Rusty Lovers

by Lilah Nichols

  When he could finally think straight again, he could feel Eliza’s warm body fitted into the curve of his side again. Her head on his shoulder and his arm curled protectively around her. He hadn’t even felt her move. It was like his world had shifted. Suddenly she was there in the center of it.

  “I think you were really out of it there for a minute, Frank.” Her voice was a husky chuckle.

  “Not like I have my world blown like that every day, lady.”

  “Haha… Lady,” she muttered. “You didn’t even stir when I went to the bathroom to clean up, or when I put your bathrobe on!”

  He looked down at her and squinted. “That is my bathrobe! And yes, of course, you may borrow it!”

  She laughed outright this time and swatted him playfully. “Somehow I know better than to walk around naked in a strange apartment with no window treatments when the lights are on at night. Have you never wondered if you have neighbors who can see in?

  “Well until tonight I am sure whatever they might have seen would have caused them to fall asleep. But after tonight, if they maybe saw us doing what we were just doing, I am sure they are going to shake my hand and pat me on the back when I see them at the bagel shop across the street tomorrow morning.”

  Eliza scooted closer and got comfortable. “I was thinking both of us needed to hit the mall for some casual clothes, like shorts and T-shirts, but now I think the first order of business is going to be hitting up the department stores for curtains and shades!”

  He laughed and squeezed her tight, not worried at all about falling asleep or having to explain her in the morning. It felt wonderful. He hadn’t had so much fun or laughed so much while doing it in, well, forever.

  *****

  Many hours later he came out of a deep sleep as he felt the bed shift. The lightening sky outside his curtain-less windows let him know morning was fast approaching, and he knew he would have to let her get home to her own life.

  He rolled in her direction, taking the sheets with him. “Don’t go, Eliza,” he said sleepily.

  She paused, one foot still in mid-air as she lifted a shoe. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” she paused for dramatic effect, “Rusty.”

  Once again he was chuckling. “I’m really sorry about the curtains, or lack thereof. It’s just not something that I ever really worried about. I was shown the door and there was a list of things I was permitted to take…”

  He sounded so sad she couldn’t take it. She climbed back into the bed, shoes and all, and let him wrap her up in acres of sheets. She rested her head on his and held him close.

  She looked around the room and saw that aside from his neatly arranged clothes, there was very little else of a personal nature.

  “Don’t worry, sexy. Starting over doesn’t have to mean starting at the beginning again. Sometimes it’s just a clean slate. A chance to do things differently. We will find a Kohl’s or a Macy’s having a sale, and get the immediate needs of this apartment taken care of. And next time you cook dinner for me, we’ll have oven mitts AND privacy from the neighbors!”

  The sheets felt warm and smelled of him. His strong arms closed them all around her and spun her into a cozy cocoon under him. She kicked off her heels and pressed a kiss up under his chin as he stretched for the nightstand. One flick of the switch and the room was bathed in the pale glow from the streetlight outside.

  “No need for the neighbors to see any more,” he whispered. “Can we have round two, Eliza? Or more dessert?”

  A giggle escaped her, and she kissed his jawline again. His skin was rough against her lips, and her heart twisted a little, remembering how she had laughed and teased Jim over his scruffy facial hair in the predawn hours. It felt scratchy, definitely masculine. She sniffed in the faint traces of aftershave and rubbed her fingertips over his cheek.

  “I think I like the feel of your scruff, Frank.”

  “You ok, Eliza? You looked a little far away for a minute there.” His own hand joined hers, rubbing around over his chin. “I probably do need a shave. It will only take a minute. I don’t want to give you any razor burn.”

  Wow, razor burn was something she hadn’t thought of since her teenage years. Creeping into the house past curfew and knowing her parents would take one look and know she’d been making out.

  “It all depends on what you meant by more dessert.”

