by R. R. Banks
Lee brought me back to home plate and reached down to take my hand. I realized that I enjoyed the feeling of our palms touching and our fingers intertwining. There was a slight flutter in my belly, a moment of excitement that I hadn’t felt in so long. We took off running toward first base. When he got there, Lee took me by my hips to stop me and pull me closer to him. He looked down into my face.
“It looks like we got to first base,” he said.
There was something slightly smoky in his voice, as if the words were holding more meaning than they initially seemed to. I nodded and he tucked one finger under my chin, using it to tilt my face up to him. He leaned down toward me and his mouth pressed against mine. The kiss surprised me, but in a sweetly exciting way and I returned the kiss. It lasted for several seconds longer and then he pulled back to look into my eyes. He hesitated only briefly and then ducked his head down for a deeper, more intense kiss. Our mouths opened and his tongue entered mine, stroking first across the inside of my bottom lip and then delving further. His hands moved to my lower back and he pulled me up against him. I was breathless when the kiss finally ended.
“And again,” he said.
I smiled at his joke, but then felt him tugging lightly on my wrist, guiding me to start running toward second base. When we got there, he stopped me again and turned me toward him.
“Second base,” he said.
The lightness was disappearing from his voice, replaced with something richer, an attraction that was almost tangible. Though the joke had felt silly and teasing at first, it felt distinctly less childlike now as Lee kissed me again and then brought his mouth down to run along the side of my neck, kissing his way to the neckline of the jersey I wore. He unbuttoned it and pushed the sides out of the way. I could feel my chest rising and falling with sudden nervousness and my skin tingled when his fingertips touched the neckline of the tight tank top. He pulled it down, slipping it down over my breasts. Cupping both of his hands under them, Lee leaned down and swept his tongue down the swell of one breast into the valley between them, and then up over the other. He brought his tongue to the edge of the cups of my bra and let it dip beneath the fabric so that I felt the tip just brush over each of my nipples.
I was softening under his touch, already wanting more, when he stood, straightened my bra and tank top, and then buttoned my jersey again. Without hesitation, he took my hand again and we started running toward the next base. When we stopped, Lee immediately captured my mouth, kissing me with more intensity this time. I felt his hands coming to the waistband of my stretch pants and my mind starting spinning. This didn’t feel like a high school game anymore. The euphemisms didn’t seem as playful, but boldly serious.
“Third base,” he murmured against my lips as he pushed my pants down over my hips.
He removed them only to my knees, but it was far enough that he could discover that I had worn nothing beneath them. Lee’s hand came between my thighs and he pushed them apart a few inches. I felt the cool air sweep over my core and it became immediately obvious how much he had already aroused me. He lowered down to his knees and his face settled onto my thighs before his tongue dipped into my folds. It was only the second time I had ever felt that sensation, the first being Noah’s unexpected touch in the cottage, and I was still shocked by it. Lee lavished the blissful attention on me for several seconds, bringing me tantalizingly close to the explosive climax that I had experienced in the cottage, but then pulled his mouth away, stood, and straightened my clothing just as he had on second base.
I expected him to start running again, but instead, he wrapped his arms around me and looked down into my face.
“So, what’s next?” he asked.
“Hmm?” I asked, unsure of what I was supposed to say.
“You’re the one who hit the ball,” he said, teasing back to my fear in the batting cage. “How well did you hit it? Right now, you’re sitting on a triple. That’s a pretty good hit. But is it good enough? Did you hit it better than that?”
I nodded and a mischievous glint came to Lee’s eyes. We started running toward home plate, but when we were nearly there, he turned and grabbed me up against him again.
Chapter Ten
Snow
Lee wrapped one arm tightly around my waist, throwing me slightly off-balance, and we took several unsteady steps backwards, stumbled, and landed on the dry red dirt of the field. I immediately rolled him onto his back and climbed over onto him so that I was sprawled across his chest looking down into his face. We both lay still for a few seconds, our hard, uneven breath getting lost in the openness of the stadium around us, before I dipped my mouth down to his and caught it in a deep, passionate kiss.
Lee kissed me back with intensity, using one hand to hold the back of my head so he crushed our mouths together as if seeking even more of the pressure and connection. Our tongues tangled, massaging against each other and tasted each other’s mouths deeply. The exploration drew unchained sounds from deep within us as we put all of the attraction and tension that we had felt since meeting into the kiss. It was liberating and unusual, frightening and yet thrilling, to not think about anything but the immediate physical reactions and needs that I was experiencing. I didn’t have to think about what he was thinking or what it would mean if I went through with each compulsion that I experienced. This wasn’t about thoughts, emotions, or questions about what would come next. I didn’t care how he was going to perceive me or if he was going to call me the next morning, because I knew that he wasn’t. This was about my body, my pleasure, and I felt hungrier with each step that we progressed.
