbed on top and began to run her hands all over the lacy material. It was soft enough to feel nice and smooth against Ryan’s skin, but rough enough to provide a delightful sensation when Jamie’s hands brushed against it.
It was clear that this little encounter was going to be quick, so Ryan just relinquished control and went along for the ride. Her new T-shirt was slowly pulled from her body, but it caught on her hands and Jamie decided to leave it there. Giving the dark woman a quick glance, Jamie twisted the material around her wrists, effectively capturing them. She stretched Ryan’s arms out over her head, the posture causing her breasts to jut out in a devastatingly arousing fashion. As her mouth dropped onto one of the tantalizing breasts, the door from the kitchen opened and Mia entered the room. She paused for a moment, trying to decide if she should return to the kitchen, but she knew that she would be able to hear them making love from there, so she quickly dismissed that option.
Both heads turned in her direction and both sets of eyes widened. Mia gave them a sympathetic look and offered, "I’ll go sit in the yard until you’re done. Give me the all clear when it’s safe to come back in, ‘kay?"
It took a second for the lovers to regain their senses, but Jamie finally scampered to her feet and said, "No, really, Mia. That’s not necessary."
The curly-haired woman stopped her retreat and gazed at Jamie for a second. "Um…why not?"
"We shouldn’t be doing this in the living room anyway. The living room is for all of us. We’ll go upstairs." She extended a hand to Ryan, giving her partner an encouraging look as the mortified woman tried to extract her hands from the tangled shirt. She finally managed, and then slipped it back on, the last tatters of her dignity intact.
As the pair climbed the stairs, Jamie asked, "The timer’s gonna go off in a second, Mia. Would you take dinner out of the oven?"
"Sure," she said, giving Ryan one last long look. "You might as well take the tags off those undies, Ryan. I don’t think you can return them now."
"Everybody’s a comic around here," the scantily clad woman grumbled, following her fully dressed lover up the stairs.
The interruption had cooled their ardor, so Ryan got into a more modest outfit and they returned to the main floor just a few minutes after they heard the timer buzz.
Mia had set the table and was just serving the meal when they came back down. "Finished so soon?" she asked,
"I just bought Ryan some new underwear and she was trying it on," Jamie said with a completely straight face. "I think it fit pretty well."
"Oh, I understand, Jamie," Mia agreed. "That’s exactly how most people try on underwear. I just hate it when I go to the store and forget to bring a 120-pound weight to straddle me while I try on clothes. It’s such a pain to get the salesclerk to do it."
Ryan smirked at her and walked over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I hardly miss being at home with you around, Mia," she said as she ruffled her hair affectionately. "You’re just like a female Conor!"
After dinner Ryan and Mia cleaned up while Jamie sat at the kitchen table chatting with them. When they were done, the slyly grinning blonde reminded Ryan that she had not finished opening all of her gifts. Ryan shot her a puzzled glance and asked, "Do you want Mia to watch? I think we’ve scarred her tender psyche enough for one day."
"It’s okay, Honey," Jamie assured her. "You’ve gotten to all of the R-rated stuff."
Ryan sat down and grabbed the last big bag. It was from the bookstore on campus and quite heavy. Blinking in surprise, she pulled the big white and gray box out to reveal a new PowerMac G-3 n
otebook computer. She stared at Jamie for a moment before she opened the box, revealing a sleek, black 500-megahertz machine.
Ryan reached up and absently scratched her head, then let her hand drop to tug on her ear a few times, a gesture Jamie correctly read as one she made when she was completely astounded. The two roommates looked at her curiously, wondering when she was going to say something.
She finally nodded her head once, placed the laptop on the table, and scooted her chair over until she could comfortably wrap her arms around her partner. "I love it. Thank you for being so generous."
Now it was Jamie’s turn to look stunned. She reached up to feel Ryan’s forehead, but it was cool to the touch. "That’s it?" she finally managed. "No arguments?"