  He hesitated a moment, choosing his words carefully. “Well… in a night of very delicious firsts, there was one more thing I would like to try. To get off my bucket list, if you know what I mean.” His lips descended down to find hers in the dim light, touching softly.

  Eliza went over their conversations in her mind. Wondering what else he might have confided as a secret desire. “You’re going to have to give me more of a clue, baby. The two I had on my list for tonight we managed to complete. Let’s see if I can help you narrow it down. Does it involve you, me or both of us having more dessert?”

  “Oh it’s definitely me that needs more to eat.”

  “Something from the kitchen?” she teased. “More pie?”

  “Oh, I have heard it called pie, but not the kind I have in my fridge.

  “Okay!” Now that she had an idea what he wanted, she found herself eager to get started. That little tingle of excitement was back, and the warmth between her thighs was spreading. Eliza climbed out from the nest of sheets and found a pillow. Frank was watching her. Waiting. She shimmied out of his bathrobe and the black lace panties.

  She arranged herself on the bed, comfortable with the pillow, and grabbed Frank by the hand, urging him to sink down lower on the bed and settle into place between her thighs. There was a glimmer in his eye and a hungry look on his face. Like a man about to dive into a feast.

  “What did you mean, get this off your bucket list?” She murmured. “Wait… is this something else you have never tried?”

  His hands slid under the globes of her ass and lifted her slightly. His nose dropped low, inhaling deeply. “There’s a first time for everything.” His breath was so light, so soft, as he flicked his tongue over her, pressing between her soft folds.

  “Ummmhmmm, there is, and I have a feeling you’ve done lots of reading on this subject.”

  “Uh huh” his words came out garbled, not wanting to lift from the nest of wet curls. He had read about it, in detail. Wanted to try it many times, and had never been welcomed to try on his wi— Abby in all the long years of marriage.

  Her fingers touched his hair softly, drawing his attention back to her. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You have to go soft and slow. Gentle licks, flicks of your tongue. Oh yes,” she sighed. “Feel it with your tongue, the little nub down in there. That’s where you focus your attention. Nothing too hard, just pay attention, you will know from the sounds and shivers when you have it right…”

  He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. He just put her instructions to good use, judging which licks got little gasps of breath, or caused her hips to rise under him. It took time, but he didn’t care. The heat and the smell of her filled his senses. She was winding higher and higher, he could feel the tension building in her. And God, he wanted to feel her explode under his lips and tongue.

  She was close, they both knew it. He lifted his head and gave her a long sexy look up over her pretty breasts. “Is there anything else I should be doing? Something that would get you higher and over the edge?

  His giving nature again made her smile. What a shame he had never been able to hone this talent. She’d never let a man go with this kind of oral aptitude. “It might really do it for me if you had a nice plump ass plug in your backside.” She loved the way his breath sucked in with a hiss when she teased him. “Or you could reach one hand up here and tease my nipple.” She took the taut peak of her nipple between finger and thumb and rolled it around gently. Within seconds, his fingers replaced hers and his mouth descended on her again. Flicking, moaning… she felt the pleasure build, racing her up the mountain until suddenly she was at t
he top, and then flying, soaring as her body convulsed and her sexy, rusty lover slowed his tongue down as she coasted back onto solid ground.

  He levered himself up beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting in the crook of her arm the way he had held her in his earlier.

  Eliza grinned at him and said,“I don’t know why you say you’re Rusty. I may have to start calling you ‘Not Rusty’.” She liked the smile of satisfaction that put on his face. “Or maybe I should just call you Mr. Helpful. Or on second thought, maybe my A student!’

  “Hahaha, Mr. Helpful is fine, but I was starting to really like Rusty.”

  Chapter 8

  Their quick trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond the next day turned into a series of trips to the big box stores over the course of the weekend, with stops back at Frank’s apartment in between to take copious measurements, and then trips back to the store. Eliza wanted Frank to stop worrying about whether or not she approved of his house, so she stocked the kitchen with the bare essentials and added some window dressings. Some accent curtains at the top of the wide, over-sized windows would draw the eye up and help balance the room. They added privacy plus a touch of softness, a bit of pattern in masculine shades of sage green and gray. Throw pillows and a matching rug helped blend the haphazard furniture and make it look like it belonged.

