Candlelight City

by Jessica Tang Von Harper

  Brad walked in. He grinned widely. “Hey! You look great!” he said, but Suzie was still mortified to be seen. She wrapped one arm over her breasts, and splayed her other hand between her legs. Her face was hot.

  “Relax,” Brad soothed her. “Wow, you’re really blushing. Are you okay?”

  “Not really,” she said truthfully. “I mean, I really don’t know you that well… and I’m really not used to being naked in front of people…

  “It’s fine,” he said. “There’s no rush to do this. Do you want to put your dress on again? Here, here it is.” He picked up the dress and passed it to her. Suzie hurriedly put it back on. It was a relief to be covered again, but now she felt embarrassed by her reaction. Suzie wasn’t used to failure – she generally worked hard to accomplish her goals. But she wasn’t sure how she was going to play Jenna Algood on stage if she blushed so much whenever someone saw her naked.

  “I’m sorry,” she told Brad.

  “It’s not a big deal. Tell you what, let’s just try to be in character. Do you still remember the lines from the scene we did in the audition?”

  “Yes...”

  Brad left the room and a moment late, the noise from the shower disappeared. When he returned, Brad went to his desk, and pulled out a small video camera. He set it up on the desk, pointing at the bed. “This is something I like to do sometimes,” he explained. “This represents the eyes of the audience. This space in front of the bed is the stage. Let’s practice our scene. Afterwards, we can watch what we taped, to see what the audience would have seen.”

  “Okay,” Suzie said. Brad came over and sat on the bed, and Suzie stood a few feet away from him.

  Brad looked towards the camera. “Candlelight City, take one,” he said into the camera. “Action!” He looked at Suzie expectantly.

  Suzie took a second before she remembered she had the first line. “Oh! Um…Nice place.”

  “Not really,” said Brad. “It’s not mine. I’m just renting it, for this.” He delivered his line with sincerity, and Suzie realized he was taking this seriously. He really wanted to rehearse the scene.

  She walked over to him. “I know,” she said. She felt some relief at being able to drop into Jenna Algood. It was a sense of freedom, as if by reciting someone else’s words, she didn’t have to worry about being Suzie. She could be someone else. Brad was right, she decided. It really did make her feel more relaxed to rehearse the play.

  “Have you ever been to this place before? The Red Jacket Inn?”

  “I have,” Suzie said. “But not in a while. And never this room.” Brad was sitting with his hands tightly clasped in his lap and his shoulders slumped. The confidence he usually displayed was gone – now he looked nervous and fidgety. Suzie wondered what was wrong, then realized he was being Elias. He had really considered how Elias would act in this situation.

  Suzie started to giggle then caught herself. But then she caught herself again – the giggling was natural, it was exactly what Jenna would do. So she let herself giggle as she slid down next to Brad. “Have you been here? I bet you haven’t.”

  “I haven’t. How did you know?”

  “I can tell. You don’t usually rent rooms by the hour, do you?”

  “No. This is the first time. Not the first time with a girl… I mean the first time with a girl… um…”

  “A girl like me?” Suzie smiled at him. She put her knee under her and lifted herself up, so that her right leg was extended to the floor and her left knee was digging into the bed. Her breasts were at the level of his eyes, and Suzie felt acutely aware that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  Then again, she hadn’t been wearing a bra the first time they did this scene, either.

  She took Brad’s hand and put it under her dress, against her right knee. “You seem like a man who hasn’t. I can usually tell.”

  Brad was eyeing her. He started sliding his hand up and down her leg. “How can you tell? Do I seem nervous?”

  “A little bit.” Brad’s hand was moving as high as her thigh, pulling up the side of her dress. “And you’re talking to me. The men who come here a lot, they aren’t really interested in talking. They don’t really care what I have to say.”

  “I am nervous,” Brad said. “But also I feel like talking to you. I guess that’s what it is.” He dipped his hand over her knee, then moved it to the back of her leg. This time, when he slid his hand up her leg, he didn’t stop – he moved his hand further and further up her dress until his palm was pressed against her ass. Suzie was surprised, but didn’t stop him. Her heart was beating fast.