"Nope. It will really come in handy this term, Jamie. The thought of three-day-long road trips without a computer was starting to give me hives," she admitted. "It’s going to be bad enough to be away from home, but to be stuck in a strange town and know that I’m wasting tons of down time has really been worrying me."
"Why didn’t you say something?" the blonde asked, fervently wishing that Ryan could get over her reticence about spending money.
"It didn’t occur to me," she admitted a little sheepishly. "I’ve never had any options when things like this happen, Jamie. I’d just have to grin and bear it. It’s going to take me a while to get comfortable using our money to solve problems." She gave her partner a thoughtful look. "Up until now I’ve been focusing on the problems that your money creates. I’m gonna try my best to get over that." She shrugged and added, "It’s just not productive."
"That’s very good news," Jamie sighed, nuzzling her head into Ryan’s neck for a nice cuddle.
"Hey, when you get comfortable being rich, can we stop cleaning the kitchen?" Mia asked hopefully.
"I’ll never be that comfortable, Mia," the dark woman warned. "Just put that thought out of your cute little head."
"Hey, Tiger?" Jamie asked as she walked out of the bath after brushing her teeth.
"Yes?" Ryan said absently, intently working on getting her new computer set up to her exacting specifications.
"Wanna play a game with me?"
"Uh-huh," she said, her attention divided, less than half of it directed to her partner. "Let me finish here and brush my teeth. Do I need to take a shower to play?"
"Not that kind of game," the blonde chuckled. She grasped the laptop and tucked it under her arm, saying, "I’ll give your little toy back after I have your attention for a moment."
"Speak," Ryan smiled, her blue eyes focused sharply on her lover.
"I have to develop and manage a stock portfolio for one of my classes, and I thought it would be fun to have you do it, too. Since you’re going to do your independent study on stock market fluctuations, I thought it might also be good experience. What do you say?"
"Works for me," Ryan said, extending her hands, fingers twitching to retrieve her computer. "What are the rules?"
Placing the computer behind her back, Jamie informed her, "We each can spend up to $500,000 on any combination of investment vehicles. You can put your money in a mutual fund, or buy Treasury Bills if you want. Of course, the more risky alternative is to buy individual stocks. My professor gave us a simple program for keeping track of our purchases, and he’s included a chart for determining broker’s commissions and other charges. I’ve got to keep track of my portfolio just like it was real."
Ryan nodded suspiciously. "Uh-huh, and would there be any particular reason you’d like me to participate?"
"Mmm…sure, Babe. I like to do everything with you. Don’t you know that by now?" She was batting her eyes seductively, and Ryan knew that she was being set up, but she didn’t care a bit.
"I have a feeling that I’m going to wind up doing all of the bookkeeping here, Sweetie," she decided. "I think you want me to do my own picks so I stay interested."
"Well, you can never resist a challenge," Jamie smiled, giving her partner a wink. "We’ll compete to see who makes the most by the end of the term."
"Deal," the dark-haired woman agreed. "Now give me my computer back."
Jamie handed it over, informing Ryan that, "I’ve got all of the latest financial magazines, and I’ve subscribed to the Wall Street Journal. We can share stock tips," she suggested.
"We most certainly can not!" Ryan looked horrified at the mere prospect. "If I do my own research, I’m using my knowledge strictly for my own benefit. You’re on your own!"
Rolling her eyes, Jamie climbed into bed, muttering, "What ever happened to ‘for better or worse, for richer or poorer’?"
"That’s for marriage," Ryan assured her. "This is a bet! Whole different set of rules, Babe."
On Friday morning Jamie arrived home at eleven, planning on making a good lunch for her partner. When she pulled into the drive for her unannounced visit she was puzzled to hear the heavy bass beat of music oozing from every crack and crevice in the house. What in the hell…?
She trotted up to the door with the sound growing progressively louder as she approached. Neither occupant of the home was visible when she entered, and if they had been they obviously could not have heard the door swing open due to the ear-splitting noise.
