by Liz Bradbury
I eyed her steadily for a long moment. “Lie back down and relax,” I commanded in a low voice. She closed her eyes and laid her head back on the pillow. I began working on the other foot. “Do you have a lot of students chasing after you?”
“I’ve heard the student’s nickname for me is, The Ice Queen.”
“Really? Do you think that’s apt?” I said incredulously.
“Um... well... Kenny thinks I’m hot.”
“He’s not the only one,” I said in a stage whisper.
“Hmm,” she murmured.
I went back to gently massaging the sole of her foot. The movement in her body was more pronounced. She was losing herself in it, moving her hips rhythmically. She raised her hand to her throat and turned her head part way to the fire. The firelight flickered across her face. A flame was lighting in me too. She wasn’t relaxed any more. Her stomach muscles were taut. The tendons in her neck were more pronounced. She surprised me and herself by suddenly arching her back off the pillows. She thrust her head back and opened her mouth for just an instant. She gave a quiet grunt followed by a small but audible gasp. These weren’t huge dramatic movements, but they were totally visible to me and she knew it.
Well, well, well, I thought, that was interesting. I rested her foot back on the pillow but continued to hold it gently. After she’d relaxed just a bit, I asked softly, “Do you want me to stop?”
She began making a sound that could only be characterized as purring. Her eyes studied mine. We held each other’s gaze.
Frankly, I was pretty happy with the way things had turned out, but I’d vowed no surprises, and I was going to stick to it. If she wanted something more from me, it would have to be up to her. In fact, I wanted her to ask for it. I wanted her to make the move. I wanted her to tell me that she wanted me.
“How about if I do something else for a while? I’m going to touch your face, so I’ll wash my hands first.” I got up and went across the room to the kitchen sink. I’d done it to make her wait. I took my time. She turned on her side and watched me silently.
The contours of her body were silhouetted against the ever-changing flames in the fireplace. After what had just happened, I needed a minute to catch my breath but this alluring tableau did nothing to ease my breathing. On the platform in front of the fire, she seemed to be waiting for a ritual to begin. I dried my hands and went slowly back to her.
I sat down beside her as she shifted to her back. I reached down to rub her temples. She closed her eyes and her breathing slowed. I could see the muscles in her hips relax. I wondered if she was as wet as I was.
I traced the contours of her ears delicately, then stroked her throat more gently until my fingertips were just barely touching her. She was a beautiful sleek panther responding to my hands. She was making that noise that sounded like purring again and I was burning with desire. I traced my fingers over her forehead at her hairline, appreciating the elegant shape of her brow. Her expression was totally, radiantly relaxed. I stroked the rest of her face very lightly, following the outline of her eyes to her cheekbones and then her jaw. I ended the massage by touching her lips, just brushing across them several times with the soft pad of my thumb as my fingers caressed her cheek. She was lying very still.
“I’m done,” I said quietly. “Is there anything... else you’d like me to do?”
She opened her eyes and searched my face. Momentarily her forehead showed creases of deep concentration. I just looked back into her eyes passively.
“Would you push on my shoulders again?”
“Sure,” I said sliding closer to her and placing one hand on the front of each of her shoulders. I pressed each back in turn, then both at the same time. She watched me with her eyes wide open. She moaned a little, enjoying the pressure. And then there was that purring noise, an mmmmm sound.
I held her shoulders back for quite a while, like pinning her to the platform. It had an aggressive feel to it. She stared into my eyes as it was happening. I stared back. When I finally moved my hands away, she lifted her left arm to partly cover her eyes with her palm. I just sat beside her, watching her move, wondering what would happen next. It was hard to resist kissing her, in fact, I could barely control my breathing. My heart was pounding so hard I suspected she could hear it.
She moved her hand from her eyes and slipped it behind her head, propping herself up slightly. She said looking up at me with that half smile... “You have a lot of intimate knowledge of my body now. It’s making this relationship a little uneven.”
“Relationship,” I repeated. I was silent and still. I just stayed where I was, looking deeply into her eyes, with just a hint of a smile.
She whispered, “You’re going to make me beg, aren’t you?”
I exhaled softly and slightly nodded my head. There were 24,000 cubic feet of space in the room, and every inch was full of the sexual tension between us, circling around us, drawing us together.
I said in a low voice, “You made the ground rules my dear, changing them... is up to you.”
Finally after several long moments of searching my eyes she whispered, “All right then, I have another rule, which modifies the first two.”
“Yes?”
“It has to be safe.” She reached to touch my cheek and the dryer buzzer went off again. She pushed herself up a little and I shifted back. “I’ll go and deal with that,” she said sitting up. And then she was out of the room, gone from between my arms. The moment seemed lost. I wasn’t sure what she’d meant exactly. I felt a wave of dismay. Have I mentioned that I had a nagging pain between my legs? I sat on the edge of the platform waiting, hoping for her to come back.
“Maggie,” she called after a few minutes, it was the first time she’d used my first name.
“Yeah?”
“Would you come here?”
She was standing in the dark bedroom next to the window looking out at the Mews. I could see her only by the moonlight streaming through the glass.
“Show me where the river is.”
