We brought the new couch home in the back of her truck that night.
We didn't talk about flight lessons the rest of the week. I did my class work… well, I turned on my computer and logged in the appropriate amount of required hours… in bed while she slept. Certification came in two parts, and luckily, I found something that would allow me to do the required thirty hours of class time on line. But there was nothing I could do about the other forty in the air with an instructor.
The week passed and June turned into July, bringing with it a heat wave that gripped the entire northeast. Stubborn as ever, she wouldn't let me get an air conditioner when I suggested it early last month and now she was suffering for her stinginess.
Dutiful husband that I am, I spent the last few afternoons in bed with her doing all I could to ease her discomfort, putting as much of my skin as I could against hers.
"I should get out of bed and let you suffer" I teased as she laid sprawled across my bare chest. "Teach you a good lesson on why it doesn't pay to be cheap."
She looked up at me with her bottom lip hanging out and I couldn't help but laugh.
"It's a tough row to hoe," I sighed dramatically as her lips began to survey the edge of my jaw, "but I guess I'll just have to endure it."
Today would be the worst of it. A front would deliver a cool down along with an overcast morning suitable for flying. However, not a cloud was to be found today, the temperature peaking out at ninety-nine degrees. Even in the shade of our house nestled deep in the New Hampshire woods there was no place to escape the warmth, and the new fan she did concede to buy sitting in our bedroom window did little to evaporate the perspiration that darkened her hair slightly and flushed her pale skin.
To make matters worse, her naked flesh pressed up so close, her lips crawling all over me, I couldn't help but make love with her this morning, igniting her internal blast furnace. Unfortunately, today's record setting temperatures also meant that I was as warm as her and there was little my body could accomplish by way of cooling her down afterward. Feeling guilty, I did the best that I could to not continue down that path, but as usual she had made it so mind numbingly hard.
"Would you please take off to the mall or the grocery store and get cooled off for an hour or two."
She pulled impossibly closer to me. "We'll head out again together once it gets dark."
"It'll be nine o'clock by then."
"That's okay." She shrugged unconcerned.
"I'll go hunt while you're gone." I suggested with little real hope.
"You said you were going tonight while I sleep. Besides, you're gonna be gone all morning tomorrow."
I could do nothing but growl at her. Rather than take my threat seriously, she giggled and kissed me on the cheek.
"I don't need air conditioning, I have you and I can plug you in any time I want."
She could be so exasperating.
"That would not cool you down."
"Never said it would."
She napped briefly for an hour or so then after lunch, dragging me back to our bed and curled up beside me. We spent most of the afternoon there in lying there listening to music, our blanket and sheet crumpled at its foot, parting from each others touch for only the essentials. I don't think she would have bothered with supper if I had not slipped out of our room and into the kitchen to cook her something when she excused herself to the bathroom.
She walked in to join me wearing nothing but another of my shirts she had yet again pilfered from the laundry. I gazed frustrated and appreciative at the unbuttoned garment parting open as her hands pulled her dark sticky hair back into a ponytail.
"It's too hot to eat." She complained, rolling the sleeves up as she made her way past the kitchen table to the ice box to get a drink, eying the couple of slices of watermelon I had waiting there for her.
My attitude on modesty had evolved since we got married. I stood in front of the stove int my underwear, flipping a grilled ham and cheese sandwich as she filled a glass with ice and water, placing it against her fevered cheek.
"I may be able to live on love, but you need to eat." I scolded playfully, sitting another glass on the table before getting the pickles from the frig.
I heard her toying with her drink and it should have come as no surprise as she walked up behind me, and ran a partially melted cube down my back. It did not do to me what it would have to a human, but I jumped all the same, taken off guard by the unexpected coldness of the prank.
She howled with amusement as I crushed the pickle jar in my hand, spilling its contents on me and the floor and flooding the air with the smell of vinegar.
"Sorry about that." She choked out still laughing, grabbing the paper towels.