  She didn’t know how she could still remember her lines, with Brad’s strong hand caressing the smooth skin of her ass, his fingers tracing the line of her ass crack. But somehow, the words kept coming. “So this is really the first time you’ve done this? The first time you’ve ever picked up a girl like me on a corner?”

  “It is,” said Brad. “I’m new to this city. Just a boy from a small town. I just moved to the city. I don’t really know anyone. I guess I was lonely.” He put his other hand under her dress now. He had one hand squeezing her ass, and the other pressed against the small of her back, and he pulled her close, holding his ear against her breasts. She reached down and ran her fingers through his hair.

  “Lonely?” she said quietly. “Yeah, there’s a lot of people in this city. But it can be a lonely place. Isn’t that funny?” Her heart was beating faster and faster as she looked down at him, aware that her dress was now hiked up to where it bunched around her waist. “So… you were lonely… and you decided to find a girl like me? Did you try the bars first?”

  Brad lifted his head, and looked into her eyes. “I stepped into a bar,” he said, as he pulled his hands out from under her dress and brought them to her front. “It just didn’t seem like my kind of place.” He began to squeeze her breasts through the cotton fabric. “Everyone was getting drunk and talking to each other, but when I had a drink, it just made me more lonely.”

  Suzie pulled the collar of her dress down over one shoulder, slipping her arm out and free, then did the same with the other arm. Her dress was now bunched around her breasts and midsection. Brad reached down her front and fondled her right breast. He pulled one breast free, then the other.

  “I looked at everyone, and felt like I didn’t really understand them or what they were doing. You know?” Brad murmured as he traced Suzie’s nipples with his fingers.

  Suzie couldn’t believe how far they were taking the scene. Her dress was now bunched in a band around her midriff, and the rest of her body was plainly visible for Brad to see and touch. Yet it seemed very natural. She suspected that when they watched the footage on Brad’s camera later, all of their sexual contact would seem in character. A part of her was pleased that she was able to relax and let herself be Jenna. Although she knew it would not be so easy in front of an audience.

  “And so you found me.” Suzie slipped away from Brad’s hands and stood up. She stepped in front of him, facing the camera, letting it capture her naked body on tape. She hooked her fingers into the bunched up fabric of her dress and pulled it down her body, letting it puddle at her feet. As she straightened, she felt Brad touching her ass again, and then he shocked her by reaching between her legs and cupping her vagina. She almost gasped, and as he probed a finger between her labia, she realized she was wet down there. It wasn’t all just acting; she really was getting turned on.

  She continued, trying to keep her voice from quavering, “Was I the first woman you saw, when you walked to this part of town? Is that why you picked me?” It was too difficult to stand in front of him while he played between her legs, so she settled weakly onto his lap. Her leg brushed a bulge in his pants, and she understood that he was getting turned on too. She placed her palm on the bulge and rubbed it.

  They continued going back and forth with their lines, and meanwhile Suzie pulled down Brad’s zipper and slipped his hard penis free of his underwear. She gently stroked it with
her fingers, fascinated by the feel of it. “Are we going to have sex?” she started to wonder. If Brad had pulled her against him and started to push inside her, she wasn’t sure that she would be able to resist.

  But then she delivered the last line she remembered, “My name is Jenna. That’s my real name.” And they looked at each other. It was as if a spell had broken, and Suzie hurriedly stood. She felt like Suzie again. Her gaze briefly settled on the dress on Brad’s floor, and she wanted to grab it and slip it on again. But she knew that was a silly impulse after what had just happened in the scene, so she remained naked.

  “Wow,” Brad exhaled. “I think that was pretty good.”

  “Was it?” Suzie asked uncertainly.

  “It’ll get better,” he promised. “But it felt pretty natural.”

  “Yeah.” Suzie looked at the camera. She wondered how it would look when they watched the video. “Do you think I could have done anything better?”

  Brad considered. “Well… one thing comes to mind. I think when you were stroking me, you seemed a little tentative. It made it appear like you were inexperienced, like you hadn’t touched many men.”

  “I haven’t.” Suzie blushed.

