Her hand began to trace his arm up and down, in a sense, rewarding it for the pleasure it was gifting her. Michael nuzzled her pliant face over with his nose and began to kiss and nibble her throat again, sending more shivers over her already overstimulated body.
Michael slid his hand back up to the top of her denim shorts and popped open the button, before slowly starting to pull down the zipper.
Gemma panted and mumbled, “St-stop!” and Michael did.
He whispered in her ear, “It’s okay...” and then he started sliding the zipper down again. Gemma gasped and her fingers dug into his arm, and Michael stopped again. “Gemma, I want to touch you...” he claimed as he completed undoing the zip and slid his hand up to the top of her undergarment. “Will you let me touch you..?” he asked her as he tickled her abdomen just within her panties.
“People might see...” she whispered.
“I won’t allow that, Gemma... I promise...” Michael whispered back and fingers first, he pushed his hand under the fabric.
Gemma tried to control herself – contain her responses, but when she felt Michaels hand move down over her mound, one finger sliding between her delicate folds and stroking her swollen button she began to pant. His finger went down far enough to bathe in her moisture, but it didn’t enter her, and then he brought it back up to her clitoris. Kisses caressed her throat as her head fell back, and she was keenly aware of her legs twitching as he ran his large, working man’s finger down and up against her.
Michael was thrilled by her little gasps and sighs and moans, and excited by her southern wetness and the feel of her firm but delicate button as he slipped his finger over it, backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. Her hand tickled his arm and then travelled up it before once again leaving it to sweep leisurely across her breasts and then back down his arm, placing it on his wrist and holding his hand in place, wanting him to touch her... needing his touch. Michael moaned in her ear – delighted by her responses.
Gemma started to feel strange, like she might faint, and sounds started accompanying her pants.
Michael noted her change in composure and lifted his face to watch her. He moved the hand stroking her cheek across and sunk a couple of fingers just inside her mouth and observed how Gemma started kissing and suckling on them. With his other hand he applied further pressure and continued stroking her rhythmically.
Suddenly Gemma’s stomach muscles tensed harder than she knew possible, one of her legs extended, she closed her teeth on the fingers in her mouth and she stopped breathing.
It spread over her body like a painful pleasure until it infiltrated every cell of her body, before the muscles inside her lower abdomen rhythmically began to spasm and she gasped frantically for air. Michael’s hand stopped moving and just pressed firmly against her and then every muscle in her body simultaneously liquefied into a languid pile of jelly.
Michael removed his hand from Gemma’s shorts and began to do up her zip when she reached down and fumbling, finished it for him. Then he reached up and began stroking her hair back behind her ears, “You are so beautiful...” he told her then watched as she blushed. “Uh! It’s too late to blush now...” Gemma looked at him, tranquillity in her expression, and he leant down and lightly kissed her.
“Was today a date?” she inquired, though peace still evidently reigned her face.
“I don’t know, Gem, do you want it to be?” Michael asked, his voice calm.
“If it was a date, what number would it be..?” she inquired and Michael grinned at her innocent, genuine curiosity.
“Well... Assisted masturbation... Outdoor orgasm... I would think that would at least be a number eight,” Michael concluded and Gemma smiled at him, pleased.
As Gemma listened to him prattle on, lying within his embrace, she felt a rare serenity. She was so content when she was beside him, his essence dancing about her. She wished she could stay there forever.
Chapter Six
Tuesday came and Gemma and Sam went shopping. Firstly they went and selected the tiles for the bathroom and the new kitchen, and then they went and purchased the paint for the men. Afterwards they went clothes shopping, having a blast trying on multiple outfits just for fun – even the weird and trashy stuff. It seemed Sam liked to shop for clothes every bit as much as Gemma.
Hours passed and after spending way more money than they should have, they called into the eatery for lunch. “So how are you and Michael getting along?” Sam asked her, and Gemma was lost for words. “I can tell he likes you...”
“I can tell he likes you, too...” Gemma admitted to her companion and Sam looked downwards at her food.
“Not the same as he likes you...”
They ate in silence for a minute. Gemma really liked Sam, and they had almost become friends in their own right. They respected each other’s careers on a level that not everyone could understand, for they were both creative and had a good eye for colour and balance. They both like the beach! And trying on clothes... “He’s pretty fine, isn’t he?” she finally stated.
“Oh... He’s okay...” Sam said in an unimpressed voice and they both laughed.
The girls arrived back at the house with a Pavlova and coffee shop cappuccinos for afternoon tea and a few too many shopping bags.
“Oh my God!” exclaimed Nathan, “You are never taking Miranda shopping!”
“Miranda’s turn next week...” Sam threatened.
“Did you get paint?” Michael inquired.
“Yes, we got paint... It’s in the boot! Can you not see our arms are full?” Sam told them.
“And did you have fun, Missy?” Michael inquired of Gemma.
The hugest grin flashed across Gemma’s face as she held out all of her bags and she confessed, “A little bit!”
“Gemma had so much fun she needs a raise!” Sam stated and Gemma laughed. Michael hadn’t really ever seen her interacting with a girlfriend and her manner was rather appealing, even if on this occasion... expensive!