I felt his hands come to the backs of my thighs and pull me forward, causing me to straddle his hips. The tight, stretchy pants that he had selected for me to wear allowed me to settle onto him and feel his body fully beneath me almost as though there was no fabric between us at all. Rather than the slight embarrassment I had felt at Lee’s discovery that I had elected not to wear anything beneath the pants, I felt grateful for it now as my core cradled against his surging erection and my lack of panties allowed me to build the delectable pressure throughout my body as I rocked my hips against him. I wondered if Lee could feel my wet heat through the fabric of our clothing and I pressed down harder, hoping to show him my reaction to him, and to coax him to touch me.
Lee unbuttoned my jersey and pushed it back over my shoulders. I could feel my nipples straining against the thin satin bra I had chosen to wear beneath the tight white tank top, and I arched slightly to push my breasts toward him, wanting him to touch me. His hands came to the hem of the tank top and he whisked the shirt away. The soft coolness of the air tightened my nipples even further and I reached behind my back to release the clasp of my bra, dropping it out of the way to expose my breasts fully to him. Lee moaned and reached up to cup my breasts, filling his hands with them and kneading his fingers into the supple flesh. His palms stimulated my nipples and I felt the sensation course through my body, shooting between my thighs to further arouse me. In one movement he sat up, wrapped one arm around my hips, and flipped me onto my back so that I landed on the ground as he had been moments before.
Not taking his eyes away from my face, Lee grasped the waistband of my pants and started to pull them down off of my hips. As he pulled them down, I kicked off my shoes and peeled away my socks so that when he got the pants totally off of me and tossed them aside so I was bare in front of him. Before the date, I had expected that it would be strange and even uncomfortable to be naked in front of someone I didn’t know. Now that I was laying there with Lee gazing down at me, though, I felt sexy and desirable, open and willing the way that I had when I was in the cottage in front of the mirror. It was a connection to myself and my own sexual experience that I had never had with my ex, and I was becoming intoxicated by it, wanting more with every moment.
The sun had completely set around the diamond now, but I could see Lee in the silvery light from the moon that flowed through the stadium and pooled on the infield
around us as he sat back on his heels and peeled off his jersey and then his shirt. I watched hungrily as he kicked out of his cleats and then released his pants. Once they were loosened, he raised up and shook them off, kicking them aside so that there was no longer anything between us. I reached for him and Lee came forward over me, propping himself up with his hands on either side of my shoulders so that he could spend another few moments kissing me before pushing back onto his knees again. There was no going backwards now, no reversing the progress that we were making. Nothing was going to keep us from rushing headlong into exactly what both of us wanted.
He moved with directed, unflinching determination and I complied with the rapid guidance of his hands as he pulled my legs apart, positioning them on either side of his. He grabbed my thighs and yanked me forward so that my hips lifted slightly off of the ground. Lee slowed and brought one hand forward to glide his fingers down through my hot, wet folds. He was gazing down at my body, his eyes filled with appreciation of what he was seeing, and I pushed my thighs further apart to give him more visual access. I had hoped for some lingering attention, but after only a few seconds of massaging, he took his hand away and leaned slightly to grab onto his pants. He pulled them toward him and I saw him rummage in the pocket of his pants to withdraw a slim black case. He withdrew a condom from the case and tossed the case and his pants aside again. I squirmed with desire and anticipation as I watched him tear open the packet and then roll the condom down the delectably thick, straight length of his cock. When he finished, Lee grabbed my thighs again and pulled me a little closer so that my hips lifted and rested into his lap. Suddenly he was inside me and I cried out with the fullness of him burying himself deep within my body.
He didn't pause at my reaction, but withdrew slightly and slammed back into me with even greater intensity, bringing another sharp cry from my lips. The sounds only seemed to spur him forward and Lee held onto my hips tightly as he thrust into me so hard and fast I felt like I could barely catch my breath. The feeling of him stretching my walls, plunging further than I thought possible, was dizzying and I felt my eyes close briefly so that I could lose myself in the feeling. Finally having his almost impossibly hard cock inside me gave me a tremendous sense of fulfillment as all of the anticipation that he had built as we ran the bases was met. His low, rhythmic grunts caused me to open my eyes again and I allowed myself to watch in erotic fascination as he closed his own eyes and increased his pace a little more. My fingertips dug into his arms as he arched back, roaring with release as he pulsed against my aching walls. He straightened and stared down at me again, bringing his hand between us so he could touch me. The combination of his thumb swirling into my swollen, hypersensitive clit and the pulsing of his cock within me sent me crashing over the edge and I gasped, breathless at the consuming power of the climax that milked him.
When our bodies finally relaxed, I straightened my legs and opened my arms so that Lee could rest down on top of me. He buried his head in the crook of my neck and trailed lazy kisses along my skin. This was the moment in my relationship when my ex would have let out a self-satisfied sigh and climbed out of bed, heading for the shower and then to the living room to watch TV, leaving me alone in the bed to convince myself that I had enjoyed it and contemplate what to do next. There was none of that now. Lee was completely relaxed beside me, as if there was nowhere else that he wanted to be and nothing else that he needed to be doing. It was reassuring in a way that I couldn’t quite put into words. It wasn’t that I was feeling anything for Lee. In fact, I was totally and completely confident in the reality that I felt nothing but deep satisfaction and a sense of friendly gratitude. Instead, there was a sense of camaraderie, as if we were sharing in this moment but also simply enjoying it for ourselves. Right then I knew that I was going to be able to invest myself in this process and was willing to let it take me anywhere it wanted to.