"You mean, 'sorry we have a mess to clean up.' "
"Yeah, that's about right." She snickered.
The floor was picked up, but there was only limited success with the pickle smell. I slid the sandwich off the griddle and on to a plate before sneaking out the now nasty garbage, amused by my nearly naked self outside. I came back in and the smell was a bit better however even with the windows open, the air didn't clear nearly as fast as I expected it to.
I poured her a glass of chocolate milk, waiting patiently for my payback. Whether she liked it or not, she needed something to eat. I sat quietly beside her satisfied, watching as the watermelon and sandwich… sans pickles disappeared quickly.
"You know how much I hate to admit this, but once I got started, I was kinda hungry. Thank you Edward."
"Would you like anything else?" I asked as she drained the last of her milk.
"No, I'm stuff." She leaned in toward me kissing me and sniffed. "Hmm…."
"What?"
She licked my shoulder and snicker. "You smell like pickled vampire."
"Really?" I grinned ready to deliver my revenge. "Then I guess it's time for a shower."
I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder. Toting her off to the bathroom, she kicked and squealed as I stepped in to the tub and doused us both with cold water, soaking my shorts and the stolen shirt in the process.
We played in the cool water of the tub, washing each other and splashing about. I would have been more than happy to make love to her again, but we had spent so much of the last few days doing just that and I didn't want to push her body too far. As her hand reached down to touch me, I pulled her fingers to my lips.
"Maybe later…" I whispered kissing her wedding band. "You don't want to get chafed down there."
"Chafed." She snorted, trying to pull her hand from mine. "I'll take my chances."
"But I won't." I informed her taking up her other hand in case it got ideas as well "How would we survive if we put you out of commission for a week with a rash?"
She gave in reluctantly, reaching back behind herself and shutting off the water. I handed her a towel glad for once that my temperature had dropped significantly from our cool shower. She declined the blow dryer and after a thorough brushing joined me back in the bedroom to let the fan finish it off.
I was lying down on the bed trying to watch TV, but I couldn't keep my mind on it. There she stood in front of the open window so close I could easily touch her, a tiny patch of late evening sun forcing its way past the trees through the window silhouetting her soft curves. She leaned her head to the side, pulling her hair through her fingers. The light illuminated the strands, making it glow with a red tint as the warm breeze billowed out her delicious scent toward my eagerly waiting nose. I stared riveted by the sight and inhaled deeply, trying to absorb every molecule, sighing with happiness.
"How thoughtless of me." She said, turning to look at me horrified and stepped away from the window.
My brow wrinkled, confused.
"I must be stinking up the whole room doing that."
I reached out, my fingers trailing down the center of her body, then curled my arm around her waist and pulled her back onto our bed, fanning her hair out on the pillow.
"Not one inch of this place is devoid of you scent." I whispered, kissing her moist lips as my hand stroked her blushing cheek as if I had some magical power to draw the blood to my fingertips.
"It's in the furniture, the walls, the floor." I continued smiling blissfully, drawing my nose across her shoulder "It clings to my body and lingers on my tongue. It's in my every thought. I could be a hundred miles from you and would be unable to avoid it."
"That must make things difficult for you… when you hunt."
I picked up her hand, running my nose to her elbow, and drew in again.
"Believe me, I'm happily used to it." and then I could not help but chuckle. "On the other hand, the family gets quite annoyed by it sometimes, sniffing out tangy elk or deer as I blow past them covered in your mouth watering aroma."
"I'll have to apologize to them."
"I'll let them know." I said shaking my head on the verge of laughing out loud.
We fell back into a companionable silence, lost in our own thoughts. I made mention once of heading out, but she declined, claiming she was more than comfortable. It had been well over two hours since we had left the shower. There were so many things to worry about… and I should be worrying… thinking … planning. But as I listen to the cadence of her resting heart while her fingers gently pulled through my tangled hair, I could feel nothing but her love for me; think of nothing else but the fact that I was the luckiest man alive.
…almost nothing else.