I came up beside her. I could smell her scent. It wasn’t just Chanel anymore, it was desire, and it was coming from me too. The moonlight shimmered in her eyes.
“You can just see a corner of it... over there.” I pointed to a space between the Hampshire and Dakota.
She looked at the little piece of the river that showed through the trees. Then she turned toward me and said in a voice that was mostly whisper and sigh, “Do you seduce all your women by giving them wonderful massages like that?”
It doesn’t always work, would have been the most accurate thing to say, but instead I answered, “I don’t know yet.”
She faced me for what seemed like an age, but what was probably a second. She took a breath, then she made a soft demand, “Undress me.”
That’s something you’ll be remembering for the rest of your life, flashed through my mind. I hadn’t expected anything so specific. My legs almost gave way. I reached for the top button of her shirt. My hands were trembling. I undid two. She put her hand on the back of my neck and pulled me toward her for a long passionate kiss. Her lips were deliciously soft. She tasted wonderful, like everything I’d ever wanted.
Yeah, this is going really well, I thought to myself and that was the last coherent thought I had.
I had all her buttons undone. I moved the shirt off her shoulders and slid it down her arms. She let me undo her bra without helping at all. Her breasts were firm and perfect and I longed to touch them but I held back for just a while longer. Her skin was more tempting than I could have imagined. I unzipped her jeans and gently pushed her back a step to the edge of the bed. I looked down at her body and couldn’t keep from saying, “Wow,” as I pulled her jeans and underwear down and she stepped out of them.
I said, “Are you finally going to touch me now?”
“Yes... and I’m good at it,” she said confidently.
“I like a woman who’s sure of her skills,” I whispered.
Chapter
27
I’d testify in front of a grand jury that Dr. Kathryn Anthony was no ice queen! That woman was hotter than a branding iron, a 400 amp service and a handful of habañero peppers rolled into one. And she was more than accurate when she said she was good at it. Damn, that was an understatement!
Kathryn had done some things to me that I hadn’t actually believed possible. Once I had her undressed, she’d pushed me onto the bed and had my clothes off in no time.
I just had to say, “Tell me what you’re going to do to me.”
She laughed.
I’d figured that when she’d said, It has to be safe, she’d meant safe sex. We both knew that it would be statistically easier for a lesbian to win the powerball lottery six times in a row, than to give her lover AIDS, but there are some skin to skin transmitted things like herpes that anyone can get if their partner is infected. So we used latex to be safe.
In fact, it was fun. I’d gotten as a loft-warming gift, a whole bunch of safe sex protection from a friend at the health department. I hadn’t had a lover since I’d moved in. Truthfully, it’d been longer than that. Kathryn teased me for having the sex stuff in a drawer right by my bed.
She used some of the latex gloves, and a dental dam. She took her rapture filled time. When I became desperate for release, she made me have three separate earth shattering orgasms. The last one had been so intense, I’d blacked out for a moment. When it was my turn to try to satisfy her, I was a little intimidated, but her body was so supple and responsive I felt encouraged. I used the latex too. She led me exactly where she wanted to go. The only word she said was, slowly. She said it twice. So I slowed. It was magnificently sweet.
Finally she was so ready that using the latex glove was smooth and sensual. I used my other hand to stimulate her. When she came, she gave a long low groan that started out quietly and built to a surprising crescendo. Her body arched suddenly as if a bolt of lightning had hit her. She grabbed my shoulder and held on so hard I nearly cried out. Her climax lasted a very long time and seemed to surge in waves. She finally gasped, “Yes,” then let go in complete exhaustion.
I knew a woman once who would fall asleep the minute her orgasm ended, but Kathryn was taking long deep breaths. She wasn’t asleep.
She said, “Oh Maggie,” and reached out to me. I put my arms around her and felt her body tremble. I leaned my head back to look at her face. She was crying.
“Kathryn?”
She turned to me and smiled, she sighed, “It’s all right... I... it’s just that ... it’s been so long.”
It happens that way sometimes, after a long period alone. That huge rush of release can bring uncontrollable tears. I held her in my arms and stroked her hair.
She brushed my cheek softly with her fingers. Watching me closely, searching my eyes, she touched my mouth. She held her hand there until I slowly parted my lips and bit the tip of her finger. She immediately put both her hands on the sides of my face and drew me to her in another deeply passionate kiss. Where did she learn to kiss like that? Maybe they had a course at Smith. We began all over.
We’d gone into the bedroom fairly early in the evening. Even with many hours of love making, we had much of the night left over to sleep. Which was a blessing because by then we were both totally exhausted.
I woke from a dreamless doze at about 6:00 AM. I heard Kathryn’s soft rhythmic breathing beside me. I could feel her warmth. I wanted to wake her up and tell her how happy I was. I wanted to make love to her again. I let her sleep. I looked at the changing colors of the sky through the wall of windows.
I was propped on a pillow against the headboard with my head turned to the right looking out at the sunrise. Kathryn stirred. She touched my bare shoulder. Her hand was soft and warm. She was so beautiful I could barely believe she was lying next to me. We both smiled but didn’t speak. She took one of the small pillows and put it on my stomach resting her chin on it so she could watch the sky too. I reached down and touched her hair.