  Eliza marveled at how some fabric and pillows could bring such a change, but if she really asked herself about her true motives, she was building a love nest. Frank had laughed when she’d brought the subject up.

  “There’s no way that shabby apartment is going to be a love nest, Eliza. And we are too old for that anyway.” He was still chuckling as they made their third foray out to the store. He hadn’t worried about making his new place homey because it had never before felt like home. It was the place he slept and did his laundry. Eliza had the same effect on his apartment as she had had on him. She had swooped in with her soft smile and warm heart and started making changes. Nothing crazy, just small steps at first. Precision cut shades, and the tools to hang them. Frank stood on one of the rickety kitchen chairs with a brand new electric screwdriver in his hand. His apartment looked different from up here, but maybe it was the fact that he had a fascinating woman keeping one hand on his knees so he didn’t fall, and she was practically nuzzling his ass.

  Once the biggest issue of privacy was scratched off their list, they had drifted around different home stores, trying out furniture and cuddling right out there in the display areas.

  He liked it, ok he more than liked it. The feelings he had, how good he felt when she slipped her hand into his to pull him into the linens section of Lowes and ask about the monogrammed bath towels she’d seen in his bathroom. With time and use, color had been washed out of them and frayed the edges.

  “Are they yours, Frank, or more of the stuff she’s so kindly allowing you to take?”

  “A bit of both, I suppose. She was pretty clear about what I was allowed to take. And then it’s like she changed her mind and sent me a list where she assigned all the linens to her side of the column. She even designated them as monogrammed and wedding presents.”

  Suddenly a pad of paper and a pencil were thrust into his hands. “Add over-sized trash bags to the end of the list, and help me pick out what color towels you want. Our love nest doesn’t need to have twenty-five-year-old towels. And certainly not ones from a bad break up.”

  He agreed, even if he didn’t like Eliza’s innocent remark about a bad break up. He didn’t get choked up anymore looking at the constant mail over the split or her need to stamp her own taste on his place. He hadn’t thought redoing his place would be so much fun, pushing a cart along behind a beautiful woman with a sexy, curvy ass. The cost of it wasn’t an issue. He’d shop all day if it pleased her, especially if it meant she’d spend another night and blow his mind again.

  He didn’t have much in the way of time constraints this time of year. The spring semester was over and he only had one online course this summer, so he was pretty much available. His life even felt like summer vacation, complete with a new romance that made him feel sixteen again. Playing house with Eliza all day was fun. It took his mind off the stress he felt over the divorce. When she was around, he barely remembered he was in a legal battle over every gift and knick-knack. He didn’t care about their things. He could replace all of those. What mattered was this feeling of rejection he had been carrying around like a lodestone. Everything he’d done for years had been for her, for them, and suddenly she wanted someone younger, better looking? He didn’t understand what it was soon to be ex was thinking.

  Eliza made him feel like a man again, sexy and wanted. He wanted more than a summer romance with her. In fact, he wanted the court date that would signal the death of his marriage to Abby to come sooner rather than later, so he could get on with his life and start thinking about where the two of them would have Thanksgiving or spend Christmas. He’d bet money Eliza and her family spent the day together sipping wine and cooking. She took her time when things were important. His mind drifted, just for a moment, back to the way she had laid him out and used her lips, tongue, fingers and palms on him the night before. His dick stirred at the thought, wanting more. She sashayed ahead of him as if she knew he was staring at her ass.

  “Don’t get lost, Frank,” she called over her shoulder. He hurried to catch up and turned a corner to follow Eliza down into a deserted aisle behind the key maker stand. She was about halfway down, past the mailboxes and adhesive house numbers, fingering a spool of soft rope. “I think they sell this by the foot. We’ll have to get someone to come measure it out for us.” She looked at him innocently. “Or is it too soon for us to be buying this kind of thing?”