  “Here, let me show you a way that I think will be more convincing.” Suzie sat beside him, and he took her hand and placed it on his penis. For a few minutes, he had her practice stroking him. Abruptly, he pushed her hand away. “Um!” he said. “Sorry, I think I’m getting a little too turned on. We’d better stop. Maybe we can take that shower now.” He grinned. “A cold one.”

  “Okay.” As Brad stood and stripped off his clothes, Suzie looked around his room. She noticed a framed picture on his desk, a Winter Formal picture of Brad and a pretty dark-haired girl. The girl looked familiar, but Suzie couldn’t place her for a moment. “Oh!” All of a sudden it came to her. “Corine Salgado!” Corine had a small part in the play, as one of the other prostitutes.

  Brad followed her gaze to the photo. “Oh, yeah. Corine. She’s my girlfriend.”

  “Really? I didn’t know you were together.” Suzie felt flustered. “Is she okay… with this?” Brad was naked, and he started walking out of the room towards the bathroom. Suzie timidly followed him.

  “Oh, sure,” Brad said. “She knows that being an actor means sometimes I need to do a love scene with another woman. It’s just the reality of it. Remember, she’s playing a prostitute in this play too. She wears some risqué costumes herself.”

  “That’s true,” Suzie said. Brad started the shower up again, and when the water was warm, they stepped in together. Brad changed the spray of the shower to its widest setting, so that both of them were enveloped in a light, warm curtain of water.

  “Turn around,” Brad said. “I’ll soap and scrub your back.” Suzie turned, and felt Brad applying soap and then scrubbing her back with a washcloth. It felt good.

  After the soap was rinsed off, Brad asked if she wanted her front washed as well. Suzie reminded herself that they were trying to get comfortable with each other, so she turned to face him and let him rub soap on her breasts and stomach.

  Brad still had a swollen red erection that didn’t seem to be diminishing. “Does that feel okay?” she asked.

  “It aches, but it’s a good ache,” he told her, grinning in embarrassment. “I guess it doesn’t know we were just acting.”

  “I’m sorry. It hurts?”

  He shrugged. “A little. Don’t worry, it’ll go down in a while.”

  Suzie gazed sympathetically at his swollen penis. Then she smiled at him. “You said I should feel free to touch your body, right? While we were rehearsing?”

  “Yeah, of course.”

  Her eyes twinkled. “Then let me rehearse something. For the play.” Suzie took the soap from Brad and rubbed some lather on her hand. Then she reached out and took hold of his penis. Slowly, she stroked her hand up and down his shaft, at the same time looking into his eyes. He met her gaze, and Suzie felt some pleasure at seeing the excitement and arousal on his face.

  It didn’t take long. Suddenly, his penis twitched in her hand and launched a thick rope of cum which left a gooey line on her left thigh. He groaned in pleasure.

  When his orgasm finally subsided, Brad touched her gently on the shoulder. “Thanks,” he said, smiling. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

  “I was practicing being Jenna,” Suzie responded. “She wouldn’t have left a man unsatisfied.”

  Brad laughed. Some of his cum was still oozing out, spattering on the shower floor to get swept into the drain. Brad reached down and scooped a tiny dollop onto the tip of his index finger. He held it up. “A lot, huh? I guess I was pretty turned on.”

  Suzie grinned mischievously. She took hold of his hand and playfully slipped his index finger into her mouth, sucking the cum off the tip and swallowing it.

  “Mm! How is it?” Brad smiled at her.

  Suzie considered. “Salty,” she said. “And thick.” Brad laughed again.

  They finished cleaning off. Brad turned off the water, and they stepped out to dry off. Brad admired Suzie’s body as she rubbed herself with the towel. “You seem more comfortable being naked in front of me. Are you?”

  “I guess I’m getting there,” Suzie said. “If I think about it, I start to feel self-conscious.”

  “Well, I want you to know you have a gorgeous body. You definitely have nothing to be ashamed off when it comes to being naked.”

  “Thanks.” Suzie looked at herself in the mirror. It seemed strange to see her reflection, standing naked beside this boy she had only just met.

  Then they heard a door slam. Brad looked concerned. “I think that’s my mom! We spent too much time rehearsing that scene. My family’s home already!”