“Well, Gemma can help us paint...” Nathan joked though there was a genuine job offer in there somewhere.
“Do you want to see what I bought?” Gemma asked.
“I know I’m going to regret this... Sure!” Michael replied.
The girls showed off their new clothes, and the men, to their credit remained engaged and pointed out which ones they particularly liked. They finished their cappuccinos and half the Pavlova and the men collected the paint from Sam’s boot before she had to leave. “Bye Gem!” Sam called out to her.
Gemma looked up from watering her gardens and smiled, “Seeya Sam.” What a great day she had had – and with her rival... How bizarre!
How bizarre that she should get along so well with Sam... How bizarre that they enjoyed each company... But especially how bizarre was it to talk to each other about Michael’s interest in the other – that was really bizarre...
Sam had actually told her that Michael liked her; and she had done likewise... What does that mean for their friendship... and their competition? She liked Sam, but she still liked Michael. She still hoped to win his heart.
Gemma considered how she and Sam actually had a lot in common, but at the same time... very different from one another - they were like country mouse and city mouse, and Gemma lacked the poise and sophistication that Sam exuded, and she couldn’t compete with it nor copy it... She was going to have to find another way to stand out in Michael’s eyes...
She stood out in her red dress, but Michael was right – it was more for a cocktail party and not really suitable for day work or the garden, and apparently a health hazard when he was working on heights or with tools. Gemma giggled to herself – proud as punch of the response she was able to trigger in him.
She decided that she needed a style that she could wear every day and was functional for work, but something that would make her prominent and eye-catching amongst her peers.
Gemma took Thursday morning off so she could revisit some of the shops that s
he and Sam had ventured into and go to the hairdressers – the bark wouldn’t arrive until mid-morning anyway. Someone... arrived at the house on Thursday just in time for lunch.
Michael looked her up and down... down and up! The boots were sensible at least – black and combat style but worn atop cheap looking, tattered fishnet stockings. She wore short black shorts which rested on her hips and were held up with a studded belt. A vest, mottled black red and white with skulls on it, jacketed a black bikini bra. Her neck supported cheap chunky chains with more skulls and a black leather collar with spikes which matched the cuff wrapped around her wrist. Her hair, changed yet again, was twisted into spikes with the ends died red. Her make-up was dramatic, with black lipstick, heavy mascara and eye shadow drawn out to the sides... like speed stripes! Now Michael was charitable and could handle the make-up... the hair - barely... But he could not... Would not... ever handle that grotesque bullring dangling from her nostrils!
“You look different... Have you lost weight?” Michael asked and Nathan burst into laughter.
“No...” Gemma answered; distressed by the reception she was receiving.
“Nice boots...” Michael remarked with a smile, searching desperately for a positive in the predicament, “They look very functional.”
“They are functional – comfy too,” Gemma informed him, growing more defensive by the microsecond. She went to twist her finger in her hair but couldn’t, so retracted it and placed her hand uncomfortably by her side.
“Nice collar...” Nathan offered and with that Michael lost control and roared with laughter.
“And the speed stripes on your eyes...” Michael could barely finish the sentence for belly laughing, and Nathan found it contagious. “Make... you... look... really fast!” By now the two of them were chuckling out of control.
Gemma was mortified and she suddenly burst into a fit of sobs and turned to run away. Quickly Michael grabbed her wrist. “Ouch!” he exclaimed, retracting his hand swiftly after being stung by the studs, but instantly throwing it back out to collect her hand and prevent her escape. He slid his arms around her waist and held her lovingly, trying to calm her. “I’m sorry... Shhhhhh...” Michael kissed her head, “Shhhhhh...”
“Gem, I’m sorry,” Nathan offered his heartfelt apology. “We didn’t mean to...” Gemma’s sobbing was tearing them both up. “I’m going to go and get lunch.”
Michael kissed her head again, “Shhhhhh, Gemma I’m sorry.” He tried to make her feel better, “You know, you are very lucky... You are such a very pretty girl, and no matter what you wear,” Michael released her waist and placed his hands on either side of her head, trying not to squash any of her hair spikes in the process, and looked her straight in the face, “You look gorgeous – it doesn’t matter... you look gorgeous in everything...” Gemma’s sobbing subsided... Michael paused, “Except that ring! I can’t handle that ring, Gemma...”
This wasn’t the reaction Gemma had envisioned. She was supposed to appear cool and individualistic, savvy and streetwise, but instead she had humiliated herself... Again..! She began to raise up her walls in an attempt to defend her fragile sensibilities from any further embarrassment. “You don’t like my ring?” she asked, annoyed.
“I hate it!” Michael confessed with clarity. “I want you to get it out of your nose right now! Please..!”
Gemma tried to stand strong in conviction of her forward fashion, “Well, it’s not really about what you like...” She was lost; sinking in a dark hole but determined to go down with what little dignity she had remaining.
“Well, we’ll debate that later... But for now, let’s look at what you... like...” Michael gently took her by the hand and escorted her to the bathroom.
