Evelyn turned to face Jos and leaned in for another kiss. Kissing Jos was such a pleasure, it was difficult to stop, until Jos took a step back. “Have a seat,” she said, softly. Evelyn did as she was told and perched on the edge of the firm mattress.
Smiling, Jos began to unfasten the necktie she’d added to her outfit before they’d visited Clara and Courtney. She removed it quickly and then her fingers went to the buttons of her shirt. One by one, she opened them. Evelyn watched in awe, fascinated and compelled, as Jos revealed more of herself. Underneath the shirt, Jos wore a strip of fabric bound around her breasts, clearly with the intention of flattening them to her chest. Now, she loosened the pin at the side and unwound it carefully until her small rounded breasts were naked, pink nipples erect in the cool air.
Evelyn felt her chest tighten at such an intimate view of Jos’s body. And now she did not want to be just a spectator. She was on her feet, helping Jos with the fastening of her trousers, her fingers fumbling but eager. Jos slid the trousers down her legs and removed them, taking socks and shoes with them and throwing the lot into a crumpled heap at the side of the room. Only her underwear remained. Evelyn stood back again, suddenly shy, allowing Jos to remove the last of her garments until she was entirely naked. Her skin was olive and smooth, with few imperfections except for a few faded scars on one of her legs. Her hips curved more than Evelyn expected. Evelyn’s eyes were drawn to the triangle of dark hair at the top of her thighs. Jos seemed happy to let her look.
Without her clothes, Jos did not look vulnerable, just alluring. Her stance was one of confidence, of sensual energy and power. Evelyn wanted to touch her, to share that power. To see Jos like this, stripped of everything false, was moving in a way she had not expected.
Evelyn felt rather overdressed herself now. However shy she was, however dubious she could exude the same raw power as Jos, she wanted to join her in the intimacy. She began to fumble with the fastenings of her dress.
Jos came towards her. “Let me help.”
It was Jos’s hands that unfastened buttons and helped her from her dress, then her chemise and petticoat. In her girdle and stockings, nothing else, she felt exposed, crossing her arms over her chest, as the air on her skin made it clear just how naked she was. But Jos was understanding. She stood back and gazed at Evelyn, making no secret of her eyes exploring Evelyn’s body.
“You’re beautiful, Evie. A beautiful woman.” She took Evelyn’s hands gently and pulled them away from her body, dropping her eyes only briefly. “All of you.” She leaned in to kiss Evelyn again.
Evelyn felt the press of her own skin against Jos’s body, and the fire, briefly dampened by her shyness, rekindled. Now she wanted rid of the girdle and stockings, and pulled at them hurriedly, managing to put her finger through one of the stockings in the process. She did not care. In moments she was as naked as Jos and hungry for more kisses. This time, as they kissed, she could feel Jos’s nakedness against the whole length of her body. Breasts crushed against breasts, hot skin caressed and pressed, and she felt the tickle of that thick hair against her thigh.
Still locked in an embrace, Jos urged her towards the bed again. Together they fell onto it. Jos’s hand crept over Evelyn’s body now, stroking her neck, the valley between her breasts, down over her stomach and thighs, and back to caress her breast softly. Evelyn gasped and arched her back, feelings more intense than any she’d ever known filling her every cell. She felt awash with emotions she could not explain, only wanted more of Jos’s touch, felt a burning urge to be touched in places she’d never thought she’d want anyone to touch her.
Jos sat back, contemplating Evelyn lying on the bedspread. Under her gaze, Evelyn luxuriated on the soft bed, feeling beautiful in Jos’s eyes, beginning to understand that she was just as alluring to Jos as Jos was to her.
Jos looked at Evelyn lying in her bed and her heart soared. True, she had urgent desires located rather a long way south of her heart, but Evelyn seemed to touch her soul as well as arousing her body. This was something different, special, and she would take her time to savour it.
She was enjoying seeing Evelyn’s confidence growing. Where she’d expected shy awkwardness, she was finding Evelyn more relaxed and spontaneous. Now she stretched out on the bed like an artist’s model, arms above her head, one knee bent. Jos could do nothing but gaze.