After a while she shifted her body to lie alongside me. She kissed the side of my neck. I was suddenly afraid she was going to leave. I was afraid it might all have been just a one-time adventure for her. I put my arms around her and didn’t want to let her go. Her hand trailed over my sheet-covered body and made me shiver.
“I want you to tell me everything about yourself,” she whispered in my ear.
“I feel the same way about you,” I whispered back.
“That’s a good start...” she murmured on the edge of sleep.
She leaned her head on my shoulder. I could feel her relax and become heavy.
I thought, She can fall asleep in my arms and she wants to know everything about me. Yeah, it is a good start.
I fell asleep too.
The clock said 9:00 AM when we woke again. I was a little stiff because we were still lying in each other’s arms. The sun was much higher in the sky. It cast a warm square of light across the bed.
Kathryn whispered with delight, “Look, there’s a rainbow.”
I shifted my attention from her to the sky. I saw it. A pale rainbow clearly visible in the morning sky.
“Make a wish,” she whispered, “rainbows are better at granting wishes than stars. Stars are over worked.” I made a silent wish.
I had to go to the bathroom. So I slipped out of her arms. She watched me cross the room. I pulled on a T-shirt and shorts before I came back.
In the bedroom, Kathryn was propped on a pillow against the headboard. She’d pulled on her flannel shirt. “What are we going to do now?” she said cheerfully.
I slipped back into bed with her and said, “It depends on what you mean by now... as in: Do we have coffee now? Do we have breakfast now? Do we make passionate love again now? Do we rent a UHaul now? Do we try to take over the world now?”
“I think, A, B, and C and we can talk about the rest later...”
“A, B and C in what order?” I grinned.
“First, I have to use the bathroom, then I think, C, A and B. How does that sound?”
“Very nice... I left a new toothbrush and some towels next to the sink for you,” I called after her.
When she lay back down beside me she said, “What’s that scar on your back?” She looked concerned.
I didn’t want to talk about my gun shot wounds, but she’d seen the evidence. I couldn’t pretend they were bee stings. I pulled off my T-shirt and lay on my side facing away from her so she could see. I felt her fingers touching the older scar on my shoulder. The one near my waist was newer and still pink, although it didn’t hurt much anymore. The bullet had gone all the way through at my waist, so there were two scars there. Entry and exit.
“The shoulder one was friendly fire, as they say.”
“You mean you were shot by another police officer?” she asked in a quiet but shocked voice.
“Yeah, he said it was an accident. That was when I was in the state police in Indiana.”
Then she traced a path with her finger to the other, more recent scar. “And this one?” she sounded sorry and sad.
“The price I paid for this building.”
“Oh Maggie,” she said with profound concern, “you paid too much.”
“I don’t want you to think this kind of thing happens to me all the time.” I turned toward her and pulled her closer.
“Someone shot at you two days ago!” she said pushing me back with her palms, to look at me directly.
“Kathryn...” I said seriously, “sometimes people are threatened by what I do. Everyone who tries to make change sometimes puts themselves in danger. I help people who need my help. I can’t stop doing it because someone might hurt me. You do what you do, and people threaten you. You’ve told to me that threats made you double your efforts, that you couldn’t compromise your commitment.”
She touched my face softly, “Oh Maggie, I’ve just found you and the thought of losing you...” she held my hand in hers. “But you’re right, I wouldn’t compromise. I can’t a
sk you to... I like who you are.” She kissed the back of my hand, then she said very seriously, “So far, you’ve kept all your promises to me. Will you promise me that you’ll be as careful as you can be?”
“Yes, I can promise you that.” I lifted her hand to my lips, then said, “There’s something else, since we’re on the topic of health and welfare... and being careful. When I was in the hospital last spring, I had them do a full screen for STDs and everything else. I was free of everything. I haven’t been with anyone since then, so...”
“So, we don’t have to use latex?” she said smiling. “Well, I’m clear of everything too. I had a full check-up before I went to Europe in September, and I’ve been alone longer than you have.”
Kathryn’s tone became more sensual, “But had you ever used those things before?” her half smile was returning, “did you... enjoy them...?”
“You mean the gloves and stuff, no I’ve never used them before, but honey after last night I think from now on just the smell of latex is going to make me wet,” I laughed.
“Hah!” she laughed too. Then she noticed my other shoulder, “What about these bruises?
“Yeah, well, you did that to me last night. What an iron grip! It just goes to show that injury can come when you least expect it.”
She looked horrified. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I don’t remember...”
“If you don’t remember, then I’ll take it to mean I was doing a good job.”
Her voice dropped to that deep register, “You were wonderful to me last night...”
“Kathryn, some of the marvelous things you did to me... I’ve only read about them in books...”
“Well,” she laughed, “I am a literature professor.”
“Hah!” I pulled her closer and kissed her. Then slipped down along her body under the covers. We spent a while doing an abbreviated version of the night before. Variations on a theme, sans latex.
Chapter 28
“I’m hungry,” Kathryn confided as we lay together in the tangled sheets.