  Frank choked and felt heat pool in his groin. What had been at half-mast became stiff as a post. He shifted uncomfortably, aware his boxers seemed suddenly too tight. She couldn’t mean what he was thinking? Or could she?

  “For, um, for what?” he asked.

  “For tonight… or any other night, when I feel like tying your hands to the headboard, or behind your back. This stuff is soft and thin enough we can use it a million different ways.” Her smile was still teasing and infectious.

  She wasn’t shy, his girl. He couldn’t help smiling in return, adoring her playfulness. “I saw a man in the next aisle. You’re the expert, ma’am. You know what we’ll need. A few different lengths?”

  Frank was already around the corner, hailing the employee at the key stand. The poor man kept it professional the whole way, as the grinning couple looked at each other and winked as they decided what lengths they wanted of what. He finally stuck his scissors into the pocket of his blue apron and wound up the cuts Eliza requested in both soft cotton cord as well as some thinner rope. He ignored the looks passing back and forth between the couple and handed Frank their slip for the register. He left in silence, not positive what they were planning, but the burst of laughter that he heard after he left put a big smile on his face.

  Frank was sure the day couldn’t get any better. He was enjoying himself, holding his lover’s hand in the check out line at the home store. She was tracing circles with her thumb on the back of his hand, reminding him of that first afternoon picnic they’d shared in the park.

  “Still got that pad and pencil?” she asked absently.

  He fished it from his shirt pocket one-handed. “Right here.”

  “I want to stop by Kohl’s on the way home. There are a few things we need there.”

  “So you want me to write Kohl’s on the list, or tell me what we’re getting there?”

  Eliza thought about telling him but decided to keep it a surprise. “We could both use jeans and sneakers,” she said non-committally.

  “Ok!” there it was, that enthusiasm again. That’s what she liked about Frank. His ready answers, always eager. She found herself suggesting odd little things just to hear him say, “Sure!” or “You bet!” Like any idea she had was great, and he couldn’t wait to
do it with her. That’s what drew her to him, his eager willingness to be… willing. She had no doubt he’d be as excited about handcuffs and toys as he was about ropes. It was just his personality. He called himself ‘Mr. Helpful.” At work or with most people, he was just exactly that. She was the one digging down into the repressed sexual desires to see what Mr. Helpful might really be capable of. She’d felt his need to please a woman from almost the first moment, when he’d laid his hands on the back of her shoulders to smooth down her coat.

  Eliza also had the feeling he didn’t get much back in the way of helpfulness or kind gestures, at least not from his former partner. What a terrible term. Former partner. Eliza couldn’t bring herself to say, ex-wife, because she wasn’t officially an ex yet, and there was no way Eliza wanted to think of her as his wife. The woman had let go of a treasure, and Eliza planned to hold on to Frank, to make him feel appreciated and wanted. Already he noticed the little things. It was so easy when the things he needed were so simple. She planned to spoil him and give back the way he gave to her.

  Eliza handed her Visa card to the checkout clerk, despite Frank’s objections. “I’m the one who asked for shades, so the neighbors don’t see us, and I’m the one who decided your monogrammed towels need to get chucked in the trash.” A gentle tug on his hand brought him down to her level, so she could whisper in his ear, “And I am the one who needs those ropes, to continue your education in fun and games…” The slightest turn of her head, and her lips pressed against his cheek, then dropped another kiss lower, at the corner of his mouth. He needed no further encouragement. His lips met hers in a gentle kiss that lingered until the clerk gave a small cough to pull them back to reality.

  “You win, Eliza, but I am paying the bill at Kohl’s. And anywhere else we might end up shopping this weekend.” He was still smiling as the clerk handed over the bag, and he reached to take it before Eliza could.