She began with a contemplation of Evelyn’s face. She was smiling and relaxed, but not without an expression of wanting in her eyes, as she looked back at Jos. Jos smiled a reassurance. “I want to look at you, Evie.” Evelyn’s face showed the positive effect of this statement, as she resigned herself to Jos’s attention.
Jos ran her eyes along Evelyn’s long, slender arms to her graceful fingers and back over the pink skin to her delicately rounded breasts, their nipples darker pink than she anticipated. Her eye was drawn by the growth of chestnut hair beneath Evelyn’s arms. Most of the women she’d been with in recent years had adopted the ridiclous trend of shaving that hair away, claiming it made them more feminine in their modern sleeveless dresses. Jos had very little time for fashion and certainly did not understand a trend that made women alter their natural state so dramatically. Hair in the underarm was a sign of a grown woman, and Jos loved the way a woman’s natural scent caught in that hair and lingered tantalisingly. Lightly, she ran her fingers over the inside of Evelyn’s arm, following the soft skin from the crook of her elbow all the way to those soft hairs, where her touch made Evelyn giggle slightly. Jos smiled and turned her touch into a full caress of Evelyn’s breasts, making Evelyn breathe harder and arch her back again, as if craving more contact.
Now her gaze and hands slid lower, over Evelyn’s flat stomach, around the curve of her hips and down towards her legs. Once more, she encountered downy hair where most modern women had unforgiving stubble from the razor. She caressed Evelyn’s skin as far as her deliciately shaped toes, and then followed a path that went along the insides of Evelyn’s thighs. Since Evelyn had naturally lain down with one leg bent, she was already partially exposed to Jos’s hungry eyes. She let her fingers slide all the way to the top of Evelyn’s thigh, until she could feel the damp heat so close to her skin.
Evelyn’s breathing had changed now. Jos read a mixture of arousal and anxiety in her expression. She wanted Evelyn to feel safe with her. “Evie, can I see you? Can I touch you? I want it more than anything.”
“What do I have to do?” Evelyn asked, her voice hoarse.
Jos cursed a world in which it was thought a good idea to keep a woman in ignorance of the pleasures her body could offer to her. Evelyn sounded so nervous. “You don’t have to do anything, sweetheart. Just breathe, and feel, and let me show you…” She ran her hand over Evelyn’s inner thigh again, this time applying just enough pressure to guide Evelyn’s legs apart, to allow her gaze to fall entirely on her sex, with its curls of chestnut hair, already moist. Jos caught Evelyn’s scent and it was like a drug to her. She slid her fingers slowly into that soft hair, seeking the silky wetness slowly, exploring Evelyn and letting Evelyn feel every sensation.
Jos knew women’s bodies. She knew where to touch Evelyn to create the greatest pleasure. But for some time she held off, teasing and caressing. She did not want to deny the pleasure—she wanted to prolong it for both of them. Evelyn began to move her hips against every slight touch, letting Jos know she needed more, even without being fully aware of it herself. Jos moved her gentle touch to the spot she knew would send pleasure through the whole of Evelyn’s body. All she wanted to do was pleasure her, show her the secrets of her body. She could feel her own body’s response to Evelyn in the wetness on her thighs. But her need could wait, for now she wanted to focus on Evelyn and nothing more.
She could resist no longer, so she removed her massaging fingers and replaced them with lips and tongue. Evelyn’s taste was perfection. Jos wanted to lose herself in her scent. Not all women tasted so good, but Evelyn she wanted to devour.
When Evelyn reali
sed what was happened, she raised her head, clearly surprised to see Jos’s head between her thighs, to feel the intensity of the new sensation. But she simply sighed in pleasure and relaxed. Evelyn’s acceptance of the pleasure Jos wanted to give her encouraged Jos all the more.
Evelyn looked down the length of her body to where she could see the crown of Jos’s head, her black hair blending with the chestnut hair of her own body. It was so awfully indecent to allow this to happen, she thought, with no inclination to act on the musing. Waves of sensation rippled through her, each more intense than the first, waves that did not quite break, rather building up a sense of anticipation, building, building. Jos’s mouth and fingers teased and caressed and massaged. She could feel Jos’s breath on her, Jos’s shoulder against the inside of her thigh. She reached down and touched Jos’s head, stroked her soft hair. This was Jos, who she had thought she could desire, a woman who loved woman, and her mouth was making Evelyn soar to places she’d never known she could reach.
