JENNIE

I light a few candles and wait for Lisa. I take a quick shower and slip into a silky robe and loosely tie the sash.

L: I'll be there in five.

J: I'll open the wine. Or do you prefer a whiskey?

L: What kind of whiskey do you have?

J: I have a Bushmills twenty-one-year-old malt that a client gifted to me.

L: I love new things. See you in a few.

It's ten on a Friday night. I'm good to go for at least three more hours. I leave word with the doorman that Lisa Manoban is on her way to see me. They will let her up. Ever since that creepy guy showed up with my food, I'm hesitant to just leave my door open. I wait for her to knock.

She's wearing dark jeans and a navy button-down shirt that shows off her toned arms. "You changed," I say.

"So did you."

She reaches for the sash of my robe and pulls me toward her for a kiss. I drag her inside and break the kiss, only to lock the door behind us. "We don't want another incident where a delivery person sees more of me than they should."

"We made his night for sure."

"I only want to make one person's night," I say.

"I believe you've already done that."

She picks up the bottle of whiskey and gives a low whistle.

"The amber color is gorgeous. May I open this?"

"Definitely. I'll have a sip as well." Whiskey isn't my drink, but maybe I need to branch out more. Lisa tasted delicious when she drank it earlier tonight. Watching her appreciate the liquor is delightful. She smells it, holds it up to the light, and looks at the bottle as though it's a work of art.

"Is there a noticeable difference between an eighteen-year-old whiskey and a twenty-one-year-old whiskey?" I ask.

"It's not your drink of choice?" She looks at my impressive selection.

"No, but people I know seem to enjoy it. Most of them are from clients." I pointed to the first bottle I received from a client after we won his case. I tell Lisa a quick history behind every bottle lined up on the bar.

"As a judge, your memory must be astounding." She pours two fingers and hands it to me. It's more than I want, but I take it from her hand.

"As a lawyer, it's more impressive."

"I stand corrected," she says.

She pours herself the same amount and joins me on the couch.

I'm not covering up very well, and my breasts are a few deep breaths from popping out of the robe. She notices but sips her drink as though I'm fully dressed and we're having a simple conversation about the weather.

"This is fantastic whiskey. Thank you for inviting me to your new place, which is gorgeous, by the way. All new furniture and decor. It fits you."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was moving."

She shrugs. "I get it. I know what I am to you."

That confuses me. "What do you mean?"

Her gray eyes roam my face and drop to my cleavage and exposed legs. "I'm somebody you like to have sex with. That's it."

"Sex is fantastic with you, Lisa. I enjoy our chemistry and how you're able to get me to do things I've only ever dreamt of doing, but neither one of us has time for complicated relationships,"

I say. I take the glass from her hand and set it on the table, my meaning clear. I want to fuck. She's here to fuck me, and we both know it.

"Is anything off-limits for you? Sexually? Is there anything you don't want me to do?"

I purse my lips as though I'm seriously thinking about the question, when I already know she can do anything she wants with me. "No."

"Where's the present I gave you?" She quirks her eyebrow at me, and I shiver with excitement.

"Upstairs. Come on up. I'll show you." She follows me upstairs and into my closet but doesn't touch me, which I find odd.

"Your closet is the size of one of my bedrooms."

"It's a bit much, but apparently I needed it." I look at my closet as though seeing it for the first time. My wardrobe is excessive, my shoe collection even worse. I pull open a drawer full of dildos.

Lisa looks over my shoulder and gives a low whistle.

"Wow. I'm officially impressed and feel somewhat inadequate."

She holds up a dildo larger than the one she gifted me. "Do you use all these?"

"Since I've met you, only the one you gave me, although it's hard to use on myself. I should try it on my sex machine."

I hear her swallow loudly behind me. "You have a sex machine? I didn't think that was a real thing."

I smile at her. "Oh, it's a real thing for sure, and not just found in porn."

She finally touches me. "Maybe we can play with that sometime."

"Only if I can watch you use it." I smile so she knows I'm joking.

She laughs hard. "Um, no. I was thinking more like watching you."

"Next time. Tonight, I want you to fuck me. In a bed this time. Like normal people."

"I don't think there's anything normal about us." She grabs the dildo and excuses herself to the bathroom.

I grab my favorite lubricant and shut off the lights. I open the blinds and crawl into bed. The buildings around me illuminate the room enough to create a sexy ambiance. The silence inside the room is perforated with faint honks from cars down below. When she comes out of the bathroom, she's wearing black boxer briefs that bulge and a white sports bra. I get chills just looking at her gorgeous physique. She's perfect in shape, toned, and tan, and she's all mine for the evening. I try to think of something witty to say but fall short.

I reach out and bring her down to me. She doesn't kiss me even though I want her to.

"Roll over."

"Mm. Anything you want."

She pulls off my robe while I turn over. She throws it onto the floor but keeps the sash. I breathe out. I love being tied up. Lisa spreads my legs apart with her knees and lies on top of me. I feel the dildo through her boxers run along my ass and down to my pussy.

The movement is so hot and I'm so ready for her to fuck me, but she takes her time. I lift my hips every time the head teases my opening.

She pushes hard, and I grab the covers with my fists as I imagine her fucking me.

"What do you want, Jennie?"