“Look!” he insisted, facing her towards the mirror.
Gemma looked at herself and defensively asked, “What’s wrong with it?”
“What’s wrong with it?” he repeated her question in disbelief, and then realising and sympathising with the depth of her inner dilemma, lowered his tone and asked, “Gemma... What’s right with it?” Gemma looked at herself more closely... “Do you like what you see?”
“I don’t know...” she confessed, her eyes starting to tear again, “I’m confused.”
“Hey now, shhhh,” Michael consoled her tenderly, “There’s no need to cry...” Gemma kept looking at herself in the mirror. “You do still look... pretty... Gem, you just don’t look like you... And I like you.”
“How do you know?” she asked as she turned to him.
“What?”
“How do you know that’s not me?” She looked back to the mirror. “How do you know?”
“Gemma, don’t you know who you are?” Michael asked, but Gemma just stared silently in the mirror. “Don’t worry, Baby... You will work it out... But I’m pretty sure you’re not a punk!”
“The ring does look kind of hideous on me, doesn’t it?” she conceded.
“Not at all...” Michael stated then smiled and turned away swearing, coughing and mumbling under his breath.
Gemma laughed, “Shut up.” Michael laughed too, and then watched in relief as she removed the large ugly piece of jewellery from her cute nose.
Michael looked up to the heavens, “Amen.”
“That looks better already,” Nathan commented when Gemma and Michael joined him outside for lunch and he noticed the absence of the bullring.
Gemma smiled and giggled shyly before agreeing, “Yeah...”
“Sorry I upset you, Gem...” Nathan apologised again.
“Oh, I’m okay... Michael’s pretty sure I’m not a punk, so I’m just going to enjoy all this for the day and then... well... Tomorrow I will wear painting clothes.”
“I like that plan!” Nathan informed her.
“I might start prepping the walls this afternoon... after I lay down the bark on the gardens,” Gemma told them.
“I like that plan!” confirmed Michael, relieved that he wasn’t going to have to be the one to sugar-soap all the walls.
“Hmmm...” she sounded as she looked at him, and then she continued with her plan for the afternoon, “Then later on I will put the sprinklers on the gardens... And the lawn...”
“They are looking fantastic!” Michael complimented her work.
“So is the house...” she flattered the men, and then she frowned, “Sorry about...” Michael and Nathan stared at her. “Being weird sometimes...”
Both men smiled and they chuckled lightly before Michael grabbed her head and kissed her firmly on the cheekbone, “Gemma, we love you to death!”
“I would have to agree with that,” stated Nathan and he placed a hand precariously on her head between spikes and he kissed her lightly on her other cheek.
A couple of tears spilled out of her eyes and Nathan took his hand from her head and clipped her lightly under the chin, smiled and said, “C’mon, chin up!” Michael gathered her confused little head to his chest and just held her for a while.
It was late afternoon when Gemma finished watering the gardens and she went inside and offered to make the men a coffee.
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind a beer before I head off...” Nathan suggested.
“Have one with us, Gem...” invited Michael.
“Well, I can only have a glass... “Rethink your second drink!” she quoted the slogan designed to guide women with safe drinking and driving practices.
Michael grabbed a glass from the kitchen and poured Gemma a beer and sat down and finished off the rest of the stubby. “You know Gemma; I’ve decided that your hair is too spiky... and red”
“It will come out... It’s just stuck together with hairspray and the red will wash out after eight washes.” She informed him.
“Eight..! Eight washes you say..?” Michael confirmed and Nathan began to smile as he watched his brother lift her wrist and remove her cuff.
“Hey!” she complained.
“I’m just having a look...” he proclaimed, “Leather... It’s nicely m
ade... give me a look at the collar.” Before she could say anything he had reached up and was unfastening it. He removed the leather items and then he looked at her, “Eight..?”
“Yes...” Gemma looked concerned.
“Well, let’s get started!” Michael stated.
“Huh?” Gemma was confused at first, but then Michael lifted her boot. Suddenly she realised what he was doing. “No!” She stood up and tried to get away from him but he grabbed her and tripped her onto the grass, catching her and laying her on her stomach. “No!”
“Yes, Gemma... The spiky red devil hair must go...” he sat on her bottom facing her feet, his knees either side .He bent up one leg and unlaced her commando boot before removing it and tossing it onto the patio.
“Okay, I’m out of here... I will see you both tomorrow...” Nathan excused himself, as he stood and placed the empty stubby on the table.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Michael said, not missing a beat as he wrestled off the other boot; laughing as he did so.
“Bye Gem,” Nathan said.
“No..! Bye... No..!” Michael sat astride her and half turned and pulled off her vest then he stood up, slapping her butt as he did.
Gemma got as far as her hands and knees before he captured her, “Where do you think you’re going?” He reached beneath her and unfastened her belt buckle before swiftly pulling the leather strap free from her shorts and tossing onto the patio. He then grabbed her around the waist, lifting her and carrying her like a sack of seed to the pools edge before jumping in with her still ungracefully slumped in his arms.
A Dozen Dates Page 11