Chapter Eleven
Snow
The day after my date with Lee, Fawn let me know that I would be returning home in between dates rather than staying at the retreat. Because I had chosen a longer experience, this would help me to keep up with the rest of my life and also create a distinct separation between each of my dates so that I could immerse myself completely in each one. I went home the next day with the instruction that I would receive another box just before the next date. I would usually spend Friday through Monday at the retreat for each date, so that I could totally remove myself from the real world for each experience.
There was a slight sense of disappointment as I returned home that day. Though I loved my house, I had enjoyed the retreat so much and expected that I would have been able to spend more time there rather than having to return so quickly. The evening after I returned, I walked into my living room and set a bottle of beer on the top of the entertainment center. It was the same brew that Lee had chosen for us, a subtle reminder of that night, my first leap into my journey of discovery.
“Snow?”
A familiar voice came from behind me and I turned around to see Robin letting himself into the house. He’d had a key to every home that I had lived in, from the most meager of apartments when I was in college until this house. My ex had hated it, but that was something, possibly the only thing, that I had refused to change for him. It was reassuring to me for Robin to have a key and to know that even if he wasn’t there yet, I could feel like I wasn’t really alone in my home. The only compromise that I had made was to text Robin any time that my ex was at my apartment so that he would know not to let himself in until I told him that I was by myself again. Those restrictions were gone now and several times a week Robin would appear in my house, ready to share a bawdy story or hoping that I had ordered something for dinner so we could sit on the couch and veg out with terrible TV.
I realized in that moment how much I had missed him. It had only been a few days since I saw him, yet it felt like a tremendous relief to see him again. I rushed across the room and gathered him into a tight hug.
“It’s so good to see you,” I said.
Robin embraced me back.
“You, too,” he said. “So…. how is The Enchanted Woods?”
There was a devilish lilt to his voice that told me he knew more about the retreat than he had initially let on and I smiled.
“You knew, didn’t you?” I asked. “You knew all along what you were sending me into.”
“I might have had the tiniest little inkling,” he said. “I thought that it would be perfect for you. Exactly what you needed. So, tell me, tell me, tell me. Is it amazing?”
My face fell and I shook my head.
“I hated it,” I said.
I saw the joy melt out of the expression on his face and his hands dropped down to his sides.
“You what?” he said, sounding dejected.
“I hated it,” I said again. “Why do you think I’m back here so soon? It was awful. What were you thinking, sending me to a place like that? That brochure was total bullshit. I rode up to a gravel lot and a double wide with broken windows, and some disgusting woman who looked like she hadn’t bathed in a month offered me her stepson for a romp in the hay.”
“I’m so sorry,” Robin started, then he paused, his head tilting as a confused expression crossed his eyes. “Wait. You’ve been gone for days.”
I started laughing and pulled him in for another hug.
“I’m kidding,” I said. “It’s wonderful there. It looks exactly like the brochure.”
“I want to know everything,” he said. “Everything.”
Just then the doorbell rang and I walked over to it. I paid the delivery man on the other side and turned around to present the pizzas that I held to Robin. His eyes lit up and we rushed into the living room, taking our customary positions on the couch. I glanced up at the beer as I put the pizzas on the coffee table. Maybe I would tell him everything.
Maybe.
The time in between my dates went by even more tortuously than the first days that I w
aited at the retreat. Without a job to go to each day it felt as though I was just kind of drifting through them. I cleaned the house and rearranged the furniture, then rearranged it again, and then again. It ended up back in the same positions that it had originally been in, but I had the satisfaction of knowing that the space under it was clean. I remembered the stretches that Lee had guided me through and started going through them each morning. By the time that two weeks had passed, I was noticeably more limber and feeling a new appreciation for the way that my body could move.
I was gripping my ankle, working toward pulling my leg down toward my face, when my doorbell rang. I peeked out of the peephole and didn’t see anybody, but there was another white box sitting on the ground in front of my door just as it had been in the retreat. I opened the door and looked around to make sure that none of my neighbors were watching before snatching up the box and dipping back inside. This box was larger and heavier than the one for my first date and I was immediately intrigued. Sitting on the living room couch, I pulled the envelope out from beneath the satin ribbon, green this time, and opened it.
“Practice and repeat.”
“Perfect. Even more vague.”
I tossed the note and envelope onto the coffee table and opened the box. When I opened it, I found that there were two outfits nestled inside. Small cards on top said “first” and “second”. I hadn’t expected the box to arrive at my house, thinking that it was more likely that it would arrive once I had gone back to the retreat, then it occurred to me that I wouldn’t have known which Friday to arrive if I hadn’t gotten the box. It was still the middle of the week, but that meant I only had a couple more days until I was back at the retreat and preparing for another date. I went back to my stretching, feeling more optimistic and excited than I had felt in several days.