Having spent so much of the day in such direct contact with her, it was only a matter of time before I found myself in this condition. My body lay gingerly between her slightly bent knees, low enough that it would not come in contact with her. It was a secure spot, the easiest way to hide my growing problem. Head resting gently on her chest listening to her heart, my eyes gazed forlorn at the little pink nipple directly in front of my nose.
It was almost dark now, the temperature falling off somewhat do to the retreating sun. I could feel the slightly cooler breeze from the fan on my back. I should have rolled us over, allowed her to enjoy it; however embarrassment kept me where I was.
Her fingers slumped in my hair and she yawned. I listened to her steady heart expecting it to slow, waited for her breaths to grow shallow, a clearer sign than closed eyes to indicate she had fallen to sleep. And then I could move. I hoped that she would drift off soon. It bothered me that she never seemed to get enough sleep.
"Tell me something…"
I groaned internally. I was wrong, she wasn't falling asleep.
"What would you like to know?"
"Something you have not already told me… that you don't remember about being human."
There was no fear or anxiety behind the query. Her tone was merely curious.
"Something intellectual or physical?"
"Physical."
I paused for a moment thinking hard… something that I truly had no memory of.
"I can't remember being itchy."
I listen as her giggles faded off into silence, waiting for a response. I did the best I could, but failure was inevitable, I had to ask.
"Why did you want to know that?"
It was a tough decision to make, to lift my head up and out of the reach of her hand to look into her eyes.
"Well… I wanted to be able to describe it too you… while I still could." Her voice turned sour and she grimaced "…and this is what you choose. How in the heck does a person describe itchy?"
I returned my cheek to her heart smiling. "You can tell me later when you figure it out."
I laid my face back on to her chest pleased when her fingers made their way back into my hair.
"Is it later yet?"
I groaned again, this time in frustration.
"It's not like I can't feel your erection.
"You're no where near it." I growled. Believe me, I would have notice any part of her rubbing up against me.
"I was bluffing." she snickered. "But now that my suspicions have been confirmed…"
She lifted her feet off the bed and wrapped them around my waist. Her body wiggled and squirmed, trying to scoot her self lower.
"Don't… Stop…" I mumbled halfheartedly.
I may have been holding her back with my hands, but I was in full surrender. My face pulled from her chest only to turn and allow my nose to trace a path in the valley between her breasts. I shifted to the left, my tongue enthusiastic for the feast it so anxious awaited all evening.
"If this your way of restraining me..." she sighed, her back arching, pushing her nipple to my lips, "...feel free to do your worst?"
"Be nice or I will." I lied.
"Sure." She mocked confidently, pulling her hands free from my defeated grip.
She pushed against my shoulder and I rolled on to my back, my erection springing up like a jack-in-box at the end of Pop Goes the Weasel.
"Hmm… we have been hiding something haven't we?"
She didn't climb on top of me as I expected. I felt a certain amount of self consciousness as she instead propped her self up on her elbow and began to examine me. It wasn't like she had never seen me naked before, yet it felt uncomfortable, but oddly exciting to have her eyes on me. Those eyes that followed her nails raking themselves over my tightening stomach, reaching lower and becoming softer, gently caressing my testicles. I jerked under her touch, a small amount of seminal fluid squirting out of the head.
"I'm surprised you didn't poke a hole in the mattress with this." She snickered
"You won," I muttered. "No need to rub it in."
"On the contrary, I believe you definitely need it rubbed in."
She scooted herself almost perpendicular to me on top of our bed laying her warm cheek on my stomach inches away from my erection, blowing a steady even stream of moist hot air across it. Knees bent at the edge of the bed, her legs crossed at the ankles and swung slightly, perfectly relaxed as if she were enjoying a good book. One finger glided slowly up my phallus and upon reaching the top, rubbed itself in the fluid she had already conjured to the surface and encourage more to follow suit.
"Yes… definitely…" she murmured more to her herself than me.
My hand went to touch hers and she batted it away.