The waves were more frequent now, changing to feel like ripples spreading out from where Jos’s mouth moved against her. Now it was almost too intense and her legs started to tremble under Jos’s attention. She tried to close them involuntarily, only managing to press them to Jos, who increased her pressure and urgency in response. Her hand twisted in Jos’s hair, her other bunching up the bedspread, as the feelings grew so intense she did not think she could possibly survive this.
“Oh…” She moaned, her body tensing. Jos did not stop. Everything seemed focused on that one point of sensation between her legs. And then the wave broke, crashing over her with a release of the tension and a flood of pleasure. She cried out with the unfamiliarity, with the pleasure and the intensity, trying simultaneously to push Jos away and pull her closer, her hips jerking against Jos as she closed her eyes, her head tilting back against the pillow, and the wave broke again.
Eventually, Jos pulled away with a soft kiss. She sat at the end of the bed, looking at Evelyn with pleasure in her eyes. Evelyn, breathless and sweating, looked at her through a haze, speechless. What did one say at such a time? She could not begin to articulate what had just happened.
“Jos,” she said at last, reaching out a hand and taking Jos’s fingers in hers. “I don’t know what to say. I’ve never—”
“Hush, Evie, you don’t need to say anything.” Jos leaned forward to stroke Evelyn’s hair. “You know, it’s been referred to as la petite mort, reaching one’s climax.”
“The little death?” Evelyn said, still breathless. “I can see why. I didn’t know—” Evelyn could scarce believe it had been possible for her to feel this way all along and she’d never known it was possible. Might never have known.
Jos smiled. “I know. But now you do.”
“I feel a little embarrassed.” Evelyn wasn’t sure if embarrassed was the correct word.
Jos slid up the bed to lie by her side, half covering her body with her own. “Don’t be embarrassed, Evie. That was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever bloody seen.”
Evelyn heard real emotion in Jos’s tone and barely noticed the profanity. She wrapped an arm around Jos and held her close. Now the burning desire was released, she felt just as strong a need to be close to Jos. They lay still and silent for some time, just together. Then something occurred to Evelyn. “Isn’t it supposed to happen for both of us?”
Jos turned her face to look at Evelyn properly. “What?”
“The little death.”
Now Jos grinned. “Well, there aren’t any rules, like I said. Nothing’s supposed to happen. But it can be nice if it happens for me too.”
Evelyn suddenly felt her inexperience again. “But I don’t know how—”
“I wouldn’t expect you to, Evie. And I don’t need you to. But if you touch me, and watch me, I can get myself there. If you would like?”
The idea of watching Jos do something so intimate was very compelling. Evelyn felt the heat stirring low in her body again. “Of course,” she said. “Show me how.”
Evelyn watched as Jos, her back propped against the white pillows, spread her legs very slowly. Her hand travelled up the inside of her thigh, her finger pressing into the dark curls of hair at the top. Jos looked nothing like those oddly coloured diagrams in Ideal Marriage and suddenly that book seemed ludicrous. This was something so very different to what it described and yet Evelyn could not feel as though there was anything wrong or perverse in this moment. It was glorious.
Jos used one hand to spread herself, while her other teased her pink flesh. Evelyn watched, captivated, aroused and yet uncertain. How could she help Jos feel the same pleasure she had just experienced? Jos’s eyes were on Evelyn’s face. Evelyn looked into her eyes then slid her gaze lower, over her firm breasts and back to where her hands worked. She was struck once more with how beautiful Jos was. Evelyn was fairly sure she could gaze at Jos’s body forever, felt privileged to have the chance to do so. But she did not just want to watch. Her fingers tingled and twitched with the urge to reach out and touch her.
As if she knew, Jos gestured with her head that Evelyn should come closer. “Come near to me, Evie.” Evelyn crawled up the bed to be close to Jos, their legs touching. “Do you want to touch me?” she said. Evelyn could hear the arousal in her voice, a tone deeper than usual.
“Yes, oh yes, I do,” Evelyn breathed.