Jamie searched the first floor, finding Ryan clad in a pair of her skintight compression shorts, red in this instance. A matching red sports bra peeked out from under a large white tank top. Heavy white socks bunched over the tops of her white mid-height basketball shoes, and her red Nike cap sat atop her head--backwards of course. She was sorting a massive pile of laundry, while Mia stood at the ironing board, neatly pressing a pair of Ryan’s chinos.
Jamie walked back into the living room and turned the volume down at least six notches. When she re-entered the kitchen both women looked up in surprise as Ryan said, "Hi, Honey! I didn’t expect you!"
She placed her hands on her hips and mused, "So this is what you two do when I’m at school all day, huh?"
"Yep," Ryan agreed. "We just try to have everything clean for you when you get home. We’re like a twisted version of Leave it to Beaver."
As Jamie’s gaze settled on Mia, she had to laugh at her damp face and weary expression. "How did you get recruited?" she asked.
"I’m a member of the household, Jamie," she said with a self-righteous glare. "It’s my duty to my roommates. Maria Los is very busy with the cleaning we have her do. We should be responsible for our own laundry."
"Ryan, did you brainwash this poor thing?" Jamie asked her grinning partner.
"Nope. I asked if she wanted to help and she jumped at the chance. I’ll go start some lunch for you, my princess," she added as she kissed Jamie lightly. "I assume you’re hungry, Mia?"
Jerking her head in the direction of the living room, Mia immediately flopped down on the sofa and kicked her feet up onto the coffee table. "Whew!" she said dramatically. "No wonder nobody wants to do their own laundry. It’s hard work!"
Jamie sat next to her and gave her an appraising smirk. "What was her lure?"
Mia looked a little embarrassed as she admitted, "Al Green."
"Was she dancing?"
A slight nod accompanied her flushed face.
"It’s okay, Mia. I don’t mind that you leer at her. And I agree that when she starts dancing and singing while she works around the house, no mortal could resist her charms."
"Does she do it on purpose? I mean, is it just a trap?"
"No, amazingly enough she doesn’t even know that she does it. But the fact that it’s unconscious is what makes it so appealing for me. She’s so sexy, but she doesn’t use it. That’s just how she is."
"I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. You hit the jackpot with that one, Honey!"
Ryan came running into the house that night after practice, barely stopping for a kiss on her way to the shower. "Pick out something for me to wear, will ya, Babe?" she asked.
"Happy to," Jamie called, always glad to get her partner to abandon her jeans for a
change.
When Ryan had emerged from the bathroom, she surveyed the outfit that her partner had placed on the bed. Her black leather pants, a black sleeveless T-shirt, and a starched white oversized oxford-cloth shirt waited for her.
Smirking to herself, she started to get dressed, looking up when Jamie entered her room. Stopping in mid action, Ryan started shaking her head quickly, saying, "No, no, no, that will not work."
"What?" Jamie asked, looking down at her short, tight black leather dress. "Don’t I look okay?"
"You look a lot more than okay," Ryan assured her. "You look scrumptious… luscious… fantastic…" Her head continued to shake as she ordered, "Take it off."
"What?" Jamie was giving her a completely confused expression, very unhappy to have Ryan supervising her style of dress.
"I’m not worried about the restaurant," Ryan said, "but I know Jordan will want to go to a bar afterwards. School just started; this is the first weekend out for everybody. It’s going to be wild out tonight, and I guarantee you’ll be fighting guys off all night in that outfit."
Now strangely complimented by Ryan’s logic, Jamie said, "But won’t you be there to protect me?"
"Yes, I’ll always be there to protect you," Ryan assured her. "But I have a feeling that out of fourteen women one or the other of them will manage to get into some kind of trouble before the night is over. I’d like to not have to worry about you too!"
"Are you really serious, Ryan?"
"Completely," she insisted. "If I was a guy, and saw you come in with a big group of women, I’d attach myself to you before you could take a seat. You’d have to call security to get me to leave you alone."
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