"This is mine; you can have it back when I'm done with it." She reprimanded, not bothering to turn her head to look at me.
I could feel a smile pull at the corner of her mouth against my skin and without further ado, her fingers returned to me, wrapped solidly around me and began to stroke.
I exhaled loudly and closed my eyes tight trying to make sense of the world around me, but it was nearly impossible to think straight.
"Shh… relax…" she said calmly, turning her face and pressing her lips against my flesh as her hand continued to move.
I knew what she was planning. Sure, she had touched me before… frequently, in fact. However this was different. Being permanently seventeen, I was not unfamiliar with this particular act, but it had never been an obsession of mine the way it was for some in my peers. And once we had consummated our marriage, my cool hand really didn't do much for me anymore.
She had moved in a steady rhythm for a few seconds, then change tact, rolling her palm up over the head.
I jumped again, she giggled in response.
Yes, definitely different, this borrowed touch. It was like being tickled…something that you couldn't do to yourself. Maybe this was similar to being itchy, I thought abstractly, flinching again under her touch. Coherent thought evaded my mind, overloaded with unexpected sensations. With the few brain cells I had still functioning, I clasped my hands safely behind my head, doing my best to follow her instructions and relax. She played at first, getting the lay of the land… twisting and turning… milking the head, catching me off guard, surprising me over and over again. It could have been five minutes… possibly threes days, I wasn't sure. I twitched and jerked under her delicious torture, bringing me to the edge of my orgasm, then slacking off, drawing out the pleasure.
Eventually she pulled her knees up against my ribcage and got down to business. Bent over me, her teeth tugged at the hair under my navel, the fingers of her free hand fruitlessly digging across my chest. Her respiration increased along with mine as she labored over me. Shifting to get a better grip, her legs drifted lower as she stroked, her tongue slithering up my stomach and chest to the inside of the arm I kept pinned behind me gnawing on the muscle.
Her hair blew out in the breeze of the fan across my face. Heat from the friction of her hand produced sweat that mixed with my own fluids, lubricating the shaft while the pulse points in her fingers drummed in my temples, growing faster and faster as she pumped. I could feel my self crossing the point of no return and my eyes having never opened squeezed tighter.
"Yes…" she cried softly, but jubilant as my body seized and I came.
She continued to milk me as my legs shook and my lungs searched for air, an almost maniacal laugh ringing through her voice. Finally she released me, reaching up and kissing my cheek.
"See…all better now." She said cheerfully, hopping off the bed, practically skipping into the bathroom.
I laid there immobile waiting for my neurons to reconnect. What should I do? Thank her. There was no doubt in my mind that I was not grateful… deliriously grateful. But I didn't know what the proper etiquette was for conveying gratitude to my wife for a hand job.
I listened to the sound of the sink running and cringed. She was washing her hands… cleaning me off her. It shouldn't have bothered me, but it did. I should have gotten out of bed, went to her, but what would I do once I got there? I continued to lay there wrapped up in my self consciousness, still trying to get my breathing under control. I listened to her pee, listened to the sound of the toilet flushing, the faucet running again, heard her brush her teeth and the water shut off.
She returned to the bedroom with a sheepish grin and lay back down beside me.
"That was fun." She said yawning again, pulling the sheet up around us.
"When did you learn to do that?" The words sprung from my mouth without thought.
"Oh, HBO a couple weeks ago." She replied nonchalant "I woke up the last time you were hunting and flip on the TV. Real Sex had a very nice looking middle age lady having a seminar on it."
She looked up at me grinning. "It seemed to go rather well."
"Indeed it did." I chuckled, kissing her forehead.
She yawned a third time and closed her eyes. "By the way, you're welcome." She giggled softly and drifted off to sleep.
Yeah, I know... bit of a smut fest these first two chapters. I wasn't planning on going down this road, but sometimes a girl has to do what she has to do. I promise a bit more plot next chapter.
As usual, always happy to hear what you think.