Jos reached out and took her hand. Gently, she pressed Evelyn’s hand to her breast, as her other hand continued to move on her sex. Evelyn felt the soft give of Jos’s breast, felt her nipple harden under the touch. She squeezed gently, enjoying the sensation. Jos moved her free hand to her other breast, gently pinching and stroking her nipple. Taking the hint, Evelyn did the same with her own fingers, drawing a groan of pleasure from Jos.
Now Jos took her hand and moved it lower. Evelyn breathed harder, felt Jos’s smooth skin beneath her fingers as she trailed them over Jos’s slightly curved stomach, to the curly mound below, and further still. She could feel the moving of Jos’s fingers, feel a moist heat, and nearly stopped breathing as she felt Jos’s silky flesh beneath her fingertips.
Jos felt a shudder of pleasure pass through her as Evelyn’s fingers made contact. God, but she wanted Evelyn to touch her. She’d never slept with someone as inexperienced as Evelyn before, but it was oddly pleasurable to be patient, take things slowly, watch Evelyn discovering everything for the first time. Her own first time was so long ago, she barely remembered what it was like now. Yet somehow, with Evelyn, the sensations felt different, renewed and more exciting. She was getting close now, as she rubbed herself under Evelyn’s gaze, holding back for Evelyn’s sake, so that Evelyn could play more than a watching part in this. Now she forced herself to stop and direct Evelyn’s fingers to where she needed the touch. “Here, Evie, just as I was doing…ah…yes, that’s right.”
Evelyn tentatively massaged Jos gently, then rubbed a little harder. Just looking at her, her face intent on the task in hand but cheeks burning with heat, eyes alight with pleasure, was enough to take her right to the edge.
“Evie…don’t stop,” she panted. Sweat was prickling all over her body now, the waves of pleasure mounting. Impulsively, she grabbed the back of Evelyn’s neck and pulled her head down to her chest. “Your mouth, Evie, please,” she asked, as Evelyn understood her desire and put her mouth on her hard nipple. Another few strokes of Evelyn’s fingers and she could hold it no more. “Oh God, Evie…” she managed, before she had no more words and her climax overtook her. She shuddered, pressing her sex into Evelyn’s hand.
As her body relaxed, she took Evelyn in her arms, holding her close. In this, she surprised herself. Sex was hardly ever an emotional experience for her. True enough, most women liked to hold her when they were done and Jos usually reciprocated the superfical, fleeting affection, even found it pleasant. But now she felt as though she wanted to crush Evelyn into her body, hold her so close there was nothing between them. Evelyn looked up at her, a soft smile on
her face. “Are you all right, Evie?” Jos asked.
“Oh yes,” Evelyn replied. “I’m more than all right. I don’t think I have the words.”
Jos returned the smile. “You don’t have to find words. Just stay with me.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere,” Evelyn said, settling her head against Jos’s chest.
Jos closed her eyes and stroked Evelyn’s hair. This was peace and it was something she rarely knew. There was no point questioning why she found it in the arms of a girl from the other side of the country. The question that remained was how long it would last. Because, in Jos’s experience, it was never that long.
Chapter Sixteen
When Evelyn awoke in the morning, her head was still on Jos’s shoulder and her arm draped across Jos’s chest. As her vision cleared from slumber, she raised her head to look up at Jos. Jos, already awake, looked back at her. Her expression was questioning and Evelyn suspected Jos half expected her to wake full of regret. Instead, excitement stirred in her stomach and she smiled.
“Good morning,” Jos said, relaxing noticeably at Evelyn’s obvious happiness.
“Good morning,” Evelyn replied. She pressed herself closer to Jos and luxuriated in the warmth of her body, the soft comfort of the sheets against her skin. She’d never slept naked on her own, let alone with someone else, and every sensation was new and wonderful. Briefly, she marvelled at how natural this felt, when it should have been more alien than anything that had happened since she’d been in London. But it was impossible to dwell on anything much, with Jos’s eyes on her, Jos’s hand stroking her skin softly.
Daylight was creeping around the edge of the curtains. Jos’s bedroom felt very different to how it had in the lamplight of the night before. The gin, which gave the world soft edges, was entirely worn off. Yet the pale daylight and sober morning did not detract from the glory of being here with Jos.
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