  “Oh, no!” Suzie was distressed. “My clothes are in your room!”

  Brad wrapped a towel around himself. “Wait here. I’ll get my bathrobe for you to use.” He opened the bathroom door slightly and slipped out. Suzie pushed the door closed behind him and leaned against the door. Her thoughts were frantic. What was Brad’s mom like, anyway? What would she think about a naked girl taking a shower with her son? Suzie wished she had gotten to know Brad better, and met his family, before agreeing to come alone to his apartment and rehearse their sex scenes.

  Suzie peered into the shower, making sure that all of Brad’s cum had made it safely down the drain. Thankfully, it looked like it had. That would have taken some explaining!

  After what seemed like an eternity, Suzie heard a knock on the door. “It’s me.” Brad’s voice. Suzie cracked the door, and Brad passed in a blue terrycloth bathrobe. Suzie wrapped it around herself and gathered her nerve. She opened the bathroom door and stepped out. Brad was waiting for her. He was already dressed.

  They had only taken a few steps towards his bedroom when a short woman with curly hair appeared in the doorway that led to the kitchen. “Hello!” the woman said, grinning and stepping forward. “You must be Suzie! I’m Brad’s mother. I’m glad to meet you!” Behind her, two tall boys leaned in to look. They both looked a little like Brad.

  Suzie felt embarrassed to meet Brad’s family in this manner, but she tried her best to smile and seem friendly. “Hi… nice to meet you!”

  Brad explained, “I told mom that we were rehearsing. She’s read the play already, she knows our parts. She knows that you’re playing Jenna.”

  “Yes. Brad raved about your audition for Jenna. He said you were phenomenal,” Mrs. Harper said.

  “Really?” Suzie looked at Brad, who seemed a little embarrassed. “Brad said that?”

  “Well, you were good,” Brad murmured defensively, looking away.

  Mrs. Harper smiled warmly. “You’ll stay for dinner, won’t you? I’m going to heat up a lasagna. There’s going to be a lot to eat, plenty enough for one more.”

  Suzie glanced at Brad. “Well… maybe I could stay. But I should call my parents and let them know I won’t be home until later.”

 
“Oh, yes, of course.” Mrs. Harper smiled warmly. “Brad will show you where the phone is.”

  “Sure,” said Brad. “But maybe she can put some clothes on first.”

  “Oh, yes, of course. Go ahead, Suzie,” Mrs. Harper said. “Brad was telling that you were trying to get comfortable with being seen in the nude. I read the play, I know how much the Jenna role asks of you. It asks you to show quite a bit.”

  “Yes,” Suzie said. “I haven’t had a lot of acting experience. I’m still not sure how I’m going to stand up on the stage in front of hundreds of people with my clothes off. It’s a little intimidating.”

  “I can understand that,” said Mrs. Harper sympathetically. The she smiled broadly. “Well, I can tell you who three of those people are going to be. Me and my other two boys! We never miss one of Brad’s shows. We’ll be in the audience for certain.”

  “You will?” Suzie was thinking about the scene they had just rehearsed in Brad’s room. It would be strange to have such intimate contact with Brad in front of his mother! But then again, that was acting. It wasn’t real, and Brad’s mother surely understood that.

  “We will,” Brad’s mother confirmed. “So I hope you’ll be comfortable being nude in front of us, at least!”

  One of Brad’s brothers spoke up. He was clearly the older one, and he seemed to be the one with the sense of humor. “You could always practice.” He grinned. “I think I speak for both Brad and Marty when I say you’re welcome to be nude in front of us whenever you want!”

  “Oh, hush, Jack,” Mrs. Harper said. “He’s just teasing you, Suzie.” But then she considered his words. “He does have a point, though. If you’d like to get used to being nude in front of people, you’re welcome to take off your clothes in our apartment. Our casa is your casa. Of course, I can’t guarantee that these boys won’t have their eyes on you…” She cast them a critical glance, but they just smiled. “In fact, I can pretty much guarantee they’ll stare at you whenever they can. But, you’re a lovely girl with a nice body, and I’m afraid that’s something else you’ll need to get used to if you’re going to be in this play.”