I don't have to be quiet here. I haven't heard my neighbors at all, not even voices unless they're in the hallway.

"I need you inside of me. Fast and hard." She feels so good on top of me. Her hands grab my wrists, and she holds me down. I wonder if she's going to tie me up, and I sigh disappointedly when I feel her weight leave me. I wiggle my ass, looking for friction, and am rewarded with a stinging spank. That's a first for us. She soothes the burn with the palm of her hand.

"Was that okay?"

I exhale sharply and search for words, but I can only nod. I smile when I feel her lips on the red mark I'm sure is there. "Definitely." I feel her weight shift on the mattress and hear the snap of the lubricant lid. My pulse jumps at the sound. "I'm so ready." I've missed this dildo. I've missed being fucked. She gently pulls my hips up.

"I wish we could have done this earlier," she says.

She slides the head up and down along my slit. I push into her, but she holds my hips in place. I can't move. Only she can. I lean up so I'm on my hands and knees. Patience isn't my thing right now, and she knows it. She pushes slowly into me and waits for me to adjust to the size. The angle takes my breath away, and I concentrate hard to relax my pelvic muscles. The lube warms, and once I feel stretched out enough, I press into her to let her know I'm ready. She rubs my back. Her hands feel smooth and strong on my skin. Her touch feels intimate, and I'm surprised that I feel something besides lust. The softness of the moment fades as she sinks into me. I gasp and open my eyes. My bed overlooks my entire living space and downtown. This is now my favorite place to have sex.

"Yes, Lisa." It's the first time I say her name during sex, and I don't know why. This is supposed to be no-strings-attached sex.

"Do you like this?" She is moving slowly, just the way I like it.

I nod. She knows that I do. But she knows what I like more.

I moan when she pulls all the way out and yell when she pushes all the way back in. She knows my sounds by now and does it again and again. I can tell she needs to come. Her body's vibrating, and she's making noises I haven't heard before. She's always been so quiet. Tonight, she's vocal, and that intensifies my experience. I move with her, and we both climb closer and closer. My pussy is drenched, which allows Lisa to get in deeper. We both come at the same time. It's glorious to hear her shout out her orgasm while I'm exploding with pleasure. She pulls out of me and falls on the bed next to me. I sink slowly onto the bed, completely sated.

"That was perfect," I say. A thin line of sweat beads along her hairline and dampens her temples. I want to wipe it away, but I am too exhausted to lift my hand.

"I never thought I'd use that again," she says.

I turn my head. "Why?" She shrugs and runs her hand through her hair. I notice a few tiny gray hairs right above her ear and run my fingers over them. "How old are you?"

She laughs hard and it shakes the bed. "How old do you think I am? And why would you ask me that right now?"

"I was just thinking that I don't know a lot about you."

"We're doing this all backward. You know, people usually date first, then have sex," she says.

"We don't want that. This arrangement works for both of us."

"Oh, this is an arrangement? And this is what I want? You know what I want?"

"You always know what I want." The comment falls flat, and I feel the tension in her grow. I've struck a nerve, and there's no way around it. It's as if she's a different person. One minute she seems to be okay with a sex-only relationship, but the next she's acting like I just broke up with her.

"What do you really want, Jennie? I mean, I like fucking you, but you have to want something out of this other than sex. I mean, you have a sex machine. What do you need me for?"

She's starting to get worked up, and I have no idea where it's coming from. I've triggered something. Her stomach tenses when I touch her, so I tread lightly. "I really enjoy our relationship." I stutter over the word relationship because that implies more than I can give.

"I'm just not in a place where I can offer anybody anything other than this." The corners of her mouth twitch down and finally relax.

"I'm not asking for anything," she says.

I'm sure she's lying. "I think you are." I always know when women I hook up with start getting attached. They tell me they want simple, but inevitably they start developing feelings, and I'm not that girl. I like Lisa. We have a lot of fun together. "What's wrong with just being women who like to have sex together?" We lie there quietly, and even though I stroke her arm and move closer to her, I can feel her pull away. That was the wrong thing to say. She sits up slowly.

"I should go."

"Come on. Please don't go. Let's talk through this."

"There's nothing else to discuss."

I sigh. "Okay, I understand."

She slips into the bathroom and I find my robe and tie it tightly with the sash I find tangled in the sheets. I no longer feel sexy. I feel sad. When she comes out of the bathroom, she's back in her jeans and shirt and doesn't look me in the eye. She leans her shoulder against the wall and when she finally faces me, she's fierce.

"Jennie, I find you fascinating and intriguing. You're smart, beautiful, we both love our careers, and our sexual appetites are the same. I'm not looking for a relationship either, but I want to get to know you better. Who you are, what you like, what your hobbies are, and just little things about you. What's wrong with that? What's wrong with us pursuing something that might be there, even if it's just a casual relationship?"

"I haven't had a relationship in a long time because work has always been my life. I just started this job and want to be really good at it. I simply don't have time to date right now." I hate that I'm repeating myself, but she's several steps ahead of where I am or want to be.

"Thanks for the whiskey. I enjoyed trying something new." She slips on her shoes without tying them and stops in front of the door.

"And just so you know, I'm thirty-five."

I stare at the closed door for several long seconds, expecting Lisa to come back, but she doesn't. I throw my hands up in frustration.