Chapter 3
"You picked the perfect night."
Kairi knew Sora was talking about the spectacular star-filled sky,
but to her, any night with Sora would seem perfect.
She was learning so much about him that she'd never known before —
like what a great mouth he had. And how wonderful he could make her
feel when he touched her. She'd hated hearing about his expertise
with other women, how much they'd enjoyed him, how good he was. But
she certainly loved experiencing it first hand.
She was seeing Sora as a man in the most basic sense, not just as a
friend, not just as a person she'd always admired above all others.
All the things she'd ever felt for him were colliding in an
interesting, if confusing way.
She trusted Sora, she always had, but believing that he wanted her
sexually was a pretty abstract notion for her. It was almost as hard
to believe as him telling her that other men wanted her. Or that the
women in the community admired her.
Strange...but oh, she so desperately wanted to believe. All of it.
Kairi knelt down on the blanket he'd spread beneath a tall sheltering
oak and watched Sora with new eyes. He was gentle as always, but now
in a new and different way. When he touched her, it was with a near
reverence that threatened to break her heart. No one had ever
treated her that way. Not the townsfolk, not even her own parents.
Shaking off that thought, she looked around at the shadowed land and
said, "I love it here. I always have."
Sora tossed a few pillows at the top of the blanket, his big body
and endearing face visible in the moonlight and starshine. "From the
time we were in junior high, you've always loved it here. Know what
I think?"
She hoped he was thinking about her and what she wanted to do to
him. "What?"
"I think you like it here because it's so different from your home."
That was certainly true enough. While he'd been raised on a
sprawling farm that showed the pride of caring for that land, she'd
grown up in a crowded bungalow that was forever in need of repair.
Her mother, more inclined to weep over what needed to be done than
to actually do it, had claimed there was no reason to pretty up the
postage stamp-sized yard when the house looked so awful. And her
father hadn't cared two figs whether or not the plumbing leaked or
the shingles blew off the roof. Or if the town disdained their
disreputable presence.
Kairi cared. Even before her father passed away, she'd learned how to
fix what her parents wouldn't. And in the process, she'd alienated
herself from the other kids, because none of them could understand
her or her strange priorities. Rather than buy a new blouse, she'd
worked hard at various odd jobs to buy new tools. While they went to
dances, she'd worked on plumbing. Only Sora had ever understood what
had driven her.
Just as he understood her curiosity now.
"Take off your shirt, Sora. I want to look at you."
The night air was balmy and warm and Sora did as she asked without
hesitation. "You too," he suggested roughly.
Kairi shook her head. "If I do, you'll probably get distracted and I
won't get to do what I want."
"What is it you want, Kairi?"
"To touch you. To make you feel the same way you make me feel."
"You picked the perfect night."
Kairi knew Sora was talking about the spectacular star-filled sky,
but to her, any night with Sora would seem perfect.
She was learning so much about him that she'd never known before —
like what a great mouth he had. And how wonderful he could make her
feel when he touched her. She'd hated hearing about his expertise
with other women, how much they'd enjoyed him, how good he was. But
she certainly loved experiencing it first hand.
She was seeing Sora as a man in the most basic sense, not just as a
friend, not just as a person she'd always admired above all others.
All the things she'd ever felt for him were colliding in an
interesting, if confusing way.
She trusted Sora, she always had, but believing that he wanted her
sexually was a pretty abstract notion for her. It was almost as hard
to believe as him telling her that other men wanted her. Or that the
women in the community admired her.
Strange...but oh, she so desperately wanted to believe. All of it.
Kairi knelt down on the blanket he'd spread beneath a tall sheltering
oak and watched Sora with new eyes. He was gentle as always, but now
in a new and different way. When he touched her, it was with a near
reverence that threatened to break her heart. No one had ever
treated her that way. Not the townsfolk, not even her own parents.
Shaking off that thought, she looked around at the shadowed land and
said, "I love it here. I always have."
Sora tossed a few pillows at the top of the blanket, his big body
and endearing face visible in the moonlight and starshine. "From the
time we were in junior high, you've always loved it here. Know what
I think?"
She hoped he was thinking about her and what she wanted to do to
him. "What?"
"I think you like it here because it's so different from your home."
That was certainly true enough. While he'd been raised on a
sprawling farm that showed the pride of caring for that land, she'd
grown up in a crowded bungalow that was forever in need of repair.
Her mother, more inclined to weep over what needed to be done than
to actually do it, had claimed there was no reason to pretty up the
postage stamp-sized yard when the house looked so awful. And her
father hadn't cared two figs whether or not the plumbing leaked or
the shingles blew off the roof. Or if the town disdained their
disreputable presence.
Kairi cared. Even before her father passed away, she'd learned how to
fix what her parents wouldn't. And in the process, she'd alienated
herself from the other kids, because none of them could understand
her or her strange priorities. Rather than buy a new blouse, she'd
worked hard at various odd jobs to buy new tools. While they went to
dances, she'd worked on plumbing. Only Sora had ever understood what
had driven her.
Just as he understood her curiosity now.
"Take off your shirt, Sora. I want to look at you."
The night air was balmy and warm and Sora did as she asked without
hesitation. "You too," he suggested roughly.
Kairi shook her head. "If I do, you'll probably get distracted and I
won't get to do what I want."
"What is it you want, Kairi?"
"To touch you. To make you feel the same way you make me feel."
